France Proposes Agenda Items at IARU for WRC-23 Items May Impact 144 MHz and 1240 MHz Amateur Bands

Two proposals under discussion in Europe as possible World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 agenda items could impact important Amateur Radio frequencies, IARU reported this week. Included is a proposal from France to consider the 144 to 146 MHz band as a primary allocation to the Aeronautical Mobile service, as part of a broader consideration of spectrum allocated to that service. IARU also cautioned the amateur community against overreacting to the news.

France will submit a paper containing a proposal for an agenda item for new non-safety Aeronautical Mobile applications at the June 17th to the 21st Conference Preparatory Group meeting of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, or CEPT, in Prague.

The 144 to 146 MHz segment is a primary global Amateur and Amateur Satellite allocation. IARU said it views with grave concern any proposal to include this band in the proposed study, and pledged to energetically promote this viewpoint in the appropriate forums to seek to obtain assurances that the spectrum will remain a primary allocation for the amateur services.

The band 144 to 146 MHz is allocated globally to the amateur and amateur satellite services on a primary basis. This is one of the few primary allocations to the amateur service above 29.7 MHz and as such is an important and widely used part of the amateur spectrum with a vast installed base of users and operational satellite stations.

IARU views with grave concern any proposal to include this band in the proposed study. It will be representing this view energetically in Regional Telecommunications Organisations and in ITU to seek to obtain assurances that the spectrum will remain a primary allocation for the amateur services.

One European Amateur Radio organization already has called for radio amateurs to occupy 2 meters on June 15th for one hour in protest of the French proposal.

Another proposal has been raised to study the 23-centimeter amateur allocation, 1240 to 1300 MHz, following reports of interference to the Galileo navigation system -- Europe's GPS system.

IARU said it's aware of  a handful of cases of reported interference to the Galileo E6 signal on 1278.750 MHz. According to IARU, joint studies have been carried out to assess the vulnerability of the system and, based on these, it considers the proposal to initiate an Agenda item for WRC-23 premature.

IARU does not want the amateur service to affect the operation of the Galileo system in any way. Joint studies have been carried out to assess the true vulnerability of the system and, based on these, IARU regards the proposal to initiate an Agenda item for WRC-23 as premature.

The IARU position is that proper technical assessment of the issues involved should be made in the relevant CEPT study group. Proper account needs to be taken of the operational characteristics of the amateur service in order to develop sensible and proportionate measures that will facilitate the continued utility of the band for amateur experimentation whilst respecting the primary status of the GNSS service.

IARU is ready to cooperate fully in any studies and shares the objective of reaching a secure and permanent solution to the issues of sharing in this band.

IARU asks its Member Societies to draw this information to the attention of their members, and to refrain at this time from making speculative public comments about the situation until further progress has been made in regulatory discussions. IARU is also ready to discuss this issue with other societies not in IARU membership.

IARU Region One President Don Beattie, G3BJ, reported this week on the IARU Region 1 website.

Included is a proposal from France to consider the 144 to 146 MHz band as a primary allocation to the Aeronautical Mobile service, as part of a broader consideration of spectrum allocated to that service.

France will submit a paper containing a proposal for an agenda item for new non-safety Aeronautical Mobile applications at the June 17th to the 21st Conference Preparatory Group meeting of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, or CEPT, in Prague.

Beattie pointed out in his account that 144 to 146 MHz is a primary global Amateur and Amateur Satellite allocation.

This is one of the few primary allocations to the Amateur Service above 29.7 MHz and, as such, is an important and widely used part of the amateur spectrum with a vast installed base of users and operational satellite stations, Beattie commented. IARU views with grave concern any proposal to include this band in the proposed study.

Beattie said IARU will energetically promote this viewpoint in Regional Telecommunications Organizations and the International Telecommunication Union, to seek to obtain assurances that the spectrum will remain a primary allocation for the amateur services.

Another proposal has been raised to study the 23-centimeter amateur allocation, 1240 to 1300 MHz, following reports of interference to the Galileo navigation system, which is Europe’s GPS system.

On this topic Beattie said IARU is aware of a handful of cases” of reported interference to the Galileo E6 signal on 1278.750 MHz. In all cases, these have been resolved by local action with the full cooperation of the amateur stations concerned, Beattie said. IARU does not want the Amateur Service to affect the operation of the Galileo system in any way. Joint studies have been carried out to assess the true vulnerability of the system and, based on these, IARU regards the proposal to initiate an Agenda item for WRC-23 as premature.

Beattie said it’s IARU’s position that proper technical assessment of the issues involved should be made in the relevant CEPT study group. Proper account needs to be taken of the operational characteristics of the Amateur Service in order to develop sensible and proportionate measures that will facilitate the continued utility of the band for amateur experimentation whilst respecting the primary status of the Galileo GPS service, Beattie said, adding that IARU is prepared to cooperate fully in any studies and shares the objective of reaching a secure and permanent solution to the issues of sharing in this band.

IARU is asking its member-societies to “refrain at this time from making speculative public comments about the situation until further progress has been made in regulatory discussions,” and said it’s ready to discuss the issue with other non-IARU societies.

How to find hidden cameras in your Airbnb, and anywhere else

In recent months there’s been a number of alarming reports of Airbnb hosts installing hidden cameras in their properties but not disclosing them to the guests staying there.

Back in January Fast Company reported on a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who discovered two hidden cameras recording him and his family in an Airbnb. And just last month The Atlantic reported on a New Zealand family who was renting an Airbnb in Ireland and found they were being live-streamed from a hidden security camera.
Unfortunately, these aren’t isolated incidents and in response to increasing reports of guests finding hidden cameras in their Airbnb rentals, Airbnb says they are cracking down on hosts who don’t disclose hidden cameras in their property listings.

Yet just because Airbnb has a policy forbidding hosts from hiding cameras in their property without informing their guests, that’s no guarantee all hosts are complying. So if you don’t like the idea that you could possibly be being spied on in the comfort of your Airbnb or wherever else you’re staying is there anything you can do besides taking the host at his word that there are no cameras on the property? Thankfully, yes.

Keep an eye out for any odd-looking gadgets Let’s start with the most basic deterrent: keep your eyes open for any odd-looking gadgets in your Airbnb. Gadgets that look bulky or out of place in their surroundings may contain a hidden camera.

A camera disguised as a USB plug. Admittedly, it’s not the easiest thing to spot a gadget containing a hidden camera that looks out of place, because cameras have become so small, they can be hidden in virtually any device and ones anyone can buy on Amazon. Here’s just a small sample of the types of devices you can buy on Amazon with cameras hidden in them: alarm clocks, wall clocks, smoke detectors, plants, mirrors, light bulbs, speakers, and even USB wall plugs.
Still, if you see an alarm clock in a bathroom or some other place you wouldn’t expect one to be, that could be a tip-off that something is amiss. Similarly, if you see any devices, such as a USB wall plug pointed directly at a bed or shower, something could be up.

When trying to visually spot gadgets with hidden cameras, keep an eye out for devices that have a clean, unobstructed line of sight.
Use a flashlight to check for camera
lenses Another trick to use to visually spot hidden cameras is the flashlight trick. A hidden camera necessitates that its lens is embedded in a regular object. Usually, that lens is made of glass and the object it’s hidden in is made of plastic or other non-glass materials.
Glass is generally more reflective than other materials, so the lenses of hidden cameras can be rather easy to spot if you shine a light around a room. The small camera lens should be more reflective than the surface of the surrounding object.

So it’s worth giving your Airbnb a once over with your smartphone’s flashlight. Turn out all the lights in the Airbnb and activate your flashlight. Slowly do a few sweeps of every room looking for any small, bright flashes of light relative to the surrounding area. If you spot any coming from an object, examine it more closely. You may have just found a hidden camera.

Use Wi-Fi-sniffing apps to check for smart devices. Unfortunately, the above visual checks of an Airbnb aren’t always enough to spot hidden cameras, even for the keen-eyed person. The good news is there’s an even better way to identify hidden cameras.

Virtually all modern hidden cameras, especially the types like the ones listed above, use wireless technology to connect to the router in the Airbnb so they can stream the footage over the internet where the host can view it remotely. But the very fact that these devices are covertly using a wireless signal to stream footage online makes them vulnerable to detection.

Smartphone users can use apps like Fing (available for both iOS and Android) that can display all the wireless devices connected to a Wi-Fi network. So after arriving at your Airbnb and connecting to the host’s wireless network, whip out Fing and give that network a scan. It’ll show your device and any other connected to that same network.

While Fing and similar apps can’t always identify what types of devices are connected (is it a hidden camera or just a wireless printer?) the app can display the MAC address of the connected device, which can give you a hint as to what the connected device is. Simply enter the MAC address of any identified gadget at MacVendorLookup.com to see who the manufacturer is and white type of device the MAC belongs to.