To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) RAST has applied for and received permission to use the special event callsign HS90IARU for the entire month of December 2015.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was founded in Paris on 18th of April 1925 and is an association of over 160 national Radio Amateur organizations worldwide and the IARU has been the watchdog and spokesman for the world Amateur Radio community since then.
The IARU Constitution, last amended in 1989, organizes the Union into three Regional Organizations that correspond to the three radio regions of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The IARU Constitution also provides for an IARU Member Society to serve as the Union's International Secretariat.
RAST is one of the 29 member societies in IARU Region 3.

Please look for HS90IARU on the HF bands in December, 2015.
All QSOs will be confirmed with the special QSL card displayed above.
QSL via E21EIC while cards for all QSOs will be sent via the buro and LoTW will be updated in January 2016.

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Khun Ponwat (left), HS1XIM along with President of RAST's Board of Advisors Mrs Mayuree Chotikul, HS1YL and RAST President Jakkree (Jack) Hantongkom, HS1FVL display the SEANET banner at the November meeting of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the patronage of His Majesty the King at Sena Place Hotel on Sunday, November 1.
Last month, Ponwat represented RAST at the 2015 SEANET Convention in Kerala, India and accepted the banner on behalf of RAST in a formal ceremony as the society will be hosting the 44th annual SEANET Convention in the beach resort of Pattaya next year. For more details check out the SEANET 2016 website. -- Thanks to Champ, E21EIC for this photo

The IARU Region 3 triennial conference of was inaugurated on Monday October 12, 2015 at the Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel in Bali, Indonesia and the meeting began by observing a minute of silence in memory of Fred Johnson ZL2AMJ and Ken Pulfer VE3PU who went SK during past three years.
The President of Conference Mr. Sutiyoso, YB0ST then welcomed everyone on behalf of the host Society, the Indonesian Amateur Radio Organization (ORARI) while the Governor of Bali, Mr. I Made Mangku Pastika, sent vice-Governor Mr. Ketut Sudikerta to convey his welcome message to the Conference and welcomed everyone to Bali. He commended the contribution of ORARI and wished the conference every success.

At left: Dave Sumner, K1ZZ of the ARRL serves as Secretary of a working group during the five-day conference.

Chairman of Directors of IARU Region 3 Mr Gopal Madhavan, VU2GMN, thanked the guests for their attendance and welcomed the delegates to the 16th IARU Region 3 Conference on behalf of the IARU Region 3 Officers while IARU President Timothy Ellam VE6SH, welcomed the participants on behalf of the IARU Officers and the International Secretariat and thanked ORARI for hosting the 16th Triennial Conference of IARU Region 3.
He then pointed out that the WRC-15 is to be held soon in November 2015 and IARU team would make their best effort for a possible allocation to amateur service near 5 MHz at WRC-15. Minister of Communication and Information Technology of Republic of Indonesia Mr. Rudiantara also welcomed the participants to the conference. He recognized the important role of amateur radio in disaster communication in this country with many islands and wished the conference every success.
Mr. Rudiantara was then joined by other speakers on the stage and formally declared the Conference open jointly with Tim Ellam by striking the gong.
Towards the end of the five-day conference, delegates endorsed a proposal from the Korean Amateur Radio League (KARL) to host the 17th triennial Region 3 conference in late 2018.

At right: Representing the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand at the conference is Chalermphol (Champ) Muangamphun, E21EIC, the Secretary of RAST (right) and Neeranuch (J.C.) Muangamphun, E20NKB, the registrar of RAST.

RAST was participating in the conference, being represented by the society's secretary, Chalermphol Muangamphun (Champ), E21EIC and accompanied by his XYL, RAST Registrar Neeranuch (J.C.), E20NKB. A special event station using the callsign YB16IARU was active during the event and Champ was one of the operators of this station during the conference.
The conference saw participation by a total of 15 societies in person with others comprising the ARRL US Pacific Territories, ARSI India, CRSA China, CTARL Taiwan, HARTS Hong Kong, JARL Japan, KARL Korea, MARTS Malaysia, NZART New Zealand, ORARI Indonesia, RSSL Sri Lanka, SARTS Singapore, WIA Australia and VARC Vietnam.
Three societies were represented by proxy, being BDARA Brunei, PARA Philippines and RSGB United Kingdom.
In Bali there were also IARU Region 3 Directors, representatives from IARU Region 1 and Region 2, and the IARU International Secretariat.
Each society filed a report and all documents can be found at the IARU Region 3 website.
Also attending in addition to IARU President Tim Ellam VE6SH, were Vice President Ole Garpestad LA2RR and Secretary Rod Stafford W6ROD, Region 1 President Don Beattie G3BJ and Region 2 President Reinaldo Leandro YV5AM and Vice President Jose Molina YS1MS.
Two working groups were formed, one on policy matters that included education, training, development of amateur radio and international and regional conferences involving radio administrations with special concentration on Youth and the second one to address operational and technical matters, including emergency communications, digital modes, APRS common frequency and band plans.
In addition a separate Finance Committee was formed where all delegates were invited to participate.
A total of 37 papers were discussed by the working groups and recommendations submitted to conference.
The Administrative Council of IARU also met just before the Region 3 conference with Chairman Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN and Director Shizuo Endo JE1MUI participating on behalf of Region 3 with Director Wisnu Widjaja YB0AZ and Secretary Ken Yamamoto JA1CJP also attending as observers. The Administrative Council members also participated in the conference.
The conference noted that ORARI amateur satellite LAPAN A2 was launched successfully in September 2015 from a launch pad in India.
The following six directors were elected by voting following seven nominations: Rhee, Joong Guen HL1AQQ, Shizuo Endo JE1MUI, Peter Young VK3MV, Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN, Wisnu Widjaja YB0AZ and Don Wallace ZL2TLL.
The directors then elected Gopal Madhavan VU2GMN as their Chairman, which was endorsed by conference.
Katsumi (Ken) Yamamoto JA1CJP was returned unopposed as Secretary.
The conference was in praise of the ORARI organizing committee, headed by Mr. Gjelani Sutama YB1GJS and the dedicated team of young volunteers, the hotel, arrangements for meetings etc. The conference thanked Syarif Hidayat YB1FWO for taking on the role of conference chairman and conducting the meetings with efficiency.
One invitation was received from KARL to host the 17th Regional Conference of IARU Region 3 at Seoul in the Republic of Korea. Presentations were made by KARL and the conference adopted to hold the next conference in Korea in late 2018. (ARDF World Championships will also be held in Korea, 2018.)

The October RAST meeting at Sena Place Hotel reminded everyone present that RAST Secretary Champ, E21EIC would be representing Thailand at the upcoming IARU Region 3 Conference in Bali, Indonesia along with his wife, RAST Registrar J.C. (Goy), E20NKB while Khun Ponwat, HS1XIM will be travelling to India later this month to attend the 2015 SEANET Convention on behalf of RAST.
In the after-lunch briefing by RAST President Jakkree (Jack), HS1FVL the 40-plus members present also learned more about the JAISAT-1 CubeSat satellite project, were informed about an imminent expansion of the 80 metre band and about RAST's plans to participate in the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission's (NBTC's) Amateur Radio Festival scheduled for early December.
As usual, the meeting began by inviting newcomers or returnees to introduce themselves by saying a few words and there were four guests taking the microphone: Bambi, VK4AYL who had previously attended a RAST meeting two years ago and who edits an online amateur radio magazine in Australia called "Cooee", Khun Montri, E20KOQ the owner of the 10 Meter Shop as well as E22MCU and E22HBU.
Then Jakkree announced that Fred Laun, K3ZO and HS0ZAR, had generously sponsored Champ and his wife to travel to Bali for the IARU Region 3 Convention on behalf of RAST with a donation of US$2,000 to cover their air tickets and hotel expenses. The convention, which is held once every three years, takes place from October 12-16 and will be hosted by the Organisasi Amatir Radio Indonesia (ORARI).
Also representing RAST overseas this month will be Ponwat, HS1XIM who will be travelling to Kerala State in South India to attend the 43rd SEANET Convention from October 15-18 when he will accept the SEANET flag on behalf of RAST who will be organising the convention in Pattaya next year.
Plans are moving ahead for the 44th SEANET Convention and the latest details can be found at the SEANET 2016 official website. There was a question during the meeting asking which hotel had been selected for the Pattaya convention but Jakkree explained this had yet to be finalized. Once this has been decided upon these details would be posted on this website as well as appearing on the official SEANET 2016 site.
It was also announced that last month the NBTC had formally signed its authorisation of 9.3 million baht in funding for the JAISAT-1 (Joint Academy for Intelligent Satellites for Amateur Radio in Thailand) satellite project over the next two years.
(A copy of the signed agreement is shown at right)
RAST Representatives led by Tanan Rangseeprom, HS1JAN are now working on the construction of the CubeSat satellite, negotiating with suppliers, and are seeking an appropriate rocket launch pad.
The RAST President also promised that there would be good news very soon regarding the 80-metre band with the NBTC reportedly about to announce an expansion from 3.5 - 3.54 MHz to 3.5 - 3.6 MHz, an expansion from 40 KHz to 100 KHz.
Jakkree also announced that the RAST club station HS0AC at the Asian Institute of Technology was preparing a team to operate in the CQWW SSB contest on October 24-25 and that any operators who were interested in taking part should contact Karn, E20ZFD (Email:e20zfd(AT)amsat.org).
He rounded up the announcements at the October RAST meeting by reminding everyone that the NBTC would be staging an "Amateur Radio Festival" at the beginning of December. This three-day event will take place at the NBTC Secretariat on Phaholyothin Soi 8 (Soi Sailom) where RAST would have a booth with demonstrations and the society would also be taking part in the seminar session when it will be making some presentations, including one about JAISAT-1.

In order to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) in 1925, an IARU award is being issued for those stations who have contacted 10 member-society jubilee stations during the period of time from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015.
Details regarding the award can be found at http://iaru90.hamlogs.net/iaru/
The award is being administered by Soyuz Radiolyubitelei Rossii [SRR], the Russian Amateur Radio Union and any inquiries about the award can be directed to [email protected].

At the September RAST meeting Deputy Bangkok Metropolitan Authority (BMA) Governor Jumpol Sampaopol presented a trophy on behalf of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand under the Patronage of His Majesty the King whose team won the ARDF Championships conducted in Ubon Ratchathani province in late July.
The Deputy Governor (pictured at left), accompanied by advisors to the BMA, joined RAST members and guests at Sena Place Hotel for a buffet lunch while later RAST President Jakkree (Jack) Hantongkom, HS1FVL presented certificates to those who had passed the recent VEC exam conducted by RAST officials led by Champ, E21EIC on behalf of the Federal Communications Commission of the USA.
During the meeting, RAST President Jack also provided an account of RAST's participation in the JARL Ham Fair in Tokyo last month which had marked the 90th anniversary celebration of the Japan Amateur Radio League attended by 20 RAST officers and members.
Members of the winning RAST ARDF team also attended the meeting and a presentation was made about the team's winning participation while a team of representatives from King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi also took part in the September 6 meeting.

Photos courtesy of Wanlop, HS6MYW and Teerapat, E21MMC

RAST President Jakkree (Jack), HS1FVL and RAST Secretary Champ, E21EIC led a 20-strong team of RAST members to Tokyo, Japan where the society participated in Asia's largest amateur radio convention, the JARL Ham Fair on August 22 and 23.
RAST had a booth there for the third consecutive year and the society was promoting the SEANET Convention which it will host in Pattaya next year as well as welcoming all contesters and DXers who visited the booth, booth No A15.
According to Champ, RAST committee members included the following participants:
JI1NNT = HS1FVL RAST president, Jakkree Hantongkom
JI1NNU = HS1JZT Apinant Kaeo-yu (Pop)
JI1NNV = HS7BHK Nukool Sukpol (Nuk)
JI1NNX = HS1IWX Amnat Chulakata
JI1NNY = E20MIO Dr Noppadol Narupiti (Mor Dong)
JI1MXI = HS1AAZ Dr.Panit Chantrabhakdee (A)
JI1MXJ = 9M6YBG Go Yeu Bin
JI1FGC = HS5IGY Noppadol Nimwanadon (Tong)
JH1TEP = E20NKB Acting 2nd Lt Neeranuch Muangamphan (JC)
JH1TEQ = E21EIC Chalermphol Muangamphan (Champ)
They will on the air from Japan and QSL via Homecall.
Our thanks to Chalermpol (Champ) and Noppadol Nimwanadon (Tong) who took most of these photos and posted them on Facebook (where you can find more photos of the event).

A RAST team won the HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Trophy in the ARDF Championships which took place on July 31 and August 1 in Ubon Ratchthani Province while the National Broadcasting and Telecommunictions Commission (NBTC) has agreed to provide 9.3 million baht in funding for the RAST-sponsored JAISAT-1 Project over the next two years.
Members and guests attending the August meeting of RAST were informed about these developments by RAST President Jakkree (Jack), HS1FVL following a buffet lunch at the Sena Place Hotel. Those present, numbering almost 30, included a long-time RAST member who mostly lives in Denmark, OZ1FJB, Lars who is a keen contester using the callsigns OU2V and OZ5E.
Other positive developments that Jack also announced during the meeting were the appointment of a company to organise and manage the 44th SEANET Convention in Pattaya next year and how a team of 20 RAST staff members would be helping out at the Tokyo Ham Fair later in August.
The President said that RAST's winning ARDF team would attend the September 6th meeting when they would bring along the HRH Princess Sirindhorn Trophy (pictured above during the presentation ceremony on August 1 in Ubon Ratchathani Province - Tnx to Khun Thida, HS1ASC for this photo)) that they had won for all to see.
This victory also meant that RAST would be the host of the event next year when the society would be responsible for organising the 2016 ARDF Championships, Jack added. More information about the ARDF championships and many pictures can be found on the ARDF Thailand Facebook page.
But, in terms of good news, the highlight during the meeting was the announcement of a pledge of funding from the NBTC and its Fund for the Research and Development of Broadcasting, Television and Telecommunications for Public Benefit for the JAISAT-1 project to the tune of 9.3 million baht.
JAISAT is an acronym for the "Joint Academy for Intelligent Satellites for Amateur Radio of Thailand."
Jack said that he, along with JAISAT-1 Project Leader Tanan Rangseeprom, HS1JAN (seen at right during the meeting and holding a CubeSat module) and other senior RAST officers were present at the NBTC Secretariat on Tuesday, August 4 -- National Telecommunications Day -- when the formal signing of the contract took place.
This funding would cover a two-year period for the JAISAT-1 satellite, which is a CubeSat, and this would include finances to develop and implement a linear transponder as well as to set up a ground station which would be located at Bangkok University. Jack added that RAST would establish a special sub-committee to help oversee this and this would include himself and Tanan.
The RAST President added that a separate bank account would be opened for the JAISAT-1 project while Tanan later provided additional information about the project to members at the meeting.
In other developments, Jack said that the company that RAST had appointed to organise the 2016 SEANET Convention was Baan Makkuted Co Ltd which had recently celebrated its 15th anniversary and which would be responsible for co-ordinating all the SEANET events, arranging airport transfers, travel and tours, selecting the convention hotel and organising other activities in accordance with RAST's recommendations.
A company representative (pictured below) had attended a RAST committee meeting conducted prior to the Sunday meeting for a briefing, he added.
Jack also reminded those at the meeting that a team of RAST officers and several members would be participating in the Tokyo Ham Fair on August 22-23. Jack will be there himself, along with several other RAST committee members who will travel to Japan for this including Nukool, HS7BHK, Noppadol, E20MIO, Panit, HS1AAZ and J.C. Goi, E20NKB.

Altogether, some 20 RAST representatives will be helping out at the RAST booth there and this will be the third consecutive year that RAST has participated in the biggest ham fair in Asia.
RAST will also be taking advantage of this opportunity to promote the SEANET Convention in Pattaya next year during the event.

The highlight of the July RAST meeting at Sena Place Hotel was the presentation of plaques, certificates and awards to the winners in various categories of the 2014 CQ World-Wide VHF contest, the 2014 IARU HF Championships, the All Asia DX Contest and the CQ World-Wide WPX contest.
Presenting the awards that had been prepared by RAST Secretary Champ, E21EIC in front of an audience of some 40 members and guests were former RAST President Mayuree Chotikul, HS1YL former Vice President and RAST advisor Gen Prasit Neelayotin, HS1DN and RAST President Jakkree (Jack) Hantongkom, HS1FVL.
The presentations followed announcements made
by RAST President Jakkree, including news that permission had been granted by the NBTC for Intermediate Class operators and club stations to operate on six metres for three days later this month. This is from July 18-20 in conjunction with the CQWW VHF Contest on July 18-19. The special permission covers three
days and should provide a good opportunity for Intermediate Class operators who have equipment for six
metres to test propagation and to work some DX stations in addition to participating in the contest.
Any Intermediate Class operator who intends to operate on 50 MHz during this period should register in advance at the RAST Thai-language website. Here is a link to the registration page. To view those who are
authorized to operate please click here.
Jakkree also announced that RAST will be sending a team to participate in the ARDF championships that will take place on July 31 and August 1 in Ubon Ratchathani province when the winner of the event will receive the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn trophy.
The RAST President also announced that a large RAST team would be travelling to Japan next month to help staff the RAST booth at the Tokyo Ham Fair from August 22-23. Champ, E21EIC will be leading 20 staff members to the Tokyo Ham Fair when the Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) will celebrate its 90th anniversary. The RAST group will include President Jakkree, HS1FVL along with several other RAST committee members including Nukool, HS7BHK, Noppadol, E20MIO, Panit, HS1AAZ and J.C. Goi, E20NKB.
At the meeting members also learned that the society's participation in the Friedrichshafen Ham Fair in Germany the previous weekend (see an illustrated report below) with a booth had been a success when brochures for the SEANET Convention in Pattaya next year were distributed and some 330 visitors signed the RAST guest book during the exhibition.
Plans for the convention are moving ahead and Khun Polwat, HS1XIM who was one of the organizers of the 2007 SEANET Convention in Lampang, will be represent RAST at the 43rd SEANET Convention in India which will take place from October 15-18 in Alappuzha, Kerala on the west coast of India.
RAST is also preparing a video to promote the event next year in Pattaya and will select the hotel where the event will take place this month.
Among the newcomers to the July meeting was Miss Passamon Padungchewit,
E23SSH who passed the Intermediate Class examination conducted for the NBTC by RAST on April 18, becoming the youngest Thai Intermediate Class amateur radio operator at the age of 12.
President Jakkree took the opportunity to congratulate her and introduced her to members during the meeting when she took the microphone. In all, a total of 67 candidates passed both the Morse code test and the theory during the Intermediate Class examination and here is a list of those who passed published by the NBTC.
There were also several winners of trophies attending the July meeting for the first time, along with Gerwin, GW4RII who has been living in Korat for three years and will be applying for a reciprocal licence. We do not have enough space to publish photographs of all the presentations of awards that were made during the meeting but hopefully the pictures here provide an insight into the atmosphere at the event.
Finally, Tanan, HS1JAN and Anant, HS1GAB made a joint presentation about progress around satellite communications in the region and provided a brief update about balloooning.

On June 27 and 28 Champ and other VEC examiners conducted a US FCC VEC examination for several novice and Intermediate class amateur radio operators in Bangkok.

Over 17 000 visitors attended the Friedrichshafen Ham Radio Fair during two and a half days the exhibition was open and among the exhibitors were the main manufacturers of ham radio equipment including Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu as well as many dealers of amateur radio equipment and accessories.
In two more exhibit halls there was a market for used and old radios, measuring equipment and electronics while in first exhibit hall, there were boths of the national ham radio organisations of several countries including that of RAST.
More than 330 visitors signed the guest book at the RAST
booth during the event -- and many of the visitors to the booth asked about how to operate on the amateur radio bands during their holidays in Thailand. The staff at the booth informed them -- to their disappointment --
that Thai authorities do not except the CEPT licence, but that residents who are nationals of many European countries may obtain a reciprocal licence to get on the air.
In the photos shown here, RAST representative Benjamas, HS6SSE helped promote the 2016 SEANET Convention in Pattaya by visiting other booths at the exhibition with the pictures at right taken at the ARRL booth, the Austrian booth and the Polish booth in the exhibition.

-- Thanks to Koess, HS0ZLA and Benjamas, HS6SSE for the information and photos in this brief report.