International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU R1) has established a Youth Working Group and appointed Region 1 Youth Coordinator Lisa Leenders, PA2LS, as Youth Working Group Chairman for the next 3 years. The action came as delegates from IARU Region 1 countries (Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia) met September 21-26 in Bulgaria for the 23rd IARU Region 1 General Conference. The minutes of the Final Plenary are now available.

The Youth Working Group will organize and coordinate Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) program activities, including an annual special event. IARU Region 1 delegates also allocated 3-year budgets of $26,000 for youth projects and $2080 for the Youth Working Group.

In other actions, delegates appointed a Region 1 Amateur Radio Observation Service Coordinator to establish independent AROS operations in about a half-dozen member societies “to commence the monitoring of DXpeditions for malicious QRM” and to work to identify “any patterns and possible sources of jamming.”

In addition, IARU Region 1 delegates recommended changes to the VHF and HF Managers Handbook to address remotely control operation. The policy states that remote operation be permitted, or not objected to, by the regulatory authority of the country where the transmitter is located, and that the call sign should be one issued by the regulatory authority of that country, “irrespective of the location of the operator.” Region 1 delegates noted that the T/R 61-01 agreement only applies to operators using their own call signs with the appropriate country prefix, when the operator is actually visiting that country, and not for remote operation. The delegates left questions regarding the participation of remotely control stations to contest managers and sponsors.

The Region 1 delegates also adopted a “responsible QSLing policy” for all operators. The policy advises stations to state their QSL policies “clearly on the air” as well as online, and to consider offering electronic contact confirmation — such as through Logbook of The World (LoTW). The policy further recommends that stations only send QSL cards to stations requestiing them and to tell contacts if they do not want a QSL card. Further, delegates tasked the Executive Committee with evaluating a digital coding system for QSL and to recommend suitable digital coding to be printed on QSL labels to ease automatic sorting and handling.

IARU Region 1 delegates also allocated funds to the EMC Working Group and established it as a permanent Working Group or committee.

Delegates elected Don Beattie, G3BJ, as the new Region 1 President, and Faisal Alajmi, 9K2RR, as Vice President, Dennis Green, ZS4BS, as Secretary, and Eva Thiemann, HB9FPM, as Treasurer.

The 2017 IARU Region 1 General Conference will be held in September 2017 at Wildbad Kreuth, near Munich, Germany, hosted by the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC).