WIANEWS - March 18 - VK NATIONAL NEWS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING MAR 18 2012. WIA HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK1 Two local Hams were interviewed live last Sunday on ABC 666 AM with Ginger Gorman on the Month of Sundays morning program. Peter Ellis vk1pe and Chris Carroll vk1gg demonstrated and talked about the historical and current usage of Morse Code. The producer has since conveyed that the caliber of the Morse interview was “EXCELLENT”! Congratulations guys, a job well done. Now on this weeks WIA News Broadcast the rundown from the boys themselves! VK1WIA STUDIO: Peter Ellis VK1PE and Chris Carroll VK1GG did a 20 minute interview on ABC Local Radio in Canberra last Sunday. It's part of the Sunday program's month focussing on communication, and the guy's interview was talking about Morse Code and Amateur Radio. Let's listen in. SUMMARY (120 seconds): Intro by Peter VK1PE Chris VK1GG demonstrating Morse to Ginger Gorman, the ABC presenter. Peter VK1PE talking about the 137kHz band and the need for Morse to be used. Ginger Gorman talks about 'enthusiasm' for Morse. Chris talks about the 'romance' of the code. Sign-off by Peter VK1PE. VK1WIA STUDIO: Peter said they were immediately followed by a short pre-recorded interview with two Navy veterans from the Korea War who talked about Morse's use back then; and, the next segment was about communication between ants. (Laugh!) VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ EMDRC HEY YOU! Yes, You! Where are you going? VK3's Eastern and Mountain District Radio Club's Annual White Elephant Sale is in the other direction! Doors open at 10am on Sunday the 25th of March at the Great Ryrie Primary School, Great Ryrie Street Heathmont. Some tables still available and full details at EMDRC.COM.AU 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.org.au/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3 get local news emailed qnews-vk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com The South East Queensland ATV group's Digital TV repeater is one step closer. Their boards have arrived! The club's technical officer Martin VK4JVC is busy installing the digital boards in boxes ready for testing. Stay tuned for further updates. (Alan VK4NA) SUNSHINE COAST NEWS Col McCamley Award, we are joined by Gordon VK4VP who, speaking on qnews, best heard when you listen to wiaq.org.au says that as part of the Sunny Coasts AGM an award is presented to a club member who has provided outstanding service to the club in the previous year. "This is in memory of Col McCamley who is now a silent key but did a huge amount of work getting the club going in the early years. This was voted on and Roy VK4ARS was named as the recipient this year. Roy has been running the good morning net on Mondays for quite a few years and the weekly 2m SSB net on Sunday nights. Roy is always available for checks and handing out contest points from his lofty perch up at Flaxton." More from the SCARC in this weeks QNEWS text and audio. VK7 vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vk7regionalnews/ Tasmania's Torpedo Boat After the gradual draw-down of the British Garrison 1850-1870, and the perceived threat of a Russian invasion, senior Royal Engineer defence experts, Sir William Jervois and Colonel Peter Scratchley were sent to the Australasian Colonies to advise them to their best means of defence. Among Scatchley's recommendations was the purchase of Torpedo boats, and the Tasmanian Government obtained one 2nd Class torpedo boat from celebrated British builder, J.I.Thornycroft & Son. This presentation is given by retired HEC engineer Donald Chisholm-Smith on 29 March 2012from 7:30pm at the Royal Engineers Building. If intending to attend then let Catherine know on 6234 2228 or email: creading@engineersaustralia.org.au Thanks to Richard Rogers VK7RO for passing on the information EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO North West Tassie News Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club The CCARC would like to advise all shortwave listeners and ex CB'ers who may be thinking of trying for a foundation licence or better, that they have a very experienced team of accredited licence examiners who are only too pleased to answer any information that you may require to obtain your Amateur Licence and they are happy to provide their services at any reasonable time to suit the individual without waiting for more than one applicant, Licence testing is basically available on command and if necessary will travel to the applicant, this also applies to anyone wishing to upgrade to the next level or going for the big one. Check out Cradle Coast Club in the vk7 section of club pages, wia.org.au What use is an f-call? I keep having the same conversation, almost word-for-word, over and over again. I cannot do anything with just 10 Watts, it's not enough, it's useless, I cannot make any contacts, no-one hears me, I'm wasting my time. The United Arab Emirates and Denmark, are two countries far from our shores. Seemingly these two have nothing in common, other than that we share our globe with their citizens. However, these two countries were contacted by an F-call last week with a 4/9 signal report. This time it wasn't me making the contact it was another station who is free to brag about their contact to the community. I'm bring it up here because it's not just me saying that you can make contacts, it's not just me making contacts, there are many amateurs who on a daily basis make contacts across the planet. Some of them hold a foundation license. What it takes to achieve is some patience and a dose of luck. Neither of which are hard to come by or hard to achieve. Sitting at the radio for a few hours will likely get you a result. Don't despair if it doesn't, try again, try a different band, check your radio settings, is your antenna pointing in the right direction? Is it connected? See if you can make a local contact and nut out if there are ways to improve your signal. It keeps coming back to the same thing. Amateur Radio isn't an Instant Gratification kind of activity. It's one where some preparation and patience goes a long way. If you're looking for a quick fix, get on the Internet. If you want to get a sense of personal achievement, try making a long distance contact. There are amateurs on air all day long calling CQ, just waiting for a call from a station on the other side of the globe - this is your domain as much as it is theirs. I cannot make you push the PTT button, but I can encourage you to have a go. I've seen a ten year old key the mike like an old hand, if he can do it, so can you. It won't bite! I'm Onno VK6FLAB INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, ARVictoria and the WW sources of the WIA. NEW US 60 METER RULES NOW IN EFFECT Effective Monday, March 5th United States radio amateurs were granted new operating privileges on the 60 meter band. In addition to an increase in effective radiated power from 50 to 100 watts, hams can now transmit CW and PSK31. More information on what modes can be used on what frequencies is on-line at the ARRL website. JAPAN HOME TO WORLDS TALLEST BROADCAST TOWER A ceremony to mark the completion of the world's tallest freestanding broadcasting tower was held in Tokyo on Friday, March 2nd. Construction on the Tokyo Sky Tree tower began in 2008. It was completed a few days prior to its dedication ceremony. The Sky Tree stands 2,080 feet tall and is claimed to be the tallest structure of its type ever built. It will eventually be the home of most broadcasting and two-way radio operations in that city. ============================================================================= WEIRD AND WONDERFUL RESCUE FROM RADIO TOWER: NAKED CLIMBER REMOVED FROM ATOP LOS ANGELES RADIO TOWER From the wEIRD AND wONDerFUL file comes the story of a naked man atop a downtown Los Angeles radio tower who was wrapped in a blanket and lowered to safety by a makeshift pulley system on Wednesday night February 8th. The unidentified tower climber was believed to be in his 30s or 40s and possibly an Arizona resident. It was unclear why he climbed the 220 foot high structure, which is part of a city personnel building just west of downtown L.A.. Witnesses say that he removed items of clothing after he began scaling the tower about 4 p.m. Pacific time just prior to sundown. His rescue went without incident after he asked to be given some MacDonalds hamburgers. The mission which involved a heavy presence of Los Angeles Fire Department personnel was completed at about 9:45 Pacific Standard Time. Police said that the man will not be charged with a crime and his name will not be released. (LA Times, LA Weekly, others via ARNewsLine) SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012 VK JOHN MOYLE MEMORIAL FIELD DAY TODAY March 17-18 WW FISTS TITANIC SPRINT April 15 VK/ZL AM/CW on ANZAC DAY April 25 VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 80metres SSB May 5 VK Shires Contest June 9-10 VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 160metres 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 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE In DX, word that the AX stroke VK0TH operation from Macquarie Island, the December 2011 and January 2012 9U3TMM DXpedition to Burundi and the 2011 6-Oh-Zero M operation from Somalia have all now been approved for DXCC credit. Also approved is the current T6BP operation from Afghanistan. If you had any of these operations rejected in a recent application send a note to bmoore@arrl.org to have your record updated. B Moore notes that the AX stroke VK0TH operation is in addition to the VK0TH that has already been approved for DXCC recognition. FLEMISH RADIO AMATEURS COMMEMORATE THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC 100 YEARS AGO Three special call signs will be activated from April 1st to the 30th from Belgium by the Flemish Radio Amateurs organization. This to honor those who perished 100 years ago in the sinking of the steam ship Titanic. OO100MGY by operated from the city of Antwerp. OR100MGY will take to the air from Knokke-Heist while OT100MGY will be on from Londerzeel. During the weekend of April 14 through April 15, all three stations will be active during a marathon session from 12:00 Saturday until 16:00 Sunday UTC. Each of these stations has a special and unique QSL card available so that three different styles can be acquired. BRAZIL BANS PY0S DX OPERATIONS The Southgate News reports that radio amateur are now prohibited from operating DXpeditions from the Brazilian Archipelago of Saint Peter and Saint Paul also known as PY0S. This is a remote group of islands near the equator whose maximum elevation is only 18 about meters above sea level. It’s also the nearest point of Brazil to Africa, lying about 1820 kilometers from Guinea Bissau. St. Peter & St. Paul was rated number 16 in 2011 DXCC list of most wanted entities. In a report credited to PS8RF and the Brazilian Amateur Radio League and some DX groups in Brazil have shown their displeasure with this government ban in postings on various social websites. PS8RF told Southgate that there is already a major mobilization by the Brazilian ham community aimed at urging the nations Senators and Federal Representatives to reverse the decision on the to ban. PS8RF notes that the biggest concern among Brazilian hams is that this decision could open unheard restrictions to other entities in Brazil as in other parts of the world where there is no amateur radio activity. BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS DRM COMING TO INDIA All India Radio has outlined its digitization plan. This during the 18th Annual Broadcast Engineering Society of India event. According to All India Radio Director General, a pair of one megawatt transmitters at Rajkot and Kolkata are likely to be operational by the end of March and an additional 72 Digital Radio Mondiale transmitters would be commissioned between June of this year and March 2013. The ongoing rollout by All India Radio has gained the interest of receiver manufacturers, who were present at the event with their latest products. Digital Radio Mondiale member companies Nautel, Digidia, Fraunhofer, Harris and Thomson Broadcast attended the conference this year. (Radio Magazine via arnewsline) MEDIA WATCH W5LFL AND W5KWQ - MAN ON A MISSION - THE MOVIE We travel back in time to 1983. That's when then NASA astronaut and ham operator Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made the first manned amateur radio transmission from space. His pioneering effort from flight STS-9 paved the way for todays International Space Station ARISS program. Several decades later, Owen's son Richard, W5KWQ, would fly to the ISS and use the same method to talk to his dad and many others here on planet Earth. Now, these historic moments have been captured in the exciting new documentary titled Man on a Mission. A film that reveals Richard Garriotts quest to become the first second generation American in space. A DVD release is planned for May 2012. More about this documentary is on-line at firstrunfeatures.com (Firstrun Features VIA ARNEWSLINE) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV A VIDEO TOUR OF W1AW In case you missed the live web tour of the February 12th of ARRL headquarters’ flagship station W1AW you can now watch the 18 minute video on the ARRL website. In the show W1AW Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, led Geoff Fox, K1GF, on a tour of the famed station. Al Petrunti, KA1TCH, of the New Day Group recording it for future netcasting. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER Connecting Students with Space The GENSO project features in an article in the February 2012 edition of the free magazine ESA Bulletin. GENSO is a worldwide network of education and amateur radio ground stations linked together via the internet. Student satellite teams can normally only gather around 20 minutes of data per day from their satellite using their own ground station. GENSO will give them free access to potentially hundreds of stations around the globe and increase their data return to many hours per day. It will also allow them to command their spacecraft from the other side of the world. GENSO http://www.genso.org/ (sourced to southgate) Matt Bennett KF6RTB reports that the amateur radio CubeSat, Radio Auroral Explorer 2 (RAX-2), has detected the communication-disrupting anomaly in the upper atmosphere it was searching for. The team express their thanks to the amateur radio community. The primary objective of the mission is to use the onboard radar receiver in conjunction with a powerful radar station in Alaska to study the formation of a plasma anomaly known for causing the scintillation of radio signals in the UHF and higher bands. This scintillation effect is known to inhibit our space radar tracking capabilities and ground-space communications. Studying this anomaly in this bi-static radar configuration (ground based transmitter, space-base receiver) will provide scientists with a better understanding of these anomalies that has not been achievable with ground radars alone. (sourced to southgate) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - LOW DOWN UK SPECIAL 600 METER PERMITS EXTENDED AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE say UK Notices of Variation to amateur licenses for special research permits to operate in the band 501 to 504 kHz have been extended to December 31st 2012. This as telecommunications regulator Ofcom has begun discussions with the Radio Society of Great Britain about the timetable for implementing the new secondary allocation to the amateur service, 472 to 479 kHz that was recently approved at WRC-12. The agreed upon availability date for this band to begin to become available for administrations world-wide to begin proceedings to open to their ham radio communities is effective as of January 1st, 2013. SOCIAL SCENE 2012 MAR 18 VK7 This weekend 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 JUN 9-10 VK5 South East Radio Group Convention, Mt Gambier. JULY 14 VK4 Wide Bay Hamfest. West Maryborough Scout Hall JULY 21 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club Hamfest @ Cranbourne NOV 25 VK3 SPARC HAMFEST AT ROSEBUD 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. 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