A Report to the NASB of the A14 HFCC Conference Activities Dr. Jerry Plummer January, 2014 The A14 HFCC Conference was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia January 20-24, 2014 at the Hotel Istana, where the previous two meetings were located. Approximately 110 persons were in attendance for the Conference, representing a bit above the average attendance. The Opening Plenary Monday started with the Opening Plenary, where Dr. Ammal Punchihewa of ABU welcomed the attendees with remarks regarding the rapidly changing technologies of the medium, stressing the digital divide and that access of information is a basic human right. He noted that less than a third of the world has current internet access and that shortwave is still a viable and usable medium for information access. Chairman Oldrich Cip then expressed the HFCCs appreciation to ABU as host, and turned the mic over to Mr Pham Hai of the ITU, an always interesting speaker, who continued with the digital divide and isolated non-internet group aspects. Both he and Oldrich stressed the emergency broadcasting area, as well as UNESCO and World Radio Day as being important to HFCC. HFCC is registered for the Disaster Reduction Program and other emergency communications programs worldwide. Bassil Zoubi, of ASBU, then reminded the attendees that the analog to digital conversion still has a long way to go worldwide and that DRM for ASBU is still a large part of future planning. Bassil noted that shortwave is the de facto transmission standard in the arid desert Arab countries from a propagation standpoint. Horst Scholz, of Media Broadcast GmbH in Germany, then noted new observers from Africa, Bauchi Radio of Nigeria, as well as VoN (Voice of Nigeria), attending their first conference and requesting membership in HFCC. Horst then noted that elections would be held this week for Chairman and Systems Development Coordinator-the latter where Sergio Salvatori of Vatican Radio will stand for reelection. There were no candidates for Chairman. Horst then concluded the Opening Plenary by asking for any questions and wishing much coordination success to the attendees. Coordination Activities A typical day of coordination followed the below schedule: 0900hrs Coordination Continues 1030hrs Coffee Break 1100hrs Coordination Continues 1230hrs Lunch Break 1400hrs Coordination Continues 1530hrs Coffee Break 1600hrs Coordination Continues 1730hrs Coordination activity Closes for the day and included the entry of new frequencies, as well as frequency changes by all attendees. Vladislav Cip had done his usual masterful job of arrangement of the network and internet access, even though he had only a few hours to set up everything, due to the Hotel Istanas heavy booking of the conference rooms prior to HFCC. Vladislav truly does an admirable job behind the scene making all the IT functions seamless. One of the mainstays of HFCC is the ability for attendees to speak directly to each other and coordinate frequencies and collision removal. The internet is a wonderful thing, but there remains no doubt that face to face interaction will never be replaced; particularly given the large geographic and cultural differences between varied attending members. To me, this is perhaps the most critical of HFCC functions-this unique ability to meet across the globe in a room for a week to develop relationships, solve collisions and develop a usable broadcaster frequency schedule. This can never be overstated. NASB members attending were Dr. Jerry Plummer of WWCR and the Caribbean Beacon, Kevin Chambers of World Christian Broadcasting, the illustrious George Ross and Shakti Verma of Trans World Radio and FCC representative Shahnaz Ghavami. Other domestic attendees included the IBBs Steve Bratcher and Duane Williams. Long time IBB monitor and NASB friend Arto Mujunen was also in attendance. Mr Norbert Schall, the creator of WPLOT2000ex, offered clinics daily afternoons for any interested attendees. Things to Do in Kuala Lumpur Although there was no organised dinner this time, the conference attendees continued the relationship building after hours, with many chance meetings in KL and individually arranged group dinners galore. For example, an informal social arranged by some members of NASB, IBB and the FCC one evening was attended by several persons of other FMOs, where many items were discussed and agreed upon. Many examples of this abounded during the week, where a cross-nation and cultural detente was highly noticeable. The Istana is a mere stones throw from countless shops and restaurants, offering (virtually) limitless options to visitors-with very good prices vis-a-vis American levels. Sites such as the KL Twin Towers and Communications Tower nearby were good touring spots for all and the KL weather was superb-compared to the extreme cold weather experienced in the United States during this time frame. Typical days were about 92 and 81 day/night Fahrenheit with no rain. Many varied groups toured the city after work and many times these groups would meet each other and engage in discussion and meals. This was truly a wonderful experience. The Closing Plenary Horst began the closing plenary by announcing that B14 would be held in Sofia, Bulgaria 25 – 29 August 2014 as a joint NASB-Spaceline venture. Web site updates on the HFCC page would appear within a few weeks. Horst continued by stating that A15 would be tentatively held in Muscat, Oman, 2-6 February, 2015. It also is common knowledge that B15 would be held in Australia, where HCJB Global Australia would be sponsor. Horst said that the date for the submission of requirements for B14 would be Thursday, 31 July 2014. Sergio noted that antenna data is required now of all frequency entries, and that discussion was underway for a service area clarification in excess of existent CIRAF data that may be possible in future. Sergio noted that discussion regarding frequency requirements for non-HFCC members was being considered-and more information would be forthcoming in future. This is a particularly interesting consideration and more detail will be looked forward to. The representative of petitioning new member Bauchi Radio of Nigeria introduced himself and his operation, also expressing the apologies of the petitioning new member Voice of Nigeria representative who was unable to attend. Gary Stanley noted that a workshop regarding emergency broadcasting was held in Geneva, following up on Opening Plenary comments of the same nature. Oldrich reported that World Radio Day was 13 February 2014 and that all members were asked to participate. He also reported that slow progress was being made on the Unesco Emergency Broadcasting project. Pham Hai of the ITU reported that the use of shortwave broadcasts to varied refugee camps had been noted world wide and exemplified the above noted digital divide. He also reported on general ITU activities, such as the changing shifts in content providers moving into multiple media. Horst then reported on the election results, where Sergio (previously noted) retained the position of Systems Development Coordinator. Oldrich Cip agreed to shoulder the Chairman position for one more year, when new candidates can be determined. Gary concluded his remarks by thanking the ABU for a splendid conference and the Closing Plenary concluded with the always interesting Pham Hai telling a closing joke about five rules for a mans happy life. In Summary This was a well attended and and highly functional meeting. Many collisions were avoided and much interaction was accomplished across FMOs. Many thanks are in order to the ABU, ASBU and HFCC itself for providing an efficient and effective modicum for another successful conference.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 03:06:24 +0000
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