OCTOBER 6, 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 OCTOBER 6th 2019 IN OUR 24th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS IARU Administrative Council Steps Up Efforts to Combat Radio Spectrum Pollution. VK contest stations will soon be able to use 2-by-1 call signs. A border to border DMR network planned for New South Wales. THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AND FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 6th 2019 (LOCAL / WIA FRONT PAGE NEWS) The Administrative Council (AC) of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) held its annual in-person meeting on 28 and 29 September in Lima, Peru, just before the triennial General Assembly of IARU Region 2. The AC is responsible for the policy and management of the IARU and consists of the three IARU international officers and two representatives from each of the three IARU regional organizations. Peter VK8ZZ, WIA Federal Secretary, has an extensive review on this in the news release section of the WIA website. (https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2019/20191001-1/index.php) 2-by-1 callsigns for contesters ..... Felix has more on this in HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS, and The proposed Border to Border DMR network ... Col details this, in Special Interest groups news, coming up shortly. ---- (WIA NEWS FROM BOARD) WIA BOARD COMMENT – Peter Clee VK8ZZ Good Morning All The changes to the Amateur Radio Licence Conditions determination which were released last month are far less then the WIA and the Amateur Radio Community in general sought. It is pleasing to see that Foundation Licensees can now use digital modes, but there is still much work to do in pursuit of additional conditions for the Australian Amateur Radio service. The WIA will pursue the additional LCD changes that were sought in our submissions. In particular we will be lobbying to have changes in power limitations and changes to the structure for issuing callsigns, especially foundation level callsigns, although these are not part of the LCD’s. The WIA is also keen to pursue the use of the 60-metre band. Ted Thrift VK2ARA is the WIA Clubs Co-ordinator, he has requested that all clubs check and update the club listing on the WIA web site. Statistics show that these details are regularly checked by the general public and it is important to ensure that details are correct. If the club directory access details have been misplaced, please send an email to the national office. Harry VK6YBZ the editor in Chief is still looking for one more sub editor to join the editorial team for the Wireless Institute of Australia’s AR Magazine and proposed electronic publications. Expressions of interest should be sent to the Secretary@wia.org.au The WIA are keen to publish more technical articles in AR magazine. The submission of technical articles for consideration is encouraged. It would also be great to see some articles specifically aimed at the foundation licensee, especially in light of the fact that foundation licensees can now modify and construct their own equipment. The WIA is currently in discussions with ACMA on the issue of publication of the Amateur Radio Callbook. In closing, I had to check recently that it was not April 1 when I heard that USA transceivers may be required to show bands in imperial measurements. I look forward to working the states on 45.9 foot band. The noise floor in Darwin is too high on the 262.5 foot band. This is Peter Clee VK8ZZ, thank you for 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. (JASON VK2LAW) France: Associations hold first joint meeting. One of the French national amateur radio societies, URC, has posted a report on the first meeting of the Inter Association Radio Amateur Group held September 22. A translation reads: The Inter Association Radio Amateur Group held its first meeting on Sunday, September 22 in Paris. In the presence of FNRASEC, AMSAT, REF, URC, FFBRA, VE-France, and DR at F, in a very friendly atmosphere, several themes emerged: • Community Services • Training and exams • Internal and external communication regulations A future meeting is scheduled for October 13 in Paris to finalize the roadmaps for groups to be formed around these themes. The URC has responded favorably to the invitation to the Hamexpo exhibition in Le Mans [October 12] and will be present, giving an opportunity to meet and discuss the future of Amateur Radio in France. (Southgate) ---- WELL KNOWN RADIO HAM STEPPING AWAY FROM AMATEUR RADIO. Well-known Canadian radio amateur "J" Allen, VY1JA, of Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, has announced that he's retiring from ham radio, citing long-term health issues and hearing loss. His call sign has also been retired and he's started dismantling his station and antennas. His last contact was with KA4UPI on September 14. His logs have been uploaded to Logbook of The World (LoTW) and copies sent to his QSL managers. "After approximately 30 years of operation and over 110,000 contacts, the station VY1JA has gone QRT for operator health reasons effective September 14, 2019", Allen said on his QRZ.com profile. "All gear and antennas are for sale". For years, VY1JA was an eagerly sought-after multiplier in the ARRL November Sweepstakes and other events, as well as a needed zone in DX contests. In recent years, as Allen has begun to step away from regular on-the-air appearances, his station has been operated remotely as VY1AAA by a team of Canadian-licensed operators located in the US. Allen said the VY1AAA operation had ceased on September 22. There's a lot more to this story .... read about it using the link in our text edition. (http://www.arrl.org/news) ---- SOUTH AFRICA'S RF-NOISE MONITORING EFFORT SCHEDULES WORKSHOP. The SARL RF Noise Workshop HAS BEEN postponed to November. The workshop at the NARC planned for YESTERDAY has been postponed, and some of the discussions will now be incorporated in the next scheduled workshop on November 23. The case study on mains noise, and how to overcome it with a few simple measures, will be included in the VHF workshop agenda. As you can understand workshops require a lot of planning and in this case will only be presented if a minimum of 15 persons sign up to attend. More details will soon be available on the SARL website. In 2017 South African amateurs undertook a detailed study to monitor the rising RF noise floor and devise ways to mitigate it. The league notes that the rising RF noise floor has longterm consequences for ham radio, because the source of interfering devices such as RF heated cooking appliances, LED lights, electricity savings lamps and ultimately wireless power transmission for electric vehicles, will be everywhere. AMSAT South Africa has been supporting a noise interference monitoring system for HF that comprises a number of remote stations. (AMSAT South Africa and Southgate update) ---- WINNING SCORES ANNOUNCED FOR ARDF CHAMPIONSHIPS IN SLOVENIA In case you're wondering who the big winners were at this year's ARDF Championships in Slovenia, the top scores have just been posted. The 22nd IARU Region 1 ARDF Championships were held in Rogla, Slovenia from the 2nd to the 8th of September by the Slovenian Amateur Radio Society ZRS who welcomed amateurs from many IARU Region 1 countries. The USA also sent a guest competitor who was not actually part of the official competition. In all, 315 competitors faced off in four disciplines: sprint, foxoring and two classic hunts on HF and VHF bands. There were 110 sets of competition medals awarded. Results are posted on the championship's official website. (ARNewsline and ardf2019.hamradio.si) ---- RADIO CLUB OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES THIS YEAR'S AWARD RECIPIENTS Top honors are being given out by the Radio Club of America this season - and hams number among the recipients. Among those being honored by the Club's 2019 awards are "Ham Nation's" own Bob Heil, K9EID, who is being given the Alfred H. Grebe Award for excellence in the engineering and manufacturing of radio equipment; Martin F. Jue, K5FLU, owner of MFJ Enterprises, who is receiving the Barry Goldwater Amateur Radio Award for his contributions to ham radio; Henry Richter, W6VZA, who is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award which recognizes significant achievements that have advanced the art and science of wireless technology; and George R. Stoll WA-ZERO-KBT who is the recipient of the Fred M. Link Award for his achievements in land mobile radio communications. Hams also numbered among the RCA Fellows named, having been nominated for the honor by the membership. A list of all recipients this year, and in previous years, can be found at the Radio Club of America website. (ARNewsline and radioclubofamerica.org) ---- EMIRATES' FIRST ASTRONAUT LAUNCHES INTO SPACE The first astronaut from the United Arab Emirates has launched successfully into space, bound for the International Space Station, where he will conduct experiments and engage in radio communications back on Earth with the help of the Emirates Amateur Radio Society. Hazza Al Mansoori has made his nation the 40th country to send a citizen into space. Al Mansoori lifted off on September 25th with his crew mates, from Kazakhstan atop Russia's Soyuz FG rocket. (ARNewsline and NEW YORK TIMES) ---- NORWAY SHUTTING LONG WAVE TRANSMITTER Norway's government-owned broadcaster, NRK, has announced that it will shut down its long wave transmitter on 153 kHz this month, citing low audiences for the AM service. Officials held a consultation in 2018 regarding the planned shutdown but said no one came forward with objections at the time. In the same announcement, NRK said it planned to upgrade its medium wave transmitter on 1485 kHz. The 1,000-watt transmitter is still widely used, they added, and the frequency would be useful for prepartions for emergency operations. Noting in a letter to the national Ministry of Culture that the facility is aging, NRK said it would undertake an upgrade that would boost the power from 1 to 3kW - making it Norway's last AM station, since the number of listeners in Norway had continued to shrink as a result of other means of reception. (ARNewsline and SOUTHGATE) ---- ---------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT (FELIX VK4FUQ) All major Australian contests, rules and results, are on the Contest Section of the WIA website. ---- VK contest stations will soon be able to use 2-by-1 call signs. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has granted VK contest stations the right to use 2-by-1 call signs. They will be valid for 12 months and be available for holders of Advanced licenses who are participating in contests. The ACMA will make call signs available from VK-ZERO-A to VK-NINE-Zed, managed by the Australian Maritime College on behalf of the ACMA. Holders of the 2-by-1 call signs will be required to achieve at least 750 contacts in a 12-month period, participating in at least four contests, in order to be considered being an active contester. No date has been announced for when the first call signs will be issued. (Southgate) ---- From the Fisher's Ghost Amateur Radio Club ... The 3rd period of the Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge for 2019 has now closed and entries are open until 14 October. The objective of the challenge is to work the most wanted DXCC entities based on their ranking in Clublog's "Most Wanted" list, which is published on the contest website. All Australian amateurs are eligible to enter and it's easy. You don't need to be a serious DX'er. If you've worked any DX during July - September, submit an entry. This is a fun and relaxed challenge where you work DX in your own time over a 3 month period. Details on the website listed in our text edition of this news. (Peter VK2PR on behalf of the Fisher's Ghost Amateur Radio Club ... http://contest.fgarc.org.au/ ) ---- Tokelau Islands DXpedition Just a reminder that a large international team of operators will be active as ZK3A from the Tokelau Islands (OC-048) between now and October 11th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, the Digital modes (RTTY, PSK31 and FT8) and EME (6m). QSL via YT1AD direct, OQRS (direct or Bureau) or LoTW (uploaded 6 months after DXpedition). (Southgate) ---- IOTA (Islands on the Air) AF-054. (Reminder) Operators YL Elena/RC5A and Yuri/RM0F are now active as 5H3CA and 5H3RRC, respectively, from Mafia Island, Tanzania, until October 5th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via RC5A. AS-206. Operators Ted/JF1CCH and Eiji/JQ1SUO will be active as JF1CCH/0 and JQ1SUO/0 from Sado Island between October 13-14th. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via their home callsigns. NA-008. (Zone 2) Look for VY0ERC to once again be active from the Eureka Weather station sometime in October-November. This station is operated by the Eureka Amateur Radio Club [probably the most northerly located amateur radio club in the world] from Eureka, Nunavut. The suggested bands are 40 and 20 meters (possibly even 80m), as well as FM satellites (from ER60, EQ79) using SSB, the Digital modes, and very slow CW. Activity will be limited to their spare time. QSL via M0OXO, OQRS or direct. (For updates, see: https://twitter.com/vy0erc) NA-128. Pierre, VE2GT, was active from the Canadian island, Grosse Île (CISA QC010), from the Irish Memorial National Historic Site on September 29th (1445-1815z +/- delay of the boat). Activity was to be on 80-10 meters. (Follow him on APRS at: https://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FVE2GT-5&timerange=3600&tail=3600) [https://cnpota.ca/](WW Loc. FN47pa, CNPOTA QC24, POTA VE-4910, VEFF-1507) ---- The Polish Special Event station HF60KJM is on the air marking the 60th anniversary of the club station SP9KJM. QSL to SP9KJM, direct, by the Bureau, LoTW or eQSL. Listen for Rene DL2JRM operating as 9H3YY from Malta from the 18th to the 22nd of October. Rene will be on 80 through 10 meters using CW and SSB. He also will be participating in the Worked All Germany Contest on October 19th and 20th). QSL to his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau. Anton ON6NL is active as 5X8C in Uganda until the 7th of October. Send QSLs to him direct at his home call sign, by the bureau or LoTW. (ARNewsline via OHIO PENN DX) ---- 3W, VIETNAM. Geri, DK8KW, will be active as 3W9KW from Hanoi between October 18-26th. Activity will be on various HF bands running QRP with a KX3 transceiver into vertical antenna. Mode will be mostly CW and possibly SSB (depending on conditions). QSL via his home callsign. ---- 3Z50, POLAND (Special Event). Krzysztof "Kris", SP6DVP/3Z6V will activate the special event callsign 3Z50DVP to celebrate his 50th anniversary (1969-2019) of being an amateur radio operator. Activity will begin on October 15th and end on April 30th (2020). Operations will be on CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. ---- 9K, KUWAIT. Abdallah, 9K2GS, who was active during this past weekend's CQWW DX RTTY Contest, will once again be active as 9K2K during the CQWW DX SSB Contest (October 26-27th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. QSL via EC5AC or LoTW. ---- A9, BAHRAIN. Fawaz, A92AA, who was also active during this past weekend's CQWW DX RTTY Contest, will once again be active during the CQWW DX SSB Contest (October 26-27th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. ---- AFRICAN TOUR (Update/Last Stop). Pista, HA5AO, will once again active as 7P8AO from Lesotho until October 19th. He will use his Elecraft K3S with a KPA500 which is fed into a vertical antenna and will operate on 80-10 meters using mainly CW and FT8 on the higher bands. (His updates, QSL policy, Logsearch and OQRS are available at: https://www.ha5ao.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* JW says: A reminder that the NZART TARANAKI AWARD - October 2019 is underway and runs until tomorrow 7th. Today, Sunday 6th October, 40 Metres 7105 will be monitored from 0600 UTC for VK stations. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL (Col VK3GTV) In DMR land, here's some good news from VK2 land. Major project --- DMR Network Amateur Radio NSW determined some months ago to support the rollout of an amateur DMR Network covering the eastern side of VK2. The objective was to provide a "no gaps" network between the borders of Queensland and New South Wales. The intention is to enlist and support the efforts of the various amateur radio clubs within the state to accomplish this aim. Interested clubs should contact ARNSW by emailing the secretary. A repeater has recently been provisioned to Hornsby and Districts Radio Club (HADARC) for deployment within the Northern Sydney region, and is reported to be working well. And this does NOT mean clubs OUTSIDE the eastern seabord are excluded ... far from it! Non eastern NSW clubs are very welcome to join in too, particularly regional groups. (Ray VK2ASE via Doug VK2XLJ in the vk-dmr yahoo group) ---- WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP AND WEAK SIGNAL COMMUNICATION Thanks to Peter VK3YE for this reminder.... Melbourne QRP by the Bay is coming up next month – Saturday 2 November at 3pm. It's an occasional gathering of homebrewers, QRPers and portable operators. Normally between about 15 and 30 people show up for a very convivial couple of hours. Bring yourself, an idea and an interesting piece of equipment. Gather at Chelsea beach near the lifesaving club, and afterwards a lot of the crew go for tea at a local restaurant. That's 3pm Saturday November 2, 2019 for Melbourne QRP by the Bay at Chelsea beach. (Peter VK3YE https://www.facebook.com/events/389158258446195/) ---- WW FIRST CLASS RADIO OPERATOR'S CLUB US radio ham flies to UK to present FOC Honour. In England, the Kent local press reports radio amateur Bill Maxson N4AR, 82, flew from the USA to meet retired Sheppey TV engineer Ted Trowell G2HKU, 96 years young! The Kent Online newspaper story says: For more than 70 years, retired television engineer Ted Trowell and American heart specialist Bill 'Doc' Maxson have been conversing over the airwaves as amateur radio 'hams'. Now the pair have met up at Ted's care home in Minster on the Isle of Sheppey. Bill, from Lexington, Kentucky, flew across the world to see his old pal and present him with the official confirmation of his election as an Honoured Member to the world-wide First Class Radio Operators Club (FOC). Ted, 96, of Bromfield House in Minster Road, and 82-year-old Bill have been chatting since the late 1950s, first by Morse code and then by voice. But in all that time they have met only twice. The last was in the 1980s. Ted has been an FOC member since 1952. He had been interested in radio since he was a boy and held an amateur radio licence before the Second World War. He moved into his care home some years ago but the management allowed him to install a radio transmitter and receiver in his room. An aerial wire snakes out of his bedroom window and around the building, allowing him to remain in contact with other radio “hams” all over the world. (Southgate) ---- WW INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE EVENT IS MOVING IN 2020 Since its inception in 1998 the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend has been held on the 3rd full weekend in August. The founders selected this weekend as it was the most suitable for the European and UK stations that made up the bulk of entries for the event. Next year the 3rd full weekend is host to the 75th anniversary of the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific region with the 15th August, VP day, falling on the Saturday of that weekend. The organisers of the event have decided it would be inappropriate to hold the ILLW event on the 3rd full weekend of August next year as many amateurs and others will most likely be involved in commemorating the important anniversary of VP day, especially those bordering and within the Pacific rim. It is hoped that this temporary move to the following weekend, 22nd-23rd August , will not inconvenience anyone or imply that the move is permanent. (Kevin vk2ce via https://illw.net) ---- FINAL FRONTIER Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne moves another step closer to flight. Virgin Orbit LauncherOne's progress report this week says that the rocket has been "been fully integrated, tested, checked, re-checked, analyzed, and triple-checked". LauncherOne now is destined for a rigorous crucible of engineering demonstrations and tests at a test site up in Mojave to begin Virgin Orbit's first proper launch campaign. The orbital test flight rocket is currently being installed into a newly built test stand in Mojave, where in the coming weeks it will run through a number of critical exercises, including loading and fueling with mobile ground support equipment. The Virgin Orbit team is prepping and practicing, making sure they know how to do everything they could conceivably ever need to do. Then, it's off to the skies, first for a captive carry flight, and then for the launch itself. The second flight of LauncherOne will carry AMSAT's cubesat RadFxSat-2/Fox-1E to orbit. (Southgate) ---- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS