2020 SEPTEMBER 27 VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ---------------------------------------------------------------------* THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK THIS LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos ---------------------------------------------------------------------* NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 27 2020 IN OUR 25th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA Vice President has good news on how well the ON-LINE examination trial has been excepted THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA Today as usual we are joined by Felix VK4FUQ, Jason VK2LAW and Bruce VK3FFF and along the way we'll here a follow up to the story last week about 'fertilisation on fourty meters.' How an old 16 inch TV knocked out an entire towns internet, and details of a contest called.. "The Day of the YL's Memorial Contest" In news from WIA HQ our Vice President has good news on just how well the WIA's ON-LINE examination trial has been excepted. In local VK coms news, Jonathan Nally, writing in Critical Comms on line magazine speaks of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry issuu.com/westwick-farrowmedia/docs/critical_comms_sep_oct_2020/s/10968322 The NSW Bushfire Inquiry has made a range of recommendations for strengthening the state’s emergency communications capabilities. The final report of the Inquiry has been released, and it makes numerous recommendations for improving the fighting of bushfires and boosting the technology and resources available to firefighters and emergency management authorities. Many of those recommendations concern communications. To start with, the Inquiry found that there are several problems with New South Wales’ Public Safety Network (PSN) — formerly known as the Government Radio Network — including the well-known issues of coverage, forcing agencies to rely upon PMR networks that cannot provide broadband data services. The report also states that “despite work to provide connectivity between the PSN and the Queensland Government Wireless Network, there is no multi-state interoperability for wide area communications, and NSW radio must be physically fitted to interstate metropolitan fire fighting vehicles when they arrive in NSW”. WALES The mystery of why an entire village lost its broadband every morning at 7am was solved when engineers discovered an old television was to blame. An pensioner couple in Wales, were unaware their old 16 inch Bush TV set would emit signals which would interfere with the entire village's broadband. After 18 months engineers began an investigation after a cable replacement programme failed to fix the issue. Openreach engineer Michael Jones said the company's chief engineering team helped to solve the mystery by using a spectrum analyser to look for a phenomenon known as 'Shine' (single high-level impulse noise). The embarrassed householders promised not to use the television again. The village now has a stable broadband signal. dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8759459/Old-TV-causes-broadband-outages-village-18-months.html bbc.com/news/uk-wales-54239180 WIA Not a WIA Member? details email nationaloffice@wia.org.au OR the link on bottom right of wia.org.au wia.memnet.com.au/MemberSelfService/NewMemberForm/WIA/NewMemberForm.aspx WIA board minutes can be found on wia.org.au click WIA Information. WIA DIRECTOR AND VICE PRESIDENT LEE MOYLE VK3GK You may recall about 3 weeks ago I announced the WIA had released the Online Trial Foundation exam portal as a response to the many requests from potential Foundation candidates needing access to trial exam practice. Well the response from users is that it has been an over whelming success. Several successful candidates have contacted me and have praised the WIA initiative enabling entry into Amateur Radio becoming more accessible to them by improving their confidence in being successful at their first attempt. In fact nearly every one we have had feedback from has been incredibly positive so far. Some recent statistics from earlier this week revealed that over 1100 trial exams have been attempted and completed since 3rd of September until 24 September. That’s only in 21 days. We had over 300 unique IP addresses and one person attempted 62 exams but the record was 82 exams completed. Definitely one who just wanted to make sure they passed with 100%. I expect the outcome will be an influx of foundation exam applications for our friends at AMC to process, so expect some new callsigns popping up shortly on the bands Word has it that many of the new Foundation Licencees are now studying to upgrade to Standard and Advanced while in “study mode” and are asking about more easily accessible online study materials. Let’s see what we can do. Some people refer to the current Questions and Answers trial exams as “learning by rote” or it being just “a multi guess exam”. Well this is definitely not true as any good educator would know and was supported by an article I recently found on Doug VK4ADC’s website with a reference to a University of Queensland comment that was referring to multiple choice questions and knowledge which stated: "Many students believe that multiple choice exams require them only to recognise true statements; however, multiple choice exams require many more skills than just recognition. They require students to distinguish between right and wrong and also to use a variety of higher order thinking skills, such as the ability to analyse content, synthesise material, and apply knowledge, in order to determine those distinctions." The reality is if you don’t know the material, don’t expect to achieve the 70% pass mark by guessing. On another note the WIA Board is pleased to thank Peter Schrader VK4EA for stepping up and offering to manage the WIA’s Social media and content working group. Peter and his team will have some exciting initiatives coming up for all of us shortly for promoting the WIA. AR magazine seems to be appearing faster than one can finish reading the previous edition. A big thanks to Roger Harrison VK2ZRH and the Pub Com team for getting things in order. By the looks of it we are back on track for delivery of the standard 6 issues of AR magazine by year end. Our only pressing issue now seems to be Australia Post and the inconsistency in delivery attributed by staffing levels and restrictions, even to local metro areas and especially noted in Covid lockdown Melbourne and surrounds where some recipient managed to get both editions delivered on the same day. 73 from Lee VK3GK EDUCATION Radio Clubs And Training Courses A popular way to learn more about Amateur Radio is to attend interesting lectures often held by knowledgeable radio amateurs. There are over 70 radio clubs with training courses for the Foundation Licence alone. Some training courses are held over several weeknights, while most are on a weekend. Contact details for radio clubs offering training and assessments can be found under Affiliated Radio Clubs on wia.org.au Most questions about how to join Amateur Radio may be answered by the WIA through our website. If you have a question, complete the online form. wia.org.au/licenses/foundation/publicenquiry/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of the WIA. INDIA The Millennium Post describes how radio amateurs were involved again in helping to reunite someone with their family after 15 years The newspaper says: A person from Madhya Pradesh who had gone missing on his way to Kashmir 15 years back reunited with his family Saturday last with the help of Ham radio enthusiasts from West Bengal. Badri Prasad, 43-year-old, was going on a family tour in Kashmir in a train, he alighted at a station near Delhi to buy snacks never got into the train. His family members couldn't trace him. Then 15 years later, Prasad was discovered roaming like a vagrant on a road in Bongaon. He gave his original town and ham radio folk swung into action and tracked his family of 15 years ago finally reuniting them. Nordic Radio Amateur Union NRAU is celebrating its 85th anniversary. Founded in 1935 by pharmacist John Fredrik Karlsson SM 6 UA, its aim is to coordinate radio amateur activities, and work towards a common solution for Nordic countries. The NRAU members are Denmark, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway, Finland and Sweden. To shed light on the organisation's 85-year-old history, Eric SM6JSM had searched the archives in Karlsborg, for the first statutes written in 1936 and an article in QTC magazine no. 7 in 1949. nrau.net 2020 ITU Radio Regulations now available The 2020 edition of the ITU’s 2020 Radio Regulations, which will come into force on the 1st of January 2021, is now available as a free download from the link we like in this week’s text edition of WIA National News tinyurl.com/GB2RS-0920A to get your copy. RF pollution from electric vehicle wireless chargers VERON reports IARU Region-1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ, is ringing the alarm on WPT-EV. WPT-EV stands for Wireless Power Transmission for Electric Vehicles, wireless car chargers with high power 20 kW! A translation of the VERON post reads: Don says, “The discussions about WPT-EV have reached a point where they are moving from the technical to the political arena. Discussions with a national regulator indicate that we must now take action at the national level. The amateur service, but also other telecommunication services will experience the consequences of WPT-EV.” ecodocdb.dk/download/2fed7e3c-7543/ECC%20Report%20289.pdf Don Beattie adds, “In the interests of the future of amateur radio, we need to get the attention of national regulators. So will you please take action? ” Don is on hand to assist national associations should they require further documentation. "This is about the future of amateur radio!" CANADA Radio Amateurs of Canada 2020 Conference on YouTube Some great 'video' here and when viewing it would help if we all took heed of the great article in AR Magazine issue 3 written by VK2GCE "Between verification and validation" by Brian Clarke he explains how ideas that work in one country may not appear to work in another. But, back to Canada where Sunday, Sept 20, the Radio Amateurs of Canada held their 2020 Conference and AGM online. These videos are now available to watch on YouTube Among the videos are: Amateur Radio and Youth Getting Started with Amateur Radio Satellites 6m FT8 DXing Amateur Radio Hotspots: A Quick Overview The first video contains the Keynote Presentation - “A Fireside Chat”: “Amateur Radio during the Global Pandemic and other topics” - youtube.com/watch?v=8NZ0fTUL0ng Radio Amateurs of Canada YouTube channel youtube.com/channel/UCDLLyrpUUSPugPU4h3Jf5Qw/videos USA It was like the opening scene from a movie: cars pulled over on a busy freeway, with everyone gawking in disbelief at what they were seeing. Drivers in New Jersey on September 14 thought a flying saucer was hovering above them. But in reality, it was just another day in 2020 and the UFO was an aircraft from planet Earth: The Goodyear Blimp. With just the right lighting conditions, viewing angle and reflections, the blimp looked just like a classic flying saucer. I'm Jason VK2LAW and as I leave you this week its to Sweden SI9AM to close The Amateur Radio visitor's station SI9AM in Ragunda, Sweden, was established in 2000 is now set to go QRT. WIA National News Editor, GraHam VK4BB has more:- "Following years of losses and the pandemic it is to permanently close down. A post on the SI9AM site reads: We are sorry to inform you that SI9AM, the Visitor's Amateur Radio Station in Utanede, Sweden will be closed down on December 1, 2020. The Visitor's Station is owned by eight radio clubs in the third call area in Sweden. SI9AM has reported losses for several years and has not had any guest operators since February 2020 due to the Covid19 Pandemic. The board has now decided to close down the visitor station We started the Visitor’s station on July 19, 2000 and have worked about 160,000 QSOs. Thanks to all Guest Operators, Visitors, all radio amateurs who have worked us and everyone who has supported us during the years. We will continue to answer QSL-cards, send SI9AM Awards. Jörgen Norrmén, SM3FJF President of SI9AM si9am.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- OCEANA CONTEST The contest is nearly here! Are you ready to make a few contacts, the enthusiasm of VK3ML in promotion of the original contest is infectious – “ My - the ether just reeks of DX – take a large breath and sample it! Taste those G’s (They go well for breakfast as one author once said), those F’s, W’s, YI’s etc? They are our meat for October, so go to it and polish up that gear and start working DX just to get the “atmosphere” prior to the big event.” With hand sent morse and hand written logs they certainly would be envious of what even the most basic setup in the 21st century can provide. Please join in on the following two weekends. PHONE: 06:00 UTC Saturday 3rd Oct to 06:00 UTC Sunday 4th Oct 2020 CW: 06:00 UTC Saturday 10th Oct to 06:00 UTC Sunday 11th Oct 2020 Full rules on oceaniadxcontest.com Just exchange signal reports starting at 001 (lie 57001) There are awards available for all sorts of operation, low power, QRP, club awards and this year a plaque for the highest scoring YL in Australia. After nearly 60 years listening and transmitting I am sure that if enough of us get on the air at the same time the ionosphere does improve for us – have fun. 73 from Martin VK7GN Again VOICE from 0600 UTC Saturday October 3 to 0600 UTC Sunday October 4 CW from 0600 UTC Saturday October 10 to 0600 UTC Sunday October 11 -------------- CQ WW DX SSB OCTOBER 24-25 -------------- CQ WW DX CW NOVEMBER 28-29 -------------- Also in November is "The Day of the YL's Memorial Contest" 7th-8th November 2020 This contest is in memory of Carine Dubois F5ISY who developed the YL contest Rules are on their FaceBook group and at the links in this weeks WIA NATIONAL NEWS facebook.com/groups/746304389193363/ southgatearc.org/news/2020/september/the-day-of-the-yl-memorial-contest.htm#.X2pyLz_iuUk YLs around the globe will remember her at the weekend of Saturday 7th November and Sunday 8th November. (SouthGate) -------------- December 6 - 8 160 Meter WW -------------- DECEMBER 14 - 15 10 Mtr World Wide -------------- All major AUSTRALIAN contests, rules and results, are on the Contest Section of the WIA website. *********************** DX WINDOW Australian special event Special event callsign VI 75 WW 2 is active until November 11th, 2020 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. -------------- ARUBA. Members of the Aruba Amateur Radio Club will be QRV with special event call P 42 WW this month of September to commemorate the end of World War II. QSL via P 4 1G. (arrl) -------------- QNEWS WORK BENCH Amateur Radio Software Award Special event station K1A is active for the 'Amateur Radio Software Award' between September 25th and October 4th, 2020. The special event station promotes innovative, free and open amateur radio software. The "2020 Amateur Radio Software Award" recipient Anthony Good and his K 3 NG Arduino CW Keyer software project will be honoured during the event and nominations for the 2021 awards will also be encouraged. "The Amateur Radio Software Award" is an annual international award for the recognition of software projects that enhance amateur radio. The award aims to promote amateur radio software development which adhere to the same spirit as amateur radio itself: innovative, free and open. More info about the special event, operating schedule and the award can be found at: amateurradiosoftwareaward.github.io/special-event To receive the special event QSL card for your contact(s) please send SASE by November 1st to the address below. This allows them to know how many QSL cards they need to print. The address is: Amateur Radio Software Awards, Special Event Station, P.O. Box 126, Ames, IA 50010, USA. (SouthGate) ---------------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ASTRONOMICAL Last week Jupiter had 79 moons. This week it may have 600 more, including some that go backwards! A new study says that there may be as many as 600 small “irregular moons” orbiting Jupiter. An irregular moon is a minor object that used to orbit the Sun, but was captured by a giant planet early on in the Solar System’s history. Having swapped from being Sun-orbiting to planet-orbiting, they often have “eccentric” orbits; distant, inclined and retrograde — they orbit backwards. (ANS) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos THAT LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF THIS NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN Ham radio club talk collection on YouTube A collection of Denby Dale Amateur Radio Society online talks are now available for everyone to watch on YouTube or maybe use as program content on your ATV repeaters. The talks include: Amateur radio on satellites and the International Space station Introduction to amateur television Bob Heil K9EID - his radio journey Having fun and learning morse code High altitude balloons Building magnetic loop antennas Working DX without spending loads Watch the collection of Denby Dale ARS online talks at youtube.com/channel/UCq9nFTkJJAjOdPZVytoPOcg/videos For further information see ddars.net/ WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org AO-7 is approaching a return to full illumination, sometime around this very weekend and will last until approximately December 26. During this time, it is likely AO-7 will switch between Modes A and B (2m/10m, and 70cm/2m) every 24 hours. So Get those 10m antennas ready to enjoy mode A every other day. On another note, here’s a reminder and request to remember to keep the power down. Andrew, KO4MA AMSAT VP Operations says he has observed sometimes several different stations, usually in the middle of the passband, ditting away on CW in an attempt to find themselves. This often bounces the entire passband up and down, and sometimes causes the transponder to reset or “flip” to Mode A. Try to find yourself with very low power, or on SSB, or best, with full Doppler control, and the other users will thank you. [ANS] 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 WICEN News The 2020 Annual General Meeting for WICEN NSW was to be held Saturday by teleconference. Also in VK2, Volunteer Memorial Day for 2020 is at Mrs Macquarie's Chair in the Domain, Sunday the 11th of October. In-person attendance is via invitation only, but the event will also be streamed online. (arnsw) Emergency exercise 'Austria Off-Grid' On October 3 radio amateurs will participate in the nationwide emergency exercise Austria Off-Grid A "siren" rehearsal will take place on October 3, 2020 during the annual civil defence test alarm. But not only the function of the sirens for alerting the population will be tested on this day, but, also the communication that takes place after an alarm is sent. Alerting by means of a siren and subsequent communication via radio is a realistic scenario. Assuming that no further information is known, we radio amateurs should proceed in accordance with the EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION leaflet the OE hams have. During this Austria-wide emergency radio exercise. Radio stations of the Federal Armed Forces, ORF, A1, Johanniter, ÖRK and energy suppliers are also QRV on amateur radio bands. Current information on which activities are taking place can be found on website oevsv.at from October 3rd from the start of the exercise . tinyurl.com/AustriaOeVSV (SouthGate) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - WORLD WIDE FLOA AND FAUNA (parks) PROGRAM wwffaustralia.com/ David Giles VK5DG/3 has successfully claimed the first KRMNPA “Merit Award with Satellite Endorsement”. Commencing his satellite activations of eligible VK3 National Parks in 2011, David gradually increased his satellite activations to 25 Parks in 2018 and completed all 45 eligible Parks during an intense period of activations across the annual KRMNPA activation period in 2019. David has submitted an excellent article, detailing his equipment, techniques and experiences, which was published in the Parks/SOTA pages of issue 2 (2020) AR Magazine, pages 52 53. With the previously announced cancellation, I think all of VK3 will be looking forward to 2021 when the Keith Roget Memorial National Parks Award will kick off again. --------------------------------------------------------------------* 2020 Social Scene KEEP ONE WAVELENGTH AWAY AT 144 Megacycles #2MetersMatters Due to the COVID-19 situation, please check these events' direct for up-to-date status information. 2020 VK7 - Miena QSO Muster Saturday October 24th (vk7tw) VK4 - Sunfest 10am Nambour Showground Oct 24 (m roberts) VK4 - Rockhampton Amateur Radio Annual Dinner Sat Nov 28 (vk4acc) VK4 - TARC Xmas Party - Sun 13th December from 2pm (tarc) VK4 - TARC Xmas Lights Tour - Fri 18th December from 7pm (tarc) VK4 - CHARC AGM Lake Maraboon, 25 to 27 September. (vk4zz) 2021 VK4 - TARC Australia Day Long Week Family Radio Camp Thursday afternoon 21st to Tuesday afternoon 26th January at Girl Guides Association of Queensland Campsite and Training Centre Bluewater. (vk4zz) VK2 - WYONG FIELD DAY (tentative) February 28 ( vk4zz) VK - ALARAMEET 2021 Bendigo VK3 October 1 - 4 (vk5yl) VK7 - VK7 biennial HamFest Miena Community Hall (vk7tw) SOCIAL DISTANCING KEEP ONE WAVELENGTH AWAY AT 144 Megacycles FINAL FINAL Copper Plated “Following the French discovery of 7 MHz RF benefitting the growth of plants in last week’s WIA news news, wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/display.php?file_id=wianews-2020-09-20 we have more thanks to Paul, G4MWO, editor of The 5 MHz Newsletter." After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, French scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 200 years and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than 150 years ago. Not to be outdone by the French: in the weeks that followed, American archaeologists dug to a depth of 20 feet before finding traces of copper wire. Shortly afterwards, they published an article in the New York Times saying : "American archaeologists, having found traces of 250-year-old copper wire, have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network 50 years earlier than the French." A few weeks later, ‘The British Archaeological Society of Northern England’ reported the following: "After digging down to a depth of 33 feet in the Skipton area of North Yorkshire in 2011, Charlie Hardcastle, a self-taught local amateur archaeologist, reported that he had found absolutely bugah all. Charlie has therefore concluded that 250 years ago, Britain had already gone wireless." Just makes you proud to be British." WIRELESS OR THE NET, WIA News rebroadcasters often give Listeners a welcome to the broadcast as they commence call-backs straight after the Local News. Local news follows the National news in all states. It would be great if those tuned would email their reception reports and location to callbacks@wia.org.au 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 wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ We would appreciate items certainly no longer than 1.5 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. (First if YOU are reading your own item) 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. vk1wia-broadcasters@lists.wia.org.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------* Oh... and to contact us with your news because If It Matters To You It Matters To Us! Email nationalnews@wia.org.au and for audio wia.org.au click news in member area 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. Click the links below to download the most recent edition of National News, BUT this is ONLY the backup site! WIANEWS backup thanks to Brendan VK4BLP can be found on wiaq.org.au BACKUPS OF THE BACKUP!! thanks to Tony VK7AX www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/ wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/ (This is the link to the original text version and original audio on wia site) ===================================================================== WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide. TWITTER 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? 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. 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 would like to see the call-backs reported each broadcast, OR have call-backs to contribute to the National News call back tally then please send through your call-backs to callbacks@wia.org.au 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------------*