SEP 23 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 23 2018. IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA secures special event callsign VI 2 GB. - WIA PRESIDENT ON YOUR ABC. - WIA's Casey Castro calls for help on the marketing group of the WIA. - WIA Director Marcus WTF and Board Comment. THESE STORIES & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23 Most listeners to this, the WIA National News Service would be well aware, we are not alone! In South Africa the SARL have a weekly broadcast, as does the RSGB in the UK, and ARRL and Amateur Radio Newsline in the USA. We at WIA National news regularly exchange items we feel may be of interest to the wider ham community, and vice versa. Over the past 10 years or so we .. for want of a better term, main stream ham radio news services have been most appreciative of the services of the UK's SouthGate Amateur Radio Clubs "News Service." For those who, like myself, have spent a lifetime in the media, would easily equate this Southgate service to AAP , UPI, Reuteurs news pools and wire services. BUT like many Amateur services to we hams it's actually one chap who has kept this service flourishing, making it a one stop shop for news, that being Richard G4TUT. Over the past few week's Richard has been hospilalised several times and our thoughts go out to G4TUT of SouthGate News for a speedy recovery. YOUR WIA PRESIDENT ON YOUR ABC Justin VK7TW was invited for a 10m slot on ABC local radio in Hobart to talk on all manner of things, tank turrets to tank circuits, the moon to radio artists, the kind of activities REAST is famous for at their regular amateur radio local experimenter's night. Joel Rheinberger is the host and you can hear it about 10 minutes into the link in this weeks text edition. http://www.abc.net.au/radio/hobart/programs/evenings/ A good promotion of Amateur Radio for the non amateur listener. WIA Hi Everyone, My name is Casey Castro and I am the chair of the new marketing group for the WIA. We are currently looking for volunteers to head up our digital marketing and media group. So anyone with some digital marketing, media, SEO experience, please contact us at marketing@wia.org.au We look forward to hearing from you. 73 Casey VK2FACE Sometimes it's hard to find good topics, but this past week has been crazy. Hi I'm Marcus VK5WTF, WIA Director with this weeks board comment Last week the board voted to formalise a rigid complaints process, this is to ensure all complaints are tracked from start to finish and also creates a process to escalate complaints as well as other recommendations. This came after a recent review of the complaints process. More information can be found on the WIA website. wia.org.au The ACMA released their five year spectrum outlook, and unfortunately, due to a high demand for spectrum, Australian amateurs will not have access to 60m in the near future. Overall, no spectrum was added, and more importantly, no spectrum was lost. This has been a great outcome for our bands with pressure from 5G and internet of things, so make sure you get out there and use it! Last week, I was camping in a place where I have fallen in love with the zero noise floor, and I was really happy to hear that the bands were being used nearly 24 hours a day. But there is plenty of spectrum out there for more users, so lets prove that we deserve the spectrum we have! And on the weekend just gone, the WIA had two representatives at the IARU Region 3 conference, Peter Young, VK3MV, and WIA Director and Vice President, Greg Kelly, VK2GPK. The first day covered a few topics, but one that got my attention was the recent successes in engaging and retaining young amateurs, by having events organised by young people, something we should all think about if we are trying to engage youth. On day two, attendees were split into two groups, one covering policy and the second technical and operational tasks. I think most of us know which one we would prefer to be in, and the WIA chaired the first, policy. Band plans also received an update, with 15m getting a satellite segment. This will soon trigger an update of the Australian bandplans, and rest assured, we will be asking for community input. And finally, the WIA has secured the special event callsign VI 2 GB to celebrate 100 years since the first contact between G and VK. This is a complimentary callsign to the GB2VK and is compatible with standard format callsigns. Clubs wishing to get access between the 25th September and the 21st October to VI2GB should follow the link and follow the instructions. VI2GB Application: https://goo.gl/wngEX2 this is vk5wtf, going clear, and listening ---------------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, RAC, NZART & the World Wide sources of the WIA. NEW ZEALAND FM FREQUENCY MALFUNCTION SouthGate News are reporting that motor car remotes on inappropriate 433.920 MHz frequency caused malfunction. Dozens of people have been locked out of their cars in the central business district of Invercargill New Zealand because car remotes malfunctioned in the presence of nearby radio signals Dozens of car owners turned up to motor dealerships reporting that their car remotes had been malfunctioning. They were unable to lock or unlock their cars and some were even unable to start the vehicles with their car remotes. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment's Radio Spectrum Management said it was contacted by Invercargill Police who said there was a significant number of people getting replacement batteries for car remotes because they were not working. An RSM Compliance Officer provided advice to police on what frequency it was likely to be and a police technician tracked it to a legitimate repeater on top of the Menzies Building. A search of the radio frequency license register shows amateur radio operator ZL 4 DE holds the licence on behalf of amateurs to transmit on 434.050 MHz. Amateurs have primary use of the frequency range 433.05 to 434.92 MHz. Remote controls, such as those in car door remotes, operate within the Short Range Device Notice and have secondary use of the SAME frequency range 433.050 to 434.920 MHz. So BOTH parties are legally allowed to transmit on the frequency. The repeater is currently off while ZL4DE, the license holder works with RSM to find a solution. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/ NEPAL The Union of Asian DXers Facebook page 13 September 2018 reports that Radio Nepal is back on short-wave after six years by adding 5005 kHz to augment its national transmission grid broadcasting on MW and FM. According to a station official, Radio Nepal resumed short wave broadcasts from 02.00 – 5.00 p m Nepali time using a 10 kw transmitter in Kathmandu . The same source said the station is applying very low power. By all accounts, 5005 kHz is a difficult DX catch for listeners outside of Nepal. Nepal is 5 hours and 45 minutes ahead of UTC. AFRICAN CONTINENT - ETHIOPIA & SOMALILAND TWO 40-METER BROADCAST INTRUDERS GONE: IARU REGION 1 MONITORING SYSTEM REPORTS The IARU Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports that two long-time broadcast intruders on 40 metres are gone. IARUMS Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM, said in the IARUMS newsletter that Radio Hargeisa in the Republic of Somaliland on 7,120 MHz, and Radio Ethiopia on 7,140 MHz, departed the band during the last week of August. IARUMS did report increasing military traffic on 7 and 14 MHz, "especially on digital modes from Russia and China." In addition, a wideband over-the-horizon radar in China has caused serious problems on 20 meters, while an Iranian radar on 28,860 MHz "could be heard under sporadic E conditions." German telecommunications authorities have filed a formal complaint. Hadel said a Russian Navy system believed to be in Moscow appeared on 7,182 MHz on F1A, a 200 Hz shift, identifying as RDL. German telecommunications authorities were notified. Hadel also reported "childish behaviour" by amateurs in western and eastern Ukraine "insulting each other or playing music every day" on 7.055 MHz (LSB). UK 992 UK amateurs die each year. How is this unbelievable statistic arrived at? Following a Freedom of Information request Ofcom has now issued what is believed to be the correct figure for the number of individual radio amateurs in the UK G 3 RXQ made several FoI's to Ofcom to try and find out how many hold one or more amateur licences, Ofcom said: "As of 1 August 2018 I can confirm that the total number of individuals holding one or more current UK Amateur Radio Licences is 75,660." This figure enables an estimate to be made for the number of radio amateurs who die each year. It believed the RSGB has about 19,000 UK members who are licenced amateurs, this is about 25% of total UK amateurs. From an analysis of the Silent Key column in 2015 RadCom it would appear that about 248 licenced UK RSGB members are dying each year. This suggests that maybe in total some 992 UK amateurs die each year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT Oct 6 – WW - Oceania DX contest Oct 11-12 - WW - SELCALL ALE, not so much a contest but an exercise. 2019 Aug 17-18 WW ILLW visit: https://illw.net/ -------------- THROUGH THE DX WINDOW AUSTRALIA, VI. Celebrating this year’s WW1 Armistice Day Centenary, on air November 3 to 15 will be VI6PAX IW 5 ELA will operate mainly CW as 7 Q 7 ELA till 26th September. All QSOs will be confirmed automatically via the bureau. Tina, HB0/DL5YL and Fred, HB0/DL5YM are active from Liechtenstein to the 6th of October. They will operate CW, some SSB and RTTY during the CQ WW DX RTTY Contest. QSL via their home calls, either direct or via the bureau. DL 4 APJ and DJ 2 AX are active as JW/DL4APJ and JW/DJ2AX from the JW 5 E club station in Longyearbyen, Svalbard EU-026, to 25 September. QSL via their home calls. DL 5 APJ and DJ 2 AX HA 3 JB is active as 8 Q 7 IP the Maldives, AS-013, till September 30. Operating CW, SSB, RTTY, FT8 on the 6 to 80m bands and will participate in the CQ WW RTTY Contest. QSL via HA 3 JB. G 4 EDG is active as ZD 9 CW from Tristan da Cunha, AF-029, to the 22nd of October, CW and RTTY with some SSB on the 15 to 40m bands and possibly 80m. QSL via Logbook of The World or via LZ 1 JZ. Ofcom issues M5 prefix calls again The Twitter feed of the RSGB Youth Committee reports its Chair, Mike Jones has now got the Full licence callsign M 5 PMJ Mike first got his Foundation licence in 2011, later upgrading to 2 E 0 MLJ. In August he was in South Africa for Youngsters on the Air, there he did a two day HAREC course and took the 90 question exam. He passed, and on returning to the UK submitted a paper application along with his South African HAREC certificate to Ofcom asking for the callsign M 5 PMJ. Ofcom issued the licence on September 6. Ofcom had originally issued M5 prefix callsigns for UK Class A/B licences from 1999 to 2001 but ceased when Class A/B was merged with Class A. Only a few hundred M5 calls were ever issued and this is thought to be the first M5 call to have been issued in 17 years. RSGB Youth Committee https://twitter.com/theRSGByouth (SouthGate) WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DRM (not dmr) Russia proposes to use DRM on 65.9-74.0 MHz On the 11th of September 2018, it was reported that the Russian Federation proposes to use the digital DRM+ standard for broadcasting on the radio frequency bands 65.9-74 MHz and 87.5-108 MHz. This has the potential of being a major source of interference to radio amateurs using the 4 metre band (70 MHz) in central and eastern Europe. As 'Secondary Users' of this part of the spectrum, radio amateurs will have no choice but to live with any interference, especially during the Summer Sporadic-E season. https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2018/09/russia-proposes-to-use-drm-on-659-740.html WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER https://ariss.batc.tv/ (under test) Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa signed with SpaceX to fly around the moon on the company's next generation rocket, CEO Elon Musk announced this week. Maezawa will attempt to be the first to return to the moon in nearly 50 years, launching aboard a Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), which SpaceX is developing. The trip is expected to be launched in 2023. "Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the moon. It's always there and continues to inspire humanity," said Maezawa, one of the richest people in Japan, who made his fortune as the founder of online retailers Start Today and Zozotown. "To be clear. This is dangerous.... it's not a sure thing... there are some chances things could go wrong," Musk reiterated. He refused to reveal the amount Maezawa paid for the mission, saying he was "not disclosing the amount but he's paying a very significant amount of money." (CNBC and other published press releases) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- LIGHTHOUSES Hams are mourning the loss of a long time amateur who was as devoted to lighthouses as to radio, as Kevin Trotman N5PRE reported to ARNewsLine. Just as Jim Weidner K2JXW showed his devotion to historic beacons of safety for maritime travellers when he founded the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society, (ARLHS) he too was seen as a beacon of friendship to those who knew him. Jim, who founded the organization in 2000 and watched it grow to a worldwide membership of nearly 1,700, has become a Silent Key. His death was announced on the website of the society on September 7. The organization website noted that it was founded in part to honour the heritage of lighthouses and lightships but also to recognize lighthouse keepers as maritime heroes. Jim had been a licensed ham since 1954. In an online tribute on the society website, John KX4O, to whom Jim had passed the baton, wrote: [quote] “Jim’s friends are numerous and many continue to help me fulfil his goals of the ARLHS….so in a very real way, Jim lives on in all of us as we continue to make ARLHS what it is today.” [endquote] Jim Weidner, who died on the 1st of September, was 77. (arlhs is not the organisation that runs the International Lighthouse Weekend) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- MARITIME YLs TO OPERATE ON BOARD USS BATFISH A group of YLs plans to honour 2 submarines lost in World War Two and is looking for even more YLs to join them. The USS Batfish Amateur Radio Club is getting ready to welcome a group of YLs on board the submarine in Oklahoma to call CQ as WW2SUB. In October, these YLs will be honouring the USS Wahoo and the USS Dorado which are among the 52 U.S. submarines lost during the Second World War. The lost subs are being honoured by the Batfish’s amateur club. The YLs will be operating from Oct. 12th through the 14th, even sleeping on board and experiencing life on the submarine, which now houses an exhibit that honours military veterans and is permanently kept in Muskogee, Oklahoma’s War Memorial Park. The YLs aren’t just looking for contacts and QSL cards – they’re also in search of other YLs who’d like to join them on the air. Michelle Carey W5MQC said that any YL who wants to join the operation that weekend should send an email to her on w5mqc@yahoo.com Michelle said that the YLs will most likely be operating on 20 and 40 meters – mostly SSB. According to club trustee Wade Harris KF5IF, although YLs have operated from the Batfish before, this is the first time for a group of YLs to do so as a formal event. The weekend operation is being done under the auspices of the Young Ladies Radio League, the YLRL, where Michelle is District 5 rep, but any YL can participate regardless of whether she is a member of the league or not. Michelle also noted that any YL who does not yet have her license but is interested in experiencing what it’s like to be on the air can also stop by and receive some guidance from a licensee. She called the USS Batfish weekend operation “a unique opportunity for us to come together and help each other out while calling CQ and honouring those lost during World War Two.” For more information about the Batfish radio club visit their website at ww2sub.org 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 ANTENNA GIVES BOOST TO FLEDGLING DXers IN UK Young members of an amateur radio club at one school in the UK just got the gift of DX, as Jeremy Boot G4NJH told in a story filed to ARNewsLine If some of the students at the Sandringham School in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, seem to be disappearing at lunchtime or after school, it’s probable you’ll find them in the first-floor room that houses the school’s amateur radio club station M0SCY. At this secondary school for high-achievers, these particular youngsters are looking for particularly high marks – not just in academics but also in DXing. Members of the Sandringham School’s Amateur Radio Club, now in its second year, they recently helped assemble and install a tri-band beam antenna that had been donated by the school’s headmaster Alan Gray G4DJX. With extra help from him and the school’s caretaker, the team of young hams got the antenna in place early this month and added a donated rotator with the support of a friend and Nevada Radio. Alan told Newsline that the students went on the air and, immediately noticing the improvement of the beam over the multi-band dipole they’d been using, they wasted no time setting themselves up for their next assignment: The challenge of completing DXCC by year’s end. Alan noted that this won’t just be a ham radio achievement for the youngsters but, with a nearby map, a geography lesson as well. He said the students have their eyes on some contests in the coming months and have begun entering the Radio Society of Great Britain’s 80 metre cumulative contests. These high achievers have done well: the club’s September entry made 68 contacts in an hour and a half, with only four operators. Best of all, Alan said, the students are teaching one another and working together. Now, he says, all he needs is a little extra help around the shack to keep up the encouragement and the knowledge. SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SUMMITS ON THE AIR www.sotawatch.org www.sota.org.uk It's a date. November 4, this is THE day set aside for the VK1 SOTA 6m, 2m & 70cm VHF-UHF Summit to Summit Party (crarc) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) Moon bounce on a dipole On Saturday the 8th of September, the Essex DX Group achieved a world first by making a moon bounce EME contact using nothing more than a dipole. The contact on 432mhz was with superstation DL7APV Bernd's 128x11 element yagi array. 128 by 11 !!! The antenna was an DG 7 YBN 'Blade' dipole. This was in fact the GTV2 2 element yagi with its reflector taken out leaving just its dipole (sourced to SouthGate news) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* CLUBBING VK1 Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club have a very special 'special guest speaker' September 26, Wednesday. They welcome Roger Harrison VK2ZRH who will explain the haunts and habits of sporadic-E ionisation and propagation, and how to exploit it on all bands from 40 metres to two metres, throughout the year. In recent times, the textbooks have been re-written with new understanding of the causes of Sporadic E . Doors open at 1930 September 26 at the Red Hill Scout Hall, Red Hill. VK2 The Central Coast Amateur Radio Club over in VK2 run lectures the 3rd Saturday of every month, recently they have been lectured on the GPS system, thanks to Dave VK2KFU, and on Radiation Hazards by Allan VK2EFM A Foundation Training and Assessment Day was held yesterday, the 22nd so it's a big hi to our newbies. All meetings of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club are held at the club rooms in Dandaloo St, Kariong at 1pm, preceded by the famous sausage sizzle run by Steve VK2KSC, at noon. The club rooms are accessible by bus, serviced by route 34 from Gosford railway station every hour. The Club rooms are usually open from 10.30 every Saturday, for general chit-chat and access to the Club workshop and library. More info on the social platforms, try ccarc.org.au VK3 "Hi, this is Craig VK3WAR on behalf of the Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group. Come visit the beautiful Yarra Valley; Wineries, Ballooning, Breweries, farmgate produce, beautiful gardens for picnics, historic homesteads and even a chocolate factory; These are just a few attractions in this pristine area. We as a group also have an attraction on Sunday the 14th October. Its the Yarra Valley Amateur Radio group Hamfest at the Garry Cooper Pavillion in Yarra Glen. Doors open at 10.00 AM Entrance fee of $7.00. For table bookings phone Colin VK3CNW on 0423 535 988. See you there on Sunday 14th October around the BBQ and grab a snag." (Colin (VK3CNW) Secretary, Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Club (VK3YVG))). VK4 The Annual General Meeting of The Townsville Amateur Radio Club will be happening on Sunday November 25th. Whoop-de-doo you say - but wait, what is that delicious smell you can detect from the future ? It's pancake breakfast from 7am to 8-30am cooked up by the Iron Faraday Cage Chefs to kick start the AGM. Where do you go to ? Area 2 of Rossiter Park Aitkenvale via Kimball Street of course ! AGM Agenda and Proxy Forms were published in September and October 2018 Back-scatters. Written nominations for positions needed to be tendered no later than 25th October 2018 as these need to be displayed in the Club Rooms no less than a month prior to the AGM. Please advise attendance numbers no later than Tuesday 20th November's Social Meeting for catering purposes – or else you'll go hungry and your pancake craving will not cease ! (Gavin Reibelt VK4ZZ, Secretary 2018, theTARCinc.) Social Scene 2018 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------*