Feb 25 2018 - 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 FEBRUARY 25 2018. IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS In this edition we will cover….. Jim Linton VK3PC Silent Key WIA Board Comment from Peter VK8ZZ Callbacks calbacks everywhere When all else fails Wire Power Transfer – the new BPL! Bouvet Island and Serious Fines VK3RWO & VK2RBB repeaters Meet the Voice in VK7 The John Moyle in Townsville Byrd’s Morse Key and ANZAC CW and AM YL’s around the world Social Scene We finish with the Thingaverse and amateur radio THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF FEB 25 Jim Linton VK3PC Silent Key It is with sadness on todays news broadcast we report the passing of  Jim Linton VK3PC. Jim our WIA Secretary died on Thursday, the 22nd of February following a short battle with thyroid cancer. Jim, who was one of the WIA's longest-serving office holders, joined the organization as a teenager and an enthusiastic shortwave listener. A career journalist with 3UZ Nilsen's Broadcasting Service and later AAP news agency and various trade magazines, he became a senior newsman covering the major stories of the day. His active life in amateur radio included the presidency of WIA Victoria, WIA Federal Councillor, news editor of Amateur Radio magazine and guest editor. Known as a ham with a strong volunteer spirit, he was the WIA Exam Service inaugural assessor for VK3 and a WIA team member for a number of IARU Region 3 triennial conferences, IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee Chairman and the WIA IARU Liaison.  As well as an honorary life member of the WIA Jim received the highest honour in 2011: the GA Taylor Medal as well as the Chris Jones Award in 2015 for his exceptional contributions to the WIA and to amateur radio. Jim Linton was age 71 . Vale Jim Linton VK3PC. An Apology We start this week’s bulletin with an apology to Keith Bainbridge VK6KB. The VHF Path Between Australia and South Africa story last week that we sourced from the South African Radio League had some unfortunate errors. Keith was reported as Ken who was originally VK6XH and Keith was the spokesperson for the Northern Corridor Radio Group not the West Australian Radio Group. Apologies Keith and thanks for the correction. And now across to Peter VK8ZZ for the WIA Board Comment…. WIA Good Morning I am Peter, VK8ZZ from Darwin up in Australia’s North. The WIA offer affiliated clubs an inexpensive Public Liability Insurance. The policy on offer through the WIA has significantly discounted premiums when compared with alternative individual policies which clubs could obtain. This is because the WIA takes out an overarching policy, and is therefore able to negotiate reduced premiums. It comes down simply to group buying power. Public Liability Insurance for $10 million or optionally $20 million is available to clubs that wish to join in this group policy. The current Public Liability Insurance policy expires on 1st April 2018, so it is important to renew as soon as possible. Recently the Executive Officer of the WIA sent out an email to member clubs. The email requested specific information to enable the renewal of each club partaking in the insurance scheme. The renewal information should be submitted in the next few weeks. Details of the Insurance Policy and the form required for Insurance renewal are available on the WIA web site under “Affiliated Club Support” Next I want touch on the 2018 AGM. As the Acting Secretary of the WIA I can advise that the Board of Directors have commenced preparation their Directors Report. We are also in the process of gathering reports from the chair of the various WIA Committees and Sub-Committees for publication. These will be published well ahead of the AGM. The WIA is company incorporated under the Corporations Law and is a company limited by Guarantee. Our revenue is below the threshold where we need to have the institute’s accounts audited. Indeed the institute’s financial statements need only be reviewed. However at its December meeting the Board passed a motion that resolved to have the Annual Financial Report for 2017 audited rather than reviewed. This Audit is currently underway. The Directors Report, Annual Financial Report, and Audit Report will all be made available on the WIA web site well ahead of the AGM. Members requiring a paper copy will need to make a written request to the national office. This year we will be looking to make some small changes to the WIA Constitution. These changes will seek to update the constitution by removing some outdated details which are no longer relevant in 2018. Such outdated information includes the names of the first Board of Directors as well as the initial membership subscription fees. The constitution will also be changed to allow for some form of electronic voting at some time in the future. Details of the proposed changes will be included in the March / April edition of Amateur Radio Magazine as well as being posted on the WIA web site, well ahead of the AGM 2018 WIA Radio and Electronics Convention and AGM Reminder that registrations are now open and they have been flooding in. The 2018 WIA Radio and Electronics Convention and AGM is being held at the SeaWorld Resort on Queensland's Gold Coast. The venue is located in the heart of the Gold Coast, with easy access from the airport and to a wide range of hotel accommodation and with parking nearby. For those arriving at the Gold Coast on Friday evening the traditional informal dinner and get together is being held at Fisherman's Wharf Tavern, which is located near Sea World on Main Beach. The evening meal will be of your choice and budget. On Saturday morning at 9am the formal WIA AGM and Open Forum will take place in SeaWorld's conference centre. This important event will be followed by an eye opening afternoon program themed "Beyond 2020”. A commemorative activity to launch the armistice is to be announced by the WIA. The afternoon program will include guest speakers presenting on some cutting edge technologies as well as a range of strategy workshops providing members with the opportunity to share their views and ideas for the shaping the future of the WIA beyond 2020. Saturday will also offer a range of relaxing activities for the partners including Sea World tours and other visits. At 7pm on Saturday evening the traditional WIA Annual Dinner will take place. The dinner is being held at SeaWorld's Shoreline Restaurant, featuring the restaurants signature seafood buffet. During the evening guests will be privileged to hear from Jeff Johnson VK4XJJ as he talks to us about his walk across Australia with Amateur Radio. Partners and friend are invited to join in the WIA Annual Dinner, seats are available for just $85 per person. (Beer, wine and soft drinks will be available for purchase on the night.) On Sunday morning consider trying something different, and join us for an early morning Champagne and Breakfast Hot Air Balloon Ride. Consider taking your radio with you and discover how far for you can work from such heights. Sunday morning will also feature tours of the Queensland Telecommunications Museum, a tour of the Surf Life Saving Command Centre, plus a variety of demonstrations and displays of Amateur Radio equipment. There will be a Microwave shootout, talks on a range of interesting topics plus displays of latest radio equipment by some of our leading commercial suppliers. And last but not least, for those not traveling back to their home QTH on Sunday afternoon, you are invited to join us for a free BBQ dinner courtesy of the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society. Further information and the Full weekend program with online registration form is now available on the WIA Website at the link on the email edition of this broadcast. https://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/2018agm/ Callbacks callbacks everywhere! A huge thank you to many organisations and individuals who send their WIA National News callback numbers through to Nationalnews@wia.org.au each week. It is really appreciated. We are working to get things back on track in the callback statistics area and acknowledge the offer of help from Gordon Taylor VK4VP and Peter Fauth VK4NBL. Gordon and Peter working through all the callbacks that have been sent in and updating the tally sheet and there will be see regular callback tallies very soon. To streamline the callbacks process we have created a separate callbacks email address: That is: callbacks@wia.org.au In future can those stations who provide callback statistics please send your callback reports through to this address instead of the nationalnews email address. 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. Amateur becomes Harvard President A radio amateur, Lawrence Bacow, KA1FZQ has been selected to become the 29th president of Harvard University. He was selected from among a field of some 700 candidates and will take office on the 1st of July. (Sourced from the RSGB News) When All Else Fails….. Dave Sumner, K1ZZ the IARU Secretary recently highlighted a video piece from the NBC Left Field News Team who have published a great promotional video on the work that the Hawaii’s ham radio operators undertake. The story line follows the recent false missile attack message in Hawaii and the very well organised EmComm organisation that exists on Hawaii that is run by amateur radio operators. It is well worth the 7 minute watch. Link: https://youtu.be/dO09aMGMizM (Sourced from the IARU Mailing List) We thought BPL was bad – now we have wireless power transmission for electric vehicles. Staying with the IARU and moving to Region 3 – Ken Yamamoto who is the Secretary for Region 3 highlights the concern about wireless power transmission for electric vehicles. Agenda item 9.1.6 at the World Radio Conference 2019 relates to Studies concerning Wireless Power Transmission for electric vehicles (WPT). These studies will assess the impact of WPT for electric vehicles on radiocommunication services and study suitable harmonized frequency ranges which would minimize the impact on radiocommunication services from WPT for electrical vehicles. These studies should take into account that the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) are in the process of approving standards intended for global and regional harmonization of WPT technologies for electric vehicles. There is a real concern about limiting the spurious emissions from these systems because of the projected density of installations. The existing limits were not set with 24/7 wideband, high power, high deployment density devices in mind. The amateur service needs to seek assurances from national administrations that they will properly protect radio services. At present the spurious emission limits being quoted for WPT(EV) are a long way from what is required and would cause severe interference to radio services in the residential environment. The WIA has put this on the agenda for the next meeting with the ACMA in March to express the WIA’s concern about this. BOUVET ISLAND UPDATE For those keen to get a Bouvet Island contact in your logbook, there is still hope. It is reported that the 3Y0I radio licence has been renewed and a landing permit has been issued by Norwegian authorities so plans to get a camp and radio in place are underway. At this stage the team are expecting to expedition during the Southern Hemisphere's sub-Antarctic summer. Bouvet Island is a dependency of Norway and is regarded as the most remote island in the world with high glacial cliffs making landing difficult. Strangely enough the island has its own internet domain “.bv” however Norwegian authorities have not allowed its use. As was reported last week, the Bouvet Island expedition group had to cancel their landing earlier this month due to bad weather and ship’s engine problems, and return to Cape Town. The group was welcomed upon their arrival in harbour by local radio amateurs prior to an official function where it was expected the group would meet with South African Radio League President, Nico Van Rensburg ZS6QL. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT As recently as this month the ACMA website advises of unlicensed broadcasting stations being shut down and that serious penalties apply for unlicensed radio transmissions. This is also a serious offence in other jurisdictions. It is reported that a radio amateur in Trinidad and Tobago must pay a $50,000 fine or go to gaol for five years for transmissions made before he was licensed. The offence occurred in 2007 and the original trial decision was overturned on appeal from the telecommunications authority. The man was experienced and licensed in the USA but did not at the time have a licence from Telecommunications Authority Trinidad & Tobago. In a similar vein the IARU global monitoring system locates and identifies intruder transmissions with the intention of having the transmissions shutdown. Links to the home pages of the three regions are available from the WIA web site. The published reports from the regions make for interesting reading. 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 VK SPECIAL INTEREST – BEACONS AND REPEATERS Across to Frank VK3BFC…. VK3RWO Repeater commissioned. The new vk3rwo repeater in Wodonga was commissioned on Sunday the 18th of February by the North East Victoria Amateur Radio Club. The new repeater operates on 146. 975 MHz with a minus 600 split and a 123Hz CTCSS tone as well as 438.600 with a - 7 MHz split and 123Hz CTCSS tone also. The repeater is located in the Hills west of Wodonga and has coverage as far as Tallangatta to the east, Shepparton and Yarrawonga to the west, Wagga to the North and Beechworth to the South. The repeater is also connected to the VKLINK network and is regularly connected to repeaters in Mildura and Tasmania. So if you’re travelling up the Hume Hwy through Albury/Wodonga have a listen on 146.975 and say G'day to the locals. This is Frank VK2BFC for The North East Victoria Amateur Radio Club REPEATER NEWS VK2 Fresh from the Summerlands ARC Newsletter with a GOONENGERRY update. The article starts with the salutation “You did it Robbie!” After hundreds of hours work and dollars to match, the replacement of the VK2RBB repeater enclosure at Goonengerry is complete. Robbie VK2ELH lead the project and contributed the vast majority of time and material into building the box and the final stage was completed recently with the transportation of the box from Richmond Hill to Goonengerry – the final repeater site. The enclosure was lifted from the volunteered trailer into place using a volunteered gantry crane and placed onto the already volunteer prepared foundations. This highlights a great volunteer effort from members of the Summerland ARC – Great team work everyone. (Sourced from the SARC News) VK SPECIAL INTEREST – EVENT NEWS VK2 ARNSW would like to advise that its 2018 Upgrade license course will commence on Monday evening - the 5 th March. The course is conducted at the VK2WI Dural site from 7 pm to 9 pm. The course is suitable for either an upgrade from a Foundation or for a raw beginner. There is a Foundation weekend on the 10 th and 11 th March. For bookings or inquiries – please email education@arnsw.org.au (73 - Tim VK2ZTM Secretary) VK7 Meet the Voice, Ross, March 18th 2018 www.meetthevoice.org We move to an iconic whole state VK7 event with the Meet the Voice event on March 18th in beautiful historic Ross on the bank of the Macquarie River. Ross is located in the Midlands of Tasmania and is held in the caravan park. Why is it called the “Meet the Voice” event? Well I’m glad you asked! This is an opportunity for amateur from all over to gather in one place and meet the people, in person, that they talk with on the radio. Talking about radios it is also the John Moyle Memorial Field Day weekend and many overnighting amateurs operate in the Field Day. Some will come along and either camp or stay in more comfortable lodgings for one or two days whilst lots of others will make the trip on Sunday morning and arrive in time to set up a car boot to sell goodies etc. Registration starts about 10 am and official proceeding start about 11:30 am and there is a raffle for a very nice handheld. There is another important purpose of the day and that is to award the Sewing Circle Net Trophy to the most loquacious amateur of the previous year. Hope to see lots of folks turn up and have a great time. Anyone who needs clarification please email me at cedricl@netspace.net.au or phone on mobile 0418 128 491. 73, Cedric, VK7CL From VK7 we move to VK4 and the same weekend…. The Townsville ARC or TARC does the John Moyle Field Day 2018 from Friday afternoon 16th to Sunday lunch 18th March 2018 at Burdekin Duck Roadhouse and Caravan Park. Portable operation is the go so make sure you bring plenty of batteries and whisper quiet generators if you can. The Park is situated on the edge of what used to be the Sellheim Army Camp and the memorial is within easy walking distance. The Burdekin River is a bit further away, a short car ride gets you there really quick. There are a number of nice high eucalypt trees available to support HF dipoles and the site has all weather access. Should we be lucky enough to be marooned if the Burdekin River floods then we will still be very well off. There will also be available on site training and assessment services should you feel like getting or upgrading your licence. Hope to see you there - come rain or shine ! Need more info ? Then call og VK4ZZ on 0427182469 or email [qrm] vk4zz [at] wia [dot] org [dot] au [qrm] Staying in VK4 and moving to Central Queensland comes news of The Clairview Gathering This is an annual event where Radio Amateurs meet at a spot on the coast between Rockhampton and Mackay to relax, talk radio, re-establish acquaintances and participate in the world renown Saturday Night Mega-Auction. There might even be some fox-hunting and there will definitely be RAFFLES ! The Gathering is one of the main revenue raisers for the Rockhampton and District Amateur Radio Club Inc and Mackay Amateur Radio Association. It happens in 2018 from Friday arvo 4th May to Monday morn 7th May. Those who are keen to chill out completely in one of the most relaxing and laid back venues in the cosmos arrive earlier and stay later. Check out the Mackay ARS website on the email edition of this broadcast for more details. http://www.vk4wim.com/Clairview.html You also need to let Neil/VK4NB know about your catering numbers for the Saturday Night feed-up. Let him know now on email [qrm] vk4wim [at] outlook [dot] com [dot] au [qrm] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- BALLOONING Real-time balloon track https://tracker.habhub.org high altitude balloon links https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/balloons/ AMSAT Argentina Balloon Flight Completes 2nd Trip Around the World AMSAT Argentina reports that their earth circling El PicoGlobo WSPR beacon balloon has now completed its 2nd lap around the world. After its 2nd crossing of the Pacific Ocean the balloon flew over Patagonia, then headed north at 12,000 meters altitude to Buenos Aires during the night of February 11. On February 12 it flew over Uruguay then turned east out over the Atlantic Ocean to begin its 3rd circle of the Earth. PicoGlobo transmits a WSPR beacon on 14.0956 MHz. Have a look at the address on the email edition of this broadcast. Flight progress can be followed at: http://lu7aa.org.ar/wspr.asp https://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FLU1ESY-3&timerange=604800&tail=604800 (Sourced from AMSAT Argentina) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW FISTS Club - East Asia www.feacw.net FISTS Club - Australasia www.fdu.org.au FISTS Club - UK & Europe www.fists.co.uk FISTS Club - Americas www.fists.org Recommended FISTS calling frequencies (MHz): 1.808 3.528 7.028 10.118 14.058 18.085 21.058 24.908 28.058 KEY TO HISTORY The morse key used by Howard Mason in 1929 to send the news that American explorer Richard Byrd and crew had completed the first flight over the South Pole has been donated to the ARRL. This 1928-30 expedition achieved quite a level of fame at the time with constant radio communication to the outside world being maintained from the expedition's headquarters on the Ross Ice Shelf. The key continued to be used by Mason who worked in radio communications and was also a lifelong radio amateur. The actual morse key and radio operators can be seen in a YouTube video of Byrd's expedition (link - Byrd's First Antarctic Expedition 1928 https://youtu.be/A-R9PysOaxI). Howard Mason is also credited with being the inventor of the Moto-Key which at the time sat somewhere between the semi-automatic key and the fully automatic tape transmitter. Mason was the sole manufacturer of the key and produced a total of three. (Sourced from the ARRL) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DEFENCE News from the ANZAC front – Radio Amateurs remember - AM and CW on ANZAC Day, 25th April 2018 The traditional AM & CW event organised by Mike "Banjo" Patterson VK4MIK and the Tablelands Radio Group of Far North Queensland, will again take to the air for the 8th year. This is not a contest. It honours those modes used by service personnel in earlier wars. The event idea came from a telephone conversation between Mike "Banjo" Patterson VK4MIK and World War II Coastwatcher in Papua New Guinea, Lionel Veale. He set up his ATR4A HF radio and orientated the antenna from behind enemy lines. Lionel was one of those brave Coastwatchers who sent back vital information. The concept developed by the Tableland Radio Group in Far North Queensland basically asks us to consider changing modes on ANZAC Day nets, as an honour and Amateur Radio salute to those who served or are serving. The annual event involves ex-military sites and related museums plus many stations will be also operating and switching to the old modes during the day. Many Amateurs joined our Defence forces and took their skills into their service lives in a wide range of activities such as Coastwatchers, Air force Radio operators, Radar operators and repair, navy radio operators and Army operations. LEST WE FORGET Thanks to Mike VK4MIK – ex Royal Australian Navy and now across to Kimberley…. de VK4MIK Mike ex RAN - [qrm] vk4mike [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] au remove the countermeasures before replying. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- YLs AROUND THE WORLD Special Interest Groups YL’s Around The world ALARA Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association (ALARA) was formed in 1975. Membership now sits at over 200. There are a range of membership options for joining ALARA or receiving the ALARA newsletter. You can even sponsor overseas friends into ALARA. Check out www.alara.org.au Inspirational YLs Yvonne Cagle, Catherine Coleman, Yelena Kondakova, Sandra Magnus, what do all these YLs have in common? Can you guess. Yes they are of course all licensed hams, but what else do they have in common. What about Barbara Morgan, Kathleen Rubins, Yelena Serova? Have you guessed yet. They were all astronauts or cosmonauts. A link to the full list of 28 names is available via a link in the text version of this broadcast. Link: https://vk2kmi.wordpress.com/2018/02/20/inspirational-yls/ Space Weather Woman As hams, we all understand to some extent the influence of space weather on our hobby but one woman as single-handedly changed the way we hear of and understand space weather. Through social media Tamatha has nurtured a vibrant Space Weather community of 30,000+ people, and growing. If you want to know more about Tamatha, just search for Space Weather Woman on the web. Link: http://www.spaceweatherwoman.com/ YL Op Net YL OP NET is on every Thursday on the *ALARA* Conference server at 01:35 UTC. The 26th January had quite a list of YLs from around the globe join in. See the link in the text version of this transmission or search on social media for YL Op Net. http://kc9zhv.com/ylopnet/ Japan Ladies Radio Society 60th Anniversary Japan Ladies Radio Society is celebrating their 60th Anniversary and have a special event callsign 8N60JLRS. Look for them on the bands through the end of March. There’s a link to their QRZ page in the text version of this broadcast Link: https://www.qrz.com/lookup/8N60JLRS News from North Queensland - Ann Renton Memorial Net One of the friendliest radio nets in the land happens this Tuesday evening February 27th from 7-30pm on the Townsville UHF Repeater. The Ann Renton Memorial Net is open to young and old, YL or OM and is a golden opportunity for anyone who needs practice on-air to go onto the net as 2nd operator. The net will be accessible via the VK4TUB All-Star Link Allstar 46740 Echolink 834965. I’m Kimberly Olsen VK2KMI for the WIA National News WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS – HAMFEST NEWS WYONG The Central Coast Amateur Radio Field day at Wyong is on today and as testament to the popularity of this Field Day it was interesting to see that one of the popular online electronics retailers were advertising through its extensive mailing list that it would be at the Field Day and would bring along items to the field day if requested. http://oatleyelectronics.com We look forward to hearing about the Field Day in next week’s broadcast. SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) From the WIA Awards manager John VK3KM comes news that there is a new 2 metre VK3 record. VK3ZAZ and ZK1AKW on 30 January 2018 over a distance of 3009.7 km The full lists of current and past VHF-UHF records take a look at the internet edition of this broadcast http://www.wia.org.au/members/records/data/ (John VK3KM) SOCIAL SCENE  2018   Today - February 25 VK2 - Wyong Field Day March 11 – VK2 - Sydney Amateur Radio Ferry Contest - Waverley ARS    March 17 & 18 – VK7 - Meet The Voice Event - Ross Tasmania March 17 & 18 – VK - John Moyle Memorial Field Day Contest March 25     VK3 - EMDRC HamFest Great Ryrie Primary School Heathmont   April 7-8 VK3 - Antennapalooza 2018 - EMDRC, GGREC, MDRC & FAMPARC at Drouin in VK3   April 22 – VK6 - Hill Amateur Radio Group HARGFest Swapmeet 10:00-14:00 April 22 – VK5 - South Coast Amateur Radio Club Annual Buy, Swap and Sell 10:00-15:00 May 4 -7 - VK4 Clairview Gathering ( between Rockhampton/Mackay )   May 18 to 20 – VK4 - WIA Radio & Electronics Convention & AGM weekend June 9 & 10 - 2018 South East Radio Group's Convention and Australian Fox Hunting Championship July 7 & 8 – VK3 GippsTech 2018 - The 21st annual Gippsland Technical Conference vk3bez.org August 11 & 12 – VK - Remembrance Day Contest  August 18 & 19 – WW - Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend October 6 – WW - Oceania DX contest Nov   11     VK5 - Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest WEIRD AND WONDERFUL These days 3D printing is common place and 3D printers are coming down in price everyday. There is a wonderful website called thingaverse where 3D designers and printers can share their designs and ideas. A quick look on thingaverse shows a huge number of amateur radio related projects. Search for “FT-817” and at the time of writing there was 27 different projects from knobs, to stands, to power connectors, to keys, to mounting panels. Put in “ham radio” and there are 179 different projects that cover all aspects of amateur radio including….wait for it…….an amateur radio branded fidget spinner! https://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:3?q=ham+radio https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=ft-817 FINAL FINAL Poor propagation has radio amateurs turning to the weak signal digital modes to get contacts. The Sunspot minimum has coincided with a host of digi modes that have easily obtainable software and instructions. Digi modes can only add to the experience of modern Amateur Radio and what it has to offer. There are roughly three categories of digimodes, try each depending on the band existing band conditions. FT8 / JT65 / JT9 detect signals about -24dB below noise floor making ideal for a dead band. A bit better is the misterial Olivia -13dB. Final the fully conversational modes like BSK31, RTTY or CW. There are many others on offer too. Are you on any of the digital modes? (Jim Linton VK3PC) And the Absolute Final….. Remember about callback reports are now to go to the email address: callbacks@wia.org.au 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. To submit audio read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ We would appreciate items no longer than 2 minutes in length as we only have a half hour time slot window. 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. 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