WIANEWS - JUNE 16 - 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. When you upload audio email us the txt version. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WIANEWS WEEK COMMENCING JUNE 16 2013. WIA GO TO MEETING WIA QSL BUREAU ADDRESS CHANGE. WIA CONTEST WINTER VHF-UHF FIELD DAY THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JUNE 16 2013. RSGB Centenary Day July 5 The RSGB Patron, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh is indisposed and, as a result, will not be able to be present on the Society's Centenary Day. Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, Bt JP has kindly agreed to officiate in his stead. WIA BOARD TALK As we mentioned on last weeks news the new WIA board has been formed. News in this week is that the new WIA board has scheduled it's first board meeting to take place next week using an online video conference technology known as "Go To Meeting". WIA director Robert Broomhead VK3DN said this week, that being able to have regular monthly meetings using video conference technology will help to improve communications between the various board members as well as reducing costs to the WIA associated with holding face to face meetings. At it's first meeting the WIA board will formally elect its President and Vice President and will be discussing a number of important matters including progress on the ACMA's evaluation of the high power trial. QSL BUREAU Check out the new address for the QSL bureau, it's on wia.org.au OUTWARDS bureau mailing address is now. PO BOX 66 Boolaroo NSW 2284. HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. Community broadcasters with spurious signals An Australian and Communications Authority (ACMA) audit of FM community radio transmit sites found 28 per cent of them sending out spurious emissions along with the allocated frequency. A significant number of those transmitters were emitting into the aeronautical radiocommunication band of 108-136 MHz. The ACMA says this could potentially cause interference to this nearby aviation band and to the safety of aircraft. It wants community broadcasters to maintain clean signals on air. Most problems are fixed by the use of antenna filters that limit the emission of unwanted spurious signals. ACMA have identified some simple ways to check the health of radio transmissions: Are there any changes in transmitter meter readings? Is the transmitting equipment overheating? Is there a change in transmitter power levels? Is there any damage or deterioration to the antenna or antenna cable? Spurious emissions are easily detected with a spectrum analyser. This means that an assessment by a technical expert is often the most effective method of identifying spurious emissions. Using a “scanning” type receiver across the aeronautical band may give an indication of spurious emissions. Licensees or operators of community based radio broadcast services who need advice on interference resolution matters can contact the ACMA or Airservices Australia via email: ACMA – interference@acma.gov.au Airservices Australia – interference@airservicesaustralia.com (Jim Linton VK3PC/Radio Info) (ED:- Of course I'm sure the 2 community stations that take this WIA National News service, namely TANK-FM in Kempsey and Trax FM 105.1 upper Spencer Gulf would not fall into this category! HiHi) Winter VHF-UHF Field Day The Winter VHF-UHF Field Day will be held over the weekend of June 22 and 23. The Field Day includes sections for portable, home and rover stations, and if you prefer you can enter the 6 hour section rather than the full 24 hours. Full details were published in the May issue of "Amateur Radio" magazine, and you can download full details and scoring sheets from the contest web page on wia.org.au (John VK3KM Contest manager) VK0 Moon bounce from Antarctica The exploits of Craig Hayhow VK0JJJ in bouncing radio signals off the moon from Mawson has been written about in the Australian Antarctic Division science newsletter. Craig VK0JJJ achieved a 742,000 km hop when he made an EME contact with Peter Taylor G8BCG at Cornwall in England, on May 4, at 0720 UTC. Two nights later he contacted via 'moon bounce' Bo Nilsson SM7FJE in Sweden. He said it seemed now like everybody in Europe and the USA wanted an EME contact. Now that the equipment and software has been proven a success, more EME contacts will be made. The newsletter hailed it as a first from an Australian Antarctic station. Craig VK0JJJ said, "The technical challenges are immense, but with modern high speed computers and sophisticated software, it has become a lot easier." During his recreation period he is also on the HF bands, often causing pile-ups with his unique location. (Jim Linton VK3PC) VK1 VI 100 ACT - commemorating the centenary of Canberra, capital of Australia. Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club members are activating the special event call till 31st Dec. LF through to VHF using multiple modes. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ JUL 14 VK3 GippsTech will be held on Twelve to the 14th of July 2013, at Churchill. Further information vk3bez.org (Nick vK3VFO). 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 North Queensland Amateur Radio Convention The 21st Bi-ennial North Queensland Amateur Radio Convention will be happening in Charters Towers from Thursday 3rd to Monday 7th October 2013, with primary venue and events happening at the Charters Towers Golf Club from afternoon Friday 4th to Sunday afternoon 6th October. Displays, Talks, Awards, Raffles, Prizes, a home brew afternoon, some golfing combined with ARDF, the Monster Auction and some serious socialising will all be a part of the convention proceedings. There are some school reunions happening at the same time and motel and cabin accommodation is scarce, but can be had if you ring around or head online. Book your accommodation now! (tarc) VK9 The RSGB tells us that VK3DAC is currently operational as VK9DAC from Christmas Island, IOTA reference OC-002. He is active on the 10 to 80m bands. DISCUSSION POINT What use is an f-call? In 2005 there were no F-calls in Australia. Today there are more F-calls than Standard licenses. Clearly there is an influx of Amateurs coming from the introduction of the Foundation License. I know that there are many Amateurs who want F-calls to upgrade their license. This is not a new phenomenon. In the past there were Z-calls who were encouraged to upgrade their license. I suspect that if I spent enough time doing research and talking to Hams who've been around the block, I'll find that there are examples going back to the dawn of Amateur Radio. In fact, a HAM, i.e., us, is an example of that. In the official world of Radio Telegraphy a hundred years ago, us amateurs were not taken seriously as a group. Funny to think that today there are still people who distinguish themselves from Amateurs by calling themselves Professional. My point is this, being encouraged to upgrade or gain skill is nothing new. It's been around for over a century and it will continue long after everyone listening today has become a silent key. Do I want to have a higher license than the one I have? Well, perhaps. Right now I'm spending my time learning about anything and everything. For me, Amateur Radio is a way to escape from my daily grind as a professional in my field and escape to the joy of learning new things. Getting a license that is of a higher class is in of itself not an endpoint. At the moment I'm learning Morse, I'm learning about Morse keys, figuring out how to set my radio up for portable operation in a simpler way than I've been doing to date and finding the time to participate in this amazing community. Will I always be a Foundation License holder, who knows - I've got a HR truck license and have been toying with upgrading it to an MC - but I know plenty of people who didn't get more than their car license. What you want to get out of Amateur Radio is up to you. There are going to be people around you wanting to encourage you to learn, regardless of your license, but there will also be those who look down their nose at what they see as a lowly F-call. I'm Onno VK6FLAB EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au RADIO AMATEURS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO SCIENCE The ARRL published a new book called Radio Science for the Radio Amateur. The 190 page book explores and explains the often profound differences between science and technology, and dispels the notion that we know all there is to know about radio. Using a fresh, playful approach, Author Eric Nichols, KL7AJ, will guide you through some of the most fascinating "nooks and crannies" of the radio universe. Along the way, you'll find out how solving long-standing mysteries of radio, of which there are still many, doesn't require expensive hardware, but merely a scientific mind-set and attention to detail. (zs news) INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, ARVictoria and the WW sources of the WIA. A new radio system being installed at Fort Gordon in the USA should enhance emergency communications across the area but is causing mass frustration with hundreds of homeowners who have been locked out of their garages because of jammed remote-control signals. The confusion started last week when Fort Gordon unexpectedly upgraded its land-mobile radios to a 390 megahertz bandwidth, the same frequency used in many automatic garage door remotes. As a result, nearly 500 residents have called or visited the Overhead Door Co. of Augusta to complain about garage doors that fail to open and close on command. Most complaints have been reported along Gordon Highway, faulty remotes have been encountered as far as 15 miles away from Fort Gordon. PERCEPTIVE RADIO ADAPTS TO WHERE IT IS A radio that is able to change the context of a broadcast depending on where you are and what you are doing, has been demonstrated by the BBC. The Perceptive Radio, created by Ian Forrester of the corporation's Future Media division, is thought to be a world first. For its initial showing the team produced a computer-generated radio drama where the script altered depending on factors such as weather. This proof-of-concept drama used a computer generated voice for one of the characters and could adapt on the fly according to data pulled from external sources. For instance, it could make reference to local places which would differ from the script depending on where in the world a listener is. If you want to read more about this latest in almost senescent computer technology you will find it on the web at tinyurl.com/thinking-radio. ============================================================================= ARNewsLine™ from various news sources LOST MOON DUST FOUND IN STORAGE ON EARTH And finally this week, several vials of moon dust brought back to Earth by the first men on the moon have been found inside a lab warehouse in California. This after sitting in storage unnoticed for more than 40 years. Amateur Radio Newsline’s Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, reports: -- Many of you likely remember those fuzzy live pictures from the moon’s surface when Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human being to set foot on an alien world. We also watched as Armstrong and Apollo 11 crew mate Buzz Aldrin collected samples from the Lunar surface before returning with them to mother Earth. Now some four decades later a part of the samples that Armstrong and Aldrin brought back with them were recently rediscovered by an archivist who was going over artefacts tucked away at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Karen Nelson, who made the surprising discovery, said in a statement from the lab that they don't know how or when the samples ended up in storage. She says that she came across about 20 vials with handwritten labels dated "24 July 1970," packed in a vacuum-sealed glass jar. Accompanying the jar was an academic paper published in the Proceedings of the Second Lunar Science Conference in 1971, titled "Study of Carbon Compounds in Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 Returned Lunar Samples." All of the authors of the paper were from the University of California, Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory. This included Nobel Prize-winning chemist Melvin Calvin, who worked with NASA on efforts to protect the moon from contamination during the first lunar landing, as well as planning on how to protect those on Earth from unknown pathogens that might have been lurking on the Moon’s surface. It turns out that the moon dust samples were supposed to have been sent back to NASA after the Space Sciences Laboratory team finished their research on them for some unknown reason they instead ended up in storage. After making the discovery Nelson then got in touch with NASA officials. They in turn permitted her to open the jar to remove the vials before she returned them to the space agency and making for a happy ending to a 4 decade old story that began on the surface of the Moon. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, in Zion, Illinois. - - In all, NASA's moon-walking Apollo astronauts brought 842 pounds of lunar samples back to Earth between 1969 and 1972, and very little of it was thought to be unaccounted for until Nelson’s discovery. More on this important find is on the Web at tinyurl.com/moon-dust-found EMC WORKING GROUP FRIEDRICHSHAFEN MEETING The International Amateur Radio Union’s Region 1 Electromagnetic Compatibility Working Group has invited its members as well as observers from all national societies to attend the meeting. This to take place in Friedrichshafen, Germany on Friday, June 28th. The meeting will be held from 12:00 to 13:30 local time at the same venue as last year. Details of how to find the meeting room can be obtained from the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club or IARU booths in the main convention hall or from the convention’s operations personnel. More including a group of EMC Working Group members is on line at tinyurl.com/iaru-r1-emc-2013 OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2013 WIA Winter VHF-UHF Field Day weekend of June 22 and 23. WW International Museums Weekends June 15/16 and 22/23 160M PHONE & 80/160M CW & DIGITAL TRANS-TASMAN CONTEST: 20 JULY, 8PM-2AM 2014 VK Harry Angel Memorial Sprint May 3 2014 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE QSL BUREAU Check out the new address for the QSL bureau, it's on wia.org.au OUTWARDS bureau mailing address is now. PO BOX 66 Boolaroo NSW 2284. Improved RTTY performance from DXpeditions A leading DXer has objectively analysed 36 recent DXpeditions with a total of two million contacts, to find only 6.7 per cent of all QSOs were in RTTY. Ernie Walls VK3FM, writing in the June edition of the WIA journal, Amateur Radio magazine, is in praise of the good job done by DXpeditions activating far flung DX entities. However, while most DXpeditions prepare well to service the CW and SSB demands by having good operators, they miss the boat when it comes to RTTY. He said the mode was arguably the fastest growing on the bands and those using it deserved better from DXpeditions. Ernie VK3FM claimed that in general DXpeditions don't maximise the mode, place enough resources behind it, and quite often leave it to relatively inexperienced and sometimes those apparently not terribly interested in RTTY. Only two out the 35 DXpeditions surveyed produced a RTTY ratio above 15 per cent, which Ernie VK3FM suggests indicates the current demand. He believed it was time that every well planned DXpedition select a skilled RTTY expert to give it the best shot, rather than leaving RTTY as an afterthought. The full story "Can a 'small pistol' station offer useful advice to a 'big gun' DXpedition? ‘can be read on pages 32 and 33 of the magazine. (Jim Linton VK3PC) The VU 7 KV Lakshadweep Islands operation last month has been approved for DXCC credit. If anyone had this contact rejected in a recent submission send an e-mail to bmoore@arrl.org to be placed on the list for an update to your record. F 5 SWB is on the air as TU 5 DF from the Ivory Coast through to October. Activity on all of the High Frequency bands. QSL via F 5 SWB. BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS BBC World Service has confirmed that MW transmissions to Israel and other parts of the Middle East have resumed for 10hrs per day on 1323kHz. This gives listeners breakfast listening and then drive-time and evening coverage from about 4pm to 10pm. Steve Titherington, World Service Commissioning Editor, says: “We had a huge response to the end of MW transmissions in Israel and we are responding positively to listeners’ demands for a return to of the BBC broadcasts." 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 IARU Monitoring System Newsletter The latest newsletter reports a UK military STANAG 4285 station, which is believed to be in Norwich, has been on 14236.8 kHz. Also in the newsletter Mario DG0JBJ reported during May no less than 11 Over The Horizon (OTH) radars on 20 m, 65 OTH radars on 15 m and 30 OTH radars on 10 m, not including the numerous jumping Iranian OTH radars. Read the International Amateur Radio Union Monitoring System (IARUMS) Region 1 May 2013 newsletter at http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/news2013/news1305.pdf Now to awards and again this week thanks to Ray VK4CF it's to another of Brisbanes Redcliffe Clubs Award. Last week I outlined the VK9 award, one of 3 awards that are sponsored by the Redcliffe club. This week I will outline the TOWBAR award. The TOWBAR award is an armchair tour around Australia by amateur radio, making progressive contacts as you go. The award can be completed, by using any or all bands and all modes including Echolink. Short wave listeners are eligible to participate in this award and to qualify their log must include of the callsigns of both stations claimed. To complete this award requires contact with amateur radio stations located in 19 cities and towns around Australia. The FIRST and FINAL contacts are deemed to the Redcliffe checkpoint regardless of the participant's QTH and this contact must be a member of the Redcliffe and District Radio Club. Amateur radio stations must be contacted in the following CITIES and TOWNS in order: REDCLIFFE; BRISBANE; GOLD COAST; LISMORE; SYDNEY; CANBERRA; MELBOURNE; HOBART; ADELAIDE; PERTH; DARWIN; MOUNT ISA; CAIRNS; TOWNSVILLE; MACKAY; ROCKHAMPTON; BUNDABERG; MARYBOROUGH, SUNSHINE COAST & REDCLIFFE. (N.B. For Sydney and the other major cities, all amateur stations in the greater metropolitan area of the city, are included as the major city). Your tour may be run in either direction, i.e. Redcliffe south towards Sydney or Redcliffe north towards Townsville but the progress must be in order from the cities and towns listed above. The application for this award should be accompanied by a certified log extract, signed by 2 other licensed amateurs showing date, time, frequency, call sign and location of stations worked. Fill out the log, get it signed by two licensed amateurs, enclose either $A 10.00 or 10 IRC, and send to THE AWARDS MANAGER, REDCLIFFE and Districts Amateur RADIO CLUB, PO BOX 20 WOODY POINT QLD 4019, AUSTRALIA or email it to the clubs website http://www.redclifferadioclub.org.au or just type in Redcliffe radio club into your search engine for all the details. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ARDF WIA ARDF COORDINATOR VK3WWW Jack vk3www@wia.org.au http://users.mackay.net.au/~ron/ http://www.homingin.com http://www.ardf.org.au ARDF event in Mongolia JT 1 CS reports the Mongolian Radio Sport Federation has organized the first ARDF event of 2013. "Spring Leader" ARDF 144MHz was for young and new ARDFers. Taking part in the event were 32 male and female contestants with 9 referees. They are training new and older ARDFers between Events. This year they are planning to send several ARDFers to S. Korea for Championship this September. (sourced to SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER HAMTV FROM THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION The frequencies of 2422.0 MHz and 2437.0 MHz have been announced for a new ham radio Digital TV transmitter that will operate as an educational adjunct from the International Space Station. The main mission of what’s being called Ham TV is to perform school contacts between the astronauts on-board ISS and educational institutions on the ground. This by providing space station to ground video within ARISS program. To accomplish this, the ISS will host a new S-Band video transmitting station in addition to the existing VHF FM ham band transceiver. The new equipment will have the ability to transmit images from orbit during the school contacts. It will also be able to broadcast other pre-recorded video images up to 24 hours a day to allow ground stations tuning. More information on this new on-orbit service is on the Web at tinyurl.com/iss-dtv (ARNewsLine) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- INTERNET --- THE HAMS DOMAIN TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA www.HamRadioNation.com Happy Birthday the PDF file format. The original PDF file format version 1.0 was born 15th June 1993 20 years ago, a creative new document solution was born. Its name was Portable Document Format, commonly known as PDF, and it changed the world forever. Thanks to PDF, we now live in a world where printing is a choice, not a requirement; where we can securely sign and send a document instantaneously, not by mail; and where we can collaborate with peers without using a red pen. For more see http://www.prepressure.com/pdf/basics/history (Robert Broomhead) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA http://rsgbiota.org Canadian arctic Iota’s to be activated Mike, VE 2 XB, currently active from the Canadian High Arctic IOTA Dorset Island (NA-156) as VY 0 BRR (he states - It's FREEZING), is planning to activate other very rare IOTAs within the Region of Nunavut. His QTH is Cape Dorset, an Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island near Foxe Peninsula at the southern tip of Baffin Island. Mike is looking to travel to other places in Nunavut, and will activate some very rare IOTAs including: Coral Harbour, Southampton Island (NA-007), Belcher Islands (NA-196) to name but a few. He also adds, "Maybe I will travel to some rare IOTAs in the Northwest Territories or NWT to the West...and maybe to Yukon too. (Vy1)." Also whilst in the region listen up for CK 3 C commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Arctic Expedition 1913-1916 on until July . WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP and WEAK SIGNAL COMMUNICATION WORLD QRP DAY On Monday 17 June, it is World QRP Day. Switch off the amplifier, turn down the power on your rig and try QRP power. How many kilometres per watt can you achieve. You will be amazed at what you can achieve with QRP. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO Today Sunday 16 June is the TOWSA Strand Swim a qualifying event for the Maggie Island to Townsville Swim happening in July. Even now you may be of help if you take your handheld radio and a supply of batteries for 5 hours of operating portable at the award winning Strand precinct. Maybe if you are in the region sing out on the RAT to seee if you can help. (sourced to tarc) SOCIAL SCENE JUL 12-14 VK3 GippsTech will be at Churchill. Information vk3bez.org JUL 20 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club Hamfest JUL 20 VK4 Caboolture Hamfest 9am JUL 28 VK2 Albury Wodonga Amateur Radio Club Hamfest 10AM AUG 11 VK2 SARCFEST 414 Richmond Hill Rd near Lismore AUG 17-18 WW ILLW Register now for the ILLW Australia and Germany have by far the most registrations so far in this year s International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend in August - just nine weeks away. Up there also is a strong representation from the USA, England and Argentina. With 260 registrations from 30 countries, attention is now focussed on who will grab the coveted 300th spot. The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend on August the 17th and 18th sees radio amateurs go portable from lighthouses, lightship and marine beacons. For more information or to register visit the website at www.illw.net (Jim Linton VK3PC) Oct 3- 7 VK4 North Queensland Amateur Radio Convention Charters Towers NOV 2 VK4 Gold Coast ARS HamFest at Albert Waterways Hall. NOV 3 VK5 HamFest Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Goodwood. NOV 15-17 VK3 Victorian National Parks Weekend Nov 24 VK3 Southern Peninsula Amateur Radio Club: Rosebud RadioFest 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. 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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. -------------