WIANEWS - DECEMBER 22 - 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 DEC 22 2013. WIA Presidents Christmas Broadcast 2013 WIA and Channel "O" closed so 6 mtrs is OPEN THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING DEC 22 2013. VK2WFD Wyong Field Day - (sent as RTTY) February 23 2014 - (sent as Morse) Largest event of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere - (sent as PSK31) Entrance fee $15 - under 17 free, rain or shine! - (sent as SSTV) (voice) Whichever way you send it, the news is already out there, The Wyong Field Day is on again February 23rd. 2014. See you at Wyong! 73 this is Ed publicity officer of the Central Coast ARC. It only remains for me to wish you a very merry Christmas and a safe and healthy New Year. I'll be away over the holidays, so it'll be the 2nd week of January before I start badgering you with bits about Wyong Field Day again. 73 Ed VK2JI / G8GLM WIA BOARD TALK President Phil Wait VK2ASD vk2asd@wia.org.au Vice President Chris Platt VK5CP vk5cp@wia.org.au Secretary David Williams VK3RU vk3ru@wia.org.au Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au WIA Presidents Christmas Broadcast This is Phil Wait, VK2ASD, President of the WIA. It’s been another busy year at the WIA and at this time we look back at the WIAs achievements, and some of the difficulties, over the past year. When I look back, the achievements which stand out most to me are the following: The continuing work at ITU where Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, chairs the group investigating a new amateur allocation at 5.3MHz I also can't forget the volunteers and clubs that support the training of prospective radio amateurs, and the WIA's RTO Fred Swainston. Without their massive contribution there would be no new radio amateurs to carry the hobby forward. And we all appreciate the terrific work the publications committee has put into AR magazine this year. Another plus has been the streamlining of the contest logging and awards system by the Contest and Awards Committees. On the administration side we have further strengthened the WIA’s committee structure and the introduction of MEMNET membership management system. One of the most interesting events to me is the growth of the new ‘Maker’ experimenter groups and I am pleased the WIA has been able to promote amateur radio to these people at marker fairs in Melbourne and Sydney, the Sydney event held at the Power House Museum with some 3000 visitors. And, very recently, advanced licensees in the Eastern States can use the 50-52 MHz segment of six meters without the geographic and power restrictions following the closure of the last CH0 television station. There have also been some difficulties: The outcome of the high power trial and the issue of EMR compliance amongst radio amateurs is something the WIA continues to address. And of cause, the financial situation of the WIA is a certainly a problem we need to address in the new-year. We have had bushfires fires in Australia, floods in Argentina and India, massive cyclones and earthquakes in China, Pakistan and the Philippines and a search in the Blue Mountains West of Sydney for a missing person, all events where radio amateurs in our region have provided critical assistance. Once again, as is customary at this time of year, the WIA Board would like to sincerely thank our staff and many volunteers, and our affiliated clubs, who have achieved so much in 2013. Volunteers are the backbone of the WIA and service on our various committees. Almost all the member benefits of the WIA are the result of the time and effort put-in by our long suffering volunteers. The New Year will continue to be very busy for the WIA, but for now, from myself and the WIA board, I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year. Oh yes, please do try and get on air over the Christmas period. This is Phil Wait, VK2ASD for the WIA What is Public Relations? We all have it to some degree, although sometimes it may be disguised as interpersonal skill or social activity. All people have an image - what others think of us. A very complex and diverse area there are many tools and techniques used by Public Relations practitioners. This discussion will be confined to Amateur Radio, but the benefits of good PR in most things we do will be clearly evident. Practice it regularly to get the appropriate exposure to your audiences. This may be occasionally through the media but also at club meetings or on the air. These are different audiences and of course have different messages. Present an organisation or individual well to have the right image, and influence. Whether it be participation in a public event, retention of membership or new radio amateurs, or friends on the bands - the benefits can be enormous. The Wireless Institute of Australia wants all clubs, organisations and individuals to think about being involved in its PR4AmateurRadio Expo on April the 13 to the 15th. Visit the 'What’s On' column of the WIA website for more details on this exciting event. (PR4AmateurRadio) THIS NEWS IS HAPPENING NOW As the last channel 0 station closed on 27 November 2013, the ACMA has advised that "amateur operations in the 50-52 MHz band will no longer need to be curtailed in order to avoid interference to channel 0 stations." In the eastern states – VK1, VK2, VK3 and VK4 – this means Advanced licensees can once again use all of the first 2 MHz of 6m, run powers up to 400 W and use any permitted mode as per the LCD. Although the LCD will not be amended until some time in the future, Sections 15, 36 and 43 – which restricted used of 50-52 MHz in the eastern states – may be ignored for the time being. Read more from WIA's Roger Harrison VK2ZRH on WIA Front Page News or direct at http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2013/20131218-20/index.php HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm ARNSW merchandise. For some time Amateur Radio New South Wales has had an online store offering shirts and other products via a just-in-time manufacturing process. We have recently added a range of gift products. The link can be found on the ARNSW website VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ 30th November at 9am sees the HamFest at Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula with trading tables, commercial sellers, technical forums, great food, excellent door prizes. 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 David Tavener vk4ice tells us Redcliffe Radio Club will be holding a "Car Boot Sale" 9 am Feb One. This will be at the club house in the car park area at MacFarlane Park Kippa Ring. (UBD Map 91 Ref G 1) Interestingly it is not JUST radio gear, but anything you might wish to sell. Contact the treasurer for table details and set up times. secretary@redclifferadioclub.org.au More info at http://www.redclifferadioclub.org.au/ DISCUSSION POINT What use is an F-call? Amateur Radio in Australia today is licensed with three primary license types, the Foundation or F-call, the Standard and the Advanced license. If you're familiar with how they differ you're likely to know that they each have a different power privilege, 10 Watts, 100 Watts and 400 Watts respectively. You might also know that an F-call isn't allowed on 20m and you're not allowed any digital modes. For me, that was basically where my knowledge ended. Last week I started writing down what other differences there are between the licenses. In overview, the F-call is allowed on 6 bands, 80m, 40m, 15m, 10m, 2m and 70cm. The standard call adds 20m, 6m, 23cm, 13cm and 6cm bands, a total of 11 bands. The advanced call adds the WARC bands, that is, 30m, 17m and 12m, it adds 160m, and many higher frequencies, a total of 23 bands. There are some slight changes in the band-edges for the advanced call for a couple of bands, for example, an extra 10 MHz at the bottom of the 70cm band. So, Foundation, 6 bands, Standard, 11 Bands, Advanced 23 bands. There are other things. For example, an F-call is allowed one digital mode, hand-keyed Morse. Other licenses grant privileges to run repeaters, use different modes or allow computer control. I'm sure I've left out some distinguishing features, so if you know of one, get in touch. I'm in the process of making a timeline of amateur licenses, that is, show the history of where licences came from, the origin of the h-call, the k-call, the z-call and the n-call to name a few and if you have things to share on their origins, please don't be shy, the more I dig up on the topic, the more there is to learn. I'm Onno VK6FLAB INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. BURMA Normalised ham radio may return soon to Burma Amateur Radio has been heard on four recent occasions from Myanmar or Burma, after decades of virtual silence. It appears things are freeing-up as the Asian republic starts to reform and modernise. The Posts and Telecommunications Department, under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, in October enacted the new Telecoms Law for Myanmar. It has no mention yet of Amateur Radio. However British radio amateur Simon Butterill HS0ZIB/G6JFY is to seek a new licence when he arrives in Burma next month for at least six months work. A regular from Thailand he was allowed to sign XZ1K in May 2012. Simon HS0ZIB/G6JFY had a PSK31 operation from southern town of Kawthaung, logging several hundred QSOs on 10m and 20m. A doubt has arisen about the authority that allowed the XZ1K licence. Nonetheless, he will soon apply for a new licence and if successful will be heard on the bands. In April 2013, he began the Myanmar Amateur Radio Club. The club wants licences for qualified individuals, operating under the domestic law, plus the guidelines and band plans of the International Amateur Radio Union Region 3. In August and again in September 2013, Zorro Miyazawa JA1AJT operated as XZ1Z. A full DXpedition XZ1J led by him in November 2013 was on HF, SSB, CW and RTTY claiming more than 53,000 QSOs. The world is watching for outcome of Simon's HS0ZIB/G6JFY latest licence bid in Yangon and any progress further made by the Myanmar Amateur Radio Club. Along with Burma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo looks ready to reinstate limited ham radio operations, we'll look at this in a minute or so here on your Ham Radio News Service coming from Australia. USA HAMVENTION ON-LINE ORDERING NOW AVAILABLE The online ordering system is now accepting Hamvention 2014 orders. According to an announcement from the Hamvention Webmaster Richard Rieben, KE4WLE, you can now order your tickets or reserve a flea market spot. It’s all on-line at hamvention.org OUT OF THIS WORLD - DEEP SPACE (audio) That's the sound when CAPE-2 spoke with the voice of Darth Vader! Roland PY4ZBZ reports that the CAPE-2 satellite responded to a 'Send Text to Speech' command with 'Hello P Y 4 Z B Z' in the voice of Darth Vader Listen to the recording again at http://tinyurl.com/PY4ZBZ-Cape-2-Darth-Vader (audio) SOUTH AFRICA Ionograms generated by the South African ionosonde network clearly illustrate the supremacy of the 5 MHz band for short range, near vertical incidence sky wave communications under certain conditions. These typically happen during the morning and late afternoon when the 7 MHz band does not support short range, sky wave communications and the 3.5 and 1.8 MHz bands suffer from high noise levels. The South African ionosonde network is unique in Africa and place South African radio amateurs in the very fortunate position to monitor reigning, short range propagation conditions and to improve their skills and experience accordingly. An article by Hannes Coetzee illustrated with Ionograms is available for download on the SARL 5 MHZ propagation Research page. Follow the link from the SARL home page. ============================================================================= Amateur Radio Newsline HAM RADIO COORDINATES COLORADO VEHICLE RESCUE Several Colorado hams and a linked repeater system made possible the successful rescue of a group whose vehicle had slid off an icy roadway. Cody Fowler, ND0A, and his family were on their way home to Cotopaxi from the city of Pueblo. Suddenly Fowler noticed that the lights of the vehicle behind them had disappeared. Suspecting a problem, ND0A turned around, parked and saw that a red S-U-V had driven off the road and into a ditch. Ironically while he and his family had just purchased new cell phones none were charged or activated. So he turned to amateur radio: -- Repeater Audio: ND0A: "Emergency - Emergency, November Delta Zero Alpha. Somebody call 911. We've got a rollover accident up here on Copper Gulch, I'm guessing about 4 or 5 miles up from Highway 50. Copy?" Other operator: "Copy. Amanda, can you handle that?" -- Relaying the information to authorities was Amanda Alden, K1DDN. Alden called 911 and for the next hour she kept a cell phone in one hand and a radio in the other relaying messages between dispatch and Fowler. -- Repeater audio: ND0A: "Actually they were going south bound and went off the left side of the road rollover and the little girls (got a) possible concussion. She's shook up and a little nauseated." K1DDN: "So Cody, you are going to stay with them until emergency help arrives?" ND0A: "Affirmative, I’ll stay." -- A few minutes later came word from another ham on the system that help was on its way: -- Repeater audio: WD0WGF: "Amanda, they just dispatched an officer on the Sheriff's old analogue system, WD0WGF." -- While everyone at the accident site was waiting for help to arrive, ND0A along with K1DDN, K0JSC and several others kept the lines of communications flowing: -- Repeater audio: K0JSC: "ND0A, K0JSC. Do you still have the individuals in your vehicle? ND0A: "I've got one of the young ladies that was in the vehicle. The other passengers are split up amongst the other two vehicles that stopped." -- From the time Alden made the 911 emergency call until the Colorado State Patrol arrived took about 40 minutes. It was followed by the Deer Mountain Fire & Rescue and the Fremont County Sheriff. According to Alden, two of the victims ended up being transferred to a local hospital. CONGOLESE CLUB STATION BACK ON THE AIR The Democratic Republic of the Congo looks ready to reinstate limited ham radio operations. Ohio-Penn DX newsletter says that there are several reports stating that after 3 years of negotiations with the Congolese government and gaining official approval from the nations Ministry of Telecommunications that the national club station 9Q0AR and its special callsign 9Q0HQ were finally given permission to operate again. This would be the first legal activity from 9Q-land in several years. On QRZ.com under the listing for 9Q0AR it suggests to listen on 21.310 MHz between 10:00to 14:00 UTC for that station. We will have more DX related news near the end of this weeks report. OUT OF THIS WORLD - MARS A follow-up on a story from earlier this year on an ambitious space project the goal of which is to send volunteers on a one-way trip to Mars. On December 10th the backers of this mission unveiled plans for the first private unmanned mission to the red planet. This, as a robotic prelude to human colonization that will launch in 2018. The non-profit Mars One foundation says that it has completed deals with Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. to draw up mission concept studies for the private robotic flight to Mars. Under the plan, Lockheed Martin will build the Mars One lander, and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. will build a communications satellite. Bas Lansdorp is a Mars One co-founder and its Chief Executive Officer. In a statement he said that these will be the first private spacecraft to Mars and their successful arrival and operation will be a historic accomplishment. He added that his organization is very excited to have contracted Lockheed Martin and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for its first mission to the red planet. ============================================================================= RSGB's G4NJH FUNcube-1 Whole Orbit Data available You can now download FUNcube-1, AO-73, Whole Orbit Data as a CSV file from the Data Warehouse. The file is produced at 23.59 every day and contains data for the preceding 24 hours. It contains all the channels shown on the Whole Orbit Data graph, which shows the latest orbit data captured. The Whole Orbit Data page is at https://warehouse.funcube.org.uk/wod.html WG2XRS Signals cross Atlantic Signals from WG2XRS, one of the USA special transmitting licences for the 75kHz band, have crossed the Atlantic using the newly added OP65 mode. 17 Opera monitor stations spread across the USA and western Europe listened for the transmissions, which started at 22.00 GMT. The first transmission period produced substantial automated signal reports from stations on the east side of the USA. Only Wolf in Germany, in JO52HP, decoded the signal. He is well known to those who experiment on the LF bands for providing reports on test transmissions. He decoded the 75kHz signal at 02.25 GMT, a distance of 3,881 miles (6,246km). Tests are continuing. Windstorm destroys 330ft Radio Arcala tower A European windstorm named Oskari has brought down the famed 330 foot high Radio Arcala 160 and 80 metre tower and antenna at Finland's OH8X station. The mammoth structure collapsed peacefully, not hitting any of the other six towers, not hurting people or damaging buildings. Inspectors are trying to evaluate the cause of the failure. Listen for OF9X on 20m from Radio Arcala over the holiday season. ============================================================================= OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2014 AMSAT STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT JANUARY ONE WIA Summer VHF-UHF Field Day 11/12 January WIA John Moyle Field Day weekend March 15-16 WIA VK Harry Angel Memorial Sprint May 3 10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 2 - 3 WIA REMEMBRANCE DAY (THE RD) CONTEST Aug 16 - 17 Manly-Warringah Radio Society's Flagpole contest September. SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, REPEATER, NET AND BEACON ADVICE. The VK5WI beacon on the 10 metre band is hosted by the Elizabeth Amateur Radio Club in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. The beacon was taken out of service earlier this year due to a severe chirp on the frequency when keyed with the morse ident. The chirpy crystal oscillator and driver module have been replaced with a direct digital synthesiser and a new keyed driver. The beacon is undergoing a settling in period for the crystal reference before a small correction is made to the frequency. It is currently on air from the home of Keith VK 5 OQ running about 8 watts to a 3 element triband yagi. The operating frequency is 28.260 MHz and reception reports are welcomed. They should be sent to vk5oq@wia.org.au The beacon will be returned to the Water Tower at Elizabeth South in a couple of weeks time once the frequency correction has been made. This is Keith VK5OQ. LAST CHANCE VI 100 ACT - commemorating the centenary of Canberra the special event station wraps up Dec 31 LF through to VHF using multiple modes. www.qrz.com/db/VI100ACT K 9 W Wake Atoll Commemorative DXpedition Tops 100,000 Contacts The K9W Wake Atoll DXpedition team reports that it logged slightly more than 100,000 contacts during its DXpedition in the South Pacific. The ARRL DXCC desk has approved the 2013 Rwanda 9 X 0 XA and the just concluded VU 7 AG Lakshadweep Islands operations for DXCC credit. Once you have confirmation you will be able to apply these toward your DXCC standing. SHORT-PATH SUMMER SOLSTICE PROPAGATION (SSSP) Since 2009 Australian and New Zealand amateurs have logged many South American stations on 50 MHz SSSP. These SSSP openings in the southern hemisphere occurred between 8 December and 12 January, but not every day. To explore the possibility of SSSP propagation between Australia and South Africa, ZS 2 FM ran CW tests around their December 2010 equinox with amateurs in Western Australia. Unfortunately they did not receive anything, but a report came from Frank, VK7DX, at Hobart, that he saw traces of a signal on the WSJT waterfall, on the correct frequency, the right time and in the direction of South Africa, but he could not identify the call sign. Now our ZS Cousins, particularly on the South African East Coast could pick up the baton and transmit some signals on 50,110 MHz to us here in VK in the mornings their time around this equinox period and see what happens. (sourced to sarl) 2014 TO SEE A PAIR OF USA CONTEST UNIVERSITIES For the first time ever, in 2014 the United States will see two Contest Universities taking place in the same year. The first will be held to coincide with the Dayton Hamvention on Thursday, May 15th. A second Contest University will be held July 17th at the 2014 ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford, Connecticut. (sourced to ARNewsLine) AND FINALLY ONCE MORE:- ARRL Awards remind all DXCC program participants that the deadline for the 2013 calendar year ends on Tuesday December 31, 2013. In order to appear in the Annual Listing, published in the electronic version of the DXCC Yearbook, you must have your submission post-marked no later than December 31, 2013. MEDIA WATCH www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/ VK2 CCARC news ccarc.org.au/wp/2012/09/ccarc-news-12-31/ VK2WI will only have morning only broadcasts over the holidays. For three weekends, Sunday 29th of December and the 5th and 12th of January. The evening transmissions resume on Sunday the 19th of January. The last evening broadcast for this year will be tonight, Sunday December 22. (vk2wi) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FEMALES IN RADIO ALARA - AUSTRALIAN LADIES AR ASSOCIATION http://alara.org.au Net is held each Mondays on 3.570± MHz, commencing at 1030 UTC. (1000utc during daylight saving) geencee@picknowl.com.au WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER UKube-1 on its way to Kazakhstan UKube-1 has left Clyde Space in Glasgow on its way to Kazakhstan and this 3U CubeSat carries a set of AMSAT-UK FUNcube boards (FUNcube-2) to provide an Educational beacon and a 435/145 MHz linear transponder for amateur radio SSB/CW communications. Reports indicate that a Soyuz-2-1B will carry UKube-1, currently expected to launch on March 27. [ANS] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW ILLW 100 on digital television South Australia's Point Lowly Lighthouse, the 100th registration in the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend in August, will now also use a new Spencer Gulf Amateur Digital Amateur Television Repeater. The lighthouse is to be activated by the Whyalla Amateur Radio Club VK5BWR using the HF bands and will now telecast the event. Last week here on VK1WIA National News we heard how Dave Carwana VK5DMC of the Mid North Radio & Electronics Group in Port Pirie had brought to life a Digital Video Broadcast over Terrestrial signal, using mostly imported parts. His tests using set-top boxes have reception reports from over a wide area, with the ultimate repeater home being high on top the Flinders Ranges. Eagerly awaiting the test signal on the other side of the Gulf was been Whyalla Amateur Radio Club President, Alex Glinski VK5ALX, who reports a fine signal. The Whyalla Club VK5BWR activation in the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend will now be telecast through the new repeater when it's installed. With its HF and digital television set-up, VK5BWR will help promote history with the lighthouse built in 1883 from local sandstone and being Whyalla's oldest structure. To join the fun-event on August the 16th and 17th, register a lighthouse, lightship or marine beacon by visiting the website www.illw.net (Jim Linton VK3PC) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO IARU REGION 3 Emergency Centre of Activity (CoA) frequencies 3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz WICEN Victoria will be providing communications for the 2013 Murray Marathon. Operators will arrive at Cobram on the 26th of December, with the event starting the next morning at Yarrawonga, a little downstream. After 5 days of paddling down the Murray, which forms the NSW - Victoria border, the event concludes at Swan Hill on the 31st. Details can be found using the Events drop-down menu in WICEN Victoria's site www.vic.wicen.org.au (vk2wi) SOCIAL SCENE 2014 Jan 24-27 VK4 TARC Australia Day Long Weekend Family Radio Camp at Girl Guides Campsite Bluewater. (vk4zz@wia.org.au) Feb 01 VK4 Redcliffe Radio Club "Car Boot Sale" 9 am. ( secretary@redclifferadioclub.org.au ) Feb 23 VK2 Wyong Field Day and it is on come rain hail or shine. Apr 13-15 VK PR4AmateurRadio Expo. Apr 18 WW Amateur Radio Day: Your Gateway to Wireless Communications. Apr 25 vk3 ANZAC Day event Ballarat Showgrounds johnkarr@bigpond.net.au May 2- 4 VK4 Clairview Gathering Clive VK4ACC 0429 632 815 Nov 2 VK5 HamFest Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Nov 30 VK3 SPARC HamFest at Rosebud (howardjones155@gmail.com) FINAL FINAL David Wilson VK5LSB would like to wish all amateurs and shortwave listeners around Australia and the World a very Merry Christmas and hope it is a safe and enjoyable Christmas for you and your families and he thank you for the contacts over the past 12 months and looking forward to chatting with everyone over the Christmas new year period. 73 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 VK4BB on behalf of the National WIA. -------------