WIANEWS - Jan 22 - 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 JANUARY 22 2012. Don't forget the AX prefix can replace VK prefix for 26 January Kids in VK6 win chance to speak to ISS TV FIRST TRANSMISION IN VK IN 1800'S THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JANUARY 22 2012. The World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12) is being held in Geneva, Switzerland from 23 January to 17 February 2012. The Australian delegation, led by the ACMA, will include ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman, for the first week of the conference and Maureen Cahill, General Manager Communications Infrastructure, operational Head of the Australian delegation. Dale Hughes VK1DSH is representing the WIA and the amateur service. There are 35 agenda items for WRC-12, including agenda Item 1.23 "to consider an allocation of about 15 kHz in parts of the band 415–526.5 kHz to the amateur service on a secondary basis, taking into account the need to protect existing services". Dale will be reporting regularly to the WIA Board. (Sourced from WIA Front Page News) Successful Prosecution WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI writing on WIA Front Page News (wia.org.au) says a 63 year old man from Melbourne’s Western suburbs pleaded guilty in the Werribee Magistrates Court January 11 to several offences under the Radiocommunications Act. The offences, unlicensed operation of a radiocommunications device, unlawful possession of a radiocommunications device and causing interference to radiocommunications—carry penalties of up to two years' imprisonment. The prosecution followed an extensive investigation into alleged breaches of the Radiocommunications Act. The court was told that, until August 2009, the defendant had been a licensed amateur radio operator but was investigated by the ACMA following extensive complaints about interference. As a result of the investigation by its Compliance Operations, Field Operations and Interference Management and Monitoring Sections, the ACMA cancelled the defendant’s amateur licence. It was alleged that the defendant continued to regularly use his amateur transmitter from his home, contrary to the Radiocommunications Act, deliberately causing interference to licensed radio amateurs. After further complaints, the ACMA traced the interference back to the defendant’s home a number of times. However, despite warnings from the ACMA, the complaints continued. The execution of a search warrant by the ACMA in September 2011 confirmed that the defendant had a large amount of radiocommunications equipment, contrary to the Act. Tests confirmed that the equipment was set to the radio frequencies that had been interfered with. The court placed the defendant on a 12-month good behaviour bond, ordered him to dispose of all of the seized equipment within four months and to prove to the ACMA in writing that he had disposed of the equipment. Western Australia marks 50th Anniversary of Perth as the ‘City of Light’ On February 20, this year, WA will celebrate the 50th anniversary of a very significant event. On that day in 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth in the Friendship 7 spacecraft. On this mission, John flew over Perth and the people of Perth turned on their lights to acknowledge his mission. John observed that the city was clearly visible from space and Perth became known worldwide as the ‘City of Light’. This early space exploration mission set the stage for the Gemini and Apollo programs which culminated in NASA landing men on the moon. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s orbit, on Monday Feb 20 an outdoor public event will be staged in the Northbridge Piazza, featuring a live audio and video link to the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth. This free public event is being organised by the State Records Office of Western Australia and the WA Museum working with the City of Perth. State Archivist Cathrin Cassarchis said the highlight of the event will be an opportunity for young people to speak with and ask questions of the astronauts on the International Space Station. 10 young people will be selected through an online competition in which they are asked to come up with their original questions for the astronauts. The school aged children will ask their questions to the astronauts on the ISS as they are streamed live on the big screen at the Northbridge Piazza,” said Ms Cassarchis. The world wide ARISS network will be setting up the link between the Space Station and Perth and assisted by the Hills Amateur Radio Club City of Perth Lord Mayor, Lisa Scaffidi said the City was pleased to be involved in hosting a free public event that engaged the community and recalled a very significant event in Perth’s history. School aged children in WA ONLY!! are encouraged to enter the competition by submitting their questions to the astronauts on the International Space Station at the Western Australian Museum website http://www.museum.wa.gov.au/city-lights Entries close on 29 January 2012 and winners will be contacted by the State Records Office by 2 February 2012. This has been Tony, VK5ZAI the Australian National coordinator for ARISS Decision time for leap seconds The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service has decided to add a leap second to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) at the end of June 2012. The most recent leap was added on December 31, 2008. They have been necessary because of the Earth’s unpredictable rotation. UTC is based on highly accurate atomic clocks, but has been kept more or less synchronised with mean solar time by way of leap seconds. A revision of Standard-frequency and time-signal emissions will be voted by the International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Assembly meeting, immediately before the World Radiocommunication Conference 2012. If approved it will eliminates them by 2018. Leap seconds were introduced in 1972. Meantime with this being a so called leap year, February will have a total of 29 days instead of the usual 28, to make up for our rotation around the Sun. (Jim Linton VK3PC) YL International Meet 03-09 May 2012 Update ALARA President Tina VK5TMC has 47 YLs registered! If you are going to join the meet then time to register is running out fast. Registrations will need to close by the end of February for the Ghan and early March for the Adelaide Meet. Unfortunately there has been a change the Ghan trip at what organisers consider the last minute. The Meet travel agent has been advised by Great Southern Rail (the Ghan train operator) that all Wednesday trains have been cancelled including the scheduled Meet trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs! The Meet travel agent tried very hard to get the operator to reconsider (considering planning for the event has been going on for four years now) however the operator was adamant, no trains on Wednesday. Organisers say that an alternative plan will be put in place! (sourced to theTARCinc) I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. Regular listeners will be aware that the WIA news team has reciprocal arrangements with other amateur radio news services. These services may pick your club news item and place it on their own web site with credit to the WIA as the news source. However you can find that that same item is read and spread around the world from that secondary source. This is why you can expand your club’s presence in the world of amateur radio by submitting news items for broadcast. A good club web site is a great tool for your members but please remember our broadcast team gives their own time to compile and distribute the news. Just like you they don’t have time to search the internet for your news “gem”. Remember if an item is good enough for your web site, it is good enough for WIA News. I’m Geoff Emery and that’s what I think....how about you? An example or two, this story was sent to us from the Summerland Club this week, WHEN WAS THE FIRST TV TRANSMISSION MADE IN AUSTRALIA? It was the 3rd of November, 1885. 1885! Seems the '85 Melbourne Cup was transmitted to Ballarat, Victoria. AND was Reported to be very satisfactory. Henry Sutton via telegraph line used Nipkow disc equipment he built himself. Henry was known as "Australia's Edison". Alexander Graham Bell even went to Ballarat to see him and his inventions and it's said he was 'very impressed'. Sutton should be better recognised, unfortunately he was on the wrong side of the World. Resource urls' include http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/archive/index.php/t-74963.html http://www.heritageaustralia.com.au/pdfs/Heritage1105_Henry%20Sutton.pdf The other example of club news making national and world wide news when sent to the National News Services comes from Tim Goodrich, N5ASH, known locally to radio listeners as Skeeter Nash:- CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND JOHNNY CASH Members of my club, the Northeast Arkansas Radio Club will be sponsoring the first ever Johnny Cash Birthday Celebration Special Event Station. This, on what would have been the late Country Music Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members 80th birthday. The Johnny Cash Birthday Celebration Special Event Station will take to the air on Sunday, February 26th using the special call sign N5C. You can listen out for it beginning at 18:00 hours UTC which is noon Central U-S time. We plan to operate for a six hour period ending around 6 p.m. Central US time. . N5C will have stations operating SSB on the 80, 40 20 and 10 meter bands. At least one of these will be located in Dyess Colony, not far from the house where the Cash family once lived. Johnny Cash never forgot his roots here in northeast Arkansas, and we in the amateur radio community are looking forward to having the opportunity to honour one of the most recognizable figures in music history. Those making contact with N5C will receive a commemorative certificate. From Jonesboro, Arkansas, I’m Tim Goodrich, N5ASH, a-k-a Skeeter Nash of the Northeast Arkansas Radio Club reporting for the Amateur Radio Newsline. More information on this celebration can be found at the Northeast Arkansas Radio Club website. It’s located in cyberspace at nea-rc.org. The club also maintains a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nearadioclub 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 CCARC Field Day 2012 Didn’t get that special present this Christmas? Were you on Santa’s naughty list? Don’t worry; It’s only 34 days until the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club Field Day at Wyong - 26th of February 2012. Amateur Radio’s Big Day out is coming up fast! So get your wish list together, check it twice and grab that special bargain at the largest Amateur Radio gathering in the Southern Hemisphere. Central Coast Amateur Radio Club Field Day at Wyong As a new, free, service for 2012 the CCARC are offering to arrange "meet-ups" for Australian clubs and groups attending the field day. For those wishing to take advantage of the meet-up feature, please register as soon as possible via the form under meet-ups tab on the right hand side of the fieldday.org.au web page. Get in quick as the list will close at shortly. As usual most major suppliers of amateur radio equipment will be at the Field Day along with the Flea Market, Exhibitors and various amateur radio clubs, for more information, please go to the fieldday.org.au website Of course, the Field Day raffle is on again this year and the CCARC would like to acknowledge Amateur Transceiver Radio Centre for their donation of a Yaesu VX170 to be included in this year’s prize list. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ The countdown continues to the Centre Victoria RadioFest with its family friendly and interesting program. The commercial traders have loads of stock to sell at competitive prices, all in the dedicated Traders Hall. There will be plenty on offer too at the second-hand market tables and car-boot space alley. What sets this event apart from others is that it includes a mini-lecture program and activities. The organisers thank the guest presenters in the mini-lecture program: There will be Australia’s first showing of home-brew digital television, a look behind the scenes at the ACMA and the Super DX station ZL6QU at Quartz Hill. Put it in your diary now. The Centre Victoria RadioFest at the Kyneton Racecourse on Sunday 12 February. Points are contact are: Commercial Traders Liaison, Barry Robinson VK3PV 0428 516 001 Second hand tables are space, Ross Pittard VK3CE 0408 533 107 Club Corner Precinct, Tony Hambling VK3VTH 0423 635 152 (Bruce Lees VK3FFF) VK4 QNEWS VK4 SILENT KEYS @ 2011 - 2012 QAC YEAR VK4MUJ Jean Bowden passed away 2nd January 2012 advised by VK4ZZ VK4BAY Roy Mahoney January 2012 advised by VK4BSH Welcome to QNEWS from VK4WIA. I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. During the TV silly season when programmes may be worth watching or not, I did manage to watch a couple of shows that were based on recent history. Well recent enough for me to have familiarity with the technology, particularly the electronics. I am no specialist in this area but magazines, news-reels and cinema brought the insides of radio stations, TV studios and the ancillary equipment to the attention of people. What struck me was that great effort had been taken to use the correct props for the different scenes. Motor vehicles were age appropriate, as were the coiffure and clothes; furnishings and decor as well as cutlery all fitted the periods portrayed. However it was the early film editing suites, the velocity microphones and the TV cameras which really shone for me. As I understand, very few production houses now maintain large repositories of props and the properties are sourced from current owners. Now this would seem that the boat anchor brigade has a real opportunity to be part of the TV/stage production and film industries in sourcing and supplying real props as well as getting some money to help fund the collection and restoration of items like these. I’m Geoff Emery and that’s what I think.....how about you? CLUBBING Submitting news items If you would like to submit news items for inclusion in the QNEWS broadcasts, please email your item in text to qnews@wia.org.au Submit audio, read "how to submit items" on the weekly WIA news page. http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/upload/ Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition of QNEWS. Redcliffe and District Radio Club www.redclifferadioclub.org.au/ I’m Ray, VK4CF with news from Redcliffe & Districts Radio club. Last Monday’s technical talk was given by Scott, VK4CZ on the topic of 6 metre DXing, an operator’s experience. For Scott, his main interest in Amateur radio was in DXing and for him this meant talking to other countries. Scott’s ambition is to achieve a DXCC award for 6 metres. In Australia this is something of a challenge as all counties are typically more than 1000km distant from Australia and Scott believes that it will take possibly 2 sunspot cycles to achieve this. When asked, why 6 metres? His reply was because it is different to other bands but also at the same time, similar. As it challenges operators on both technical and capability levels and it attracts some of the best DXers from around the world. Scott said that the band had a number myths associated with it like: You can work the world on a piece of wet string!!; It’s either open or closed; You have to call CQ to find out if the band is open; It is only ever open in summer and You can work DXCC in less than 12 months (in Europe). Scott went on to outline what he believed are the best strategies for an Australian amateur to be successful on 6 metres. He said that there are both tips for operation and tools that should be used. These include: Use propagation predictors; Listen for Out of Band Indicators that is Remote TV stations below the band; Beacons in Band; Good operating practices and using the internet to use tools such as ionisation indicators and MUF maps found at http://www.ips.gov.au/ and http://www.spacew.com/www/realtime.php Regrettably some of the Out of Band indicators are being shut down in the 49 and 50 MHz bands essentially the analogue TV stations and these will probably have disappeared by 2014. Scott had found the following operating practices provided greatest success. Follow the band plan; Utilise Indicators and Tools; Practice the DX Code of Conduct; Learn CW; Be prepared to listen to lots of white noise; Listen carefully (contacts are likely to be 5x1); Tune to Out of Band and In Band key indicators; Listen (again!!) and Tune the beacons. For Scott, this summer has been very successful so far, as he had made contact with 15 countries so far. Despite the heavy rain which limited the numbers attending, all club members thought it was a most interesting talk and certainly gave them some avenues to follow for more successful operation. Thanks Scott! Well this is about all at the moment and so it’s 73 until next time from Ray, VK4CF, from the Redcliffe club. Ipswich & District Radio Club P.O. Box 250 Ipswich Qld 4305 Web – www.vk4wip.com Email - vk4wip@wia.org.au Main 2 meter repeater – 146.900, linked to 438.375 and 439.300 Now a roundup of news from the Ipswich and District Radio Club. With the recently upgraded 2 meter repeater on 146.900 at The Knobby near Glamorganvale here’s a reminder that the club conducts a daily morning net at 8am and a Tuesday night ‘feather duster’ net at 7.30pm local time. The main Ipswich repeater is linked to 438.375 Ipswich city. It is also linked 439.300 on Spring Mountain – providing a linked repeater system through three transmitter which offers improved coverage to most of Brisbane’s Southside, eastern suburbs of Ipswich and Logan areas. Whether you are portable, mobile or home station VK4RAI Ipswich and VK4RSM Spring Mountain offers extended coverage of the region. Both 70cm repeaters require a 91.5hz tone for access. Every Tuesday the club’s weekly 80 metre net is on 3.585 MHz Each week we are keen to hear from first timers to the club’s net, so why not turn off the TV and join us for a couple of overs on Tuesday night. The club meets twice a month at 7:30pm on the second and fourth Mondays, with the second Monday a social meeting and the fourth the business meeting. The first business meeting for the year is tomorrow night at the clubhouse, Deebing Street, Denmark Hill. Don’t forget you can also keep up to date on news and events at the club website – vk4wip.com Reporting from Ipswich, this is Allan VK4FABR. DISCUSSION POINT What use is an f-call? (Past editions of What use is an f-call can be found online at harg.org.au under F-troop.) When I came out of the examination room where I'd just passed my Foundation License, after the obligatory congratulations and back slaps, I walked out into the sun and wondered: "Now what?" At the time I knew two Amateurs and had met the people in my classroom. Since then I've become an active participant in Amateur Radio. Recently I was having lunch with some other Amateurs and we were talking about how their journey evolved from graduation to their current level of involvement. The key was "Information". I've talked here about how I went about selecting a radio, an antenna and the like, but there was a step before that, one that each new Amateur needs to make and that is finding the community. Ironically, while you're listening to this, you've already found us, you already have a link to other Amateurs, but you might have graduated with other people who are not so fortunate, so firstly I'd like to encourage you to contact those people and link up with them. Of course listening to me talking is not really interaction and I'm not the fountain of knowledge. Instead I'd encourage you to seek out other sources of information. The obvious ones are clubs and the Internet, but less obvious ones exist in the form of Amateurs who've been around the block more than a few times. Having lunch with Amateurs who have had their license as long as you've been alive is an interesting pass-time, especially when the guy on the other side pipes up and confesses that he has had his license longer than your parents have been alive. This Amateur Radio caper is a hobby, it's fun, it's a diversion from your day-to-day life and an opportunity to learn new things from new people. Keep your eyes and ears open and soon you too will start finding other like minded individuals. In the meantime, listen to the Amateur Radio news, participate in online fora, visit local clubs and remember that this hobby touches all walks of life across the globe. Enjoy. I'm Onno - VK6FLAB INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, ARVictoria and the WW sources of the WIA. Army MARS resumes use of WinLink 2000 It appears the Army Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) has reversed its decision to phase out WinLink 2000. The ARRL reports: According to Pudge Forrester, AA9GL, government liaison for Army MARS, Lieutenant General Susan Lawrence has reversed the decision to phase out the use of the WinLink 2000 global radio e-mail system by Army MARS members. Ms Lawrence stated that the Army, after reviewing its capabilities, had decided that the continued use of WinLink 2000 was a valuable asset to Army MARS members and agencies that were using the service. She issued a statement to that effect on December 21, 2011. On January 5, 2012, the Chief of Army MARS officially notified his membership that the phase out notice had been rescinded. Army MARS members and agencies who had been using the service hailed the decision by Ms Lawrence and resumed use of WinLink 2000. FCC GREEN LIGHTS STA FOR TEXAS HAM TO RUN HF SPREAD SPECTRUM The FCC has granted Philip J. Williams, KA1GMN, of Euless, Texas, a Special Temporary Authority or STA to conduct Spread Spectrum experiments on 160 through 2 meters. The 6 month authorization takes effect February 1st and expires on July 31st. It limits Williams to a maximum 2.5 kHz of signal bandwidths at 100 watts effective radiated power. Williams was directed by the FCC to use the Experimental Station call letters WF9XJD during his investigational Spread Spectrum transmissions. Previous experiments with Spread Spectrum technology have been conducted on the ham radio bands at 222 MHz and above where this mode of transmission is already legal. The Special Temporary Authority granted to Williams is the first permitting Spread Spectrum experimentation on the High Frequency and lower VHF bands. Bomb threat shuts Cyprus radio & TV for three hours Staff were evacuated from the premises of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation Monday last after a bomb threat was phoned into the station. According to an informed source a threat was phoned in twice to the main switchboard, firstly at 1020 UTC, then again just after 1100 UTC. Few details are known about the actual threat, but dozens of police officers, fire and explosives experts cordoned off the sprawling complex, with TV and radio services forced off air. The studios were evacuated and after a search lasting three hours, police gave the all clear. CyBC is Cyprus’s public broadcasting service, transmitting island-wide on four radio and two television channels. ITU receives Emmy Award This for new audio broadcast standard Recommendation which aims to standardise loudness metering on TV. The annual Technology and Engineering Emmy recognizes the ground-breaking work on the worldwide standardization of loudness metering for use in broadcast audio, which the Academy considered as outstanding and showing excellence in engineering creativity. ITU-R Recommendation BS.1770 on "Algorithms to measure audio programme loudness and true-peak audio level" was elaborated over a decade as a result of the dedication of many specialists including Craig Todd of Dolby Laboratories, USA; Gilbert Soulodre of Communications Research Centre, Canada; and Spencer Lieng of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The standard was finalized during the last study period within ITU-R Working Party 6C under the Chairmanship of David Wood of the European Broadcasting Union. The pertinent algorithm and the agreed parameters are now contained in the ITU-R Recommendation approved by ITU Member States, giving worldwide guidance on loudness metering. ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA DIY RADIO NEWS: CQ TO INTRODUCE MAKER COLUMN CQ magazine will introduce a quarterly "Maker" column, to be written by Matt Stultz, KB3TAN, that will appear in the March, June, September and December issues of the magazine. KB3TAN is the founder of "HackPittsburgh. This is a community workshop for makers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been a ham since 2009 and has integrated amateur radio into many of HackPittsburgh's activities. As already reported, the hacker and maker movement is a worldwide do-it-yourself phenomenon among mostly younger, tech-savvy individuals who enjoy hands-on tinkering and experimenting with electronics, crafts and similar projects. Many "makers" are not familiar with amateur radio, even though hams have been "makers" since the dawn of radio. CQ says that the goal of this column to help build and strengthen bridges between the amateur radio and the maker communities. MULTIPLE LANGUAGE VERSIONS OF THE DIY MAGIC OF AMATEUR RADIO And speaking of the maker and hacker communities, while it’s not even been out a month, there appear to be several groups that have either asked permission to translate the ARRL’s new the DIY Magic of Amateur Radio video into other languages or are already undertaking such a project. Since its release last December 27th, word is that versions with either sub titles or over-dubbed audio are being prepared by individuals or groups around the globe in the Spanish, Portuguese and possibly even Russian languages. And these are the ones that are known about. Also, Tom Medlin who hosted the December 27th release of the video on his W5KUB website has made available some statistics. These show that the new video had viewers in Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, Argentina, France, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico and New Zealand as well as across the United States. Those who have not yet seen the new video can do so on-line on YouTube in English at tinyurl.com/arrl-diy-movie. You can also watch it or download it at www.arrl.org/DIY. SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012 Don't forget the AX prefix can replace VK prefix for 26 January VK Ross Hull Memorial VHF UHF Contest CLOSES January 31 VK JOHN MOYLE MEMORIAL FIELD DAY March 17-18 VK/ZL AM/CW on ANZAC DAY April 25 VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 80 metres SSB May 5 VK Shires Contest June 9-10 VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 160 metres SSB June 25 ZL NZART Memorial Contest July First full weekend VK Remembrance Day Contest August 11-12 WW International Lighthouse Lightship Wknd August 18-19 On ANZAC Day, 25th of April 2012, a group of Amateurs in North Queensland, Tableland Radio Group, are encouraging amateurs to operate on AM and CW modes during the afternoon and evening of ANZAC Day as a mark of remembrance to the servicemen and women who served our countries during time of conflict. AM and CW were modes used by radio operators and signallers during WW2 and in Korea, Malaysian and early in Viet Nam so, by using those modes, it shows that we Radio Amateurs are remembering them in our own special manner. Hopefully our New Zealand cousins will join in the activity as the ANZAC spirit is an integral part of both our countries. This is NOT a contest and we simply ask Amateurs to switch to AM and CW to experience the attributes of those old modes. As regards frequencies its simply staying on the usual net frequencies BUT change the mode. If it’s possible we ask that ex-Navy Ships, Military Museums, fortifications, Warbirds,Radio museums etc etc be used to operate from. On conclusion please send an article to Amateur Radio Magazine to show others what you have done. vk4mike@yahoo.com.au SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE Amateur Radio station celebrating Chinese New Year Neoh, 9M2CLN, station master for the Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitter Society (MARTS), announced that the special event callsign, 9M4CNY, will be active to celebrate the 'Chinese New Year Cultural And Heritage Celebration 2012' from Penang Island (AS-015) on January 29th, between 0700-1600z. Suggested frequency are 14288 kHz and 7088 kHz, SSB only. QSL only direct to address on QRZ.com VK5CP HOLIDAY STYLE "I will be operating in 'holiday mode' from LORD HOWE ISLAND as VK5CP/9 from 19 January 2012 to 24 January 2012. I will be using a IC7000, LDG Z2Pro Tuner and a Buddistick vertical antenna. I will be focusing on 30M (data), 20M and 6M depending on conditions. I have a signalink USB interface and Mix W software. Key data modes will be PSK31 and RTTY. I will try 30M first as I understand this is a much wanted mode/band. I dont expect that I will be loud but hopefully the data modes will make things easier for those that need LHI. I will post QSOs via LOTW and EQSL upon my return to VK5. Please QSL via VK5CP (and be patient as I will have to print some cards). 73 de Chris VK5CP WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video arvideonews.com hamradiotube.com youtube.com qdg.org.au Lost Islands of Central Arctic Tomas NW7US has made available on YouTube a 58-minute movie of an amateur radio DX-pedition to the 'Lost Islands of Central Arctic'. In April 2001, a team of amateur radio operators and support team members embarked on a journey to the "Lost Islands of Central Arctic", an area above Russia, just shy of the permanently-frozen arctic circle. These Islands were at one time never marked on any map, as they were strategic military 'assets' of the USSR. Now, they are documented and in this Diary, you get to journey with the expeditionary team. Narration is in English. They went from Island to Island, spending time at each, to 'activate' the island on the amateur radio bands. This is a fantastic documentary of this expedition. Islands included in the near hour long movie: + RI0B (AS-156) USHAKOVA Isl. (IOTA New one) + RU0B (AS-057) UYEDINENIYA Isl. + RS0B/P(AS-057) ISACHENKO Isl. + RS0B/P(AS-068) MONA Isl. + R3CA/0 Team members: + RA0BM - Victor + UA9OBA - Yuri + R3CA - Vladimir + RW3GW - Valery + RZ9OO - Alexender + RV0AR - Pavel + UA0BA - Andrey + RX9ULT/9 - Andrey There were also other supporting team members, like Evgeniy and Boris, plus the helicopter crew, including Igor, Leonid, the Mi8 Helicopter crew with Sergey. Please subscribe to my channel. I am on Twitter: @NW7US http://NW7US.us/ Watch Lost Islands - An Amateur Radio Polar Diary 2001 WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL School looking for worldwide D-Star contacts A school in the village of Gresham, UK, will be running an amateur radio special event station using the DSTAR digital network. The date of the event is not until 23rd May and the callsign will be GB2GVS (Gresham Village School). The children are aged 6 to 11. Andy, 2E0AIV says they have arranged link-ups with schools in Northern Ireland, USA and England, but we are looking for more countries and schools to participate particularly anyone up at that time 'down under'. Andy@2e0avi@2e0aiv.co.uk The Children of today are the future generation of Electronic experts and Amateur Radio Operators, and we feel that this is an opportunity to engage with youngsters to the benefit of all." (sourced to southgate) 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 QRP to the ISS Doug Cook KD5PDN's article about contacting the International Space Station with a few watts and a shoestring budget antenna is now available. The article "QRP to the ISS" appeared in the February issue of QST magazine and with permission from the ARRL, can now be downloaded from Clint Bradford K6LCS's website. Doug walks the reader through building a simple tape measure beam, and how to successfully work the ISS with it and a handheld radio. Read the article at http://www.work-sat.com/Work-Sat/Sat_Skeds_files/QRP-ISS_2.pdf WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW The half-way point for ILLW The 100th entry in the 15th annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is the Moritzburg Lighthouse, Germany. It was built in 1770 next to a lake and miniature harbour for the King to Saxony for entertaining imitation naval battles. Contest style station DM2C at a lighthouse expects to work CW, SSB and PSK31. Each contact will receive a QSL card through the bureau. With seven months to go Australia is in the lead accounting for a third of all entries so far, with Germany on 16, the USA 12 followed by England having nine. Among the other early representatives are Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, France, Honduras, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Sweden and Wales. Only a quarter of regular countries have joined at this stage and hundreds of entries are yet to be received. It was a record last year with 470 entries including 19 Lightships and 55 countries involved. The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, a 48 hour fun event, is always on the third full weekend of August. The founder of the annual event was Mike Dalrymple GM4SUC, who passed away in December 2005 and operated from Turnberry Lighthouse with the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. Check out the availability of a lighthouse or lightship now and register it. For guidelines, an entry form and other full information about August the 18th and 19th this year visit the website illw.net (Jim Linton VK3PC) SOCIAL SCENE 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 Geneva 23rd January TO 17th February 2012 Don't forget the AX prefix can replace VK prefix for 26 January FEB 4 VK4 Bunya Mts & District AmCom Inc. Ham & Wine Fest 2012. FEB 12 VK3 CentreVictoria Hamfest, Kyneton Racecourse FEB 26 VK2 CCARC WYONG FIELD DAY MAR 18 VK7 Sewing Circle Nets "Meet the Voice BBQ" at Ross. APR 14-15 VK WIA National Field Day. MAY 3-18 VK5 YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com) MAY 5- 6 VK4 RADAR and MARC Clairview Gathering MAY 25-27 VK3 WIA Annual Conference Mildura JUN 8-11 VK4 FNNQARG! QLD Cassowary Coast JULY 14 VK4 Wide Bay Hamfest. West Maryborough Scout Hall JULY 21 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club Hamfest @ Cranbourne NOV 12 VK3 SPARC HAMFEST (ROSEBUD BY THE BAY) WIA Annual Conference Mildura May 25th, 26th and 27th 2012 Details for the WIA 2012 Annual Conference being held in Mildura are on wia.org.au Host club is Sunraysia Radio Group, led by Garry Briant VK3KYF and Noel Ferguson VK3FI. WIA Members who register for the event will be able to participate in a range of fascinating and memorable activities. 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. Each item will only be broadcast once, if you want a couple of mentions, please submit different slants to keep your event 'fresh'. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================================= 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 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