I post this message to help the Amateur community understand the politics of amateur radio in Nepal. I will keep the conversation generic and factual. The reader may draw their own conclusions. The first thing you should know is that I am not Nepali. I have no familial ties to Nepal. I once thought of Kathmandu as a Bob Seger song and the gateway to Everest. In April of 2012, I was among a group of folks asked for input on how Amateur Radio could be used to help in the event of a catastrophic earthquake in Nepal - specifically the Kathmandu Valley and surrounding area. I have been involved in that effort ever since. Nepal was a golden opportunity to be involved in a grass roots effort to support Amateur Radio in an environment where there was almost no existing Amateur infrastructure. Imagine a country with no repeater congestion, no "bad habits" and a group of people anxious to become hams; it was a dream come true - or so I thought. There is a major university with a great RF Engineering program helping train enthusiastic young people in the world of RF. They decided to make getting an Amateur license part of the graduation requirements. They also worked to fund, construct and maintain an HF station. The vision was to ring the area with UHF/VHF repeater sites and put inexpensive HTs into the hands of anybody interested in studying, testing and obtaining a license. The station was built and even linked to the Internet. Nets were run between 9N1 land and the BayNet system. The students practiced traffic passing in simulated disaster scenarios. This went so well they were invited to participate in exercises with the military in a simulated earthquake exercise in 2014. There is another group in Nepal who have been involved in Amateur Radio for many years. It is a small group. They have had almost total control of the airwaves in Nepal for a very long time. Some of that group are very influential. They have used their influence to try to continue to shape the future of Amateur Radio in Nepal. A few examples are: Lobbying to maintain a Morse requirement for all license classes Advocating for HF to be the entry level license with UHF and VHF having additional requirements (yes, you read that correctly) Advocating to be the IARU representatives for Nepal Advocating for some NGO's to get special status in Nepali Amateur Radio Advising the government on what types of equipment should be allowed to enter the country (type acceptance) While none of these examples are particularly nefarious and some may seem to actually be helpful, the net effect has been to stifle the expansion of Amateur Radio in Nepal. In a nutshell, you have a group trying to make Amateur Radio accessible to an entirely new generation of potential hams and a group trying to preserve the status quo. It is my opinion that Amateur Radio throughout the world should be accessible to any person who can demonstrate that they are technically, procedurally and ethically capable of responsibly operating within the internationally recognized standards of the IARU. The "old boys club" attitude being demonstrated by some is horribly counter productive. I have laid out the situation as I have experienced it over the past three years. Which position you support will depend on your view of the hobby. Respectfully, Rick Santina - W6IFA The views expressed above are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer, CAN-USA, Radio Mala, Bob Seger, my wife or anybody else.
It's an interesting story. But it is really not surprising or different than anywhere else in the world. Third world countries tend to be more counter productive than one might expect as a hopeful volunteer.
I'm not sure why the entry-level licence should be restricted to either HF or V/UHF. What I do find interesting is that where people are not restricted to V/UHF (i.e. the CEPT countries) those frequencies are all but dead, with most activity happening on HF.
Have they succeeded with these? You use the word "Advocating" a lot but your post doesn't make it clear. Is there a non-morse license? Is there still an easier VHF only license? Is the IARU representative one of this old group? What has he done since getting elected or appointed or however it happens? etc ...
well, which is it, how does a group have "total control" ... "for many years" & "for a very long time", when, by your own words there is "almost no amateur infrastructure"? "It is my opinion that Amateur Radio throughout the world should be accessible to any person who can demonstrate that they are technically, procedurally and ethically capable of responsibly operating within the internationally recognized standards of the IARU. The "old boys club" attitude being demonstrated by some is horribly counter productive." the IARU didn't issue my license. this sounds like another code is too hard thread.
I'd guess it goes like this: Small group has control. Therefore only members of the group can build any infrastructure. Small group makes it difficult for new folk to join the group. Group remains small. Therefore there aren't many folk who can build any infrastructure. So there's almost no infrastructure...
I do. There is less potential for interference on VHF and UHF for someone with little experience who may accidentally cause interference.
The traditional reason for restricting the entry-level licences to VHF/UHF was that operation in these ranges has a much lower potential for international interference. Once upon a time, the Administrations were quite worried by the thought that interference to radio services in other countries may be caused by entry level amateurs. For this reason most Administrations applied some form of licencing system that reserved HF and higher power for the highest licence classes. Today, as the HF spectrum has almost zero commercial value there is a somewhat reversed situation, and hardly anyone longer cares about international interference. UHF spectrum on the other hand can be auctioned off for billions. It is therefore reasonable to expect that we sooner or later may lose the VHF/UHF and microwave bands, subject to commercial pressure. Amateur radio may continue to exist under these conditions, provided the local interference situation will permit HF operation. Finally, the IARU cannot set any standards for amateur radio licences. It can only issue recommendations without any legal standing whatsoever. High-level licence standards are set by the ITU. Regional (such as CEPT) and national authorities then issue certification standards that are derived from the language in the ITU Radio Regulations and from ITU-R M.1544. 73/ Karl-Arne SM0AOM
Do not do politics on ham radio in Nepal Some People from outside Nepal, may be due to ignorance or because of some hidden agenda, have been spreading wrong information about ham radio situation and status in Nepal. Some of these wrong information circulated is that : Having license in Nepal is very hard and restricted, Old 9N-hams are lobbying to maintain a Morse requirement for all license classes Advocating for HF to be the entry level license with UHF and VHF having additional requirements , Advocating to be the IARU representatives for Nepal Advocating for some NGO's to get special status in Nepali Amateur Radio Advising the government on what types of equipment should be allowed to enter the country (type acceptance) Being the oldest alive ham radio operator in Nepal, I felt that I should not keep quiet and should reveal truth before international ham fraternity. I also want to confirm I do not have any government position. Rather as a human rights lawyer have been involved in class action and public interest litigation against Nepal Government. Currently I am working against a case Nepal Government to pursue it to ratify Tampere Convention. Therefore, there is no reason for me to defend Nepal Government. If context have been as stated by some foreigner radio operators are saying, sure the voice would have been raised by a native ham. Why not a single radio operators from Nepal do corroborates such claimed facts? Here is some true information which could be verified with any 9N1 Ham Radio Operator or Government of Nepal, Ministry of communication : -- In Nepal total number of Permanent licenses (not a guest operator), issued to Native ham radio operators are 98. Out of these more than 70 are issued within last 4 years period and 80 % of these new operators are aged below 26 Years of age. -- Lowest grade of license is novice, they are entitled to use V/UHF, there is not any necessity to have HF first. Largest number of hams are only using V/UHF equipments. There are only 8-10 hams who are regularly QRV in hf. -- Examination Fee for licensing exam is Rs. 500/- (about US$5), licensing fee for first time is Rs.500/- (about 5 US$), annual renewal fees Rs. 250 ( about 2.5 US$). This is not an amount which could not be afforded. In 1993 when I got my license to restrict me from operating all frequencies A corrupted officer of Ministry of Info and Comm interpreted rules in a way I had to pay 250 US$ per year to preserve all region III frequencies. But after 3rd year ministry corrected it and till then not a native radio operator have paid anything more than stated above. -- Nepal Amateur Radio Operators Society, NAROS has its members more than 60 out of 98. It is recognized by various Ministries of Nepal Government . NAROS does not advocate any special status for any NGO in Nepal. Obviously it has been working with several school, red-cross, scout, FM and TV stations and NGO's for spreading information about ham radio. It does not accept any special status to any GO/NGO regarding Ham Radio. -- There is not any other organization of ham radio operators in Nepal, except NAROS. If NAROS applies for membership, there is no reason, that it should not have IARU membership. -- NAROS has repeatedly requested Nepal Government to abolish morse code requirement. During last to test people failed in written test was less than 15 %. People failed in 5WPM, CW test were less than 10 %. -- MoIC is very generous to approve ham radio equipment. Except for homebrewed or modified rig, it has never tested any commercial ham radio equipment and fully relied on technical specification. Despite of above facts. We have very serious issues with Nepal Government and we have been fighting on these issue. Among some major issues are: - custom duty on radio equipments which is around 35% practically - restriction to import used used equipments - restriction to posses more than one radio equipment by a single licensee. If someone is interested to verify truthfulness of fact I have stated above can contact Mr. Anup Nepal, Deputy Secretary Ministry of information and communication. Tel No. 977 -9841520115. Moreover, Nepal has given right to information to any concerned person. You can write a letter directly to Secretary for answer. Normally such letter are never responded unless you clearly state that you need such information under the Provision of Right to Information Act. Satish Kharel 9N1AA
