Day-2: WRC-23 Scales up – including 40-50MHz

WRC23 Day-2 saw the conference structure launch working groups and subgroups, as individual agenda items got underway and documents introduced. Amateur related topics being followed were wideband 40-50MHz satellite-borne radar sounders (AI-1.12), new 240GHz space sensors for climate monitoring (AI-1.14) – and a raft of future agenda proposals for WRC-2027/2031 (AI-10).

Whilst just introducing documents is normally a simple formality, the climate-change related sensor items generated a surprising number of comments compared to expectations. This will probably mean it will take longer before we get certainty regarding our new neighbours. With the COP28 Climate Conference also in Dubai, items such as climate sensors and earth sensing are very high priority items.

With lots of folk and lots of rooms in use, the shear scale of WRC-23 again became apparent. Just having lunch is an impressive piece of logistics. We also realised that the LED coloured strip lights above the walkways were colour-coded to assist navigation around the complex.

After an afternoon plenary it was opportune to visit one of the associated exhibition areas. This included the latest in SDR-based spectrum monitoring and direction finding equipment – including autodetection of the receive antenna and modulation to facilitate flexible rapid surveys.

If you want to know a bit more about WRC,  Space weather and 40-50MHz sensing – see the snippet in our recent ‘Ofcom & Beyond’ RSGB Convention Presentation, just released on the RSGB YouTube channel.

– and our special focus page at rsgb.org/wrc-23

Category: Front Page News, WRC-23