---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WIANEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING JAN 24 2010. Brought to you by members of the Sunshine Coast Amateur Radio Club or SCARC. We have yours truly Noel VK4NL, Gordon VK4VP, Wayne VK4WS, Robert VK4FVMP and Kirsty. SCARC has a linked repeater system operating on 146.850 MHz at Maleny and 146.825MHz at Noosa, a 6m repeater on 53.7MHZ with a -1MHz offset also at Maleny, 70cm repeaters on 438.075MHz at Maleny and 438.175MHZ at Noosa and an APRS digipeater at Radar Hill near Nambour. . . - If you are in the area give a shout on one of these frequencies or if it's a Wednesday drop in to 85 Godfreys Rd Bli Bli (the old toll plaza building) from about 10am for a social chinwag and get together. Our General Meeting nights are the first Tuesday of the month at the clubrooms from 7:30pm and normally feature a guest speaker. News this week includes:- hobart vk7 to norfolk island vk9 on two Metres AUSTRALIA DAY AND GB 4 VK on line logging program built for intruder watch 3D HD TV dx magazine's 2009 most wanted survey HAITI EARHQUAKE vk1rac tidbinbilla tower to close RESEARCHERS DEVELOP SINGLE ATOM TRANSISTOR remembering the unit men, faraday ALL UP AND COMING IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JAN 24 2010 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hobart VK7 to Norfolk Island VK9 on Two Metres Rex VK7MO has told VK7news of recent contacts made with the Norfolk Island DXpedition. 2 meters to the Australian mainland has proved to be more difficult but though the use of the digital mode FSK441 a number of contacts were made to VK2 and VK4 with the longest distance being Mark VK2EMA at 1999 km. In the morning of Tuesday 11 January Rex again completed a JT65a QSO at around -20 dB with the VK9 team and after an hour or so he heard a weak SSB signal, VK9NA and exchanged reports of 5/1 and 5/2 over this 2403 km path. Rex says that the use of digital modes that can take advantage of meteor pings or dig deep into the noise has been fundamental to the success of the expedition in working to the Australian mainland on two meters and 70 cm and that the digital modes have paved the way to SSB contacts through showing that propagation is possible. (Rex VK7MO) From Norfolk to Broughton and H.A.R.A.O.A. have organized to be on Broughton Island (OC-212) from the 5th until the 7th February operating as VI 2 BI. More info www.vi2bi.blogspot.com QSL via VK2CL The Lincoln Short Wave Club in the UK will be QRV for an Australia breakfast Day today Sunday 24th January: The event is good fun, a fund raising event, the public turn up, hundreds and hundreds of them, and the Lincoln Short Wave club will be putting an amateur radio station in the mix for this event organised by their local council. They will use the callsign G5FZ, first issued over 80 years ago, as 5FZ and also GB4VK – a special event call. QRV on 14 – 18 -21Mhz Conditions and sunspots permitting! Please help Lincoln and GB4VK to make the event a BONZA DAY The event is usually visited by the Australian Ambassador – it is taken very seriously in Lincoln – lots of Australians did the BIG QSY from Lincolnshire to VK – some even came willingly! Lincoln is twinned with port Lincoln South Australia and they will make a big effort to talk to them as they recover from their ham radio losses in last months Bush Fires. (Bill Felton G3XZF) HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK1 vk1 local news email broadcast@vk1.wia.ampr.org and ask for subscription. Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club for the 1st time in many a year WILL be having a general meeting in January. This will be the day following Australia Day this Wednesday 27th January commencing at 7:30 PM. This meeting is really just a chat night, check your QSL cards, and if anyone wants to bring items they wish to sell, then a small Trash & Treasure night as well. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news Next Sunday the 31 st is the first Trash & Treasure for the year at the VK2WI Dural site. Gates will open at 9 am. In the afternoon the Home Brew and Experimenters Group will meet on site with their first meeting for the year. The Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Inc (ORARC) 2010 Field Day weekend commences at mid-day on Saturday 12 June and concludes at 4pm on the afternoon of Sunday 13 June. Please note that it is still on the Queens Birthday long weekend but this year that is the 2nd weekend in June. This year is the 35th annual Field Day. The venue for both days is the Sea Scout Hall in Buller Street, Port Macquarie. The 2010 Field Day programme and information will soon be posted on the club web site http://www.orarc.org/ (Henry Lundell VK2ZHE President, Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Inc) VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ VKC Roundup http://www.police Yarra Valley Hamfest The annual Hamfest of the Yarra Valley Amateur radio group is back on its usual date, February 28. The Hamfest opens at 10am and runs until 2pm. Entry fee is still $5 and the booking fees are the same as the last 10 years at $15 for an 8 foot table. Bring the family and you can perhaps visit the Healesville Sanctuary or go on to Marysville for afternoon tea and check out how the regeneration of the town and bush is proceeding. On the 7th of February the club is holding a "recognition field day" at the Frank Thomson Reserve to acknowledge the work done by many radio operators during the fires. Full details are on the web site http://www.yarravalley.ar.org.au VK4 - QNEWS 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/ Welcome to QNEWS from VK4WIA. I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP and this one is for you mate! One of the things that brings most of us together in a recreational pastime is feeling part of the big picture, knowing what is happening and sharing our interest with others. As part of the WIA efforts to keep us abreast of happenings, Graham, VK4BakerBaker, puts together National News and QNEWS. With QNEWS, we depend on the audio feeds that come from our clubs and listeners. The ease of anyone that has a multimedia computer to write, record and submit items for QNEWS has never been as great as it is now. There are 30 Qld clubs affiliated with the WIA and listed in the Centenary Edition Callbook. We know that things happen to suit local needs, and a friendly voice speaking about a local event can let your club members as well as the other listeners know what is happening. When you think that about half to 2/3 of a page of typing is all you need to fill 1&1/2 to 2 minutes of recording then here is a painless way of getting the news out. Think about this, if most clubs worked on sending about 4 news items each year, this would guarantee at least two club items each week. Our friends at Townsville keep their flag flying every week. With other regular contributors, this is not a big ask to spread the word. We have listeners who depend on what they hear in the weekly news broadcast to keep up with their hobby. There are others who appreciate knowing that other amateurs are enjoying the hobby too. When news that can benefit us all, such as a grant scheme, a special event station or award, is announced, don't be shy....do what you do with your other friends....spread the word. Think about some-one you would like to know about your news item, some-one you can't eyeball or 'phone and picture them in your mind's eye as you email QNEWS and say, "This one is for you mate". Bunya Mts & District AmCom Greetings to all, I’m Neil VK4NF President of the Bunya Mts & District AmCom INC. With a last reminder that our Ham & Wine Fest is on this coming Saturday the 30th January at Maclagan, doors open at 9am Stand holders allowed in at 7am. And there are a few spaces left for last minute table bookings, but be quick. C U on Saturday, regards to all. Redcliffe and District Radio Club www.redclifferadioclub.org.au/ I'm Ray VK4CF back with news from the Redcliffe AR Club". Alan VK4KZ the Redcliffe’s Education manager has advised that he would like to conduct the next round of Foundation and Advanced courses starting early in Feb if possible. If you have the desire to gain your amateur licence or even upgrade your current qualifications, please contact alan.jenner@bigpond.com or 5497 4634 and if there is no answer please leave a message. Next Monday night the club will be re-starting the monthly fox hunting. Fox hunting happens the 4th Monday night of the month and all are welcome to enjoy this part of the hobby with Redcliffe club members. There is a further reminder of the first working bee for 2010. This will be held on Saturday 13 February at the home of Charles, VK4BTC 7 Kelly Court, Redcliffe and it is to start at 8.30 am. The main tasks are to strip out and refit new panels in the caravan. So come with your power tools and assist for a few hours to get the van ready for the John Moyle weekend. For the information of all intending visitors to the club the location of the club House is at MacFarlane Park Klingner Rd Kippa Ring (UBD Map 91 Ref G 1) , and meeting time is from 7.30 – 10 pm-ish with the club usually open by about 7 pm. So until next week, for Redcliffe club I'm Ray VK4CF and you're listening to QNEWS from VK4WIA TOWNSVILLE vk4wit@wia.org.au 4773 1196 or 0408 001142 po box 333 Garbutt East, QLD 4814 www.tarc.org.au Townsville Amateur Radio Club member VK4HBV David, is skippering Sahula along the Carian Coast of Turkey. He is cruising the Aegean Isles until late next year and says if you are visiting the region, call him, that's David, on 0539 503 95 32 and he'll arrange a friendly little cruise. http://www.sailblogs.com/member/sahula/ GREETINGS ! THIS IS DON VK4FNQA, WITH NEWS FROM NORTH QUEENSLAND, ONE OF THE FRIENDLIEST RADIO NETS IN THE LAND HAPPENS THIS TUESDAY EVENING FROM 7-30PM ON THE TOWNSVILLE VHF REPEATER. THE ANN RENTON MEMORIAL LADIES NET ! THE NET IS OPEN TO YOUNG AND OLD, YL OR OM AND IS A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANYONE WHO NEEDS PRACTICE ON-AIR TO GO ONTO THE NET AS SECOND OPERATOR. THIS TUESDAY NIGHTS NET IS SPECIAL AS IT IS THE 21ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWNSVILLE LADIES NET, SO MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON AIR TO HELP CELEBRATE ! THE FEBRUARY TARC PROJECT NIGHT HAS SOMETHING GREAT HAPPENING ON THE NIGHT ! A VISIT TO THE QUEENSLAND AMBULANCE SERVICE TOWNSVILLE COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE IN HUGH STREET CURRAJONG HAS BEEN ARRANGED FOR MEMBERS BY PAUL VK4FOTO. DUE TO LOGISTICS, TOUR NUMBERS ARE LIMITED TO 12 WITH TOUR POSITIONS GOING VERY FAST ! THOSE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET ON THE TOUR WILL NEED TO BE AT THE HUGH STREET COMPLEX GATHERED AT THE CONCRETED CAR PARK FROM 1915 HOURS FOR TOUR COMMENCEMENT WITH PAUL VK4FOTO BY 1930 HOURS TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9TH. SHOULD YOU FIND THAT ALL THE PARKING SPACES ARE TAKEN THEN STREET PARKING IS AVAILABLE IN NEARBY MCLACHLAN STREET. TO MAKE A DEFINITE BOOKING TO BE ON THE TOUR CONTACT PAUL VK4FOTO USING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS - BY ELECTRONIC MAIL TO VK4FOTO AT WESTNET DOT COM DOT AU, OR PHONE 47731196 LEAVING A MESSAGE ON THE ROBOT IF NECESSARY, OR RESPOND TO THE TARC FACEBOOK INVITATION TO ATTEND. PAUL WILL ADVISE YOU IF YOU WERE FAST ENOUGHT TO GET ON THE TOUR LIST. DONT DELAY, DO IT TODAY, ELSE YOU WILL MISS OUT ! WELL THATS ALL FOR THIS WEEK FROM TROPICAL PARADISE. THIS IS DON VK4FNQA FOR THE TOWNSVILLE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB INC, AND YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO QNEWS FROM VK4WIA. EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au ARK"s Academy's next foundation course will be conducted over the weekend 20th-21st of Feb. Saturday 9:30am Start 3pm finish Sunday 10am Start for the Exams session and you should be finished by 2pm The training courses will be held in the boardroom at: Wordware Pty Ltd Level 1, 321 Whitehorse Rd Nunawading, VIC, 3131 The course lf is free of charge tea and coffee provided Please contact John VK3ARK@wia.org.au to reserve your place SILENT KEYS Silent Key Fitting Memorial Cygnet Folk Festival I can hear you saying already what is the connection with the Cygnet Folk Festival and amateur radio? Well one of the many Saturday evening concerts caught Justin VK7TW's eye. It was the Tom Moffat Blues Concert at the RSL. Tom, now SK, was VK7TM and was well known in the Cygnet area (and of course throughout Australia through his prolific technical writing) and was an aficionado of Blues music and a great supporter of the Folk Festival. The Cygnet Folk Festival Organising Committee last year, decided that the Blues stream of the Festival be named after Tom. He would have been proud, the Blues music was excellent. (73, Justin, VK7TW) Another SKey, as recent as last Sunday, when we learnt that long time WICEN Victoria Stalwart Mark Dods VK3ZR fell silent. Our condolences to the Family from the WIA News Family. INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. RESEARCHERS DEVELOP SINGLE ATOM TRANSISTOR Researchers from the University of New South Wales, the University of Melbourne and Finland’s Helsinki University have succeeded in building a micro-sized transistor whose active region composes only of a single phosphorus atom in silicon. The working principles of the device are based on sequential tunnelling of single electrons between the phosphorus atom and the source and drain leads of the transistor. The tunnelling can be suppressed or allowed by controlling the voltage on a nearby metal electrode with a width of a few tens of nanometres. In the recently developed transistor, all the electric current passes through the same single atom. This allows researchers to study the effects arising in the extreme limit of the transistor size. The results of the development of this transistor has been published in Nano Letters. That’s a journal of the American Chemical Society. (Science OnLine) Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Broadcasting has declared 2010 as the Year of Radio due to its extensive outreach and it being the cheapest source to disseminate information to the masses. “The medium of radio has become the most popular means of mass communication around the world, but in Pakistan radio is not given the attention it deserves,” the minister said. “The present democratic government is committed to freedom of media and its promotion and would adopt measures to make the medium flourish in the country in view of its widespread coverage,” he added. Electronic and print media has progressed tremendously but more attention would now be paid to develop the medium of radio. He said, improved broadcasting quality, more innovative and entertaining content, and new technological developments in areas have made radio a resurgent medium, extremely popular in many fields including education, advertising and entertainment. Declaring 2010 as Year of Radio, he assured all government support to promote the medium so as to highlight the policies of the government besides challenges facing the country. Director-General of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Murtaza Solangi, appreciated the announcement of 2010 as The Year of Radio by the minister, saying the state-run Radio Pakistan is actively contributing towards the cherished goal of peace and national harmony. (Source: Internews/R Netherlands Media Network Weblog) 3D HD TV TV makers at the recent Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas reckon you you could be watching 3D TV in your home by years end. Most brands demonstrated 3D capable models hoping to cash in on the recent success of the 3D Avatar movie. 3D already has agreed-to standards, 3D capable Blu-ray players and movie and production houses plan to pump out 3D programming by years end. Sony and the Discovery Channel will partner a 3D channel, and ESPN is planning SportsCenter 3D content. DirectTV and Fox Sports are also developing 3D TV content. But will the cable players in Australia be up to speed? That's one of several questions here. Most TV brands are opting for full resolution 1080p active shutter non-polarized glasses to create the 3D effect. (published reports) Now as promised earlier Region 3 Disaster Chairman Jim Linton VK3PC. The human tragedy following the Haiti earthquake continues The high loss of life, injury and destruction unleashed on Haiti has been of scale that almost defies description. The loss communications again saw amateur radio used to provide some emergency communications. The local authorities had planned for disasters, Haiti has had more than its share in recent years but nothing like the earthquake. Before the quake the only three hams were heard on air regularly from Haiti. All are reported to be safe. Reverend John Henault HH6JH was the first to make contact with the outside world on the 20 metre band, describing the scene in and near the capital Port-Au-Prince during a series of personal amateur phone-patch third party traffic contacts facilitated by Fred Moore W3ZU in the United States. The other who reported that he was safe is UN worker Pierre Petry HH2/HB9AMO. While a number of radio amateurs have been prepared for travel to Haiti the major barrier is that Haiti is a Francophone nation and to be of any use, fluency in French language is required. Eight radio amateurs from Radio Club Dominicano (RCD), from neighbouring Dominican Republic (under the callsign HI8RCD/HH) did reach Port-Au-Prince to provide emergency communications and began testing the equipment at their Embassy. But after gunfire hit their convoy, seriously injuring someone, the radio amateurs decided it was not safe and returned home. They did manage to set up two VHF repeaters linking the Haitian and Dominican capitals, and these are being used by the Red Cross and Civil Defence. There are mostly unverified reports of radio amateurs being part of non-government organisations providing disaster relief support. \ There are also late reports that two Venezuelan hams plan to use phone, data and SSTV on the 80, 40 and 20 metre bands in coordination with the military in support of Venezuelan humanitarian aid to Haiti. I’m Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman of the IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee for the WIA news service VK1WIA. OPERATIONAL NEWS - SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2010 Feb 27-28 NZART JOCK WHITE MEMORIAL FIELD DAY CONTEST details on nzart.org.nz/contests Mar 13-14 RSBG COMMONWEALTH CONTEST (BERU) details on hfcc.org/hfcc/rule/2009/beru.shtml Mar 20-21 WIA John Moyle Field Day details from vk4ae@hotmail.com APR 30 - MAY 6 Westlakes CQ Repeater contest contestmanager@westlakesarc.org.au May 8 WIA VK Trans Tasman 80m Phone Bruce Renn vk3jwz@wia.org.au Jun 12 WIA VK Trans Tasman 160m Phone Bruce Renn vk3jwz@wia.org.au Jun 12-13 WIA Worked All VK Shires contest@vkshires.info Jun 19-20 WIA WINTER VHF-UHF Field Day John Martin VK3KM tac@wia.org.au Jul 10tbc WIA Jack Files Contest John Spooner vk4ajs@wia.org.au Aug 14-15 WIA Remembrance Day Contest Peter Harding vk4od@wia.org.au Oct 2- 3 WIA Oceania DX Contest Phone Tony Burt vk3tz@wia.org.au Oct 9-10 WIA Oceania DX Contest CW Tony Burt vk3tz@wia.org.au NOV 20-21 WIA Spring VHF-UHF Field Day John Martin VK3KM tac@wia.org.au SPECIAL EVENT CALLS, BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE hf nets ON the net, www.timroberts-vk4yeh.id.au/ EI2GBW, Ireland to Great Britain Ferry Celebrations ends March 31 2010 GB2EI, Great Britain to Ireland Ferry Celebrations ends March 31 2010 VI3KIAH acknowledging Black Saturday Bush Fires 2pm to 8pm local Feb 7 2010 DX Magazine's '2009 Most Wanted Survey' has been posted on their Web site and published in the latest Jan/Feb 2010 issue. The survey that most DXers go by is now available at: http://dxpub.com/dx_news.html The "Top Five Most Wanted" are: P5 NORTH KOREA KP1 NAVASSA ZS8 MARION ISLAND 3Y/B BOUVET 7O YEMEN (sourced to SouthGate) SY For many years the prefix 'SY' was standing exclusively for the DXCC entity Mount Athos in Greece. This was later changed to 'SV/A' but for many Hams’ the SY prefix is still connected to Mt Athos, although every Greek radio amateur may apply for a SY prefix now. This is a thorn in the side of the only radio amateur on the Holy mountain, Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A. He asks DXers from all over the world to send an e-mail to the Greek licensing authority asking them to stop this practice. yme@otenet.gr At the moment Monk Apollo is very active in RTTY, because this mode is silent it does not disturb the other monks. 1838-1840, 3580, 7038 and 10140 kHz around 1700-2100 UTC. (sourced to SouthGate) AM Transmitter Rally Building on the success of AM-specific operating events such as the Heavy Metal Rally, 1st Wednesday AM Night, and the Antique Wireless Association's Amplitude Modulation QSO Party, organizers announce the AM Transmitter Rally taking place February 6 on 160-10m using 'standard' Amplitude Modulation. This event is open to any and all radio amateurs who are running full carrier amplitude modulation (standard AM), and any type of equipment may be used. Although there is a "points" system to encourage friendly competition, there is also an awards incentive for categories that showcase the relaxed, satisfying nature of receiving and transmitting conversations on AM. The event runs Saturday Feb. 6, to early Sunday Morning Eastern US time. Commonly used AM Frequencies: 160 Meters: 1880-1885, 1930, 1945, 1975-1995. 80 Meters: 3730-3740, 3870-3885. 40 Meters: 7160, 7280-7295. 20 Meters: 14286. 15 Meters: 21425. 10 Meters: 29000-29200. Complete details with scoring, awards, logbook templates, and additional information is at: classeradio.com/amtr.pdf BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS aus_scanner@yahoogroups.com http://www.scanaustralia.bigpondhosting.com www.tinyurl.com/BITS-026 (A receiver located in NY USA) http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/ BBC lifeline programming to Haiti BBC broadcasts special lifeline programming for Haiti in English, French and Spanish: 1200-1300 UTC 9410 HRI 11860 GUF Internews’ Country Director Philippe Allouard reports that at least 12 radio stations broadcasting to the Port-au-Prince area and one national radio broadcaster are back on the air in Haiti. In addition, Internews is bringing in a 300-watt transmitter that is expected to be able to broadcast up to 30 miles around Port-au-Prince. Internews is also attempting to contact the 41-member network of community radio stations, RAMAK, with whom it has worked in the past in order to assess not only their safety, but also the state of their station’s infrastructure and broadcasting capabilities. 193rd Special Operations Wing of the USAF, in an unprecedented humanitarian mission, says some 50 Airmen and three C-130 aircraft have departed in support of relief efforts in Haiti. Two of the aircraft are cargo aircraft. The third, named Commando Solo, is an airborne radio and television station providing important information to the Haitian people. In 1994, Commando Solo was used to broadcast radio and television messages to the citizens and leaders of Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy. This is, however, the first humanitarian mission of its type for the wing. INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE Region III IARUMS Coordinator Peter Young VK3MV VK IARUMS reflector email to subscribe intruders@wia.org.au IARUMS NETS Friday 0730 UTC 7.065.5 with VK4CEU David. Amateur exclusive frequencies where any non-amateur signal is definitely an intruder. Amateur HF Spectrum world wide 7.050 to 7.100 14.000 to 14.250 14.250 to 14.350 No broadcasters 21.000 to 21.450 24.890 to 24.990 28.000 to 29.700 Intruders reported here courtesy of the great work put in by IARU region 1. 7000.0 kHz is daily abused by numerous pirates and in Region 3, Far East pirates (Indonesia?) in LSB and USB, singing laughing and perhaps "seem to be drunken." DARC report an intrusion on 3560 at 1800 daily, the Voice of North Korea Region one have a great innovation an on line logging program built for intruder watch! Remembering the unit men - Faraday Hello I'm Jim Linton VK3PC with another in a series of brief looks at those who made discoveries and have their names as units of measurement. Michael Faraday born in 1791 was a brilliant mostly self-taught man who entered science in an unusual way, by working in a book bindery that allowed him to read scientific books. Then he began to attend lectures on many different topics but was particularly interested in electricity and mechanics. Faraday literally talked himself into a position of assistant at the Royal Institution in 1813 and later that year joined a scientific tour of Europe where he met Andre-Marie Ampere and other scientists in Paris. Exposure to those leading men of science during the 18 month tour had a profound influence. Through the work of others the relationship between electricity and magnetism had been established, but Faraday took it further by converting electrical into mechanical energy, and providing the first notion of magnetic lines of force. In 1831 he discovered electro-magnetic induction, demonstrating that a magnet could induce an electrical current in a wire. This English scientist initially had his surname ‘Faraday’ as the old unit of charge know called the coulomb (coo-lomb), named after a French physicist who defined electrostatic force of attraction and repulsion. A shortening of ‘Faraday’ gives us the Farad, the international unit for a capacitance. THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report - (Measure twice - Cut once!) A little hint from NTARC's Jason VK7ZJA. Do you own a Nagoya NL-770R dual band mobile whip antennae? These neat antennae have a sprung-loaded folding joint in the base, but over time their owners may find that they'll fold over by themselves – usually when a truck passes going in the opposite direction. A very quick and easy solution is to use a bit of bare copper wire and jam this in between the two sleeves of this folding joint. This solution has worked well for Jason VK7ZJA, and it should do the trick for others if they're having the same problem too. MEDIA WATCH www.wiaq.com/admin/uploads/weeklytally.rtf www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html Groups presenting this WIA National News Service JAN 2010 vk4 24 SCARC (Sunny Coast on now) FEB VK3 7 ARV (promoting Centre Vic Hamfest) FEB vk2 21 CCARC (Promoting Wyong Field Day) MAR VK2 7 ARNSW (Promoting WIA CENTENARY) MAR VK6 14 NEWSWEST MAR VK3 28 VK3DN APR VK3 4 VK3DN APR VK3 11 VK3DN APR VK7 25 REAST (ANZAC Weekend) MAY VK1 9 CRARC (promoting CRARC and WIA AGM) (TBC) MAY VK100WIA 30 WIA DIRECTORS JOIN A LIVE OB FROM CANBERRA (TBC) Jimmy Porter GI3GGY on BBC Radio Ulster The BBC have broadcast a show about Londonderry radio amateur GI3GGY The 30 minute show was called 'Call Sign GI3 GGY' and the BBC description reads "Jimmy Porter, a radio ham for over 70 years, tells Paul Moore about his passion which led to an incredible life involving U Boats, Hollywood actors and recordings of Bloody Sunday". The show should still be available on the web, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster/ Jimmy GI3GGY is the longest serving reader on the RSGB GB2RS news service and he puts out a strong signal across the UK and Europe from his station on 40 metres. He was associated with Radio Free Derry which ran from 1969 to 1972 and his recording of Military radio communications made in 1972 attracted widespread media coverage. March 2008 - Longest serving GB2RS newsreader forced off air http://www.southgatearc.org/news/march2008/rsgb_newsreader_off_the_air.htm How GB2RS News Began http://www.rsgb.org.uk/gb50rs/history.htm WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- REPEATERS VK1RAC at Tidbinbilla Collimation Tower to close ! CRARC has been informed that CSIRO / NASA will be removing the Collimation Tower on "Black Hill and returning the site to natural bushland as the facilities are no longer required. This means that shortly VK1RAC repeater on 146.900 MHz will need to be removed from site. The CRARC committee is looking at procuring access to an alternate site for 146.900. Alan VK1WX is compiling a history of this and other repeaters in the area, so if you have any "snippets" please let him know. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES IARU REGION 3 3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz Summerland VK2 and Wicen events coming up include: Horse Enduro's, February 20-21 at Eden Creek the weekend after Summerland's AGM, and then an Enduro at Copmanhurst, 13-14 Mar. And 10-11 April tentative. REWIND - A LOOK BACK IN HISTORY 50th anniversary of 1st UK 10 GHz contact January sees the 50th anniversary of the first UK two-way contact on the 10GHz band by G3BAK and G3LZ. After WWII there were a few UK amateurs taking an interest in microwaves. Two of them, began experimenting in 1949 and, in January 1950, were rewarded with the first UK two-way contact on the 10GHz band. Des eventually migrated to Australia where he carried on his microwave activities, mainly on the 5.6GHz band, until his death in 2005. He was VK2AHC at first, but then relocated to South Australia as VK5ZO. His 10GHz equipment for that 1950 contact with G3LZ consisted of a mains powered klystron transmitter/receiver and the path was just a "few miles" (actually about 1.75 miles) across the Manchester Ship Canal in North West England. Of just as much interest was his use of 70cm for talkback. At that time even the 432MHz band was for radio pioneers! (SouthGate) SOCIAL SCENE 2010 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 VK2 Wyong Field Day, Wyong Race Course. FEBRUARY 28 VK3 Yarra Valley Hamfest http://www.yarravalley.ar.org.au/ MARCH 14 VK3 Eastern And Mountain District Radio Club White Elephant Sale MARCH 14 VK6 100 years of the WIA+Ham Heaven Official opening (NCRG club premises) Contact Keith vk6rk@wia.org.au MARCH 21 VK7 MEET THE VOICE BBQ at Ross in VK7 APRIL 2 VK3 Midland Amateur Radio Club's Radio, Electronic & Astronomy Expo. Venue to be advised. JUNE 12 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) ============================================================================= 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. *****************************************************************************