WIANEWS - OCT 9 - 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 OCTOBER 9 2011. ACMA Investigates Serious Interference on Amateur Bands WIA DIRECTOR Trent Sampson VK4TI addresses members MICROWAVE ACTIVITY DAYS COMING UP IN VK3/4/6 THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING OCTOBER 09 2011. VK3 Centenary goes on air For the month of November 2011 the special call sign VK100ARV will be well sought after and qualifies toward the Amateur Radio Centenary Award. This year is the 100th anniversary of the Amateur Wireless Society of Victoria, formed in 1911, quickly changing its name to the Wireless Institute of Victoria, and today is known as Amateur Radio Victoria. A special QSL card is on offer. On the front it features defining words capturing the spirit of the founding of the organisation and on the back a gallery of Presidents and the information panel. The Award certificate has a montage of the organisation over the decades. For Australian stations a total of 100 points are required and DX stations 25 points. Both the QSL card and certificate are worth obtaining for display and will show the Centenary logo. (Jim Linton VK3PC) A WHITE pointer shark sighting last month is the first off the Rockingham coast in VK6 since a fatal attack resulted in a monitoring station being installed at Warnbro Sound. Authorities issued a warning after a 5m great white was spotted near Kwinana Power Station, movement was picked-up by a Department of Fisheries tracking station, 600m off the coast of Port Kennedy Foreshore Park. 20 listening posts are placed along the metropolitan coastline to monitor shark activity. Now this newer deterrent to sharks may not be as great as first thought! The project receivers do not detect sharks, they can only detect acoustic transmitters that have been attached to sharks. The officials say they can only detect up to 120 sharks that have been tagged! Let's hope those 120 are the only "hungry ones!" Carter Edwards, Sunday night host on the "Super Radio Network" across Australia had as a guest Jeff JOHNSON VK4XJJ at the completion of Jeff’s Walk Across Australia. (Snippet of Carter/XJJ interview) If you have any spare cash laying around please think about making a deposit into the NETS account. http://www.thankq.net.au/tq_community_netsa/PersonPage.aspx?Ref=P11557/1182 (Grahame O'Brien VK2FA) 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 VK Advanced three letter call signs commencing with the letter "O" now available. Previously that block had not been used because of a fear of confusion between the letter "O" and the numeral "0". More on http://www.wia.org.au Greetings Fellows I am Trent VK4TI the newest addition to the WIA board - I am based on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland about 100km north of Brisbane. My amateur radio activities have almost always revolved around contesting and that is where my main interest in board activities will lie - to that end I have joined VK6POP on the boards push to improve the lot of Australian contests. Part of the campaign is to establish better log checking and submission provisions for the Contest managers as the board realise this is a very onerous task and one that can be implemented through software - we are hoping this may be ready for 2012. I must thank the board for thinking of me as a director and wonder what I can do to repay them for the role. I also am totally delighted in the number of my friends who have joined the WIA after my appointment - Regards Trent VK4TI 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 Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club Incorporated. This club offers a range of training and examination services for those wishing to obtain their Amateur Radio licence, or wish to upgrade. Please contact the club, ideally via their website. hadarc.org.au VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ AmateurLogic TV Episode 33 Still further raves about the World’s First Amateur Radio Digital Amateur Television QSO Party from VK3RTV then telecast live worldwide as part of the Centenary celebrations for Amateur Radio Victoria. Peter Berrett VK3PB has included some great footage from the ground-breaking event on the web TV show "AmateurLogic". Peter is one of the shows regulars and took part in it all just Google "AmateurLogic TV Episode 33" VK4 - QNEWS Send your stories for news. SCRIPT to qnews@wia.org.au send audio to http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/upload/ get local audio news www.wiaq.com/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3 get local news emailed qnews-vk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Welcome to QNews from VK4WIA. I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking. Technology has the effect of changing the interactions between people. The difference between walking, animal power and then machines such as trains saw a new mobility and knowledge of one's surrounds. The creation of written language, writing and the printing press changed the way information was spread. Electronics enhanced the telegraph, telephone and we now have pocket computers called smart phones. News and information, trivia and comment are available at a finger touch on a screen and the current generation of technology users take this for granted. Long gone is the pedal radio and the operator connected phone call. It is becoming more apparent that the benefits of this new communications technology are less "Star Trek" and more adapting social standards to available technology. The growing use of instant comms demands exponential growth of infrastructure. However, in the hobby domain we have a limited range of technologies with poor geographic distribution to serve the amateur population. Similarly the cost of hand held devices which will meld internment and telephone function is comparable with the brand name major smart phone. For me, the question becomes will the potential radio hobbyist be able to forsake the sophistication of the commercial system with multiple apps, good available computing power and easy connectivity for the currently old and limited amateur radio service? I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think....how about you? Cairns www.carc.org.au email carc@carc.org.au Howard VK4BS President 07 4242 4711 Next Meeting Monday 7:30pm October Ten at Brothers Rugby League Club Cairns. More News from North Queensland IEEE Northern Australia Section invites you to attend a seminar on Wednesday 12th October, noon at James Cook University. Peter Herbert Senior Inspector of Mines (Electrical), Mackay District will lecture on ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING IN THE MINING INDUSTRY The talk features the speakers experiences with what can go wrong and resulting impacts. For further information contact - Assoc. Prof. Mohan Jacob, Chairman IEEE NA Section. Mohan.Jacob@jcu.edu.au Hello again from Doug Friend VK4OE from the Brisbane VHF Group. Well, the microwave test and tune-up day on the 25th of last month was a real blast! A great day was had by all who were there and you can find pictures of the event on the VK-Logger Forum, plus the VK4ADC website. Now, the previously described, out-in-the-field, microwave activity day is approaching on Sunday the 23rd of October. (We've altered the date to make way for JOTA.) The VHF Group is encouraging as many folk as possible to activate as many any of the bands above 1 GHz as possible. Many folk will remember the great day that the first of these operating days was last year. We're hoping that this one will be even better! Weather permitting, there will be stations active at elevated locations, or from their homes, from various places around South-East Queensland. Detail of these locations will be given in a later broadcast. Commencement time should be around 10:00 a.m. and initial liaison should be on the Group's VK4RBN repeater on 147 MHz or on SSB on 144.150 MHz Things should last as long as the fun lasts - several hours for sure! There is no competition happening on that day - the aim of the day is to provide an opportunity for microwave QSOs to be made, as well as for newer microwave operators to improve their operating technique. Issues like pointing of antennas and knowing what frequency to tune to sound simple but out in the field, they can make or break successful contacts. Weather permitting, it should be another day of great fun. And, if you are not yet a microwave operator, you can still go to one of the test locations so see what's going on and to possible whet your appetite for the exciting area of amateur microwave construction and operating! If you are coming or are interested, please feel free to contact me on 07 3391 5526 or by e-mail (QRZ correct). Members of the Group look forward to meeting whoever will come to the 2011 microwave activity day. This has been Doug Friend, VK4OE, from the Brisbane VHF Group. VK6 Just a reminder that the WA VHF Group 2011 Spring Scramble is just days away on Sunday 16 October 2011. The aim of the scramble is to contact as many different stations as possible, on as many bands, 6 metres or 50MHz and above, as possible. As the Spring scramble coincides with the JOTA weekend, JOTA stations are very much welcome and encouraged to take part in the contest...! The scramble will run for 2 hours between 10.30am & 12.30pm local time or 0230 - 0430 UTC. The contest is divided into 2 intervals of 1 hour each (i.e.: 1030-1130 WST and 1130- 1230 WST) with repeat contacts allowed in the second interval. Double points are awarded for contacts with portable & country stations. The scramble is primarily for FUN and works on the honour system. Suggested Frequencies for the Scramble are: 6M: 50.200 MHz(SSB); 52.525 MHz & 53.5 MHz(FM) 2M: 144.100 MHz(SSB); 146.500MHz(FM) 70CM: 432.100 MHz(SSB); 439.000MHz(FM) 23CM: 1296.100 MHz(SSB); 1294.000MHz(FM) The Spring Scramble Rules and a suggested log sheet are attached and also have been published on the WA VHF Group website (www.wavhfgroup.org.au) Details for submitting completed log sheets are included at the bottom of the rules. Closing date for logs to be submitted to the Scramble Coordinator Rob VK6LD is Monday 31 October 2011 and results will be available for the WA VHF Group November 2011 Meeting. If anyone has any queries or questions, please don't hesitate to contact Rob VK6LD DISCUSSION POINT What use is an f-call? I've now had my foundation license just over 200 days. If I had a dollar for every time I was asked: "When are you upgrading your license?" I'd be able to retire, well, at least eat out. I'm unsure about the sentiment. I understand when it's asked from a place of encouragement and improvement but often times it appears cloaked in the notion that an f-call is merely a stepping stone to a "real license". Allow me make some observations. If I had an advanced license and I decided to engage in QRP, low power broadcasting, then I'd get accolades for my ability to get to another station on the smell of an oily rag. If I built a magnificent antenna from scratch I'd get enquiries about the design and suggestions on improvements. If I came up with a particularly nice design for a power supply, or a filter for a generator, or any number of contributions, I'd be welcomed into the ranks of a "real amateur", whatever that might mean. You might have noticed that I could have skipped the notion of needing an advanced license, because in fact, all of this can be done with a foundation license. You may think that I am having a go at those who snigger about the f-wit license. That's not for me to say. Instead I'm trusting that if you hold an f-call, that you gain confidence in your skills and privileges and that over time you too will become a (quote) "real amateur". When I learnt to fly, I visualised a bubble around the aircraft. Inside the bubble is safe, outside is certain disaster. As you manipulate the controls you might move around inside the bubble, or make it larger or smaller. Initially the bubble seemed infinite in size, but as experience was gained the bubble shrunk. It may well be that my experience in Amateur Radio can be described as a bubble, though probably not in terms of safe-and-disaster. When my skills in Amateur Radio improve and increase, I might determine that the bubble that restricts the foundation license stops me from exploring into fields that I'd like to investigate. Until that time, I'm perfectly happy with my f-call. I'm proud to have it, honoured to be a member of the Amateur Radio community and pleased to be able to explore this landscape. I'm Onno vk6flab EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au Following the recent IARU Region 1 conference in South Africa, members societies were urged to appoint a Youth Coordinator. At the last Irish committee meeting, Ger McNamara EI4GXB was appointed to the role. Ger is seeking ideas from members on how to best generate interest in Amateur Radio among young people A great idea from region 1 that our own region, maybe WIA should consider. Galileo competition for 9-11 year olds The UK Space Agency has announced an EU Commission drawing competition for children aged 9-11. The winning entry from each EU member country will have one of the Galileo global navigation satellites named after them. Galileo is the European Union’s global satellite navigation system. The first two Galileo satellites are scheduled for launch on October 20 and are named Natalia and This after the children winning the competitions in Bulgaria and Belgium. The competition is now open to other European Union member countries. UK Space Agency Galileo Drawing Competition press release bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/news-and-events/2011/Sep/galileo-drawing-competition UK Space Agency http://www.bis.gov.uk/ukspaceagency/ INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. ARRL BRIEFS WHITE HOUSE ON AMATEUR RADIO'S CAPABILITIES DURING EMERGENCIES September 12, at the invitation of White House Cyber security Coordinator Howard Schmidt, W7HAS, the ARRL briefed several members of the National Security Staff on the capabilities of the Amateur Radio Service to communicate in emergencies. "The White House is looking for ways that the great work of Amateur Radio operators can continue to support emergencies in the future with particular attention to increased use and dependency on Internet-based technologies," W7HASt said. The ARRL presentation, conducted by Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, W5MPC along with President Kay Craigie, N3KN, and Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ focused on Amateur Radio's current and evolving capabilities to provide Internet messaging connectivity International support for RSGB-proposed 472 to 480kHz amateur radio band For several years the RSGB has been very actively involved in preparations for the 2012 World Radio Congress, or WRC-12. The work centres on creating a European Common Proposal, or ECP, for a secondary amateur allocation in the band 415 to 526.5kHz. Society representatives have been working with one of CEPT’s project teams to secure a positive outcome on this, the only amateur radio-related agenda item. The CEPT project team has approved a draft ECP for an 8kHz-wide band between 472 and 480kHz. This draft ECP now goes to CEPT’s Conference Preparatory Group for formal ratification in November. This breakthrough, at the 11th and final meeting of the project team, occurred with the submission by Ofcom of an RSGB-drafted compromise ECP proposal. Whilst the 8kHz band differs from that agreed by CITEL, a similar regional grouping of countries to CEPT but in the Americas, there is a 6kHz overlap. Of course there is still some way to go, but the prospect of an agreed CEPT position is good progress, representing a 48 country block vote going into next year’s WRC-12. ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA CQ PUBLISHING TO OFFER ALL MAGAZINES IN DIGITAL FORMAT New York based hobby electronics publisher Richard Ross, K2MGA, has announced that his CQ Communications will launch multi-platform digital editions of all of its magazine titles before the end of 2011. These titles include CQ magazine, CQ VHF, Popular Communications and WorldRadio Online. According to Editorial Director Rich Moseson, W2VU, the digital editions will supplement, not replace, current print editions, and will feature enhancements not possible in the print medium. Versions will be available for a variety of online and mobile platforms including PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android 2.0 and higher. Examples of features that will be possible in the digital world include live links to all World Wide Web addresses listed in each issue as well as supplemental content. This will include such additions as photo albums, audio and video files, software and more. The digital editions of the CQ publications will be hosted by Zinio dot com. Zinio is one of the top names in the e-magazine publishing business. Moseson says that CQ’s choosing of Zinio will assure that our magazines will always be able to take advantage of new technology when it becomes available. The digital launch will begin in late October with the November issue of an enhanced, multi-platform, version of WorldRadio Online, which will again become a paid-subscription publication. This will be followed by the November CQ, which, appropriately, is the magazine's first annual Technology Special. The fall issue of CQ VHF and December issue of Popular Communications will round out the introductions. Digital editions will be available by single copy and by subscription. Details will be in the near future in the magazines and on all CQ Communications websites. Moseson noted that many CQ book titles are already available in digital form on CD. “THE FINAL LAUNCH” TEAM EFFORT CONTINUES A follow up to a previous story about Special Event Station N4S that recently commemorated “The Final Launch” of America's Space Shuttle Program. This with the flight of Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Centre on mission STS-135. It turns out that during its operation, N4S made 2,956 contacts world-wide and QSL requests are being processed. Several “QSL parties” by members of the North Brevard Amateur Radio Club are making progress in responding to all of those amateur radio operators requesting confirmation. More about this one is on-line at www.northbrevardamateurradioclub.com The countdown has started on the Mediterraneo DX Club's DXpedition to Nepal. This operation is slated to begin on November 13th and run through the 25th. More information on this one is on-line at www.mdxc.org/nepal2011 COME AND JOIN US ON THE AIRWAVES - REVISITED Now, the story of a music video about ham radio. It title is “Come and Join Us On The Airwaves” and it was written and performed by Andrew John Huddleston, OZ5E. Andrew, along with his wife Lissa Ladefoged, are country music devotees who live in Aarhus, Denmark, and are likely best known simply as The Ham Band. This, as a result of their 1994 CD of amateur radio related songs simply titled “Seek You.” About a decade ago, Andrew and Lissa produced a ham radio video titled “Come And Join Us On the Airwaves.” The video features Andrew in a tuxedo atop a 100 foot high tower and Lissa at the 60 foot level performing the song while un-corking a bottle of Champaign. Unfortunately, when the video was posted to YouTube, the technology of the day did not do justice to the visual content. Now with the advent of High Definition video on the YouTube site, that has all changed: OZ5E: “The original version of the video that we uploaded to YouTube was actually quite good quality. I would say medium quality. It was viewed by about 18,000 people which I thought was quite impressive. “And then the strangest thing happened. Some other people; I think two or three other individuals, have uploaded really low quality versions of the video (with) the wrong aspect ratio and rotten sound and these versions have been viewed by no less than half a million people. So we thought to put the High Definition version out there so that people can see that our (ham) radio station is a very, very pretty one.” Comparing the original posting to the new upload by Andrew using true 720p high definition video is breathtaking. Especially when you look past the singers on Andrew’s tower and gaze at the splendour of the Danish countryside where it was produced. It’s so sharp and crystal clear that it’s as close as one can get to being there. You can experience the new Hi Definition “Come And Join Us On The Airwaves” on YouTube. Just use the shortcut of tinyurl.com/ham-song. The groups website is in cyberspace at www.hamband.com And less we forget to mention it, everyone seen on the tower was using safety gear. ============================================================================= WEIRD AND WONDERFUL 150th Birth Anniversary a Weird and Wonderful special station for the inventor of--- wait for it--- BASKETBALL! VA3AAR will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dr. James Naismith, Almonte native, to honour the inventor of basketball at the Mill of Kintail near his birthplace. Frequencies: 14150 kHz +/- 5 kHz, 7250 kHz +/- 5 kHz, 3755 kHz. Sunday, November 6, 2011, 24 hour operation 0000-2359 UTC AK-47 first prize in Somali radio competition for kids An Islamist-backed radio station in Somalia has awarded assault rifles and hand grenades to the winners of a children’s Koran recital competition. Radio Andalus, run by the al-Shabab rebel militia, said the first prize was an AK-47 and £450. The runner-up received an AK-47 and £320, while the child who came third received two F1 hand grenades and £250. The three children also received religious books. The Koran recital contest has been running for three years and in 2009, prizes included anti-tank mines, winners of that contest were between 17 and 20 year. (sourced to Southgate amateur radio club news) SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2011 Oct 8- 9 OC Oceania DX Contest CW Oct 16 VK6 WEST AUST VHF GROUP'S SPRING SCRAMBLE 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 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE Help save the DX logs! Bob, N2OO, from the QSL Manager Society, says, "If anyone knows of any DX or DXpedition logs and blank cards that are in jeopardy of being trashed, PLEASE save them! "If you are a QSL Manager and can't be bothered any more, PLEASE contact us!" Contact the QSL Managers Society and they pledge to locate a quality replacement QSL Manager. "Just because a DXpedition log is old does not mean that it is not worthy of being saved! Save DX Logs!" Go to www.qsl.net/qslmanagers or E-mail qslmanagers@qsl.net DL8KX and DD8ZJ will be active as 9H3KX from Gozo Island between 8th and 14th October. Their operation will be on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via DL8KX either direct or via by the bureau. (rsgb) Just a reminder for the prefix hunters that station LM9L40Y will be on the air until the end of December. This call is operated by members of the LA9L radio club in Norway and is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the club. "DX Code of Conduct" Audio by John VK2JJW 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. 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 Signals from Batam radio stations affected Singapore flights The Straits Times are reporting how Indonesian authorities have shut down 10 pirate stations, after pilots flying in and out of Changi Airport and Batam's Airport reported interference in communicating with air traffic controllers. The pilots said they often heard songs aired from radio stations, especially during take-off and landings. Radio frequency interference for flights over eastern parts of Johor Baru, neighbouring countries, including Indonesia. Countries were asked to seek help in detecting the source of the interference. JOTA FREQUENCIES WORT HOLDING FOR OCT 16 WEEKEND EVENT. 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 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE VK3 Microwave Activity Day Next Sunday October the 16th all the VK3 activity starts at 0830 (AEDT) which is 2130z. This follows the successful activities over the last two Easters. It will be spearheaded by Michael Coleman VK3KH, perched portable at Arthur’s Seat on the Mornington Peninsula, who welcomes visitors. Any radio amateur with 23 cm capability is welcome to take part in the event. The band is the easiest in the microwave spectrum whether home-based or portable. Activity will start at 0830 (AEDT) which is 2130z. The first hour and a half to focus on 1296 MHz, then progressing to the other bands. Liaison will occur on 144.150 MHz You can contact Michael VK3KH at mdc@cranbournemusic.com.au (vk3pc) SOCIAL SCENE 2011 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) JULY 14 VK4 Wide Bay Hamfest. West Maryborough Scout Hall Nov 12 VK3 SPARC HAMFEST (ROSEBUD BY THE BAY) FINAL FINAL ACMA Investigates Serious Interference on Amateur Bands Mark Loney, Executive Manager, Operations Branch of the ACMA has advised the WIA that the Operations Branch has been investigating interference to the Mt. Cottrel and Mt. Macedon repeaters as a result of complaints made by radio amateurs. As a result of those investigations the ACMA applied to the Melbourne Magistrates Court for the issue of a search warrant under the Radiocommunications Act 1992. The application was successful and the search warrant was executed on premises in metropolitan Melbourne Wednesday 14 Sep. with the assistance of Victoria Police. Mr. Loney advises that as this is an ongoing investigation, the ACMA is unable to provide further details. The WIA President, Michael Owen VK3KI says that the WIA welcomes these compliance activities affecting the amateur community. Mr Loney points out that the successful prosecution of individuals charged with causing serious interference on amateur bands depends heavily on the willingness of amateurs to give evidence and to provide evidentiary statements to ACMA compliance staff. The WIA encourages all amateurs to support the ACMA investigations. 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. *****************************************************************************