WIANEWS - June 12 - VK NATIONAL NEWS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA 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 WEEK COMMENCING June 12 2011. RANDOM HACKS OF KINDNESS. RD Contest Time unchanged for 2011 Another new broadcaster of this news joins the team. THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JUNE 12 2011. RANDOM HACKS OF KINDNESS. In Silicon Valley USA where the latest geek type innovations are celebrated, a group of hackers is creating new purposes for old technology. Random Hacks of Kindness, has, like many smart things born in the region, quickly spread around the globe. The idea sprang from a community of hackers working on code for the good of humanity. Last Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of engineers gathered around the world to code for good. In Silicon Valley, the event was held at Google's Mountain View campus. Similar gatherings occurred at 17 other locations, from Toronto to Bangalore. It's not about reinventing the wheel, but using the wheel for new purposes, said Chris Messina, a Google employee whose title is open web advocate and who participated in the third official RHoK held this past weekend. "When the Internet goes down or when you lose the resources you depend on, we need to create new solutions," he said. Maybe figuring out ways to use ham radio systems during disasters. "You wouldn't think of the ham radio as bleeding-edge technology," he said. "But it will work when other technology won't when infrastructures go down. It's sort of like Twitter for truckers. Using it for disasters’ that's the hack. It's very cheap and can be massively deployed if necessary." (press release) 800 MHz Nine news through the week reported on the Australian Communications and Media Authority's review of radio frequency spectrum in the 800 MHz band It noted fresh emergency radio frequencies could be set aside for emergency services in the wake of a summer of cyclones, storms and floods. Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland has released the terms of reference for a committee which is looking to equip police, fire, ambulance and counter-terrorism agencies with what he describes as "reliable and robust mobile broadband capability". "The government is determined to make this technology available to our agencies" Mr McClelland said. "This presents the opportunity to build a new dedicated mobile broadband capability for emergency response organisations". Currently they access that capability through commercial carriers. WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI president@wia.org.au Vice President Phil Wait VK2ASD vk2asd@wia.org.au Secretary Sarah Thompson VK3AUD secretary@wia.org.au Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au Peter VK4OD as the RD Contest Manager has had to make the decision that this year's Contest, the start time will remain as shown in the 2010 Rules, as posted on the WIA Website. It seems he had no reply from the WIA Directors as to exactly what the new time was to be and software writers for the major contest loggers need that info "quick smart". In further news dealing with the WIA Clive VK4ACC was just one of close on 100 hams at the Darwin Meeting of the WIA at their AGM weekend. (audio intensive, no text available). HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news The Parkes Film Society is embarking on a fundraiser to raise money to purchase a projector to greatly improve the clarity and brightness of films screened at the M&D Little Theatre. This projector will allow for High Definition screenings. “One of the other advantages of a proper venue projector is the ability to do outdoor screenings,” Conrad Mill, Parkes Film Society president said. “The idea is that people would bring their car and kids and we would use an inflatable screen and low-powered FM transmitter to allow people to view the movie and listen to it on their radios VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ VKC Roundup http://www.police Are you interested in working long distances on the VHF, UHF and microwave bands? Then consider attending the annual Gippsland Technical Conference – GippsTech – held at Churchill each July. Learn about the latest developments in techniques and equipment and discuss any issues that you have with the many knowledgeable amateurs present. Presentations this year range from how to cheaply recycle coaxial crimp connectors through to the setting up of a complete solar powered remote radio station – one amateur’s solution for his local QRM. Hear all about the latest developments in an amateur chirp radar system and how it allows you to determine how propagation is working. All this and more, over two days of information and fellowship. GippsTech 2011 will be held over the weekend of July 9 and 10. Registrations for this popular event close on July 1. Further details can be found at the Club website: www.vk3bez.org (Peter VK3PF, President of the Eastern Zone Amateur Radio Club in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria.) 'VK3GT and VK3SN will be leading a team of intrepid friends on a back country adventure as they ski across the Bogong High Plains. The group will be up in the Victorian Alps above 1800 m in what is expected to be some of the best Winter snow for many years. They will once again be using rugged ultra light solar powered gear with homebrew antennas to work 20 & 40m each afternoon and 80m every night. They will move across the white snowy wilderness by day, setting up camp at night in remote huts, snow caves and even igloos. Listen out for them from 15-19 August calling CQ from the roof of Victoria.' VK4 - QNEWS web service local audio news:- www.wiaq.com/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3 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 I've been thinking. One of those areas which has a certain mystique in our hobby is "home brew". Whether we are tinkerers of full blown constructors, amateur radio has evolved as a sharing hobby where what is learned is proudly shared with one's colleagues. With the development of the w-w-w, sharing projects and experiments has taken a whole new direction for many amateurs. A notable example of this phenomenon is the story of Frank, K0IYE. I have often followed links to Frank's book "Crystal Sets to Sideband" which is a free internet book and it was with pleasure that I was able to read Frank's story in the May, 2011, issue of World Radio Online. http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/ There is a further article in this issue showing the construction of one of Frank's projects. Anyone familiar with Drew Diamond's use of "ugly construction" will feel at home with the use of the "Manhattan" technique used in this audio amplifier. Even in this age of the ready made, for the hobbyist there is a place for rolling one's own. Part of this is the self imposed challenge of succeeding at something different and part of it is using equipment you have made. Another part is being able to share what we have picked up along the way with other amateurs. For his efforts in explaining, developing and sharing his journey, a big thank you to Frank, K0IYE. I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think.....how about you? CLUBBING - TO SUPPLY NEWS ITEMS:- email qnews@wia.org.au CENTRAL QUEENSLAND AR CLUB Rockhampton cqar.com.au 4 months in and the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association Inc is firing on all cylinders. Thanks to Jason - VK4FJGS and Ray VK4HOT we are the 200th entry for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. We will be located at Seahill Lighthouse and transportation details are still being finalised. Jack - VK4JRC recently organised a bulk buy of Tigertronics SLUSB interfaces. Since these interfaces arrived there has been a lot of activity locally across the bands with members experimenting with SSTV, Digital SSTV, PSK and Packet. Ray VK4HOT has been extremely proud of the QSO cards he has received from locations as remote as Portugal. Jack - VK4JRC is organising a Digital Modes workshop with a Barbeque to assist with the learning curve of Digital Modes. This weekend will be aimed at assisting with the Tigertronics interfaces but other interface methods can be included. Dates and location are to be advised. Frank - VK4FLR is currently in the process of looking at cost effective ways that members can get in on microwave activity after Frank - VK4FLR and Graham - VK4NFZ have been active on 23cm making the trip 48.8klm over some rough country from Bouldercombe to Zilzie. Other operators have been listening in on receivers for their signals. A Fox Hunt will be organised in the near future thanks to Jason - VK4FJGS. Jason is also busily providing links to some great Fox Hunting resources which will be placed on our website. We think a Fox Hunt will really inspire young potential Amateur Radio Operators to take the first step. We currently have a raffle for a Yaesu FT-1802M VHF FM radio. Tickets are $1.00 each. Contact our President Andrea - VK4FROG at president@cqara.org.au if you are interested in purchasing tickets. More details and Andrea's email address is available on our website www.cqara.org.au For more information and news please visit our website, again www.cqara.org.au I'm Adam - VK4MTJ on behalf of the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association Inc. SUNSHINE COAST Maleny VK4RSC 146.850 and 438.075 VK4RSN 53.7 Noosa Heads VK4RSL 146.825 and 438.175 USM Events Noosa Century Bike Ride Well SCARC has been at it again. Only a week after the International Rally of Qld, SCARC members assisted by Caboolture and Gympie club members have provided safety and strategic comms for the Noosa Century bike ride. The ride consisted of 2 stages, a 100km ride for the fit people and a 160km ride for the ultra fit. Many checkpoints across the course required amateurs to assist in the reporting of progress and any accidents or breakdowns. The SAG wagon came through at the end of the riders to sweep up and collect any unfortunates that had failed through physical or mechanical means. As there were amateurs in the two lead vehicles and the sag wagon these were fitted out with APRS which allowed the display of these 3 vehicles on a computer at the event headquarters at Noosa Lions Park. Thanks to a strategically placed digipeater there were no black spots for APRS coverage throughout the entire course. The event organisers were very impressed with the support given to them for this ride. Scarc would like to thank all SCARC members and the members of the various clubs that helped out for this event. NNC What does NNC stand for you may ask. Its the acronym for a group of amateurs that like camping at various locations across South East Queensland, and the next event is July 8-10 at the Borumba Dam just out from Imbil. There has been over 40 people at these events in the past and certain people have been known to upgrade from tents to caravans just for this event, especially when your bed is longer than the tent and your feet hang out the end. So what is this NNC? Well I will give you a clue, the middle N stands for Nutty and that certainly helps. Yes its Noel's Nutty Campers coming to a campground near you. A combination of camping, amateur radio, campfire cooking, car boot sales and plenty of tall stories means this is a memorable event not to be missed. If you would like to come along contact the Nutmaster himself, Noel VK4NL through the various means and he will be only too happy to get you onboard for a fun weekend. This has been Gordon VK4VP TABLELANDS RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CLUB vk4wat@wia.org.au www.treclub.org.au G’Day again from Far North Queensland this is Dale VK4DMC for the Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club, TREC, in Far North Queensland. As this news goes to air TREC members Gary VK4FD and Jeff VK4BOF (locally known as Snoopy and Charlie Brown) are on air and looking for contacts for the VK Shires contest. They are using the TREC call-sign VK4WAT/p from the township of Mount Surprise which is in the Etheridge Shire (ET4) in Far North Queensland on or near the following frequencies: 3.615MHz 7.135Mhz 14.190MHz 21.245MHz 28.450MHz +/- QRM of course. The next meeting of TREC will be held on Saturday the 25th of June at our clubrooms. Well that’s your lot for this week. Visit the TREC website at www.treclub.org.au for club information and you can also download the latest monthly club news in TREC-NEWS. Past issues are also available on the site. This has been Dale VK4DMC and you are listening to QNEWS. Travel Well! VK7 local area news :- http://reast.asn.au/news.php vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com July Reast Presentation The 3 "Rs" - Resonance, Reactance and Resistance Mike VK7MJ on July 6 at 7:30pm in the Queen's Domain clubrooms will present in a very practical way some basic AC theory which is aimed at the foundation and standard licensees who are looking to upgrade or as an entertaining refresher for all other amateurs. Mike will take us through what happens when a capacitor, inductor and resistor are connected into an AC circuit. This presentation will be a scary mathematics free zone....HIHI. So, don't worry come along and learn and refresh your AC theory knowledge. http://reast.asn.au/events.php#threers (Justin, VK7TW) EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au REAST Scholarship Secretary Tony, VK7VKT, is working with New Town High ready to start progressing 5 students through the steps needed to acquire their Foundation licence. This comes as part of the WIA grant that REAST were fortunate enough to secure. There is no doubt that with the electronics curriculum that these lads are already working through that they will complete the course with flying colours. Now of course we don't want them to simply get their licence and leave them floundering. So, if you are in VK7 Would you like to be a mentor? REAST are looking for 5 amateurs who would like to keep in touch with these lads through email for the first few months after they get their licence, just to help them with the many questions we all had that were too afraid to ask in person. Interested? Let Tony, VK7VKT know through the email of Secretary@REAST.asn.au. (73's, Tony VK7VKT This year in New Zealand, from a Nelson branch initiative and sponsorship, a new award was introduced, to recognise a 100% pass mark (that's 60/60 result) in their examination, in the year preceding conference, for amateurs not otherwise eligible in the Best Examination/Youth Achievement Award. There were three recipients of this award for 2010, Suzette James ZL2SGC, Jonathan MacKenzie ZL3JDM and Murray Smith ZL2MJS. Well done to you all. The Best Examination Result The Best Examination result went to Thomas Fellows ZL3PSG aged 16 for a pass of 55/60. INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. New Zealand’s very worthy recipient of the Amateur of the year Award, was David Searle ZL3DWS for the tremendous results he achieved in his Buildathon projects. David has recently moved from Christchurch for obvious reasons to Bondi VK2 in Australia. Speaking from Australia's 2nd favourite beach, David said "I was greatly surprised, yet proud, to learn that I had become NZART Amateur of the Year. Proud, because it acknowledges the success achieved by so many Canterbury radio amateurs and beyond, with the ZL3 Radio Buildathon project. Hundreds of Canterbury kids now know what amateur radio is, and which end of a hot soldering iron to grab to build a simple radio! So does mum and dad, school friends and all the others who would listen to a kid so proud that his or her first radio really works! If we each share our enthusiasm for a great hobby with just one young person, their interest in radio, communicating and electronics could last a life time. David ZL3DWS / VK2DWS" URGENT NOTICE TO ALL SOUTH AFRICAN AMATEUR LICENSEES Over in South Africa their body ICASA cancelled over 34,000 radio licenses that have remained unpaid for the past 365 days. This includes all amateur radio licenses that are unpaid for the past year. ZS hams have been advised by the SARL " If your amateur license was cancelled call now and ICASA will re-instate it if you can prove payment. If you have not paid, do so now using the information and account number on your last license. New ARISS contact record After spending 157 days aboard the International Space Station, ESA Astronaut Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA answered questions of students from 45 different schools, setting a new ARISS record for a single astronaut. (AND PROBABLY FOR A MARRIED ONE AS WELL ) Expedition 26/27 established a new ARISS record, working 77 schools in 68 radio contacts during the mission NEXT MARS ROVER BEING MADE READY FOR LAUNCH NASA engineers are putting the finishing touches on the next rover to Mars before shipping it off to Florida for launch later this year. What’s being described as a small army of technicians dressed in protective suits have been working almost non-stop inside of a clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, assembling the new rover named Curiosity and testing its science instruments. NASA says that it will begin shipping spacecraft parts to Cape Canaveral beginning next month. The size of a small SUV, Curiosity will drive around Mars and study whether the planet ever had the right environment to support primitive life. The $2.5 billion project is scheduled to launch in late November. (NASA) ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA COUNCIL OF EUROPE ADVISORY COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS RF FREE ZONES The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly Committee on the Environment released a report titled The Potential Dangers of Electromagnetic Fields and Their Effect on the Environment. The paper, made public on May 6th carries recommendations that, if adopted, could have major implications for wireless carriers and, to a lesser extent, broadcasters and any RF emitter in the European Union. In regard to standards or threshold values for emissions of electromagnetic fields of all types and frequencies, the Assembly that prepared the report recommends that the “as low as reasonably achievable” principle be applied. This, covering both the so-called thermal effects as well as the biological effects of electromagnetic emissions or radiation. The report also is among the first to give credibility to a phenomena that most scientists and researchers have long been sceptical of. Paragraph 8.1.4 of the report recommends member states of the Council of Europe pay particular attention to the needs of what it calls electro-sensitive persons. These are people who claim that they suffer from a syndrome of intolerance to electromagnetic fields. The report suggests the introduction of special measures to protect these people. This includes the creation of wave-free areas not covered by a wireless network. What effect acceptance and implementation of the recommendations would have on ham radio operations in Europe remain to be determined. JAPAN SCRAPS FINAL MORSE TESTING The country that started the no-code licensing revolution some six decades ago has finally dropped the Morse testing requirement for all of that nations ham radio licensees. This with word that the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs has decided to scrap Morse testing for the Amateur Radio Class 1 and 2 licenses with an effective date of this coming October 1st. What amounts to Japan’s version of a Notice of Proposed Rule Making on the Morse test was held earlier in the year. There were 39 people who responded. Following a discussion of the information the responses provided, the Ministry announced that Morse telegraphy testing would be discontinued. Japan pioneered the High Frequency No-Code Amateur Radio or Class 4 license in the 1950's although they still required Morse for the higher license classes. The written exam for the Class 4 is roughly equivalent to the Foundation exam in the United Kingdom and Australia and the discontinued USA Novice. The Japan Ministry of Internal Affairs announcement on the abolishment of Morse testing is on line in Google translated English at tinyurl.com/3s4bljx CQ ANNOUNCES HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES And CQ magazine has announced its 2011 Hall of Fame inductees, welcoming 12 new members into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. Topping this years list alphabetically is TV and Film producer Dave Bell, W6AQ, who was chosen for this honour based on his deep involvement in producing multiple amateur radio promotional videos over the past several decades. Also from Southern California is Nate Brightman, K6OSC. He is credited with being the "spark" behind W6RO, the ham station aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Rounding out the California contingent is Cardinal Roger Mahony, W6QYI, the Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles. He was recognized for his leadership as an advocate for immigration reform. Others recognized include Ron Moorefield, W8ILC of Kettering, Ohio. Since its inception, Moorefield has been one of the guiding lights of the Dayton Hamvention. He was also recognized for his work as a coordinator of the cross-country 1984 Olympic Torch Relay. There was also one each member inducted into the CQ DX Hall of Fame and the CQ Contest Hall of Fame. The 2011 inductee to the CQ DX Hall of Fame is Michael J. McGirr, K9AJ. McGirr has been a leading DXpeditioner who has operated literally from the ends of the Earth over nearly 30 years. The 2011 inductee to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame is John Sluymer, VE3EJ, who has been an active contester and DXer since 1973. He is a founding member and current president of Contest Club Ontario. The CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honours those individuals, whether licensed hams or not, who have made significant contributions to amateur radio; and those amateurs who have made significant contributions either to amateur radio, to their professional careers or to some other aspect of life on our planet. The CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame honour those amateurs who not only excel in personal performance in these major areas of amateur radio but who also "give back" to the hobby in outstanding ways. Formal inductions to the CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame took place at last weeks Dayton Hamvention. A complete list of this years inductees is on-line at www.cq-amateur-radio.com. SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2011 Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club, TREC, in up here in Far North Queensland has members Gary VK4FD and Jeff VK4BOF on air looking for contacts for the VK Shires contest. They are using the TREC call-sign VK4WAT/p from the township of Mount Surprise which is in the Etheridge Shire (ET4) in Far North Queensland on or near the following frequencies: 3.615MHz 7.135Mhz 14.190MHz 21.245MHz 28.450MHz +/- QRM Winter UHF/VHF Field Day Although the WIA contest manager has not supplied us yet with dates, we understand that the Winter UHF / VHF Field day is around the corner, possibly on June 19th. In VK2, CCARC better known for their running of Australia’s longest, biggest running hamfest at Gosford/Wyong will enter 2 teams in the UHF/VHF Field, VK2EH/P and VK2WFD/P. VK2WFD (or if you like, VK2 Wholly Foundation Driven) will be operated only by Foundation licensed operators (with Advanced license holders in attendance for supervisory duties only) to give some of the newer members of our hobby a taste of the fun of contesting and its procedures. VK2WFD will be competing in the 8 hour section from 12 noon Saturday 19th of June. So, when you hear VK2WFD during the contest, give them a call and welcome them to the world of contesting in this great hobby of ours. (sourced to arnsw) Aug 20-21 WW I.L.L.W. 2012 March 17-18 VK JOHN MOYLE MEMORIAL FIELD DAY SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE HF BEACON CALL SIGN CHANGE The HF beacon ZS4BOT transmitting on 7,027 MHz is changing to ZS0BOT. ICASA contacted ZS4JAN and explained that the original callsign was issued incorrectly. ICASA explained that the call signs of all beacons will be changed to start with ZS0 prefixes. POPE BENEDICT XVI CROATION VISIT COMMEMORATED BY HAM RADIO Ham radio was a part of the celebration as Pope Benedict the 16th visited the Republic of Croatia for the first time, this was between June 4th and 5th. The city of Zagreb was the host town during his stay in Croatia. The visit of Pope Benedict also inspired the members of the Croatian Flora Fauna Radio Club to activate the special callsign 9A16PB. The PB in the callsign is in honour of Pope Benedict. Hams in Croatia will keep 9A16PB on the air through June 13th, tomorrow. QSL this very special operation via 9A2MF. In DX, K0YAK is currently based at the US Embassy in Kathmandu, Nepal and is active as 9N7AK during his spare time. He is expected that he will be there until early July using SSB and PSK31 on 20 through 10 meters. QSL’s should go via his home callsign K0YAK. PA4JJ will be active portable 9A from Porec on the Croatian mainland between June 6th and 24th. He will operate holiday style using RTTY and PSK31 most of the time, again QSL via his home callsign PA4JJ. BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS http://spench.net/drupal/software/rfmap )AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHICAL RF MAP) http://www.scanaustralia.bigpondhosting.com http://mt-shortwave.blogspot.com/ HTTP://www.ei7dar.com/hf.html www.tinyurl.com/BITS-026 (A receiver located in NY USA) http://wb4mak.com/ (Atlanta 80/40/20 Web SDR Receiver) Short-wave broadcasts suspended pending review Portuguese broadcaster R.D.P. has temporarily suspended its short-wave transmissions as of 1 June because of the low number of listeners and as a means of cutting costs. RDP said it would be reviewing the service to see whether it would go back on air at a later date. Listeners around the world can still follow their favourite programmes via satellite, cable and Internet. The Portuguese broadcaster said it was “just one of many global broadcasters who are reducing or closing their SW transmissions”. (pnol) INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE Region III IARUMS Coordinator Peter Young VK3MV VK IARUMS reflector email to subscribe intruders@wia.org.au INTRUDER 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 SatNav jamming in UK during September and October Ofcom has announced that multiple jammers will be disrupting the SatNav GPS system around Stanford, East Anglia, in September and October. Between 19 and 23 September 2011 and between 03 and 07 October 2011 inclusive. Times: 0900 - 1730 BST. Location of MULTIPLE jammers: Land based within 5km of N52° 31.0’ E000° 45.0’. Frequency: A 24 MHz band centred around 1575.42MHz (GPS L1). Total Power: Up to 10 Watts EIRP. It is stressed that, as in previous exercises, Safety of Life operations will at all times take precedence over exercise activities. For further in formation contact InfoGPS.Notices@ofcom.org.uk MEDIA WATCH www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/ Another new broadcaster of this news joins the team. Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia's VK3 Repeater at Noble Park. SUNDAY 9:30am 439.425 VK3RSV Noble Park - EchoLink Node 9698 (John Chalkiarakis - VK3YP HARAOA Treasurer). WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ARDF WIA ARDF COORDINATOR VK3WWW Jack vk3www@wia.org.au http://users.mackay.net.au/~ron/ http://www.homingin.com http://www.ardf.org.au Sep 23-28 R3 Region 3 ARDF Championship Bendigo VK3 http://r3.ardf.org.au/ 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 Kiwisat Update Over 45 members attended the Kiwisat forum at the recent NZART conference. Very little news has come from what is expected to be a great feather in the ZL cap! Ian ZL1AOX ran a presentation which included a short video by Fred Kennedy ZL1BYP on the clean room at Massey University in Albany showing the almost complete Kiwisat. Ian then introduced via Skype, Clayton Gumbrell VK1TKA in Canberra Australia, who described the software development - a first at an NZART conference. Terry Osborne ZL2BAC completed the presentation showing his progress with the Ground Station Telemetry decoding software. ARISSat-1 Reception Challenge ARISSat-1 is scheduled for deployment from the ISS in July. It has a composite VHF downlink that will easily fit into the FUNcube Dongle receive spectrum. The telemetry is 1000 bps BPSK and can, of course, also be received with a normal SSB 2 metre wireless receiver. The expected signal levels from ARISSat should be similar to those we expect from FUNcube itself (and also eventually from UKube) and the team are keen to discover what will be the minimum and best type of antennas for schools to use with a FCD. Therefore user experience with the ARISSat signals will be very valuable in making this determination. To encourage everyone to receive ARISSat signals we are offering a FUN reward for listeners! There are a number of categories for this challenge –they include: 1+ The first FCD user, from each continent, who can post a spectrum recording of the received signal together with evidence of decoding the data using the ARISSat software and of sending it to the ARISSat data warehouse . 2+ The first non-FCD user, from each continent, who can provide evidence of having decoded the signals and of sending it to the ARISSat data warehouse. 3+ The listener, using a FCD or not, who can demonstrate satisfactory reception of the telemetry in the same ways as described above, using the "smallest" possible receive antenna. The actual closing date for this part of the challenge will be announced later. 4+ All other entrants who can demonstrate that they have been having FUN! Please submit your "entries", including your location, station details (including FCD serial number where applicable), postal address and reports to g0aukamsat.org Good luck, ARISSat-1 http://www.arissat1.org/ WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- MILITARY Commando Solo heard on new shortwave frequency Commando Solo, the US airborne radio station operating above Libya on behalf of NATO, has been heard using a new shortwave frequency, 10125 kHz, USB mode, transmitting messages intended for Gaddafi’s forces. This frequency is in the 30 metre amateur band, but is also used by the Libyan army. Commando Solo has previously used 6877 kHz and 10404 kHz. The change in frequency is probably due to the jamming by the Libyan Army. (SOUTHGATE) SOCIAL SCENE 2011 Jun 11 - 12 VK2 Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club annual Field Day Jul 16 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club Hamfest Cranbourne Community Hall 10am ( secretary@ggrec.org.au ) Jul 16 VK4 Maryborough Electronics and Radio Group "Wide Bay Hamfest" West Scout Hall, Ariadne St, Maryborough 8:30am. secretary@merg.org.au Jul 31 VK2/3 Riverina Field Day 10am at Lavington Scout Group Hall. Aug 7 VK2 Lismore region - SARCFEST Sep 11 VK3 SADARC Comms Day at St Augustine's Hall Shepparton 10am. Sep 16-18 VK4 NQ Amateur Radio Convention Date Set Townsville Sep 23-28 R3 Region 3 ARDF Championship Bendigo VK3 http://r3.ardf.org.au/ Sep 30-Oct 2 VK4 Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM at Camp Fairbairn CONTACT Secretary Gordon, (vk4kal@wia.org.au) Nov 20 vk5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Hamfest Goodwood Community Centre, Rosa St Goodwood at 0930. Visit www.ahars.com.au for contact details 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 3-18 2012 VK5 YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com) Submitting news items If you would like to submit news items for inclusion in the VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au to submit audio read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on wia.org.au Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition of WIA National News. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================================= WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide. TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA 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. ***************************************************************************** /ex