September 19, 2012
AMATEUR RADIO IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
As Amateur Radio Regulations are now finalized, Kosovo welcomes foreign operators to visit the country and enjoy being part of a new amateur radio setting. The first eleven operators were licensed on Monday and there are more to come soon. The Z60K callsign is issued to the new Amateur Radio Association of Kosovo, SHRAK, and will be active from new premises as soon as these are fixed. SHRAK President, Sabit, Z61AA together with Ali, Z61DD are heading these efforts. Many individual new licensees are scheduled to have a go at the new radios at Z60K during this week.
Also, individual visitor licensing is now in place and the first visitor license was issued at a gathering hosted by the Administrators and attended by all new local hams as well as their instructors. You may hear Emir, 9A6AA as Z6/9A6AA starting today. An application for a visitor license can be printed soon from the Administrators' (TRA) website but, in the short term, you can obtain an application form from any of the current Kosovo instructors; G3TXF, N2BB/MD0CCE, OH2TA or OH2BH.
The IARU delegation of Hans, PB2T; Nikola, 9A5W and Emil, 9A9A will be departing today and the folks in Kosovo are delighted with their help. All day yesterday was still spent streamlining the technicalities and the procedures for regulations and licensing as some bands are still subject to certain limitations with other users of the spectrum. For example, 80M is not currently permitted.
We are delighted to be part of this historic week as a new European country is entering the scene. Be prepared as the contesting season is also just around the corner, and make sure to add Z6 to your master multiplier database and expect Z6 stations to appear on the air.
Heart-warming moments were experienced as local operators were given their licenses by a Kosovo Assembly representative and Ekrem Hoxha, Chairman of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA.
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This photo taken on Monday, September 17, shows ten of the new Z6 licensees who had just received their licenses in a formal ceremony arranged by the telecommunications regulator (TRA) in Kosovo. They are each holding their new Z6 license. Several of them have already taken the first steps to getting back on the air.
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Reviewing the prospects of Amateur Radio's potential for the youth of the Republic of Kosovo
From left: Mr Ekrem Hoxha, CEO of TRA (Telecommunications Regulatory Authority); Mr Nikola Perci, Executive Committee Member, IARU R1; Mr Martti Laine, Coordinator of Mission Goodwill Kosovo; Mr Besim Beqaj, Minister of Economic Development; Mr Hans Blondeel Timmerman, President of IARU R1; Mr Bob Bardin, of the United States, and Mr Besnik Berisha, Board Member, TRA.
HISTORIC DAY IN THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
It was 23 years ago that most radio amateurs went off the air in Kosovo. A long period of silence came to an end when eleven Amateur Radio licenses were issued today, valid for an immediate activation of this fledgling sovereign republic. When they suddenly come on the air, the first steps of the licensees are obviously difficult as world demand runs high. Great patience is required as you hear the following reborn hams entering the world of Amateur Radio starting today:
Sabit Zymberi, Z61AA; Durmishali Smani, Z61DD; Feti Fazli, Z61FF; Arif Derbati, Z61BA; Avni Jashari, Z61AJ; Vjollca Belegu, Z61VB; Mustafa Xhoni, Z61LA; Agim Sadiku, Z61AS; Agron Sadiku, Z61XO; Driton Sadiku, Z61DX; Naim Sadiku, Z61NS.
The official opening ceremony took place at 1900 hours local time, with all parties present. First QSOs were with G3BJ, G3UML and PA0LOU with Sabit, Z61DD and Driton, Z61DX at the controls.
Additionally, the newly born Amateur Radio Association of Kosovo (SHRAK) was allocated the callsign Z60K today and that callsign will be used for training purposes as well as for celebrating this wonderful event.
Today, an all-day seminar was held with Government representatives, a majority of Kosovo's Amateur Radio population (with an estimated up to twenty to become active immediately) as well as with Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) officials and foreign delegation members
present. Part of the event was televised on the Prishtina TV network. It was a memorable event for those coming back from a 23-year hiatus and for the hams present.
The foreign lecturers welcomed the new group and represented five (5) supporting countries; Hans, PB2T; Nikola, 9A5W; Nigel, G3TXF; Bob, N2BB and Martti, OH2BH.
The mission is to support these new hams and bring them on the air. Please kindly welcome them to the ranks of Amateur Radio.
QSL for Z60K via G3TXF
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September 19, 2012
MISSION GOODWILL KOSOVO WILL INTRODUCE SOME RECENT LICENSEES FROM THE REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
As we go on helping these Kosovar hams to come onboard after a decades-long hiatus from amateur radio, we would like to introduce as many of them now that we have spent time with them together at our two stations.
Feti Fazli, Z61FF
Feti was at the station this morning and will come back later on today. He is another doer and ready to get on with his aging ICOM radio. He works on telecom issues in the capital Prishtina. Fati is one of the original Board members of SHRAK, the newly reactivated association, and is known for his organizational skills. Fati is 49 years of age with three children and was a student at the Technical High School of Prishtina. His first entry to amateur radio was at the YU8ALX club when he received his license in 1980.
He loves DX, contests and ARDF, having traveled in all parts of ex-Yugoslavia. He welcomes contacts with amateur radio operators throughout the world. [feti.fazli@gmail.com]
Arif Derbati, Z61BA
Arif is 54 years old, a manager with a telecoms firm in Prishtina and also an original Board member of SHARK. He is a father of three children and he expects his son Jetmir, 21, an IT expert, to become an amateur radio operator. Arif spent 26 years in Macedonia and got started at the Z32AKB club, called Ilinden Club, with his first license in 1982 and renewed in 1993.
Arif likes DX and contests - another CW expert - but with his past teletype experience he may go RTTY in six months. He needs to get some equipment lined up first. He loves mountain hiking and travels every year to the western Kosovo mountains - very soon hopefully with a 2M handheld with him.
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Monday, September 10, 2012 marked the end of supervised independence of the Republic of Kosovo, a European country with a population of 2 million, and the beginning of its status as a fully sovereign state. The ceremonies featured a keynote address by a former UN Envoy for Kosovo, President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland, an architect of the March 26, 2007 Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement which now came to its completion.
In his speech at Monday's special session of the Kosovo Parliament, President Ahtisaari stated: “Five years ago I offered to the Secretary-General of the United Nations a blueprint for a sovereign, multi-ethnic democracy called Kosovo. Today we celebrate the full and final adoption of the principles and structures of that blueprint into the institutions, the processes, and the legal framework of an independent, functioning state."
Pursuant to the Settlement Proposal, an International Steering Group (ISG) - consisting of twenty-five countries - was formed to oversee and guide the development of good governance, multi-ethnicity and rule of law in Kosovo. The ISG has now completed its duties, allowing Kosovo to continue with full sovereignty and the management of its own affairs as a member of the world community.
This is now the overall state of affairs regarding Kosovo's formal status, which enables the country to pursue its chosen course independently into the future. Kosovo is now an independent country, which must be honored as such.
As of today, a total of 91 countries, including most of the industrialized world, such as USA, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom and France along with the Benelux and Nordic countries, have recognized the Republic of Kosovo. These powers have endorsed the final settlement, the fulfilment of which is now celebrated in Kosovo's capital Prishtina.
An Amateur Radio working group headed by IARU Region 1 President Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T and including IARU Region 1 Executive Committee Member Nikola Percin, 9A5W and Mission Goodwill Kosovo Coordinator Martti Laine, OH2BH together with their associates are in the final stages of assisting Kosovo’s Telecom Authorities in drafting regulations governing Amateur Radio in Kosovo, to bring the original Kosovar operators and their revitalized Amateur Radio Association back to the international community.
http://www.voanews.com/content/supervised-independence-ends-in-kosovo/1505339.html
Inviato: 12 settembre 2012, 18:07