SEPTEMBER 25 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEP 25 2016. IN OUR 21st YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA / ACMA Amateur Reciprocal Qualifications Review. - WIA meets the ACMA over the LCD. - WIA Merit Award presentation to a most worthy recipient. - WIA Director visits Queensland radio club THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2016 AND FOR WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 25 Amateur Reciprocal Qualifications Review The Australian Communications and Media Authority has reset the qualification equivalency of the US Technician Licence for new applications to that of the entry level Australian Foundation Licence. The majority of submissions to the ACMA inquiry fully agreed that the Foundation Licence was the most appropriate for reciprocal licensing purposes. Before the review it was set at the highest Advance Licence. The ACMA said a report prepared by the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) indicated that the US Technician Class Licence was no longer equivalent to the Advanced Licence. The WIA sought to lower the level of reciprocity to the Foundation Licence. It also reflected the ACMA’s confirmation by independent inquiry that the basis on which the US Technician Class Licence was conferred had changed over time. The ACMA review asked: Do you support the ACMA and the WIA’s stance that the US Technician Class licence is no longer equivalent to the Advanced Licence and that the Foundation Licence is the most appropriate for reciprocal licensing purposes? A total of 23 submissions received, 15 agreed, seven disagreed and one neither agreed nor disagreed with the proposal. Among those agreeing was the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) that stated that the US Technician Class Licence was very close to the Foundation Licence, but not higher. (It was downgraded in 1999) Four respondents who agreed to the downgrade believed existing licensees should have their licences reviewed and possibly downgraded to Foundation Level. However five submissions who agreed to the downgrade, also felt that existing reciprocal licences already issued should remain, and that the downgrading start from the date of the ACMA decision. Those against the downgrading felt that the US Technician Licence was more aligned to the Australian Standard Licence than the Foundation Licence. The ACMA said what must be assessed was the relative levels of each qualification - what level of knowledge was the best fit for each class of licence. Based on this test, the US Technician Class licence aligns best with the Foundation Licence. However, the ACMA ruling was not retrospective. Existing licensees who obtained their Advanced Licence based on the US Technician Class Licence were grandfathered and may continue to operate at the Advanced Level. (Phil Wait VK2ASD) WIA meets the ACMA over the LCD Over the last couple of weeks you have heard WIA Spectrum Strategy Committee member, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH, describe the various elements of the WIAs suggestions for changes to the Amateur Licence Condition Determinations. The Wireless Institute of Australia has recently met with the Australian Communications and Media Authority to further discuss the WIAs suggested LCD changes. The WIA Regulatory Counsel Peter Young VK3MV and the WIA President Phil Wait VK2ASD met with the ACMA to discuss those suggestions. The meeting went through each WIA suggestion to discuss them in detail. As a result, the WIA is now in a position to put a higher priority on those areas which have a greater chance of being adopted early. The WIA will be making a further submission to the ACMA, and will place that information on its website. A major DATV repeater is to be relocated. The digitised amateur television repeater serving greater Melbourne and Geelong has been told it has to move as the site on Mt Dandenong will no longer be available. The VK3RTV repeater is licensed to Amateur Radio Victoria and run by the Melbourne ATV Group. The digitisation of VK3RTV with its first digital test was on 7 June 2009, just as commercial and government TV broadcasters in Australia we’re finding their way with the new medium. The transformation to DATV followed substantial funding by Amateur Radio Victoria and a grant from the Wireless Institute of Australia club scheme. Other amounts, equipment and voluntary time went into the project. It has had a remarkable history which began with black and white transmission in 1977, then came colour television. A driving force behind it was been Peter Cossins VK3BFG, who now reports that the tower and site at Mt Dandenong east of Melbourne is lost. Peter VK3BFG received a WIA President’s Commendation at the AGM last May for his work over many years including holding five annual World Digital ATV QSO Party events. He bring us news is that the lease on the site is not being renewed, with the tower and building to be demolished. Now the VK3RTV station consisting of racked mounted DVB-T Exciter, Controller, multiple receivers and feeding antennas, are to be retrieved and temporarily stored. This re-location may mean that the current system has to be re-designed, with the possibility that the receivers may be installed in a different location to the transmitter . There is also the possibility of a new installation high above the western suburbs of Melbourne with links to the main system. Whatever is the case, it is envisaged that the shut down time will be as small a time scale as possible with proof of design activity over that period. Amateur Radio Victoria maintains a network of repeaters provided to all as a part of its service to the amateur community and is committed to its maintenance. While VK3RTV is being re-designed, it is also an opportunity to operate simplex or re-design your own ATV station . Further information will be provided as plans are realised. (Jim VK3PC / Peter VK3BFG) Button battery code adopted in Australia The danger of swallowing a small button battery by youngsters is well known, and now some major retailers and a battery maker have got together to reduce child injuries and deaths. The batteries are in TV remotes, cameras, watches, calculators, greeting cards, scales, torches and novelty items. They are finding their way into young mouths, get stuck, and can leach out their poisonous contents. The new code includes safety measures such as designing consumer goods where the battery compartment is secure and needs two or more independent or simultaneous actions to remove its cover. The voluntary Industry Code comes as 20 children are hospitalised each week after swallowing a battery. (Jim VK3PC) Just when you thought powerlines could not carry broadband A new internet access method called AirGig that uses electricity cables has been revealed by US telecom giant AT&T. Broadband over Powerlines or BPL was discredited a long time ago due to the flawed technology used being prone to RF interference. However, while acknowledging the problems of the past with BPL, AT&T plans to deliver high-speed internet around power lines, and not through them. AirGig will use plastic antennas that deliver data signals, and stick them on already existing power lines, which will create an electromagnetic field to guide the signals across the wires. Instead of tapping into the power lines like former BPL, the licence-free spectrum wireless signals hitch a ride along the outside of the wire to their destination. AT&T is hoping to roll out AirGig by next year, having tried the experimental system on its own properties, and hoping for further success in laboratory tests. The Amateur Radio community and other radio users will be watching developments closely. (Jim Linton VK3PC) 5 NEW HAMS Last weekend Canberra and Region Amateur Radio Club ran a foundation course with five candidates. How many of the 5 were successful? ALL FIVE. Congratulations to Tim, Brian, Gerard, Stephen and David for their efforts. CRARC look forward to catching up with them at their club meetings or on air when their licenses come through. CRARC Next Foundation Course is scheduled for November. (vk1 news eletter) Out of VK4 to the rest of VK and the world! Cooby Creek Special Event Oct 1st to 31st 2016 Callsign VI50CC has been obtained and approved by WIA & ACMA: Bill VK4ZD is the designated “owner” on behalf of the club Do we have set times and Frequencies and do we have someone in charge of a roster? Wayne VK4ARW has offered to manage the Roster: There is a link on the NEW club website www.ddrci.org.au to book a time slot: This should be done about a week before you want to operate. We can have multiple operators on the same day and time as on long as they aren't on the same band or mode, so the need to register your intent is important The PDF of the current roster will be updated on the website as it changes. Uploading to Club Log: Bill VK4ZD is happy to do this provided all logs are done electronically and emailed to him as an ADIF file. If any member wishes to participate and hasn't used an electronic log Bill is happy to assist in showing you how it’s done. Logs to be emailed to vk4zd@mainlink.net.au at least once every 2 days to allow the master log to be kept current. QSL's: Diane VK4DI is happy to be the QSL manager: It will be managed via OQRS. We will order QSL cards after the event once we have an idea of how many cards are required. Clublog online & OQRS have been set up. We will get some pics of the onsite activity to put on the card. Activation on site is on the weekend of the 19th- 23rd. More info will be supplied as it becomes available. Publicity : This very WIA Broadcast and DX news distribution: has been done, Merv has put info on the ISS page. The QRZ page and the club web page have been updated. As has the Southgate News. VI50CC Call Frequencies Band SSB CW PSK31/63 RTTY       160m 1850 kHz 1825 kHz 1807 kHz 1830 kHz 80m 3.645 / 3.795 MHz 3.510 MHz 3.580 MHz 3.750 MHz 40m 7.095 / 7.145 MHz 7.010 MHz 7.040 MHz  7.045 MHz 30m 10.130 MHz 10.110 MHz 10.135 MHz 10.138MHz 20m 14.195 / 14.250 MHz 14.010 MHz 14.071 MHz 14.085 MHz 17m 18.130 MHz 18.090 MHz 18.125 MHz 18.110 MHz 15m 21.250 MHz 21.010MHz 21.071 MHz 21.085 MHz 12m 24.950 MHz 24.895 MHz 24.920 MHz 24.930 MHz 10m 28.450 MHz 28.010 MHz 28.120 MHz 28.085 MHz Australia Remembers: The Battle of Long Tan 50th Anniversary As the nation marked the Battle of Long Tan; one of the most well-known Australian engagements of the Vietnam War when 108 ANZACS won against a large enemy force, the Wireless Institute of Australia had four commemorative Amateur Radio stations. For up to 30 days the stations were VI6BLT50 in West Australia, VI1BLT50 the Australian Capital Territory, VI4BLT50 Queensland and VI8BLT50 the Northern Territory. They paid their total respects to those young ANZAC’s who made the supreme sacrifice. If they were alive they would be very proud of this Commemorative Event Station. Some comments received were very complimentary of the Diggers at Long Tan, and how they overcame unbelievable odds. In the west VI6BLT50 was operated by Phil VK6GZ, Steve VK6OZ, Martin VK6RC, and Craig VK6VCK, with Mal VK6LC on phone, CW and digital modes. In the end, VI6BLT50 made 2,066 QSOs to 91 DX entities and 7 Continents. Full reporting is expected to be in the November edition of Amateur Radio magazine. (Jim Linton VK3PC) WIA BOARD TALK WIA Treasurer applications are now open This voluntary position is still being advertised and maybe YOU can offer YOUR expertise in serving the WIA Board of Directors. Position includes yearly budgets, overseeing the independent auditing, insurance and ACMA deed of agreement matters. While the WIA, through M.Y.O.B. maintains the bookkeeping and banking records, the Treasurer has requirements that should be familiar to Certified Practicing Accountants. Further details can be found on the WIA website www.wia.org.au WIA Merit Award presentation to a most worthy recipient The Chris Jones Award for 2016 has been presented to Jenny Wardrop VK3WQ, for her consistent support of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) including its journal Amateur Radio magazine. The prestigious award is named after the Chris Jones the National WIA’s secretary, an inspirational and passionate individual, who passed away in 2006. WIA Director Robert Broomhead VK3DN made the presentation on behalf of the WIA Board and Jenny VK3WQ said she was very honoured to be given the award that was announced at the WIA annual general meeting on Norfolk Island. The WIA Board in making the award mentioned her latest contributions of articles in 2014 and 2015 for the ANZAC Centenary. Jenny and her partner Peter Wolfenden VK3RV are now in Britain for the International Young Ladies Radio Convention, and the RSGB Convention – with visits to two museums on the itinerary. WIA Director visits Queensland radio club An update on the Wireless Institute of Australia has been given to those at the Tablelands Amateur Radio Club annual general meeting. WIA Vice President, Fred Swainston VK3DAC VK4FE gave an overview of the WIA Operations. The meeting raised a number of interesting questions including the responses to some claims made about the WIA. The club was very interested in the STEM program and the potential role of some radio amateurs. Among other issues were licence condition reforms, and these have been passed to the WIA Spectrum Strategy Committee to be considered as part of the WIA submission to the ACMA. The Tablelands Amateur Radio Club at its AGM on Saturday September 17, appreciated the presentation and expressed its continued support for the WIA. As a result of further talks, the club has identified two members who will seek to qualify as WIA Exam Service Assessors, and support the existing Assessor Dale McCarthy VK4DMC. Training and the accreditation is expected to occur in the next few weeks. Meantime the Sydney-based St George Amateur Radio Society will have a presentation by WIA Director Roger Harrison VK2ZRH at its October meeting. This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH from the WIA Spectrum Strategy Committee with a further instalment on the WIA’s licence conditions submission to the A C M A. Having covered the proposals for the Foundation licence last week, this week will be about proposed future conditions for Standard and Advanced licensees. Some amateurs look on the Standard licence as the Cinderella – meaning something given less attention than is otherwise deserved. The Standard licence came about as a carryover from the old Novice licence in the amateur licensing regime before the reform of 2004. In terms of operating privileges, the Standard licence sits between the entry-level Foundation licence and the Advanced. This three-tiered licensing system was devised to provide incentives to upgrade from one level to another, to gain more privileges – access to more bands, the ability to use more transmission modes, and the ability to operate with more maximum transmitter power. These stages provide the opportunities to explore new things. Now – before we go any further – I think we need to reiterate the three principles behind future amateur licensing adopted by the WIA. Firstly – it should not limit or hinder experimentation with, or adaptation of, emerging technologies and applications – particularly digital transmission technologies – including those not yet invented. Secondly – future amateur licensing is not reduced or downgraded from the current principles embodied in Apparatus licensing; and Thirdly – future licensing must incorporate flexibility for licensees to pursue their interests in communications technologies and applications as a self-regulating service within the framework of the licensing privileges and conditions. For Standard licensees, the submission addresses three key issues: Access to more bands More permitted bandwidths, and Increased power As noted last week, having more bands provides a wider range of opportunities for licensees to learn and gain experience across the radiofrequency spectrum. The current Standard licence’s permitted bands are quite restricted when viewed in the context of the intermediate level licences in other countries. Hence, the WIA is seeking access to more bands for Standards. A table in the submission compares the 10 bands available to intermediate-level licensees in other nations. The UK Standard licence offers 25 bands across the spectrum, for example. It is noted that no evidence of complaints or issues has emerged in the UK, nor is there evidence that this has acted as a disincentive to upgrade. Likewise with Argentina, Canada, Japan, the UK and the USA, which also provide wide access to bands across the spectrum for their intermediate-level licensees. When it comes to permitted transmission bandwidths, the WIA seeks a relaxation of the permitted bandwidths for the Standard licence. The general principle is to avoid Standards being “stuck” with using legacy modes only, and to open up opportunities for them to use a range of digital and image transmission modes – including wideband along with narrowband modes. The development of technology moves ever forward. No licence grade should be left behind with a limited number of defined modes. And so to the question of permitted maximum power. The WIA notes that the permitted power of 100 W pX for Standard licensees was a carryover from the former Novice licence. The WIA suggests that, for the future, a permitted power of 200 watts pX would be a sensible, pragmatic provision for the Standard licence. As all amateur licensees in Australia have to be aware of their responsibilities regarding electromagnetic emission levels, raising the permitted power to 200 watts does not create any particular or new issues. As noted with entry-level licences around the world, the WIA notes that there is wide disparity in permitted powers for intermediate level licences in different nations. This is illustrated in a table in the submission. Powers range from 50 watts, through 500 watts to one-and-a-half kilowatts. That said, the submission notes that the suggested 200 watt power does not create any additional safety issues in managing compliance with electromagnetic emissions (EME) prevailing now, and the experience of similar intermediate level licensee operations in other countries tends to support this. Now for future conditions for the Advanced licence. The WIA recommends in the strongest terms that future conditions for Advanced licensees should represent ‘light touch’ regulation, balanced with responsible use of the radiofrequency spectrum and respect for other stakeholders. As with the Standard licence, the WIA submission addresses the three key areas bands, bandwidths and power. Noting the loss of access on parts of some bands over the past decade or so, the WIA is seeking continuing access to bands, to avoid whole-sale loss of a band or bands, along with more frequency allocations. As you have heard in previous broadcasts, the Institute is advocating access to the new 60 metre band at the earliest opportunity, and seeks extending the 160 and 80 metre bands in addition to new allocations at 70 MHz and 900 MHz. The WIA advocates relaxation of permitted bandwidths for Advanced licensees on all the amateur bands from 1.8 MHz to 430 MHz, with the aim of enabling the exploration and use of emerging and newly developed technologies. Future developments in technologies and applications are undefined, so somehow, this has to be accommodated with some innovative specification. The growth and popularity of digital modes on all bands over the past decade or so has been nothing less than phenomenal. Foreseeable development in the mid-term, for example, will likely involve low spectral density transmissions of wider bandwidth, or dynamically variable bandwidths, able to co-exist with other transmissions in overlapping spectrum spaces while providing robust information exchange. Bandplans will likely have to be “layered”. The question of maximum power for Advanced licensees is a vexed one. It is unfortunate that the regime for regulating electromagnetic emissions (EME) in Australia has conflated the compliance accountability with regulatory responsibility for the radiocommunications sector. In this, Australia is unique in the world. EME compliance is dictated by the Apparatus Licence Conditions Determination 2015. Given this, the WIA is committed to working with the ACMA to develop a protocol to enable those Advanced licensees who wish to experiment with transmitter powers above 400 W pX provide suitable documentary evidence demonstrating that they have addressed compliance with the Apparatus LCD 2015. To reduce the regulatory workload on the ACMA, and to streamline the process for Advanced operators, the WIA proposes conducting an application and validation process on behalf of the ACMA and then make a recommendation to the ACMA. The approval for high power would then become part of the Advanced licensees’ individual licence conditions. When considered and compared one to the other, the proposals for future conditions for all three licence grades there are clear distinctions between them in terms of privileges, access to frequency bands and permitted maximum powers, which preserve and maintain the original principle of incentives to upgrade. Before finishing, I would like to emphasise that the Institute’s submission is about making amateur radio attractive to future generations, while preserving the attainments of the past. As a result of this series of broadcasts, we have received some excellent feedback expressing a wide range of views. In response, we will be seeking formal feedback and comments from all and sundry via the WIA website. Shortly, you will find a link to a newly created “Have Your Say” page. Look out for it. This has been Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News. The WIA’s submission on licence conditions can be downloaded from: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2016/20160413-4/index.php INTERNATIONAL NEWS WITH JOHN VK4JJW and With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. Blue Hydra can expose the all-too-unhidden world of Bluetooth Sean Gallagher writing in arstechnica.com says " My new neighbour was using AirDrop to move some files from his phone to his iMac. I hadn't introduced myself yet, but I already knew his name. Meanwhile, someone with a Pebble watch was walking past, and someone named "Johnny B" was idling at the stoplight at the corner in their Volkswagen Beetle, following directions from their Garmin Nuvi. Another person was using an Apple Pencil with their iPad at a nearby shop. And someone just turned on their Samsung smart television. I knew all this because each person advertised their presence wirelessly, either over "classic" Bluetooth or the newer Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) protocol—and I was running an open source tool called Blue Hydra, a project from the team at Pwnie Express. Blue Hydra is intended to give security professionals a way of tracking the presence of traditional Bluetooth, BTLE devices, and BTLE "iBeacon" proximity sensors. But it can also be connected to other tools to provide alerts on the presence of particular devices. Read more at: http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/09/hands-on-blue-hydra-can-expose-the-all-too-unhidden-world-of-bluetooth/ Drone flies on wireless power Hackaday reports that researchers from Imperial College London have demonstrated a drone powered by a 13.560 MHz radio signal Read the Hackaday story and watch the video at the links we like when you read this week’s text edition of this broadcast, on wia.org.au http://hackaday.com/2016/09/17/drone-flys-12-cm-on-wireless-power/ eevBlog post http://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/mhz-power-electronics-and-its-application-to-wireless-power-for-drones/msg1027532/#msg1027532 Oh and the distance it flew? 12 CENTIMETERS... Guess we all have to start somewhere! Morse code at Eurovision? A report suggests Morse code may be used between the Heliport and the Kyiv International Exhibition Centre during the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest in Ukraine A ESCKAZ website report on the success of Kyiv in beating rival cities of Dnipro and Odessa to host the contest says: "There is an idea to make a connection between locations using a type of Morse code. Guests of the Eurovision will be able to communicate from the roof of the heliport with flashing lights, waving flags with those who will be in IEC and in this way supporting their countries", say in the IEC." http://esckaz.com/2017/ https://www.facebook.com/OGAE.RoW/posts/10153894867106305 Historic medium wave band digital contact Experimentation and pushing the boundaries paid off for two radio amateurs Steve McDonald VE7SL in Canada and Roger Crofts VK4YB Queensland, who made a two-way digital contact in the JT9 mode. This path is the longest two-way QSO on the 472-479 kHz band, which was granted as a secondary allocation to the amateur service at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2012. The JT9 contact in the WSPR QSO mode was at 1319z on Thursday 15 September, about 30 minutes before Canada’s sunrise with the sky surprisingly bright. Steve VE7SL says he and Roger VK4YB worked each other on 630m, the exact frequency being 475.300 kHz. He says: “This is the first-ever two-way QSO between North America and Australia on the relatively new 630m band. It presently represents the furthest two-way contact on this band, worldwide, but I don't expect this record will last very long once the United States gets the band.” The distance using the latitude and longitude values of each station rather than Maidenhead locators, the precise distance is 11,822 km. The Canada end of the contact was at Mayne Island, British Columbia, and had to travel over a distance before reaching the open Pacific. Steve VE7SL predicts that the station at the VK4YB is very capable of reaching much further afield. With his new antenna, transverter and amplifier it seemed that with Roger VK4YB, full advantage of Trans-Pacific propagation could be realised, although the path has not been at its best yet. Ironically the transverters used at both ends were of the VK4YB design, made in Queensland, and will be reviewed by Justin Giles-Clark VK7TW, in Amateur Radio magazine. The pair showed persistence by watching the pre-dawn Trans-Pacific propagation. Roger VK4YB used an experimental 630m band antenna at his QTH in Moorina, a small rural suburb 39 kilometres north of Brisbane in the Moreton Bay Region. Before the two-way contact he seemed to be the only VK on 630m WSPR mode seen in Canada. Roger VK4YB says propagation had been doubtful but on the last attempt on the day the historic contact with Steve VE7SL was achieved. Others had made earlier contacts over shorter distances on the 7-kHz-wide band just below the broadcast AM band, using mainly digital techniques although there have been some SSB, CW and beacon activity occurring. Writing on his blog http://ve7sl.blogspot.ca/search/label/630m Steve VE7SL hoped the historic contact will inspire new interest in the band. His advice, particularly to new users, is that it seems that the main mode of two-way communications is CW or JT9, and a simple transverter would allow both modes as well as the use of the WSPR beacon mode. OPERATIONAL NEWS 2016 September 23-25 D-STAR (Digital Amateur Radio) QSO party. September 23-24 WORLD DIGITAL ATV/DATV QSO Party September 24-25 CQ WW RTTY DX CONTEST (Always Sept 4th full weekend) October 8th is the Radio Amateurs Old Timers QSO Party October first two full weekends sees the WIA's Oceania DX Contests Phone 1 and 2 and then CW 8th and 9th of October. Oct 15-16 it's the New York QSO Party with logs due Oct 31 Oct 29-30 CQ WW DX / SSB CONTEST (always Oct Last full weekend) November 11-14 The Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award Activation November 26-27 WIA VHF/UHF Spring Field Day Nov 26-27 CQ WW DX / CW Contest Always the last full weekend in November) 2017 January it's the WIA's Ross Hull Memorial VHF/UHF Contest Ham Radio On The Ferries 12th of March WIA's John Moyle Memorial Field Day 18th-19th March 2017 WIA's Harry Angel Memorial 80 meter sprint Saturday May 6 10:00 -11:46 UTC May 13-15 Mills On The Air VK SHIRES June 10 and 11. Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest 160/80/40 Saturday night July 15 and Start Time is 08:00 UTC and finish time is 14:00 UTC 10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 5 - 6 WIA's Flagship contest the Remembrance Day Contest 12th & 13th August Mills event to come down under Until now the Mills on the Air weekend in May has been confined to Europe, but an attempt is being made to include Australian mills. Soon to be officially announced is a mill activation in Victoria and encouragement for others in VK to be involved. The weekend of May 13, 14 and 15 will celebrate mainly the heritage aspects of old mills. In Australia these can include woollen mills, flour mills, sugar mills, paper mills, cotton mills and timber mills. More details on what appears to be an interesting development will be on a future broadcast. (Jim Linton VK3PC) VK 9 LN from Lord Howe Island only until 27th September and mainly CW on 40m to 10m. QSL to his home call NI 1 L XW 4 XR Bruce is in Laos until 30th September. QSL Manager for XW 4 XR is E 21 EIC. Norman Conquest Anniversary The 950th Anniversary of the Norman Invasion of England - the Norman Conquest - will be commemorated by the Phoenix Amateur Radio Club in September and October The commemoration starts with the Battles of Fulford and Stamford Bridge through to 26th September. This will be followed by a Battle of Hastings commemoration on 14th to 16th October. Call signs are MX 0 PHX and MX 0 YHA and operations will be subject to prevailing conditions on the HF bands. A very special high resolution downloadable certificate is available on the PARC website for all contacts. More information about the activities can be found at http://www.phoenixarc.org.uk/ https://twitter.com/M0PHX BELGIUM, ON. Lions Clubs International Belgian Amateur Radio operators are QRV as OR 100 LCI until March 2017 to mark its 100th anniversary. Activity is on the HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via ON 8 ZL. We often mention LoTW.. or LOG BOOK OF THE AIR Well as of 1400 UTC on January 16, 2017, ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW) no longer will accept contacts that have been digitally signed by versions of T.Q.S.L. earlier than version 2.0. Users of earlier versions are encouraged to upgrade as soon as possible, as older T.Q.S.L. versions contain uncorrected defects and display inaccurate error messages. The current versions of T.Q.S.L. for Windows, OS X, and Linux are available online. To date, LoTW has confirmed some 135 MILLION contacts for its 90,000 users. — AWARDS Victorian National Parks on the air The Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award activation period is only seven weeks away with 18 unique portable activations registrations so far. More registrations are expected in coming weeks giving an excellent opportunity for activators and chasers alike. The 6th annual KRMNPA activation period is Friday 11th until Monday 14th November, 2016 – put those dates in your calendar now. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DEFENCE We may not yet be able to TRANSMIT on 60 meters here in VK but the opportunity exists to hone our SWL skills by LISTENING. An Amateur Radio-military interoperability exercise will take place October 31 and November 1. The event will begin at 1200 UTC on October 31 and continue through 2359 UTC on November 1 on 60 meter channels 5.3305 MHz 5.3465 MHz 5.3570 MHz 5.3715 MHz During this exercise, military stations will attempt to make radio contact with stations in as many of the 3143 US counties as possible. Radio amateurs providing “county status” information will receive a US Department of Defence “interoperability QSL card.” WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING http://www.scouts.com.au http://www.scout.org/jota http://www.international.scouts.com.au Sam VK6KSA is National Jota Coordinator. CALLING FREQUENCIES Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication. Australian voice calling frequencies: 3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160 World CW calling frequencies: 3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160 World voice calling frequencies: 3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, 50.160 Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV): 3.630, 7.033, 14.227 Calling Frequencies for PSK31 14.070 Jamboree-on-the-Air or JOTA is on third weekend of October Worldwide more than a million Scouts and Guides will soon take part in JOTA via Amateur Radio. JOTA stations are controlled by radio amateurs, although they may not always be heard on microphone. Some Scouts, Guides and their leaders have their own stations, but many take part through local radio clubs and individual radio amateurs. The 59th JOTA will be on October 14 to 16, and may also use vision or digital modes. 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 Search continues for missing aircraft A regular WICEN (NSW) event with the Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad and several others is a search of the Barrington Tops National Park, about 200 kms north of Sydney, looking for the missing aircraft VH-MDX. WICEN (NSW) President Steven Heimann VK2BOS says this exercise searches for the Cessna 210 missing with five people on board in stormy night in August 1981. WICEN was involved in the original search and in the 35 years since. The pilot of VH-MDX took off Proserpine in Far North Queensland, refuelled the last time at Coolangatta in Queensland for Bankstown in New South Wales. Over Barrington Tops he radioed that his aircraft was unstable, losing altitude, may have had a lightning strike and ice on the wings. Steven VK2BOS says about 50 were involved last weekend, but unable to find a trace. In many places they had to cut through thick vines while avoiding Gympie Gympie stinging trees that can result in severe pain for humans that last days or even months. Some 12 from WICEN (NSW) met the communication challenges posed by the extremely rugged terrain. Each volunteer has rain-proof communications and in contact with WICEN (NSW) at several command posts. A Bush Walkers Wilderness Rescue Squad team along with WICEN (NSW) have been conducting a review to narrow down the search area. It also uses LIDAR, a surveying technology of laser scanning or 3D imaging. The plan is to solve the mystery disappearance of VH-MDX - Australia's only unsolved aircraft crash. Steven Heimann VK2BOS told WIA News and Jim Linton IARU Region 3 Chairman, Disaster Communications Committee that those WICEN members present expressed a desire to return next year and continue to chip away at the huge potential search area while developing and maintaining their skills. If you want some more information about the search for VH-MDX check out vhmdx.com.au. If you want some more information about WICEN NSW check out nsw.wicen.org.au. Disasters – are you prepared? One in three Australians will experience a natural disaster, but the Red Cross in launching its national campaign of awareness wants us to all have a written disaster preparedness plan. While emergency services do all they can to help, the Red Cross says the person most responsible for your wellbeing before, during and after an emergency, is you. It has found that those with an updated plan have thought about the consequences, are more confident, and have less stress and anxiety if an emergency occurs. More details are on the Red Cross website (www.redcross.org/get-help/prepare-for-emergencies/be-red-cross-ready) Meantime, National Disaster Preparedness Month in the United States is October, with the focal point of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Simulated Emergency Test being on October 1 and 2. This is when radio amateurs show that they can serve the community with emergency communications and technical expertise, working with many other volunteer groups. They are trained beyond the required minimum to get their licence and can assist disaster responders and welfare agencies. Across the border in Canada about October 8 is a very simular Simulated Emergency Test to prepare for disasters with radio amateurs there also heavily involved. (Jim Linton VK3PC, IARU Region 3 Chairman, Disaster Communications Committee.) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) Transatlantic tests on 144 MHz conducted between Namibia and Brazil with Marcos Turbo, PY1MHZ. Marcos went down to the sea early in August, but while testing the wind picked up very strongly, trees were uprooted, and he had to pack up and move inland. So no signals were received during the early tests. They are going to try again in January 2017 when weather conditions would be a lot better. (sarl) SOCIAL SCENE 2016 Sep 23-25 VK4 Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM weekend Lake Maraboon Holiday Village, near Emerald. (theTARCinc) Sep-Oct 30-3 VK4 Cardwell Gathering Long Weekend, Beachcomber Motel(theTARCinc) Oct 16 VK3 BARG HamFest Ballarat (ARMAG) The Ballarat Amateur Radio Group is holding their annual Hamvention on Sunday, October 16, same as last year -- the greyhound racing track facilities, Rubicon Street, Redan Ballarat. Full details are on the website www.barg.org.au Nov 6 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am (VK5KC) Nov 26 VK3 Rosebud RadioFest 9:30 am till 2pm (vk3pdg) Nov 26 VK7 Miena HamFest Saturday 26th. (vk7wi txt) 2017 Feb 26th Central Coast Field Day, WYONG enter at 8:30am (vk2dls) March 26 VK3 EMDRC HamFest, Great Ryrie Primary School, Heathmont (VK3BQ) Ap 28- May 1 VK4 Clairview Gathering between Rockhampton and Mackay (TARC) May 19 VK WIA AGM Hahndorf some 25km from Adelaide (vk5kc) Aug/Sep date to be advised - ALARAMEET 2017 in Cairns (vk4swe) Submitting news items A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't plug commercial traders "on air", but we at the WIA will put your supporters in this text edition "no worries." 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 and don't JUST send url's links but take the time to pen YOUR contribution. 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