SEP 17 2017 - 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 SEPTEMBER 17 2017. IN OUR 22nd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA DIRECTOR GREG KELLY ON AR MAGAZINES 6 ISSUE PER YEAR, ON INCREASE TO EXAMINATION FEES AND OTHER MONETRY ISSUES. - JOTA COMETH, Brett Nicholas VK2BNN Scouts Australia National co-ordinator and Lorraine O’Hare VK2FICQ Girl Guides Australia National JOTA-JOTI Co-ordinator. THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2017 AND FOR WEEK OFSEP 17 AROUND VK Last week we spoke of the 2 Community Licenses not being renewed by ACMA. Now comes word HAWKESBURY’S three Rotary Clubs will be applying for a temporary licence after Hawkesbury Radio’s licence lapses next month. Assistant governor of the Hawkesbury clubs, Rod Rose, said the radio station was a crucial service for their community which was why the Windsor, Richmond and Kurrajong-North Richmond Rotary Clubs wanted to ensure it continued. “Like your newspaper, it provides information about fires and floods, and has been going for 35 years,” he said. “It also provides essential advertising for our Rotary clubs." The Rotary application will be backed up by solid experience – and equipment. Mr Rose was the original chairman of Hawkesbury Radio in the early 80s when it was still broadcasting from Richmond School of Arts. He was involved with the station for five years before the RAAF posted him back to Melbourne. When asked what the Rotary station might be called, he said the current name was the best. Applications for a temporary licence for 89.9FM close on September 22. Forms are available on the ACMA website. (Gazette) ACMA pushing forward on 5G spectrum planning The Australian Communications and Media Authority, at a recent ACMA spectrum tune-up session, proposed to accelerate the auction of the millimetre wave spectrum for 5G broadband. The meeting was attended by the communications industry including WIA representative Dale Hughes VK1DSH. He notes that the ACMA has now issued a consultation paper on the topic and invited comments by October 13. In particular, the ACMA wants to know if the 26 GHz band (24.25-27.5 GHz) should be available for 5G broadband purposes. Dale VK1DSH said the amateur service has a primary allocation 24 to 24.05 GHz and a secondary allocation 24.05 to 24.25 GHz. While not directly affected by the ACMA proposal, it is possible there might be adjacent band interference issues. ACMA Acting Chairman, Richard Bean said the millimetre wave bands presented a great opportunity for the Australian community to enjoy the benefits of early uptake of new technology. He said that given increasing interest in that spectrum for 5G, both domestically and internationally, coupled with relatively limited incumbency, make it a likely candidate for early release. The ACMA usually waits on the outcome of the ITU World Radiocommunications Conference, but the next one is in late in 2019. (Jim Linton VK3PC) Hi, this is Greg VK2GPK, with this week’s comment from the WIA board. (This report happens in our audio news at the 30 minute point) This week I am going to talk about the finances and the future of the WIA, and some of the hard decisions we have already made to ensure the WIA continues as a relevant and viable organisation into the future. It is now 100 days, or just over three months, since the current WIA board has been in place. In that time, we have gone on a journey of discovery of the the reach and range of various issues and challenges facing the WIA now and in the near future. It has also taken a few weeks for the board – who met face-to-face for the first time at the 2017 WIA AGM - to settle in and operate as a cohesive group, which, I am glad to say, is now the case. That doesn’t mean we agree on everything, - the discussions are lively and constructive – and this board definitely does not suffer from “group think”! In my last broadcast 6 weeks ago, I stated the the WIA has been operating at a loss for the past few years of approximately $50,000 pa. and that the magazine was the major expense of the WIA with an expenditure of $180,000 last financial year. By the way, the WIA’s financial year is January 1 to December 31. So when we started after the AGM, we were already half-way through the financial year, with forward contracts that limited our immediate scope for change – plus we needed to do due diligence on the likely impacts of changes. We “triaged” the issues facing the WIA, giving urgent priority to maintaining the WIA as a “going concern” – this was in no way assured at the time we took control of the WIA. The scope of these urgent priorities focus on budget control expense reduction, meeting our contractual obligations with ACMA, getting governance formalised to corporate standards and getting member feedback on our initiatives. This has been our focus to now and will continue as our prime focus into the near future. The focus on governance led us to constitute the the Audit and Risk committee and the Strategy committee as sub-committees of the board. – these two committees are “best practice” governance approaches and based on the ASX recommended guidelines for Australian corporations. This week the board acted on AR magazines future, taking into account cost saving input from the publications team, contract change lead-times, and feedback from members on the continuation of a paper magazine. As result we have now directed that the number of issues change from 11 to 6, stating with the first issue 2018 in February. This will hopefully produce cost savings in the vicinity of 30% for the full 2018 Financial year – it will have no impact this FY. A few members of the WIA board, including myself, and a past Treasurer (2009 -2015) have been in a series of meetings with ACMA to finalise issues raised by ACMA of “under-recovery” of WIA costs in servicing the ACMA contract (known as the ACMA deed”) for the 2016 FY. The past-Treasurer was involved at the request of the directors due to his historical knowledge and prior involvement with the initial implementations of the contract and has helped considerably in the resolution of this issue.. Under the contract, the WIA is expected to operate the Licence and exam functions we carry out on ACMA’s behalf at cost-recovery only. That is that the fees we charge should cover our costs without either a significant under or over recovery – a small percentage, say 5%, either way is fine. Our current under recovery is around 20%. This has occurred for two reasons: the number of exams has dropped and time and costs of servicing the licence component of the contract have increased. The licence costs we charge have, in many cases, not even gone close to recovering our costs. For instance, a standard “random” licence issue is priced at $5 – this typically involves multiple phone calls, ACMA contact, 3 or more emails! The real cost of this is many times what we currently charge. As a result, the board has agreed in principle, after discussions with and support of ACMA, to increase the ACMA contract charges – which haven’t changed since 2009 – by an inflation related adjustment of around 15% or so. We will also rebalance the charges to more close relate to the real cost. We are hoping to keep entry level exam and licence rises minimal, if any. Whilst these increases will not be popular, as directors, it is our fiduciary responsibility to make these changes. We will advise these changes prior to the end of the year, most likely to take effect January 2018. With these changes made, and membership levels holding steady (or hopefully better), the WIA WILL return to cash flow positive from early 2018. This is will be a major milestone for us as a board. Finally, from me on financial issues facing the board, we have found issues with the treatment of accruals in this year accounts, which have been recorded under cash accounting rather than as accruals.. The most significant impact of this is on how 5 year memberships, which are effectively future dated income, are treated in the accounts. It doesn’t affect the cash flow of the WIA in any way, but does impact the Profit/Loss reporting – although as a Not-for-profit we technically only have surpluses or losses not profits. The impact is that the interim first half year results we inherited from the prior board actually show an incorrect “notional” profit – the underlying cash flow for the the WIA is negative as I have advised prior and that WIA will end the FY year with a loss. How this change to the accounts happened is unclear, and given the revolving door of treasurers in 2016, it may remain unclear. What is clear is that whomever made the change to the account treatment in MYOB (the accounting package) did not understand accrual accounting. We have a small finance working group addressing this now and we will publish the original half year results and the adjusted results with the accruals reinstated when completed. It is for this reason we have not as yet appointed a Treasurer or CFO, and even if we did, the board cannot abdicate its responsibility to resolve this issue. As a director, all I can say is “are we having fun yet” and the answer is in the negative. Once we have secured the future of the WIA as “going-concern” by addressing the urgent priority areas I mentioned prior, we move onto the next focus area. That is the “re-invention” of the WIA into a more agile and relevant organisation for the 21sm century – a “non-trivial” task – and not something that is achieved overnight – or ever finished, for that matter. This is where the WIA strategy committee will get traction over the coming months This includes actions to re-invigorate the various committees – some which are dysfunctional and haven’t met for over 18 months. The web site is also in need of a refresh, whilst it has a huge amount of great information, there is a lot of no-longer-current information that needs to be reviewed and updated. We ask for your patience, as we can’t address everything immediately. These tasks take time and dedicated volunteers. As I have said before, the WIA is totally volunteer organisation, with the exception of two full-time office staff, and needs YOU! All our volunteer positions are now going up on SEEK volunteer. Check it out. Greg Kelly VK2GPK WIA Director INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, WIA Local News Service VK7, VK3PC and the WW sources of the WIA. Both professional and citizen scientists conducted formal and informal investigations into the effect of the August 21 solar eclipse on HF radio propagation. Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, of HamSCI, has said it will take some time to get a more scientific analysis of data that was compiled during the Solar Eclipse QSO Party. He and others are investigating whether the sudden absence of sunlight during the eclipse -- and especially of solar ultra-violet and x-rays would briefly change the properties of the upper atmosphere. Professional ionospheric researcher Dr. Phil Erickson, W1PJE, head of the Atmospheric Sciences Group at MIT's Haystack Observatory, said he can say categorically that there WAS a definite, large, and measurable effect in the ionosphere from the eclipse. Canada's new radio telescope starts mapping the universe Engadget reports that on September 7th, an extraordinarily powerful radio telescope has begun listening to the sounds of the universe from Canada. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment or CHIME will help scientists learn more about the history of the cosmos, radio bursts from pulsars and gravitational waves, the ripples in spacetime whose existence were finally confirmed by scientists in 2016. CHIME looks like a collection of four 100-meter-long skateboarding halfpipes, but they weren't made for anybody to skate on. They were built over the past seven years to hear very weak signals from the universe and to gather one terabyte of information per second all day, every day. ONE TERABITE PER SECOND! That means it's constantly creating and updating a massive 3D map of space. When the 50 Canadian scientists from the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, McGill University and the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) started conceptualizing the project, there was no system that could handle that amount of information. Thanks to advances in video game hardware, the system now exists. Since 1 TB per second is pretty insane, CHIME compresses the info it gathers by a factor of 100,000 first before saving files on disks. Now that it's up and working, CHIME is ready to work towards achieving its primary goal: measuring the acceleration of the universe's expansion. An accurate measurement of the expansion will help scientists figure out what causes it, whether it's actually the mysterious form of energy that's believed to be permeating space called "dark energy" or something else. By extension, the telescope's data could one day confirm if dark energy truly exists. Full article and picture at https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/08/canada-chime-radio-telescope/ Astronomers hunting for signs of intelligent alien life have recorded 15 mysterious radio signals coming from a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light years away. The signals were picked up by a team at the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, part of the Breakthrough Listen project co-launched by Professor Stephen Hawking in 2015. Although the latest fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are unlikely to have come from an alien civilisation, the researchers say it proves their equipment is working and ready to pick up signs of life if they exist. FRBs are radio signals from deep space that last for just milliseconds. The new bursts came from an unknown source, named FRB 121102, discovered in 2012. At first scientists thought the signals were the fallout from a catastrophic event, such as a supernova, but when they were recorded again in 2015 and 2016 it suggested that whatever object produced them was still there. afr.com/technology/calling-earth-radio-signals-detected-from-3-billion-light-years-away-20170904-gyakqn#ixzz4sM7scqln YES MINISTER! Radio ham stands in parliamentary election 'Stuff' reports New Zealand radio amateur Basil Lawrence ZL2LBJ is running for election to parliament Mike Watson writes: In a dusty, cramped kitchen, surrounded by radio transmitters and cardboard boxes of files, electorate candidate for New Plymouth, Basil Lawrence is plotting his campaign strategy. The pensioner has handed over the $300 deposit to the Electoral Commission to stand for parliament. Now it's all systems go in spite of his budget being virtually non-existent. There are no billboards erected, newspaper ads, or flyers delivered to letter boxes. Instead the amateur radio enthusiast will spread his political word at local candidate meetings, or by talking to friends in the street, or to neighbours across the fence. It's a David and Goliath scenario - an underfunded independent candidate battling the giant party machines of the bigger candidates, the stuff of true democracy. Maybe a TRUE ham in parliament soon? --- ZL2LBJ Read the full story stuff.co.nz/national/politics/96659851/independent-candidate-undeterred-of-being-trampled-underneath-the-party-machines Who and Where are our broadcast stations? http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/ HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT All major Australian contests, rules and results, are on the Contest Section of the WIA website. wia.org.au/members/contests/about 2017 October CQ WW DX / SSB CONTEST (always Octobers Last full weekend) November CQ WW DX / CW CONTEST (always Novembers Last full weekend) The SSB weekend is October 29-30. The CW weekend is November 26-27. Running ALL year 'til Dec 31 Victorian Local Government Award 2017 Challenge 2018 John Moyle Memorial Field Day will be held over the weekend of the 17th-18th March 2018 and will run from UTC 0100 on the Saturday until 0059 on the Sunday. IARU HF Championship event on 15 and 16 July. The 21st International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is on August 18 to 19, 2018 In Repeater news - PARROT REPEATER: Polly? It's a cracker! In Lismore NSW the SARC's parrot repeater VK2SRC operates on 146.575 MHz. The 25W FM signal comes from an Omni antenna on the tower at their clubroom. It records up to 3 minutes of audio and plays it back. You can use it to: Check your 'getting out'. Check your own voice modulation. Check and set up your SSTV signals. Check your own digital transmissions. In Special Event news, the Wireless Association of New York City’s WA2NYC Commemorates 9/11 Anniversary WA2NYC has been on the air since September 8 to commemorate the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001. “This station commemorates the 16th anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York City,” said the post on the club’s QRZ.com website. “We remember the over twenty-nine hundred people who lost their lives on that day.” The special event is operating on or near 7.220, 14.265, 21.350, and 28.450 MHz. Note that 14.265 MHz is the operating frequency of the Salvation Army Team Emergency Network (SATERN), which holds a daily net on that frequency and has been on alert for IRMA and other related emergency traffic. In the UK they have a series of Permanent Special Event Stations. A permanent special event station is one that is usually set up at a fixed venue or recurring event and because of that is given a callsign of its own that always stays the same. Many of these permanent special event stations are set up in museums or other historical sights of amateur radio interest which can be visited. If you visit any of these places of interest, it may be useful to take your UK licence validation document with you, as you may be allowed to operate the station during your visit. SOME OF THE STATIONS ARE GB0IWM Imperial War Museum GB0REM Royal Engineers Museum, Brompton Barracks, Chatham, Kent GB0SNB Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker, Kelvedon Hatch, Brentwood, Essex GB0SUB Submarine ARC, HMS Collingwood, Newgate Lane, Fareham, Hants GB0SWR Sir Walter Raleigh (ship, occasional use) GB2AIR South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum, Sandy Lane, Doncaster, South Yorks GB2BP Bletchley Park Museum, Milton Keynes, Bucks. To avoid disappointment check with the station operators beforehand to see if it is possible to operate from the station on the day of your visit. MEDIA WATCH or is it REWIND Here's where Cold War 'Numbers Stations' Broadcast to Spies' in Secret Codes. If you tuned into just the right shortwave radio frequency in the 1970s, you might have heard a creepy computerized voice reading out a string of numbers. It was the Cold War, and the coded messages were rumored to be secret intelligence broadcasts from "number stations" located around the globe. Photographer Lewis Bush is obsessed with these stations to “an almost irrational degree" and hunts them down in Shadows of the State, featuring 30 composite satellite images of alleged number stations from Germany to Australia. The series took two years and endless research. “It’s a difficult project to quantify in terms of man hours wasted on it,” he says. Bush read about the stations online in 2012 and began tracking them down, from research done by radio enthusiasts, hints in Cold War memoirs and information in declassified documents. Once Bush locked into the general location, he often spent hours scouring Google Earth for transmitters and sites of former transmitters, keeping an eye out for clues like antennas, discolored grass, and metal rods poking out of the ground. Shadows of the State will be published by Brave Books in December 2017. Bush is also raising funds on Kickstarter for an interactive companion website. (wired.com) INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE Region III IARUMS Coordinator Peter Young VK3MV VK IARUMS reflector email to subscribe intruders@wia.org.au SUBMITTING a report? go to http://www.wia.org.au/members/protecting/intruderreport/ INTRUDER NETS Friday 0730 UTC 7.065.5 with VK4CEU David. Amateur exclusive frequencies where any non-amateur signal is definitely an intruder. Amateur HF Spectrum world wide 7.050 to 7.100 14.000 to 14.250 14.250 to 14.350 No broadcasters 21.000 to 21.450 24.890 to 24.990 28.000 to 29.700 Electric cars are greater threat to amateur radio than PLT SARL News reports electric cars, or at least the charging stations, pose a greater threat to amateur radio than Power Line Telecommunication (PLT) also known as Broadband Powerline (BPL) The looming problem was extensively discussed at the IARU EMC committee meeting and there is currently no consensus amongst various technical bodies such as ETSI, CEPT, CIPR and ITU about the inference limits. One of the problems the committee identified is that the delegations who attend these meetings are not necessarily people experienced in radio and telecommunications and are more concerned about how fast these electric car batteries can be charged. This is one of the aspects that will be discussed at the IARU Region 1 meeting with a call to mobilise national societies to start talking with their standard bodies. In IARU news we learn they are watching wireless charging technology The International Amateur Radio Union is considering the issue of Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) as it continues to prepare for the ITU World Radiocommications Conference in 2019 (WRC-19). This is subject to WRC-19 agenda item 9.1.6 that addresses the issue of Wireless Power Transmission (WPT) for electric vehicles. The agenda will consider the effect the technology will have on radiocommunication services and it aims to propose harmonised frequency ranges for WPT, which would minimise any impact on existing services. WPT technology has the potential to recharge the batteries of electric vehicles that are stationary, or in motion, without a direct electrical connection. The technology seeks to transfer energy using a wireless link, and this may mean the energy is received at multiple points. WPT systems are likely to operate a high power levels so have the possibility of causing harmful interference to radiocommunication. This needs careful consideration and there is no firm agreement on its potential to cause interference to existing radio spectrum users. Those promoting WPT technology are putting an emphasis on how fast batteries can be charged and the convenience of a wireless connection. Work on this issue has been underway at the ITU for some time and a report on it is available for free download. Just Google ITU report SM.2392-0 “Applications of wireless power transmission via radio frequency beam”. This report provides a lot of information on WPT systems and it is currently being revised to include material directly relevant to WRC-19. ( SARL news Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV and Jim Linton VK3PC ) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DEFENCE Technology News 'Fight Recorder' will act as emergency beacon In a story filed to Amateur Radio Newsline by our Editor VK4BB, Graham says a collaboration between Defence and Industry will develop the equivalent of a Black Box for soldiers, known as the ‘Fight Recorder’. Two industry partners will receive $700,000 from the federal government’s Next Generation Technologies Fund, which launched in March this year, to fully develop the product. GRAHAM's REPORT: Most of us know what a beacon can do for amateur radio but a new device to be worn by members of the military give beacon operation a bit more of an urgent role. Its creators are calling it "The Fight Recorder" and it's to be worn by soldiers in combat, enabling low-earth orbit satellites to pinpoint casualties when they occur. In addition its geolocation function, the Fight Recorder will also collect data useful in reconstructing whatever encounter may have preceded the casualty. The device is the result of a partnership between Australia's Ministry for Defence Industry and two companies. Myriota, an Adelaide telecommunications company, is teaming up with IMeasureU an Auckland, New Zealand company that deals in wearable technology. The Fight Recorder—bringing ‘dustoff ‘ to a great new height! For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp VK4BB. "DUSTOFF" is the callsign specific to U.S. Army Air Ambulance units. DUSTOFF is an backronym meaning Dedicated Unhesitating Service To Our Fighting Forces. (Sourced from the Critical Comms Web E-zine via vk7news written by ARNewsline) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER Students from India & Russia build SSTV CubeSat The Times of India reports students from Russia and India are building an amateur radio satellite that will transmit SSTV images from space. The 1U CubeSat Iskra-5 is being built by 20 students from Moscow Aviation Institute and 9 from Indian cities like Chennai and Bangalore through Space Kidz India to mark the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relationship between the two countries. The satellite will be transported to the International Space Station by mid-October, 2017 through cargo spacecraft from where it will be placed in orbit by a cosmonaut during a spacewalk. The Iskra satellites were a series of Soviet amateur communication satellites built by students and radio amateurs at the Moscow Aviation Institute in the early 1980s. Srimathy Kesan, founder, Space Kidz India said that the subsystems in the satellite being built in MAI is made by Russian students while the outer cube has been designed by Indian students. [ANS thanks AMSAT UK for the above information] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING http://www.scouts.com.au http://www.scout.org/jota http://www.international.scouts.com.au 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 Hi my name is Brett Nicholas VK2BNN and I have been recently appointed as the Scouts Australia National co-ordinator for Jamboree On The Air also known as JOTA. My name is Lorraine O’Hare VK2FICQ and I am the Girl Guides Australia National JOTA-JOTI Co-ordinator. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Amateurs who have assisted with JOTA in the past and encourage both individuals and clubs to get involved with this year’s event. This year JOTA will be held on the weekend of the 20th to the 22nd of October. This year is a very special year. We are celebrating the 60th anniversary since Les Mitchell G3BHK (SK), Len Jarrett VE3MYF and their radio-scouting friends organised the first event in 1958. Who could have imagined that there will be well over one million Girl Guides and Scouts spread over more than 150 countries participating 60 years later. JOTA is fast approaching and it’s time to start putting plans together and get moving with this year’s event. If you haven’t participated before then the 60th anniversary is a great year to give it a go. Check out the September issue of AR magazine for an article with further information on Jamboree On The Air. If you need assistance to contacting your local Scout Group or require further information Scouts Australia has a JOTA-JOTI coordinator in each state who can assist you. Contact details for the Branch Co-ordinators can be found on the Scouts Australia web site in the International Scouting section. The easiest way to find this information is to google JOTA contacts Scouts Australia. It comes up as the second hit in my browser. If all else fails please feel free to contact myself via email at jota.joti@scouts.com.au Each state also has a Girl Guides JOTA-JOTI co-ordinator. Their contact details can similarly be found by searching Girl Guides Australia JOTA online. This should take you to the Girl Guides Australia website which has a JOTA-JOTI web page under the international Guiding tab. Otherwise you can contact myself via email at JOTAJOTI@girlguides.org.au Once again the Girl Guides and Scouts of Australia would like to thank the Amateur Radio community for their continuing support of this great annual event. Thanks and 73. 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 Hurricanes and an earthquake – hams help in disasters Hurricane Irma left significant damage in Florida after tracking through a string of Caribbean islands, killing at least 40 people and leaving more than 7.3 million without power. A state of emergency continues in Southern Mexico as new aftershocks occurred 3 days back in the wake of that magnitude 8.1 earthquake last Thursday week. The aftershocks were in the coastal zone of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Preliminary reports indicate a magnitude 5.0 temblor 35 kilometres to the south of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca; a 4.7 magnitude aftershock 125 kilometres southwest of Tonala, Chiapas, and a 4.6 temblor 115 kilometres southwest of Pijijiapan, Chiapas. There does not appear to be any danger of significant damage from these aftershocks. The National Emergency Net could activate on 7.060 and 14.120 MHz. Clear frequencies would be appreciated. The full story of Amateur Radio’s involvement in providing emergency communications during the disaster is now starting to emerge. As Hurricane Irma hit Florida the Hardee County Emergency Operations Centre relied on the APRS data stations to decide when to send fire and ambulance crews back on the road. A repeater went off due to power failure, but the ingenuity of radio amateurs listening to the repeater input and transmitting on the output maintained communications through the storm. The SKYWARN Net was active gathering severe weather reports, and Florida’s Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) was running a coordination and assistance net to help communicate between the Emergency Operation Centres. Throughout the Caribbean there was involvement by radio amateurs not only for Irma, but the following Hurricanes Katia, and Jose. Preceding them was powerful Hurricane Harvey. The weather systems smashed through tropical paradises such as Saint Barts and Saint Martin, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the Turks and Caicos. Carlos Alberto CO2JC of Cuba has reported involvement in the disaster. Cubans in coastal towns on the Camaguey archipelago faced a Category 5 storm uprooting trees and power lines, and blowing off rooftops. ( from material by RNE Board of Directors via Zian Julio Aguirre Taboada, XE1ATZ and Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee ) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - LOW DOWN Maritime Mobile Operation on LF May be a First for Amateur Radio What began as a “let’s-see-if-we-can-do-this” effort has resulted in successful Amateur Radio contacts on 475 kHz by two Canadian operators aboard the sailing vessel Hakuna Matata off the coast of British Columbia. The accomplishment may be an Amateur Radio first. Mark Mattila, VA7MM, and Toby Haynes, VE7CNF, equipped Mattila’s 31-foot offshore-equipped sloop with the gear necessary to make maritime mobile operation possible on 630 meters. The vessel already had a 46-foot mast with an insulated backstay antenna for marine and ham radio communication. Critical were the antenna and RF grounding systems. The actual radiating element was a 38-foot long piece of #14 wire attached to the highest point on the mast. Grounding was accomplished by using the vessel’s cast-steel keel and a couple of 30-foot wires, near, the gunwales. (ARRL) GET YOUR HAM LICENCE Visit the WIA website, wia.org.au To find A Club And Course Near You http://www.wia.org.au/licenses/foundation/learningorganisers/ To make a general enquiry https://www.wia.org.au/discover/sendinfo/publicenquiry/ CANBERRA email education@crarc.ampr.org for further information. AMATEUR RADIO NEW SOUTH WALES:- ARNSW 63 Quarry Rd Dural, email for details on education@arnsw.org.au Bookings can be made by phoning the office on 02 9651 1490 and leaving contact details. AMATEUR RADIO VICTORIA CONTACT:- Amateur Radio Victoria 40G Victory Boulevard, Ashburton, vk3pv@amateurradio.com.au or phone Barry on 0428 516 001. SOCIAL SCENE 2017 Hamfest pushes a good message The Shepparton and District Amateur Radio Club used its annual Hamfest last Sunday to score good promotion for the hobby. The North-Central Victoria daily newspaper, Shepparton News, carried a pictorial story in the print edition and on-line version looking at the Hamfest and what is Amateur Radio. SANDARC Secretary Andy Ashley VK3AJA said the meet had been held annually for the past 30 years attracting interest from across Victoria. His message was very clear that although Amateur Radio had started 100 years ago, it makes those involved learn about modern things and techniques. Andy VK3AJA told the Shepparton News reporter Tara Whitsed, that Amateur Radio played an important role in times of natural disasters. He says you can talk to people around the world from your bedroom, or even further, you can speak to astronauts on the International Space Station. Also Andy VK3AJA told of a Melbourne-based group who succeeded in getting a school principal to add ham radio to the curriculum as an elective subject. The article gave an overview of the Hamfest held last Sunday at the St Augustine’s Hall, Orr Street, Shepparton. (Jim Linton VK3PC) Sep29-Oct2 VK4 Cardwell Gathering (tarc) Oct 29 VK3 Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group HAMFEST 10:00am at the Gary Cooper Pavilion, Yarra Glen. "Hi, this is Craig (VK3WAR) on behalf of the Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group. Join us on Sunday October the 29th for our annual Hamfest at the Gary Cooper Pavilion in Yarra Glen. Doors open from 10am to 2pm. Entrance fee of $7.00 include tea and coffee. For table bookings phone Colin (VK3CNW) on 0423 535 988. Hope to see you there on Sunday October the 29th." Nov 5 VK3 BARG Hamvention greyhound racing track, Ballarat. (wia events) Nov 12 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am (vk5kc) Nov 12 VK3 Rosebud's annual celebration of all things Amateur Radio (wia) 2018 Feb 25 VK2 Wyong Field Day (VK2AOR) March 25 VK3 EMDRC HamFest - Great Ryrie Primary School, Heathmont. 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