May 27 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 27 2018. IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA PRESIDENT REVIEWS WIA AGM CONFERENCE THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF MAY 27 Hello this is Justin VK7TW WIA President, Many of you will have read with concern reports regarding the "expulsion" of members from the WIA. In the history of the WIA, to the board's knowledge no one has been expelled.   The WIA received a petition from several members seeking the removal of  individuals from the WIA under clause 5.7 of its Constitution.   The challenge for the WIA when responding to a petition of this nature is that it relates to a conflict between core values of individual members. The board met on the 16th of May to consider this matter.  The board has made no decision with respect to the petition.  Instead, the board has adjourned the discussion. Any alternative remedy to the petition before the board must be aligned with the spirit of amateur radio and the Radio Amateur's Code.   Consistent with the commitment to transparency the board will keep members informed of the progress of this matter to the extent possible without offending the privacy of those involved. WIA Radio and Electronics Convention - Beyond 2020 What a fantastic weekend of activities organised by the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Club. For those arriving on the Friday for the Club President’s lunch there was an afternoon spent with the four members of the Board and this resulted in the formation of a WIA Marketing Committee made up of volunteer club presidents. Many topics and ideas were discussed. That evening many gathered at Fisheman’s Wharf for a great dinner. On the Saturday over 120 members attended the AGM that kicked off just after 9am and even though we had a full agenda we managed to finish on time. There were many good question that were answered and all voting was unanimous. This included approving the Constitutional changes that now allows electronic voting. The video of the AGM is available on the WIA website. Following morning tea we lept into the Open Forum that included question on advisory committees, licence renewals, interference and this discussion ended in a group of people volunteering to create an committee to try and address the issue of interference, how do we entice young people into the hobby, STEM, student members and the opportunity of technology convergence. The Beyond 2020 session was then next on the agenda and this provided members with a view of where the Board and Strategy Committee was seeing the WIA beyond 2020, this was a thought provoking presentation and left many ideas with members prior to lunch. This presentation will become available for members in the near future. Following Lunch there were two streams of five presentations running and members moved between the two rooms. We will be making these presentations available in the near future for members. A huge thank you to all our presenters who showed their passion and depth of experience presenting about their specialist topic. There was some free time in the late afternoon before we all gathered in the Waterfall Restaurant for a seafood feast. Jeff Johnson VK4XJJ who walked from Spencer Gulf to the Gulf of Carpentaria to raise money for Deaf NSW. This was a fascinating talk along with many photos taken along the way. There were many amusing stories related, thanks Jeff. The 7300 draw after the presentation went to Trent VK4TS, congratulations Trent. The Sunday was a cornucopia of activities. Some flew high on the hot air balloon. Some went to Seaworld. One bus load headed to the Telecommunications Museum in Brisbane. Another Bus load went to the Surf Life Saving command centre and yet another bus load went to the North Pavillion of the Broadwater Parklands for the Demonstrations. There were so many activities going on with all these I will leave that until the next Broadcast. Suffice it to say I don’t think there were too many bored people around. Again a huge thank you to the Gold Coast Amateur Radio Club for hosting the event. Keep an eye on the website, facebook page and memnet emails for information about the weekend as it comes to hand. 73 from Justin VK7TW Still to come in this edition of 'genuine' news from your WIA we'll look at one particular question 'from the floor' at last weekends WIA AGM, that being how it IS our OWN responsibility to ensure we renew our ACMA licences in time! Also a few quick peeks at DAYTON, a look at a proposed bill almost through in the USA which will entitle each and every Amateur Radio operator living in a deed-restricted community to erect an effective outdoor antenna and how Canberra runs arguably VK's best 'new comers net.' All still to come in this the WIA National News Service. Renewing Amateur Radio Licences - A Reminder It can happen to anybody – you forget to renew your licence and it lapses. When you ask the ACMA, they tell you that a WIA callsign recommendation is needed after which you make a new licence application. Although the ACMA sends licence renewal notices, that’s not an obligation under the Radiocommunications Act. The ACMA sends the notice as a courtesy, but if the renewal notice doesn’t arrive for some reason, it’s still your responsibility to renew on time. In fact, it’s always the licensee’s responsibility to ensure that a licence is current. So check: do you know your licence expiry date, and are your address details correct? What about your callsign? Well, your callsign needs to be protected too if you’re attached to it. Your callsign indicates that you hold a valid licence, but if your licence lapses and is not renewed, your callsign is released and will be put on the WIA Public List 60 days after the lapse date. After 7 days the WIA will issue a Callsign Recommendation to whoever wants it - with ballot provisions applying to 2-letter callsign in some states. So the message is: if you don’t want to fight to get your call back, keep your licence current. Full information of the process and forms needed can be read at ‘All about Callsigns’ and ‘New licence or expired licence, or reclaiming a former callsign’ - on the WIA website at www.wia.org.au (Published/Aired previously and wriiten by VK3PC (SKey)) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. Summer 2018 International Shortwave Broadcast Guide now available at Amazon Older ham radio operators and radio listeners might remember a time when shortwave radio stations broadcast a nearly constant drumbeat of political propaganda during the Cold War years. Shortwave radio stations such as Radio Moscow, the Voice of America, and the BBC, to name a few, played an important ideological role during that confrontation between the East and the West. Once again, Global Radio broadcasters have moved to the front lines at what is now shaping up as a new Cold War by some of the world’s major super powers. As tensions heat up in the world’s hotspots such as eastern Europe, the Middle East and Eastern Asia, you can follow breaking international events on the radio waves, but you need an accurate and comprehensive guide to broadcast frequencies to hear it. Now the 10th edition (Summer 2018) International Shortwave Broadcast Guide (ISWBG) electronic book by Gayle Van Horn W 4 GVH is available. It's your passport to the world! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CT89MNP Ham radio exam held in China The Chinese Amateur Radio Club (CRAC) organised the first Class C exam in Xi’an, capital of Shaanxi province, on May 12, 2018. Class C is the highest license class permitting up to 1 kW output on frequencies below 30 MHz and 25 watts on higher bands. The 150 minute exam comprises 80 multiple-choice questions which include topics such as Digital Signal Processing, Digital logic circuits and Digital communication. At least 60 questions need to be answered correctly. 56 candidates took the exam and 35 passed CRAC report the exam was the first time that the identification card image recognition system has been used enabling the candidate's identity to be effectively determined during the exam. International magazine CQ Amateur Radio have inducted Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE along with 11 others to its 2018 Hall of Fame, with Farhan being the only living Indian on the list Telangana Today reports the other Indian name was Kalpana Chawla KD5ESI, the NASA astronaut killed in 2003. Apart from Chawla, Farhan shares space in the Hall of Fame with prominent personalities such as Hollywood actor Marlon Brando KE6PZH, NASA astronaut David Brown KB3IPY, cybersecurity expert Mark Pecen VE3QAM and World War II photographer Ed Westcott W4UVS. Ashhar Farhan VU2ESE, founder of Lamakaan and a long-time radio ham, is in elite company after being recognized for popularising the open-source BITX semi-kits, thus opening up the world to more hams in a much more affordable way. Radio Amateurs of Canada’s first Gold Maple Leaf Operator member is---> IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH At Dayton Hamvention RAC President Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA, presented Tim Ellam, VE6SH, International Amateur Radio Union President, with RAC's first Gold Maple Leaf Operator Membership. Tim made a special request to become RAC's first Gold Maple Leaf Operator Member to illustrate the International Amateur Radio Union's continued support of Radio Amateurs of Canada. RAC created two new categories of the Maple Leaf Operators Membership level: Silver and Gold as part of their 25th Anniversary celebrations. Other national Amateur Radio organizations – as well as non-Amateur organizations supported by membership – have several levels of participation allowing those who are able to do so to make higher contributions to sustain the organization. The new Silver and Gold Maple Leaf Operator levels will make this possible. Amateur Radio Parity Act Language Inserted in National Defence Authorization Act. ARRL has praised the work of US Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT/2), Vicky Hartzler (R-MO/4), and Mike Rogers (R-AL/3) for their successful efforts in securing language in the FY 2019 National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) that asks the FCC to grant radio amateurs living in restricted communities the right to install effective outdoor antennas. Text from the proposed Amateur Radio Parity Act (HR 555) formed the basis for the Courtney-Hartzler-Rogers Amendment to the NDAA. "The bill does entitle each and every Amateur Radio operator living in a deed-restricted community to erect an effective outdoor antenna. Full stop. That is the principal benefit of this legislation," ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, stressed. Hamvention Use AM Information Radio Station to Communicate with Attendees. Whilst most VK hamfests, and usually the WIA AGM host clubs, use 2 meters to provide an information hub for attendees, in an effort to avoid the first-day traffic tangles of Hamvention, they utilized a low-power Information Radio Station on 1620 kHz AM to get out the word on traffic, parking, and event details to visitors as they approached the city. The town hosted some 25,000 Amateur Radio operators, exhibitors, and the curious, nearly doubling Xenia's population when the event was under way. Due to the web of two-lane roads that serves the venue, interstate visitors for their first visit etc., Hamvention established shuttle-bus operation to alleviate traffic congestion to all their venues. The AM information station helped persuade visitors to park at the shuttle lots, and take a shuttle to the venue. And yes there still was a 2 meter liaison channel. 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 9-10 - VK - VK SHIRES CONTEST June 17 – IARU R3 – 2018 QRP Day Region 3 June 22-23 - VK - Winter VHF-UHF Field Day July 14-15 - WW IARU HF Championship July 21 - VKZL Trans-Tasman Low band contest August 11-12 – VK - Remembrance Day Contest  August 18-19 – WW - Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend August 25-26 - VK - ALARA YL CONTEST October 6 – WW - Oceania DX contest CQ magazine have announced the induction of two new members to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame, which honours those contesters who not only excel in personal performance but who also 'give back' to the hobby in outstanding ways. CQ Contesting Editor David Siddall, K3ZJ, presented Hall of Fame plaques at an induction ceremony held at the annual Dayton contest dinner. The 2018 inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame are: Andy Blank, N2NT - Andy has been the director of the CQ World Wide 160-Meter DX Contest for the past decade. A world-class contester with wins stretching back to 1979, Andy has also competed in five Word Radiosport Team Championships and was Director of Competition for WRTC-2014, held in Massachusetts. Tom Wagner, N1MM - Tom is best known for his development of and ongoing upgrades to the N1MM Logger. (SouthGate) Thomas, F 4 HPX, will once again be active as FR/F4HPX from various locations on Reunion Island (AF-016) between May 25th and June 15th. He will be operating from his family home, and also from beaches and especially from the mountains because there is a lot of them including an active volcano. His SOTA aim this year is the tallest FR/RE-001 at some 3070m ASL. Activity will be on 40-15 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK31, JT65, JT9 and possibly FT8. He will use various wire and portable antennas. QSL via the Bureau. II 1 ITR will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the so-called Red Tent, an Italian airship that set out to explore the North Pole. Beginning on the 25th of May and continuing to the 25th of June, the plan is to work on all bands and all modes. QSL and other information is available at QRZ.com for IT 1 ITR (rsgb) Celebrating the 50th birthday of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederiks of Denmark, the Experimental Danish Radio amateurs association, or EDR, will operate OZ 50 HRH/xx and 5 P 0 HRH/xx, plus OX 50 HRH from Greenland. Running from 00.01 to 23.59 GMT on the 26th of May, they plan to use all bands and modes, including FT and JT digital. (rsgb) Canberra runs arguably VK's best 'new comers net.' To our knowledge, Summerland Amateur Radio Club conducted VK's first net for new hams. (Under the catchy 'moniker' of F-TROOP.) Well in Canberra their Foundation of F net is attracting newbies far and wide. Tuesday nights at 0730pm local on their 70cm Isaac's repeater: 439.950 FM and EchoLink via VK 1 RBM This Foundation Net allows new operators to get to know their radios, practice calling procedures as well as get to know other local operators. Radio nets have a controller/s who as their name suggests control or keep the conversation flowing by asking for check ins and comments. Canberra's hosting duties are in a rotational basis by other F call members The net has been running well, getting between 10-17 call backs with a wide range of discussions from antenna building to satellite operations. The group will, in the near future, be learning about VKFF / Parks activation followed by SOTA and other QRP operations. http://facebook.com/groups/vk1fcall Please contact Wade VK1MIC Wade.VK1@gmail.com with any questions WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ON THE AIR - IN THE AIR. ARRL to Show Off Ham Radio at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 With support from member volunteers, ARRL will put Amateur Radio on display for visitors to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 -- the giant, annual airshow July 23 - 29 in Wisconsin, organized by the Experimental Aircraft Association. The event attracted more than 10,000 aircraft and nearly 600,000 visitors in 2017 to enjoy aerobatics displays, informative programs, hands-on workshops, and diverse aircraft spanning all eras of flight. "The cross-over between Amateur Radio operators and pilots, aviation enthusiasts, and air show attendees has a strong correlation," said ARRL Central Division Director Kermit Carlson, W9XA, who is part of the volunteer team organizing the ham radio exhibit at AirVenture. "Attendees include many licensed and prospective Amateur Radio operators." ARRL's exhibit will promote Amateur Radio to newcomers and inform all attendees of the similarly diverse technology and innovation enjoyed by both hams and pilots. (ARRL) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video arvideonews.com hamradiotube.com youtube.com qdg.org.au At the time of 'stepping up to the mike' the Space Station Digital Amateur Television Signal Is Not Being Seen on the Ground. The signal from the DATV transmitter aboard the International Space Station cannot be detected on the ground, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) has reported. The unit indicates that it IS functioning. So far, ARISS has not been able to pin down the problem. "A series of steps are currently being undertaken to try to diagnose the problem," a May 10 announcement from ARISS said. "However, if an actual failure occurred, only a ground-based evaluation will fully diagnose the problem. The ARISS International team is working diligently to bring [the system] back to full operation as soon as practical." The DATV system is known variously as "HamVideo" and "HamTV." WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL FT8 Activity Bumping Up at Some Expense to Other Modes Despite largely dismal HF conditions, there is no doubt that the recent FT8 digital protocol has hams on the air. The mode has caught on so quickly that co-developer Joe Taylor expressed surprise last fall at the rapid uptake of FT8 for making contacts on HF bands. Judging by Logbook of The World data, more than 2.3 million FT8 contacts were uploaded in 1 month -- a net gain of 1.2 million contacts on all modes over the same month last year, ARRL Radiosport Manager Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, said. Over the same period, activity in some of the other modes has declined. W3TZ said that while some feel that FT8 is "taking over the world," subsuming all other modes, that's not the case. "Activity in the traditional modes of SSB and CW has decreased only slightly, by 10%," he said. "The real decrease is in RTTY and PSK activity and in the other WSJT-X modes. (arrl) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER Unicorn-2A to launch from Alaska BBC News reports on a new UK built PocketQube satellite that was developed by radio amateurs in Glasgow. Radio amateurs Constantin, MM6XOM, Sajimon 2M0DSY and Alejandro EA7KDU worked on Unicorn-2A which will have downlinks in the 437 MHz and 2400 MHz bands. One of the transmission modes will be LoRa. A 3rd quarter 2018 launch is planned on a Vector Launch Inc. rocket from Alaska into a 350 x 350 km 98 degree orbit. The mission will last about 45 days. (sourced to SouthGate) I found a cool PDF detailing NASA's radio systems for the Apollo missions! This 'headline' on Reddit.com leads to a most interesting PDF and is worth a download. Also thanks to WIA Director VK5WTF Marcus for the heads up on Reddit. https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/NASA-SP-87.pdf WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW 25 years ago on 28th August 1993 the very first Northern Lighthouse Weekend Activity took place managed by Mike Dalrymple GM4SUC of the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. One of the 10 entrants in the event was the Wigtownshire Amateur Radio Club which operated from the Mull of Galloway Lighthouse using the club callsign GB 2 LG. The Ayr Amateur Radio Group also participated in the weekend activity from the famous Turnberry Lighthouse with the callsign GB 2 LT. Having proved to be a popular event and which other countries wanted to take part in, it became known as the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend some 5 years later. In order to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the NLWA, the Wigtownshire ARC has registered at the same lighthouse with the same callsign for this year’s ILLW event. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- MARITIME Maritime Radio Historical Society's Museum Station K6KPH is Back MRHS Amateur Radio station K 6 KPH is back on the air after a brief hiatus, although still at a minimal level at this point. K6KPH, intended as a tribute to KPH, the "wireless giant of the Pacific," relays the W1AW Field Day Bulletin, and W1AW Morse code practice qualifying runs for west coast US amateurs. "Not all the K6KPH frequencies were back on at first, as we had to change antenna assignments to get the minimum service we have now," said Steve Hawes, WB 6 UZX, who explains that K6KPH is "sort of" back, as some repair work is pending. Hawes said the crew of K6KPH volunteers made some temporary repairs to get some antennas back in service, and the station now is usable on 80, 40, 20, 17, and 15 meters. (ARRL) 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 Informal Amateur Radio Nets Being Maintained in Wake of Volcanic Eruptions in Hawaii Two informal informational nets remain open on the island of Hawaii ("The Big Island") in the wake of recent and ongoing volcanic eruptions and seismic activity, Pacific Section Emergency Coordinator, Clement Jung, KH7HO, reports. No formal traffic has been passed, but frequencies are being monitored. Fissures associated with the Kilauea volcano on The Big Island began erupting on May 3, spewing lava and venting high levels of sulphur dioxide. An Amateur Radio net is in operation on 7.088 MHz (SSB), and the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster 146.720 MHz repeater on Mauna Kea was activated after Hawaii's governor issued an emergency declaration. A US federal disaster declaration has been approved. (ARRL) Social Scene 2018 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) 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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