I am leaving for Geneva on Sunday and will represent the IARU at a meeting of ITU-R Working Party 1A next week. I am filling in for Peter Chadwick, G3RZP, an IARU volunteer who has been hospitalized recently and therefore is unavailable. WP1A is responsible for spectrum engineering techniques within Study Group 1 (spectrum management) and will be working on a document that may eventually become what's called a "preliminary draft new report" on the impact of power line telecommunications (PLT, what we call BPL on this side of the Atlantic) on radiocommunication systems operating below 80 MHz. Of course, our interest is in ensuring that the report accurately reflects the sensitivity of the amateur services to interference from this source. Jon Siverling, WB3ERA of the ARRL Technical Relations Office is on the US delegation. Also meeting at about the same time (June 12-20) is ITU-R Working Party 8A, which is responsible for most of the land mobile services plus the amateur and amateur-satellite services. IARU President Larry Price, W4RA is the principal IARU representative to WP 8A. WP 8A hopes to complete work on a "draft new handbook for the amateur and amateur-satellite services" to be published by the ITU that has been in process for some months. This isn't competition for the ARRL Handbook -- it is simply an overview of the activities of the amateur services along with existing ITU texts that relate to the two services, and is intended to be a helpful guide for administrations that may not be familiar with amateur radio. I had planned to attend WP 8A to assist with the final drafting of the handbook and will do so to the extent that the WP 1A obligation permits. ARRL Chief Technology Officer Paul Rinaldo, W4RI is on the US delegation and is chairman of the working group that will deal with the amateur handbook. It appears that Paul's working group also will have some HF broadcasting (4-10 MHz) issues to deal with that are coupled to WRC-07. While in Geneva I should have good access to email and will stay current to the extent that time permits. Since we will be in Europe anyway and just a train ride away, Larry, Paul and I will attend the Friedrichshafen convention the following weekend. I expect to be back in the office Tuesday, June 26. I plan to be on vacation June 29-July 4. 73, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ