The 16th International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 3 triennial conference opened in Bali, Indonesia, on October 12 with some pomp and circumstance that included comments from government officials and an opportunity for IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, to help sound the gong to bring the meeting to order.

Conference President Sutiyoso, YB0ST, welcomed the attendees on behalf of the hosting Indonesian Amateur Radio Organization (ORARI). IARU Region 3 Chairman Gopal Madhavan, VU2GMN, welcomed delegates on behalf of the IARU Region 3 officers, while Ellam greeted participants on behalf of the IARU officers and the International Secretariat and thanked ORARI for hosting the meeting. Ellam said the IARU team attending the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) in November would make its best effort for a possible Amateur Service allocation near 5 MHz.

Representatives from 15 IARU member societies, including the ARRL, attended. Three other societies were represented by proxy. In his welcoming remarks, Indonesia’s minister of communication and information technology recognized the important role of Amateur Radio in disaster communication in his country with many islands. Participants were uniformly impressed with the excellent organization of the conference by ORARI, as well as with ORARI’s close government ties.

The conferees got down to business promptly, designating two working groups. Working Group 1 (WG1) addressed such policy issues as education, training, development of Amateur Radio, and international and regional conferences involving radio administrations with special concentration on youth. ARRL International Affairs Vice President Jay Bellows, K0QB, chaired WG1. Working Group 2 (WG2) dealt with such operational and technical matters as emergency communication, digital modes, a common APRS frequency, and Region 3 band plans. Titon Dutono, YB3PET, chaired WG2, and ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, served as its secretary. In all, working group members discussed 37 papers and submitted recommendations to the conference for adoption.

Among recommendations adopted was one to ask the IARU Administrative Council to make available information on the use of the Amateur Satellite Service for member societies, satellite groups, Amateur Satellite operators, and concerned radio amateurs. This information would include, but not be limited to, criteria for a satellite to be in the Amateur Satellite Service and the procedure for IARU satellite frequency coordination. The conference also adopted adjustments to the Region 3 band plans. Region 3 directors will consider making the format similar to that used in Regions 1 and 2. Societies were further asked to publicize digital mode developments and educate amateurs not to interfere with Amateur Radio digital transmissions. Attention also was called to newer digital modes, such as MFSK16, DominoEX, and FSQ, as possibly better performers than PSK31.

The IARU Administrative Council (AC) met just prior to the Region 3 conference, and AC members also took part in the conference. In addition to Ellam, others on hand from outside Region 3 included IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, and Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD, Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ, and Vice President Faisal Al-Ajmi, 9K2RR, and Region 2 President Reinaldo Leandro, YV5AM, and Vice President Jose Molina, YS1MS.

Following seven nominations, six individuals, including four incumbents, were elected to the IARU Region 3 Board. They were Rhee Joong Geun, HL1AQQ; Shizuo Endo, JE1MUI; Peter Young, VK3MV; Gopal Madhavan, VU2GMN; Wisnu Widjaja, YB0AZ, and Don Wallace, ZL2TLL. Madhavan was re-elected as chairman. Katsumi “Ken” Yamamoto, JA1CJP, was returned unopposed as Secretary. New terms will begin on November 15.

Before concluding on October 16, the Region 3 Conference accepted an invitation from the Korean Amateur Radio League (KARL) to host the 17th IARU Region 3 Conference in Seoul in late 2018. The ARDF World Championships will take place that same year in Korea.