NOVEMBER 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 NOVEMBER 10 2019 IN OUR 24th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA Past President Phil Wait VK2ASD and Foundation Licence Manual – THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AND FOR WEEK OF NOVEMBER 10 2019 WIA Not a WIA Member? details email nationaloffice@wia.org.au OR the link on bottom right of wia.org.au https://wia.memnet.com.au/MemberSelfService/NewMemberForm/WIA/NewMemberForm.aspx A SARC Foundation Course has finished with the candidate sitting for the exam. This was the first course and exam conducted by Summerland (Lismore) since the AMC took over the exam system. The new exam system is a little simpler than the old one. The major change is the exam is sent to Tasmania to be marked. That means the candidate has to wait for the result and when it comes neither the candidate nor SARC education know what answers were incorrect. This is unfortunate as it denies both the candidate and the course provider an opportunity to improve. Hopefully the situation will change as the AMC moves Amateur Radio qualifications into the 21st century. (sarc newsletter) WRC-19 WRC has agreed to make no frequency allocations or other changes to the Radio Regulations to accommodate Wireless Power Transmission for electric vehicles (WPT-EV). Much more work remains to be done on an urgent basis in the ITU and other standards organizations if radiocommunication services are to be adequately protected from harmful interference that may be generated by WPT-EV, both at the fundamental frequency and from unwanted emissions. Consideration of a 50 MHz allocation in Region 1 to harmonize the allocations in all three Regions was the subject of spirited debate in a Sub Working Group chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, of the Australian delegation. The four RTOs in Region 1 made disparate proposals to the conference and a small group of administrations proposed No Change (NOC). An agreement has been reached, subject to confirmation by the regional groups, that will provide administrations in Region 1 with flexibility in how to accommodate their amateurs. Read the RSGB report at rsgb.org/main/blog/news/gb2rs/2019/11/03/wrc-19-day-5-dont-count-your-chickens/ Other RSGB WRC-19 updates at rsgb.org/main/blog/category/news/special-focus/wrc-19/ Read the WIA's Secretary's report on wia.org.au Foundation Licence Manual – Supplement Released following Updated Licence Conditions Hello, this is Phil Wait VK2ASD with some important information for Foundation Licence candidates and, the clubs that provide Foundation Licence training. In September this year the ACMA announced wide-ranging amendments to the conditions for the amateur Foundation licence, including the removal of prior restrictions on the use of digital modes for radio communication, such as DMR. The amendments increase the flexibility, utility, and relevance of the Foundation licence by removing unnecessary restrictions, while balancing the risk of interference to other radio spectrum users. Since 2005 the Foundation Licence Manual (now in its third revision) has been the prime study resource for those wishing to gain a Foundation licence in Australia. The WIA Foundation Manual publication team has just released a supplement to reflect the new Licence Conditions. The supplement is available for download from the WIA website on: http://www.wia.org.au/licenses/foundation/about/ A word of caution: The Foundation syllabus is the responsibility of the ACMA, and we believe syllabus changes are unlikely before December this year. The supplement contains some possibilities, loosely based on the new United Kingdom Foundation syllabus. The syllabus items are examples only. At the time of writing they do not form part of the Foundation licence assessment. And another caution: The WIA does not provide licence assessments. It is reasonably assumed that the assessment question bank has been modified to remove outdated regulatory items. However, examination candidates should clarify the latest requirements with the relevant assessment service provider. Further supplements will be released as required. This is Phil Wait, VK2ASD for the FLM publication team. ---------------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of the WIA. NEW ZEALAND Fixed Service Band plan in 80 GHz has been updated with the addition of 500 MHz and 750 MHz channels to meet the demand of new fixed link radio equipment. These channels are now available for use in the NZ Register of Radio Frequencies. UNITED KINGDOM Medical Pager information livestreamed Reports say a person has been livestreaming sensitive Medical Patient Information that was being sent to Pagers Pagers often use the FLEX and POCSAG protocols, which are not encrypted and are easy to receive and decode with an SDR dongle and easily found software. The Gizmod article by Jennings Brown in part says: Security researcher Daley Borda said he found the video stream by chance. The webcam was pointed at a computer monitor displaying decoded pager messages containing "details of calls" made by NHS and ambulance service dispatchers to on-call medics. “You can see details of calls coming in, their name, address, and injury” Read the Gizmodo story at gizmodo.com/a-radio-enthusiasts-was-livestreaming-sensitive-medical-1839480208 CDXC, the UK DX Foundation, has announced a donation of $2,600 to Club Log for significant hardware upgrades. The grant is in addition to the $650 CDXC donates each year to support the site. Established in 2008, Club Log has become an essential tool for DXers and DXPeditions. The hardware upgrade will improve resiliency, enhance performance, and facilitate further innovation. “Wow, amazing! Totally amazing — thank you, thank you!” was the reaction of Club Log author Michael, G7VJR. Supported by a team of volunteers around the world, Club Log hosts 590 million contacts and serves 69,000 active users. — USA Researchers transmit energy with a laser-in 'historic' power-beaming demonstration "For the first time, hundreds of watts of power were wirelessly transmitted hundreds of meters, with an integrated system that ensured the safety of operators and bystanders," writes an anonymous Slashdot reader, sharing a new press release from the U.S. Naval Research Lab. This could be the first step towards drones that never have to land. According to the US Navy, the power transmitted came from "an electrical outlet in the building" On one end of the of the testing facility -- one of the largest test facilities for model ships in the world -- the receiver was converting the laser energy to DC power, which an inverter was turning into AC power to run lights, several laptops, and a coffeemaker slashdot.org/story/19/10/26/1441243/researchers-transmit-energy-with-a-laser-in-historic-power-beaming-demonstration USA Samsung 'space selfie' satellite crashes into family's backyard "A Michigan family was shocked to find a space satellite in their yard," reports a local TV station: Nancy Mumby-Welke shared the video on Facebook, walking up to a satellite lying on its side. "You never know what's going to happen," Welke says in the video. "This baby fell out of the sky and landed in our yard," she went on to say. According to the Gratiot County Herald, Nance heard the crash around 8:45 a.m. just before they were going to let their horses out. "Thank God none of the horses were out and it didn't land on the house," she explained in the video. She walked up to it, the satellite was still humming and whirring... www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7618981/Samsungs-space-selfie-satellite-crashes-Earth-landing-Michigan-familys-backyard.html MAKING NOISE ON BEHALF OF RADIO'S 'QUIET ZONE' This story is about a radio astronomy research facility in West Virginia and its relationship with Wi-Fi - or should we perhaps call it "WHY-NOT" Fi? West Virginia's Green Bank Observatory, the first national astronomy observatory in the U.S., has scored ground-breaking discoveries from black holes and pulsars to neutron stars. It has even searched for extra-terrestrial life. One wonders if it spotted that 'whirring' satellite from our previous story! Its centrepiece is the 485-foot-tall Green Bank Telescope, which has an operating range from 100 MHz to 116 GHz. For fans of radio, Wi-Fi and some electronics however one less welcome discovery in Green Bank is the facility's longstanding need to live without RFI affecting its delicate operations. The FCC established a National Radio Quiet Zone 61 years ago to limit RFI. The state itself has protective restrictions. These bans predate Wi-Fi, however, not to mention smartphones and even "smart" home appliances. Fear not, says an article in Popular Mechanics. With a nod to the march of tech progress, the observatory is looking at a variety of possible solutions for the locals including something called LiFi, a form of wireless communication in the terahertz range that uses infrared and visible light. The locals are hopeful. They're just not texting one another about it - at least not yet. --------------------------------------------------------------------* 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 WIA DX Awards Start Dates Normalized The Awards Committee has decided to set the start date for all awards to the same date: 1/1/1946 All QSO’s from this date onwards are now eligible for all awards. Previously, awards had different start dates, depending on when they were first created. This means participants in the awards program may now qualify for new awards and/or endorsements. To ensure all your QSO’s are now eligible, simply upload all your QSO’s between this date up to and including 1/1/1990 into the online Awards system. Alternatively, just upload your whole log. Then perform a “Show Award Status”. (txt by Graham Alston, VK3GA, WIA Awards Manager) NOVEMBER -------------- GABON, TR8CR. Roland will be QRV as TR8CR until December 15. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW. QSL via F6AJA. -------------- 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) -------------- Not long to log this one! 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) -------------- In the World of DX, amateurs in Turkey are using the special call sign TC 10 GITRAD to mark the 10th anniversary of the radio group G.I.T.R.A.D. They are on the air all year through the 31st of December. No cards are required. However, if you need a paper QSL card please mail yours directly to TA 7 AZC and include a stamped self-addressed envelope and money for postage. -------------- BARTG GB60ATG special event Members of the British Amateur Radio Teledata Group (BARTG) are active as GB 60 ATG until June 20-20. The BARTG is celebrating their 60th Year Diamond Jubilee anniversary with this callsign and special awards are available for contacts with GB 60 ATG using any Data Mode. More information can be found on the BARTG Web site on bartg.org.uk -------------- NEW CALEDONIA, FK. QRV is FK 8 CJ from Noumea, IOTA OC-032, until the end of 2019 on 30, 20 and 17 meters. QSL to F 6 EYB. (arrl) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS CW FISTS Club - East Asia www.feacw.net FISTS Club - Australasia www.fdu.org.au FISTS Club - UK & Europe www.fists.co.uk FISTS Club - Americas www.fists.org Recommended FISTS calling frequencies (MHz): 1.808 3.528 7.028 10.118 14.058 18.085 21.058 24.908 28.058 Candidates with 100% CW Copy Receive an Award Thailand's amateur radio society RAST conducted an Intermediate amateur radio exam along with the compulsory 8 WPM Morse code test at Bangkok University's Rangsit campus and those who passed will be able to operate on the HF bands. A total of 96 candidates sat the exam and 44 passed the CW examination at 8 WPM, with 13 of those copying the Morse code that was sent without any errors, including two boys, one 11 years old and the other 14 years old. Those who passed the CW test with 100% copy were awarded a world map by RAST. WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - DStar The News Line U.S. based broadcast of approximately 20 minutes is on to DStar Reflector 91 C Wednesday nights The DStar Broadcast is at 7:30 Melbourne Australian Time (8:30 UTC) and all comments about or to New line whether inside or outside Australia all welcomed. VK3PG who sent in this article says it must be remembered that Clayton VK7ZCR the Reflector 91 C Co-coordinator in Hobart Tasmania which is the owner of Reflector 91 C is the very first in Australia to put these Broadcasts to DStar not forgetting also the DMR services broadcast interlink in Tasmania which he runs at the same time as DStar Broadcast`s WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org Tony VK5ZAI still at it! Wednesday last, around 7pm AEST several educational institutes in Milano, spoke to the International Space Station thanks to a telebridge hook-up from South Australia and VK5ZAI NA1SS astronaut Luca Parmitano KF 5 KDP was at the mike in space. (sourced to Gaston Bertels ON4WF ) Get Ready for the Transit of Mercury One of the biggest astronomy events of the year is a day away The Transit on Mercury, when Mercury will pass directly in front the sun, creating a jet black circular "sunspot" that spaceweather.com say anyone can safely observe. Find out when and how to look on the November 5 edition of Spaceweather.com (SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA www.iota-world.org OC-237. Operators Budi/YF1AR, Moh.Sofyan/YC1KK, Mohammad/YC1BIQ and Budi/YB1MAE are active as home call/p from the Biawak Light-house (IDO-074) on Biawak Island, Indonesia, between November 7-14th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters using mainly FT8 with some CW and SSB. QSL YF1AR/P via YE1AR, ClubLog's OQRS or via N2OO. QSL YC1KK/P, YC1BIQ/P, YB1MAE/P via their home callsigns. For more info and updates, see:- yf1ar.com/2019 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 Amateur Radio at the World Scout Jamboree - Free PDF Article in December 2019 issue of ARRL's QST magazine covers amateur radio at the World Scout Jamboree. Scouts made contacts via the amateur satellites and spoke with an astronaut on the International Space Station The ARRL have made the PDF of this article available for free download http://www.arrl.org/this-month-in-qst (SouthGate) 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 In the USA Maine Radio Amateurs are helping to Deploy AM Band Public Information Radio Service It's said to be that nation’s first county-wide emergency AM radio station and all with the help of radio amateurs. “We realized that the last option [in emergencies] most people have for getting information is by broadcast radio,” said Waldo County Emergency Management Agency Director Dale Rowley, KC1LKI. “We have in the past established emergency shelters, but could not get the word to residents that the shelters were open. They couldn’t watch TV, and their smartphone batteries were dead,” he said. Rowley’s agency learned about emergency radio advisory stations and determined that they could be a solution. The RadioSAFE Wide Area Emergency Broadcast System is by Information Station Specialists, which has provided a similar station for Dayton Hamvention visitors. The company developed a compact, centre-loaded whip antenna with a small ground plane that will cover the mostly rural coastal county. Brit, AB1KI, and Robert, W1EBA, with the Waldo County Emergency Management Agency are handling system planning and will install the new service at the county’s tower site on 530 kHz channel. (arrl) WORLD WIDE INTEREST GROUPS SOTA The SOTA 2020 (and beyond) 'Flavours' Challenge A series of themed challenges will take place in 2020, as part of the SOTA - Summits On The Air awards programme. The idea is to encourage SOTA activity on bands and modes that are popular in amateur radio generally, but somewhat under-represented in SOTA. The SOTA 'Flavours' Challenge 2020 January 1st-7th 2020: LF - 160m & 80m February 1st-7th 2020: Data modes March 1st-7th 2020: Digital voice April 1st-7th 2020: LF - 160m & 80m May 1st-7th 2020: Data modes June 1st-7th 2020: 12m, 10m & 6m July 1st-7th 2020: 70cm Aug 1st-7th 2020: 17m Sept 1st-7th 2020: Data modes Oct 1st-7th 2020: Digital voice Nov 1st-7th 2020: LF - 160m & 80m Dec 1st-7th 2020: 12m, 10m & 6m Scoring: Activators: Number of unique QSO partners worked multiplied by the number of unique summits activated. Chasers: Number of unique activators worked multiplied by the number of unique summits worked. Only QSOs made on the nominated band or mode, on the dates specified, will count towards Challenge scores and to take part in the “Flavours” Challenge, simply enter your activator and chaser logs into the SOTA Database as normal. (SouthGate) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) 122 GHz ham radio band on Hackaday Neil G4DBN has released details of his latest project on the popular Hackaday site - A set of feed horns, reference horns and flange couplers for use with the SiliconRadar TRA_120_002 chipset on the 122 GHz amateur radio band Further details at https://hackaday.io/project/168231-122-ghz-antennas-and-feeds (SouthGate) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* REWIND - I'M JOHN KNOW VK4FJRK "A Canadian trailblazer, Fern Blodgett Sunde was the first woman to work as a wireless radio operator at sea, serving aboard an Allied merchant ship during the Battle of the Atlantic." A volunteer steering committee, along with its community partner, the Cobourg Museum Foundation, will erect a life-sized bronze statue commemorating Fern, who passed in 1991, the first Canadian woman to earn a professional radio operator’s licence, and the first female radio operator – a “Sparks” – to work at sea. Breaking naval barriers, Fern served aboard the M/S Mosdale during the Second World War’s Battle of the Atlantic, which was the long, deadly struggle between the Allied and Axis powers to control vital shipping lanes. Educational materials, as well as an unveiling ceremony in October 2020, will pay tribute to Fern, and to all Canadian naval forces and merchant mariners who served at sea during the Battle. The statue and plaque will be located at the Cobourg, Ontario waterfront. How a young Canadian found herself the only woman on a Norwegian merchant vessel, serving her country as a radio operator during 78 dangerous transatlantic crossings in a theatre of war, breaking educational and maritime barriers to get there, is a fascinating story and the Society, Radio Amateurs of Canada, (RAC), is committed to telling that story. A tribute to Fern Blodgett Sunde was published in the September/October 2019 issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine and is freely available at rac.ca WITH REWIND - I'M JOHN KNOW VK4FJRK ---------------------------------------------------------------------* 2019 Social Scene VK3 - ROSEBUD RADIOFEST November 17 This is Andrew VK3CAH from the Southern Peninsula Amateur Radio Club with a reminder that the Rosebud RadioFest , will be held Sunday, 17th of November. In addition to sales of new and pre-loved equipment in the main hall, the Rosebud RadioFest sets itself apart with the excellent range of technical forums which are presented. This year, topics being covered are Comparison and design of Yagi matching methods. Finding and locating HF noise and Getting the most from the new amateur licence conditions So come along and enjoy the equipment sales, great catering and excellent forums of the Rosebud RadioFest. See you in Rosebud. This is Andrew VK3CAH 2020 Social Scene VK2 - WYONG FIELD DAY 23rd February 2020 (dd5lp) VK4 - SEQ Amateur Radio Field Day March 10, 10am at Landsborough Sports Complex 15 Tunnel Ridge Rd. (vk4an) VK4 - REDFEST 2020 18th April. St. Michael's College Old Toorbul Point Rd from 8am (vk4tfn) VK3 - ALARAMEET 2020 Bendigo October 2 - 5 (vk5yl) Submitting news items If you would like to submit news items for possible inclusion in the VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au and don't JUST send url's links or posters, but take the time to pen YOUR contribution. To submit audio email nationalnews@wia.org.au and ask for the current password then read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ We would appreciate items certainly 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. 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) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* ===================================================================== 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 WIA affiliated clubs and 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. 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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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------*