WIANEWS - May 13 - 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 MAY 13 2012. CubeSat workshop in Canberra Philip VK3JNI on the WIA National Field Day. St. Anthony’s parish school Canberra ISS contact thanks to VK1IRC Peter. Summits on the Air activity growing in VK THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING MAY 13 2012. Public appeal, Central VK4 Region – Aircraft distress call Police are appealing for public information in relation to an emergency radio message received from an aircraft around 5.45pm yesterday in central Queensland. Around that time, another pilot in the air near Alpha reported hearing a distress call to the relevant authorities. Anyone that may have information relating to an overdue aircraft in the area, including recreational aircraft such as ultralights, are urged to contact Rockhampton Police on 4932 3500. It is believed the distress call may have been made from within an area encompassing Quilpie, Alpha, Winton and Hughenden. Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au CubeSat workshop in Canberra Australia is to hold a low cost space missions workshop in July that will explore the NASA CubeSat initiative to include an 8kg 6U satellite, designed to perform some of the Earth observation missions of larger 100 kg microsatellites. The 6U CubeSat has a range of possible missions related to astronomy, atmospheric and other planetary science, space physics, observation and biology. The workshop is particularly aimed at scientists and engineers interested in payload and mission concepts that take advantage of the greater payload capacity of the 6U CubeSat. The Technology Keynote speaker is John W. Hines, Chief Technologist, NASA-Ames Research Centre. Science Keynote is Professor Harvey Butcher, Director Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the Chair, Dr Steven Tsitas, Senior Research Associate, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, University of New South Wales. Registration details of the July 17 and 18 workshop in Canberra, the world's first on the 6U CubeSat, are now available. The URL is http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/events/cubesat.html#register (Jim Linton VK3PC) Summits on the Air activity growing in VK SOTA activity has continued to increase in April with new summits activators, operators activating for the first time and more operators joining the SOTA chase. Summits activated include Mt Cope in the Victorian high country; Mt Langi Ghiran, Mt Abrupt and Mt Sturgeon in and near the Grampians and no less than 5 summits within 2 metre range of Melbourne. Chasers have come from most call areas of VK and a good number from Europe. Life may be too short for QRP, but QRP is making it to Europe on 20 metres. Efforts are continuing to bring SOTA activations to summits in VK1, 2 and 5. If you would like to help out or simply just find out more, check out the Yahoo Groups: SOTA Australia on the web at groups.yahoo.com/group/SOTA_Australia If you would like to know more about SOTA, and are in Melbourne, the EMDRC are having a SOTA presentation by Wayne Merry VK3WAM next Friday, the 18th of May. All are welcome to attend this meeting, starting at 8pm in the EMDRC club rooms at Milpara Scout Hall, 13A McCubbin St. Burwood. (Wayne VK3WAM) 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 This is Philip VK3JNI with a brief update on the WIA National Field Day. The support by radio clubs in all states of Australia over the weekend of the 14th and 15th of April continued to promote the hobby of amateur radio. Many private stations where heard on air assisting stations with contacts and reports during the weekend. The clubs and individual operators who made the effort to demonstrate the hobby of amateur radio to the public should receive the congratulations of not only the WIA membership, but the amateur radio community as a whole. Hundreds of people encountered our field day stations during this major Public Relations activity. The challenge now for the participating teams, is to convert some of the interest generated into new amateur radio operators and enthusiasts. Personally I thank the participating teams in VK3 for the welcome I received over the two days. I was impressed with the effort and enthusiasm displayed by the operators and all those present at the stations. Please remember to submit your reports and logs to the WIA before Friday 18th May. The WIA wish to acknowledge your work in promoting the hobby HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK1 As all amateur radio operators are continually trying for that long distance QSO, one outer space contact was made in VK1 earlier this month. On Tuesday 3rd April 2012 at 20:13 UTC (18:13 Local Canberra time), a succuss full contact was made between St. Anthony’s parish school, Wanniassa Canberra, where VK1IRC Peter’s two sons attend, and Earth telebridge ground station Tony Hutchinson VK5ZAI in Kingston, South Australia with Keith Pugh, W5IU in Fort Worth Texas as Master of Ceremonies. A full school hall was present to witness this amazing once in a life time event. All students at the school were asked to write a question to the Astronauts, of which Ten lucky students were selected to ask the Commander of the International Space station, Dan Burbank their questions, of which he provided excellent responses to the students. Commander Dan Burbank is the current commander of expedition 30. Application for inclusion to participate in the ARISS programme (or Amateur radio on board the International space station) is a lengthy process, taking up to 18 months for a school or educational institution to be selected and setup with the space station crew. From the moment Peter VK1IRC told the school about this opportunity, St Anthony's school truly embraced the idea and entered the queue. The opportunity came around faster than expected, being selected within twelve months, and the race to get everything in order was on. As the contact is made using a phone patch device to an analogue line that is connected back to Tony VK5ZAI’s base station, a lengthy run of phone cable was required to patch the device into the school’s fax line located at the front of the school to the school hall which was at the other end of the school. Once this cable run was achieved, Tony mails the phone patch to you and you then set it up with the line and auditorium speakers. To make the contact even more enjoyable, a laptop with an internet connection was setup and after a brief presentation and introduction, a live view of the space station’s position was projected so the audience could see that it was tracking over South Australia, VK5ZAI’s ground station as the students talked live to Dan Burbank with the space station travelling in an orbit of around 27,000 Km an hour. This allowed for around a 10 minute window to talk from acquisition of signal to loss of signal, when the space stations dips over the horizon. Leading up to the contact, St. Anthony's got into the space theme, with all the students preparing drawings of space and the solar system. These pictures were all on display in the hall on the evening resulting in a great educational event for everyone. After the contact, the ten students that talked to Dan were awarded a certificate signed by Michael Owen, President WIA and Tony Hutchinson VK5ZAI. Organising an event such as this does take time and Peter VK1IRC worked closely with Tony in South Australia to make sure that it was a night for everyone to remember. This contact, as is every ARISS scheduled contact to the ISS is also relayed live over EchoLink conference node *AMSAT*. Each contact is also recorded and stored for playback at a later stage. The contact with St.Anthonys , along with others can be heard here by connecting to this conference node and entering the command .play 8. Peter VK1IRC hopes to work with Tony again in the future and provide more schools and students in VK1 the opportunity to talk with an astronaut all in the name of education and what can be achieved in the world of Amateur radio. (Peter VK 1 IRC) VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ MDRC Hamfest 2012 The Moorabbin and District Amateur Radio club are pleased to announce, this year’s Hamfest will be held in at a BRAND NEW LOCATION with improved access and parking. This year’s event will be at the Southern Community Centre, Rupert Drive, Mulgrave (Melways map ref 80 F4) on Saturday 26th May 2012 – doors opening at 10am. The Moorabbin Radio Club’s annual Hamfest is proud to be Victoria's biggest with displays and sales of new and preloved equipment. A must come must see event for anyone interested in Radio Communications and Electronics. Major door prizes, free tea and coffee, light refreshments and a sausage sizzle will also be on offer. Trader table bookings and general enquires can be made by emailing Graeme Lewis VK3GL (vk3gl@bigpond.com) or by phoning mobile 0418 171601. A Must see, must come event!! 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 FNNQARG 2012 Cancelled At the May Management Meeting of theTARCinc it was reluctantly decided to cancel participation in the Far North and North Queensland Amateur Radio Gathering - due mainly to lack of support from Far Northern clubs who will be otherwise engaged in other activities during the Queens Jubilee Long Weekend in June. There will be discussions amongst TARC club members during the next few Management Meetings to put together a more sustainable program of opportunities for hams in the north to attend gatherings in the field designed to enhance social contact and provide a chance for relaxation and radio operating in well supported yet economical camp sites. HOWEVER! The Clairview Gathering weekend WAS a great success during the May Long Weekend. Hams from as far as Charters Towers and Gladstone made a beeline to the Clairview Beach Holiday Park to enjoy a weekend of catching up, idea swapping, relaxing, outdoor cooking, portable radio operations and participation in a foxhunting session, a lovely evening banquet and the famous Mega Auction. A view of the Super Moon across the bay and the procurement of such treasured items as morse keys, vintage radio equipment, computer and antenna gear, HANDBAGS, and other quality goods highlighted by the creative auctioning by Roy VK4RM assisted by Clive VK4ACC, Tony VK4HOG and Neil VK4MKY made the trip even more worthwhile. Clive VK4ACC , Secretary RADAR CLUB in Rockhampton did a 40 minute presentation on radio and F Licencing at a local primary school recently. All grade 6 and 7 pupils attended. A small display and demo showing smallest ham radios to a large base stn HF went down well. The kids loved it and were interested enough to stay behind and ask questions. Looks like a weekend in training and a day doing assessments for a couple of teachers and a few students. Looks promising for new recruits. Looking Out for Your Mates Greetings from the WIA, this is Ewan VK4ERM, considering Looking Out for Your Mates. Within the Amateur Radio community we should be looking Out for Our Mates in many direct and indirect ways. Operating our equipment in a comfortable shack at home, mobile through innumerable places in this broad land or setting up a field or portable station for a contest or to escape urban RF noise provide ample opportunities for Looking Out for Your Mates. Unfortunately it is a truism that familiarity does breed contempt or at least avoidable carelessness or the taking of unnecessary risks. Sometimes the first we become aware of the error of judgement is when a situation goes wrong resulting in damage to what we have been working on, a minor physical inconvenience or personal injury. What would you reasonably expect a mate to do in such circumstances? What would you do if you were witness to the potential for such a situation occurring? In the first case a friendly word of caution from your mate may be all that was needed to jolt you out of complacency to reconsider your course of action. In the second case wouldn’t you believe it was your responsibility to caution your mate on the likely outcome of his or her actions? Either way, both situations demonstrate Looking Out for Your Mates and unlikely to cause offence with real mates. The foregoing physical cause and effect situations are readily observable to which we can spontaneously react without offence to those with whom we are familiar. Far worse and more insidious is the onset and manifestation of mental stress. The gradual change in the behaviour of a mate may be so subtle that in the long term we don’t notice it nor become aware of the past and present circumstances causing the change. However, it is unfortunate that the first we become aware that a mate is under stress is when he or she explodes or crashes with unpredictable behaviour and outcomes. This is when you have to be Looking Out for Your Mates, hopefully before situations come to a head and afterward if too late. We like to think that we know and understand those whom we have known for years or decades but the reality is there may be disturbing or traumatic events buried in their memory and eating away at their very being; events and emotions they have never communicated to others, not even their mates. Those in the far reaching fraternity of Amateur Radio are no different and if you become aware of changes in the personality and behaviour of your Amateur Radio friends in any circumstances then it is truly time to be Looking Out for Your Mates. The changes you see may be their cry for help. Look Out for Your Mates This has been Ewan VK4ERM for the WIA Board SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012 VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 80metres Phone May 12 VK Shires Contest June 9-10 VK Winter VHF-UHF Field Day June 23-24 ZL NZART Memorial Contest July First full weekend VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 80+160metres July 21 VK Remembrance Day Contest August 11-12 WW International Lighthouse Lightship Wknd August 18-19 VK Spring VHF / UHF Field Day November 24-25 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE Repeater for Android The latest version of Repeater for Android and Playbook by ZBM2 Software now includes repeater information for Australia, VK, as well as the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland, Norway, Spain, with more countries soon. Features Easily find Amateur Radio Repeaters across the UK, Europe and Australia. • Complete database of UK Analogue, IRLP, EchoLink and D-Star repeaters. • Growing database of German, Italian, Polish, Norwegian, Spanish and Australian repeaters, with more countries soon. • Use network, GPS or a Locator to find Repeaters. • No network connection required. • Displays your locator and selection distance. • Comprehensive selection, sorting and display options. • Displays distance, heading and full repeater details. • Supports App2SD. • Fast and flexible, designed to help you use the repeater network. Repeater will remain free. There will never be any charge for people to use it. Finding Repeater zbm2.com/repeater - Goes straight to Repeater on Google Play Web www.zbm2.com nick@zbm2.com E 51 WL in the North Cook Islands has been heard on 6 meters. Keep an ear open for him just before 2300 UTC on or around 50.120 MHz QSL as directed on the air One for the prefix hunters to look out for this month is R1945HS which is celebrating the 67th Anniversary of the end of World War 2. The call will be in use until 31 May and QSL info is via RW6HS. LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD MARKS 50,000 USERS On May 1, Dragan Pavlovic, YT3PDT, completed his registration process for Logbook of The World (LoTW), becoming the 50,000th person to take advantage of the ARRL's online QSL confirmation system. According to ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N there are more than 3500 individuals from outside the US in the process of obtaining a digital certificate, and more than 1800 individuals inside the US who have started the certificate process, but not yet finished. 4KS0NG - Eurovision Song Contest Azerbaijan Sixteen amateur radio special event stations are being run in Azerbaijan to celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest. The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 22nd, 24th and 26th of May in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Azerbaijan won the right to host the contest when viewers and professional juries across Europe chose their 2011 entry “Running Scared” by Ell/Nikki as winner. The Federation of Radio Sport of Azerbaijan will be celebrating “EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2012” and is sponsoring a commemorative Diploma for amateur radio stations that have established two-way communications with EUROVISION-2012 special event stations from Azerbaijan. RULES: 1. Available to all Amateurs and SWLs. 2. Contact period: March 15 until June 15, 2012. 3. Make 3 (three) two way contacts with EUROVISION-2012 special event stations using HF, VHF and UHF frequencies either in SSB, CW or Digital modes. Repeater, cross band or echo link QSOs will not be acceptable. 4. To earn the award, it is obligatory to make at least one QSO with 4KS0NG or 4JS0NG. List of special event stations: 4KS0NG, 4JS0NG, 4K2012SONG, 4J12SONG, 4K9SONG, 4K12SONG, 4K6SONG, 4J5SONG, 4J7SONG, 4JR0SONG, 4J1SONG, 4K1SONG, 4J9SONG, 4K4SONG, 4K8SONG 4J4SONG. The award is free of charge, but applicants should send sufficient postage to cover the mailing costs, such as:4 Euro or 5USD or 5 new valid IRCs. Applications for the award may be submitted in both hard copy and on the E-mail: ru3sd@yandex.ru Mailing address: Vasily Bardin (RU3SD) P.O. Box 1, Ryazan' 390000 Russia THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report – Measure Twice cut Once. High-performance HF transceiver design The free fortnightly magazine EDN (Electronic Design News) features an article about amateur radio high-performance HF transceiver design. The article by Doug Grant K1DG describes how high-end ham equipment reaches new levels of performance using state-of-the-art technology and design tricks. Read High-performance HF transceiver design: A ham's perspective http://www.edn.com/article/521690-High_performance_HF_transceiver _design_A_ham_s_perspective.php Read Doug's previous article in EDN - Ham radio in the 21st century http://www.edn.com/article/519742-Ham_radio_in_the_21st_century.php Read previous issues of EDN at http://www.edn.com/archive/ (SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL FDMDV Open Source 1400 bps HF Modem David VK5DGR has made available open source software for a 1400 bps HF modem. F.D.M.D.V. stands for Frequency Division Multiplexed Digital Voice. A FDM modem is a basically a bunch of slow modems running in parallel. For example FDMDV has 14 carriers spaced 75 Hz apart, each running at 50 symbols/second. Due to multipath problems on HF this approach works better than one carrier running at 14×50 = 700 symbols/second. Each symbol is encoded two bits using differential QPSK, so the bit rate is 1400 bit/s. One of the applications of the modem will be Digital Voice since it offers fast sync, no multi-second training sequences, the ability to recover quickly after a fade, and no automatic re-transmit of “bad” packets. http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=2458 https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freetel-codec2 WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- INTERNET --- THE HAMS DOMAIN TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA www.HamRadioNation.com RFINDER FOR APPLE PORTABLE PRODUCTS RELEASED W2CYK has announced the latest platform release of RFinder - The World Wide Repeater Directory. The new version is designed for Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod users and is available for immediate download from the Apple App Store. Previous versions of RFinder run on Android based gear and can be found on-line with a quick google. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW A milestone for the ILLW scored in the USA The West Side Amateur Radio Club of Los Angeles W6A is the 200th registration for this year's International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend with its members to set up at the Port Fermin Lighthouse. The Stick Style lighthouse is an early Victorian architectural method characterised by its gabled roofs, horizontal siding, decorative cross beams and hand carved porch railings. A decade ago the lighthouse was restored. The entry by the West Side Amateur Radio Club put the USA on 28 registrations, behind Australia with 38 and Germany 33, followed by England 16, and The Netherlands on 13 with the total countries so far involved nearing 30. International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend in a fun event. It will be held for the 15th time on August the 18th and 19th. Check it out and register for the weekend by visiting the website ILLW.NET (Jim Linton VK3PC) 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.) Recently I found myself discussing satellite communications with a group of Amateurs. It dawned on me that I had been using 1 Watt to transmit to geostationary orbit, more than 35,000km away. Compared to a circumnavigation of the earth at 40,000km, that's most of the way there. Yes, I know, there are no obstacles, it's basically focused line of sight, but you don't get ionosphere bounce or ducting either, so I figure, it all balances out in the long run. My point being that this is a QRP broadcast, less than 5 Watts and it gets into orbit, that's quite something if you think about it. I continue to hear amateurs complaining about how little power they have. It's not limited to Foundation Calls, I hear Standard licensees hanging out for their Advanced call so they can use more power and I hear Advanced calls complain that other countries can use a Kilowatt, so why can't we? What's next, a Megawatt, what about a Gigawatt Amateur Radio transmitter? While I completely understand the pull toward more power and I applaud those who are working to increasing our allocation, I don't really share the same need. To me it's a little like a Turbo button on an IBM PC, or souping up your car. I get that it's a challenge, I get that it can be fun and I get that it does more when it goes faster. I get that we learn from pushing the envelope and potentially breaking things. What I don't get it that there is the equivalent of disdain for those who try to achieve their aims using less power. To me the skill is getting the job done with as little power as possible. It's better for the bands, it's better for interference, power consumption, wear and tear, danger and all the other things that come from pushing more power. Why is it that more power is more important that less power? I'm Onno, VK6FLAB INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, ARVictoria and the WW sources of the WIA. Julian Sortland, VK2YJS / AG6LE dropped the news desk an item through the week using Wi-Fi over the North Sea! Are you are a Norwegian living in Australia? Did you know you can use the AX prefix to celebrate your National Day "17 May" here in Australia? This is because the Norwegian National Day, known simply as "17 May", happens to coincide with World Communications Day, for which the ACMA allows any VK Amateur use of the AX prefix. And if you do hear an LA, LB or LC station, or a rare JW or JY, wish them Happy 17 May. CALIFORNIA COPPER THIEVES UPGRADE TO FIBER OPTICS Copper thieves in California have expanded to stealing glass as well. In this case we are talking about glass as in fibre optic cable. In one case some AT&T customers in the city of Alpine experienced disruptions in phone and Internet service after thieves stole copper and fibre optic wiring from underground lines. The thieves took about 75 feet of 600 strand fibre optic cable along with the copper wiring. To accomplish this the robbers climbed into a manhole and cut into the underground pipes. An AT&T spokesperson said that three conduits carrying fibre optic or copper cables were damaged and that the vandalism affected some cell phone users as well. The theft of fibre optic lines is something new and could signal a developing market for this kind of product. DELFI C3 DO-64 CELEBRATES 4 YEARS IN SPACE The 3-unit CubeSat, developed by a University in the Netherlands was launched on April 28, 2008. The nanosatellite has since performed technology demonstration experiments for the space industry in the Netherlands. It still transmits its telemetry and measurement data which can be received using simple amateur radio equipment and using the RASCAL software. ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA ANTENNA RESTRICTIONS IN BELGIUM GET TIGHTER If you think it’s hard to put up an antenna in some locations here in the USA its nothing in comparison to what’s happening in Belgium. That’s where antenna restrictions have gotten even tighter than before and it’s happening with the government blessings. In fact, the rules are so stringent that it could force some hams off the air. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, reports: The Belgian national amateur radio society’s website has posted an update on the restrictive antenna requirements recently imposed by the Flemish Government. The registration seems to apply to antennas that operate between 10 MHz through 10 Gigahertz, the amount of time a ham is actually transmitting and the power output of his or her station. Going by the latest information, it would appear that Flemish amateurs who transmit less than 175 hours a year at 20 watts Effective Radiated Power or less, are required to submit forms to the government for each antenna they have. Multi-band antennas require multiple submissions of forms. For instance, a tri-band Yagi antenna for 20, 15 and 10 meters requires three separate submissions. And if any changes to an antenna is made, all of the paperwork must be resubmitted. But wait. It gets worse. If transmission are made from an antenna for more than 175 hours a year or with an Effective Radiated Power greater than 20 watts then it appears the bureaucracy involved is even more complex. You can find out just how bad it is at tinyurl.com/NoticeForTxAntennas. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, reporting from Jonesboro, Arkansas, According to what we are hearing, the Belgian national amateur radio society’s known as the UBA has been attempting to get these strict antenna rules modified, but to date with little to no success. FAA MAY LOOK AGAIN AT BANNED RF DEVICES ON PLANES And using your laptop, iPad or Kindle during a commercial U-S flight might become a reality in the not too distant future. This with word that the Federal Aviation Administration may be willing to take a second look at its policy on electronics usage aboard airplanes. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, reports: While some airlines permit very limited use of wireless devices one an aircraft is at altitude, actual availability is quite limited. But according to a recent report credited to columnist Nick Bilton and the New York times, the FAA has decided to take a updated look at the use of personal electronics on planes. The report continues by quoting FAA spokesperson Laura Brown. She told the press that with the advent of new and evolving electronic technology, and because the airlines have not conducted the testing necessary to approve the use of new devices, the FAA may be taking a fresh look at the use of personal electronic devices, other than cell phones, on aircraft. Currently, airline passengers must turn off any electronic device that can transmit or receive a radio signal that cannot be disabled. While, the FAA indicates that it is open to testing new devices, it will more than likely be a long road before any substantive changes take place. This is because every airline giving thought to allow such operations would first have to test one of each version of a device on each of model of every aircraft in its fleet. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Fred Vobbe, W8HDU. Whatever happens, the FAA has already been quoted as saying that it will not budge on its policy of not permitting use of mobile phones during a flight. And don’t even consider trying to use a ham radio H-T on a commercial airliner. Even if that one were lifted by the FAA the domestic U-S airlines would likely keep a ban in place on the use of ham gear and other two way radios on board their flights. ============================================================================= SOCIAL SCENE 2012 MAY 3-18 VK5 YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com) MAY 25-27 VK3 WIA Annual Conference Mildura MAY 26 VK3 MDRC Hamfest Southern Community Centre, Mulgrave 10am MAY 26 VK4 BARCFEST (a hamfest) Mt Gravatt Showgrounds 9am. JUN 8-11 VK4 cancelled ! FNNQARG! QLD Cassowary Coast CANCELLED!!!!!!!!! JUN 9-10 VK2 Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club field day Port Macquarie. 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 JULY 21 VK4 WIA VK4 CLUB PRESIDENTS LUNCH Hervey Bay AR Club NOV 4 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HAMFEST @ Goodwood NOV 11 VK3 Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group Hamfest 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. FINAL FINAL CALLBACKS AND CHECKINS TO VK1WIA NATIONAL NEWS AS AT MAY 10. This WIA year(2 broadcasts to go) we will have our highest ever, 120,000 plus and some 40,000 of those are RF checkins. Week of May 5 RF in Cap Cities vk1 = 27 vk2 = 58 vk3 = none supplied vk4 = 16 vk5 = 95 vk6 = 85 vk7 = 33 vk8 = 32 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