WIANEWS - August 5 - 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 AUGUST 5 2012. ALARA CONTEST reminder ircDDB DStar-net Wednesdays 19:30 AEST on DCS014B WIA RD Contest latest THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING AUGUST 05 2012. Hello, I'm Peter Ellis VK1PE, host for the opening speeches of the annual Remembrance Day Contest next weekend. I have again asked a senior serving Defence officer to give the opening keynote speech. His biography reads like a world map. He is a civil engineer, who has: Seen military service in Bosnia, Timor Leste, Tonga, PNG and Afghanistan; Had United Nations service as a civilian in Niger (West Africa); and He has commanded the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment based in Townsville. and... in January 2013 he takes over as the Defence Attaché in the Australian Embassy in Paris, France. Here is a snippet from the speech. SPEAKER: I wish to acknowledge the five Australian soldiers who have been killed in Afghanistan since the last RD Contest: Private Matthew Lambert (2RAR), Captain Bryce Duffy (4Rgt, RAA), Corporal Ashley Birt (6 Eng Spt Rgt), Lance Corporal Luke Gavin (2RAR), and Sergeant Blaine Diddams (SASR). VK1PE: So, please listen for the opening speech in the 20 minutes before the RD Contest opens at 0300 UTC, Saturday 11 August 2012. Over to you. Peter VK1PE WIA RD OPENING ADDRESS AUDIO AVAILABLE FROM 1000 UTC WEDNESDAY AUGUST 8 2012 You will find it on the WIA RD Page along with the rules for 2012. http://wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/ Also on the WIA Home page from Wednesday Evening in association with any last minute updates/news about the 2012 RD. http://wia.org.au MOST IMPORTANT:- The start time of the RD is earlier this year, hence you will need to play this special program at exactly 0240 UTC Saturday 11 August 2012 "Good Luck In The Contest!" SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012 Hello, this is Alan, VK4SN, RD Contest Manager. Remember to keep August 11th and 12th free for the RD contest. This year, a new start and finish time of 0300z applies. That's 1PM eastern Australian Time. Trophy donors have come forth to sponsor some sections of the contest. These include 1. South Pacific Contest club - Multi-multi section 2. CW Operators QRP Club - Highest scoring QRP station 3. VK Classifieds - Highest scoring individual 4. VKham - Highest Scoring rookie. 5. Contest Director, Trent VK4TS - Highest scoring team. Thank you for supporting Australia’s Premier contest. Sincere thanks to participating software writers, Mike VK3AVV for his VKCL Logger, and John Drew VK5DJ for his RD logger, and Deane VK3TX for his Cabrillo log checker. All have liaised closely with me regarding the new rules and Cabrillo template, to help bring smarter logging and log checking in to our modern times. If you wish to form a team, remember to email the contest manager with your selected team members . All info can be found in the rules. Hoping to make contact with you in the contest. Good luck to everyone. 73 This is Alan, VK4SN "Hi, this is Lesley, VK5LOL, the Alara Contest Manager. The 32nd Alara Contest is on the last weekend of this month, Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th from 0400 UTC to 1359 UTC each day; that is 0400 UTC to 1359 UTC each day. Details are on the ALARA website. This is where OMs can talk to lots of YLs. Don't disappoint them girls! Look forward to hearing you all on air, Lesley VK5LOL." Again the RD date is August 11-12, ALARA August 25-26 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE When people think of DXpeditions, they think of operators under palm trees on exotic islands with the world of amateur radio enthusiasts trying to talk to them. While this is where every DXpedition tries to get to, there is a LOT of work that has to happen before this is possible! ED VK2ARE, Australian Publicity Officer for ZL9HR gives us a great insight in this report. "Months or even years before, the event planning starts and permits are requested, equipment assembled and transport both of equipment and operators arranged. Accommodation organised and all red-tape worked through. All of this requires a lot of work from the organisers and also requires finance in the form of contributions from those taking part in the event and from sponsors. Without sponsors no DXpedition can take place and the ZL9HR DXpedition to Campbell Island on November 28 to December 9 this year is no exception. This DXpedition is rightly being billed as one of the most important DXpeditions in 2012 and the HARAOA is very happy to announce that many of the sponsors that supported earlier DXpeditions are helping again with ZL9HR. It is hoped that there will be additional sponsors “signing up” over the next few weeks, but we would like to thank those who have already committed to support the DXpedition. Commercial sponsors: RF Solutions Spiderbeam Club & Organisations; British Colombia & Northwest Washington – ORCA DX & Contest club Danish DX Group German DX Foundation. Lone Star DX Association. Long Island DX Association. Mediterraneo DX Club. Northern Illinois DX Association. There are also currently 24 individuals who are sponsoring the event. For the complete up-to-date list please refer to ZL9HR.COM The survey on the website is also getting a good response with keen DX-ers who are looking to get ZL9 on a particular band and mode to move towards a DXCC or other award voting for their preferences. Please don't miss out if you haven't already placed your vote please do so. 73 From ED VK2ARE, Australian Publicity Officer for ZL9HR and member of the Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia." For those that missed the recent 9 M 0 L DXpedition to Spratly Island there is another opportunity coming up to work this quite rare DXCC entity. From 7 – 13 August 2 operators will be active from Spratly using the callsign 9M4SLL. They will be on 80 – 10m using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL manager is M0URX. A group of operators from Switzerland known as the Radio 7 Team will be active from Rodrigues Island as 3 B 9 SP from between October 16 and 23. Most operation will be on CW and SSB with some RTTY and PSK 31. QSL via HB9ACA. As part of the 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations in Algeria several special stations are active until the end of 2012. Prefix hunters will have the opportunity to work 7U50I, 7V50I, 7W50I and 7Y50I. E I 25 D B Dublin Bus celebrates its 25th Birthday. To celebrate the event a Special Event Station EI25DB will be aired between 1st July 2012 and 30th June 2013. QSL to EI 9 HQ or LOTW 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. 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. So please listen out for VK3BAD on 31st August through until September 3rd. Further details on QRZ.com under VK3BAD Prefix hunters, remember Croatia is marking their 20th Anniversary of the allocation of the 9A prefix. Operators there are now permitted to insert the figures ‘20’ into their callsigns. For example 9A2AA will become 9A202AA, 9A1MM becomes 9A201MM etc. These prefixes are available throughout 2012. (irts) Temotu Province H 40 FN between December 22nd and January 7th of 2013. QSL H 40 FN via HA8DD. Morocco CN 2 YZ through years end from the city of Tangier especially on the weekends. The Mediterraneo DX Club is supporting his activities and is also providing a Web site with a log-check. It’s in cyberspace at www.mdxc.org/cn2yz GB 0 TLR Railways on the Air Southgate Amateur Radio Club will be operating a Special Event station for the Railways on the Air event on 22nd and 23rd of September. Some special event call signs will be activated to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: 2O12L from London, England and 2O12W from Barry, Wales. Both stations will be on-the-air for the duration of the Games PT0S - DXpedition to St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks The DXpedition will take place in late November to mid-December. The actual dates will depend on weather conditions. There had been an official ban on Amateur Radio activities from PY 0 S. Although the ban, which was created for environmental and safety reasons, remains in place, a special permit by Brazil's S.E.C.I.R.M. the Brazilian Navy, Ministry of Environment and LABRE to conduct a two week long operation. (southgate) AWARDS Chris Carroll, VK1GG has been appointed as a QSL Card Checker for the VK1, VK2 Region in the WIA Awards Programme. Chris can be contacted at vk1gg@wia.org.au You will need to fill out and then print the Awards Application form from wia.org.au then send your cards and completed form to Chris to be checked who will then sign your Application Form and forward it on to the WIA Awards Committee so that your Certificate can be processed and sent to you. If there are any questions regarding any aspect of the WIA Awards Programme please contact Chris, vk1gg@wia.org.au (sourced to crarc news letter) AUSTRALIAN NEWS FROM THE WIA 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 Hefty fine for hoax mayday caller A Tasmanian (VK7) man who made hoax mayday calls has been ordered to pay the Australian Maritime Safety Authority $30,000 for sparking a major air and sea search. In April 2011, Damien Goodluck made two hoax calls on marine radio indicating a fisherman was in trouble off Bruny Island. The Magistrate's Court heard the 30-year-old was under stress at the time, suffering from the breakdown of his relationship with his mother and the loss of his father. The court also heard that he suffered from limited intellectual capabilities. Magistrate Olivia McTaggart ordered Goodluck to do 140 hours of community service and set a good behaviour period of 18 months. Randolph Wierenga from the Police Association of Tasmania says the sentence should serve as a deterrent. "You're talking about police officers, you're talking about significant physical resources to go out and respond to calls like this and they have to be treated seriously and when people needlessly make these calls then the full penalty of the law should apply," he said. abc.net.au/news/2012-07-24/hoax-caller-fined-for-sparking-search/4151380?section=tas (Sourced from the ABC News Website) Spam–not in our backyard Sophos's international spam-relay rankings indicate that Australia's ranking has markedly improved from 25th in September 2011 to 52nd in the most recent quarter, with Australia accounting for only 0.26 per cent of spam globally. Spam is a global problem, said ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman. 'But you can't deny the success we have had in Australia. With the ACMA's record in penalising scammers and getting businesses to avoid spamming, as well as world class Australian Internet Security Initiative, we are streets ahead of many other parts of the world. 'In 2011-12, the ACMA saw a sixfold increase in spam reports,' Mr Chapman added. 'This massive increase tells us that our awareness activities have worked. Australians know to "Ignore it; Report it; and Delete it" as our consumer slogan says. Every scam email and SMS reported to us is a message that doesn't potentially catch out an Australian.' In the last financial year, the ACMA gave 4,200 informal warnings to businesses about potential breaches of Australia's spam laws. THERE’S A STAR ON VK4BJT'S HORIZON... A D-STAR "Hello out there, I’m here to let you know that D-Star in Australia has entered a new level in its development, one that opens the way for it to become a more vibrant and reliable network inside Australia, and Internationally. This has been made possible with the introduction of the ircDDB network. The ircDDB network is an open and responsive network that promotes the use of both Icom and non-Icom repeaters, and other hardware. A new D-Star DCS Reflector has been commissioned in Australia. Located in Sydney, and administered from the Gold Coast, this reflector will cover not only Australia, but most likely Oceania. With its 26 modules and other technical advances, it is a vast improvement on the existing reflectors, and it will be actively maintained in order to provide a dependable and responsive foundation on which to base D-Star communications. We hope many of you out there will dust off your Icom D-Star transceivers and dongles, and meet us on the ircDDB DStar-net on Wednesdays 19:30 AEST on DCS014B. If your local repeater is not ircDDB enabled, we urge you to contact your repeater administrator and discuss options for expanding access to the D-Star network. Any queries join the Yahoo group called DCS014, which is an uncensored and unmoderated forum. I’m John VK4BJT President of the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society, C U on DStar." VK1 CRARC Next Meeting is August General Meeting, Wednesday 22nd 7.30 PM. Ash Clark, VK3SSB will be Presenting: Remoting your Radio with RemoteRig. 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 THIS AFTERNOON SUNDAY - SARC COMMITTEE MEETING, 1400K Come along, have your say, SARCFEST preparations. Find out how you can assist make it a great day. plus - DEMO of H.HERTZ 1887 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES EXPERIMENT. A demo of 'Old Sparky' and Hertz's experiment. 1300K Sunday is it, before the Committee Meeting. It took him three years, you'll get it in one hour. A little of it anyway. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ Interesting speaker meetings In response to the interest shown to the Council of Amateur Radio Victoria, it has introduced quarterly meetings where members can come along and listen to expert speakers on various topics. The first meeting is on Tuesday August the 14th with popular presenter Mark Tell, from the ACMA. Support the speaker meeting by turning up at 8pm on the night at 40g Victory Boulevard, Ashburton. Other speaker nights will be in November, during next year’s Centre Victoria RadioFest, and at the Annual General Meeting in May. (Jim Linton VK3PC) 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 TARC Member Subs time To all TARCadians, a timely reminder that your member subs for 2012/2013 needed to be paid by the 30th June 2012. Get on it right away and contact Treasurer Bob VK4AAH if you are having any problems paying. Bob can be contacted on telephone 07-47880939 a/h Now from the Sunshine Coast VK4VP Sunfest - Its on again for 2012 Its getting close to Sunfest time again, this year the date is September 8 and it’s in the usual spot as the past few years at the Woombye School of Arts building in the main street of Woombye starting from 09:00. The usual tables of equipment will be there along with great food and friendship. Tables are $20 each and that gets you two entry tickets and general entry is a low $5 each. There will be signage and a call in on the linked repeaters of 146.825 and 146.850. For more information or to book a table contact the Sunfest Coordinator Glenn VK4FSCC on 07 5437 2183, 0415 662 577 or email sunfest@vk4wis.org We hope to see you there F-Troop is a weekly net that has been running since June 2011. During that time we've had over 350 contacts with amateurs across VK6. F-troop is intended for new and returning hams and it's a place to get your feet wet in a place where other amateurs are happy to help newly licensed amateurs get on-air and participate. F-troop is run as a "spoke and hub" net, which means that you only need to remember two callsigns, yours and that of the host, which at the moment is mostly me, though over the past year several others have kindly hosted the net in my absence and I expect that to continue, to the point where anyone who wants to have a go at hosting a net can do so, the more the merrier. F-troop runs for about an hour every Saturday morning at 08:00 WST, or midnight UTC and as of two weeks ago you don't need to be in range of the VK6RAP repeater in Roleystone in Western Australia to participate. Thanks to the work of Ronald VK6XS and the conference run by Tony VK3JED, we now can announce that F-troop is also available via EchoLink and IRLP. To participate, you need to either connect your local repeater to the 9558 IRLP node, or connect to the VK3JED EchoLink conference. If you're unsure how to do that, the details can be found online at the club website of the Hills Amateur Radio Group harg.org.au So, next week you'll be able to check-in and say hi to other amateurs. I should point out that this is not a net exclusively for Foundation calls, anyone who is interested in welcoming new and returning hams is encouraged to participate. Those details again, it's the 9558 IRLP node or the VK3JED EchoLink conference. F-troop runs for about an hour every Saturday morning at 08:00 WST, or midnight UTC. 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. HEATHKIT DECLARES BANKRUPTCY, CLOSES FOR GOOD (AGAIN) Heathkit employed more than 1800 people in its heyday after World War II. When it finally closed, its workforce totalled fewer than six people. This is the second time since 1992 that Heathkit Educational Services has shuttered its doors. In August 2011, Heathkit announced it was returning to the kit building business, and in September, that it would once again be manufacturing Amateur Radio kits. But it was not to be! Read more here www.arrl.org/news/heathkit-declares-bankruptcy-closes-for-good-again THE SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AMENDMENT BILL The Department of Communications is planning to create another body next to ICASA to take over spectrum management. One of the many changes proposed in the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, 2012 is the establishment of a Spectrum Management Agency within the portfolio of the Minister of Communications with the overall responsibility for the country's spectrum as contemplated in the White paper on Broadcasting Policy, 1998. The explanatory document addendum to the bill states that the Minister of Communications acts as the custodian of the spectrum on behalf of the people of South Africa. It further states that the Minister represents South Africa in the ITU. This includes allocation of the radio frequency spectrum to various radio communication services, like amateur radio. Android phones hijacked via 13.560 MHz radio The BBC report that a skilled hacker has shown how to hijack a smartphone via a short-range radio technology known as Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC operates in the short wave band using a frequency of 13.560 MHz Read the BBC report at the web address shown in today’s text edition wia.org.au http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19010945 Olympic Flagship stations on air Both of the Two Oscar Olympic Flagship Special Event Stations are now up and running. You can follow the progress of Two Oscar Twelve L in London on Twitter, with tweets showing new countries worked and the number of stations in the log; Two Oscar Twelve W in Wales also has a Twitter feed. Details can be found on their websites, just search for the callsigns 2 Oscar 12L and 2 Oscar 12W. A number of other special event stations are celebrating the Olympics. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW FISTS Club - East Asia www.feacw.net FISTS Club - Australasia www.fistsdownunder.org FISTS Club - UK & Europe www.fists.co.uk FISTS Club - Americas www.fists.org FISTS at the Ham Fair The JARL Ham Fair will be again at Tokyo Big Sight, Ariake, Tokyo on August 25 and 26. Last year it involved about 32,000 over the two days with many visitors, manufacturers, retailers, clubs and volunteers. Among the many there will be FISTS volunteers at the exhibit on the FIST East Asia booth. For all FISTS members there will be space to display your name, call sign, message and photo on a booth wall. Please send a short message and face photo by August 18 0900 UTC to Sugi JK7UST, who is FISTS #7178. His email address is jk7ust2012@osugi.net (Jim Linton VK3PC) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER New Russian Satellite RS-40 Was built by students and research staff of the Siberian State, Aerospace University and launched on July 28 and it's understood signals from RS-40 are on 435.365 MHz. Appointment of KA 3 HDO as VP-Human Spaceflight Programs. AMSAT-NA President Barry Baines has announced effective August 1, Frank Bauer, KA 3 HDO, will be returning as AMSAT's Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs. This role will include AMSAT's leadership on the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Program and amateur radio pursuits on other Human Spaceflight vehicles proposed by NASA, International Space Agencies and domestic and international commercial spaceflight organizations. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA http://rsgbiota.org International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend ILLW, IOTA and Tasman Island Mike VK7FB lets us know that as far as he knows, there has been no amateur HF activity on Tasman Island since 1969 when Anne, then VK7LY, and Mike, VK7FB, lived in the number 3 quarters. From the 18th until the 25th of August, Anne, now VK7BYL, and Mike will be out there again as part of the "Friends of Tasman Island" maintenance visit, coinciding with the ILLW. Power will be provided by a portable generator. Mike and Anne will be accommodated in the same house, number 3, and will probably have the gear in the same room as before! For those who collect numbers, the locator is QE46AS, the ILLW number is AU0101 and the IOTA number is OC-233. http://illw.net/ (73, Mike, VK7FB) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW ILLW continues toward another record year With around 370 registrations for the 15th annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, there will be plenty of on air activity for this 48 hour fun event. North, Central and South America have 80 stations registered. In the USA alone there are more than 55 stations. For the United Kingdom a total of 45 registrations have been received and in Europe many more are to be worked. Nearly 70 have been received from Australia and New Zealand. There are stations in Asia, Russia, South Africa and lots more locations. No matter where you are there will be plenty to work. Most issue special QSL cards. The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is on August the 18th and 19th. Visit the website ILLW.NET for an online registration and explore it for more details. (Jim Linton VK3PC) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- NAVAL The Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society in the UK has organised a social event in Coventry. It will take place on Friday 14th, Saturday 15th and Sunday 16 September. A special event callsign GB 0 CGT has been issued For details see the Society web site: rnars.org.uk WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP and WEAK SIGNAL COMMUNICATION The Russian QRP Club is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and is using the callsign R 10 QRP during August. Listen out for R 10 QRP from the RU QRP Rally which started last Thursday and runs till today, Sunday 5th August. The rally is a 4 day camp on the banks of the River Ugra, around 200 miles SE of Moscow ( http://goo.gl/maps/4kOKS ) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS http://www.raotc.org.au RAOTC August REMINDER. Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW. Tomorrow Monday August 6th is the first Monday of the month and that means it's time once again for the RAOTC bulletin. The principal HF transmissions can be heard on 20 metres on 14.150 MHz USB at 0100 UTC beamed north from Melbourne for Eastern states listeners, and again at 0200 beamed West for Western Australia. During tomorrow numerous local relays will also take place on various VHF and lower HF frequencies. To find a frequency and time for your area, please visit the RAOTC website at www.raotc.org.au Everyone, RAOTC members and non-members alike, is invited to listen to this interesting half hour of Old Timer news, stories and anecdotes and to participate in the call backs afterwards. Once again, the RAOTC monthly bulletin is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday August 6th. 73 from Clive VK6CSW SOCIAL SCENE 2012 AUG 5 VK6 NCRG HAMFEST Cyril Jackson Rec Centre Ashfield on today. AUG 12 VK2 SARCFEST at Summerland ARC Clubrooms, Lismore. AUG 25 VK4 50 YEARS OF IPSWICH AR CLUB DINNER ITC AUG 26 VK2 Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club WinterFest. SEP 28-30 VK4 Central Highlands ARC AGM at Camp Fairbairn, Emerald. 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 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