Feb 10 2019 - 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 Feb 10 2019 IN OUR 24th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA HANDS OVER EXAMS TO UTAS/AMC, A Great Opportunity. - WIA DIRECTOR VK5WTF. - THESE STORIES & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 10 2019 Continuing WIA National News and last week we learnt how our WIA had congratulated the University of Tasmania and Australian Maritime College (AMC) in being selected by the ACMA as the preferred provider for the delivery of amateur radio examination, callsign management and associated services. In a Memnet advisory and now published for all on https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2019/20190205-1/index.php we see the WIA board views this as a watershed moment in the history of amateur radio in Australia. The expedient delivery of these services by a skilled team backed by a sandstone university promises to deliver a robust, cost-effective and efficient qualification service for the Australian amateur community. It is the view of the WIA board and the WIA Education Group that anything other than a smooth transition to the AMC will damage the already fragile amateur radio community. For this reason, the WIA and ACMA met in October last year to begin planning for this potential eventuality. " We are committed to ensuring that the WIA does not cause any obstruction to this process." said the release. The WIA National Office is in the process of transferring all callsign applications, assessments and other activities that were in progress on Friday the 1st of February, 2019 to the ACMA. The WIA sincerely thanks all WIA volunteers, assessors and learning facilitators that have been involved in the previous examination systems over the past 20+ years for their incredible contribution to the hobby of amateur radio. There will be changes and uncertainty in the near term. To ensure a smooth transition and continuity of services for this great hobby the WIA will work collaboratively with the AMC and trust you will as well. We'll hear more shortly from WIA Director VK5WTF Marcus This is Gordon VK4VP with a reminder about the news callback reporting. As most people are aware at the end of the WIA news broadcast there is usually a process to record the number of listeners that heard the news. The number of listeners is forwarded back to the WIA so there is a record of how many people heard the news. The most important task is to checkin at the end of the news so you are counted and the second most important task is to get those numbers back to the right person via email. This is the responsibility of the callback co-ordinator that records the numbers and these are then sent to callbacks@wia.org.au There are still a couple that come into the old (broadcasters) email address so this is just a reminder if you havent sent numbers in for a while or have an old email adress in your list of contacts to update the adress. Once again that is Callbacks@wia.org.au Well until next time, this is Gordon VK4VP. Hello, this is vk5wtf! A week and 25 years ago, I sat in the club rooms of the Sheppaton and District Amateur Radio club and passed my full theory exam, as a teenager. My exam was handled by the WIA Exam Service, exam number 1326. Little did I know at the time, that the WIA had only being conducting exams on behalf of the regulator for a couple of years. Volunteers have conducted 10's of 1,000's of exams in Australia, for people to get into the great hobby of vibrating electromagnetic fields that can be heard not only around the world, but also far into space. Those volunteers opened up a gateway to all of us to join the community, and if you see one around, thank them. Talking about volunteers, the Education group is looking for volunteers to help put together a more modern syllabus. If this sounds like you, send an email to education@wia.org.au with your details. And finally, anyone with an outstanding repeater licence application, you should soon receive a request from us asking that you provide us with permission to use a private assigner to complete your assignment. If you do not receive this email, please email repeaters@wia.org.au. 73 this is vk5wtf, going clear and listening. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of the WIA. SOUTH AFRICA South Africa's regulator ICASA has informed the SARL that the amateur radio licence fee will be increased by 4.7% on 1 April 2019. The new fees for one year will be R 148.00; This equates to just some $15 Australian Dollars! ICASA started the invoicing process for the 2019/2020 period from 4 February and a reminder that even in South Africa radio amateurs are reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure their licence is up to date. UK WPT report now available from CEPT One area where the IARU and RSGB volunteers have been active is regarding concerns from Wireless Power Transmission, or WPT. The latest development is the recent approval and publication of CEPT ECC Report-289 on high power WPT for electric vehicles, EV. Following a major effort and numerous contributions to CEPT meetings, this has significant content regarding amateur radio and concerns on spurious emissions. Comments by IARU Region 1, RSGB and Ofcom were included during the final consultation stage. The report is a key element in ongoing work for WRC-19 Agenda Item 9.1.6 on WPT-EV. It can be downloaded, along with many other CEPT documents, from www.ecodocdb.dk/document/category/ECC_Reports Black Arrow: UK space rocket returns home from Australia The UK's only rocket to successfully launch a satellite into orbit is to be unveiled in Scotland after a 10,000-mile journey back home. The Black Arrow projectile had lain at its crash landing site in the South Australian outback for 48 years. Over time it was damaged by extreme weather and vandalism before space technology firm Skyrora stepped in. The historic rocket is set to go on display near Edinburgh later this month. Daniel Smith, director at Skyrora, said: "This is quite feasibly the most important artefact linked to the UK's space history. "While our engineers have been working on our own launches, our STEM ambassadors have been arranging all of this in the background." 'Inspiring generations' Mr Smith said: "With the UK government aiming to make us a launch nation again, it seemed like the perfect time to bring Black Arrow back. Developed and tested on the Isle of Wight, the Black Arrow programme completed four rockets between 1969 and 1971. The third flight was the first and only successful UK-led orbital launch, but the programme was then cancelled. This is said to have given the rocket "cult status" among the space community. USA ARRL Board Creates Permanent ARISS Committee The ARRL Board of Directors convened for its annual meeting January 18 - 19 in Connecticut. Among other items, the Board created a permanent Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Committee "to develop an interactive relationship" with ARISS, which sponsors voice contacts between ISS crew members and school groups and gatherings on Earth, "bringing together STEM program objectives and local Amateur Radio groups." The Board motion said ARISS "has demonstrated very positive public relations benefits to the ARRL, and that it's ARRL's best interests to support ARISS." CHILE Amendment Aims to Promote CITEL/CEPT Amateur Radio Operating Reciprocity. Chile recently became the third country to sign the Amendment of the Inter-American Convention on the use of an International Amateur Radio Permit (IARP). Once the Amendment is in effect, Chile and other Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) signatories may offer reciprocal Amateur Radio privileges to Amateur Radio licensees from European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) member-countries that have implemented CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01 (the CEPT Radio Amateur License). --------------------------------------------------------------------* 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 2019 CQ WPX RTTY Contest this weekend on the 9th and 10th (rsgb) FIST CLUB'S CW CONTEST 16th February (vk2gaz) Amateur Radio Ferry Contest - Sunday March 10th (VK2GZ) W.I.A. John Moyle Memorial Field Day 16-17 March 2019 (vk4ae) 20th Harry Angel Memorial Sprint May 4 Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest July 20 VK Remembrance Day Contest is August 17-18 -------------- Hi, This is Alan VK4SN, Contest committee leader. I'm here to notify you that the rules for Contest champion have been amended. The contest committee agreed on the fairer system of scoring on the 20 July 2018 and voted to commence the changes from 2019. In the previous system an operator could enter a category where only one or two operators may submit a log and score 100 points for only a couple of contacts. It was suggested that this was an unfair score for little effort and no competition in the category, thereby leading to the new scoring system. Scoring is now based on the number of contestant entries per category for single operators, and for multi-op stations scoring is based on the number of stations entering a category. SINGLE OPERATORS = 5 Contestants First place in category - 100 Points Second place in category - 80 Points Third place in category - 60 points Fourth place in category - 40 points Fifth place in category - 20 points 4 Contestants First place in category - 80 Points Second place in category - 60 points Third place in category - 40 points Fourth place in category - 20 points 3 Contestants First place in category - 60 Points Second place in category - 40 points Third place in category - 20 points 2 Contestants First place in category - 40 Points Second place in category- 20 points 1 Contestant First place in category - 20 Points MULTI OPERATOR = 3 Stations First place in category - 60 Points Second place in category - 48 points Third place in category - 36 points Fourth place in category - 24 points Fifth place in category - 12 points 2 Stations First place in category - 48 Points Second place in category - 36 points 1 Station First place in category - 36 Points You will be pleased to know that all categories of the John Moyle Contest now qualify for scoring. Please remember that the categories listed for valid champion points are the categories that are recognised in the relevant contest rules. If for example, QRP sections are not listed then QRP is not recognised in the contest and does not qualify for champion points. All the rule changes can be viewed on the WIA Contest web pages. http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/contestchampionrules/ Best 73 and good luck in your contest endeavours. This is Alan VK4SN for the contest committee. FEBRUARY P J 4 / WW 4 LL and P J 4 /NN 9 DD are active from Bonaire, IOTA reference SA-006, now till 10th of February. They are operating FT8, RTTY and SSB on all bands, and will participate in the CQ WPX RTTY Contest this weekend as PJ 4 Z. QSLs via Logbook of The World or K 4 BAI. (rsgb) Nils SM 3 UQK is employed as a helicopter pilot with Air Greenland. He will be based in western Greenland from 9th – 21st February when he hopes to be active as OX / SE 3 A. His Grid Locator for this trip is GP 49 kf. He plans to be on 20 and 40m. QSL to his home call, SM3UQK (IRTS) Panama special event Look for special event callsign H 31 A to be active until August 15 to commemorate 500th anniversary of the foundation of Panama City. Activity will be on most HF bands using SSB and the Digital modes (RTTY, PSK31 and FT8). QSL manager is HP 1 AVS (SouthGate) FEBRUARY onwards continued In South Sudan, Diya, YI 1 DZ, is active for the next six months as Z 8 1D. He will be on 80 through 10 meters using SSB and some Digital modes. QSL via OM 3 JW. He will also use ClubLog and LoTW. DF13, German special event Look for special event stations with Prefix's DF13 to be active until June 30th, 2019. This to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the maiden flight of the Junkers F-13, The first all-metal built airplane, was introduced to civil aviation and is the mother of all commercial aircraft. All QSOs will be automatically confirmed after July 15th, 2019, with a QSL card via Bureau. If you do not need a QSL card, let them know. Send direct QSLs via DM2TO -- shipping starting after August 1st, 2019. For more details and info on awards, see QRZ.com Alexei RD 1 AV is now QRV as RI 1 ANV from Vostok Research Station in the Antarctic. This callsign replaces RI 1 ANC which expired last December. QSL manager is RN 1 ON. (irts) Anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany Look for special event stations DM 70 GER and DL 70 BRD now active until December 31st, 2019 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany which was established on May 23rd, 1949. Operations will be on CW and SSB. (SouthGate) Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Sweden's National Society for the Active Visually Impaired is active as SF 50 CG throughout 2019. QSL via SM 0 BYD. (RSGB) Special call EI 19 RE active for 2019 The special call sign EI 19 RE will be active for the duration of 2019 to commemorate the establishment of the first Irish parliament. It first met in January of 1919 following a landslide victory for Irish nationalists in December 1918. https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/01/special-call-ei19re-active-for-2019.html (SouthGate) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* MEDIA WATCH ARRL reaching out to newcomers The ARRL is launching a new Podcast that aims to answer questions and provide support and encouragement for newcomers to get the most out of the hobby For those just getting started on their Amateur Radio journey, ARRL is launching a new podcast aimed at answering your questions, providing support and encouragement for newcomers to get the most out of the hobby. The podcast “So Now What?” will launch on Thursday, March 7, and new episodes will be posted every other Thursday, alternating new-episode weeks with the “ARRL The Doctor is In” podcast. Co-hosting “So Now What?” will be ARRL Communications Content Producer Michelle Patnode, W3MVP, and ARRL Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q. Presented as a lively conversation, with Patnode representing newer hams and Carcia the veteran operators, the podcast will explore questions that newer hams may have and the issues that keep participants from staying active in the hobby. Some episodes will feature guests to answer questions on specific topic areas. “No other podcast is really aimed at this segment of the Amateur Radio community … that is being underserved, that is not getting the answers to the many questions they have,” said ARRL. (SouthGate) Fifty years of news reading Victor "Ivan" Gracey, GI3WEM is stepping down as one of the GB2RS newsreaders for Northern Ireland after around 50 years of news reading. The RSGB has thanked Ivan for his service to his fellow amateurs and wished him well in his retirement Unlike the USA, South Africa and Australia the UK's news from the RSGB is read by many individuals, taking into account location and frequencies. (sourced to rsgb) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - ARISS is planning another of their popular Slow Scan Television experiment events. Transmissions were scheduled to begin Friday, Feb. 8 at 14:00 UTC and run through Sunday, Feb. 10 at 18:30 UTC. SSTV operations is a process by which images are sent from the International Space Station via ham radio and received by ham operators, shortwave listeners and other radio enthusiasts on Earth, similar to pictures shared on cell phones using twitter or Instagram. When this event becomes active, SSTV images will be transmitted from the ISS at the frequency of 145.80 MHz using the SSTV mode of PD 120 and can be received using ham radio equipment as simple as a 2 meter handheld radio or a common shortwave or scanner receiver the covers the 2 meter ham band. After connecting the audio output of the radio receiver to the audio input of a computer running free software such as MMSSTV, the SSTV images can be displayed. (SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW https://illw.net/ Kevin VK2CE runs a great web page for the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend The weekend is the 3rd Full Weekend in August On VK2CE's page we see that for some reason or other August seems to have become the international weekend for lighthouses. Countries all over the world have become involved in one or another of lighthouse activity. Some years ago the United States Congress declared August 7th as their National Lighthouse Day and during that first week in August amateur radio operators in America set up portable stations at lighthouses and endeavour to make contact with each other. This event is known as the US National Lighthouse Week. In Britain the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, ALK, conducts International Lighthouse Heritage Weekend on the 3rd full weekend in August. Their objective is to encourage Lighthouse managers, keepers and owners to open their lighthouse or lightstation and related visitors centres to the public with a view to raising the profile of lighthouses, lightvessels and other navigational aids, and preserving their maritime heritage. However, the major event which takes place in August is the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, ILLW, which came into being in 1998 as the Scottish Northern Lights Award run by the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. The ILLW takes place on the 3rd full weekend in August each year and attracts over 500 lighthouse entries located in over 40 countries. It is one of the most popular international amateur radio events in existence probably because there are very few rules and it is not the usual contest type event. It is also free and there are no prizes for contacting large numbers of other stations. There is little doubt that the month of August has become "Lighthouse Month" due largely to the popularity and growth of the ILLW. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- MARITIME National Weather Service Dropping High Seas and Storm Warnings on WWV / WWVH The warnings transmitted via National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) WWV/WWVH time and frequency-standard HF transmissions, ceased January 31 at 1800 UTC. The NWS warnings are aimed at the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific. "This service is being terminated because weather information in the current broadcast format does not support frequent-enough updates for changes in marine weather and cannot provide enough detail in the allotted window required by mariners to avoid hazardous weather," NWS said in announcing the discontinuation. "Additionally, alternative technologies and numerous media outlets that provide weather information in various formats have overtaken the need for providing weather information through the NIST frequency signals." The NWS said other sources of marine weather information, high seas alerts, and detailed forecasts are available over satellite, telephone, the internet, marine fax, radio fax, and VHF radio. The NWS, US Coast Guard, and US Navy provide multiple dissemination methods for storm positioning, high sea areas, observations, forecasts, outlooks, and warnings for both coastal and oceanic marine zones near the US, all through a variety of technologies, including NAVTEX and the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. (arrl) 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 European Astro Pi Challenge 2018/19: Mission Zero Mission Zero offers students and young people the chance to have their computer programs run in space on the ISS! Teams write a simple program to display a message to the astronauts on-board. You don't need special equipment or coding skills, and all participants that follow the rules are guaranteed to have their programs run in space. You will also receive a special certificate showing where exactly the ISS was when your program ran! The deadline to submit entries for the Astro Pi Mission Zero challenge is 20 March, 2019, and their web page has 19 different language renditions so many more can take part. More information at: https://astro-pi.org/missions/ (amsat na) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING http://www.scouts.com.au http://www.scout.org/jota http://www.international.scouts.com.au http://jotajoti.info/ Brett Nicholas VK2BNN Scouts Australia National co-ordinator for JOTA. Lorraine O’Hare VK2FICQ is Girl Guides Australia National JOTA-JOTI Co-ordinator. CALLING FREQUENCIES Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication. Australian voice calling frequencies: 3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160 World CW calling frequencies: 3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160 World voice calling frequencies: 3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, 50.160 Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV): 3.630, 7.033, 14.227 Calling Frequencies for PSK31 14.070 GB 100 GP Gilwell Park Gilwell Park, close to London, is considered by many to be the spiritual centre of Scouting and Guiding. The property was purchased by the Scout Association in the early part of the 20th Century to provide space for scouts from London’s East End to go camping. In addition to camp sites, Lord Baden Powell based his successful leader training programme there. Gilwell Park is still used for leader training, camping, events, even weddings and conferences. 2019 marks the centenary of the Scouts acquiring Gilwell Park. In commemoration of this, OFCOM have granted the use of a special callsign at Gilwell Park – GB100GP – for the whole of 2019. It is intended that this callsign will be activated at all the major Scouting events in the UK this year – Fun Days, Gilwell 24, JOTA-JOTI and Scarefest. The call may also be used for demonstrations during Gilwell Reunion. In addition to the above, there will be a special 4 day activation of the callsign, from July 25th to July 28th, to cover the actual anniversary of the day that Gilwell Park was officially opened as a Scouts site, 26th July. I wonder who will be the first in Australia to work this special call sign? It’s GB100GP and I reckon it will be on air quite a bit as the Scouting Amateur Radio crew in the UK are quite active. (vk6pop) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* 2019 Social Scene VK2 - Wyong Field Day Feb 24 (vk2kfu) 14 days and counting - The Wyong Field day is "all systems go" for February 24th in Wyong from 8:30am. Even the hard workers behind the event are getting excited as our roaming reporter Glenn VK2GEM found out. Over to you Glenn, [Audio interview clips] Lectures, exhibitors, car boot sales, and that lovely "Coldie" all waiting for you at Wyong. So why not "Get along to Wyong" this year - you won’t regret it. All the details you could need are found on the club's website at WWW (dot) CCARC (dot) ORG (dot) AU. For the Central Coast ARC, this was Ed DD5LP and Glenn VK2GEM. VK6 - PerthTech March Two (vk6pop) VK7 - Meet the Voice event at Ross March 23-24 (vk7news) VK4 - Redfest 2019 April 13 (vk4tfn) VK5 - BRL Radio Group Annual Gathering, Overland Corner, S.A April 6 (vk5la) VK5 - South East Radio Group 2019 Annual Convention and Australian Fox Hunting Championships 8-9 June (vk5hcf) VK3 - Ballarat Amateur Radio Group, BARG Hamvention Oct 27 (vk3kqt) 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. Submitting news items A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't plug DEALS from commercial traders "on air", but we at the WIA will put your supporters 'goods' in this text edition "no worries." We cannot give blatant 'plugs' to raffles. (new Jan 2019) 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:- callbacks@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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------*