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Annual report and 

Appeal for donations

George Gorsline, VE3YV chair of the DARF Trust Fund

            

2004 Annual Report on Defence of Amateur Radio Fund

 Thank you to all of the clubs and individual Canadian hams for your donations to the Defence of Amateur Radio Fund (DARF) in 2004 and previous years.  Your support makes it possible to continue funding the efforts to preserve and expand frequency privileges for all of us.  For those who have not contributed, please consider making a donation to DARF a yearly habit. 

 Also thank you the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) for the opportunity to use TCA and the RAC web site to report on DARF activities and for providing the support of the RAC headquarters staff to collect and deposit the donations to the DARF trust account.

 The 2004 financial statement is attached.  As the statement shows, donations totaled over $8000 for the year.   The year after a WRC is one of low activity and as a result, DARF made no disbursements in 2004 and had no expenses other than the bank fees for the trust account.  

 World Radio Conferences

 World Radio Conferences (WRC) are held periodically, usually on four year intervals, to review and manage the radio spectrum.  These conferences are held under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and their decisions have the force of international law.  Each country may send an official delegation to the conference to study, review and vote on the various agenda items.  Amateur Radio is one of many services competing for the limited spectrum.   Examples of what these conferences have done for and to amateur radio are many, including the adding of the 30, 17, and 12 meter bands.  On the other hand, a number of frequency segments in the VHF and higher ranges have been lost to other services.  As the radio spectrum is finite and fully allocated, each WRC represents both the opportunity to increase access to frequencies by hams, and the threat of losing portions of “our bands” to other services. 

 DARF’s role

 The Defence of Amateur Radio Fund (DARF) was established for the sole purpose of providing funds to ensure that a licensed amateur could be part of the Canadian official delegation at the WRC and if clearly needed to prepare for specific WRC issues, related ITU and CITEL, the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (an agency of the Organization of American States) planning sessions.  DARF is a registered trust that is overseen by three trustees who are legally responsible to see that the funds are held safely and disbursed only for the purposes allowed by the trust. For each WRC, RAC nominates a delegate that, if approved by Industry Canada, becomes an accredited member of the Canadian delegation attending the conference.  Canada is one of a few countries that recognize the value of having a licensed radio amateur as a representative on its delegation.  However, that support does not extend to travel and living expenses, so DARF was created to provide funds to ensure that amateur radio can be represented. 

The trustees consider two factors in evaluating whether to approve disbursing funds.  First is to ensure that the amateur delegate can attend the WRC, and if it can be clearly demonstrated and enough funds are available, preparatory meetings.  Secondly, to ensure that sufficient funds remain in the fund to permit it to be built up by new donations before the next WRC occurs.  The trustees are very conscious of our responsibility to see that every dollar donated must be put to good use for all amateurs.

 Each DARF trustee must be a licensed amateur and must not be an officer of RAC.  The trustees and counsel are un-paid volunteers who conduct DARF business by email and telephone.  All decisions by the trustees must be unanimous to ensure that the purpose of the DARF trust is upheld.  Funds are held in a trust account at a major chartered bank and can only be withdrawn with all trustees’ signatures. The current trustees are Gerry Hohn, VE6LB, Dave Snydal, VE4XN, and George Gorsline, VE3YV.   Tim Ellam, VE6SH, is counsel.

 Preparing for WRC 2007

 Currently WRC-2007 is scheduled for Fall 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland.  This WRC is focused primarily on the HF bands, as WRC 2003 focused on VHF and higher frequencies.  Two items on the WRC-2007 agenda could directly impact our amateur bands and of course, more issues may be added.  Leading up to the WRC are two preparatory meetings, the Conference Preparatory Meeting scheduled for the end of 2006 and a CITEL meeting in late 2005.  It may prove important to have a representative attend these meetings, as it is likely that the 7200-7300 kHz portion of 40 the metre band will be under severe pressure to be re-allocated to broadcasting.  The other item directly impacting Canadian amateurs is a proposal to add a new low frequency band.  

 Holding on to the Forty Meter Band 


 The 40 meter band in Region 2, the Americas, is much wider (7.0-7.3 MHZ) than in the other two regions.  One of the successes of WRC-2003 was the Amateur Service getting 
7000 - 7200 as a worldwide exclusive allocation by 29 March 2009.   This was the first time that amateurs had gained spectrum at the expense of the powerful Broadcasting Service.  
Going into WRC-2007, the Broadcasting Service claims that it needs up to 850 kHz of additional spectrum in the 4- 10 MHZ band to meet its requirements. This spectrum can only be 
gained at the expense of the other radio services as 4-10 MHz is fully allocated.  
At the end of WRC-2003, the Canadian delegation successfully pressed ITU to exempt 7000-7200 kHz from the WRC-2007 review of 4-10 MHz.  
This was done to try to protect the WRC-2003 decision to expand the 40m band worldwide from being reversed before the March 2009 implementation date. 
It will be a difficult fight to keep this segment for the amateur use in ITU Region 2, the Americas, let alone get it allocated as amateur exclusive worldwide.  
This was the direct result of having our DARF supported amateur representative, Jim Dean, VE3IQ, on the Canadian delegation.  Also playing a key role was the Canadian IARU 
representative, Ken Pulfer, VE3PU. 


New Allocation for the Amateur Service at 135.7 - 137.8 kHz. 


This item is a Canadian proposal that did not make it onto the WRC-2003 agenda. We are asking for a world wide secondary allocation with a power limit of 1 watt EIRP. 
Industry Canada has authorized several experimental stations on this band, as have a number of other countries including the UK, Australia, and the United States.  
Judging from the articles in TCA and in other national radio society magazines, and on the Internet, interest in having this become a ham band is high and we’re cautiously 
optimistic that this could be one of the outcomes of WRC-2007. 


Again, thank you for your support of DARF.


 The Trustees


 Dave Snydal, VE4XN, Treasurer
|Gerry Hohn, VE6LB
George Gorsline, VE3YV, Chair