----------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK Oh... and to contact us with your news because If It Matters To You It Matters To Us! email nationalnews@wia.org.au http://www.wia.org.au (click news in member area) Submit your audio news Please.. If you are only submitting text and not audio, write your story as you would expect to hear it being read back and NEVER send just links & url's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WIANEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING DEC 20 2009. australia introduces web filters WIA AND FESTIVE SEASON commemorative station for australia’s worst ever natural disaster BUNYA MOUNTAINS AND DISTRICT AMCOM centenary dinner to be held at the wyong bowling club MARCH 20-21 JOHN MOYLE FIELD DAY 500kHz 1mW qrp uk to norway WESTOZDX - IOTA OC 211 ACTIVATION ALL UP AND COMING IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING DEC 20 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUNTEER GRANTS. Summerland have found out that their grant, which we mentioned last week, actually is exactly $4889.00, which is what the club put in for in their application. The mail advice and deposit to Summerland’s account has not been received yet, however, all good things come to those who wait, so it's said. Watch this space...... Australia introduces web filters Some internet users are deeply opposed to web "censorship" Australia intends to introduce filters which will ban access to websites containing criminal content. The banned sites will be selected by an independent classification body guided by complaints from the public, said Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. A seven month trial in conjunction with internet service providers found the technology behind the filter to be 100% effective. However, there has been opposition from some internet users. Mr Conroy said the filters included optional extras. The filter laws will be introduced in parliament in August 2010 and will take a year to implement. Although a noble attempt at cleaning up the web, lets hope this does not lead to the old ham radio "packet police" days where even this news would be stopped or held up on various sites/routes around VK. A commemorative station for Australia’s worst ever natural disaster On the anniversary of Victoria’s Black Saturday bushfires, the Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group will be setting up a field station VI3KIAH at Kinglake, one of the worst affected areas in the bushfires. Jim Linton VK3 picks up the story. "This commemorative callsign has the suffix KIAH, an Aboriginal word meaning ‘beautiful place’ or ‘from a beautiful place’. The purpose of the amateur radio activity is to acknowledge the efforts of all who fought and were involved the Black Saturday fires on the 7th of February this year, and the services provided by radio amateurs. VI3KIAH will be at the Frank Thompson Reserve Kinglake 2pm to 8pm local time on Sunday the 7th of February. It’s first 173 contacts will qualify for a “From the Black” QSL card – the significance of 173 is that number of people died in the disaster. On the day VI3KIAH will be operating both VHF and HF from the club’s new emergency communications caravan that has replaced the vehicle destroyed by fire at Healesville. The Yarra Valley Amateur Group invites those who were involved in the Black Saturday disaster and others to visit the station at Kinglake and to look for it on air. Well done to the group for its planning of this respectful commemorative activity to occur on a day when all Victorians are asked to pause for a minute's silence for the first anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfire disaster. I’m Jim Linton VK3PC and you’re listening to VK1WIA. WIA AND FESTIVE SEASON This is Michael Owen, VK3KI and this is the last broadcast before Christmas. First, let me tell you of the arrangements this year for the WIA office. The WIA office will close on Wednesday 23 December 2009 and reopen on Monday 18 January 2010. During that time no examinations will be processed or nor book orders dispatched. Book orders placed after Monday 21 December are unlikely to be dispatched before the office reopens in January. Orders for exam packs received before 23 December will be dispatched before Christmas. Any urgent matters should be raised in the first instance by email to secretary@wia.org.au. Next, as we look back on 2009 it has been a very busy year, and the Board would like to thank all those who did so much for amateur radio during the year, with our examination system, all the trainers and all the Assessors and Learning Facilitators, those who contributed to the broadcasts, the Publications Committee and those who contribute for the magazine Amateur Radio and the Call Book, those who conducted the contests and awards, to the many who have responded to our requests for opinions, those who handle the QSLs, to so many who contribute to our interest in so many ways, to our staff at the office and the volunteers who help them, we say a sincere thank you. As this year ends, we look forward to a very special year in 2010, the centenary of organised amateur radio in Australia and the centenary of the WIA. And to all of you who have supported the WIA by your membership, we say thank you and I wish you all the best for the festive season and the New Year. To those of you who are not members of the WIA, or have allowed your membership to lapse, please consider joining or rejoining the WIA and supporting the amateur’s voice in Australia. To everyone may I on behalf of the Directors, the Secretary and the Treasurer and for myself, wish you a very happy Christmas. HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news SARC BBQ SUNDAY. On the last Sunday before Christmas, Summerland Amateur Radio Club will have a BBQ. No particular reason, just for the sake of it. At the Clubrooms. Lunchtime onwards, bring some other stuff if you wish. So get along, make it a good wrap for 2009. A "Centenary Dinner" will be held at the Wyong Bowling Club, Saturday 27 February 2010 commencing at 1800 hrs. This will be a great opportunity to catch up with old friends on the evening before Wyong’s big Centenary Field Day. A two course buffet dinner is being provided at $25.00. Bookings essential to Brian VK2WBK. Ph 0418 659 043. Central Coast Amateur Radio Club will be conducting the Centenary Field Day at Wyong Race Course on Sunday 28 Feb commencing at 0900 hrs. Most major retailers and wholesalers will be present with the usual flea market and other events occurring. Plenty of things to interest the amateur radio enthusiast and their family. Call 02 4340 2500 for information. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ VKC Roundup http://www.police Update on the Centre Victoria RadioFest No. 3 All of the elements that make up the biggest amateur radio event in Victoria are coming together nicely. The following traders are confirmed: Strictly Ham, Vertex Standard Australia, G&C Communications, PK Loops, TTS Systems, Hamak Electrical Industries and NBS Antennas & Masts. The popular Club Corner precinct has the centenary celebrating WIA, and eager to be part of it too is Australia's newest radio group, the Macedon Ranges Amateur Radio Club. Also there will be the CW Operators' QRP Club, Historical Radio Society of Australia, the Royal Australian Corp of Signals Museum and the Bendigo District Astronomical Society. More space is available for clubs wanting to mount a display or use it as an opportunity to recruit new members. The mini-lecture program has presentations on Amateur Radio heritage focussing on VK3, The end of Amateur Radio in the digital consumer age, the VK9NA VHF/UHF/Microwave DXpedition, and Amateur Radio goes to school. For more details including information about second hand table and car-boot sales bookings check out the website, radiofest.amateurradio.com.au A team of Amateur Radio Victoria and Central Goldfields Amateur Radio Club volunteers are ready to make it happen! See you at the Centre Victoria RadioFest, Kyneton Racecourse, Sunday the 14th of February. I'm Bruce Lees VK3FFF and you're listening to VK1WIA. VK4 web service local news:- www.wiaq.com/qnews/upload/qnewsbcast.htm local news email qnews-vk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com VKR Roundup http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/ BUNYA MOUNTAINS AND DISTRICT AMCOM Hi to all, I’m Neil VK4NF representing the Bunya Mts & District Amcom Inc. formally Dalby & District ARC. We have a date claimer, Saturday the 30th January 2010. We are holding a Ham & wine HamFest in the Maclagan hall in down town Maclagan from 0900 to 1600hrs on this day. So we invite you to come to a HamFest towards the west and join in the fun. Table bookings are just $10 each and stall holders will be allowed in after 0700hrs to set up. For more info, or to receive a flyer with the details, please send an Email to myself at holmzie@bigpond.com or Ricky VK4NRL at Ricklammas@optusnet.com.au Be there or be square we would love to see you there. The proceeds from the day will be put towards the badly needed upgrade of our repeater site on the Bunya Mts. So put the date in your diaries, Saturday the 30th January 2010 Remember it is towards the west, and not way out west, being about a 50 minute drive north west of Toowoomba. Regards to all and as Graham would say, walk softly. VK6 Hills Amateur Radio Group 27/02/10 2pm The venue is the HARG club rooms on the corner of Sanderson and Brady Rds Lesmurdie. Sellers set up from 12pm buyers admitted from 2pm. To reserve a $5 table call Marty Martin 0447 382 963 or marty.martin@bigpond.com HOME OF THE GOOD GUYS SPECIAL RECOGNITION FOR TWO AMATEURS SARL Councillor Francois Botha, ZS6BUU, has presented Alastair Campbell, ZS5MU, with a framed certificate recognizing the support he and his wife Davina have been giving the yachting fraternity for the past 30 years. The citation reads: "SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO ALASTAIR CAMPBELL ZS5MU who, supported by Davina ZS5GC ,has operated the South African Maritime Mobile Net serving the yachting community at sea for 30 years". Croft Taylor VE3CT Appointed to Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame The Board of Trustees of the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame has appointed VE3CT of Ontario, to the Hall of Fame for 2009. Croft will receive his award at a presentation to be held in Ottawa later in the spring at which time a summary of his contributions will be published. Details will also be included in the RAC website. Appointments to the CANADIAN Hall of Fame are made to recognize a radio amateur for outstanding achievement for sustained service to amateur radio in Canada or amateur radio at large. EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au LISMORE REGION STANDARD LICENSE & REGS COURSE & EXAM. Proposed dates for the next Standard License Course are - 27-28 Feb - Theory weekend. 6- 7 March - Theory & Exam. 13-14 March - Regs & Exam. Contact Duncan VK2DLR. 02 6628 1337 draymont@nrg.com.au VK3 EDUCATION. Melbourne's Eastern and Mountain District Radio Club are running their special Christmas Foundation training course held during the holidays between Christmas and New Year. The course is on Tuesday the 29th of December in the newly renovated EMDRC clubrooms in Burwood. So if you, or someone you know, would like to join in then contact Robert Broomhead VK3DN by email vk3dn@wia.org.au or by phoning him on 0403 066 686. TARC WIA Exams Information Exam sessions in the North Queensland region are held on demand with WIA Assessors and assessment packs available for all 3 levels of licensing. Contact theTARCinc WIA Exams Regional Co-ordinator Roger/VK4CD on mobile 0417 638 366 to have a mutually suitable date and WIA Assessors assigned to your assessment. Further information also available at theTARCinc website ... www.tarc.org.au Foundation Licence Assessment Results Congratulations to Ursula Roos, Graham Anderson, both of Burnie and Andrew Kirkpatrick of Devonport for accomplishing passes at the Theory, Regulations and Practical Assessments held at Ulverstone Short Wave Listeners and Scanner Fanatics in the N/West area of VK7 interested in becoming an amateur or require more information about the Hobby or training sessions, please google the ‘North West Tasmania Amateur Television Group’ ZL3 Radio Buildathon The 3rd ZL3 Radio Buildathon will be held on Saturday January 30th in Christchurch and hams will build a ZL3 Pixie Twins kit. Youngsters and budding hams 8 - 80 are most welcome. There's a kit for them too! After building your fun 80m QRP CW transceiver you can enter two competitions. One is for the best DX CW contact within NZ using a ZL3 Pixie Twin. The other is for the funniest housed unit. Let your imagination run wild! A superb 40 m QRP CW kit transceiver from smallwonderlabs.com USA will be awarded to each of the winners. Register your interest now WITH David zl3dws Email David at ZL3DWS@nzart.org.nz http://sites.google.com/site/zl3buildathon/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. Students and teachers invited to 'fly a file' on ARISsat-1 Next year an Amateur Radio satellite will once again be hand launched from the International Space Station. It will be called ARISSat-1. ARISSat-1 will again transmit messages recorded by students. Moreover, teachers and students are invited to fly a file aboard this amateur radio satellite. The ARISSat-1 Team wishes to include on their new satellite a memory stick of files prepared by students. This should be a jpg or pdf of things the student has prepared such as a paper or a study done on a science, technology, engineering or math topic, a drawing of space craft or a schematic, a photo of the class doing a hands-on activity -- that type of thing. Having the student's work be a part of ARISSat-1 means the student is a part of the satellite project and along for the spacewalk and deployment of ARISSat-1. Details google ARISSat-1 (sourced to Gaston Bertels - ON4WF ARISS Chairman). Radio amateurs in Bahrain gain new frequencies Reports on Southgate say 'The Daily DX' is reporting that radio amateurs in Bahrain can now operate on 6 meters (50.0-50.5 MHz on a primary and exclusive basis, and 50.05-52.00 MHz on a secondary basis). The report also adds that they can now operate on additional frequencies on 136 kHz, 1.8 MHz, 7 MHz, 430 MHz and higher bands. However, they cannot operate on these newly allocated frequencies until their licenses are amended. Pegasus High Altitude Balloon Project Monday December 14 saw the launch of Pegasus High Altitude Balloon (HAB) from Cambridge in the UK. Because of restrictions imposed by the UK Amateur Radio licence it was not possible to use an Amateur transmitter on the balloon, so instead a GSM cell-phone was fitted along with a Licence Exempt 434.075 MHz 10 mW transmitter running 50-baud RTTY. The GSM phone doesn't work above about 3000 feet, however, it is extremely reliable once the payload has landed while the Licence Exempt transmitter allows the payload to be tracked throughout the flight. Further information on the project is at www.pegasushabproject.org.uk/ ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE IARU SAYS TO GET READY FOR WRC-12 The next World Radiocommunications Conference takes place in January of 2012 and ham radio is making ready to face any challenges that it might bring to the service. The International Amateur Radio Union's Secretary is Rod Stafford, W6ROD. He says that every IARU member society capable of doing so, should take the initiative to be in contact with their own telecommunications administration and let the it know what the Union's position is on those agenda items that influence the amateur radio service. The most significant of these so far are the implementation of the radiolocation service in the range 30 to 300 MHz; the possible allocations in the range 3 to 50 MHz to the radiolocation service for oceanographic radar applications and the effect of emissions from short-range devices. Also likely to be discussed is a ham radio allocation of about 15 kHz in parts of the band from 415 to 526.5 kHz. This, on a secondary basis and taking into account the need to protect existing services. INDIA GRANTS HAMS 30 METERS Hams in India have received government permission to permanently operate on 30 meters on a secondary basis, though not all details of the new allocation are yet known. India's hams had previously been granted experimental access to 30 meters for a one-month period between August 31st and September 30th of 2007. At that time, A1A and J3E modes with 100 watts maximum were allowed between 10.100 and 10.150 MHz. VU2GMN has been in contact with the authorities in Delhi. He says that he is trying to clarify if SSB will be included with the permanent allocation. Australia is believed to be the only other major country allowing SSB on 10 MHz for amateur radio use in ITU Region 3. VIBROPLEX CHANGING OWNERSHIP A famed Morse key manufacturer is changing hands. Our CW man, Frank Haas, KB4T, has the details: Vibroplex will have a new owner effective December 21st, 2009. Scott Robbins, W4PA, of Knoxville, Tennessee, has agreed to buy Amateur Radio's oldest manufacturer from present owner Mitch Mitchell of Mobile, Alabama who recently decided to retire. In a report detailed at arrl.org, Robbins says he will leave his post as Amateur Radio Product Manager at TenTec in Mid-December to take over and relocate Vibroplex. The 800 number, web site and email contacts will remain the same. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Frank Haas KB4T in Florida. The bottom line: Frank says that the change of ownership means that the Vibroplex side-swiper should be with us for a long time to come. OPERATIONAL NEWS - SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2010 Feb 27-28 JOCK WHITE MEMORIAL FIELD DAY CONTEST nzart.org.nz/contests Mar 13-14 RSBG COMMONWEALTH CONTEST (BERU) hfcc.org/hfcc/rule/2009/beru.shtml Mar 20-21 John Moyle Field Day vk4ae@hotmail.com SPECIAL EVENT CALLS, BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE hf nets ON the net, www.timroberts-vk4yeh.id.au/ GB 40 WAB 40th anniversary of the WAB Till Dec 31 OZ 1658 ROS 350th anniversary of the Treaty of Roskilde Till Dec 31 VARIOUS SM STATIONS USING 1658 (Treaty of Roskilde) Till Dec 31 VP 9 400 /home call 400th Anniversary of Bermuda Till Dec 31 VR 2009 EAG The 5th East Asian Games Hong Kong Till Dec 31 YL 90 AIR 90yrs of Latvian Air Force Till Dec 31 VK4RTL 6metre Beacon testing on new frequency theTARCinc is currently testing the VK4RTL Mount Stuart 6 metre Beacon out on its new proposed frequency of 50.282MHz to ensure electromagnetic compatibility with all other services at the very crowded Mount Stuart site. Project Leader Dr. Lloyd VK4FP is also after reception reports. lloyd.baker@internode.on.net WESTOZDX - IOTA OC 211 Activation G’Day, I’m Wally, VK6YS and this is a short note from the WestOzDx Group to advise any IOTA island chasers, and any other interested parties of course, know that the group will be activating OC-211 from Pigeon Island in the Wallabi group of Houtmans Abrolhos off Geraldton, over the New Year weekend. Nigel, VK6NI, Bruce, KD6WW, and myself VK6YS, will be operating from Thursday 31st around 0400 UTC through to Monday 4th January around 0200 UTC, with up to three stations on air, propagation permitting of course, and we will be active from 40 through to 10 metres, and also listening on 6 just in case. This is our eighth Western Australian IOTA activation and details of this and others we have activated can be seen on our web page, www.westozdx.net, and which we should be able to update with pics and information live this time from the Abrolhos, because we should have wireless coverage with an external gain antenna. Looking forward to working lots of VK’s. Cheers from the West Last week I made mention of "log book of the world" which drew a query from a new member of our community as to what LOTW was. Well the LoTW system is a repository of log records submitted by amateurs from around the world. When both participants in a QSO submit matching QSO records to LoTW, the result is a QSL that can be used for ARRL award credit. While US amateurs do not need to be members of the ARRL to use LoTW, only members can use LoTW to apply for ARRL awards, such as DXCC and Worked All States (WAS). Some awards, like the Triple Play Award, only use LoTW credits instead of traditional QSL cards (foreign amateurs do not need to be ARRL members to apply for ARRL awards). 61st International DX Convention The 61st annual International DX Convention sponsored by the Southern California DX Club will be held in April next year and pre-registration began December 1st. The International DX Convention is the world's foremost DX convention. If you are a DXer or interested in any aspect of ham radio, you need to be at Visalia. Top DX operators from around the world will be there. Meet the big guns from the US, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. Meet the people on the other side of the mike or key. Shake hands with the person you have had that sked with for the past 10 years. Renew friendships. Visit the manufacturers' midway where you can talk to the people who design and use the latest and best equipment. Stop by their Web site for more details at: dxconvention.org AWARDS NEW HF LEARNING AWARD FROM QCWA CHAPTER 119 In an effort to encourage newer amateur radio operators to enter into the mainstream of HF amateur radio the Chapter 119 of the Quarter Century Wireless Association has introduced the Worked All 10 U.S. Call Areas Award. According to the announcement this award provides an achievement goal for the new operator, or any operator beginning to explore the HF bands. Because new hams with entry level licenses have limited access to the amateur radio bands on 160 through 10 meters, the award is unique in that it contains provisions to permit HF operation under the guidance of a mentor, or Elmer, who can, if necessary, act as a control operator. The sponsors say that becoming involved in HF operations will assist the new amateur operator to gain operating skills and to earn higher classes of license with his or her own increased operating privileges. Full details and a sample of the award can be found on-line at the Chapter 119 web page. Its in cyberspace at qcwa-ch119.org MEDIA WATCH www.wiaq.com/admin/uploads/weeklytally.rtf www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html Just a reminder that news doesn't sleep and this WIA National News WILL continue to be produced each and every week over the Festive Season. Some re-broadcasters may take time off so if it the news does NOT appear on your favourite spot on the dial have a scan around or pick up the mp3 audio from wia.org.au In VK2, VK2WI will be there with morning only sessions for the next three weeks at 10 am. The broadcast will start - as usual - with this VK1WIA National news followed at 10.30 with their local VK2WI News. During this holiday period the local VK2WI news will include additional segments usually only heard in their evening sessions - being the full IPS report and DX news together with some technical stories from the files of the Kurrajong Radio Museum. VK2WI transmits from 160 Metres to 20 Metres, then 10 Metres through to 23 centimetres so you should find a frequency that covers your area. In addition - there are relays made through many repeaters in VK2. The VK2WI evening session resumes on January the 17 th. Seasons Greetings from the VK2WI News Team ...... Had a note in through the week from Winston in VK7 when he sent in his number of checkins to VK7RMD. "VK7RMD Tuesday 9.00PM, good tropo opening across Bass Strait, 16 stations instead of usual 10 or 11". WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video arvideonews.com hamradiotube.com youtube.com Mysteries - SWR Exposed A new video explaining the mysteries of SWR is now available on YouTube. The YouTube description says: An explanation of SWR used in Amateur (Ham) radio, very important for antenna systems and getting the best performance from your station. Another YouTube video shows the setting up of an antenna for 144 MHz moon bounce. This YouTube description says: HAM Radio EME ANT 144 MHz. (Earth - Moon - Earth) Position of the antenna took a total of 10 minutes with one person at the first attempt. Watch the videos. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK UNOFFICIAL HF Net. 2nd Sunday each month. April through October 1000 UTC 3.685 MHz November through March 0900 UTC 7.068 MHz OSCAR-11 makes another appearance Clive G3CWV provided an update on the 25 year old Amateur Radio satellite OSCAR-11 (UO-11) to Southgate through the week. He asks people to listen out for it on 145.826 MHz FM over the period December 22 - January 1 On the AMSAT Bulletin Board he writes: Please send reception reports to xoxox@amsat.org (replace xoxox by g3cwv) AMSAT-China say XW-1 has been launched China's 1st-ever amateur radio satellite XW-1 is in space now! AMSAT China reports it was launched at about around 0230 UTC on December 15, 2009. The beacon was received in Sanya after launch. XW-1 was a secondary payload aboard a CZ-4C rocket launched into a sun-synchronous orbit about 1200 kilometres high. The primary payload of this launch is the Yaogen-8 Remote Sensing Satellite. Frequency Information Mode V/U (J) FM Voice Repeater (30 dbm (1 w)): Uplink: 145.8250 MHz FM, PL 67.0 Hz. Downlink: 435.6750 MHz FM Mode V/U (J) Linear Transponder (Inverting) (30 dbm (1 w)): Uplink:145.9250 - 145.9750 MHz SSB/CW Downlink:435.7650 - 435.7150 MHz SSB/CW Mode V/U (J) PacSat BBS (30 dbm (1 w)): Uplink:145.8250 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS Downlink: 435.6750 MHz AFSK 1200 BPS Mode Beacon (23 dbm (200mw)): Downlink:435.7900 MHz CW You can get XW-1 Telemetry Format at http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/documents/XW-1_Telemetry_Format.pdf WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP 500kHz 1mW QRP gets to Norway Roger G3XBM in Cambridge runs just 1 milliwatt ERP on 500 kHz using WSPR and his signal has now been received in Norway by LA9BEA, 836 km away. On his blog Roger writes: "Friday Night Dec 11 a couple of LA stations were listening on 500kHz WSPR. Neither had heard my 1mW QRP signal by 2300z, so I left the station running through the night. At 0418z (Saturday Dec 12) LA9BEA heard my signal at -28dB S/N in JO29 square some 836kms to the north east of me. This is now my 8th country, and 49th station, to log me on the band". On the GQRP list he comments: I can't begin to explain how much fun this ultra-simple approach to 500kHz has been: simple, small, antenna + tiny ferrite rod ATU + a small and simple transverter. If anyone's interested, there's a photo of the latest version of his QRP 500kHz transverter, with the schematic, on his website. See http://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp/Home/500k Roger's QRP Website http://www.g3xbm.co.uk/ WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING http://www.scouts.com.au http://www.scout.org/jota http://www.international.scouts.com.au CALLING FREQUENCIES Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication. Australian voice calling frequencies: 3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160 World CW calling frequencies: 3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160 World voice calling frequencies: 3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, 50.160 Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV): 3.630, 7.033, 14.227 Calling Frequencies for PSK31 14.070 TUNISIA SPECIAL EVENT The Radio Club Station of Tunisian Scouts station 3V8ST will commemorate their 10th anniversary by activating special event station 3V10A from the headquarters of Tunisian Scouts in Tunis Mahrajens. This operation will last until December 31st. QSL to the Amateur Radio Club of Tunis. P.O. Box 339, 1082, Tunisia. (Radio Club of Tunisia) SOCIAL SCENE 2010 JAN 4 - 14 VK2 AUSTRALIAN SCOUT JAMBOREE Cataract Scout Park south of Sydney. JAN 24 VK2 Mid North Coast Amateur Radio Group's Radio Expo 2010 8.30am St Johns Church Hall, Mc Lean Street Coffs Harbour. JAN 30 VK4 Bunya Mts & Dist AmCom host "HAM AND WINE FEST 2010" at Maclagan. FEBRUARY 14 VK3 WIA 100 Centre Victoria RadioFest No. 3. FEBRUARY 27 VK6 Hills Amateur Radio Group Swap Meet 2pm Sanderson and Brady Rds Lesmurdie. FEBRUARY 28 Wyong Field Day, Wyong Race Course. APRIL 2 VK3 Midland Amateur Radio Club's Radio, Electronic & Astronomy Expo. Venue to be advised. JUNE 5 VK2 Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club's 35th Annual Field Day. JULY 17 VK3 GGREC Hamfest Start Time : 10:00 Oct 29 - 31 VK1OOWIA Westlakes ARC during our WIA centenary celebrations. NOV 7 VK5 2010 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Hamfest Rosa St Goodwood 2012 15TH IARU REGION 3 CONFERENCE hosted by V.A.R.C. in Ho-Chi-Minh City, Vietnam. JAN 23-FEB 17 YEAR 2012 World Radio Conference WRC-11 Geneva 23rd January TO 17th February 2012 MAY 4-7 2012 VK5 YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com) Please think of the environment before printing this email ============================================================================= WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide. Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail nationalnews@wia.org.au Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who knows, you might even get a "cheerio call". Thanks to to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who utilize their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly broadcast. The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to active amateurs residing in Australia and the globe. We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of Australia and participation in the activities of local clubs. Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who submit material and do not necessarily reflect those of the rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but are broadcast in the spirit in which they were submitted. Material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, a credit to WIANews wouldn't go astray... Compiled by VK4BB on behalf of the National WIA. *****************************************************************************