May 20 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 MAY 20 2018. IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS A great big welcome to all the people flying in to our WIA AGM on the Gold Coast, this weekend, here is some 'inflight reading.' THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF MAY 20 VK8RKT 2M C4FM REPEATER After years of talk, probably back to the late 70's, & months of hard work recently, Katherine in the NT finally has its Fusion 2M Repeater, VK8RKT on the air. Switched on during Thursday at about 1430 hrs CST on the 10th May 2018 at the Power & Water site, known colloquially as “Tank Hill” about 5 Km's east of town, it immediately gained attention as far away as Darwin!! Some beautiful tropospheric ducting (280Km away) had at least one amateur hearing it direct in Darwin. Conditions were perfect at this time of year for the effect. Repeater owner, Mike VK8MA, has been working on this for a couple of years and after all the bureaucracy has been dealt with, it is operational. Mike says “I have had incredible support from our local guys, Neil VK8NH, Gavin VK8GT, and even Steve (ex VK8SJ, now VK2YLD) and special thanks to Spud, VK8ZWM up in Darwin who gained the support of 8KRT the local Katherine Community FM station in gaining us access to their tower and a home for the repeater”. “We hope this is the gateway for young people to gain an interest in Amateur Radio in Katherine and with the repeater's connectivity to IRLP and Echo/IRLP, locals, tourists, and even visiting military of both Australia and the USA will all be welcome to use the facility”. Initial tests are proving there should be very wide coverage out of Katherine on VHF which has been missing. For those planning a trip or just even interested, these are the specs for VK8RKT. Located at Tank Hill, about 5Km east of Katherine. Antenna elevation about 200m ASL or 90m (approx.) above surrounding terrain. Repeater type and mode: Yaesu C4FM currently set for C4FM/analogue input (auto), analogue out only at this stage. Output 146.750 MHz, input 146.150 MHz CTCSS 91.5 Hz Time-out is off, but will be introduced if any problems. Contact: Mike Alsop, VK8MA. Email vk8ma@tbpl.com.au Again special thanks to all the local Katherine people, hams & non hams for your support to make this happen!! Any signal reports from anywhere will be appreciated!!! Mike VK8MA DISCUSSION POINT Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. A great big welcome to all the people enjoying the WIA AGM on the Gold Coast, this weekend. It seems right to use this occasion to think about how we keep our various bodies running effectively. The WIA has had it’s annual election of directors and the newly revamped Board takes over the administration of the body. In our clubs, a similar process occurs and for most of us the change of faces just means that the same roles continue. For the new people taking office there can be a considerable learning curve as they get acquainted with the special tasks that are involved. Now it is usually a good thing to get new blood into the front table group as that allows people to learn up on the various jobs, if they have never done this sort of thing before. However, in the corporate world, the benefits of keeping a corporate memory is stressed. That is people who understand the history and the culture that underpins the body is kept alive by experienced staff and officers. If a body goes through a major spill of office bearers, it may refresh the organisation or it may totally knock it off balance as the new people try and understand where things came from, how they are and where they expect to head. We can see from the reports of the WIA directors that there has been an immense amount of learning over the past year. There has been an intense effort to progress all the matters that the Institute is charged with doing. Here is a very important issue that we have to come to grips with, that of office bearers having lives outside the organisation. The amount of time available is the same for all of us and the needs of keeping a roof over our heads and putting food on the table is also a common need. In some of the hours left, volunteers give to the community in many ways but if the workload causes them to burn out, they must retire and we all miss out. What we all should do is think about what needs to be done and what we can do to assist. Before we raise our voices or rush to the keyboard, we should ask what seems to be the problem and what can we do to make it better. As soon as it becomes an us and them situation, we have opened the door to helping our club hit bottom but when it is about us together we create the opportunity for our club to reach new heights. I’m Geoff Emery and that’s what I think....how about you? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the World Wide sources of the WIA and local news services with VK7FTAS. Electric blanket is said to have allegedly sparked fire which killed radio ham New Zealand radio amateur Arthur Earle Plimley ZL 1 TAG was killed by a 40-year-old electric blanket which appeared to have had been modified to allow the voltage to be increased The National newspaper reports the details of the radio amateur's death were heard at an inquest before Coroner Gordon Matenga on Friday, May 11, 2018. Around 8.30 on the August 30, 2017 two police officers were called to the Plimley's home in the Thames township. They arrived to find Plimley slumped face down in a chair.? In a statement Sergeant John Taaka said there was clear evidence of a fire in Plimley's room. An examination later showed the fire started due to a fault in an electric blanket on the bed, which was "in excess of 40 years old", Coroner Gordon Matenga said. Read the full story at stuff.co.nz/national/103826940/electric-blanket-malfunction-sparked-fire-which-killed-elderly-thames-man Chang'e-4: Yuanwang 6 tracking vessel prepares for Moon relay satellite launch The Yuanwang 6 space tracking vessel has left port in preparation to support the launch of the relay satellite required for China's ambitious Chang'e-4 lunar far side landing. The communications relay satellite is scheduled to launch on May 21 or later via a Long March 4C rocket, heading for an orbit beyond the Moon. Yuanwang 6 will track the spacecraft after launch from southwest China as it heads into orbit, observing its trajectory and providing survey and control capabilities. This relay satellite is a precursor to the Chang'e-4 lander and rover mission, which will attempt the first-ever soft-landing on the far side of the Moon in late 2018. DR @ F respond to DGE consultation The French amateur radio society DR @ F has published its response to the Directorate General for Enterprise consultation on interconnection, in their response they request that French Class 3 ( that is F 0 ) license holders are given access to digital modes and should also be permitted the bands 28.0-29.7 and 430-440 MHz Read the DR@F response in Google English at https://tinyurl.com/DRAF-Response-To-DGE-2018 Swedish radio ham visits Pentagon Radio amateur Peter Hultqvist SM 4 HCF is also Sweden's Defence Minister and it was in that capacity that he visited the Pentagon on Monday, May 7 The ARRL report he visited Washington, DC, on the invitation of US Secretary of Defence James Mattis. A radio amateur since 1975, Peter had previously served as chairman of the Defence Committee in Sweden’s parliament before become Minister of Defence in 2014. Professionally, he is a journalist and reporter. arrl.org/news/view/sweden-s-new-defense-minister-peter-hultqvist-sm4hcf-visits-pentagon Low-latency shortwave link for trading? Writing on Hackaday Jenny List G7CKF highlights a recent blog post by Bob Van Valzah KE9YQ speculating on use of shortwave to link Chicago Mercantile Exchange with the London financial centre Bob describes how he came across a mast in West Chicago carrying a microwave link AND shortwave beams along with SDR equipment produced by Ettus Research that was founded by radio amateur Matt Ettus N2MJI. Theoretically shortwaves could provide low latency, but low data rate, links to transfer financial data for use in high-frequency trading. Hackaday post https://hackaday.com/2018/05/12/hft-on-hf-you-cant-beat-it-for-latency/ Bob Van Valzah KE9YQ post https://sniperinmahwah.wordpress.com/2018/05/07/shortwave-trading-part-i-the-west-chicago-tower-mystery/ Annual Dayton K 9 PG Hooters Party for Contesters. Paul, K9PG, tells how for those contesters at the Hamvention a treat was in store Thursday, May 17th, 5pm Hooters Bar had discounted pitchers of beer and appetizers. Seems the tradition is that Hams had to show up wearing their brightest & most outrageous Hawaiian shirt! Bonuses for furry pimp hats and neon sport coats and stylish ties were in the offing! The notorious & illustrious pink jacket was to be awarded to the 'lid' with the brightest and most obnoxious get-up, provided last year's winner AJ9C shows up with it. After Hamventions 'Contest University' many many are said to have made the pileup at Hooters. And still in the "Party Mode" RAISING A TOAST TO PUBS & CLUBS ON THE AIR For members of the South Cheshire Amateur Radio Society G6TW Saturday May 12 will not be easily forgotten. You might even say that some of the hams raised a little toast to the day. Jeremy Boot G4NJH tells us why: JEREMY: What comes after National Parks on the Air, Mills on the Air, Railways on the Air, Summits on the Air and even Walmart Parking Lots on the Air? Try Pubs & Clubs on the Air - PACOTA - which launched for the first time this year with enthusiasm through the efforts of the South Cheshire Amateur Radio Society here in the UK. Confirmed stations with special-event call signs included GB0TGI at Tuckers Grave Inn in Faulkland, Somerset; GB2ROY at the Royalty, York Gate, Guiseley, Leeds; and GB4TRO The Royal Oak, Harriseahead, Stoke-on-Trent. A good deal of planning and preparation went into the launch according to the event's official web pages, which are part of the South Cheshire society's website at (g6tw.org.uk). The event organiser, Chris Wiseman G0RDK, writes on the website that the goal of the first-time event is to show members of the public the kind of fun to be had by going on the air - and perhaps convince them to get licensed and join us. Of course, there's also the hope of making an intoxicating number of radio contacts - but that's only kind of intoxication organisers had in mind. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot G4NJH. (SOUTH CHESHIRE AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY) 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 June 2- 3 - WW - MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND June 17 – IARU R3 – 2018 QRP Day Region 3 July 14-15 - WW IARU HF Championship August 11-12 – VK - Remembrance Day Contest  August 18-19 – WW - Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend October 6 – WW - Oceania DX contest CQ WW CW contest logs to be re-scored A change in the scoring system for handling duplicate contacts in the CW weekend of the 2017 CQ World Wide DX Contest has resulted in inconsistency with the standards by which logs submitted for the SSB weekend of the same contest were scored. After considerable discussion and debate among members of the CQ WW Contest Committee and consultation with CQ management, it was decided to restore the original scoring methodology and to re- score all CW logs for the 2017 CQ WW DX contest. Updated scores will be published online on the CQ website and on the CQ World Wide DX Contest website, but the re-scoring is not expected to result in any changes to the order of finish. Following a long time request from the Norwegian contest community, the Norwegian Communication Authority (NCA) recently permitted the use of 2 by 1 contest call signs for individual radio amateurs. With few exceptions Norwegian 2x1 call signs have been reserved for club stations, which have also been permitted to use the LN prefix in contests. The new call signs will use the LC prefix and one letter suffixes. The 2 by 1 call signs are available for all radio amateurs with a Norwegian call sign. They are issued for contest use only and must be renewed every five years. (SouthGate) Canary Islands Day Members of the Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles club [ EA 8 URL ] are on air with a special call sign, EG 8 CID, between May 10-30th to celebrate "Canary Islands Day". Operations will be on all bands and modes. QSL via LoTW or via EA 8 URL. (SouthGate) So you thought the Commonwealth games were over? Well yes, they ended on the 15th of April but in Australia the game of radio goes on and on - at least through the 31st of May. So there's still plenty of time to contact special event station VI4GAMES, the call sign the ACMA has assigned to the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society. You can be as victorious as the athletes from Australia were, among the more than 6,600 athletes representing 71 nations. You don't even need to get on 'Speedo's or 'Lycra' or do any powerlifting. Ultimately, successful contacts will win the best trophy of all: a commemorative QSL card. Otherwise, you'll have to wait another four years, when the games are held again -- this time in Birmingham, England. (ARNewsLine) A group of operators including Doug/W6HB, Bruce/AD7MM and Marilyn/KI7DLK will be active as E51DLD, E51BAS and E51MAS respectively - with other team members - from Rarotonga Island until the 25th of May. You may also hear Jim/E51JD and Bob/E51BQ. These operations will be holiday style on various HF bands and in various modes. Two of the stations will operate with 100 watts and wire antennas. QSL via their home callsigns. Be listening for Walter HB9XBG operating as FO/HB9XBG from Bora Bora Island in French Polynesia between June 7-17th. Activity will be on 20 meters SSB. QSL via his home call sign. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video arvideonews.com hamradiotube.com youtube.com qdg.org.au Hamvention 2018 Marathon webcast Hamvention will be webcasting over 48 Hours of live video from Hamvention. They will also have many special guests plus prizes for viewers all day on the 3 days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Astronaut Douglas Wheelock, joins again for the 5th year as a co-host. They'll be in the chat room on w5kub.com while streaming so you can talk with them. In addition they will be running a remote shack in the truck allowing work on HF during our trip. Again, w5kub.com (sourced to SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER https://ariss.batc.tv/ (under test) NASA is sending a helicopter to Mars. The Mars Helicopter, a small, autonomous rotorcraft, will travel with the agency’s Mars 2020 rover mission, currently scheduled to launch in July 2020, to demonstrate the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the Red Planet. “NASA has a proud history of firsts,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “The idea of a helicopter flying the skies of another planet is thrilling. The Mars Helicopter holds much promise for our future science, discovery, and exploration missions to Mars.” U.S. Rep. John Culberson of Texas echoed Bridenstine’s appreciation of the impact of American firsts on the future of exploration and discovery. “It’s fitting that the United States of America is the first nation in history to fly the first heavier-than-air craft on another world,” Culberson said. “This exciting and visionary achievement will inspire young people all over the United States to become scientists and engineers, paving the way for even greater discoveries in the future.” WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS A Youth Net meets Saturdays at 0100 UTC on IRLP Reflector #2. Young Hams Net 3.590 - 7:30pm Victorian time. http://www.ham-yota.eu/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/youngstersontheair http://www.arrl.org/youth-nets CQScotland free electronic kits CQScotland.com will be providing free electronic kits for accompanied school-age children attending the Scottish Electronics and Radio Convention. It takes place at the Braehead Arena, Glasgow, on 20th May. A dedicated construction area will be set up, and help will be on hand so children should leave with a fully working project. Alternatively, it may be built at home with a parent. The kits and construction session is sponsored by the RSGB and Antex Electronics Ltd. (rsgb) 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 If you'll be in the Townsville region July, listen up! It's the Magnetic Island to Townsville Swim. A great day out on the water playing with radios to the sound of Migaloo and a hundred plus marathon swimmers thrashing across Cleveland Bay. Main comms on VHF, with some UHF comms with clubbies and aircraft. It is also highly recommended that operators attend the Swim Briefing to meet the competitors, organisers and skippers. Sat 28 July - Maggie Island to Townsville Swim Briefing Session from 1pm Sun 29 July - Maggie Island to Townsville Swim from 7am Strand Park SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SUMMITS ON THE AIR www.sotawatch.org www.sota.org.uk SOTA-LINK is an experimental back-channel to support Summits on the Air activations, and facilitate group chats between SOTA enthusiasts all over the world. The project uses WIRES-X room 44050, which is connected to the Macclesfield System Fusion gateway MB6SO (144.8375MHz). This is linked to the Brandmeister DMR server TG973, thus allowing access via DMR. It is hoped to be able to allow connection using other digital voice modes in the future. The project is in its early stages of development, but has already seen C4FM and DMR users connecting in and facilitating SOTA QSOs. Note that QSOs for the SOTA awards must be direct and not supported through repeater networks and gateways, so communications via SOTA-LINK themselves would not count. (SouthGate) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) ARRL asks FCC to protect ham radio millimeter-wave bands ARRL has asked the FCC to avoid authorizing developmental technologies in two Amateur Radio bands above 95 GHz that some radio amateurs may not be unaware of. The ARRL commented on May 2 in response to a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order released in February. The so-called “Spectrum Horizons” proceeding seeks to make the bands above 95 GHz “more readily accessible for new innovative services and technologies.” ARRL said it would oppose “any proposal to permit unlicensed devices or largely unregulated experimental operations” in the two primary Amateur Radio allocations in the range of spectrum the FCC is considering. “It is critical to preserve for Amateur Radio experimentation the current relatively quiet noise floor, and the positive RF environment that now exists in those two relatively small band segments,” ARRL told the FCC. Read the ARRL story at arrl.org/news/view/arrl-asks-fcc-to-protect-amateur-radio-millimeter-wave-bands Social Scene 2018 May 18 - 20 – VK WIA Radio & Electronics Convention & AGM Gold Coast June 2 - VK4 Redcliffe and Districts Radio Club's REDFEST 8.30AM (VK4TFN) June 9 & 10 - VK5 2018 South East Radio Group's Convention and Australian Fox Hunting Championship – Mt Gambier June 9 & 10 –VK2 Oxley Region ARC Field Weekend – Oxley Radio ARC July 7 & 8 – VK3 GippsTech 2018 The 21st annual Gippsland Technical Conference vk3bez.org August 4 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club HamFest (vk3bft) Nov   11     VK5 - Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest Nov 17 VK7 - VK7Hamfest Miena Community Centre (vk7wi) NEWS JUST IN WIA Secretary Peter Clee, VK8ZZ writes, I draw your attention to the following news item on the WIA web site https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2018/20180516-40/index.php The Board of the Wireless Institute of Australia has received a request from four members of the institute to consider expulsion proceedings against one or more members in terms of clause 5.7 of the WIA Constitution The Board held a special meeting on Wednesday 16th May 2018 at which time the request was considered. That Board meeting has been adjourned in order that the Board may consider additional information. It should be noted that should a member be expelled by board resolution; that under section 5.8 of the WIA constitution, they have an absolute right of appeal. Authorised by Peter Clee WIA Secretary wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/about/documents/WIA%20CONSTITUTION%20AS%20AMENDED%2024%20MAY%202008.pdf 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. TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail nationalnews@wia.org.au Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who knows, you might even get a "cheerio call". Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who utilize their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly broadcast. Who and where are they? http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/ The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to active amateurs residing in Australia and the globe. We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of Australia and participation in the activities of local clubs. Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who submit material and do not necessarily reflect those of the rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but are broadcast in the spirit in which they were submitted." Material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, a credit to WIANews wouldn't go astray... If you have call-backs to contribute to the National News call back tally then please send through your call-backs to callbacks@wia.org.au. Who listens to radio? A weekly 'tally sheet' is sent to all rebroadcasters and interested listeners, to get your free copy send a blank email to:- wiabroadcasters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.au Put the word subscribe in the title or subject field How do I join this National News List? (subscribe for an automatic weekly feed.) Email to vk1wia-news-join@lists.wia.org.au from the email account that you wish the emails to go to. How do I leave this National News List? (unsubscribe your weekly feed) Open mail program which sends mail from the address you want to unsubscribe. Send mail to the list unsubscribe address vk1wia-news-leave@lists.wia.org.au You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the instructions given in that mail to complete the unsubscription. Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will probably receive another message confirming your unsubscription from the list, and at that point you should stop receiving messages. . -------------