WIANEWS - JANUARY 19 - 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 JAN 19 2014. WIA receives replies from ACMA to WIA questions on the High Power Trial THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JAN 19 2014. OUR 19TH YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS FOLLOW THAT CAB Up to 20 Sydney cabs are being fitted with collision avoidance scanners to alert drivers to potential crashes. In a first for Australian taxis, the Mobileye technology will be trialled in Legion cabs from mid-January to the end of March. NSW Taxi Council CEO, Roy Wakelin-King, said it was hoped that the technology would significantly improve safety for cab drivers, passengers, other motorists and pedestrians. He said that after the trial the council would consult the NSW government about any future use of the technology in taxis. Mobileye is an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) which constantly scans the road in front of a car and "thinks" seconds ahead of a driver. It uses the latest in artificial vision technology together with algorithms to monitor the distance to moving and stationary vehicles, bikes, pedestrians, or to determine whether the vehicle is crossing traffic lanes without indicating. It then alerts the driver to possible danger with a visual and audible warning giving them extra time to react. (herald sun) LINUX DOWN UNDER linux.conf.au is widely regarded by delegates as one of the best community run Linux conferences worldwide. Linux.conf.au ran from 6-10 January 2014 in VK6, where open source geeks from across the globe gathered to meet their fellow technologists, share the latest ideas and innovations, and spend the week discussing and collaborating on open source projects. The conference is well known for the speakers and delegates depth of talent, and its focus on technical Linux content. Running in parallel was an open radio mini conference with presentations on video, from the likes of Bdale Garbee, KB0G on Digital Radio Hardware for Amateur Rockets and Digital Radio Modulation and Coding for Amateur Rockets presented by Keith Packard KD7SQG (Manhattan events pressor) WA FIRES - Bob VK6POP reports:- Last Sunday, after a scorching hot Saturday, we woke up after an overnight temperature of 29 degrees. We were facing a similar temperature to yesterday, over 40 degrees. It was already hot at breakfast time, and the wind was blowing from the West. The fire risk rating was catastrophic. At about 11 am, it is alleged a wooden power pole in Parkerville broke and fell over, causing sparks that ignited a fire in surrounding grass. The fire spread rapidly and became uncontrollable. Parkerville is about 35 kilometres East of Perth CBD, in the hills. I live about 3 kilometres North of the fire ground, however at the time I was in another place a similar distance the other side. We were talking about some important stuff, as you do, when someone’s wife rushed in saying they had received an act now and defend, or leave immediately notification on the mobile phone. This was the signal for us all to go home. Once outside, we could see the smoke, and it was between where I was and my home. I phoned my wife; she was OK, and the fire was in the distance. The way home takes me through Stoneville, and there were emergency responders everywhere, and the thick smoke smelled not of burning trees, but of burning plastics and other household materials. My heart sank, as I knew that it was the smell of houses burning. I couldnt get home fast enough. My place, to the north of the fire, was safe, as the fire was running along the Jane Brook Valley, which runs east-west, and was pushed along by a westerly wind that turned to south westerly. The reports said that the flames were reaching 30 metres in height, and burning embers were dropping up to two kilometres ahead of the fire. It was impossible for the fieries to fight the fire at the front. For the rest of the day I could hear the rumble of helicopters dropping water on the fire. It was like being near a war zone. I guess we were. The outcome, as you may have seen on the media, was 55 houses destroyed. The emergency management agency's computer modelling was predicting destruction of up to 240 houses. Luckily the South-westerly breeze stopped and a light Easterly came in. There was no Amateur Radio involvement in the response. The combat agencies have their own effective communications systems. Although landlines went out, the mobile network was intact although busy. I knew there were Amateurs living in that area, so using the ACMA database I looked up Amateurs whose address was in the fire ground, and made enquiries as to their situation. This was a difficult task as phones and power were off. There are two whose status in regards to their house that I’m still unsure of, and who I don’t know personally, however all people in the area are accounted for. A few amateurs were monitoring the air traffic on the radio listening to the directions given to the water bombing aircraft. They heard deliberate interference from someone using a radio. A lot of people evacuated to safety on Sunday Today, Wednesday, after 6pm, residents were allowed to return to their houses, or what was left of them. Many homes, even though intact, are without power. I had occasion to visit the incident control centre today, and saw the mobile communications unit in action. I know that there are a couple of Amateurs involved with its operation, so I think I’ll make that the subject of another report. (Bob VK6POP) 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 ACMA replies to WIA questions on the High Power Trial Following the ACMA’s advice to the WIA in August 2013 that it would not make regulatory arrangements for Advanced Licensees to run up to 1 kW, the WIA Board discussed the issues raised and decided on providing a strong response and to ask six questions. Roger Harrison VK2ZRH joins us this week with some insight and we encorage you to visit and read WIA Front Page News, where it is January's top story ( wia.org.au ) HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm The first Trash and Treasure will be at the VK2WI site on Sunday morning, the 26th January. VK3 web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/ The Homebrew Construction Group This growing Victorian group will soon hold its next and first meeting for 2014. All are welcome to attend. The highlight of the meeting will be a talk by Les Davey on the topic of satellite link budgeting. As a professional in the field he will tailor the talk to those aspects that apply to Amateur Radio, along with some anecdotes from his working life. This should prove to be an interesting introduction to those who have perhaps not considered satellite operation in the past. The Homebrew Construction Group meets on Saturday, February the 1st at 2pm. The venue will be the Amateur Radio Victoria Rooms at 40g Victory Boulevard Ashburton. (Jim Linton VK3PC) New antennas for the VK3RTV digitised TV repeater The Melbourne and Geelong television repeater on Mt Dandenong has had recent changes to its antennas which should see improvements in some locations. Peter Cossins VK3BFG has announced that VK3RTV has a new transmit antenna and also a spot antenna on 23 centimetres for the south-east of its coverage area. In addition a new 23 centimetre receive antenna has been fitted for VK3RTV1 - which is not as good as the old one it replaces, but is likely to have a better beamwidth. Reports on the received signal strengths are most welcome. Investigations are continuing on the design and use of an inter-digital filter for the repeater. (Jim Linton VK3PC) VK4 The VK4KG RAAF Memorial Station needs your help. Wayne VK4WDM is intending to do some travelling and would like to hear from a local ham with an advanced or standard licence who would like to take over from him as the trustee of the RAAF Museum station VK4KG. There is a dedicated room set up permanently and works during museum opening hours IF a qualified operator is available. The equipment currently consists of an FT201 and a multi-band vertical, a 2m transceiver, and several other working receivers. Please contact Wayne either on telephone 07-47286876 or email nmelrose5@bigpond.com (TARC) EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO www.hamcollege.com.au Foundation Licence training in Melbourne A quality Foundation Licence class, written and practical assessments will be held in February at centrally located Ashburton in eastern Melbourne. Experienced trainers take prospective candidates through all they need to know for the entry level licence. Each session usually attracts a mixed gender and age demographic. Safety and interference avoidance will be taught. The instructor using commercially made equipment also demonstrates how to put together a station and operate it without causing interference others. Candidates also learn how Amateur Radio fits in with other uses of the spectrum, the licence conditions, technical basics of electricity and electronics, transmitters, receivers, feed lines, connectors, antennas and propagation. The basic theory and radio practice book, Foundation Licence Manual, is available via mail order from Amateur Radio Victoria for $26. The next session at 40g Victory Boulevard, Ashburton is on February the 15th and 16th. To enrol contact Barry Robinson VK3PV foundation@amateurradio.com.au or 0428 516 001. (Jim Linton VK3PC) DISCUSSION POINT What use is an F-call? This week I learnt a valuable lesson. As you might have heard, I've been working on a magnetic loop antenna. It's been taking a while, much longer than I ever planned. At the moment I'm waiting on some testing tools, some spare time and an idea on how to best mount this contraption inside my roof space so I can make contacts without drilling any holes in the house where I live. I've been off-air for some 8 months or so. When I say, off-air, I mean, I've not been on HF for that long. Sure, I host a weekly net on 2m and I speak to stations around the globe, satisfying as the experience is, it's not HF. There's a lot of technology to make that net happen and one of the big draw cards for me to Amateur Radio, is the lack of technology needed for a QSO. I can speak to anyone I want within seconds on my computer, but it requires that a whole lot of infrastructure is working for that to happen. Computers, routers and switches, numerous networks, cables, satellite links, microwave links, electric power along the way and compatible software at both ends. For a HF connection I need exactly two bits of gear, my radio and theirs. That's what primarily attracts me to Amateur Radio. So, back to what I learnt. Being on air with a crappy antenna is better than not being on-air with a great antenna. So, right now, along my office is a little wire running that is somewhat tuned for 10m and I'm back on air. It's not fancy, but it's cheap. It works, sort of, and I can hear stations calling. I've made my first couple of contacts, local ones, but contacts none the less. All I can say is, boy am I glad to be back on air. What about you? Waiting for the perfect solution - wait no longer, get on air, get started today. I'm Onno VK6FLAB OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2014 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. Amateur Radios International Air-ambulance Week, 9 days from Sep 28. AMSAT SKN Best Fist Nominations Due Thanks to all who participated in AMSAT's Straight Key Night on OSCAR 2014. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to nominate someone you worked for Best Fist. Your nominee need not have the best fist of those you heard, just of those you worked. Send your nomination to w2rs@amsat.org A list of those nominated will be published in early February. SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, BEACON REPEATER AND NET ADVICE NEW CALEDONIA IN LATE FEBRUARY FK/K1HP between February 18th and the 26th. Operations will be on all the HF bands plus 6 meters, using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his home callsign which is JE2EHP either direct or electronically via ClubLog or Logbook of the World. German special event station DR 175 LDE DR 175 LDE celebrates the opening of the railway between Leipzig and Dresden (120km) in 1839. The inaugural journey was made by the English engine Comet, closely followed by the German Saxonia, of which a working replica was built in 1989. DR 175 LDE, DK 0 EFA and DL 0 EFD have been assigned the special DOK 175 LDE for April 2014. QSLs via bureau. Joe, W5FJG, has been assigned to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and will be operating from KC4AAA, the amateur radio station there. He will operate SSB only on weekdays and some weekends, through the winter season until November 2014. Almost all activity is currently on 20 metres on or near 14,243kHz. QSL to Larry Skilton, K1IED. WIRELESS WEATHER Understanding HF propagation reports Richard VE2XIP has written an article about interpreting HF propagation reports, far too involved for the audio bulletin so we suggest you follow the link on our text edition, best found at wia.org.au Read it at http://ve2xip.cactus.net/?p=1676 (SouthGate) 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/ NORTH WEST CLUB NEWS FROM VK7 Spectrum Pages Updated The Spectrum Tasmania Web Site has been updated to reflect current information about the nightly video and audio broadcasts / podcasts and Sunday Morning WIA News Broadcasts. Additional information on the WIA broadcasts has been loaded within the last few weeks. All broadcasts can be downloaded or played using "on demand" audio streaming. Information on each broadcast can be accessed including links for "on demand" audio streaming, downloads and copies of the broadcasts advice emails. Interested persons are invited to take a look at the website that can be found at the link on the email edition of this broadcast. http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/spectrum/ (Tony VK7AX - President NWT-ATVG) And still looking at Media, in VK5 2 broadcasters of this the WIA News seem to have dropped from our radar and we'd dearly love to know if news is still going out on 146.700 Port Pirie VK5RMN which used to be handled by VK5dmc. The other station was on 146.925 in the Riverland, VK5RLD, this at 8pm Sunday nights by VK5TRM. Drop us a line if you can to nationalnews@wia.org.au WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP and WEAK SIGNAL COMMUNICATION Peter Parker VK3YE has issued advance warning of a QRP gathering planned for the afternoon of Sat Feb 8 2014 at Chelsea beach from 3pm. This is an informal gathering. If you can, please bring one item of portable, homebrew or interesting radio or electronic gear (or antenna), with show and tell from 3:30pm. And maybe circuits to hand out if relevant. Victory Park, Camp St, Chelsea. Playground for children. Free parking nearby around supermarket. CAUTION: TICKETED PARKING IN SOME AREAS - READ THE SIGNS AND AVOID A FINE! WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS A Youth Net meets Saturdays at 0100 UTC on IRLP Reflector #2. Young Hams Net 3.590 - 7:30pm Victorian time. The Youth in Amateur Radio Podcast team would like to thank those supporting their podcasts. To have better communications with the young, they have decided to make an email list to keep the listeners up to date on all things YARP, from Podcast Releases to just updates on what YARP is working on from time to time. If you decided to join the email list, your email will be held confidently by the Youth in Amateur Radio Podcast team and will not be shared with anyone else. To join, follow these steps below Send an email to YARPhams@gmail.com Subject: YARP Email List Body: Your name, callsign, and email INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. Norway to adopt e-forms for licenses The Norwegian Postal and Telecommunications regulator (NPT) has published a thirteen-page document on its frequency management plans for 2014 They aim to bring in electronic application forms for licenses for private mobile radio systems (PMR), broadcasting and amateur radio. Frequency Management Plan http://www.npt.no/aktuelt/nyheter/_attachment/11405?_ts=14370fa2cd1 NPT News in Google English http://tinyurl.com/NorwayNPT-News Astronomy.FM Astronomy.FM was founded in 2009 by a group of like-minded professional and amateur astronomers as an outreach organization. AFM Radio was launched shortly thereafter and is currently the group’s primary outreach medium. AFM Radio is the only 24-hour internet radio station in the known Universe dedicated to astronomy and other sciences. The fundamental mission of the organization is to educate and inspire the listening audience through original AFM Radio programming, live event coverage, and selected syndicated content. They currently broadcast to approximately 20,000 unique English-speaking listeners, in 85 countries, every month. See more at: http://astronomy.fm/about-us/#sthash.2O9YSWoJ.dpuf ============================================================================= ARNEWSLINE 120th ANNIVERSARY OF ST. MAXIMILIAN KOLBE SP3RN January 8th was the 120th birthday of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN, who is the Catholic Churches Patron Saint of amateur radio operators. Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, has the story of this truly amazing man: -- Father Maximilian Kolbe became fascinated by the mass media in the 1920s and 1930s. He established printing plants in Poland and Japan for his Franciscan Order publications distributed in the tens of thousands to the faithful. When he was on a mission to Japan, China and India he became acquainted with both broadcasting and amateur radio. Upon his return to in Poland in the 1930s, he applied for a broadcasting license. At that time, radio was considered to be a strategic medium and only the Polish Radio and a military radio station were permitted to broadcast. But in 1938, Father Kolbe was granted permission to do test transmissions close to the 40 meter amateur radio band. He chose the SP3RN callsign for his on the air experiments. On August 14, 1941, Father Kolbe was murdered in the German Nazi Auschwitz Concentration Camp after he had volunteered to take the place of another prisoner who was randomly selected by camp guards for a group to die by starvation because another inmate had escaped. Father Kolbe was Beatified by Pope Paul VI on October 17, 1971 and Canonized as St. Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared Martyr of Charity by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982. In addition to being embraced by amateur radio, Saint Maximillian Kolbe is also recognized as the patron of journalists and political prisoners. His feast day is observed by the Roman Catholic Church on August 14. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V, in Philadelphia. -- A more in-depth look at the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe can be found at tinyurl.com/sp3rn. (SP9JPA, NT3V) SHARKS THAT TWEET Sharks in Western Australia are now tweeting out where they are. Well in a way. Here’s Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, is down-under with the rest of the story: -- Australian government researchers have radio tagged 338 sharks with transmitters that monitor where the animals are. When a tagged shark is about half a mile away from a beach, it triggers an alert, which tweets out a message on the Surf Life Saving Western Australia Twitter feed. The tweet notes the shark's size, breed and approximate location. Researchers so far have tagged great whites, whaler sharks and tiger sharks. These tags will also be monitored by scientists studying sharks in their natural habitat. Since 2011, Australia has had more fatal shark attacks than any other country. There have been six over the past two years with the most recent last November. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Jim Meachen, ZL2BHF, in Nelson, New Zealand. -- Chris Peck is the operations manager of Surf Life Saving of Western Australia. He says that the tagging system alerts beachgoers far quicker than traditional warnings but that it’s not 100 per cent fool proof. More is on the web at tinyurl.com/tweeting-vk-sharks YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES SUPPORTING GRANTS The Board of Directors of The YASME Foundation has announced several grants to help pay expenses involved in providing services to the ham radio community. Among these is funding to assist in defraying the expenses of the World Radio Team Championship to be held this coming July in the Boston Massachusetts area. Another goes to the Reverse Beacon Network to purchase a receiver and the necessary accessories to upgrade the node presently operational in Bangalore. Other grants go to the CW Ops CW Academy to assist in defraying the expenses of providing on-line CW training courses. Also one will be made to the ARRL Second Century Fund to support the goals of the ARRL’s Second Century Campaign. The YASME Foundation makes supporting grants to individuals and organizations providing or creating useful services for the amateur radio community. YASME supports these programs in order to further the development of amateur radio around the world. FUNCUBE CONTROLLERS SAY BIRD WORKING WELL The FUNcube-1 or AO-73 ham radio satellite has been on-orbit for more than six weeks and controllers say that all is nominal with the new bird. The FUNcube team also reports that there is now a way to view the latest AO-73 High Resolution Data that has been uploaded to the FUNcube Data Warehouse. A link can be found in the Navigation Bar on the warehouse. Clicking on this link will make the Hi-Resolution data available to download as .csv files. You can download the Dashboard App Telemetry Decoder at tinyurl.com/funcube-telemetry-dashboard The telemetry downlink frequency is 145.935 MHz in BPSK format. FUNcube also carries a CW and SSB inverting transponder. The uplink pass band is from 435.150 to 435.130 MHz LSB, with a downlink from 145.950 to 145.970 MHz on USB. 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. As announced earlier the CCARC will be running a full day foundation class licence training course on Saturday the 22nd. of February - the day before the Field day. I now have more details - having registered (contact details are on the ccarc web site for this) please arrive at the seminar room in the race club building at the Wyong Race Course by 9:45am for a 10:00am start. There will be a facilities usage fee of just $10 which is payable, in cash, on the day. The assessments will also take place from 10am on the field day - these will be performed in the stewards room on the ground floor and again you need to be there by 9:45am. As always WIA and ACMA charges apply to the assessments. For full details about registering for either the course or an assessment, or both, as well as all information about the field day, please go to the club website at CCARC dot ORG dot AU. The list of exhibitors who have confirmed is growing and now includes ALARA, Hornsby & District ARC, The Australian Radio DX Club, Kurrajong Radio Museum, Marine Rescue, SOTA-VK2, West Lakes ARC, the WIA QSL bureau and WICEN New South Wales. We are awaiting final confirmation from some commercial traders and will endeavour to bring you that list next week. In fact we are still receiving new requests and endeavouring to fit them in. What about entertainment? While we all know the Field Day itself is very entertaining for us, what about your partner or family members that you may be bringing with you to the Central Coast? There is lots to do on the coast and if someone has a yearning for old fashioned Rock & Roll - you can't go past Jimmy Barnes, the classic Aussie rocker - he has a show at the Bateau Bay Hotel on Saturday the 22nd. of February sponsored by the local 2GO radio station. Get in quick for tickets. For the URL to reserve your tickets please refer to the Wyong Field Day page on the club website at CCARC dot ORG dot AU, this is also where you will find a link to the official events page for the central coast. Whether it's seeking that bargain from the flea market, grabbing that discounted new item from the traders stands, educating yourself at the seminars and exhibitors stalls or even taking that licence upgrade assessment. The place to be on February twenty three is undoubtedly - The CCARC Field Day at Wyong! 73 'til next week, this is Ed VK2JI, Publicity Officer of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club. 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) =============================== 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. . -------------