WIANEWS - JUNE 17 - 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 JUNE 17 2012. Centenary of organized Amateur Radio in Queensland is off to a great start. THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JUNE 17 2012. AUSTRALIAN NEWS We thank the Radio Amateurs of Canada who host the web page ariss.org for news that a Sydney School has used the ARISS program to let their students speak with the crew of the International Space Station. St Anne's Primary School in Strathfield back last Wednesday used the telephone system connected to LU8YY for the Children to pose such questions as Can you text in space? How do you communicate with your family? How do toilets work in space? What do you do to keep entertained? NERG member Ethan VK3ETC and friend Ross VK4WRC will be operating portable from VK2, VK4 and VK5 while organising the 2012 Patrol4x4.com National Forum Meet up to raise money for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. They’ll be operating from the 4th-10th July around 7:30-10:00pm AEST on HF when parked up. The convoy will run through Corner Country (Tiboorburra, Cameron’s Corner, Innamincka, Birdsville) on: 80m 3.550 MHz, 40m 7.140 MHz, and 20m 14.130 MHz +/- QRN/M. (nerg news) TRIPLE M ROX A radio staff member at Triple M Adelaide has been taken to hospital with head injuries after being attacked with a claw hammer. The attack occurred about 3pm on June 12, on the steps of the radio station on Greenhill Rd at Unley. The staff member was treated for minor head injuries at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. (text only) 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 12 August 2012 - SARCFEST at Summerland ARC Clubrooms, Lismore, all invited. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/ National FunFlight Day – November 4, 2012 National FunFlight Day is an event staged by Australian flying clubs to provide joy flights for children and families touched by adversity. It also helps pilots maintain their flying hours. The Bendigo, Victoria-based Midland Amateur Radio Club, VK3CMZ, was invited to participate in the National FunFlight Day by the Bendigo Flying Club in November 2011. The Club didn’t pass up this opportunity for some public exposure and mounted an operating HF and UHF/VHF station. A handheld in a plane also provided communication back to children on the ground. The day was a success and another invitation has been received for the event being held on November 4th this year. However, as the event is a national event, the Midland Committee saw it as a worthwhile national amateur radio publicity event and approached the FunFlight manager regarding other amateur clubs’ participation. Response was very positive and contact information has now been provided to participating flying clubs so that they can contact their nearest amateur radio club. So, there you have it. If you are looking for another opportunity to showcase amateur radio, your local flying club might be contacting you. If they don’t, maybe you contacting them might bring about the same result More event information may be found at http://www.funflight.org/. Kevin Crockett President Midland Amateur Radio Club 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 Central Highlands to Gladstone link on test Steve VK4SMW, President of the Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club says during the weekend of 9th and 10th of June work was completed on the radio link from the Central Highlands repeater network in to Gladstone. The system is on trial at the moment, with the Gladstone portal frequency of 439.800MHz with access CTCSS tone of 91.5 Hz. Mike VK4QS says :- Well it seems the Centenary of organized Amateur Radio in Queensland is off to a great start. The opening six days of June saw the Queensland Advisory Committee, Don VK4BY, Alan VK4SN, and Mike VK4QS along with two volunteer operators, Ray VK4NH, and Ken VK4QH, fill the airways with VK100WIQ. Operations both locally and of a DX nature were warmly received, with many stations intrigued with what the call sign was in fact celebrating. Conditions were indeed very poor with a recent Mass Coronal Emission from the sun playing havoc with propagation on the HF Bands By June 7th, Clem and members of the Southside Amateur Radio Society took up the mantle working hard to log many contacts over the following three days with VK100WIQ. By Sunday June 10th the call sign went north to be operated by a keen group of Amateurs from the Central Queensland Amateur Radio Association. From their field base at Weasel Park near Rockhampton this group undertook three days of full on amateur radio activity with VK100WIQ. In fact they were keen enough to film their time at Weasel Park for all of us to see. This can be viewed on the QAC Website at, www.wiaq.org.au where there is also a You Tube link. This is something that other clubs in the up and coming weeks may consider when undertaking their three days to promote the Centenary on air. Once you have made a film or even taken photos of the time spent on air then consider sending it to Mr Alan Shannon VK4SN, of the Queensland Advisory Committee. Alan can see about up loading the links, your story and the photos on the WIAQ site for the world to see. It then becomes part of the collective Centenary archive for the future. To all clubs participating in the Centenary celebrations with VK100WIQ, it is requested that you upload your Log as per the email sent by Al Shannon VK4SN, by way of the Centenary Logbook. This can be found on the WIA Website under the heading News and Events. This will drop down to show VK4 Centenary, and access, as per your password to the Logbook etc. Enjoy your time promoting Centenary with VK100WIQ, and work as many clubs and operators that fire it up on air between now and July 31st 2012. (vk4qs) VK6 AUG 5 VK6 NCRG HAMFEST Cyril Jackson Rec Centre, FGisher st, Ashfield WA. 9am, 7-30 for traders. Admission $5 for everyone including traders, no charge for tables. FGisher st, Ashfield WA. What use is an f-call? (20120115) (Past editions of What use is an f-call can be found online at harg.org.au under F-troop.) Tolerance has many definitions, one is: a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own. It's not a new concept, it's been around since the end of the Middle Ages. For some reason this week I had a wide spectrum of contacts within Amateur Radio, some great, some disappointing. I had a debate on the merits or otherwise of the NBN, an email from a 14 year old F-call who is being ignored on air, a few posts from an Amateur friend in the transgender community and an email vociferating refugee payments. I find it curious that we as a community have a medium that ignores lines on a map, stronger still, encourages us to share experiences with amateurs around the world while having members act in an intolerant way toward others. I think that debate is good and required, but in such a debate it might be smart to use the same tenant’s we use on air. Listen more than you talk. Now you might ask yourself what on earth does this have to do with having an F-call? As we attract more people into the hobby we need to work to keep our community healthy and happy. I think we should encourage those around us to learn from the long history that Amateur Radio represents and perhaps encourage tolerance, as it is clear to me, has been the backbone of Amateur Radio since day one. Why does it matter? For one, your Amateur Radio signal goes outside the boundaries of this country. Sometimes it's heard across the planet, even into space. Sometimes your utterances will make it into the ears of people who have laws and customs completely different from yours. As you know, having an Amateur License is a privilege which works because there is global cooperation on the matter, but if we abuse our privilege, we'll soon learn how fragile cooperation becomes. The melting pot that Amateur Radio represents is a wonderful community. It has people from all walks of life with differing opinions, life-styles and experiences. What attracted me to Amateur Radio was that those differences don't matter, we all have one thing in common, being Amateurs. 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. Germany gains 1331 callsigns in 2011 The German telecommunications regulator the Federal Network Agency have released their report for 2011 part of which covers amateur radio. The report says there were 62 Amateur Radio Exams, 731 amateur radio certificates and 1331 ham radio call sign issued THE TEN MILLION DOLLAR HAMVENTION. It's said that Dayton this year resulted in an estimated $10,000,000 impact for the region! HAMVENTION 2012 OFFICIAL FIGURE SAYS OVER 24000 ATTENDED! This good news was announced by 2012 Hamvention General Chairman Mike Kalter, W8CI and according to Mike, this was an increase over last year. He attributed it in part to the excellent weather during Hamvention weekend. W8CI also noted that many vendors reported excellent sales during the three days of Hamvention and many restaurants, hotels and motels also reported increased sales. AMATURE RADIO WEEK The Michigan House of Representatives in the USA has issued a resolution recognizing the public service contributions of Michigan's Amateur Radio Operators. The State house passed House Resolution No. 287, A resolution to declare June 17–23, 2012, as Amateur Radio Week in the state of Michigan. FRS application for IARU membership The Federation of Radio sport of Republic of Azerbaijan (FRS), founded 30 December 2001, has applied for IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) membership. IARU Region 1 report that the application was found to be in order and a proposal that FRS be elected as IARU member has been put out to vote. ============================================================================= NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA HAM RADIO HELPS LOCATE AND CONVICT PERSON WHO STOLE FROM NATIONAL ARCHIVES J. David Goldin ,WB1EZA, is being hailed as a hero by the United States National Archives. This after helping to solve exposed what authorities have called one of the most egregious instances of theft of historic materials from where the government preserves its historic documents, photographs and recordings. Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, has the details: According to news reports when J. David Goldin, WB1EZA, saw a recorded interview of baseball great Babe Ruth for sale on eBay he knew something was wrong. That's because there was only one original record of that 1937 interview of Ruth on a hunting trip, and Goldin had donated it to a government archive more than 30 years ago. So Goldin, who is described as an avid record collector, launched his own investigation that led directly to uncovering the person now believed responsible for stealing close to 1000 artefacts from the National Archives. Goldin began his sleuthing by purchasing a different recording from the same on-line seller. When the deal was complete he recognized the name of the seller as being the same National Archives employee who had received the Babe Ruth and other historic recording that Goldin had donated thirty years earlier. Goldin then took his findings to federal investigators. They in turn obtained a search warrant and raided the home of retired National Archives employee Leslie Waffen. There authorities carted away two truckloads of materials. Now, after pleading guilty, a judge in Maryland has sentenced Waffen, to an 18 month prison term and fined him $10,000. Before retiring, Waffen had worked at the National Archives for 40 years. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in Zion, Illinois. United Stares Inspector General, Paul Brachfeld, whose office investigated the theft, says that he plans to honour Goldin. He told the press that there are some people who give tips who are just passive. He said that J. David Golden wasn't like that. He called Goldin a sentinel. THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN REPORTING EMERGENCIES TO THE PUBLIC "Emergency Management Without Social Media.Fail" is the title of a very interesting op-ed article by author Tim Burrows posted across several social media websites. In it, Burrows looks at both the positive and negative effects on the public that social media can have in attempting to disseminate and update information of a disaster, accident or other event that the public needs to know. Whether you agree or disagree with Burrows assessment of the role of social media in regard to the accuracy of the information being made public, his article is a very interesting evaluation for anyone involved in the world of emergency communications. You can read the entire story on-line at tinyurl.com/emergency-social-media ============================================================================= RSGB ============================================================================= WEIRD AND WONDERFUL PrintSat – An Amateur Radio 3D Printer CubeSat Students at Montana State University (MSU) are planning to build their new amateur radio satellite PrintSat with nano-carbon-impregnated plastic using a 3D printer! David Klumpar KD7MFJ of MSU said 3D printing “will further lower the costs and speed the development of very small satellites, enabling future scientific missions comprised of dozens of satellites flying in formation.” Jim White WD0E, president of Colorado Satellite Services, explained that 3-D printing has evolved in the past few years to be a very inexpensive and fast way to make mechanical parts. With PrintSat, the entire structure of the small satellite will be printed. As the first use of additive manufacturing for a satellite, they plan to show they can make parts that cannot be made in traditional ways.” Montana State University Space Science and Engineering Laboratory https://ssel.montana.edu/ SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012 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 WW Oceania Dx Contest SSB October 6 ww Oceania Dx Contest CW oceaniadxcontest.com Oct 13 VK Spring VHF / UHF Field Day November 24-25 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE The team who were so "bad" at Cape Liptrap last August have decided to be bad again! VK3BAD that is. At the end of August a 20 strong team will travel into the Otway Ranges homing in on The King Parrot Cottage complex near the Village of Pennyroyal for a party. The Pennyroyal Propagation Party , a long weekend of Radio, Delicious Food and Drink and Great Company. Styled "Wireless Weekends" this inaugural operation follows on from highly popular activations at Cape Liptrap over the past two years, And so great was the demand that the trip was sold out just 3 days after being announced. The location is high in the mountains with lots of wildlife in the area and great views. The Station will operate on most HF frequencies 160 - 10mtrs and on 6 and 2 metres and 70cm with contact to the Melbourne Area via the Geelong 2 mtr repeater. They'll also attempt a live link up on 1250mhz to VK3RTV repeater from a nearby high point which according to plotting software will give a line of sight path of 147km. Also they hope to have a number of live crosses using Skype to access VK3RTV during the weekend so you can see all the action. So please listen out for VK3BAD on 31st August through until September 3rd. Further details on QRZ.com under VK3BAD Sovereign Military Order of Malta Thirty years have passed since 1A made its way onto the DXCC list. An activation by an International team looks to celebrate the uniqueness of this event. So, from the 1st to the 4th July, we will listen for them on the air as 1A0C from Santa Maria del Priorato, home of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The callsign that will be used belongs to 'The Order of Malta's Italian Relief Corps (CISOM)" an organization specialized in bringing assistance and relief during emergencies. (SouthGate) BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS NERG news report that the internet forum known as AURFSCAN.COM started out as a popular place to hold discussions and swap exchange information with radio scanner enthusiasts but has since grown to include amateur radio activities, with quite a few VK amateurs contributing to this busy forum. In addition to the usual forum posts, there is wiki, files, and personal blog pages however some of these require you to join at a small annual fee. Check out the forum at: aurfscan.com.au Radio Netherlands English service closes down Following the closure of the Dutch service in May, Radio Netherlands has announced that the English service will end on June 29. And, since RNW's English web stream will end on 29 June, there will be no more Listening Guide. The measures are a result of steep budget cuts imposed by the Dutch government. On 29 June they will broadcast a radio show looking back at the past decades of Radio Netherlands Worldwide. rnw.nl/english/article/were-changing (SouthGate) 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 Reporting Harmful Interference to ACMA We Radio Amateurs often deal with signals down in the noise, so interference is something we are very sensitive to. We often experience interference from a number of devices sold on the market today, such as lighting systems, inverters, solar systems (especially roof-top solar systems), and all manner of switch-mode power supplies. The ACMA has the responsibility of enforcing the EMC regulations, but the ACMA is now very much a complaint’s driven and evidence based organization and will but it’s resources where they are most needed. That’s why it is very important if that if you suffer long-term harmful interference to you communications from any device you should let the ACMA know about it. The ACMA has an interference reporting form in the Radio Communications section of their website. There is no fee for making an interference report to the ACMA but it’s very important that only valid interference to YOUR communications over a long period of time is reported. So please, take a look at the interference reporting form on the Radio communications section of the AMCA website and if you suffer harmful interference from any device, make a report and let the ACMA know about it it will only help you and your fellow radio amateurs. This is Phil Wait VK2ASD for the WIA. The on-line R066 form is at: acma.gov.au/interforms/radcomms_form.asp A sample of a completed interference reporting form is at: acma.gov.au/webwr/_assets/main/lib310172/r066-request_for_investigation_of_interference_to_radiocommunications_(sample_form).pdf Again the ACMA form number is R066 and that a copy of this news item is also on wia.org.au with the links included. IARU Monitoring System Newsletter The May issue of the IARU Monitoring System (IARUMS) newsletter reports on a 'Clansman' transmission in the amateur radio 28 MHz band, possibly from the Falkland Islands. The newsletter says: “Clansman” is the name of a F1B system, used by the British military. Parameters: 300 Bd and 850 shift. The system was daily transmitting on 28181.5 kHz and well audible in Germany every late noon. Our bearings were showing South America. DK2OM thinks the emissions are coming from the Falkland Islands. There is also a report on the CODAR radar system in North East India, Bay of Bengal, that is operating on 14070-14125 kHz. MEDIA WATCH www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/ Ham Song - Solid State Rage Solid State Rage is written and performed by Dan Taverne KE5UTN Watch Ham Song - Solid State Rage version 2 on YouTube now. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL The 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route is being tracked on the APRS.fi web site. To see it go to http://aprs.fi/ and enter Torch2012 in the Track Callsign field. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER SumbandilaSat recovery work continues SA AMSAT posted a report on their website that there is still a recovery opportunity for SumbandilaSat. The team at SunSpace are still incrementally reading back the program code from the nine power modules in an effort to determine the extent of the corruption. With SumbandilaSat going through eclipses, the satellite is not as much available as the team would like. SumbandilaSat's batteries failed which means that the satellite is only active when the solar panels are illuminated. "We need the information to confirm that the changes we made to stop repeated corruption were effective." Johann Lochner ZR6CBC who spends considerable of his free time on recovery of SumbandilaSat said. "It is our aim to ultimately reprogram one of the power modules to automatically switch the amateur radio transponder on and off." WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS - LOWDOWN 2012 Topband Most Wanted survey This annual survey of 160 Meter DX needs is taken by Garry/NI6T and Larry/K8UT and is now available online at: http://survey.hamdocs.com/?sid=11389 Please submit your needs list between now and August 31, 2012. Modifications submitted after August 31, 2012, will be used for the following year's survey. The results for 2012-2013 will be available in September 2012. A link to the 2011 Topband Most Wanted Survey results is available at: http://www.k8ut.com/tiki-list_file_gallery.php?galleryId=12 WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING http://www.scouts.com.au http://www.scout.org/jota http://www.international.scouts.com.au CALLING FREQUENCIES Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication. Australian voice calling frequencies: 3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160 World CW calling frequencies: 3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160 World voice calling frequencies: 3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, 50.160 Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV): 3.630, 7.033, 14.227 Calling Frequencies for PSK31 14.070 Townsville region in VK4 Sat 23 and Sun 24 June - Kennedy Region Scouts Nighthawk activity Your chance to make a real difference and show the youth of today how useful Amateur Radio can be. Team tracking and a chance to set up portable at a spot in the Kelso area you would not normally go to. If you are in that area, give a shout-out on VK4RAT after this news and find out how you can help by arriving at Nighthawk Base, Ross Park around 3pm on Saturday, then go to your checkpoint and meet up with Scout Leaders who will be doing all the youth wrangling then operate through the night. (theTARCinc) REWIND LENORE JENSEN, W6NAZ, PHONE PATCHING TO VIETNAM VIA MARS And finally this week, a piece of ham radio history that you can enjoy and share with friends. While perusing the latest ham radio videos posted to YouTube, our producer Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, came across one featuring the late radio, television and film actress Lenore Jensen, W6NAZ, running phone patches to Vietnam. These phone patches were done through the Military Affiliate Radio System which often used frequencies just outside the regular High Frequency ham bands. Overseas telephone calls were difficult to make decades ago and sometimes impossible depending on location, so for U.S. service men stationed around the world, ham radio filled the void. This was an all with volunteer effort and Lenore Jensen, W6NAZ, was at the forefront of the activity. -- Audio bite from film -- The film is titled "A Visit to Mars" and was part of the United States Army produced series "The Big Picture." Bill dates the documentary to the late 60s and notes that the phone patch was obviously simulated for filming. He asks: Did you ever hear noise-free audio on High Frequency DX, or the public always remembering to say "over?" These details aside, the film appears to be accurate overall. It depicts the way things were done about 50 years ago and is a trip back in time. You can see it yourself on- line at tinyurl.com/LenorePatchingToVietnam. And LenorePatchingToVietnam is spelled as one word. (CGC, ARNewslineT) SOCIAL SCENE 2012 JUL 7- 8 VK3 GippsTech 2012, Monash University Gippsland Campus Churchill. 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 JULY 29 VK2/3 Albury Wodonga ARC HamFest @ Lavington Scout Hall AUG 5 VK6 NCRG HAMFEST Cyril Jackson Rec Centre Ashfield. AUG 12 VK2 SARCFEST at Summerland ARC Clubrooms, Lismore. 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 AUSTRALIA'S MOST WANTED Request for Information! Do you know anything about the Althorpe Island Light House wireless communications operations.? Lighthouses of Australia a volunteer group whose aim is the preservation of Australian Lighthouses is looking for information on this famous Australian lighthouse. A reliable means of communication with the lighthouse was the driving force behind the establishment of a wireless telegraphy system in the late 1890s. It appears this means of communications was all too hard to set up and a cable was finally laid in about July 1911. This created it's own problems of not being able to send messages after 6 o'clock because the telegraph operator on the mainland had gone home. It seems that during the Second World War the lighthouse was equipped with a pedal wireless set that enabled them to communicate with Cape Borda Lighthouse and from there, messages were relayed to the mainland -- this was in use into the 1950s. If anyone can elaborate on what has already been researched or know what type of radio systems were employed, please send it to Ross VK2VVV. vk2vvv@wia.org.au 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