2021 JANUARY 03 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 JANUARY 3 2021 IN OUR 26th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS WIA SCERETARY PETER VK8ZZ WIA DIRECTOR OSCAR VK3TX THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y WIA BOARD MINUTES wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/minutes/ WIA BOARD NEWSLETTERS (older) Giving members to have a better awareness of Board activities. wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/newsletters/ WIA AGM 2021 The Annual General Meeting of the Wireless Institute of Australia will be held in May 2021. The format of the event is still to be finalised but it is likely to be a HYBRID event, with some actual participants on site and others joining by video conference. Members may also opt to watch the whole event on a streaming service similar to what we did earlier this WIA year. This has been WIA Director Peter VK8ZZ Hi, this is Oscar VK3TX. Did you worked a YOTA station in December? For the Amateur Radio community, December was designated as YOTA month. It is an annual initiative sponsored by Youngsters on the Air that wants to demonstrate amateur radio to youth to encourage them to get licenced, and for younger radio amateurs, to get active on the ham bands. All radio amateurs can support this effort by contacting participating stations; an awards program is available for those interested. For more information visit events.ham-yota.com/awards This is Oscar VK3TX for WIA National News. December's Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) Month activity has exceeded its goal of making 100,000 contacts, but promoters arent stopping there. With a few late logs to come in they are encouraging a last-minute push to break 2020's world contact record of nearly 129,000. ------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of the WIA. CHINA'S RADIOTELESCOPE WELCOMES THE WORLD With the Arecibo Observatory gone following its collapse, China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or 'FAST', is opening its doors to the world's astronomers. FAST is the world's largest radio telescope, taking that status from Arecibo after its construction was completed in 2016. According to the French news agency AFP, China's giant telescope is giving the international community of astronomers access to its antennas and radio receivers so they can study radio waves emitted from black holes, galaxies and stars and even transmit and reflect signals to see what bounces back. EUROPE People purchasing new passenger vehicles across Europe will be able to benefit from the advantages of digital radio, greater choice, clearer audio and enhanced data services. Any car radio receiver integrated in a new vehicle which is made available on the market for sale or rent in the Union from 21 December 2020 shall comprise a receiver capable of receiving and reproducing at least radio services provided via digital terrestrial radio broadcasting. The regulation applies to all EU member states regardless of the status of DAB or DAB+ in each country. worlddab.org/news Will the new year bring Europe its own system of low-earth orbit satellites? Ralph Squillace KK6ITB explores that possibility in a report from Amateur Radio Magazine. With 2021 underway, officials in a number of European Union nations will begin a feasibility study for a constellation of low-earth orbit satellites similar to the Starlink project under way by SpaceX. Europe's version of the U.S. satellite constellation is envisioned as being able to give people in isolated areas access to the internet and permit more secure communications for governments. It would reportedly cost 6 billion euros. The development could lead to a rivalry in space broadband coverage as SpaceX's own beta version is said to begin service to Europe by February or March of 2021. UK (sans EU) Ofcom the UK regulator has confirmed its decision to amend regulations regarding the use of 24 GHz short range radar equipment in vehicles. Short range radar equipment includes blind spot and collision radars and other driving assistance technology, some of which relies on spectrum. The Wireless Telegraphy (Automotive Short Range Radar) (Exemption) Regulations 2013 allow certain SRRs in cars to be used in the 24 GHz band without the need for a spectrum licence. OFCOM have amended the regulations, so that these licence exemptions continue to apply in the UK after the end of the transition period in the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the European Union WHICH WAS 11pm 31 December 2020. tinyurl.com/ydfcdpfr USA AM transmitter sites sold for logistics Since 2000 nearly 400 AM radio stations have ceased operations in the US. Transport Topics says the transmitter sites are now valuable real estate for the logistics industry The report says: The familiar real estate adage location, location, location rings true these days for huge tracts on the outskirts of major cities sites that for decades housed huge AM radio towers but that today command top dollar as e-commerce fuels rising demand for new warehouses and logistics centres. Look no further than the $51 million sale of a five-acre parcel in Queens, N.Y., where WFME AM radio station will eventually abandon its existing tower and transmitter site, and move it. Prologis, a San Francisco developer that specializes in building warehouses for companies looking to expand final-mile capability is reputed to have been the purchaser. tinyurl.com/y9td7e2e ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT The 2021 ARRL RTTY Roundup on January 2 3 features two new multioperator categories: multi-two and multi-multi. Since M2 and MM are new categories, there are no existing records, so the high scores for these categories will, by default, become the new records. Rules at the link we like on this weeks text edition of WIA National News contests.arrl.org/ContestRules/RTTY-RU-Rules.pdf ARRL's RTTY Roundup is a good 'warm-up' for the CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest in 6 weeks time. -------------- Ross Hull Memorial VHF/UHF Contest takes place ALL of January -------------- 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. -------------- CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest February 13-14 -------------- 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 the CQ World Wide CW WPX Contest May 29-30 -------------- April 25 AM / CW ANZAC Day, Mon 25th from 9am on 7125kHz AM. -------------- Harry Angel Sprint will be May First 2021. 10:00 - 11:46 UTC. -------------- The VK SHIRES the June long weekend, which is the weekend prior to the second Monday of June each year.. making it June 12-13 in 2021 -------------- WINTER VHF-UHF Field Days - June 26 - 27 -------------- IARU HF World Championship July 10-11 -------------- TRANS TASMAN LOWBAND CONTEST Next contest - JUL 17 2021 - and has the aim of encouraging Low Band activity between VK and ZL on 160 80 and 40M using SSB, CW and RTTY OR PSK -------------- RD or Remembrance Day Contest will be August 14-15. -------------- ALARA CONTEST A Combined phone and CW run over 24 hours starting on Saturday 28th August at 0600 hours UTC finishing Sunday 29th August at 0559 hours UTC -------------- OCEANA CONTEST VOICE from 0800 UTC Saturday 2 October to 0800 UTC Sunday October 3 CW from 0800 UTC Saturday 9 October to 0800 UTC Sunday October 10 -------------- SPRING VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS November 27-28 -------------- December 4-5 160 Meter WW -------------- DECEMBER 11 - 12 10 Mtr World Wide ------------- DX WINDOW JANUARY 2021 -------------- Special event station HF 2021 HNY Poland now till January 10 celebrates the New Year, hence the suffix HNY. Members of the "Enigma" club SP 2 PBM are operating. Send QSLs to SP2PBM by the bureau. (sourced to ARNewsLine) -------------- ROTUMA, 3D2. Tony QRV as 3D2AG/p until mid-January on 160 to 6 meters, including 60 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL direct to 3D2AG. (arrl) -------------- NETHERLANDS With the passing of Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, legendary guitarist of the band Van Halen, October 6th 2020, a special tribute event station is on air as PA 5 1 5 0 EVH until January 31st 2021, a few days after Eddie's birthday. The numbers 5,1,5,0 refer to different moments in the Van Halen history, including Eddie's recording studio, guitars and the first album with lead singer Sammy Hager. QSL via PF 1 SCT by the Bureau and there will be a limited amount of special QSL cards; BUT QSL only via the Bureau. For more details and a video, see QRZ.com -------------- PORTUGAL, CT. CQ 750 RSI throughout 2021 commemorates the 750th anniversary of the birth of Elizabeth of Aragon, the queen consort of Portugal and patron saint of their city of Coimbra. QSL to home call CT 7 AQD. -------------- Time to 'open the Madeira' Madeira Island operation Active will be CT9/DD 8 ZX and CT9/DJ 9 KM from Madeira Island (AF-014) which is an autonomous region of Portugal, comprising 4 islands off to the northwest of Casablanca and Marrakesh North Africa. Between February 27th and March 6th depending on the Covid-19 situation) their activity will be holiday style on 40-10 meters using mostly the Digital modes (FT8 and RTTY). QSL via their home callsigns, by the Bureau, direct or LoTW -------------- Antarctica operation Alexei is active as RI 01 ANT from Antarctica until May the 30th from Russian Progress and Vostok Base stations on 40 meters and higher using CW and FT8. QSL via RX6A. -------------- BELGIUM Special call signs in Belgium during the second lockdown period i.e. until January 31, 2021 B.I.P.T. has decided to once again grant permission to apply for customised special call signs. The exceptional conditions only apply to special call signs with an encouraging meaning. Listen and work these OS 2HOPE, OT 5 ALIVE, OQ 5 BECLEVER and OT 2CARE. (SouthGate) -------------- SLOVENIA, S5. Members of the Radio Club Elektron Brezice are QRV with special event station S 520 SAFE until January 31, 2021 supports the STAY SAFE campaign and expresses their gratitude to medical staff and care workers. QSL direct to S 56 IPS. (arrl) AWARDS "Elettra - The Miracle Ship" is an international amateur radio award organized by A.R.I. Fidenza, a Italian Radio Club affiliated to the Italian Amateur Radio League with the sponsorship and the historical consultancy and supervision of "Guglielmo Marconi Foundation" and "Marconi Museum" . Just think of when the great scientist, from the radio room of the Elettra, anchored in the port of Genoa, turned on the lights of the Sydney Town Hall, on the other side of the planet, using a radio signal. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio defined Elettra "White ship that sails in the miracle and animates the silences of the world." The award period lasts the whole year 2021: Each month of 2021 is dedicated to one specific event concerning "Elettra"ship and is associated to a different special callsign. arifidenza.it (SouthGate) ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ARDF WIA ARDF COORDINATOR VK3WWW Jack vk3www@wia.org.au users.mackay.net.au/~ron/ homingin.com ardf.org.au ARDF or 'Fox hunting ' with software-defined radio A favourite pastime in the ham radio community is where radio operators attempt to triangulate the position of a radio transmission. While it may have required a large amount of expensive equipment in the past, like most ham radio operations the advent of software-defined radio has helped revolutionize this aspect of the hobby as well. Aaron on Hackaday shows us how to make use of SDR for direction finding using his custom SDR-based Linux distribution called DragonOS. This includes implementation of a software package called DF-Aggregator. The software, along with the rest of DragonOS, is loaded onto a set of networked Raspberry Pi's. The networked computers can communicate information about the radio waves they receive, and make direction finding another capable feature. Aaron has a few videos showing the process of setting this up and using it, and all of the software is available for attempting something like this on your own. hackaday.com/2020/12/26/fox-hunting-with-software-defined-radio (SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - ASTRONOMICAL SpaceAusScope team listen to the galaxy We here in the great southern land have always had a reputation for astronomy. It is a great site low in the Southern hemisphere and there are lots of sparsely inhabited areas free from light and radio interference. Some of the first video from the Apollo 11 landing, for example, came in from the dish that large radio telescope at Parkes, remember our AGM there? Australian hobbyists have formed a group, SpaceAusScope, where teams across Australia are building radio telescopes with the plan which has been delayed by the pandemic of collecting data and providing it for public analysis. Hackaday says that a secondary goal of the group is to provide better documentation for amateur radio telescope builders. tinyurl.com/yc9bmydk (Sourced to SouthGate) 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 WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org Hams and everyday people on a small Indian Island east of Reunion and Madagascar islands are getting ready for something rather different, and special. The first CubeSat from Mauritius, MIR-SAT1, is almost on the launch pad. It carries an amateur radio digipeater and is expected to launch to the ISS in February for deployment in May/June but already Mauritian students are able to pick up signals from about another 100 satellites in low orbit around the earth as they prepare for their very own, to be known far and wide as MIR-SAT1. Young people, from five universities and 12 high schools, participated in a workshop organized by the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council from November 30 to December 4, 2020 at Forest Side State Secondary School Mauritius was awarded the opportunity to build and deploy, a 1U Cube Satellite through the International Space Station by JAXA and deployed from the Japanese Experiment Module The first 1U Mauritian nanosatellite, MIR-SAT1 which stands for Mauritius Imagery and Radio Satellite 1, was designed by Mauritian Engineers and an experienced Radio Amateur from the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society. tinyurl.com/y7jbz5p3 (SouthGate) SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - LOW DOWN Austria receives a 630M AND 60m present. Claus, OE6CLD, the HF Manager of the Austrian National Amateur Radio Society, OeVSV, informs us that the Austrian regulator, BMVIT, has granted access to the 630 and 60m and 630m bands for all CEPT Class 1 licensees. It took some time (3 years) but we just got a nice present from the Austrian BMVIT. 630m is the MF Secondary Allocation from the previous WRC-12 of 472 479 kHz at 1W EIRP 60m or 5 MHz is the WRC-15 Amateur Secondary Allocation of 5351.5 5366.5 kHz at 15W EIRP (5.133B) oevsv.at/home/ WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- POLICE iparc.nl iparc.de To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the International Police Association Radio Club (IPARC) of Switzerland, look for special event station HB 40 POLICE to be active between January and December 31st, 2021. This Swiss special event is on 160 - 6 meters, and frequently on VHF, UHF and SHF for the locals. You CAN set a sked please contact Roland, HB9GSO. QSL via the Bureau or eQSL. A QSO with HB 40 POLICE counts as a club callsign for the IPARC Switzerland and is valid for the Matterhorn Award. (sourced to SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS raotc.org.au Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW reminding listeners that there is no RAOTC broadcast tomorrow. The first bulletin for 2021 goes to air on Monday February 1st. Meanwhile, web-page coordinator Andrew VK3CAH has updated the Broadcast Schedule and Calendar of Events webpages. The broadcast schedule contains full details of all HF, VHF, UHF, DMR, D-Star and EchoLink transmissions for all of Australia, while the Calendar of Events lists dates and times for Broadcasts, Committee Meetings, the AGM, and luncheon dates and times for Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide. Well worth a look. Simply Goggle RAOTC and follow the links. On behalf of the RAOTC, I wish everyone a truly happy, safe and healthy New Year and dont forget that the first RAOTC bulletin for 2021 goes to air on February 1st. 73 from Clive VK6CSW. 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 ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service volunteers were quick on the scene in the aftermath of that apparently intentional explosion early on Christmas morning in downtown Nashville. The blast disrupted telecommunication systems, as the explosion occurred in front of an AT&T switching facility. ARRL Vice Director and Williamson County Emergency Coordinator Ed Hudgens, WB4RHQ, is monitoring the situation and says. Here in Nashville and the surrounding counties things are a bit of a mess still. The explosion did a lot more damage than was originally thought. AT&T now has about 30 mobile cell units deployed throughout the area. The hams are holding a continuous net on a five-repeater linked system to assist as needed. We are relaying news updates from AT&T and county governments and assisting callers on AT&T to implement wireless calling on their phones. In the future we may start taking traffic and routing it to the state nets. The monitoring net on the linked system will remain up until AT&T systems begin to come back online, he added. (sourced to qrznow.com) ------------------------------------------------------------* THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report Measure Twice cut Once. Today on the bench a new Wi-Fi Let's check out Wi-Fi 6 and the 6-GHz band. It's important not to confuse Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi in the 6-GHz band as these are two separate, but interconnected, topics. Wi-Fi 6 is the Wi-Fi Alliances new consumer-friendly name for the IEEE 802.11ax standard. The 802.11ac standard has also been renamed Wi-Fi 5; 802.11n is now Wi-Fi 4. The purpose of this new naming scheme is to make it easier for we mere mortals to identify device generations without remembering the complex 802.11 alphabet soup. So again Wi-Fi 6 signifies the 802.11ax standard. Now The Band Plays On. - the 6 GHz band that is The introduction of the 6-GHz band for Wi-Fi use provides instant gratification for all Wi-Fi 6 users. With enough spectrum to safely deploy 80-MHz or 160-MHz-wide channels and green-field deployments alleviating concerns of backward compatibility, the 6-GHz frequency band could become the VIP Lounge for Wi-Fi 6 users, where high throughput rates and congestion-free network access can be instantly achieved. The 6-GHz frequency band, also called mid-band spectrum, spans 5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz and is divided into four bands. All in all, Wi-Fi in the 6-GHz band means instant performance increases for Wi-Fi 6 users. While there are still interference issues to be resolved, opening up 6-GHz frequency bands for Wi-Fi seems to be the move to ensure this widely used wireless technology can deliver the performance needed for future applications and networks. ( testandmeasurementtips.com ) BTW Wi-Fi 6 is ready for carrier network deployment The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has announced the conclusion of five trial deployments of Wi-Fi 6 across diverse markets, showing that with wider channels up to 160 MHz and capacity up to 9.6 Gbps it can enable data rates nearly three times faster than Wi-Fi 5. Read more: tinyurl.com/y2cxot3z (criticalcomms.com.au) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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 and even without Covid dates have an uncanny knack of being changed at last moment. 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) VK4 - A WICEN event at the Ipswich and District Radio Clubhouse. Operators will setup and demonstrate portable and base stations with portable masts, antennas and more. February 13 between 1000 and 1400 hours (vk4hit) VK2 - WYONG FIELD DAY February 28 ( vk4zz) VK3 - EMDRC HamFest - March 28th 10am (vk3bq) VK4 - REDFEST 2021 April Ten (vk4tfn) VK - ALARAMEET 2021 Bendigo VK3 October 1 - 4 (vk5yl) VK3 - ROSEBUD RadioFest by SPARC 9:30am Nov 14 (vk3pdg) 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*