WIANEWS - JUNE 29 - 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 29 2014. HEADING TOWARDS OUR 20TH YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS ACMA INCREASE LICENSE FEE FOR VK HAMS ACMA and review of 3300-3600 MHz band IPS Review of free services. WIA AR MAGAZINE NOW DIGITAL (hard copy still exists) THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JUN 29 2014. TRENDING ON VK1WIA TWITTER ACCOUNT http://twitter.com/VK1WIA #WIAacma #WIAips #WIAarmagazine In a note from Fred VK3ADC :- Good morning all ACMA have advised that the Amateur Radio Licence fee has been increased to $74.00. The fee increase is indexed. And rises by about $1 every year or so. Variation to licence fee remains at $49.00. Regards Fred. War-time secret Communications Bunker on television news 7News TV report a secret World War 2 base in northern Victoria, here in Australia, has resumed Morse code radio communication with the world after more than 70 silent years The restored Flying Boat Museum at Lake Boga near Swan Hill in northwest Victoria was the home of the No. 1 Flying Boat Repair Depot during World War II. Now a Lions Club project it's a fitting memorial to the 1,000 who made a sterling contribution at the repair and radio base that kept the Catalina Aircraft serving. Hidden from aerial view with bomb-proof walls is a Communications Bunker. It has been restored and put on air by Thomas Brownstein VK3EO, complete with war-time receivers and smaller transmitters. The latest media coverage of the Flying Boat Museum has been on the Channel 7 network news that featured a radio amateur and his realised efforts to put it back on air. Thomas VK3EO was interviewed while on the key in contact with the former enemy - a QSO with a JA station near Tokyo. Among his other CW contacts he has spoken to Europe, America and New Zealand. Dropping in at the time of the recent TV news interview was Jean Willox, a war-time radio operator who tried the key for the first time since the war, and described it really amazing. Thomas VK3EO also teaches youngsters about Morse code and what went on in secrecy, describes the whole experience as being like magic. Regular listeners to VK1WIA will remember that the Communications Bunker at Lake Boga took part in this year's ANZAC Day activity, and is very much part of the museum. Watch the 7News report at https://au.news.yahoo.com/video/watch/24277448/morse-code-station-revived/ (Jim Linton VK3PC) WHALE RADIO Port Fairy in VK3 are about to have a radio station on FM devoted entirely to the areas Whale population. Seems a local businessman is anchoring a microphone under water in the bay to bring the sounds LIVE to riveted listeners! Master Class - Portable filling quickly The level of interest in portable operation from would-be operators has seen them register for the free Master Class - Portable, that will be run by Amateur Radio Victoria in less than three weeks. The interest is equally split between relatively new licence holders and those with Advance licences - but all desire to learn how easy it can be to go portable. To attend the Saturday July the 19th Master Class - Portable, aimed strictly at would-be portable operators, requires a RSVP to attend. There you will hear expert mini-lectures, see displays, and question the experts when they form a panel. To learn more please contact Tony Hambling vk3vth@amateurradio.com.au Meantime next Sunday, July the 6th, the Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award 'Grand Slam' plaque is due to be presented to Peter Freeman VK3PF at Churchill in Victoria. On the same day, Tony VK3VTH will activate the nearby Tarra-Bulga National Park. (Jim Linton VK3PC) Homebrewers to meet in VK3 The next meeting of the Homebrew Constructor's Group is Saturday July 5 at the Amateur Radio Victoria rooms, 40g Victory Boulevard, Ashburton. The monthly meeting on July the 5th starts at 2pm and all are welcome. Inquiries can be sent to homebrew@amateurradio.com.au (Jim Linton VK3PC) This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News The 9 cm amateur band at 3300-3600 MHz may be in danger of losing some segments following a review of arrangements in the 3400-3600 MHz band just announced by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The ACMA is seeking comments on possible future licensing arrangements in the 3.5 GHz band, set out in its consultation paper titled “Transitioning the 3.5 GHz band for future opportunities”. At present, 3400-3600 MHz has various segments allocated to primary users through a mix of apparatus and spectrum licences. Amateur use of 3300-3600 MHz is on a secondary basis. The ACMA says that use of the 3400-3600 MHz band overseas appears to be changing, and this is starting to put pressure on current Australian allocations. As applications for microwave communications technology is changing, a clear picture is yet to emerge of future applications in Australia. According to its website, “the ACMA’s response to the complexity and growing pressures associated with the 3.5 GHz band is to look at implementing new arrangements that will maximise the band’s future flexibility.” The WIA is compiling a submission to respond to the ACMA’s consultation paper and, to that end, is seeking input from all interested Australian amateurs, which can be mailed or faxed to the National Office, or emailed to: nationaloffice@wia.org.au to reach us by or before close of business Monday, 21 July. The WIA also encourages all interested Australian amateurs to send your own submissions to the ACMA, which need to reach it by Wednesday, 30 July. We have a news item on http://www.wia.org.au the WIA website where you can download the ACMA’s Consultation paper. (vk2zrh Roger Harrison) The Ionospheric Prediction Service is being reviewed A discussion paper has been released by the Ionospheric Prediction Service as the first step in what could be a wide-ranging review of the service. The Ionospheric Prediction Service – or, I-P-S as it is more commonly referred to – is a division of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology – the weather bureau. Being part of the Bureau makes sense, because much of the work of IPS has to do with “space weather” – the activity of the Sun, the solar wind and its interactions with the Earth’s magnetic field and the ionosphere. The Terms of Reference for the review include the following # A review the policy basis for the Bureau's space weather services. # An analysis and international benchmarking comparison of the Bureau's Space Weather services, and use of observations and infrastructure, including: – their current status; – performance and impact; – scope; – manner of delivery; and - adequacy of capabilities and resourcing to deliver the service. # Evaluation of the extent to which the Bureau's Space Weather services meet user needs – especially those of significant user groups and high-impact users. # Assessment of the strategic outlook – over 5 to10 years – for space weather services in Australian, regional and global settings – and, in light of the first three items – provide advice on the capabilities required to meet the future challenges; # Comment on the potential for cost-recovery of space weather services; AND # Provide recommendations based on the above analyses, assessments and evaluations. The WIA encourages radio amateurs to lodge a submission to the review, especially if you use IPS services, explaining how the free IPS service provided to public radio users aids your communications activities. You can download a copy of the discussion paper from the home page of http://www.ips.gov.au, or via the news item on http://www.wia.org.au the WIA website home page. Get cracking ! Responses are required by the fourth of July ! (roger harrison vk2zrh) DISCUSSION POINT What use is an F-call? Today I was unable to run my weekly net from my QTH, so I planned to run my station portable. Last night I put my battery pack in the boot of my car, put the mag-mount on the roof, screwed in the antenna and folded it over so I wouldn't damage it when I drove out of the garage in the morning. I also put my radio, a Yaesu 857d on the passenger seat, ran the power cord from the boot to the front-seat, plugged the antenna lead in and added my log book. This morning I drove out of the garage, stuck my antenna up, plugged in the power and made a test transmission, only to see the SWR go through the roof. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I checked the antenna connector, all solid, checked the mag-mount on the roof, unscrewed the antenna and then screwed it back in again. Another test transmission, another high SWR and no repeater beep acknowledging my existence. I checked on the local aviation beacon but couldn't hear it. I went back into the garage, pulled out another mag-mount, plugged that in, had to hunt for an adapter cable to get from BNC to PL259, and tested that. Still no go. I'd moved my radio to another location during the week, wondered if I had damaged it in transit. Pulled out my second radio, another 857d, and plugged that in its place. Still no luck. I reversed back into the garage, 10 minutes before my net was due, getting pretty frantic, then plugged in my QTH base station antenna, still no go, on either radio. I then remembered that I had a hand-held, so packed up the other radios, wound up the antenna leads, pulled off the mag-mounts and went to find a nearby hill capable of elevating me to the point where my hand-held could make it into the local repeater. I started the 'net on time, but lots of stress and hurry was involved. While doing the 'net, an 857d still sitting on the passenger seat, I turned it over to look at the antenna connectors, there's two, one for HF and 6m and one for UHF and VHF. The HF antenna has a PL259 connector on it, the VHF/UHF one has an N-type connector. If you've been paying attention, you now know what I did wrong. If not, the high SWR was the reading where the antenna length is close to 0, that is, the state where you don't have an antenna plugged in at all. Doh. In my haste I'd plugged my UHF/VHF antenna into the HF port, no workies. I did the 'net on my hand-held, not ideal, but workable. Next time I'll take a little more time in preparation. I'm also going to have a think about making the terminations of my antenna leads correct for the radio, that is, PL259 for HF and N-type for 2m and 70cm. You live and 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. 27 MHz SSB CB legal from June 27 Ofcom in the UK have announced amendments to Wireless Telegraphy licence regulations that will enable 27 MHz SSB Citizens Band operation with 12 watt PEP from June 27, 2014 http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/wireless-telegraphy-fees-notice/statement/ Auckland Unitary Plan Submission Auckland Council’s 'Plan' basically stipulates all amateur radio aerials would be subjected to a Restricted Discretionary resource consent. This is upwards of $5000 every time an antenna change is contemplated! But check this fact out, For instance, if I am a Kiwi yachty and want to mount a VHF marine whip on the barge board of my house, I can do it as of right, but if as a radio amateur I want to put an almost identical 2m whip on my bargeboard, I have to get a resource consent. NZART has consequently put in a rather comprehensive submission to try to achieve “Permitted Status” for a range of “amateur configurations”. Auckland, with nearly a third of all amateurs in NZ, if it wins this case, it is probable that it will become the template for most other districts as they review their district plans in the future. Good luck NZART. VK5's Astronaut Andy Thomas has retired to his Texas ranch after 22 years with NASA and 4 months living in zero gravity on the Mir space station. Recently Dr Thomas VK5MIR has been leading design teams whose projects included a return visit to the moon, and a first visit to Mars. His 40 acre ranch property in central Texas is where he would eventually live with his astronaut wife, Shannon Walker, who is still in the NASA program and hoping for at least one more flight. Chinese site in signal-jammer sting could pay record $34.9M FCC fine NetworkWorld report that a Chinese electronics vendor accused of selling signal jammers to U.S. consumers could end up leading the market in one dubious measure: the largest fine ever imposed by the Federal Communications Commission. The agency wants to fine CTS Technology US$34,912,500 for allegedly marketing jammers. The proposed fine, which would be bigger than any the FCC has levied for anti-competitive behaviour, non airing of children’s shows, or a wardrobe malfunction, comes from adding up the maximum fines for each model of jammer the company allegedly sold in the U.S. The agency also ordered CTS, based in Shenzhen, China, to identify the buyer of each jammer it sold in the U.S. ============================================================================= ARNEWSLINE HAM RADIO OPERATORS ASSIST IN REACTIVATION OF ABANDONED NASA SPACE PROBE Ham radio has assisted in reactivating an over three decade old NASA satellite. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD reports: - The U-K newspaper the Daily Mail says that several radio amateurs were involved with Project Reboot in regaining control of the 35 year old abandoned International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 spacecraft. Hams named in the article include Dennis Wingo, KD4ETA; Achim Vollhardt, DH2VA, and Mario Lorenz DL5MLO. The International Sun-Earth Explorer was launched in 1978 to study Earth's magnetosphere. It carries thirteen scientific instruments to measure plasmas, energetic particles, waves, and fields. As of this past May, all but one is thought to be functional. An on-board data handling system gathers the scientific and engineering information from all systems in the spacecraft. It then formats this information into a serial stream for transmission back to Earth by an on-board 5 watt transmitter. After completing its main mission, the satellite was repurposed in 1983 to study two comets. At that time it was renamed the International Cometary Explorer and has been in a heliocentric orbit since then, traveling just slightly faster than Earth. It's finally catching up to our planet from behind, and will be closest to Earth this August. Now, KD4ETA has released an update on the attempts by the projects volunteers, including the radio amateurs, to gain control of the spacecraft. According to Wingo, the probe has been successfully commanded into engineering telemetry mode. He noted the job done by DH2VA and also Phil Karn, KA9Q, to make this happen. Karn is well known in the amateur radio community for his work on the KA9Q Network Operating System, the early 9600 bit FSK radio modems, and more recently, the introduction of forward error correction into the Amateur Satellite Service. For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD, in Berwick, Pennsylvania. -- The actual first command to the revived International Sun- Earth Explorer 3 spacecraft was successfully sent from the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico using the facilities 305 meter dish. This after the volunteer team installed the needed modulator, demodulator and power amplifier to make contact and control of the satellite possible. More is on the web at tinyurl.com/reboot-project (AMSAT-UK, Daily Mail, Southgate) MORSE STATIONS CLAIM TO BE OPERATING FROM NON NATION As the conflict between the Ukraine and Russia continues, the Southgate News reports that a pair of CW stations have appeared on the higher HF bands, claiming to operate from Donetsk, and promoting a separatist Peoples Republic of Donetsk or Novo Rossiya. The callsigns, D0A and 1C4M are believed to be two operators on the same transmitter however the callsigns are invalid and do not count for anything in ham radio terms. And there is also some doubt that the stations are really in Donetsk but instead may be operating from somewhere in Kazakhstan. (Southgate, G0SFJ) ============================================================================ RSGB's G4NJH No change to Crimea DXCC status The ARRL has announced that there is to be no change to the DXCC status of the Crimea area and the annexation does not lend Crimea status as a new DXCC entity. The Awards Committee concluded that a QSL with a callsign issued by Ukraine and showing the entity name as Ukraine counts as Ukraine, while a QSL with a callsign issued by Russia and showing the entity name as Russia counts as Russia. A QSL that satisfies neither condition does not count for either entity, the committee said. OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2014 SGARS 80 METRE TROPHY CONTEST July 26 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 20. Amateur Radios International Air-ambulance Week, 9 days from Sep 28. 2015 Tablelands Radio Group will again hold AM and CW on ANZA Day 25 April 10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 1 - 2 SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, BEACON REPEATER AND NET ADVICE Victoria’s annual Bogong High Plains Winter mini-expedition will occur from 31 July to 4 August this year. The team will include VK3GT, VK3FMAW and VK3SN who will operate from 160m to 70cm and everything in between using solar powered QRP gear. Each day we will ski across snowy plains situated 1700m above sea level and set up camp by evening for radio operation. Listen out for us, especially on 40m during the late afternoon and 80m each evening. Local VHF & UHF repeaters will be utilised while we traverse back-country mobile. Here’s now hoping for decent snow! (VK3SN) Staying with hams 'out and about' this time it's to Paul VK5PAS, the co-ordinator in Australia for the WWFF program. "Do you enjoy the great outdoors and travelling to beautiful locations around Australia, whilst combing the hobby of amateur radio? If you answered yes, then the World Wide Flora and Fauna program will certainly be of interest to you. The World Wide Flora and Fauna program, abbreviated as WWFF, is an international award program which encourages portable operation from designated nature parks and protected nature areas around the world. There are currently 39 participating countries from Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, & Oceania. In Australia, the program is known as VKFF (Australian Flora Fauna). The qualifying parks for the VKFF program are National Parks. And there is certainly no shortage of options, with over 730 National Parks on the VKFF list. Award certificates are issued to Activators (those operating portable from National Parks), Hunters (those making contact with Activators), and Short wave listeners. Two recent VKFF awards have been created. The VKFF DX Hunter certificate encourages Australian operators to make contact with overseas activators. Whilst the VKFF Worked All Australia certificate is offered to amateurs who make contact with WWFF activators from all Australian States and Territories. The WWFF program is extremely popular in Europe, as some VK operators have recently found out. Tony VK3VTH and Peter VK3ZPF have been working many a pile up into Europe from Victorian National Parks. And it is also pleasing to see that many Summits on the Air operators are now combing SOTA activations with WWFF activations. For more information on the WWFF program, please have a look at the Australian WWFF website which can be located at….. http://www.wwffaustralia.com Thanks for listening, I’m Paul VK5PAS, the co-ordinator in Australia for the WWFF program. Six metre enthusiasts who need Grenada for their DXCC should keep a look out for J 38 DR between now and 1 July. The operator is W 9 DR and he will be QRV on 50115 SSB and 50115.6 CW. INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE Region III IARUMS Coordinator Peter Young VK3MV VK IARUMS reflector email to subscribe intruders@wia.org.au INTRUDER NETS Disputes increase amateur band intrusions The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has spilled over into the high frequency allocations assigned by the International Telecommunications Union to Amateur Radio, with many military signals being reported. The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Monitoring System has detected encrypted messages on 20-metres from the Ukraine, while military type transmissions on 40-metres are Russian. Another conflict area is Iraq and surrounding nations. The on-going military activity in the South China Sea and associated broadcast jamming is a further hot spot. More intrusions on our bands may be observed by military communications including cluster beacons, number or letter stations, and long-range radar. (Jim Linton VK3PC) USA Lightship is this year's ILLW 300 The prestigious 300th registration in the annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend held in August, goes to the Lightship Columbia WLV-604, operated by the Sunset Empire Amateur Radio Club W7BU. The club puts the lightship on air because of the close link between radio communication and the history of navigational aids for ships. W7BU will be heard from the lightship's radio room. Now at Astoria in the State of Oregon, it used to guard the Columbia River Bar in Columbia, before being replaced by a lighthouse in 1979. The last operational US West Coast lightship, the Columbia WLV-604 is on the National Register of Historic Places and has guided tours. The 100th was South Australia's Point Lowly VK5BWR and number 200 Spain's Faro de Cabo de Silleiro Lighthouse activated by EA1/DK6EA. Registrations have come so far from 36 countries in the annual fun-event. The USA is in the lead with 53 including 14 first-time registrations, ahead of Germany 52 and Australia on 51. There are simple guidelines and registration available online for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend on August the 16th and 17th, see the website www.illw.net (Jim Linton VK3PC) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER Send Your Name to the Asteroid Bennu! NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016. The "Messages to Bennu!" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft. The robotic mission will spend more than two years at the asteroid, which has a width of approximately 500 meters. The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and return it to Earth in a return capsule. The deadline to submit names online is Sept. 30, 2014. Participants who submit their names to the "Messages to Bennu!" campaign will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their involvement. For more information and to submit your name, visit http://planetary.org/bennu Participants who "follow" or "like" the mission on Facebook will receive updates on the location of their names in space from launch time until the asteroid samples return to Earth in 2023. http://www.nasa.gov/osiris-rex and http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu Possible ISS Voice Contacts on ARRL Field Day THIS weekend. Current discussions between the ARISS team and NASA suggest the possibility of voice contacts with the International Space Station (ISS) during Saturday's ARRL Field Day activities this weekend. Astronaut Wiseman that he is willing to try and work some stations on Saturday under the call sign, NA 1 SS. Should Alex Gerst also participate, he would use the call sign, DP 0 ISS. If voice operation does occur, It will likely take place from the Columbus module using uplink frequency of 144.49 MHz and 145.800 MHz downlink. If Russian crew participate they would be directed to use 437.550 MHz for any contacts using the call sign RS 0 ISS. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- MEDICAL IHS = www.groups.Yahoo.com/group/IHSradio/ IHS = www.IHSOFMN.org PHARMACISTS = www.malpensa.it/iphg Medical Amateur Radio Council www.marco-ltd.org/ MIT perfects cheap, accurate through-wall movement and heartbeat detection with Wi-Fi MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory after using humble Wi-Fi___33 waves to sense movement behind a wall, has now improved its technology to the point that it can remotely - from behind a wall in another room - can detect heart rate and respiration. MIT has successfully used this technology to non-invasively check a sleeping baby’s breathing and pulse, and even to track the breathing of two adults simultaneously. Read the full story with videos at: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/184347-mit-perfects-cheap-accurate-through-wall-movement-and-heartbeat-detection-with-wifi 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 The WICEN NSW 2014 AGM has been held with following office bearers appointed. President : Steven Heimann VK2BOS Vice President: John Harper VK2LJ Secretary : Steve Diekman VK2MCA Emergency Communications by hams praised The role of radio amateurs in one of Canada's greatest natural disasters, the Alberta floods last year, has been honoured, and Thailand's worst flooding in 2011 was recalled as the famed HS0AC Amateur Radio station is restored. In June of 2013, the town of High River experienced its greatest natural disaster when the river overflowed and destroyed businesses, homes, infrastructure and lives. The Foothills Amateur Radio Club and radio amateurs across the region responded working closely with hospitals and emergency and support services, to augment or replace communications that had been damaged or destroyed in the torrent. On the first anniversary of the disaster, officials, the club and the Radio Amateurs Canada gathered to honour 59 radio amateurs who were involved with presentation of certificates, letters of thanks, and formal acknowledgements. Meanwhile the Radio Amateurs of Thailand (RAST) remembered the 2011 flood that killed 800 people, affected nearly 14 million and disrupted the economy, as it completed the HS0AC Amateur Radio station at the Asian Institute of Technology. During the flood Thai radio amateurs stepped in to help with emergency communications and hand out supplies. Working with the Ministry of Public Health they saved almost 1,000 lives. Among the many areas inundated was the RAST facility. Now help of professionals the repair and refurbishment work of HS0AC under the guidance of RAST President Jack Hantongkom HS1FVL is complete. Look out for a big HS0AC signal during special event activities and contests. RAST, a member society of the IARU Region 3, is expected to be particularly active during its 50th anniversary year. (Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee) MEDIA WATCH D-DAY Did anybody notice what happened last Thursday, the 26th of June ? The sky fell in ! There was thunder and lightning all over the land ! Dark clouds filled the sky and when they parted, a bright light shone through and an ENORMOUS letter D appeared, seemingly chiselled from some out-of-this-world substance ! Yes folks ! The first digital edition of Amateur Radio magazine – the July 2014 issue – was released for download on the WIA website. The world will never be the same again ! Well – at least the world of amateur radio as we know it in Australia. (Roger Harrison VK2ZRH) SOCIAL SCENE 2014 Jul 12-13 VK3 GippsTech Conference GippsTech 2013 Now is the time to register: You only have a few days to register for the 2013 edition of GippsTech. This technical conference discusses weak signal communications, especially on the VHF, UHF and microwave bands. Held at the Churchill campus of Federation University Australia, the event presents opportunities to learn more about your hobby and to interact with around one hundred like-minded amateurs. Bring your partner as well! We run a social partners’ tour which visits sites of interest in the local region, with participants having a major role in determining their itinerary. Everyone gathers for a conference dinner on Saturday night, this year at the well-respected Waratah Restaurant in Morwell. If you plan to attend NOW is the time to act. Visit the VK3BEZ.org web site and complete your registration form. Registrations close this Friday, July 4! This is Peter VK3PF for the Eastern Zone Amateur Radio Club for WIA News. Jul 19 VK3 GGREC 2014 HAMFEST Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club. Jul 19 VK4 Caboolture Radio Club HAMFEST at Scout Ground, 169 Smiths Rd. Jul 27 VK4 GOLD COAST AR SOCIETY 11am Social at Logan Central Gardens Aug 3 VK6 Northern Corridor Radio Group Hamfest. Sep 13 VK4 Sunshine Coast AR Club's SUNFest, Woombye School of Arts Oct 25 VK4 HAMFEST on the Gold Coast. Nov 2 VK5 HamFest Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Nov 15 VK7 Miena Hamfest (My-enah) Nov 30 VK3 SPARC HamFest at Rosebud ( howardjones155@gmail.com ) 2015 June, Queens Birthday weekend 40th annual Oxley Region Field Day Tacking Point Surf Life Saving Hall. FINAL FINAL DX stations note:- The phrase “Spending a Penny” is not to be used after 31 December 2014. From this date onwards, the correct term will be: “Euronating”. It is hoped that this will be a great relief to everyone 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. . -------------