Nov 18 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 NOV 18 2018. IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS Greg VK2GPK with this week’s comment from the WIA board THIS STORY & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF November 18 This is Greg VK2GPK with this week’s comment from the WIA board. The Department of Communication and the Arts (DOCA) has invited Australia’s peak amateur radio body, the Wireless Institute of Australia to represent Australian and regional amateur interests at the Asia Pacific Telecommunity Preparatory Group meeting (APG19-4) for the 2019 World Radio-communication Conference WRC-19. World Radio-communication conferences (WRC) are held every three to four years. It is the job of WRC to review, and, if necessary, revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits.? This meeting occurs from the 7 to 12 January 2019 in Korea. This meeting takes the Australian Preliminary View to this broader Asia-Pacific Telecommunity meeting and seeks to form a regional position to take to the World Radio Conference 2019 that runs from 28 October and 22 November 2019 in Egypt. The WIA is looking for suitably skilled, knowledgeable and experienced amateurs to fulfil this role. Negotiation skills in dealing with participants with English as a second language and cultural nuances are especially valued, not just pure technical skills. So, if you believe you have this skill set, have been involved in amateur radio at a state, national or international level and think you can represent Australia’s Radio Amateur cohort national interests then the WIA representation group would like to hear from you! Send your CV and a brief cover letter with supporting information through to support@wia.org.au. DISCUSSION POINT Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, joins us with an item that has been 'going viral' even picked up by overseas ham news services, and this was broadcast just last week in VK4 on QNEWS One of the investments that clubs considered for their local experimenter community was one or more repeaters. From the FM repeater of the 60’s we now have networked systems utilising internet linking and employing various combinations of analogue and digital modes. If real estate is available, working HF stations are a real asset for nets, contests and assessments. Now when it comes to chasing the elusive distance contacts, there have been various methods of assisting contacts. OT’s, that is radio Old Timers, not occupational therapists, will remember when monthly graphs of expected useable frequencies were published and pored over. The ingress of the personal computer brought many changes in forecasting technology and many a DXer has joined up a reporting site to see who is reported as operating and from where the reports have come. Cluster, reporters and similar apps are great and even the skimmers which automate the collection and reporting are of benefit. There once was a time the amateur powered up the station, allowed the rig to stabilise and then tuned up, listened around the band and maybe even put out a CQ call. If we pay attention to the internet amateur radio pages, you could think that making a call without referencing a reporting system was not permitted and then people jump on line a tell their little world that the bands are dead. Most of us take in information when it is presented in a visual form and it certainly helps to have things like waterfall displays to show where stations are operating. How about displaying where the bands are opening to? This is where K1JT, Prof. Joe Taylor’s, suite of programs come into their own. http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wspr.html Amongst Joe’s qrp programs is the one we know as “whisper”, Weak Signal Propagation Reporter, or WSPR. There are a number of stations using WSPR permanently and many, many others playing to see how far milliwatts of signal can travel and be received. Like the SDR receivers, there is gear you can make and gear you can buy and one of the suppliers with a firm reputation is QRPLabs. http://shop.qrp-labs.com/U3S This supplier lets you ease into kit building and end up with a diverse or simple installation. With the software and an internet connection, here is the opportunity to check how the bands are working using less power than an led torch. Once again this is a great instructional process for club members in building and testing, installing and analysing the results of a cheap system that can run all day every day at minimal cost. Check the links in the text edition and have a look at what WSPR can do for you. 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, RAC, NZART & the World Wide sources of the WIA. VIETNAM Space weather in wartime - a sunspot triggers naval mines Researchers studying declassified Naval records have found evidence that a big sunspot may have caused dozens or perhaps even thousands of naval mines to explode off the coast of Vietnam in 1972. The solar storms of August '72 were already legendary at NASA. These new findings suggest that the event might have been even more potent than previously thought. Learn more on Spaceweather.com In fact you can learn all manner of things as a regular visitor to this sight, such as " Did an alien light sail just visit our solar system?" It sounds like a tabloid headline, but in this case it could be real. Mainstream researchers from the Harvard Centre for Astrophysics have made the case in a newly-released paper that interstellar asteroid 'Oumuamua could be an alien light sail. INDIA They learn English by hearing the news on radio The Hindu reports the news broadcasts from All India Radio are being used to teach students English To make learning English interesting and interactive for high school students, the district administration has undertaken a novel initiative. All high schools in the district have been instructed to implement All India Radio (AIR) English news listening programme as part of listening enhancement programme, English learning and general awareness development activities for students of class 8 and 9. The students are required to tune in to the five-minute English news broadcast at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. every day in their respective classrooms and note down the points. That is followed by simple questions and discussions for another five minutes in the class to check their IQ levels, vocabulary, general knowledge and grasp on current affairs. Montenegro The latest update to the Montenegro National Frequency Plan from the country’s telecomms regulator, EKIP, lists a new band at 5 MHz/60m, namely the WRC-15 Amateur Secondary Allocation of 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz with 15W EIRP, which has been confirmed by national society, the Montenegro Amateur Radio Pool (MARP) Hot on the heels of that story, breaking news is that Lithuania is the latest to join countries active on 60m/5 MHz. Telecomms regulator RRT has enabled the new WRC-15 Secondary Allocation in its 2018 update to the country’s Frequency Allocation Table which, understandably, has been enthusiastically received, according to national society, LRMD’s President, Tadas, LY2BAW. POLAND IARUMS reports Polish military in 40m ham radio band IARU-R1 Monitoring System reports the Polish military has been transmitting Military Standard (MIL-STD) 88-110B daily on 7001.8 kHz in the Primary Amateur Radio 40m band EUROPE Almost every country in Europe has different frequency allocations for the CEPT Amateur Radio Novice licence which can be a problem when traveling. Fortunately DARC have produced a handy list for reference Now countries signed up with the CEPT have a way forward thanks to The DARC: The CEPT license is based on the idea that in case of a short-term stay in another country radio operation may be carried out without having to apply for a guest license for this country. There are two CEPT recommendations that apply in each country only if they have been transposed into national law. The CEPT Recommendation T / R 61-01 describes the CEPT Radio Amateur License. It corresponds to the German class A. The CEPT recommendation ECC / REC / (05) 06 concerns the CEPT Novice Radio Amateur License. It corresponds to the German class E. The list provided here in the text edition of WIA National News today for download contains the operating parameters (frequency ranges, power classes, operating modes, etc.) for short-time operation in the respective countries. As well as countries in Europe the DARC list also includes USA, Australia and South Africa. Direct link to PDF https://www.dropbox.com/s/ngxcph9jox7gtos/CEPT-Laenderliste.pdf SWITZERLAND Three of ITU-R Study Group 5 Working Groups meet in Geneva 5-16 November 2018. Working Party 5A deals with the Land mobile service above 30 MHz (excluding IMT), wireless access in the fixed service and the amateur and amateur-satellite services. Working Group 5A1, responsible for amateur matters is chaired by Dale Hughes VK1DSH. The main topic is to develop a technical report to support the work for World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) Agenda Item 1.1, considering an allocation of the frequency band 50-54 MHz to the amateur service in Region 1. The Working Group consists of a mix of radio amateurs from all three IARU Regions, administrations from all over the world and other interested parties like meteorologists and military. Amateurs also present in WP 5A included 5A1 Chairman Dale Hughes VK1DSH, IARU Vice President Ole Garpestad LA2RR, and JARL representative Ken Yamamoto JA1CJP. Source: https://www.iaru-r1.org/index.php/174-news/latest-news/1826-itu-r-working-party-5a-meeting-in-geneva BRAZIL The amateur radio operator who became the first South American in space is preparing to advance to a government post when Brazil's new president takes office. In 2006, when amateur radio operator Marcos Pontes PY 0 AEB launched in Kazakhstan for the International Space Station, he became the first South American in space. Now the Brazilian Air Force lieutenant colonel is poised to become that nation’s science and technology minister. He was confirmed for the post by Brazil’s president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, who will take office on January 1st. NO VALID LICENSE? WELL, NO VALID TRAFFIC TICKETS EITHER We all know that getting on the air without a license isn't legal. As Amateur Radio Newline’s Andy Morrison K9AWM tells us that's true even for the local traffic cops. "Hams are not the only ones who can get in trouble for not having an appropriate and valid FCC license. Take the case of the Buckeye Lake Police Department in Ohio. Village officers have been writing speeding tickets, as police are known to do, for any motorists driving in excess of the 35 mph village limit - but apparently every ticket that’s been handed out since 2013 has been unlawful, according to Buckeye Lake Police Chief Vicki Wardlow. According to an Associated Press story quoting the local Newark Advocate newspaper, the chief told the village council members at a meeting in October that the department’s license with the FCC expired in 2013, which means the radar guns used to measure the speed of motorists whizzing by cannot be calibrated for use. No one applied to renew the license so the tickets issued in the past five years simply aren’t valid, she said. She told the council that the law requires the department to have that license in order to operate both its radar units and its radios. That means the department can’t write valid tickets, at least for now. A new license could cost anywhere from $840 if she files the application herself, or a total of $1,400 if the village outsources the process and would not expire for another 10 years. It was unclear what penalty if any would be assessed for the department’s 5 years of unlicensed operation. The Village’s clerk treasurer Rochelle Menningen said the police department’s budget has the funds to cover the cost of a new license and so, presumably, it will apply as quickly as possible for its FCC license – but of course, at a speed within the legal limit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT November 24/25 are is our next 'days out in the field.' Spring contest for 2018 - Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 November. Also that weekend will see the CQWW DX CW Contest (Nov 24-25) 2019 -------------- Inaugural “Green Keys Night” Set for January 1 “Green Keys Night” — an event aimed at promoting the restoration and use of vintage mechanical teleprinters — will take place January 1, 2019 (UTC), concurrent with Straight Key Night (SKN). As with SKN, GKN is an operating event and not a contest. “ Green keys” refers to the colour of the keys on Teletype Corporation machines. Participants are encouraged to get on the air and enjoy making casual contacts on RTTY. Call “CQ GKN.” “ The use of mechanical teleprinters is preferred, or simply get on the air with the oldest equipment you can scrape together,” said Jeff Stai, WK6I. “Real heavy-metal teletypes to be sure, but if that isn't available, analogue hardware modems, VT100 terminals, pre-Windows computers, etc. And vacuum tubes. Maybe fire up that boat anchor rig that never gets enough air time.” 2019 JANUARY ONE GKN NITE FURTHER 2019 ACTIVITY INCLUDES:- Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 January, the Summer VHF /UHF Field Day. May Four the 20th Harry Angel Memorial Sprint. July 20 Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest Aug 17-18 VK Remembrance Day Contest. THROUGH THE DX WINDOW Albanian operation. Henning, OZ 1 BII, will once again be active as ZA/OU 2 I from Golem between November 21-27th. His main activity will be CW only on the 30/17/12 meter bands. Operations also include the CQWW DX CW Contest (November 24-25th) as a Single-Op/All-Band (160-10m)/Low-Power entry. Log will be uploaded to ClubLog, eQSL and LoTW. QSL via direct to his home address or LoTW (preferred). http://oz1bii.dk/dx-za2ee.htm SRI LANKA, 4S. Peter, DC 0 KK is QRV as 4 S 7 KKG from Moragalla, IOTA AS-003, until April 1, 2019. Activity is on the HF bands using mainly CW and various digital modes. UGANDA, 5X Alan, G 3 XAQ is QRV as 5 X 1 XA until November 27. Activity is on the HF bands. This includes being an entry in the upcoming CQ World Wide DX CW Contest as a Single Band/Unassisted on 20 meters entry. QSL to home call. ALGERIA, 7X. Some members from the Algerian Radio Amateur Union are QRV with special event station 7 V 1 N from Djelfa until Tuesday November 20. QSL via operators' instructions. NETHERLANDS, PA. Bob, PA 5 V is QRV as PA 1918 PAX until the end of November to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. QSL via operator's instructions. Santa's Radio Club special event You might wonder what is happening in Arctic Circle this year. Well, Santa's Radio Club will be active December 1-8th, from the Arctic Circle as OH9S. Activity will be mainly on 80-6 meters using all modes; also including the popular FT8 Digital mode. QSL via ClubLog's OQRS (Preferred) or LoTW. QSOs will automatically be QSLed via the Bureau. For some additional info, see: https://oh9s.fi https://fb.me/oh9santa ---------------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ARDF IARU Region 2 ARDF Survey To better understand the needs of enthusiasts in amateur radio direction finding in region 2, that Region's Coordinator, Ken Harker WM 5 R has opened an online survey about ARDF This is the first IARU Region 2 ARDF Community Survey, and it's hoped to become annual. The survey is divided into four sections. https://surveyhero.com/c/e215f18d IARU-R2 http://iaru-r2.org/ (SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - arvideonews.com hamradiotube.com youtube.com qdg.org.au AMSAT-UK Colloquium videos now on YouTube More videos from the AMSAT-UK Colloquium part of the RSGB Convention, held at Milton Keynes on the 13th and 14th of October, are now available on the AMSAT-UK YouTube Channel. Among the presentations is one by Graham Shirville, G3VZV and Dave Crump, G8GKQ about the amateur radio transponders on the satellite Es'hail-2, which is expected to be launched into a geostationary orbit soon. To see what's available, go to www.youtube.com/user/AMSATUK/videos (rsgb) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER https://ariss.batc.tv/ (under test) 'Fox-In-A-Box' SD cards now available from AMSAT store Fox-in-a-Box is a small, easily-deployed Fox satellite telemetry receiver based on a Raspberry Pi 3B+ and a FUNcube Dongle Pro+. Raspberry Pi and FUNcube Dongle Pro+ not included You can read about it in the AMSAT 2018 Symposium Proceedings (digital copies available on the AMSAT store at https://www.amsat.org/product/2018-amsat-symposium-proceedings-digital-download/), or you can find a somewhat less extensive description with parts list and instructions at http://burnsfisher.com/AMSAT/FoxInABox Get started by simply plugging these 8Gb SD Cards with the Fox-in-a-Box software pre-installed into your Raspberry Pi and booting it. Just a bit of configuration (your call and grid) required. The website above also has an SD card image, but buying the SD card with the software pre-installed saves a lot of trouble and any additional proceeds go to Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. Order yours today at https://www.amsat.org/product/fox-in-a-box-raspberry-pi-sd-card/ (SouthGate) Fox-1Cliff currently scheduled for Monday November 19 launch AMSAT is counting down to the launch of the next Fox-1 satellite, Fox-1Cliff Per 'Spaceflight Now,' the launch of Spaceflight's SSO-A SmallSat Express mission, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, is currently scheduled for November 19, at 18:32 UTC. Fox-1Cliff carries the Fox-1 U/v FM repeater, AMSAT’s L-Band Downshifter, the flight spare of the AO-85 Vanderbilt University Low Energy Proton radiation experiment, and the standard Fox-1 Penn State University–Erie MEMS gyroscope experiment. Virginia Tech provided a VGA camera which is the same as AO-92's but will provide images at a higher 640 x 480 resolution. (SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA www.iota-world.org OC-093. Operators Audie/DU1ZDR and Gazelle/DU1ZDQ will be active as DZ1A/DU2 from Basco Batanes, Batanes Islands, between November 19-20th. They suggest to listen for them on 7055 and 14260 kHz. QSL via their home callsign. 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 Ethiopian Youngsters On The Air December is Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) month. The idea is to show the amateur radio hobby to young people and to encourage youngsters to be active on the amateur bands. https://www.ham-yota.com/december-yota-month-application-is-open As part of YOTA month, Bob Johnson, W9XY, and Ken Claerbout, K4ZW, will travel to Ethiopia to team up with the club at the Addis Ababa University, Institute of Technology and club station ET3AA. More details will be forthcoming. But in the meantime let them know what bands and modes you need ET on. You can take the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/982K53W 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 Amateur Radio Volunteers at the Ready for California Fire Duty They are active or are standing by on several fronts as wildfires continue to rage in large sections of California. In Butte County, in Northern California, the 'Camp Fire', the state’s deadliest wildfire, triggered a call up of ARES members for communication support. Evacuations were ordered by the county, and eventually more than 25,000 people were evacuated. As multiple shelters opened to assist the evacuees, five Sacramento Valley ARES groups were called out to support communication between the Red Cross Disaster Operations Centre and the shelters. The uncontrolled wildfire eventually consumed the town of Paradise, and the town of 27,000 residents has been devastated. ARES members have also been tasked by Red Cross to shadow Red Cross delivery vehicles to provide communication in the mountain areas to the shelters. ARES communication at the shelters has been carried out using voice, Winlink, and email to pass shelter counts, and tactical messages. The Red Cross is supporting ARES at the shelters with hot spots and Woolsey Fire The Woolsey Fire that swept through the westernmost portion of Los Angeles County, including Malibu, and the easternmost area of Ventura County in the ARRL Santa Barbara Section, requiring the evacuation of more than 200,000 Los Angeles County residents — an UNPRECEDENTED amount in recent decades. Evacuees included several celebrities, several of whom lost homes in the fire. Nearly 50 people have died in all fires. (ARRL) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* CLUBBING A CCARC Foundation member recently upgraded from VK2FGTX to VK2VGA; nothing unusual about that, except "Young Dave" (as he is known) is not only going for his Year 10 exams, but also helped design the Club's new interactive web page (to go online soon). As you can tell from his VK2VGA callsign, he is really into computers. The Central Coast Amateur Radio Club also allows non-Amateurs to take part in its weekly net. How do they do this, you ask? They simply email the person running the net as "netmaster@ccarc.org.au", and their comments are read out. Are there any other Clubs encouraging prospective Amateurs in this way? ("Old Dave" VK2KFU, Publicity Officer, Central Coast Amateur Radio Club) Social Scene 2018 Nov 17 VK7 - VK7Hamfest Miena Community Centre (vk7wi) Nov 18 VK3 - The Rosebud RadioFest (vk3pdg) 2019 Social Scene February 24 VK2 - Wyong Field Day (vk2kfu) March 23-24 VK7 - Meet the Voice event at Ross (vk7news) April 6 VK5 - BRL Radio Group Annual Gathering, (vk5la) Overland Corner, S.A The BRL Gathering is a yearly meeting of those who check in and or participate in the BRL Group on-air Nets, held Wednesday and Saturday on 40M, and Tuesday Evenings on 80M. See www.rrc.org.au for more details. Participants from all over VK meet yearly at the Historic Overland Corner Hotel, a family and pet friendly Pub with great food in an idyllic setting, for a drink, a laugh and a chat. May 3 - 6 VK4 - Claireview Gathering (tarc) Sept 2019 - Scandinavian YL Radio Operators Convention will be in Norway LA8FOA is your contact Ingrid lullen55@gmail.com Oct 27 VK3 Ballarat Amateur Radio Group, BARG Hamvention 2019 3kqt 2020 Social Scene ALARAMEET 2020 Bendigo (vk5yl) October 2020 in Bendigo Victoria. Heidi VK3FHID and Jenny VK3WQ are leading the team who are planning an eventful weekend. This team is meeting regularly and are looking forward to seeing you in Bendigo. The dates will be confirmed within weeks. 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------*