2020 NOVEMBER 22 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 NOVEMBER 22 2020 IN OUR 25th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS ( 1937 in a mention we've come across relating to weekly broadcasts of information prepared by VK4 was a plea to restart the weekly news service which was on air in the late 1920's ) WIA Director Oscar VK3TX and WIA EMCOM Group When is an intruder NOT an intruder? when it's operating legally in a portion of our bands where we are not Primary users. A story by Jason VK2LAW is actually a lesson for all we VK'ers particularly Clubs on the value of promoting our hobby. A new "Multi-Transmitter Distributed" category has been added to ALL CQ World Wide WPX Contests to better accommodate operators who wish to compete as a team without all team members being in the same physical location. Felix VK4FUQ has the detail. Lyndall VK4ZM with the SANTA ALERT Nic VK7 Whisky Whisky takes down a book from the book shelf, "Behind the Enigma" Today, November 22nd marks the anniversary of the death of the woman believed to be one of the first licensed American YLs. during Special Interest Group News VK3FFF Bruce looks at the legacy of Genevieve Emerson. THESE STORIES & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA When is an intruder NOT an intruder? As Hurricane Iota neared landfall in Central America this week the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) was forced to suspend operations because of what HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, described as deafening interference from a foreign AM broadcast station that came out of nowhere. At the time, the net had shifted to its 40-meter frequency of 7.268 MHz, collecting real-time weather and damage reports via amateur radio. The eyewall of Iota was just barely offshore, Graves said. The net was able to collect and forward reports from various parts of Nicaragua and Honduras via WX 4 NHC throughout the day for relay to forecasters at the National Hurricane Centre in Miami. Iota was the most powerful storm on record to make landfall this late in the hurricane season. Graves said the very strong AM signal was on 7.265 MHz. From my location, it was S-9, he told ARRL. You could not hear anything but the BC station. The source of the signal was not clear, but as he noted, other foreign broadcast stations are to be heard from 7.265 to 7.300 MHz and splattering close by. The 40-meter or 7-MHz band is an amateur radio frequency band, spanning 7.000-7.300 MHz in ITU Region 2, and 7.000-7.200 MHz in Regions 1 & 3. It is allocated to radio amateurs worldwide on a primary basis; however, only 7.000-7.100 MHz is exclusively allocated to amateur radio worldwide. Shortwave broadcasters and land mobile users also have primary allocations in some countries, and amateur stations must share the band with these users. ( eHam / Wikipedia ) WIA Not a WIA Member? details email nationaloffice@wia.org.au OR the link on bottom right of wia.org.au WIA board minutes can be found on wia.org.au click WIA Information. This is WIA Director Oscar VK3TX Amateur Radio as a Public Service, you can make your contribution! WIA is looking actively to revitalise working groups and EMCOM is not an exemption; right now, we are looking actively for expressions of interest from members with background in emergency management and emergency communications to be part of the WIA EMCOM working group. Natural disasters are just around the corner, and every country must be prepared in a unique and coordinated response. IARU encourages its Member Societies to be an active part involved with national authorities and other Societies in the region to generate effective strategies. Are you ready to be part of a national team developing strategies to help others when required? Send us your expression of interest to secretary@wia.org.au and be part of a real change! This is Oscar VK3TX for WIA National News. ------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of the WIA. BORNEO The Borneo Bulletin reports on the successful 2020 Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) held in October at the Belait District Scout Association. This story is actually a lesson for all we VK'ers, particularly VK4 Clubs who, if we listen to QNEWS after this bulletin airs in VK just don't seem to get the value of promoting our hobby. In this Borneo item not ONLY did the hams give the story to the press and local broadcasts BUT invited a leading reporter, Daniel Lim, to actually sit in on the JOTA weekend. The newspaper story by Daniel Lim says, in part:- The JOTA-JOTI or Jamboree on the Air-Jamboree on the Internet the largest digital scout event, held by scouts across the world including the Belait District Scout Association serves as a platform for scout members to learn to use short and long-range radios. I had the opportunity to attend the event in the Belait District where young scout members get a taste of operating the radio under a skilled radio operators supervision. The skills showcased comprise commonly-used lingo and codes widely associated with radio communication. Mohd Ranie bin Abdullah, one of the amateur radio instructors at the PPDB who is licensed as V85RBA, highlighted the aspects and skills required to communicate using radio transmission. Read the full story on borneobulletin.com.bn/2020/11/turning-up-the-radio/ UNITED KINGDOM Items that once belonged to World War Two Bletchley Park code-breaker Alan Turing that were stolen from the UK decades ago are to be returned from the US. The mathematician's miniature OBE medal is among 17 items that were taken from Dorset's Sherborne School by Julia Turing, who is no relation, in 1984, according to a BBC news report. They were found at her home in Colorado in the US in 2018. A US civil court case launched against her has been settled out of court and the items are due to be returned. Read the full BBC News story bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-54784018 Ofcom has announced that it is ready to begin its auction of 120 MHz of bandwidth located above the UK's amateur band at 3.40 - 3.41 GHz. The frequencies being offered for sale are between 3.6 GHz and 3.8 GHz. It is also outside of the IARU region 1 9cm allocation of 3.4-3.475 GHz The move in the UK differs from auctions in other nations in that it will avoid the frequencies used by amateur radio. PUERTO RICO Back on August 23 WIA National News brought you the story of how an auxiliary cable helping support a metal platform above the Arecibo Observatory radio telescopes reflector dish in Puerto Rico snapped, causing a 100-foot gash in the reflector dish. As a precaution the site has been closed to all non-essential personnel, and now, to limit the risk to workers, drones are being used to evaluate the dish and cabling as engineers continue to try and formulate plans to stabilize the structure until replacement cables arrive. BREAKING NEWS IT'S JUST BEEN ANNOUNCED THIS DISH HAS NOW BEEN DE-COMMISSIONED This damaged 305-meter radio telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will be decommissioned due to safety concerns, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced November 19. The iconic dish has served as a backdrop for several science fiction movies. The Arecibo Observatory Radio Club operates KP 4 AO ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT ----2020 ---------- CQ WW DX CW Next Weekend NOVEMBER 28-29 -------------- SPRING VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS November 27-28 -------------- December 6 - 8 160 Meter WW -------------- DECEMBER 14 - 15 10 Mtr World Wide ----2021------- Ross Hull Memorial VHF/UHF Contest takes place ALL of January 2021 -------------- VHF-UHF SUMMER FIELD DAY - Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January. -------------- CQWW 160M CW CONTEST January 29 - 31. CQWW 160M SSB CONTEST February 26 - 28. -------------- the CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest February 13-14 A new "Multi-Transmitter Distributed" category has been added to ALL CQ World Wide WPX Contests to better accommodate operators who wish to compete as a team without all team members being in the same physical location. This new category permits up to six separate stations in different locations, but all within the same DX entity and CQ zone, to operate as a single contest entry. This was inspired by innovations being made in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, but I'd suggest this new category will be permanent. ( cqwpxrtty.com ) -------------- International DX CW Contest February 20-21 -------------- International DX Phone Contest March 6 - 7 -------------- WIA John Moyle Field Day 2021 March from UTC 0100 on Saturday 20 to 0059 Sunday 21nd. -------------- the CQ World Wide SSB WPX Contest March 27-28 -------------- DX WINDOW -------------- AUSTRALIA The special event station VK 65 PFA, will continue until this Tuesday the 24th. Visit the QRZ page of VK65PFA for operating and QSL details. Members of the WIA are QRV with VI 110 WIA until the end of the year as we celebrate our 110th anniversary. Maybe not DX in many of our eyes BUT, we do have an international viewing audience, so another reminder that Mike, VK4DX, will once again be active as VK4DX/P from Russell Island, Southern Moreton Bay Islands until Tuesday 24th. Activity will be on 40-15 meters using CW and SSB, with a 100 watt radio and wire antennas at the water front. ( vk4dx.com/2020/09/27/upcoming-activity-oc137 ) (Sourced to SouthGate) -------------- FRANCE. QRV is special event call sign TM 50 GDG to November 22 commemorating the 130th birthday and the death, of Charles de Gaulle 50 years ago. Activity 160 to 20 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via bureau. (arrl) -------------- NEW ZEALAND Active will be ZM4T next weekend during the CQWW DX CW Contest (Nov28-29) and QSL is via LoTW. (SouthGate) -------------- SANTA ALERT Hi I'm Lyndall VK4ZM with the SANTA ALERT David, N3NTV, has announced the Santa Watch Net Christmas Eve, December 24, hosted by the DoDropIn EchoLink node 355800, getting under way at 1800 UTC. (ARRL) Members of the Finish Market Reef Christmas DX Association, that's the OSCAR HOTEL 9 ALPHA gang, will be operating special event station OSCAR GOLF 1 XMAS on all bands and modes from November 29 to December 26. (SouthGate) 3 special calls celebrate Christmas BUT no QSL cards. PAPA ALPHA 20 XMAS, PAPA DELTA 20 SANTA and PAPA DELTA 20 ELF These will be operational during the Christmas holiday season NO cards BUT an award for working 2 or more. ( qrz.com/db/PA20XMAS ) Coronavirus has altered the way that communities are celebrating this Christmas, meaning Santa Claus may not be able to make in-person visits. One Longmont club, based in the USA, is giving Kris Kringle some air time so that he can still hear from Boulder County's children in a safe-distanced way. The Longmont Amateur Radio Club will host "On Air With Santa" from 6 to 7 p.m. local time, December First to December Fifth, encouraging licensed ham radio operators to give their children and grandchildren a chance to connect with Santa in a safe, distanced way. Firestone's Chuck Poch, president of the radio club, said this is the first time that the Longmont Amateur Radio Club has hosted the event. While the Longmont Amateur Radio Club wants to give children a chance to connect with Santa, members also hope to transmit an interest in the next generation of ham radio operators. (eHam) For the 15th consecutive year, The 3916 Nets will present "The Santa Net on 3.916 MHz." Good girls and boys can talk to Santa Claus, or outside the USA listen in, via amateur radio nightly at 7:15 PM US Central. That's 0130 UTC. The Santa Net will run through 'til Christmas Eve, December 24. (eHam) Now particularly for VK viewers if you or your club are doing something special on air for Christmas 2020 drop Graham, the jolly WIANews Editor, a line at nationalnews@wia.org.au From NOWHERE near the North Pole, I'm Lyndall VK4ZM in Townsville North Queensland, counting the sleeps till Christmas. ------------------------------------------------------------* WIRELESS WEATHER Coming soon: A total solar eclipse 3 weeks from today, on Dec. 14th, the new Moon will pass in front of the sun, producing a total solar eclipse over Argentina and Chile. This year, eclipse chasers have more than eye safety to worry about; the eclipse is happening during a worldwide pandemic. HamSCI ( hamsci.org ) is looking for amateur radio operators around the world to help collect propagation data during the December 14 eclipse. Data collection requires an HF radio connected to a computer. There was to be a 24-hour practice run Saturday 21 followed by another practice December 5. The data recording will run from December 9-16. Details of the experiment may be found here: hamsci.org/december-2020-eclipse-festival-frequency-measurement Interested operators should sign up at this link forms.gle/C9PFSTeLf7xvCQDYA or directly contact Kristina on kd8oxt@case.edu (SouthGate) MEDIA WATCH BOOK EM NICK Hi, this is Nic VK7 Whisky Whisky. Today from the book shelf:- "Behind the Enigma: The Authorised History of GCHQ - Britains Cyber-Intelligence Agency" by John Ferris (I'm looking at a review by Andy Thomas G0SFJ) Some surprises in this Authorised history! John Ferris brings to life what he describes as a formerly "dead organisation" since the Cold War: * lacking in staff opportunities, * reflective of its treatment of women; * its lack of ethnic staff; and, * its rush to a new technical (Cyber) role. There is little technical detail here: * Wartime direction-finding sites arent listed. * Volunteers, largely unknown, supported the institution throughout its history, but of two identified, only the male is named. But Ferris does give a few cribs that can be used in the online search engine of the CIA Freedom of Information Act reading room and Ferris is more radical and subtle than he first appears. In his review of "Behind the Enigma" G0SFJ says the author is incredulous of public affection for Bletchley Park; and, he picks an argument with Sir Harry Hinsley OBE, in order to promote his view that Intelligence is second in importance to good command and military force. Has John Ferris gone barking mad?! ...or is this argument a ploy for the author to become infamous? Either way, for those yearning for a good yarn, with probably a different view than ourselves, it's still an interesting read. This is Nic VK7WW Signing Clear. ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS BALLOONING The Pella Amateur Radio Clubs "Pella Exploring Near Space" project has spanned the globe. According to Jim Emmert with the group, a SkyTracker placed on a balloon has come back to Iowa after traveling over such exotic locations since November 5th: Atlantic Ocean Morocco Mediterranean Sea Jordan Afghanistan South Korea Japan Pacific Ocean Pellas', near Knoxville, KRLS 92.1 Radio News says the radio club has been interacting with students at Jefferson Intermediate School and Pella Christian Grade School via virtual means this fall after many years of in-person interaction at science classes, and the balloon launched for school students will be the first to span the entire globe. ( https://tinyurl.com/y62ker5e ) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FEMALES IN RADIO. Linda, VK7QP the President of ALARA has let us know herself, along with Shirley VK5YL and other ALARA Ladies are set to join us for the Sunday before Christmas edition of this your WIA National News. Today, November 22nd marks the anniversary of the death of the woman believed to be one of the first licensed American YLs. Her name was Genevieve Josephine Emerson, or at least that was her name when, as a young girl in Oakland, California, she achieved a perfect score on her radio operator's exam and was issued the call sign 6APL. The legacy of Genevieve, who was 93 when she died November 22 2002, is worth noting. Today women are on the air everywhere and can be found in groups like ALARA in Australia, CLARA in Canada and the YLRL in the United States. The recent Day of the YLs memorial contest held earlier this month around the world is a tribute to their enduring friendship and sisterhood. (Amateur Radio NewsLine) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - LOW DOWN 17.2 kHz No not a channel spacing but an actual transmission. How far can it go? How about 16,000 Kilometres. The transmission we are talking about travelled the 16,000 Kms between Sweden and Tasmania back on October 24. That was when the Low-Frequency Station SAQ Broadcast the UN Day Message of Unity in Face of COVID-19 on United Nations Day, October 24. It originated from the Alexanderson alternator station SAQ in Sweden on 17.2 kHz urging unity in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. The message transcript follows. "CQ CQ CQ DE SAQ SAQ SAQ This is Grimeton Radio/SAQ in a transmission using the Alexanderson 200 kW alternator on 17.2 kHz. The global COVID-19 pandemic challenges people and nations to unite to minimize the negative consequences for individuals and societies, and to uphold the advancements in public health made in recent decades. Good health and wellbeing is a prerequisite for a peaceful and sustainable global development, and health equity cannot be achieved without peace and human security." The message was signed by Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist of Sweden's Public Health Agency. SAQ received some 400 listener reports from all over the world receiving very many reports from north, central, and eastern Europe, from the US and from Russia and Japan. The farthest reports comes from Tasmania, approximately 16,000 kilometres from Grimeton, Sweden." (arrl) 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 Region 1 3760 7110 14300 18160 21360 kHz Region 2 3750 3985 7060 7240 7275 14300 18160 21360 kHz Our very active Queensland Hams from the Townsville region will be at it again, that is at their radios helping to co-ordinate next years Townsville to Magnetic Island swimming event. A tentative date of Saturday July 24 is set for the Swim Volunteers and Swimmers Briefing from 1pm and then the Sunday the Maggie Island Swim itself with splash off being 7am from the Strand Park (TARC) WICEN operators in Queensland hold a net every Saturday from 2200 UTC on 14183 kHz and then on 7110 kHz from 2230 UTC The net calls in regular stations and then invites new stations to call in. If conditions are poor on 7 MHz, net control might move to around 3600 kHz Mix it with other WICEN ops and call in on the net !! (TARC) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight) 3000km plus contact on 433 MHz from St. Helena to South Africa. A remarkable 3000+ km contact made on the 70cms band between South Africa and St. Helena in the South Atlantic was made between Garry, ZD 7 GWM on St. Helena Island and Tom, ZS 1 TA in South Africa. What was even more amazing was that the contact was made on FM. It is believed that the mode of propagation was probably a marine duct. To put this remarkable contact on 70cms into context, the 3136 km distance is pretty much equivalent to the path across VK from Perth to Melbourne. (SouthGate) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - WORLD WIDE FLOA AND FAUNA (parks) PROGRAM wwffaustralia.com/ Hams in Australia are getting ready for our World Wide Flora & Fauna activation NEXT weekend, 28 and 29 of November. With more here is Robert VK3DN "They are registering their call signs and locations with Paul VK5PAS, the national coordinator. Paul is keeping track of amateurs who are involved so he can prepare a report at the conclusion of the event and send out Activator Participation certificates. The many sites include Cape Blanche Conservation Park, Mornington Peninsula National Park, Murray Sunset National Park and Echo Sugarloaf State Reserve. There are more than 680 national parks throughout Australia so there's plenty to choose from. By the way, if you're planning to chase the activators, they will be posting alerts to spot their operations on the website parksnpeaks.org You can also consult the DX cluster at wwff.co/dx-cluster I'm Robert Broomhead VK3DN (ARNewsLine) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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 VK4 - Rockhampton Amateur Radio Annual Dinner Sat Nov 28 (vk4acc) VK4 - Ipswich Radio Club Christmas lunch BBQ Nov. 28 (vk4hit) VK4 - TARC AGM November 29 at Rossiter Park Aitkenvale (tarc) VK4 - TARC Xmas Party - Sun 13th December from 2pm (tarc) VK4 - TARC Xmas Lights Tour - Fri 18th December (tarc) 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 February 28 ( vk4zz) VK4 - REDFEST 2021 April Ten (vk4tfn) VK - ALARAMEET 2021 Bendigo VK3 October 1 - 4 (vk5yl) VK7 - VK7 biennial HamFest Miena Community Hall (vk7tw) FINAL FINAL Noticed in the TARC newsletter a listing of stations taking this news service and WIA NEWS HF from VK4 at 2300Z:- 1843 / 3605 / 7070 / 7130 / 7190kHz Comparing this with the weekly listing by VK4VP Gordon we seem to have a few transmitting stations NOT returning check-ins to Gordon. 3605 on the Sunday, local time, broadcast and 7190 are two in question, and it's OK Bruce we are getting Monday nights check-ins to your VK4EHT station. Reception Reports WIA News rebroadcasters often give Short Wave Listeners a welcome to the broadcast as they commence call-backs straight after the Local News. Local news follows National news in all states. It would be great if those SWL's 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 mts 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! 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 a message confirming your unsubscription from the list and at that point you should stop receiving messages. ------------------------------------------------------------*