WIANEWS - July 24 - 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 July 24 2011. WIA Monitoring Service request volunteers who can assist with linguistic skills. ANOTHER ARISSAT-1 DELAY RD CONTEST REPORT THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JULY 24 2011. 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 A few weeks ago we heard from WIA Director Peter Young in relation to the WIA Monitoring Service with a request from Peter for volunteers who can assist with linguistic skills, this to help with monitoring reports of intruders on to our HF bands. Peter said that sometimes phone communications are in foreign languages that once identified can assist with the location and possible identification of the intruder. So if you have skills particularly in Asian or Middle Eastern languages and dialects Peter would like to hear from you. You can contact Peter by email vk3mv@wia.org.au ACMA NEWS The total number of Australian internet subscribers rose by 17 per cent in 2010 and the average amount of data downloaded increased by a further 29 per cent over the same period, according to research released by the ACMA. 'These increases reflect again the ongoing digital boom in online social and economic activity,' said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. 'More and more Australians are going online to do their shopping, banking and social networking.' The report, The internet service market and Australians in the online environment, found that that more than 15 million people aged 14-years and over used the internet during the December quarter of 2010, up from 14.2 million during the same quarter in 2009. In addition, 71 per cent of internet users went online at least once a day in December 2010, compared to 67 per cent in December 2009 - an increase of 1.2 million users. The 300th entry for the International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend The milestone entry 300 is for the Rövargrund Lighthouse, under the club station OH6NR, which plans to have a good experienced presence on the bands. On an island in Western Finland and one of seven from that country, it’s to be activated by DXers who on their recent outings to Rövargrund favoured HF through 6-metres including the digimodes. With three weeks to go there have been an average of five entries a day. This is to escalate in the final weeks and it’s not too late to get permission to set up and make an entry. There’s lots of easily assessable lighthouses that have not yet made it on the 2011 list. So far we have more than 40 countries in all and this too is expected to rise. Why not join in the fun that is had on the third weekend of August? Visit the revised website at ILLW.NET to check out the full list of entries, read more details or register for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend on August the 20th and 21st. The WIA gives Australian radio amateurs and electronics enthusiasts access to an extensive range of locally and internationally sourced publications including those from the ARRL and the RSGB. Our bookshop is designed to provide you with a simple and secure way to purchase the latest amateur radio books and publications online. We use a secure commercial e-commerce gateway for all credit card transactions and delivery to your door is provided by Australia Post. Purchasing the latest in amateur radio publications is both secure and easy. We hold a wide range of the most popular publications suitable for those starting out in the hobby as well as books popular with the more experienced hobbyists. If there is a particular publication that you are trying to locate that is not listed in our online catalogue, then we would be more than happy to help you. Please send an email with the details of the book you are looking for to bookshop@wia.org.au Both WIA members and non members are able to purchase from the WIA online bookshop, however the bookshop provides significant discounts to members of the Wireless Institute of Australia. From time to time we do run specials on some publications, so keep an eye on your Amateur Radio magazine each month for details. This is Mal VK3FDSL for the WIA Bookshop Solar panels stolen during break in Coomera. Queensland Police are investigating the theft of between 200 and 300 solar panels with the inverters from a business at Coomera. Unknown offenders forced a door to the business and loaded the items on to a truck that had earlier been reported stolen from a business at Middleton Street Ashmore. The truck is a 2005 Isuzu FR500 Torqueliner with a white cabin and has a blue back cover. It has attached Queensland registration plates 534 IIZ. Members of the public are warned to be cautious of people selling solar panels at a heavily discounted price and to be sure they check the business’s or seller’s credentials before purchasing. Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au SILENT KEYS Horrie Young VK2AMZ - a Life Member of the WIA / ARNSW Horrie in WW2 was the radio operator on MV Krait in Operation Jaywick on the Commando raid on Singapore. After WW2 he rejoined the PMG / radio branch and ended up as Superintendent of the NSW Radio Branch. An extensive interview script about him can be found on the internet at The Australians at War [Archive 1815]. His farewell was held Thursday. Horrie was heard on the 2002 and 2006 RD opening address. http://wiaq.com/rd_archives/ He lived on the Central Coast. The source of his passing was heard on Tuesday afternoon on the ABC Statewide program. (Tim VK2ZTM) Also passing is David Thompson formerly VK2BDT. His death occurred on Tuesday the 19th of July on his 92nd birthday. David would be well known as VK2 president for some years and was a very active Amateur and was the Founder and patron of the Goulburn Amateur Radio Society now Goulburn and Southern Highland Radio Society. David had been in failing health recently and had entered hospital for a minor operation but sadly didn’t survive. (sourced to Ian Jeffrey VK2IJ) HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK0 FYI - the segment is on Mawson's establishment of two way radio from Macquarie Is and does feature MERG member Kev working DX. ABC iView and thought you'd be interested. 13/07/11 www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/799460 VK1 Once again RATSACT will be running a JOTA station at Camp Cottermouth from the 15-16 of October. All the normal activities with the theme this year being "Peace, Environment and Natural Disasters." THIS YEAR JOTA IS THE LAST WEEKEND OF THE OCTOBER SCHOOL HOLIDAYS. Wednesday 27th July 2011 CRARC's General Meeting Presentation Program at 7.30 PM is “WSPR 101” – An introduction to Weak Signal Propagation Reporter. Ian VK1IS gives a presentation with a demonstration of hardware and software applications to enable users to participate in WSPR digital technology. Then just when you thought nothing could be more exciting! It is on again! CRARC'sr Garage Sale, so much stock everything MUST go! BUT Sales strictly AFTER the Presentation of “WSPR 101”. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news Sunday 31 st is the T&T at VK2WI SARFEST - Sunday 7 August, ALL WELCOME, BE THERE. All invited, traders, sellers, buyers, gawkers, walkers, talkers, just come for the heck of it Sunday 7 Aug 0800K. No trader's site fee but a donation requested depending on your day. TRADERS INTENDING TO ATTEND ARE ASKED TO CONFIRM TO vk2src@sarc.org.au VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ 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. (wia events) 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. Recently the news media gave prominence to an international report on the possible effects of radiation from mobile phones. There have been many earlier reports, claims and counter claims about the safety of hand held phones and the possible links to brain tumours caused by the radio frequency interacting at the cellular level. The lowest cell phone frequency in use, in Australia is below 900MHz and our lowest equivalent amateur band starts just above 1200MHz. Cell phones are generally running milliwatts but we amateurs normally think in watts. The point is, in my mind, that until the science is defined, it is best to act with caution. As the radiation field diminishes according to the inverse square law, the further away from body parts the transmitting antenna is located the greater the apparent safety. We have grown used to people with hand held radios carrying them on their belts and using speaker mics. What price kidney damage? It seems that a metal lined safety hat with the antenna mounted atop as we have seen at some big ham meetings really has more to recommend it than just attracting attention. I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think....how about you? CENTRAL QUEENSLAND AR CLUB Rockhampton cqar.com.au A Digital Training Day was held at the Rockhampton Heritage Village, in North Rockhampton on Saturday July 9th 2011, a total of 19 people attended from both local clubs, the Rockhampton & District Amateur Radio Club inc and the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association inc. The day was centred around using the Tigertronics SLUSB Interface with the FLdigi Software, written by Dave Freese W1HJK. Jack VK4JRC went through the aspects of setting up the interface, doing the offset corrections using the Check SR program and then it was on to the setting up FLdigi and exploring some of its many features. Since many attendees brought along their computers, radios, power supplies and dummy loads, the day progressed with people helping each other work out the vagaries of the software and hardware to get up and running. The lunch break saw Mike VK4LMB, Andrea VK4FROG, Maree and a band of helpers, cook up a storm on the Village BBQ with steaks, sausages and burgers all round. After lunch it was back to 'school' and the learning continued! By the end of the day, there were many signals radiating around the room, with contacts being made over varying distances of up to 20 feet! The day finished at about 4pm with the attendees leaving with their carry bag information packs for further study. Thanks go to Jack VK4JRC for organising the day and Maree for providing gastronomic delights that would put a bakery to shame! Thanks also go out to all the people who assisted and attended on the day and to the Rockhampton Heritage Village for the generous use of their facilities. Plans are now underway for another training day in using SSTV with the Tigertronics Interface. I'm Adam - VK4MTJ on behalf of the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association Incorporated. MARYBOROUGH RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CLUB For more info, call Secretary Kathy Johns 040-939-8853 Email: kathy.johns@bigpond.com Channel 14 UHF CB call "CQ MERG" In keeping with the promotion of the Wide Bay Hamfest, the members of the Maryborough Electronics and Radio Group got to share a rag chew and a cuppa with visiting amateurs, last Saturday 16th July. With visitors from the Wide Bay itself, Gin Gin to the north and Gympie, Sunshine Coast through to Brisbane and one lone VK7 we enjoyed a low key function on a wet and blustery day. Items of pre-loved equipment as well as product brochures supplied by Icom Australia left the hall and out the back the VK4-ICE Communication display never seemed to be free of visitors. MERG is really appreciative of David Tavener's support over the last 3 years and thanks David for the donation, not only of a Wouxun H/T as raffle prize but also an antenna for the permanent JOTA station at the Aldershot Scout Camp. The weather had an effect on the number attending but a successful day was enjoyed and the efforts of the ladies from the local scout group was greatly appreciated with hot food and drinks being available. For MERG, I'm Geoff, VK4ZPP and hope to see you next year at the Wide Bay Hamfest. ROCKHAMPTON IRLP NODE 6973 e-mail vk4jym@wia.org.au Secretary Jim 04 2948 4734 http://www.radarclub.org.au Greetings from the Rockhampton and District Amateur Radio Club, the RADAR Club. This is Les VK4VIL reporting. Last weekend, the club worked with the Central Queensland Motor Sporting Club, undertaking communications for Round 2 of the Queensland Rally Championships held at the Capricorn Resort. Twelve operators were on hand from the club. As the area is heavily wooded and hilly, duties included setting up repeaters and radio headquarters for the event and completing general field relay of information as well as conducting emergency comms for accidents, injuries and recoveries. With the course classed as very slippery, bingles were common and at the end of the day, only 16 of the initial 28 cars entered remained operational. Good emergency training. To allow early results to be collated in time for the dinner and presentations, operators were also kept busy between other tasks, reporting all competitor result times for the numerous stages over the three courses. Leon VK4KLL at the resort’s headquarters was kept busy on 4 radios which operated on one VHF frequency, one Wicen UHF frequency and two UHF CB Channels as well as coordinating with the Clerk of the Course and the score keeper. John, VK4AJS ran a second base at one of the courses to prevent confusion. During the dinner, the motor sporting club acknowledged the RADAR clubs operation as professional, and essential for the conduct of the event with an undertaking for continued collaboration in 2012. The radio club’s next major event is a visit to Cape Capricorn Lighthouse for the annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend next month. I’m Les VK4VIL, on behalf of the Rockhampton and District Amateur Radio Club. VK7 local area news :- http://reast.asn.au/news.php vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com The next meeting for the C.C.A.R.C. will be held at the penguin lions club rooms on the 30th of July with a help and demo session for those building "Squid Pole" antenna, and weather permitting Dion, VK7DB, will erect and test his unique version of the squid pole outside the meeting room. There will also be some club surplus components and equipment for sale. Other members are welcome to bring along unwanted amateur related bits and pieces to sell at the same time. Meeting time will be 1.30pm and all welcome. http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc/ (David, VK7DC, Secretary, CCARC) WIA DIRECTORS WEEKLY REPORT WIA Emergency Communications Training and Accreditation Update. I thought I’d give you an update on the WIA’s emergency communications training and accreditation system. So far we have run training courses in many major Australian centres and we now have over 100 people trained in emergency communications. The emergency communications training and accreditation system is a two part process – training and accreditation, so the next step in the training program is accreditation. So far 32 people have applied for accreditation as a WIA Volunteer Emergency Communications Operator. Those people need to show that they are available, fit and well, if required to help out in an emergency. If you have completed the Emcomms training course, we encourage you to apply for accreditation by completing the application form in the emergency communications training section of the WIA website, or by contacting the WIA office. We are now investigating the best way to move forward, that is, how to structure and coordinate the accredited operators, so they can be used effectively if required by emergency services or non-government organisations. Like all things the WIA does, this work relies almost entirely on the goodwill, effort and time of volunteers. Without the volunteers the WIA would simply not be able to function as it does. We need to find ways to better acknowledge the work of volunteers, but for now I would simply like to say thank you to all those people who have brought the WIA’s Emcomms training system to its current position. This Phil Wait, for the WIA. EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au Assessments Potential amateurs and those wishing to upgrade are reminded that exams can be conducted across the north west coast of the Apple Isle at a mutually agreed time and place by the Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club examiners. For further details on gaining a licence or upgrading, contact the Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club learning organiser, Keith Winkler, VK7KW. Contact details are available on the club website, go to wia.org.au and find Cradle Coast under the VK7 clubs. INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. Radio ham killed and another seriously injured in tower accident. As a group of South Dakota hams were dismantling a 110 foot tower, a gust of wind toppled the final section, trapping two local hams, Tim Anderson, K0OR, 54, and Tom Embree, NC0K, underneath. Loss of 2 meter simplex frequencies imminent in Texas! Texas two meter simplex users stand to lose a large portion of available frequencies to D-Star repeaters if proposed changes to the two meter band plan are passed by the Texas VHF-FM Society. South Sudan DXpedition Paul, N6PSE says the advance team should have arrived in Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, July 20th, with a list of tasks to perform in advance of the main team. As the ITU has not yet issued a new prefix for South Sudan. Their March call-sign of ST0R will be call for the DXpedition unless ITU issues a new prefix. World Scout Jamboree - SJ22S Amateur radio stations have been set up at each World Scout Jamboree since 1957. They provide live-links from the Jamboree to the home countries of the participants over short-wave radio as well as being interesting stations for other amateurs to contact. From 27 July till 7 August 2011, the 22nd World Scout Jamboree at Rinkaby in Sweden will be on the air with call sign SJ22S (Scout Jamboree No 22 Sweden). This is a special event call sign. The station will offer an exciting radio-scouting programme including kit building and fox hunting to the Jamboree participants. Jim, ZL2APE, who is the NZ National Organiser for the Scout Jamborees on the Air, will be one of the station operators Google "SJ22S", and go first to the QRZ listing for details of frequencies etc. ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA HAM RADIO FREDRICHSHAFEN ATTRACTS 16,300 The 2011 Ham Radio convention in Friedrichshafen, Germany took place the weekend of June 24th to the 26th. This annual event has become known as Europe’s answer to the Dayton Hamvention in the U-S-A and Japan’s famed Ham Fair. Taking place at a venue on picturesque Lake Constance, this year's Ham Radio attracted 184 exhibitors and 16,300 visitors. Attendees came from all over the world. In addition to the German amateur radio community, other countries represented included Italy, Malaysia, Japan, Qatar the United Kingdom and the United States. During the event 124 young people were given a demonstration of amateur radio. Some even tried soldering and playing with the Morse code. A video captures the flavor of Europe's largest amateur radio event, narrated in German, is on-line at tinyurl.com/arn-europe-ham HAM RADIO IN SPACE: ANOTHER ARISSAT-1 DELAY The orbiting of ARISSat One has been delayed for a few weeks. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the latest details: According to ARISSat One Project Manager Gould Smith, WA4SXM , the former Suit-Sat will not make an appearance in space until sometime in August. In a news release, Smith said he and ARISS Hardware Engineer Lou McFadin, W5DID participated in a teleconference call this week with NASA to review the Roscosmos spacewalk procedures for the release of ARISSat One during E-V-A 29. For those who never heard the term before, E-V-A is an acronym for Extra Vehicular Activity and is NASA-ese for describing a spacewalk Smith now says the discussion cantered on preparation procedures including the battery being charged and assembled into the satellite. Also discussed were the procedures to remove the protective quilts from the solar cells and turning on the safety switches prior to deployment. During a later teleconference Sergey Samburov, RV3DR announced that the ARISSat One battery will be charged in late July and a test of the system will be conducted from the ISS from 1915 UTC July 30th to about 1200 or 1400 UTC July 31st. The standard ARISSat One 2 meter downlink band plan should be transmitted as well as the FM signal also down linked on 437.55 MHz. The ARRISSat One team believes that it is looking at an August 3rd date for actual deployment, but notes that this is all subject to change. More information as it becomes available. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in the newsroom in Los Angeles. EUROPEAN CB'ERS GET SSB OPERATION A decision by the European Union has paved the way for the use of Single Sideband on 27 MHz CB across the British Isles and Europe. The revised regulation will permit European CB operators the use of SSB equipment running 12 watts Peak Envelope Power output in the frequency band 26.960 to 27.410 MHz. The European Union decision to permit SSB on 11 meters came into force on June 24th and carries a preferred implementation by national telecommunications administrations of October 1st. ON THE AIR" BATTLE OF BRITAIN STATION BECOMES PERMANENT SPECIAL EVENT On the air, keep an ear open for U-K special event station GB4BOB to be active from September 1st to the 20th to commemorate the World War Two Battle of Britain. After running this station as a one-off for the battles 70th anniversary, the Pontefract and District Amateur Radio Society has now decided to keep it as an annual event to remember those who fought in it. QSL's go direct to G0BPK or via the RSGB bureau. More is on the Pontefract and District Amateur Radio Society website at www.pdars.com ============================================================================= RSGB 600m and 4m for Netherlands A recent change of the National Allocation Table in the Netherlands shows that Dutch amateurs will get a secondary allocation from 501- 505kHz until 1st January 2014 and a secondary allocation from 70.0-70.5MHz. The allocations will not start until an update is made of certain frequency control legislation. TETRA ready for Olympics As preparations for the Olympics gather pace, Airwave has announced that its specialist TETRA Network, Apollo, is ready to provide voice communications in the London area. This uses UHF spectrum that is separate from the amateur 70cm allocation, however the scale of the games is such that additional spectrum may still be needed from the 70cm band on a temporary basis. An example of this is the forthcoming use of 70cm for telemetry to support sailing test events. As announced last week, this will occur in the Weymouth and Portland area between Wednesday 20th July and Saturday 13th August. Further information can be found on the RSGB website www.rsgb.org/olympics. New RadCom free sample A new free sample edition of RadCom is now available to read online or download from the RSGB website. The sample RadCom is available in digital magazine format for reading online, which requires a Flash plug-in to your browser. For those who would like to save the magazine to their computer, or do not have Flash installed, a 24 megabyte PDF version is available. The sample is the March 2011 edition. ============================================================================= WEIRD AND WONDERFUL What came before GeoCaching – Was it Letterboxing? An interesting discussion around GeoCaching with Angela VK7FPAA at a DATV night lead to Angela telling REAST about LetterBoxing which was an early form of GeoCaching. Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. It takes the ancient custom of placing a rock on a cairn upon reaching the summit of a mountain to an artform. It started when a gentleman simply left his calling card in a bottle by a remote pool on the moors of Dartmoor, in England. Here's the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called "clues" or "the map"), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art. Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box's stamp. The box's logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks. For more information take a look at the link on the email editions of this broadcast. www.letterboxing.org/ www.geocaching.com (VK7WI) SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2011 Hello Listeners. I am peter Harding, VK4OD the WIA RD Contest Manager. Today Sunday the 24th July and as this news goes to air, you have about 3 weeks to check with your local Club to see if they are going to participate and your Club’s Equipment, Antennae’s, logs sheets, and Logging Software are up to date. I have just had a short time to assemble the RD Contest printable log sheets, declarations, etc. over the next couple of weeks I hope to be able to make available these documents, they will be at the bottom of the RD Contest page, as a downloadable documents. Remember In all cases, logs must be received by last mail on Friday 16th September, 2011 Late entries will not be eligible. Electronically sent logs will be returned with a courtesy note, also Snail Mail will be returned unopened. Aug 20-21 WW I.L.L.W. Oct 22 WIA Jack Files Contest 2012 January VK Ross Hull Memorial VHF UHF Contest March 17-18 VK JOHN MOYLE MEMORIAL FIELD DAY June Long Weekend (vk4 time) VK Shires Contest. July First full weekend NZART Memorial Contest Railways on the Air Railways on the Air 2011 will take place on the weekend of 24 and 25 September. As last year, the suggested frequencies for the event are 3,650, 7,120 and 14,120kHz, but participants are requested to avoid any interference with RSGB news reading. Anyone is encouraged to register if they are working an historic railway site, it doesn't have to be a famous one or indeed one operating trains, just a site that has a railway heritage. Registration and general enquiries can are through the website www.rota.m0php.net SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE AN-016, VP8/A, Antarctica: VK2BFG is working as VK0BFG from Casey Station and has been spotted in SSB on 40m already. ZLDXC Yahoo Group If anyone would like to join they would dearly like to have them aboard so they can inform each country of what is happening within the Pacific area and beyond Those interested please subscribe via Email to :zldxc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Web site for ZLDXC http://groups.yahoo.com/group/zldxc/ They Invite all Pacific and others to join .. (73 Phillip ZL2TZE) NEW AFRICAN COUNTRY Thursday, 14 July the UN General Assembly admitted the Republic of South Sudan as its 193rd member state. Immediately following the General Assembly meeting, the flag of the Republic of South Sudan flew for the first time in front of the UN. Now that the Republic of South Sudan is a member of the United Nations, the new country is now a DXCC entity. The SARL however say the ITU has not confirmed the new country's callsign prefix. THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report - (Measure twice - Cut once!) The Illawarra Amateur Radio Society currently has a construction competition running that is open to amateur radio operators within VK. There are prizes to be allocated in two categories. Entry is easy, just build a crystal set. Judging will be based on some simple rules:- The crystal set must work i.e. receive a transmitted signal. The crystal set can receive either commercial, broadcast or amateur signals. No external power other than the received signal can be used. Additional points will be gained by utilizing recycled parts, or home made components. Additional points will be gained for Innovative design, and unique concepts. The finished article does not need to be aesthetically pleasing. Testing will be carried out at Industry World Centre, Wollongong 8/11/2011 (Between 19:30 – 22:00 Hrs). The judge’s decision will be final. The judging of the contest will be at the IARS November meeting. The Crystal set will need to be bought to the meeting on this evening, alternatively they can be posted to the Secretary Illawarra amateur radio society, by the meeting date which is 8th November 2011. Correct postage and packaging cost must be included if you require the project to be returned after the competition. Note that this project is a receive only construction, so it is therefore open to all license classes in VK. Why not put together a club entry? Old hands, why not take a newer member of the hobby under your wing and show them how construction was done when you first discovered radio. Results and awards will be presented at the December 2011 meeting. The two entry categories are:- Category 1:- Financial members of the IARS First Prize :- 2 metre Handheld radio Second Prize:- Quality Screwdriver Set Third Prize:- Lightweight Headphone Set Numerous consolation prizes such as mouse mats, baseball caps Category 2:- All other VK Hams First Prize:- 2 metre Handheld Radio Second Prize:- Quality Screwdriver Set Third Prize:- Lightweight Headphone Set Details are available on the Illawarra amateur Radio Society’s web site http://www.iars.org.au or email the secretary vk2vvv@wia.org.au Silver pen has the 'write stuff' for flexible electronics ScienceDaily report on a pen that can be used to create flexible electronic circuits. University of Illinois engineers have developed a silver-inked rollerball pen capable of writing electrical circuits and interconnects on paper, wood and other surfaces. The pen is writing whole new chapters in low-cost, flexible and disposable electronics. Read the ScienceDaily report at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110628151632.htm (southgate) MEDIA WATCH www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/ ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER FEATURES AMATEUR RADIO 2011 is replete with big movies, ranging from action-adventure flicks to comedies to coming-of-age dramas. And already, Amateur Radio has played a part in not one, but two movies. In Mr Popper's Penguins, ham radio is featured, albeit incorrectly, on the big screen. And now Super 8 -- a film set just outside Dayton, Ohio in 1979 -- uses Amateur Radio in a crucial scene. Super 8 revolves around a group of six middle-schoolers who witnesses a mysterious train crash in the fictional town of Lillian. Soon after the crash, the Air Force arrives and strange things start happening in the small town. The kids, a group of young film makers (hence the title of the movie) begin to investigate the creepy phenomena. arrl.org/news/another-hollywood-blockbuster-features-amateur-radio WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video arvideonews.com hamradiotube.com youtube.com qdg.org.au George VK4AJL gets active with HF SSTV George and a few other Mackay hams are currently utilising the VK4AES EasyPal Digital SSTV software on 3642 to 3643kHz with good contact results into Rockhampton, Nanango and Gold Coast. Good results are also being obtained on 40 and 20 metres. George invites any other hams experimenting with EasyPal to give it a go on 80metres and join in with the Mackay Group. (vk4zz) 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 Free sample edition of OSCAR News AMSAT-UK have made available a free PDF of the Spring 2011 edition of their newsletter OSCAR News. It contains reports on four UK CubeSat projects currently being developed. News of new South African CubeSats and details of the telemetry on ARISsat-1 currently scheduled to be deployed from the International Space Station in August. A printed copy of OSCAR News is posted to members each quarter. Membership of AMSAT-UK is open to anyone who has an interest in Amateur Radio satellites/space activities, including the ISS. You do not have to have an amateur radio licence to join, many members are interested in listening to satellites and decoding the telemetry. Read the OSCAR News PDF at http://www.uk.amsat.org/on_193_final.pdf Join AMSAT-UK at http://tinyurl.com/JoinAMSAT-UK/ AMSAT-UK International Space Colloquium July 30-31 Guildford http://www.uk.amsat.org/colloquium-2011/ AMSAT-UK: http://www.uk.amsat.org/ 73 Trevor M5AKA WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA http://rsgbiota.org OC-142. Southgate news in the UK tell us that the Ipswich (Brisbane Australia) club will be active on OC-142, Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island as VI4FI from the Sandy Cape Lighthouse AU0043 during the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend August 20-21st. QSL VK4FI via VK4MIA direct or by the Bureau. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- NAVAL New RNARS website - simple to use The Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society has launched its new web site. The outstanding feature of this replacement site is its simplicity and ease of use. All radio amateurs and anyone with an interest in maritime radio, especially those who have served or are serving in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines and other navies throughout the world, are invited to visit the site. www.rnars.org.uk There is something there for everyone, including listeners, as the Society issues awards for various activities associated with contacting its members. RNARS operating frequencies are listed in the ‘skeds, nets and frequencies’ page which can be copied and pasted into a proprietary editor for printing as a guide to where to find Society members. The site is under continuous improvement and visitors are invited to suggest additional features to enhance the site. LOW DOWN IN THE NEWS Malta gets 500kHz We have heard that Maltese radio amateurs may apply for a temporary permit for 500kHz operation. This comes as word is that the latest version of the Maltese National Frequency Plan contains an entry for 501-504 kHz. The permit is operational until the end of 2011 but could be extended if approved by WRC next year. Application forms and the National Frequency Plan many be viewed at www.mca.org.mt (rsgb) SOCIAL SCENE 2011 Jul 31 VK2/3 Riverina Field Day 10am at Lavington Scout Group Hall. Aug 7 VK2 Lismore region - SARCFEST Aug 28 VK2 Blue Mountains amateur radio club's annual WINTERFEST andrewvaughan230@gmail.com 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 FEB 26 VK2 CCARC WYONG FIELD DAY MAY 3-18 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