International Radio

Working in the International Telecommunications Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R)

Have you ever wondered how countries around the world manage to avoid radio interference with each other? They do it through an international organization that is responsible for worldwide radio regulations, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), specifically the ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). The ITU is the oldest non-religious international governing body in the world. It dates back to the mid-to-late nineteenth century when there was a need for international technical standards and regulations for the new telegraph technology that was just beginning to develop from the work of early pioneers like Samuel Morse. The ITU has always been based in Geneva, Switzerland. It was probably partly because of the long history of the ITU in Geneva that the old League of Nations was based there between the two World Wars.

Subsequent to the Second World War the League of Nations in Geneva was superseded by the United Nations in San Francisco and later New York, but the ITU is still going strong in Geneva. I have been providing support for the U.S. government at ITU-R meetings for about 15 years. My main area of support is in radar topics in Working Party 8B, although I work in other areas as well, such as radionavigation satellite systems (RNSS) including the U.S. GPS, the European Union’s Galileo and the Chinese Compass.

I can be found once or twice a year in Geneva, Switzerland at ITU-R WP-8B meetings. These meetings are absolutely fascinating: they are held between some of the top technical experts in radar from various administrations, and they can be very hard-fought and contentious. But we virtually always end up negotiating agreements that are ultimately beneficial for everyone concerned.

On the weekends that fall in the middle of any given WP-8B meeting, we usually work on one day and take the other one off. Included here are photographs that I have taken in the meetings and also in Geneva and the Swiss countryside.

Go to the Using My Photos page on this site for instructions on how to obtain high-resolution versions of these images from me. I don’t charge money for my photos, but I do require a photo credit in your end-product in exchange for the use of my images.

Geneva aerial image

ITU logo tile mosaic (Courtesy and copyright ITU)

Meeting of ITU-R Working Party 8B-1 (radar group)

WP-8B meeting June 2007 1

WP-8B meeting June 2007 02

Meeting of WP-8B sub-group

ITU delegates computer area

Part of the WP-8B US delegation

WP-8B meeting Sept 2004 02

WP-8B meeting June 2007 03

ITU WP-8B meeting 2

ITU WP-8B meeting 7

ITU Montbrillant bldg interior

ITU bush with fall color

Geneva city flag with water jet 4

Geneva water jet from east side

Geneva street scene 1

Geneva street scene 2

Geneva flags galore

Geneva perspective view

Geneva rush hour

Geneva street afternoon 2

Geneva lamp post detail

Geneva view south

Geneva view southeast 1

Geneva view southeast 2

Late afternoon Geneva cafe

Lion_sculpture

Narrow Geneva street

Quiet street late afternoon

Rhone bridge in the afternoon. Julius Caesar crossed the Rhone here.

Rhone river in the evening, where Caesar crossed the river.

Geneva City Hall entrance

Geneva fire hydrant

Medusa fountain. Geneva has retained her old horse watering troughs & fountains.

Geneva wonderful serpent fountain for watering horses in the old days.

Big Geneva fountain

Geneva griffin sculpture

Geneva lion portrait 1

Geneva lion landscape 1

Geneva lion head on door oblique

View from Cathedral 01

View from cathedral 02

View from cathedral 03

View from cathedral 04

View from cathedral 05

view from cathedral 07

view from cathedral 08

view from cathedral 09

View of cathedral balcony

View from cathedral 06

View from cathedral 10

view from cathedral 11

Cathedral tower sunset

Cathedral towers

Sighting rose Geneva cathedral tower

Geneva water Jet

Swan on Lake Geneva (Lake Leman)

View across Lake Leman (Lake Geneva) 3

View across Lake Leman (Lake Geneva) 1

Geneva ducks 02

Geneva lake vista with sailboat

Lake Geneva water jet detail

Lake Geneva water jet

Lake Geneva water jet 02

Geneva lake promenade 2

Geneva water jet 3

Geneva water jet portrait detail

Geneva water jet landscape 2

Geneva bridge 01

Outcrops above Geneva

Swiss flag on bridge 01

Swiss flag on bridge with taxi boat

Swiss and Geneva flags on bridge

Lauterbrunnen train

Train at Murren

Jaunpass view 2

Eiger and Jungfrau 2001

Eiger_2001

View frm Jungfrauhoch train

View from Jungfrauhoch 1

View from Jungfrauhoch 2

View from Jungfrauhoch 3

View from Jungfrauhoch 4

View from Jungfrauhoch 5

View from Jungfrauhoch 6

View from Jungfrauhoff 7

Observatory at Jungfrauhoff

Jaunpass view 1

Sunset from Grundewald

Peak near Matterhorn

Birg outcrop above Murren

Chalet at Murren w train 2

Charmey Switzerland 2

Eiger 2

Jaun nearby peaks

Jungfrau from Schilthorn

Lauterbrunnen beneath mtns

Lauterbrunnen from above