WIANEWS - Aug 28 - 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 AUGUST 28 2011. NEW WIA DIRECTOR Silent Key Lee Norrish VK2TLN One and only RD address is rdlogs@wia.org.au THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING AUGUST 28 2011. International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend - 2011 Kevin vk2ce the Event Organizer has sent a personal congratulation to all VK amateurs who participated in this year's ILLW event held last weekend. In 1998 four Australian stations participated in what then was a very young event. Last weekend saw 66 stations registered with possibly others on the air who did not send|in an entry form. This country has around 400 lighthouses which qualify for the event which means some 17 percent of our lights were on the air. Some of these lighthouses are in remote locations and require some expenditure and effort to get there and set up a station. For example a VK3 ham went to King Island, another amateur walked a long way to get to Wilson's Promontory lighthouse and no doubt there are others who can speak of similar feats. VK's were second only to the USA where 80 stations registered which is only a very small proportion of their total number of lighthouses. It was good to see an upsurge in numbers from that country. Kevin singled out Jim Linton VK3PC for his untiring efforts to promote this event both here and overseas, and hopes to see you all again next year and oh! bring a friend! ACMA NEWS Future options for the siting of satellite Earth stations The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released a discussion paper signalling its intention to develop a long-term strategy for the sustainable siting of satellite Earth stations. Earth station siting provides guidance on both the establishment of new Earth stations and other space communications facilities as well as the expansion of existing facilities. The ACMA paper considers the potential options for the siting of Earth stations into the future by taking a band by band approach to the identification of the challenges of using each space frequency band up to 20 GHz. The band by band assessment primarily focuses on Earth receive bands including radio astronomy bands. The paper also considers each current major Earth station site in Australia, discussing the implications of spectrum demand on the continued viability of that particular site. The closing date for submissions to the Earth station siting discussion paper is close of business 7 October 2011. The paper is available on the ACMA website. http://acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/pc=PC_410114 (Sourced from an ACMA Media Release) HOME OF THE GOOD GUYS A special Request from NZINFOLINE They have received a request from the son of a silent key, hopefully someone will be able to help, if so please contact Dave directly on the address which you will find when you get the print edition of this news from wia.org.au It would seem that the SKey was an avid HAM operator in the late 40’s and 50’s. QTH being Waiheke Island in Auckland until he was drowned in a boating accident in 1957. His call sign was ZL1MG. Dave, the Son, remembers he had a lot of QSL cards from other operators and he sent out a few as well, well he was wondering if any listener would happen to have one of his original ZL1MG cards? David Parkin. d.parkin@xtra.co.nz The Chicago Sun-Times reports on two radio amateurs, Dorothy Truhlar N9ALC (89) and Bob Truhlar W9LNQ (90) who have just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Bob got his ham license in 1938 while Dorothy got her ticket in 1958. Read the article 70 years of ribbing, hamming and wedded bliss http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/6864388-423/70-years-of-ribbing-hamming-and-wedded-bliss.html HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news Email Address : r_demkiw@yahoo.com.au BBQ at VK2WI with Pierce VK2APQ. Pierce VK2APQ will visit VK2WI Dural on Sunday the 4th of September. He plans to arrive in time for the broadcast and call-backs. Listeners are invited to join ARNSW and Pierce afterwards for a BBQ lunch. Pierce celebrated his 100th birthday the 14th of this month at a function of family and friends. Several Amateurs were in attendance. To help with catering numbers please indicate if you plan to attend by either an email or phone to the contact details in this weeks text edition of this newscast. office@arnsw.org.au 0400 445 829 VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ Logo of the Centenary is launched Now featured on the Amateur Radio Victoria website amateurradio.com.au is the celebratory logo for the organisation's 100th birthday. It featured also in the World's First Digital Amateur Television QSO Party held this weekend. Also those who have their mp3 players video screen activated for this podcast and or WIANews audio files will see it 'front and centre'. The new logo with its star-over-the-horizon element is also to appear on QSL cards and the Amateur Radio Victoria Centenary Award. (Jim Linton VK3PC) 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. We radio amateurs like to think that we are comfortable with technology and the new generations of electronic toys are no exception. But some of these developments have taken a long, long time to evolve from the drawing board to large scale production. Others survive for centuries. For convenience and ease of note taking, there is little better than paper and pencil or pen. For copious records, the capacity of the thumb drive is hard to supplant. The ubiquitous thumb drive took years to become cheaply available even although non-volatile ram was developed in the late 1980's. Both the audio and video tape recorders germinated, bloomed and passed into obsolescence, during this same period. The lcd screen first made news as part of the personal GPS units used by American soldiers during the Desert Storm campaign. Optical disks, CD to Blue Ray are part of the same age cohort. When Brisbane was host to the Commonwealth Games, the late '80's, the host broadcaster broke new ground by storing items on Winchester drives. With the coming of digital television, many homes now use a personal video recorder whose heart is indeed a hard drive. We tend to try the new and adopt those things which work for us. Most radio shacks, I suspect, are a blend of the old and the new. 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 The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend was a very successful event for the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association Inc. Over 300 contacts were made that included over 40 lighthouses and 6 countries. The accommodations, food, company and fishing were great. A great weekend was had by all. Many thanks go out to Ray – VK4HOT and Jason – VK4FJGS for organizing the weekend. Also many thanks to Graham – VK4NFZ for the antennas and the majority of the equipment used over the weekend. The club raffle of a Yaesu FT-1802M/E radio was drawn at the last meeting. The new lucky owner is CQARA Club Member Jim – VK4JYM. Congratulations Jim. Don’t forget to make your arrangements for the CQARA Annual Getaway at Cool Waters on the Capricorn Coast. Contact our President Andrea VK4FROG for more information. Andrea can be contacted at president@cqara.org.au I’m Adam – VK4MTJ on behalf of the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association Inc ROCKHAMPTON IRLP NODE 6973 e-mail vk4jym@wia.org.au Secretary Jim 04 2948 4734 http://www.radarclub.org.au Greetings from Rockhampton and District Amateur Radio Club, the RADAR Club. I’m Les VK4VIL. Last weekend our club returned to Cape Capricorn, AU0059, for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, one of our major events for the year. Cape Capricorn is situated approximately 50km ESE of Rockhampton and is quite remote, requiring a five hour boat trip each way between the Cape and Rosslyn Bay near Yeppoon. We used a 20ft motor boat and a 40ft motor sailer. Conditions were great for the journey out, but winds of 25 to 30 knots developed for the return trip. An APRS which was (VK4KLL-9) was installed on one of the vessels, which allowed club members and friends to monitor the trip. All involved stayed in the old light keeper’s cottage, with antennas at the same position as the original communications mast. As well as the usual array of wires and beams erected at the lighthouse for long distance work, a cross band repeater was also installed for local comms. During the weekend, operators spoke with over 400 other radio stations in about 30 countries including Germany, Namibia, USA, Japan, Spain, England, Chile and Northern Marianas. In excess of 40 lighthouses stations were contacted. Thanks to our hosts from Cape Capricorn Lighthouse Escape which lease and maintain the Capricorn Lighthouse precinct as a retreat enterprise. And yes, the fish were on the bite again and we’ve have already registered for 2012. This is Les VK4VIL on behalf of the Rockhampton and District Amateur Radio Club The Sunshine Coast Amateur Radio Club's annual HAMFEST - SUNFEST 2011 is a an event for Amateur Radio Operators, CB Radio users, Radio and Electronics enthusiasts, Computer bits and pieces. New gear as well as pre-loved bits of everything on sale. SUNFEST 2011 Doors Open at 0900 hrs Saturday 10 September 2011 at Woombye School of Arts Blackall Street, Woombye (UBD Map 66 F12) Only last week I telephoned the President of the Townsville Amateur Radio club to arrange some audio recordings pertaining to the up coming Far North qld Amateur Radio Convention. Just a couple of days later the President, Richard VK4FRJG suffered a heart attack at home. he is very lucky in that his daughter Renee, an intensive care nurse stationed at The Townsville Hospital was home with him at the time and was able to do everything possible to ensure Richards survival. Richard is currently in the Intensive Cardiac Care ward at The Townsville Hospital. VK7 local area news :- http://reast.asn.au/news.php vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club has it's first life member. Maurice, VK7ZMR, was granted life membership to the Club recently and pleasantly surprised was he when presented with his life membership certificate. Congratulations Maurice. (David, VK7DC, Secretary, CCARC) EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au Amateur Radio Assessments and training Persons in the N/West Area of VK7 interested in Training and Assessments for all classes of Amateur Radio Licenses are advised that the Club can provide these requirements and much more. Maybe someone wishes to upgrade. Well the club has the appropriately trained personnel with Facilitators from the Radio and Electronics School who can attend to all requirements should candidates so desire. For more information, please contact the Club's Learning Organizer Tony VK7AX, or the Club. Contact details can be found on the Club Web Site or the WIA site under VK7 Clubs. (Tony VK7AX, President - North West Tas. ATV Group) REAST Training, Education & Assessment If you are interested in undertaking an amateur radio exam and/or training and this could be for foundation, standard, advanced, regulations or practical and are in the South of VK7 then contact learning organiser Reg VK7KK on 0417 391 607 (73, Reg VK7KK, REAST Education Officer and Assessor) Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club Saturday the 1st of October will be holding an examination and assessment session for all grades of licence. Please contact 02 9487 3383 if you wish to attend. 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 New WIA Director Peter Young VK3MV has resigned as a director of the WIA, wishing to reduce his commitments. However, the Board is delighted that Peter will continue to be deeply involved with the WIA's work with the ACMA and government generally. Under the WIA Constitution, the Board is obliged to appoint a new director for the balance of a retiring director's term. The Board has appointed Trent Sampson VK4TI a director for the balance of Peter's term. Trent was first licensed as a result of the CB boom of the 70s as VK2NDK/VK2YHA in Tamworth NSW and then progressed through a series of callsigns VK2KTS, VK2ZI, moving to Queensland in 1999 with his current callsign VK4TI. Trent is a keen contester and a member of the VK Contest Club and is on the contest committee for the Oceania Dx Contest as well as being the manager of the VK Shires contest. Trent is an Insurance Adviser and also a qualified Financial Planner. SILENT KEY As most would be aware we seldom announce Silent Keys during the National News, unless that Amateur was extremely well known right across Australia. This Silent Key however is probably only well known in the Sydney, maybe the VK2 area itself but his achievements Ham Radio wise personify a legacy passed down since Ham Radio Commenced. That of providing services to other like minded hams at no charge, utilising his work place facilities! This Amateur was but 34 years of age when he succumbed to a Heart attack! Lee Norrish, VK2TLN. For the amateur radio community, Lee Norrish leaves behind a massive legacy and equal uncertainty among the 70cm community in Sydney. Lee Norrish was the key person responsible for an exceptional 70cm repeater network which flourished across Sydney over the past few years. His point access to the best commercial RF sites in Sydney, enabled him to slip into place a mixture of linked amateur repeaters and voting receivers at Horsley Park, Kurrajong Heights, Hurstville, Carlingford, Campbelltown, Razorback and the crown jewel of them all, Governor Phillip Tower. The result is a remarkable contribution to the Sydney 70cm community and with more sites believed to have been still in the pipeline, a magic era in 70cm repeater experimentation appears lost. Governor Phillip Tower stands as a monument. As a powerful reminder of Lee's vision for a peerless 70cm repeater network for the amateur community. Lee had been very active in assisting volunteer groups, including St John's Ambulance. Lee Norrish, VK2TLN, you WILL be missed! (sourced to vk2wi news) INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. Tropical Cyclone Information Statements WOCN31 CWHX 252345 Tropical cyclone information statement updated by the Canadian Hurricane Centre of Environment Canada at 7:54 PM ADT Thursday 25 August 2011. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tropical cyclone information statement for: Atlantic provinces Southern Quebec. For hurricane Irene. The next statement will be issued by 3:00 AM ADT. This is an updated preliminary information statement to discuss Hurricane Irene's effect on Canada. Full messaging on this Storm will begin at 3 AM ADT. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hurricane Irene is a major hurricane now exiting the Bahamas With winds near 180 km/h. The hurricane is moving north-northwest at about 20 km/h. Irene is forecast to track over Eastern North Carolina on Saturday. Thereafter Irene is expected to track north-northeastward either through New England or the maritime provinces late this weekend and into Monday. The track and intensity will, as always, depend on many changing factors over the next 3 days. Thus, it is too early to meaningfully state how the storm will affect specific areas. However, it is common that the heaviest rainfall occurs to the left of the track and highest winds to the right with this sort of storm. At this point in time we encourage consulting the bulletins at least twice a day for updates on our forecast and discussions. Visit weatheroffice.Gc.Ca/hurricane (all in lower case) for the latest track information. Please also refer to the public and marine forecasts and warnings issued by Environment Canada for your area. END/FOGARTY www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/hurricane/index_e.html Slovakia gets 150 kHz wide 5 MHz band Slovak Radio Amateurs are now allowed to use the entire 5258.5 - 5410.0 kHz band instead of the previous allocation of a single channel on 5260 kHz. 5258.5 - 5410.0 kHz is allowed for experimental purposes with a maximum power of 100 Watts ERP and the Slovakian licences are valid for 1 year. (Slovakia Amateur Radio Association (SARA) http://tinyurl.com/SlovakiaSARA) MARS ROVER OPPORTUNITY ORDERED BY RADIO TO SPIRIT POINT NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will revisit the rim of Endeavour crater on Mars, where its rover twin Spirit finished its 6-year-long mission in May. The rover scientific research vehicles had completed their three-month prime missions on Mars in April 2004. Both went on to extended missions and in the process each made important discoveries about the environment on ancient Mars which suggested the possibility for microbial life on the red planet. Driving commands sent by radio to Opportunity directed the rover to make its final push toward Endeavour crater. This is a 14-mile-wide depression near the Martian equator could be the research vehicle’s final destination. The target for Opportunity is a site on the rim of the Endeavour crater named Spirit Point. It was given that designation by the Mars Rover Controllers in honour of the Opportunity’s lost twin. EI amateurs allowed 1500 watts for contests A few months ago the Irish Radio Transmitters Society announced that, after some two years of negotiations, Irish regulator ComReg had agreed that EI licensees would be allowed to run high power in specified contests. Everything then went quiet for a couple of months, but ComReg has now published a document on their web site implementing the change. Consequently, suitably equipped Irish contesters are now able to run 1500 watts in major HF contests and 1000 watts in VHF/UHF contests. The list of permitted events is similar to the one in which UK stations may use short contest callsigns, although more contests could be added to the list in due course. Interestingly, the increased power limit applies to 4m and the whole of the 160m band, but, curiously, not the 10m band. ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA DR. LARRY PRICE W4RA NAMED ARRL PRESIDENT EMERITUS Some words of congratulations to Dr. Larry Price, W4RA, on his being named ARRL President Emeritus. Dr. Price served as the League’s President from 1984 to 1992 and previous to that as a Vice Director, Director and Vice President of the ARRL Board of Directors. He also served for 10 years as Secretary of the International Amateur Radio Union and another 10 years as that organization’s President. In fact, Dr. Price continues to serve the IARU as an expert consultant and has been recognized as President Emeritus by the IARU’s Administrative Council. The naming of W4RA as ARRL President Emeritus was made in celebration of his ongoing dedication to the Amateur Radio Service and in recognition of his 60th anniversary as a radio amateur. FORD TO ELIMINATE CD PLAYERS FROM ITS VEHICLES Call this a sign of the times. According to news reports, the Ford Motor Company is eliminating CD players in its new United States vehicle models and opting to instead install USB sockets for iPods and other digital music players. Ford notes that all of its new cars will have a computer hub, which will allow drivers to access their music libraries from the Internet. ============================================================================= WEIRD AND WONDERFUL PLEASE REMOVE THE BATTERIES BEFORE YOU SHIP ANYTHING THAT TICKS And finally this week the tale of the ticking box. It comes from Portage, Michigan where an electronic metronome was the cause of a Post Office scare! It seems that postal workers noticed a ticking noise coming from a package around 5:30 a.m. Fearing the worst, Portage Police along with the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety's bomb squad were called in to investigate and the Post Office was evacuated. In this case, authorities were able to get in contact with the owner of the package, who told police that there was nothing more than an electronic metronome inside. Even so, prior to employees being allowed back inside the building, the bomb squad went in and removed the package. Upon investigation, bomb squad personnel did find nothing more than an electronic metronome inside the package. Postal workers were allowed back into the Post Office just before 8 a.m.. And all this comes with a few words of advice. If you plan to mail a metronome, a clock or anything that makes a ticking noise, take out the batteries before you ship it. That can save your community thousands of dollars spent on an un-needed emergency response and save you a lot of grief. SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2011 Aug 27-28 ALARA YL CONTEST Oct 22 WIA Jack Files Contest Nov 26-27 WIA Spring VHF-UHF Field Day 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 RD CONTEST Please make a note that there is only ONE email address to send your completed RD log to and that is the one shown on the WIA contest page. rdlogs@wia.org.au If you send it to ANY other email address it WILL end up in cyber-space! rdlogs@wia.org.au IARU REGION ONE IN SUN CITY On contesting the meeting agreed that the CW contest-preferred segment from 7 000 – 7 025 kHz is withdrawn from the Region 1 band plan. All Societies should encourage contest organisers to include a rule that restricts contest activity to a limited frequency range within the CW allocation. The choice of frequency segment is left to the discretion of the contest organisers, but should take into account expected activity levels and show consideration for non-contest operation SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE For rugby enthusiasts, look out for ZL4RUGBY operated by ZL4PW now until the 31st October. This to celebrate the 2011 Rugby World Cup being played in New Zealand. The special event station GB4BOB will be active, from September 1-20 each year to celebrate the Battle of Britain. Look for special event station GB4BOB next month. QSL via the Bureau or direct to G0BPK. 4W6A will be QRV from Atauro Island IOTA OC-232, East Timor from 16 to 26 Sept. All bands 10 to 160 metres, CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL manager is M0URX, direct (SAE plus 1 IRC / $2), via the bureau, or LoTW. More from the IARU Region One conference held in Sun City is that The "DX Code of Conduct" was approved and operators were urged to support it: John VK2JJW has that 'code'. I will listen, and listen, and then listen again before calling. I will only call if I can copy the DX station properly. I will not trust the DX cluster and will be sure of the DX station's call sign before calling. I will not interfere with the DX station nor anyone calling and will never tune up on the DX frequency or in the QSX slot. I will wait for the DX station to end a contact before I call. I will always send my full call sign. I will call and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously. I will not transmit when the DX operator calls another call sign, not mine. I will not transmit when the DX operator queries a call sign not like mine. I will not transmit when the DX station requests geographic areas other than mine. When the DX operator calls me, I will not repeat my call sign unless I think he has copied it incorrectly. I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact. I will respect my fellow radio amateurs and conduct myself so as to earn their respect. THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report – Measure Twice cut once I’m Col…. VK3LED HEATHKIT SAYS IT’S RETURNING TO THE KIT SUPPLY MARKETPLACE. Heathkit says it is re-entering the kit business that it abandoned almost two decades ago. In an announcement posted to its heathkit.com website, Heathkit Educational Systems, which is the current name for the company, states that in late August, the company debuted its new line of do-it-yourself kits for common around-the-house items. Don't look for ham radio gear to be a top priority, even though the word on the street is that kits for the amateur radio market, may be down the road! Right now, the company is starting off with more general interest kits with their first entry being a Garage Parking Assistant, or G-P-A for short. The Garage Parking assistant lets someone build their own system that uses ultrasonic sound to locate a car as it enters the garage. The system signals to the driver using LED lights mounted on the wall, when the car is detected and in the perfect spot for parking. Next on the market will be a Wireless Swimming Pool Monitor kit followed by many more novel items. For those of you to young to remember, it was on March 30, 1992, that the then managers of Heathkit announced that after some 45 years, the company was closing out its kits and leaving the business. So why has Heathkit decided to re-enter the kit market? To hazard a guess you have to remember that the current incarnation of Heathkit, is an educational materials supplier. As such it has likely taken notice of the burgeoning maker and hacker community. This is an ever expanding group of technology hobbyist's world wide, that in recent years has grown into a multi-million dollar business opportunity for those smart enough to recognize it and are ready to fill the void. These are also the people that many believe will be the next generation of technology leaders and radio amateurs MEDIA WATCH www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/ Today in media watch it's to VK3PV with a look at Septembers AR Magazine, and we take a look at ourselves! A new 40 meter retransmission of this news is on the air! 7.088 at 0000 hours Sunday Morning's that's Moon West Australian time and Bunbury Radio Club, VK6BRC is the callsign. Barry, VK6WF, a White Stick Operator is putting this all together and sure would like you to have a listen for him, 7.088 at 0000 hrs or Noon WA Time. Barry's personal call of VK6WF is a very famous call indeed in the West. The first broadcast station, and it was for a time also on long-wave, was call 6WF for Westralian Farmers. The original 6WF also was one of the first stations in the world to experiment with what was termed then as "palstic radio". It would appear 'plastic radio' was what we now call Stereo! The broadcast 1 channel on MW the other on SW. This station is now an ABC station and courtesy of the ABC website, lets go back in time to 1924! (audio re-enactment of 6WF opening) A look inside Amateur Radio magazine Editor Peter Freeman VK3PF reflects on the flood of historical articles that has caused a headache, with others needing to be delayed. The Publications Committee needs more input. WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI touches on Station Inspections and “Possession”. Well worth reading as the WIA wants to ensure that the ACMA activity does not become a barrier, to legitimate amateur activities. The technical articles are building 200 watt band-pass filters by Roderick Wall VK3YC, The Simple Soft Defined Radio from Peter Parker VK3YE, and a simple tuning indicator for a 100 watt HF transmitter by Warren Stirling VK3XSW. WIA Historian Peter Wolfenden VK3RV, gives us an expose on 100 year old, Honorary Life Member of the WIA, Pierce Healy VK2APQ. There’s GippsTech 2011, a personal view from Roger Harrison VK2ZRH. You will find regular columns on ALARA, AMSAT, Contests, DX News & Views and Spotlight on SWLing. Amateur Radio magazine, a WIA membership service that’s also available at selected news agents. I’m Barry Robinson VK3PV and you’re listening to VK1WIA. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO IARU REGION 3 Emergency Centre of Activity (CoA) frequencies 3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz The seventh GAREC conference at Sun City has been regarded a resounding success. The contributions from various delegates were informative, varied and interesting! The South African contributions came from Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE, who discussed the advantages of 'going digital'. This is a subject that will be looked at in more detail as propagation problems persist! The other contribution came from Craig Lambinon, who heads up the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). At the end of his presentation, it was agreed in principal that Hamnet and the NSRI will be looking at a closer working relationship. The next GAREC will take place in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia in 2012. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- MILITARY Amateur Radio at the Armed Forces Weekend and Enigma Re-union Bletchley Park’s annual Armed Forces Weekend will take place on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 September and amateur radio will be there. Celebrating the role of the armed forces throughout history and in particular the role of the cadet forces, the two-day weekend event will look at how Bletchley Park assisted the armed forces during World War Two. It will feature a range of wartime displays and re-enactment groups, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Flypasts, featuring a Spitfire and a number of entertaining lectures about the armed forces and Bletchley Park. Other activities during the weekend will be a display by the Vintage Military Amateur Radio Society of radio equipment spanning the last 100 years, showing how communication in the armed forces has changed over time and become ever more vital. www.bletchleypark.org.uk (southgate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING http://www.scouts.com.au http://www.scout.org/jota http://www.international.scouts.com.au CALLING FREQUENCIES Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication. Australian voice calling frequencies: 3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160 World CW calling frequencies: 3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160 World voice calling frequencies: 3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, 50.160 Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV): 3.630, 7.033, 14.227 Calling Frequencies for PSK31 14.070 JOTA A reminder that JOTA will be held on Sunday 16 October in the North of VK7 at the Kings Meadow Scout Hall commencing at 10.00 am until late afternoon. Peter VK7KPC would be happy to hear from any members willing to lend a hand in setting up on the Saturday and assisting on the Sunday. So please don't be shy. SCOUTMASTER ARTHUR ANDERSON, W9WPH, STABBED TO DEATH ON HIKING TRIP Arthur Anderson, W9WPH, of Kokomo, Indiana, 76, bled to death after being stabbed in what authorities are calling "a senseless act." On Sunday, August 21, Anderson -- together with another man -- was leading two Boy Scouts, ages 11 and 12, on a required five mile nature hike on the Nickel Plate Trail in Bunker Hill, 60 miles north of Indianapolis. According to Indiana State Police Sergeant Tony Slocum, the group had stopped on the trail to discuss a tree when Anderson was attacked from behind. Anderson, a scouting volunteer for 50 years, was an Assistant Scoutmaster of a troop based at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Kokomo. Read more here arrl.org/news/scoutmaster-arthur-anderson-w9wph-stabbed-to-death-on-hiking-trip (ARRL this in wia text version only) LOW DOWN IN THE NEWS IARU REGION 1 IN SUN CITY It was agreed at the recently held IARU Conference in South Africa that IARU, at further ITU World Radio Conferences, should seek to expand the international amateur radio 160 metre band from its present lower end of 1 810 kHz to 1 800 kHz in ITU Region 1. IARU should also try to obtain an international secondary allocation for amateur radio between 1 850 and 2 000 kHz. SOCIAL SCENE 2011 Aug 28 VK2 Blue Mountains amateur radio club's annual WINTERFEST andrewvaughan230@gmail.com Sep 10 VK4 Sunshine Coast Hamfest SUNFEST at Woombye School of Arts 9am. 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) Oct 23 VK3 Hamvention Ballarat Sunday. 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 12 VK3 CentreVictoria Hamfest, Kyneton Racecourse 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. 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