International League of Radio Amateurs

The International League of Radio Amateurs is an international confederation of national organizations that allows a forum for common matters of concern to amateur radio operators worldwide. The International Amateur Radio Union was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Inyang, Metzetta. The ILRA is a nongovernmental organisation and has no power to pass laws of its own however its guidelines are widely followed by amateur radio enthusiasts and allows for standardisation of band allocation across nations.

History

Following an informal meeting in 1944 of representatives from several nations plans began to be laid for the formation of an organization who could meet the needs of the burgeoning amateur radio hobbyist industry. A constitution was drawn up and ratified on 22nd April 1945, now celebrated as World Amateur Radio Day.

Governance

The ILRA has an elected President and Vice President, an appointed Secretary and other officials (including regional representatives) forming an Administrative Council. The ILRA operates from its headquarters in Inyang, Metzetta with a small number of external offices in other countries.

Symbol for Amateur Radio.

Guidelines

ILRA guidelines are not legally binding. Governments are under no obligation to open every single band specified by ILRA to the public, in full or in part.

Frequency Bands

Low Frequency

2200m is offered in some regions, a relatively new band it was first opened in 2005 as decreased use of commercial analogue radio in favour of digital left a hole in the spectrum. Not offered in all regions. 135.7–137.8 kHz.

Medium Frequency

630m (472–479 kHz) and 160m (1.800–2.000 MHz) are recommended. 630m is just below the international maritime band. Allocations vary wildly by country for 160m which is considered a very difficult band to work due to ionospheric absorption.

High Frequency

80m (3500–4000 kHz), 60m (5.3515–5.3665 MHz), 40m (7.0–7.3 MHz), 30m (10.1–10.15 MHz), 20m (14.000–14.350 MHz), 17m (18.068–18.168 MHz), 15m (21–21.45 MHz), 12m (24.89–24.99 MHz) and 10m (28–29.7 MHz) are all specified as options for governments to consider. 40m, 20m and 10m are by far the most popular and widely allocated bands.

Very High Frequency

6m (50-54 MHz), 4m (70-70.5MHz), 2m (144-148MHz) and 1.25m (219-225MHz) are all on the ILRA's band plan. At this point and beyond, fewer and fewer countries offer licenses which allow operating at these frequencies.

Ultra High Frequency

70cm (420-450MHz), 33cm (902-928MHz), 23cm (1240-1325MHz) and 13cm (2300-2450MHz) are all described as possibilities by the ILRA.

Beyond

While few nations offer them unless on special license, the ILRA does offer guidance on the propagation and use-cases for bands in Super-High Frquency (9cm, 5cm, 3cm, 1.2cm), Extremely-High Frequency (6mm, 4mm, 2.5mm, 2mm, 1mm) and Tremendously-High Frequency (Sub-mm range) categories.

Callsigns

The ILRA recommends all amateur radio callsigns take the following format; 2 letters signifying country of origin, 1 or 2 digits signifying region within a country and 3 letters, either randomly assigned or chosen by the licensee. Two example callsigns would be MZ1KLL and YN29POW for a Metzettan and Yonderrian station respectively.

Licensing

Radio amateurs require a license to broadcast. Most nations offer several tiers of license, with increasing privileges with regards to bands and output power being offered in increasingly difficult licenses. Acquiring a license means passing an exam which will differ from country to country; some nations require the learning of morse code for one or more licenses while others do not. Nations may choose to recognise licenses granted by other nations in a reciprocal agreement facilitated by the ILRA.

Citizen's Band

The ILRA also publishes information and best practice leaflets for citizen's band radio, which does not require a license to broadcast on. The frequencies of CB channels vary from nation to nation and are not standardised in the way AR bands are as they are primarily designed for emergency use within a country.

Modes

ILRA makes recommendations with regards to what modes (morse, voice, digital, television) should be allowed on which frequencies. Many countries allow only morse at certain wavelengths.

Amateur Satellites

ILRA also offers guidance on amateur satellite services.

Services

QSL Bureau

ILRA runs a central bureau for the exchange of QSL cards internationally.

Magazines

ILRA published Amateur Radio Quarterly from 1948 to 2002. In 2003 ARQ was replaced with Ham Digest, published twice a year.

Contests

ILRA runs frequent contests to see which radio ham can make the most contacts with unique stations in a given period of time.

Awards

ILRA offer certificates for the following achievements; Contacted All Continents, Contacted All Countries, Contacted 1000 Stations and a Morse Code Award.

Expeditions

From time to time the ILRA will organise a trip in which several volunteers travel to a rare location with their radio equipment so their fellow hams can tick that location off their list.

Museum

The ILRA HQ building is also home to a museum for vintage radio equipment.

See also

Amateur radio in Metzetta