SEP 2 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 TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA Please... If you are only submitting text and not audio, NEVER send just links & url's but write your story as you would expect to hear it being read back and then when you upload audio also email us the txt version. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEP 2 2018. IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA CALLS FOR IT CREW FOR WEBSITE ETC. - WIA PRESIDENT EXPLAINS WHAT THE WIA DOES FOR US THESE STORIES & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 02 The Melbourne International Hi-Fi Show, October 12-14 at the Pullman Mercure Hotel, Albert Park, is shaping up to be the best and most successful show of its type in Australia with many exclusive releases and world firsts lined up to excite the senses of attendees. Opening on Friday 12th October and running through to Sunday 14th the show attracts thousands of music lovers, home entertainment enthusiasts, and those interested in buying their very first Hi-Fi system. Combined with Australia's only 3-day Record Fair the show is a must for vinyl and turntable lovers. WIA - THIS IS IT Hello fellow hobbyist, The WIA's website has served us well for many years under the experts Rob VK3DN and Marc VK3OHM. Having done such a great job maintaining and developing it over the years ,it has become time to undertake a refresh in the vision of 2020 and beyond. The WIA IT team are looking for volunteers to assist with the management of the website and various systems, and aid in the migration of the existing content. So if you're an amateur systems operator, or perhaps a professional one, that has a flair for creating stunning websites I, Joseph Mullins (VK5FJDE), and the IT team would love to hear from you. Please flick us an email to it@wia.org.au WIA PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS Representation, Education and Promotion - it's what the WIA does. Representation The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is the only amateur radio body recognised by the International Telecommunications Union at World Radio Conferences (WRC). Australia has representation on the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). Australia is a member of Region 3 (Oceania). The IARU R3 board includes Director Peter Young VK3MV. The 17th IARU Region 3 Conference is being held in Seoul, Korea in a few weeks time and runs for a week. The Conference is being hosted by the Korean Amateur Radio League. The WIA Board has nominated Greg VK2GPK as delegate and Dale VK1DSH as observer to attend the Conference. The WIA will also send representatives to the WRC in 2019. This clearly demonstrates the WIA’s commitment to supporting and representing amateur radio internationally. As mentioned by Aidan in last week's Board Comment - the WIA Board has identified an issue with repeater and beacon assignment and is working toward creating a team of accredited frequency assigners. Many clubs are resorting to paying substantial amounts of money to alternate frequency assigners do the assignment for them. The WIA is working on offering a frequency assignment service at a reduced rate for members, affiliated clubs and community groups. We now have the insurance in place and are current looking for suitably qualified individuals. Promotion Myself and Vice-President Greg VK2GPK attended the North East Radio Groups AGM. This was done via video conference and the format was a thirty minute presentation then thirty minutes of questions and answers. This facility is available to all affiliated clubs. All you need is a good broadband internet connection with the ability to project onto a big screen and amplify audio from a PC. If interested then email support@wia.org.au The think-tank of the WIA the Strategy Advisory Committee have some new members following nominations being received. We welcome Phil VK4PG, Grant VK5GR, Peter VK4EA, Ewan VK4ERM, David VK4MZ and Aidan VK4APM as the Board representative. This committee is working on a number of white papers that will be submitted to the WIA Board prior to going out for amateur community consultation for their input. One of the priority areas is membership engagement. The WIA Marketing Group was formed from a group of interested amateurs that attended the Club President's lunch that was held just before WIA AGM in May. This group is focussing on how to promote and market the hobby and WIA and will be working closely with the Strategy Advisory Committee especially in the area of membership engagement. Education In June the ACMA released the consultation paper - New approaches to amateur radio qualification arrangements. Amateur Radio learning and assessment is currently provided on behalf of the WIA and the ACMA through a Deed of Agreement between the ACMA and WIA. The current service is delivered throughout Australia through a geographically diverse network of clubs with almost 300 assessors and learning facilitators undertaking over 1300 assessments per year on a volunteer cost recovery basis. The WIA received a total of 17 direct submissions from members of the WIA and others within the amateur community expressing deep concern for the approaches suggested in the ACMA consultation paper. These concerns and suggestions were included in the WIA submission and can be summarised as: Strong opposition to changes to the amateur radio qualification framework that: * results in a reduction in the social and community outcomes that amateur radio provides to approximately 14,000 Australian amateur operators, their clubs and the communities in which they operate; or * exposes the hobby to further existential (high cost for low numbers) risk; or * Imposes additional barriers to entry for new operators or the barriers to advancement for existing operators The ACMA received 45 submissions and has settled on Approach One “an approved body to provide training, conduct examinations and issue certificates of proficiency through delegation under the Act”. Approach One also outlines that the organisation is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). The ACMA is preparing to release a Request for Tender document in late August -= early September for the replacement service. The WIA is currently preparing for the release and response to that Tender. On behalf of the WIA Board this has been Justin VK7TW ---------------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, RAC, NZART & the World Wide sources of the WIA. CHINA Chinese state missile maker CASIC and its commercial space subsidiary Expace is preparing to launch its Kuaizhou-1A (Y8) solid rocket before the end of September, carrying the Centispace-1-1S test satellite into 700 km SSO. This mission will be additional to the approximately 35 being planned by main space contractor CASC for 2018.This means that together with CASC, emerging players like Expace, Landspace and potentially OneSpace, there could be around 40 Chinese launches in 2018. AUSTRIA Austria ÖVSV: Amateur Radio only "toy"! ?? The Austrian national Society ÖVSV has responded robustly to a press release put out on August 17, by the Austrian Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT) In July the BMVIT consulted on proposed changes to the regulations for the Amateur Radio Services, such were the concerns raised by the proposed changes that over 550 radio amateurs responded out of the total amateur population of about 6,000. It is understood the plan to force radio amateurs to renew their call sign every 10 years or else lose the call sign was one area of particular concern. On August 17 BMVIT issued a press release seemingly lumping amateur radio in with "Toys". Quotes in Google English from the ÖVSV response: "The latest press release from BMVIT (Aug 17, 2018) unfortunately confirms our worst fears! Although the statements of section chief Mag. Reichardt were probably intended as reassurance to ward off the many inquiries from the press and politics, the content is factually devastating and wrong." "The amateur radio service is thrown into a pot of cheap radio applications such as remote controls, toys, garage door openers, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, sports equipment and wireless microphones and equated with CB radio." "Even the described time limit of authorizations - after all for 10 years - is nonsense and certainly no administrative simplification. Without justification, the license granted for an indefinite period of time will be withdrawn here - a circumstance that is also concealed in the BMVIT press release. The talks about regaining the permit were interrupted and not yet continued." Read the full ÖVSV post - Amateur radio only "toy"! ?? https://tinyurl.com/Austria-OVSV-2018-08-24 USA USCGC Courier/VOA alumni install new exhibit at VOA Museum U.S. Coast Guard, VOA employees formed long-lasting friendships with citizens of Rhodes. While many Americans were driving big-finned cars and enjoying the prosperity of the 50s, the citizens of Rhodes, Greece, were still digging themselves out of rubble remaining from their location as a Nazi stronghold during World War II. Then, in 1952, the Voice of America and United States Coast Gaurd Cutter, the 'Courier,' came to town as part of then President Harry Truman’s Operation Vagabond. The deep Greek-American friendships formed there and dollars Americans brought helped rebuild Rhodes with an “unofficial” Marshall Plan. The USCGC Courier/VOA Alumni group shared stories of growing up in Greece during the Cold War at an Aug. 11 reception at the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester. The group had gathered with museum board members and docents to officially install a new exhibit outlining the story of the USCGC Courier, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter that acted as a floating Voice of America radio station from 1952 through 1964. The Courier was stationed in the port of Rhodes, Greece and broadcast VOA news into Russian territory to defeat Soviet jamming near VOA listener areas. It used a barrage balloon to hold its medium-wave antenna aloft and contained the most powerful communications radio transmitter ever installed on board a ship. Radio ham's company advances Cloaking Technology The ARRL reports Fractal Antenna Systems, Inc., established by noted radio amateur and inventor Nathan Cohen, W1YW, continues to stretch technological boundaries of belief In an August news release, the firm confirmed the issuance of its newest patents that will enable the next generation of stealth-like invisibility and absorptive shielding. The technology has both commercial and military applications. The firm pioneered and invented invisibility cloaks and holds both the “source” patent and the related comprehensive intellectual property portfolio. Their recently issued patent is a continuation of that state-of-the-art innovation. It discloses a novel means of turning invisibility cloaks on and off, by changing the characteristics of a boundary layer. “The person or sensor inside the cloak is thus no longer blind,” W1YV said. He explained that not being able to sense the outside had previously been the top impediment to the use of invisibility cloaks. Petition launched to save WWV Having operated since May 1920, WWV has transmitted the official US Time for nearly 100 years. The US government is planning to close Radio Stations WWV, WWVB, and WWVH in 2019. An online petition has been set up to change that, though at the time of receiving this item only about 7% of the necessary signatures had been gathered to oblige a response from the White House. You can sign the petition at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/maintain-funding-nist-stations-wwv-wwvh . TV FOR NOTHING GET YOUR FLICKS FOR FREE I would think each and every one of us 'guilty' of googling for ham radio related information have seen the unwanted 'plug' on our screens for free TV which turns out to be nothing more than an advert for a free to air TV antenna. Well reports in suggest Twenty percent of homes in the U.S. use a digital antenna to access live TV, up from 16 percent just two years ago, according to Parks Associates market research in Texas. The Twin Cities has an even higher antenna percentage. Local antenna installers say business has been rising about 20% to 25% annually for several years. It's the eighth largest broadcast-only market in the country, with more than 22 percent of homes using antennas to get local TV, according to TVb.org, a local broadcast trade association. Duane, Wawrzyniak, in Silver Lake, Minnesota, cites high TV bills every month for the increased antenna sales. According to the report, "In the Twin Cities and much of Minnesota, antenna users can receive 10 to 60 TV channels, often in high-definition quality, over the air at no expense." HONDURAS Donation of Ham Radio equipment for Emergency Comms On August 22, 2018, the National Telecommunications Commission of Honduras (abbreviated CONATEL in Spanish), delivered radio communications equipment to COPECO, donated by ITU for emergency communications Honduras is part of a pilot project of ITU that includes Central America and the Caribbean, aiming to achieve full implementation in South America. Miguel Alcaine, ITU Area D Representative, said: “The most important thing is that CONATEL, COPECO and the radio amateurs start working with the WinLink tool. I am very happy to know that we are doing something before disaster strikes”. Lisandro Rosales, National Commissioned Minister of COPECO, stated that “one of COPECO’s objectives has been the strengthening of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and thanks to them the institution has one of the most powerful communications networks of the region, with coverage of 95% of the national territory”. Minister Rosales also said that “We have realized that telecommunications is a key element in order to give early warnings and to warn about imminent danger, or to coordinate assistance or reconstruction activities”. The cooperation agreement also includes a training process. To this effect, COPECO technicians, along with professionals of the 911 National Emergency System and CONATEL personnel, initiated a series of workshops, with the support of Honduran radio amateurs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT This weekend the 'biggie' on the contest calendar is the All Asian DX SSB Contest, 1st and 2nd of September. Oct 6 – WW - Oceania DX contest Oct 11-12 - WW - SELCALL ALE, not a contest but an exercise. 2019 Aug 17-18 WW ILLW visit: https://illw.net/ THROUGH THE DX WINDOW MOLDOVA, ER. Roberto, IK1HGE is QRV as ER/IK1HGE until September 1. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using only SSB. QSL to IK 1 HGE FRANCE, F. Reg, G3WPF is QRV with special event call TM 100 HAB until September 4 to commemorate the 100 years since the liberation of Hardecourt-aux-Bois in the Somme in World War I. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW with some SSB. REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HL. Special event station D73V is active until the end of August to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of Korea's independence. QSL via 6 K 0 MF. MINAMI TORISHIMA, JD1. Take, JG 8 NQJ is QRV as JD1/JG8NQJ on Marcus Island, IOTA OC-073, and remains there until September 6. QSL via operator's instructions. BULGARIA, LZ. Special event station LZ 35 PAR is QRV until August 31 during the 35th FAI World Freefall Style and Accuracy Landing Championship. QSL via LZ 1 ZF. CZECH REPUBLIC, OK. Special event station OL 100 CSR is QRV until October 31 to celebrate the founding of Czechoslovakia 100 years ago. QSL via bureau. ENGLAND, G. Members of the Pontefract and District Amateur Radio Society are now active as GB 250 CC until September 28th to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook's first voyage of discovery to the Pacific, spanning the years 1768-1771. Captain Cook sailed out of Plymouth on August 25th, 1768, on the ship called the "Endeavour". Other activations may be possible over the next 3 years to coincide with "key moments" of the voyage. For more details, see https://www.qrz.com/db/gb250cc QSL by the Bureau to GB250CC Jacques, F 6 HMJ will be active as SV8/F6HMJ from Ios Island, EU-067, from the 27th of August to the 6th of September. He will operate CW and some SSB on the 40 to 10 metre bands. QSL via his home call, F6HMJ. AUSTRALIA, VI. Celebrating this year’s WW1 Armistice Day Centenary, on air November 3 to 15 will be VI6PAX THAILAND, HS. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of IARU Region 3, members of the Radio Society of Thailand are QRV as HS 50 IARU until October 31. BRUNEI, V8. Members of the Brunei Darussalam Amateur Radio Association are QRV with special event station V850IARU until October 31 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of IARU Region 3. QSL via V85TL. MORROCO Morocco special callsign Operators Jose EA 1 ACP, Gen EA 5 EL, Francisco EA 7 FTR and David EB 7 DX will be active with the special callsign 5 E 5 A for "National Celebrations in Morocco". August 30th-September 3rd. Operations will be on CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via EA 7 FTR. (SouthGate) GREENLAND, OX. Bo, OZ 1 DJJ is active as OX 3 LX till August 29. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via OZ 0 J direct. VIETNAM, 3W9. Jacek, SP 5 APW will be active as 3W9JK/P from Cham Island (AS-162) from September 15 to 22, and as 3W9JK from Ho An City in the Quang Nam Province from September 22 to 27. Activity will be on 20 to 6 meters using SSB. QSL via his home call sign, SP5APW via the bureau. NET ADVICE There's a lot happening with nets this week, so how about THIS one ... Wondering what all this DMR stuff is about? Of course you've heard about it, Digital Mobile Radio, and maybe you've even lashed out and put down a few hard earned dollars on one of those El Cheapo (relatively anyway) digital handhelds. DMR may never replace HF or VHF analogue, but it's a fun way to get involved in cutting edge stuff, without breaking your brain cells or the bank, or upsetting the neighbours with your ever increasing antenna farm. For most of us, nothing takes the place of Amateur radio, however that is what this is all about, as DMR is just the latest up-to-date way for hams to communicate, and it can even be on a global scale with no atmospheric noise, fading or interference to marr your conversation. There's a growing number of DMR repeaters around Australia, and every Tuesday evening at 1930 EAST, Peter VK4NBL runs the VK-DMR net which recently attracted VK's from Hobart to Perth, and Ayers Rock to Thursday Island! If you think this is something you'd like to know more about, and you already have a DMR capable radio, the VK-DMR net is on Talk Group 3809, Time Slot 1, and also accessible from reflector 4809. Repeater and Hot Spot connections all work, just fine. Hope to hear YOU there next Tuesday at 1930 EAST. And tell Peter you heard about it first, on WIA National News!! I'm John, VK4JJW. MEDIA WATCH Latest edition of The 5 MHz Newsletter now available for download Paul Gaskell G4MWO, Editor, The 5 MHz Newsletter advises the latest edition is available for free pdf download from the ‘External Links’ section of the Wikipedia 60m Band page. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60-meter_band#External_links or the RSGB 5 MHz page http://rsgb.org/main/operating/band-plans/hf/5mhz/ This edition includes 5 MHz news from 8 countries, features the World of 5 MHz, the Wikipedia 60 Meter Band page, CEPT, Do you monitor the UK 5 MHz Beacons, Useful propagation sites for 5 MHz and Reader’s Feedback from G4DWV. THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report – Measure Twice cut Once. Saturday the 1st, UTC, in the UK will see as the lead in event for the Telford HamFest, a presentation by Heather, M 0 HMO described as an HF Swiss Army Knife. This is a small, digital, very portable device that measures VSWR, RF power, DC voltage, resistance, continuity, HF frequency and includes a GPS for latitude longitude, Maidenhead locator and OS Grid reference. Further information is at telfordhamfest.org.uk WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER https://ariss.batc.tv/ (under test) AO73/FUNcube-1 is entering a further period of full sunlight AO73/FUNcube-1 has been in space for almost five years and the original Sun Synchronous Orbit has now changed slightly such that the spacecraft will no longer be in eclipse for 35 mins every orbit The eclipse period has already reduced and will again become zero on September 8, 2018. This means that our usual autonomous switching between transponder on in eclipse and high-power telemetry when in sunlight will no longer be effective! We have therefore decided to have AO73/FUNcube-1 initially operate for alternate periods of one week in either safe or educational modes. This should enable us to evaluate whether the currents do affect the spin rate. Safe mode provides low power telemetry and education mode the usual high power telemetry. It will also enable an analysis to see whether the satellite becomes hotter or cooler in each mode. This schedule may be changed in light of experience and we will update everyone on such changes via the AMSAT-BB in the usual way. http://www.amsat.org/pipermail/amsat-bb/ The new schedule will be put into effect on Friday, August 31, 2018. An Amazing Recovery: ARISS Packet System Revives Zimilar to the AO-7 satellite resurrection several years ago, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) packet radio system on the International Space Station (ISS) has begun working again. NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, said over last weekend that reports he’d received indicated that the NA1SS packet signal returned in mid-August. “It appears it indeed has started working as of about 11 days ago,” Ransom said. “No idea how long it will last, given the degrading state of the current hardware. The longer it lasts, the better.” Ransom said the revived system will fill the gap until a replacement packet module goes up later this year on a Progress supply vehicle and is installed by the crew on a time-available basis. Satellite enthusiast Patrick Stoddard, WD9EWK, in Arizona reported via the ISS Fan Club site that the ISS packet system was operating on August 25 at 1915 UTC during an 8° pass over the continental US. “I got my position packet through once, no QSOs this pass,” he said in a post. The packet signal on 145.825 MHz has been copied in Europe, South America, India, and elsewhere. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA Nobu, JA0JHQ is active as T88PB from Koror, Palau. IOTA reference OC-009. 31st of August to the 3rd of September. Main activity will be during the All Asian DX SSB Contest on this weekend. QSL via Logbook of The World preferred, or direct to JA0JHQ. (rsgb) Jacques, F 6 HMJ is active as SV8/F6HMJ from Ios Island, EU-067, to the 6th of September. He is operating CW and SSB on the 40 to 10m bands. QSL via F6HMJ his home callsign. (rsgb) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW https://illw.net/ The International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend was, according to reports, another successful event with 440 stations entered from 49 countries. This was the 21st year the event has been held. Southgate Amateur Radio Club news are reporting that the entrants list for 2019 already has 71 lighthouses listed for the weekend of 17th and 18th of August 2019 WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - THE PODCAST WORLD FCC Launches “More than Seven Dirty Words” Podcast The FCC has launched a new podcast series, More Than Seven Dirty Words, that will feature interviews with FCC officials and staff in addition to others in the communications arena. The podcast aims “to share untold stories, explain important policy issues, and maybe even do the impossible — make telecom interesting,” the FCC said in announcing the new media outlet. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who is a guest on the initial outing and shares some banter with the program host, FCC Policy Advisor Evan Swarztrauber says guests will share their personal stories behind FCC news headlines and break down various telecommunications-related issues. The podcast’s title is drawn from the first episode’s introductory discussion, which touches on the court fight over George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” and the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. The first podcast — which runs nearly 4 minutes — also mentions the FCC’s response to the 2017 Puerto Rico hurricane disaster. Each episode will be available at fcc.gov, as well as on iTunes, and Google Play. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS http://www.raotc.org.au Hallo everyone this is Clive VK6CSW reminding you that tomorrow is the first Monday of the month, time for the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australia’s September bulletin to go to air. This month , as well as all the Club news, we have talks on Leap Years and Photonic Chips, ICs which use light rather than electricity and could be the foundation of ultra-fast computers. Everyone, RAOTC members and non-members alike, is most welcome to tune in and to join in the call backs afterwards. The broadcast originates in Melbourne at 10 am local time on the VK3REC 2m repeater with simultaneous relays on 1825 kHz and 7146 kHz. At 0100 UTC for eastern states listeners, Hans VK5YX will transmit the program on 20 metres on 14.150 MHz. Also tomorrow at 0100 UTC, we have a trial broadcast from VK6JI on 80 metres on 3620 kHz. At 0200 UTC, for West Australian listeners the program is transmitted simultaneously on 7088 kHz and via the linked repeater network. At night the broadcast is repeated at 2030 hours Melbourne time on 80 metres on 3650kHz, in Tasmania at 1930 on the VK7RAA and 7RTC networks plus a TV presentation by Tony VK7AX at 2030 hours Tasmanian time. From Tuesday you can download the audio file from the Club website at www.raotc.org.au where you also find full details about our Club. Tune in tomorrow for the September RAOTC bulletin. 73 from Clive VK6CSW. 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 Young people are the future leaders in Amateur Radio "You are the future of Amateur Radio", YOTA 2018 Patron, Gary Immelman, ZS6YI told YOTA 2018 delegates in his address on the last evening of the event that is now worldwide heralded as the best ever He said "the intention this year was to subject you to relative high intensity amateur radio fun with as many diverse segments as what we could muster during this short week. Obviously, we have only touched the tip of the iceberg and so many more projects could've been embarked upon, but I believe you have all got a taste of what could be done in our hobby and especially what can be built upon to make YOTA of the future an ever-changing and even better experience than the last. You are the future leaders of the amateur radio fraternity and I urge you to become leaders in your respective organizations. By virtue of the fact that you were prepared to come all this way to South Africa and to so enthusiastically participate in this year's YOTA tells me that you are all a very dedicated and motivated group of young people. Judging by what I saw on how you all participated, the enthusiasm and vigour in which you participated in the various activities gives me comfort that the future of amateur radio is indeed very bright." 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 IARU Region 1 3760 7110 14300 18160 21360 kHz IARU Region 2 3750 3985 7060 7240 7275 14300 18160 21360 kHz WICEN NET WICEN Queensland holds a net every Sunday on 7075kHz from 8-30am The net calls in regular stations and then invites new stations to call in and if conditions are poor on 7MHz, net control might move to around 3600kHz. Try also the pre-WICEN net on 20metres, Noel/VK4NL in Hervey Bay conducts the call-in on the ANZA Net frequency 14183 kHz from 08-10am, just 20 mts prior to the WICEN net. (sourced to theTARCinc) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) Microwatt Signal Generator and EME Tests on 10 GHZ in Hobart In order to check out his 10 GHz EME system Larry VK7WLH beamed his 60 cm dish from Kingston to Rex VK7MO at Tolmans Hill over an 8 km non-line of site path. VK7WI NEWS says that Rex used his signal generator to transmit to a tiny 3cm x 4cm horn and Larry was able to detect Rex's signal generator down to 100 microwatts. In a second test Rex beamed to Richard VK7ZBX over a 22 km path obstructed by Mount Disappointment. Richard used a small 18cm by 23cm horn to Rex's tiny horn and modulated his signal generator in AM mode with the digital mode QRA64-D. Richard was receiving on SSB so the lower sideband and carrier were filtered out so he could decode the USB QRA64-D signal from the signal generator. This time Rex was able to reduce the signal level to 1 milli-watt and Richard still got good decodes. If we take account of the fact that only a quarter of the AM power is in the Upper Sideband this means Richard was copying only 125 microwatts. The received signal works out to be 39 dB down on what is calculated for line of site which is the additional loss for the non-line of site path over Mount Disappointment. Following these tests Larry was readily able to copy the DL0SHF beacon in Germany and G3WDG in the UK off the Moon. Richard copied the German beacon at marginal levels with his 18 cm by 23 cm horn despite signal spreading of 75 Hz due to Lunar libration. Richard proposes further tests when the Lunar libration will be down to 7 Hz the 11th of September. The DL6SHF beacon runs 40 watts to a 7.2 metre dish - quite something to keep this antenna which has a 3 dB beamwidth of only 0.28 degrees accurately tracking the Moon and run the beacon when-ever the Moon is up for the benefit of hams around the World. The 7.2 metre dish gives a gain of 54.7 dBi and an EIRP of 10 Mega-Watts. Social Scene 2018 Sept 8 VK4 SUNSHINE COAST HAMFEST WOOMBIE SCHOOL OF ARTS 9AM (vk4kx) Sept 9 VK3 SadarC Hamfest/Comms day (armag) Sept 21-23 VK4 Central Highlands AR Club AGM Lake Maraboon (TARC) Sep 28-Oct 1 VK4 Cardwell Gathering (TARC) Oct 14 VK3 Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group HamFest (vk3kqt) Oct 28 vk3 Ballarat Amateur Radio Group HamFest (vk3kqt) Nov   11  VK5 - Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest Nov 17 VK7 - VK7Hamfest Miena Community Centre (vk7wi) Nov 18 VK3 - The Rosebud RadioFest (vk3pdg) 2019 Social Scene May 3 - 6 VK4 - Claireview Gathering (tarc) September 2019- Scandinavian YL Radio Operators Convention will be in Norway LA8FOA is your contact Ingrid lullen55@gmail.com 2020 Social Scene ALARAMEET Bendigo (vk5yl) 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. 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 it 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 if broadcast, are done so 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 from. Send unsubscribe 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------*