WIANEWS - OCTOBER 07 2012 - 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 OCTOBER 07 2012. THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING OCT 07 2012. WIA Acting President Phil Wait VK2ASD vk2asd@wia.org.au Secretary David Williams VK3RU vk3ru@wia.org.au Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au (sources from wia front page) GOOD NEWS SPREADS FAST! LTE Trial in Bendigo Ends The ACMA has advised the WIA that the 700 MHz LTE trial in the Bendigo region has now ended. In effect this means that Advanced Amateur licence holders that were within the exclusion zone can now apply to the ACMA for a variation to their existing licences to operate up to 1 kW on the primary HF bands during the trial period. More information on how to apply can be found on the WIA website at http://www.wia.org.au/licenses/licensing/hfhighpowertrial/ The 700 MHz LTE trial in the Perth area is still continuing where an exclusion zone for High Power HF operation is in place. Details of the exclusion zone can be found on the WIA web site. FIELD DAY 'HEADS UP' November 24-25 is the SPRING VHF-UHF Field Day The VHF-UHF Field Days provide VHF-UHF operators with the opportunity to "head for the hills" and see how far they can work. The Field Days have separate sections for single and multiple operator stations. The duration of the Field Day is 24 hours, but there are also 8 hour sections for operators who may not be able to camp overnight. Most club stations prefer to operate for the full 24 hours. The Field Days also generate plenty of activity from home stations, so there is also a separate Home Station section. The scoring is based on grid locator squares. Each new square worked gives quite a boost to the score, and this encourages the entrants to operate from locations in grid squares that normally don't have a great amount of amateur activity. There are no mode restrictions, except that all contacts must be simplex so contacts through repeaters or satellites are not allowed. It is possible to do very well with only modest antennas if you pick a good hilltop. Another option, if your station is easily transportable, is to operate from more than one grid square during the contest period. The overriding aim is to get away for the weekend and have fun! But next after that, the aims are: to encourage more activity on VHF and microwave bands; to encourage people to work greater distances than usual by operating portable and to provide opportunities for people to activate or work into new grid squares. HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ BARG HAMVENTION DIARY TICKLER The Ballarat Amateur Radio Group will hold its annual Hamvention on Sunday the 21st of October 2012 in the usual venue provided by the Ballarat Greyhound Racing Club in Rubicon St, Redan. Doors open for traders at 8am and general access is at 10am. Further details at www.barg.org.au and in upcoming WIA News broadcasts. 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 INVITATION TO IEEE LECTURE You are all invited to attend a Technical Seminar AT JCU School of Engineering and Physical Sciences & IEEE Northern Australia Section. Tuesday 9th October 5:30pm Building DA 003, Room 002 - Humanities Block, James Cook University, Douglas Campus. Seminar is by Dr Trevor Bird, President-elect of the IEEE Antennas & Propagation Society, Principal, Antengenuity & CSIRO Fellow From Wireless to Astronomy: lessons from an engineering career The wireless revolution in progress has produced dramatic changes in our work and social activities. The speaker, Dr Bird, was fortunate to have witnessed first-hand some of the wireless research that caused some of these changes. In the 1980's and early 1990's he participated in a project that aimed to achieve the then ten times the current data rate for indoor wireless local area networks. His research in antennas and propagation for WLANs anticipated later research by a CSIRO team that resulted in a patented approach that is now incorporated in most wireless chips in use today. (Gavin VK4ZZ) TARC WIA Exams Information Exam sessions in the North Queensland region are held on demand with WIA Assessors and assessment packs available for all 3 levels of licensing. Contact theTARCinc WIA Exams Regional Co-ordinator Ray/VK4NET on home phone 47 23 43 51 to have a mutually suitable date and WIA Assessors assigned to your assessment. (Gavin VK4ZZ) VK5 'WICEN SA Activity Day' on Sunday 14th October. The day is being held in the Adelaide Hills at Prospect Hill Scout Hall. Approximately 7 kilometers by road south-west of Meadows. Please ensure you RSVP by 8th October so that the BBQ lunch can be catered for properly. Family & friends who are interested in amateur radio for emergencies are welcome. (Andrew Macmichael - Secretary WICEN SA) VK7 vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vk7regionalnews/ MIENA HAMFEST This is the big VK7 hamfest that happens every two years in the Central Highlands of Tasmania thanks to the Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club of Tasmania. Miena is booked for the first of December 2012 with the usual line up of traders making the journey across the ditch. NWT-ATV Group JOTA/JOTI Planning for this event is continuing and the Club will again be providing resources and operators over 2 days at the Paton Park Camp at Ulverstone. Operators offering their assistance at this time with communications and control are Neil VK7NX, Ross VK7WP, Paul VK7HPD, Jim VK7JH, Graham VK7NGA, and Tony VK7AX. An invitation is extended for anyone else to assist, (you do not need to have a Call) as there will be a full call operator in attendance at all times. Please let the Club know if you are interested. October NTARC Meeting To be held on Wednesday 12 October, this will again be the yearly pilgrimage to Mt Barrow. Last year this was a really great evening and those that attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves, especially in the extended twilight that came with the introduction of daylight saving just days before. This formula will also apply in 2012, so get along. Arrive any time in the afternoon and NTARC have the site overnight so if you are appropriately equipped, why not camp until next morning. There are members who regularly do just that and they would love to have your company. INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, AR Victoria and the WW sources of the WIA. Peter Lake, ZL2AZ, Appointed Chairman of IARU Region 3 The Directors in IARU Region 3 have voted to appoint Peter Lake, ZL2AZ, of Wellington, New Zealand, as the Chairman of IARU Region 3. He replaces Michael Owen, VK3KI, who passed away unexpectedly last month. Owen, who was also President of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), had served as Region 3 Chairman since 2006. ÒI am extremely grateful to my fellow Directors for their support in this difficult time, and for the procedural work by [IARU Region 3] Secretary Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP, to formalize an appointment,Ó Lake said in a statement. ÒI will do my best to carry through all the work that we have in progress, much of it due to items and ideas put in place by Michael. It is my privilege to have the opportunity to serve you, the Member Societies and fellow amateurs in Region 3.Ó Lake -- who has been a licensed amateur for more than 50 years -- has been involved with IARU activities for more than 25 years and a Director of Region 3 since February 2005. He began his professional career as an engineer, first with the New Zealand Post Office and then with Telecom New Zealand. He followed this with 14 years at a small and specialized telecommunications consulting company in Wellington that included a wide variety of assignments in the Pacific, Asia and Southeast Asia. ÒMy ÔstyleÕ will probably be different from MichaelÕs in some ways,Ó Lake explained, Òbut our goals are the same -- to ensure a growing and successful IARU Region 3.Ó [arrl.org] SOUTH SUDAN, ON THE AIR The Republic of South Sudan has issued its first amateur radio licenses. The call Z81A went to Jim Pratt who holds the United States call letters of K7QI. The second license issued was Z81D. It went to Diya Al Sadi, YI1DZ. Both are reportedly now on the air. (Above from various DX news sources) LOOKING AHEAD TO WRC-15 From an Amateur Radio perspective, the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) was very successful. According to IARU Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD, the IARU Administrative Council will meet in the next 45 days and will address the agenda items for the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) with an eye to building the best strategy for dealing with those items in a way that is most favorable to the Amateur Radio Service. While the IARU will be watching all agenda items in 2015, there is one agenda item that focuses on the Amateur Radio Service, and another four that may have an effect the Amateur Radio Service. [ARRL Letter] End of an era for MKARS at Bletchley Park On the 1st January, 2013, the eighteen year association of the Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society (MKARS) and Bletchley Park will finally come to an end, due to MKARS having to vacate their current clubhouse on the estate. The main reasons for Bletchley Park serving notice on MKARS are due to; The building currently occupied by MKARS as their clubhouse, being required to make way for the creation of a new park entrance and access road to the coach park. No additional space being available on the estate which MKARS could occupy. It has been deemed that the Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society will not fit into the future World War II profile of the Bletchley Park Museum. Having attained Museum status, Bletchley Park will eventually have regular opening and closing times after which there will be no public access. The Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society and its members have been both privileged and proud to have been associated with the world renowned Bletchley Park, its history, its outside events and its place in the public consciousness. By representing the voice of both Amateur Radio and Bletchley Park to the world, the call sign GB2BP has made the Milton Keynes Amateur Radio Society friends in many countries, creating interest in the amazing work that was carried out within Bletchley Park during WWII. Although GB2BP may no longer be in residence on Bletchley Park after the 1st January, 2013 it will re-appear occasionally as a special event station supporting public events on Bletchley Park. (Lyn Vk4SWE EI/VK4EI) (Rob.. you've been to Bletchley Park, haven't you?) Distracted Driving Bulletin: Ontario Extends Exemption The Radio Amateurs of Canada are today announcing written confirmation from Minister Bob Chiarelli of the Ontario Provincial Government regarding a five year extension of exemption to the Ontario distracted driving law. In his letter, Minister Chiarelli explains that the current exemptions for both Amateur Radio and Two Way Commercial Radios will be extended until January 1st, 2018. Minister Chiarelli expresses his hope that in that time commercial hands free alternatives will be found for two way radios. While RAC finds victory in the five year extension, a permanent solution is desired and required. The Radio Amateurs of Canada will continue to pursue a permanent exemption for Amateur Radio operators in Ontario. Similar exemptions already exist in many other provincial jurisdictions in Canada - thanks in part to the efforts of local amateurs and RAC's national strategy to address distracted driving legislation. ... Bill Gade, VE4WO - Regulatory Affairs (Radio Amateurs Canada) (victoria: ROAD SAFETY ROAD RULES 2009 (SR NO 94 OF 2009) - REG 300) ("mobile phone" does not include a CB radio or any other two way radio) WEIRD AND WONDERFUL Nestle to Find UK Customers via GPS Chips in Candy Bars Chips in candy bars? No, not potato chips, but silicon chips. In a new twist to the old 'Winning Ticket in a Chocolate Bar Wrapper' Trick, Nestle have announced a marketing campaign in the UK that will disguise 6 self-activating GPS location trackers in wrappers of the companies various chocolate bars. Once activated, Nestle representatives will track down the lucky winners within 24 hours and exchange the tracker for a cheque in the amount of ten thousand British pounds. Other modernizations on this stalwart of the confectionary industry advertising, is the inclusion of QR-codes -- 2-dimensional barcodes that can be read by smartphones -- to a portion of the public advertising posters. Other posters will have 'NFC' added; NFC is Near Field Communications, a technology building upon 13.56Mhz RFID tags that is being used for Access Control, Event Ticketing, Contactless Payments and Media Sharing; and starting to be found embedded in the recent generation of smart phones. So, it appears Nestle values your 3-minute chocolate eating experience at around 200,000 pounds per hour. Not a bad job, if you can get it, and not an Oompaloompa in sight! (http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/) (VK3GR) OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2012 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 Distance Based Scoring Proposal. A proposal for a change to distance based scoring has been published by Andrew VK1DA and Colin VK5DK. It follows several years of discussion among some of the operators in the VHF/UHF Field days, who have found that the scoring system used in these contests seems to have problems for operators in country areas. This proposal has been developed after several months of discussion via email. The proposal outlines the problems seen with the grid square based scoring scheme. It points out that grid squares, apart from not being square, have different sizes depending on your latitude. Thus the grid square scoring system does not give all vk operators the same rewards for making the same distance contacts. While many operators think of vhf dx as the contacts made on 6m or (much less often) on 2m via the ionosphere, the primary interest of VHF and UHF specialists is in tropospheric propagation which does not involve ionospheric reflection. The distance spanned by contacts is the primary measure of the difficulty of a contact, with the vital factors being the power used, the antenna gain and receiver sensitivity combined with operator skill to make successful long distance contacts. The sponsors of the proposal believe that instead of rewarding operators on the basis of the grid squares worked, a distance based score would make more sense for vhf-uhf contacts and could be consistently applied in all parts of the country. Well, what about rovers? Rovers are stations who try to operate from as many different grid squares as possible. As a distance formula would not work well with rovers, it has been suggested that the rover stations would continue to use grid squares for their scoring. They could continue to make contacts with all stations, the contacts qualifying both operators for the points applying to their operating category. The other major change proposed is the introduction of a separate category for the 6m, 2m and 70cm bands. This category caters directly for those operators who have multiband radios such as the popular FT857, FT897, IC706, IC7000, TS2000 and who do not have equipment for any higher bands. This would take away any concerns about the higher weighting given to the microwave bands. This proposal caters for the very large number of operators who are equipped for 6m, 2m and 70cm via their multiband radios, and gives them a separate category to compete in. Colin and Andrew think this will boost operator numbers in the event and give those excellent radios a little more use and a lot more radio amateurs who already have suitable equipment will consider operating in these events. The proposal is available on the net for all to read. The address is simple: go to vk1da dot net (vk1da.net) and you'll find the first item on the home page is a link to the proposal. After reading the proposal you are invited to participate in a short survey which asks for some details of your past operating bands in these events, your future plans, whether you like the ideas in the proposal and invites you to make any other suggestions that you think will improve these field days in some way. Just repeating that web address: go to vk1da.net and follow the links. (Andrew VK1DA & Colin VK5DK) 2012 Remembrance Day Contest Winners Announced http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/ As promised on the WIA RD Contest page, the winners of this year's event were announced around September 25th with full details available in a number of files on the contest homepage, as well as a report to appear in the November AR magazine. A quick run-through of the headline winners includes: VK7NET winning the Single-Op Phone category, and VK7RF taking out Single-Op CW. Single Op Mixed - VK6ZRW, QRP Phone - VK6FLAB, QRP CW - VK3QB, QRP Mixed - VK2IG, Multi-Single - VK2GGC, Multi-Multi - VK4XA The Teams category was taken out by Wallaroo with 1898 points and the Lockyer Legends were close behind on 1819 with Elizabeth ARC in third. Congratulations for VK2FWWD, VK6FMON and VK4FAAS who took out the top 3 placings in the Foundation Licence category. Another exceptional year of participation and a hotly contested event under the new rules format. SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE HAMS FROM 5 COUNTRIES HELP PUT KOSOVO ON THE AIR FOR THE FIRST TIME On September 12, the Autoriteti Rregullativ i Telekomunikacionit (ART) -- Kosovo's telecommunications regulatory authority -- created the necessary legal framework for the development of an Amateur Radio Service in the Republic of Kosovo by approving its Regulation for Amateur Radio Services. Although not formally assigned a prefix by the International Telecommunication Union, Kosovo will use the Z6 prefix. Currently, Kosovo does not count toward the ARRL's DXCC Award, as it has not been assigned a prefix by the ITU (per DXCC rule II.1.a), nor has it been recognized by the United Nations (per DXCC rule II.1.b). Nigel Cawthorne, G3TXF, and Bob Barden, MD0CCE/N2BB -- members of the Chiltern DX Club (CDXC) -- were part of a team of operators led by IARU Region 1 President Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, that activated Z60K, the first Amateur Radio station in the Republic of Kosovo. Along with Cawthorne, Barden and Blondeel Timmerman, the team included the following radio amateurs: Nik Percin, 9A5W; Emil Balen Zdravko, 9A9A; Emir Mahmutovic, 9A6AA; Martti Laine, OH2BH; Jorma Saloranta, OH2KI, and Pekka Holstila, OH2TA. Click here http://www.arrl.org/news/a-first-hand-look-at-the-z60k-activation-in-kosovo for Cawthorne's and Barden's account of the Z60K activation. Source: The ARRL Letter DXCC Desk Approves 11 Operations for DXCC Credit On September 19, the ARRL DXCC Desk approved the following 2012 operations for DXCC credit: 3B8/IW5ELA (Mauritius) 9A8VB (Croatia) 4O7VB (Montenegro) E40VB (Palestine) E7/UA4WHX (Bosnia-Herzegovina) EY8/UA4WHX (Tajikistan) JY8VB (Jordan) UN/UA4WHX (Kazakhstan). YU9VB (Serbia) Z38VB (Macedonia) ZA/UA4WHX (Albania) [ARRL] DXCC Validity Perhaps just a reminder for the keen DX'ers, and hopefully of some help to the newbies; there are occasional DXpeditions that have not been validated or approved for DXCC award purposes. Typical reasons include shipboard operation, operation not authorised but the relevant radio regulatory body, no documentation provided to prove operations, or that the location is not a recognised DXCC entity. There are lists collated in various places, for instance on www.OK1RR.com, but if you have a particular query about a DXpedition or strange details on a QSL card, contact the DXCC desk at the ARRL directly. dxcc@arrl.net (check for accuracy) WIRELESS HILL CENTENARY -- SPECIAL CALLSIGN The aboriginal people once called Wireless hill Yagan's Lookout. Providing perfect views of the surrounding area In 1912 the federal government built one Australia first telecommunication stations. Using Morse code the telecommunication station communicated with ships off the Australian coast using a 120m mast. In 1916 during the WWI it was used by the RAN using 60 KW Poulsan arc transmitter and valve operated receivers. In 1927 Applecross wireless station became a feeder station for international radio grams weather reports news bulletins and press reports. The awa installed a short wave beam system which extended transmitting range of stations enabling direct communication between England and Australia. In 1932 the radio station 6PR starting broadcasting from Wireless Hill In 1955 the WAVHF Group was established In 1959 the first television in WA TVW7 was transmitted via the Applecross wireless station In the 1960's 2 Rhombic and 2 log period antennas were installed for the NASA Space Mission The Park played a significant role in the security and defence of the Australian coastline from 1912 thru to 1968. During the WWI the Applecross wireless station received an emergency signal from the Cocos Islands giving the position of German Light cruiser SMS Emden. The station relayed the info to the HMAS Sydney which was escorting a troop convoy close to the Cocos Island. The Sydney gave chase and captured the Emden in one of Australia's most famous sea battles of the WWI. The Wireless hill centenary starts on the 29th of September for 2 weeks over the school holiday period. The special call sign of VI6VIP has been allocated the WAVHF group for this period. So get on Air and contact VI6VIP and participate in this special event. The WAVHF group also welcomes all clubs and their members to visit wireless hill to activate this special call sign. The allocation of VI6VIP is in tribute to the first call sign used at Wireless Hill. I'm Monique VK6FMON [AUDIO UPLOADED] Papua New Guinea Islands Tour An international team will visit five islands belonging to Papua New Guinea between October 19th and November 4th. Operators mentioned are Derek G3KHZ, Hans SM6CVX, Hans-Peter HB9BXE, Eddy K5WQG, Axel DL6KVA and Non-ham Stig Nyman. The team will use the boat "M/V Barbarian", and start their travels from Kokopo in New Britain on November 18th, sailing via Kavieng to Emirau. The islands scheduled by the full team will be: October 20-24th - Callsign P29VCX; Emirau Island (OC-103) in the St. Matthias IOTA Group. QSL via SM6CVX. October 27-31st - Callsign P29NI; Tatau Island (OC-099) in the Tabar IOTA Group. QSL via G3KHZ. November 2-4th - Callsign P29VPB; Lihir Island (OC-069) in the Lihir IOTA Group. QSL Manager TBA. The main team will fly home on November 6th. However, Hans SM6CVX and Stig Nyman will continue to Buka on the "M/V Barbarian", and plan to activate the following: November 6-9th - Callsign P29VCX; Buka Island (OC-135) in the Solomon Island IOTA Group. QSL via SM6CVX. November 9-12th - Callsign P29VCX; Manu Island (OC-205) in the Admiralty Island IOTA Group. QSL via SM6CVX. Activity will probably be 40-10 meters using mostly CW with some SSB just like last year's activity. They do have a Web page at: http://www.p29ni.yolasite.com OPDX PB 100 PREFIX, Netherlands Special Event To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ITU Prefixes, look for special event station PB 100 PREFIX to be active until October 31st. QSL via PB 0 P. After the tragic loss of the Titanic (Call sign MGY, the, "M", is from the Marconi company) in April 1912, there was an acknowledgement that there should be international standards for radio communications. Therefore, the leading colonial countries planned several meetings in the aftermath of the loss of the Titanic. For more details, visit: http://www.PB100PREFIX.nl THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report Measure Twice cut Once. A CHANGE IN THE SPECTRUM OF DATA NETWORKS After its 15 years on the market, the now ubiquitous 'Wi-Fi' computer network standards are found in mobile phones, remote control toys, medical and industrial controls and just about anywhere else you can think of. Wi-Fi uses 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz RF spectrum to deliver between 1Mbit/s and 150Mbit/s, with more recent devices employing MIMO -- 'Multiple In, Multiple Out' antenna arrays -- to provide concurrent data transfers in more than one direction, as a strategy to increase overall network throughput to areas serviced by individual devices. The new Wi-Fi draft standard -- 802.11ac -- is set to double the MIMO streams from 4 to 8, and employ 80Mhz and 160Mhz bandwidths to ramp up speeds to 866Mbit/s. Research at the University of Edinburgh is investigating light based data networking. Dubbed 'Li-Fi', as in 'Light Fidelity', they're using modulated LEDs and photosensors and have already reached datarates of 130Mbit/s. Professor Harald Haas calls the system 'D-Light' and has started an incubator project to produce and market a retrofit kit to bring speeds up to 50Mbit/s to your home or work. As with Wi-Fi, this light based data system uses OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) and speeds of 1Gbit/s and up are being discussed. In contrast to an RF solution, directed, filtered or perpendicular light channels are just a few of the ways to restrict access and interference between adjacent network devices, and that will further increase the potential network throughput in congested areas. Harald Haas' TED conference presentation entitled "Wireless data from every light bulb" can been viewed at TED.com http://www.ted.com/speakers/harald_haas.html http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/wordpress/hxh/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/researchers-turn-lights-into-worlds-fastest-wireless-with-li-fi/ (VK3GR) 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 ‘and always if the news room is to read your item write in the 3rd person. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ============================================================================= 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 VK3DN@wia.org.au on behalf of the National WIA. ***************************************************************************** /ex