2021 JULY 4 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 JULY 4 2021 IN OUR 26th 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 ) AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PORTAL Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest news, key facts and figures, contacts and answers to your questions. www.health.gov.au/ WIA AGM - Some highlights. - WIA SPECTRUM & REGULATORY NEWS. - Grant Willis VK5GR. - THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA Sydney lockdown closes July calendar of the Australian Radio Communications Industry Association (ARCIA) ARCIA has made the decision to defer its planned Sydney events for the month of July. This includes deferring both the industry networking dinner and the professional development training sessions. In light of the current problems with the COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney and the difficulty for interstate guests to attend, ARCIA had only one sensible option. Future possible options for Sydney will be investigated later in 2021. ARCIA notes that if you already booked a ticket to one of the 2021 Sydney events, a representative will be in touch to discuss future ticketing options. ( text edition only. criticalcoms.com.au ) WIA JOIN OUR WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y WIA BOARD MINUTES www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/minutes/ As advised by retiring President VK2GPK at AGA 2021 no longer being published BUT members CAN ask WIA for them. (vk4bb) In our audio news some 5 or 6 minutes of audio extracted from the WIA AGM THEN :- ACMA defers changes to the Overseas Amateurs Visiting Australia Class Licence In April 2021, the ACMA conducted a public consultation on Proposed changes to class licences: Updating references to standards to include references to equipment rules, and harmonising electromagnetic energy requirements, which included changes to the Overseas Amateurs Visiting Australia Class Licence. This class licence enables overseas radio amateurs visiting Australia to operate for a short period without obtaining a formal Australian amateur apparatus licence. In the consultation, the ACMA proposed to change the way visiting amateurs operating under this licence would need to manage compliance with the EME (Electromagnetic Energy) standards set by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Authority (ARPANSA). The WIA made a submission to the ACMA expressing concern that the proposal would create an inconsistent regulatory arrangement for visiting amateurs compared to domestic licensees. Feedback was also provided highlighting the link between this issue and the existing ongoing Proposed changes to amateur licensing arrangements - Non-assigned amateur stations - February 2021 consultation that also sought to address EME management in the amateur service. In response, the ACMA concluded that: Following consultation, we removed the proposed change to the Radiocommunications (Overseas Amateurs Visiting Australia) Class Licence 2015. We will consider the most appropriate EME compliance requirements for domestic and overseas visiting amateurs as part of our Review of non-assigned amateur licensing arrangements. The WIA welcomes moves by the ACMA to consider this matter in a more holistic and consistent manner and will continue to engage with the regulator to seek the best outcome possible that ensures public safety relating to EME while preserving the operational utility of the amateur service. ( WIA SPECTRUM & REGULATORY NEWS: JUNE 30th 2021 Grant Willis VK5GR. ) WIA NATIONAL NEWS AND YOUR 3 W's. WASH YOUR HANDS WEAR YOUR MASK WATCH YOUR DISTANCE (1.5 metres) www.health.gov.au/ ------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, RAC, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, NZART, eHam, AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of the WIA. REGION ONE CHANGES MADE TO NETHERLANDS' RADIO LICENSE Among changes, is the elimination of the minimum age for candidates wishing to sit for the Novice or Full exam. Previously, candidates had to be at least 12 and 14 years of age, respectively. The International Amateur Radio Union praised the abolition of these restrictions and on June 17th wrote on its website: [quote] "Today is an important day regarding youth and amateur radio in The Netherlands. To gain more young active radio hams, it is a must that this age group actually has the ability to obtain an amateur radio license." [endquote] (arnewslin.org) Spain's URE makes amateur radio magazine archive available Spain's national amateur radio society, URE, has digitized their old magazines from 1949 to 2020 and made the PDF's available for everyone to download from their website One very good idea is that these magazines, for each year, are combined into a single PDF file, the 1949 PDF contains the 5 issues from August of that year while later years contain all 11 issues. Obviously these are in the Spanish Language and each file is approximately 200 megs in size. tinyurl.com/6w5vdfsu Norway: 820,000 kroner to support ham radio emergency comms The Norwegian Radio Relay League will receive more than NOK 820,000 (that's an impressive $175,000 Aussie Dollars) from the Gjensidige Foundation to strengthen emergency preparedness. The foundation has distributed over NOK 2.2 billion to more than 7,500 projects that promote health and safety initiatives and was formed from a demerger of one of that nations insurance companies. REGION TWO The ARRL Volunteer Monitor program is a formal agreement between the FCC and ARRL. Volunteers trained and vetted by ARRL monitor the airwaves and collect evidence that can be used both to correct misconduct or recognize exemplary on-air operation. Cases of flagrant violations are referred to the FCC by ARRL for action in accordance with FCC guidelines. From the May 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report we hear how a General-class licensee in, Pennsylvania, received an Advisory Notice for operation on 7.163 MHz. General-class licensees are not permitted to operate below 7.175 MHz. A General-class licensee in Puerto Rico, received an Advisory Notice after operating on 14.187 MHz during a DX contest in May. General-class licensees have no privileges below 14.225 MHz on 20 meters. VM monitoring totals during April were 1,784 hours on HF and 2,214 hours on VHF and above. The VM coordinator had one meeting with the FCC, and one case was referred for further action. www.arrl.org/volunteer-monitor-program MONEY CAN BE THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL Brazil's national amateur radio society LABRE has written to their communications regulator ANATEL regarding the alleged sending of Bitcoin via amateur radio Moon bounce (EME) LABRE in a letter to ANATEL said: LABRE, through this communication, informs you of a recent FACT involving the National level telecommunications. It was reported on several "sites" specializing in "cryptocurrencies" and technology, that a small group of Brazilians from the states of MG and SP, making use of equipment intended for amateur radio, would have made transmissions in one of the bands destined to the Radio Amateur Service where they would have carried out a financial transaction involving cryptocurrencies, specifically BITCOIN, so we understand the need for investigation by part of ANATEL ... Apart from the technical and practical difficulties for a link as described, the FACT is that the operation involved using amateur radio equipment for a financial transaction, something that we understand to be expressly prohibited by Article 3 of Resolution 449/2006 of Anatel. CANADA Vax A Nation. Quite a few have been looking forward to having or working one of our soon to be implemented two by one Aussie calls. BUT How about a 2 by SEVEN yes a 7 letter suffix block. VC 3 VACCINE This call on air and thousands have rolled up and worked it, hopefully also rolled up their sleeves as well for the 'jab.' Bill, VE3ES, is now active with VE3VACCINE from Ontario until July 15t encouraging people to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. We've heard operations on 30/20/10/6 meters using SSB and FT8/FT4. Also as reported on WIA national news several weeks ago ACMA would be letting us know what was happening with the long long overdue implementation of our 2 by 1 set, well ACMA have only this week released details in our latest e magazine. So don't be misled - stick with us when we bring you the TRUE news of our 2 w's , i.e. "wonderful world of wireless." REGION THREEE KOLKATA - INDIA. In the age of smartphones, two long-lost colleagues were united with the help of Ham Radio clubs after 44 years. An octogenarian doctor in the city wanted to connect with a former colleague, who had worked with him in 1977 at a health centre in Mathabhanga city of Cooch Behar district. Doctor B Das, who hails from Bansdroni in Kolkata, had been trying to trace his former colleague from Odisha, Nityananda Panda. But, all his efforts had gone in vain until his wife approached the Ham Radio enthusiasts. Panda used to work in SSKM Hospital in 1976 before being posted as the first medical officer of Ghokshadanga primary health centre in Mathabhanga. He was an expert in handling pregnancy cases which was a tough challenge during those days as there was no electricity. Das learnt about the activities of West Bengal Radio Club and their role in uniting lost persons with their families. On Thursday last week, his wife called up the Club's secretary Ambarish Nag Biswas. "I received a phone call from Dr Das' wife who told me that her husband is sick and wants to talk to his long lost friend Dr Panda. I contacted our ham friend Dushmanta Kumar Das and sent a 1977 photograph of Dr Panda. Finally, Dr Panda was traced in Cuttack. On that Thursday night, the two friends shared their memories after 44 years," Nag Biswas said. tinyurl.com/dez7dmwc ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- The 76th NZ Memorial contest is on this weekend, 0800-1100 UTC Saturday and Sunday evenings and of course as usual, VK stations are most welcome to join in. The activity level in last years contest was the highest for a number of years with 44 ZL and 40 VK callsigns in the logs. This is a short 80m only easy-going contest for everyone. Contest rules and results are available on the NZART web www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contests/memorial-contest/ (text only from, Frank ZL2BR NZART Contest Manager) -------------- NEXT weekend see's the IARU HF World Championship. i.e. July 10-11 -------------- TRANS TASMAN LOWBAND CONTEST JUL 17 - 160 80 and 40M using SSB, CW and RTTY OR PSK -------------- RD or Remembrance Day Contest will be August 14-15. -------------- ALARA CONTEST 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 -------------- KINGDOM OF ESWATINI, 3DA. Hans, 3 DA 0 AQ has been logged on 20 to 6 meters using CW. Eswatini, officially the Kingdom of Eswatini, sometimes still commonly known in English as Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, and south. QSL 3 DA 0 AQ via EA5GL. THE RAAF celebrates it's 100 years this year and in the air is VK 100 AF Until 31 August (vk8nsb) -------------- VK 20 HOME Dont forget that the WIA special event callsign VK 20 HOME is still available for members use until December 31st 2021. Check the WIA website and Special Event pages to book your time slot for use. (VK3GK) -------------- VI 50 SG is QRV until December 31 commemorating 50 years of the St. George Amateur Radio Society in New South Wales. QSL via bureau. (SouthGate) -------------- UEFA European Championship TM 21 EURO is kicking goals until July 11th. Activity is taking place during/around the 16th 2020 UEFA European Championship which is being held now until July 11. QSL via F 4 GFE, direct or by the Bureau. (SouthGate) -------------- KL7, ALASKA (W1AW Op). A team of operators from the North Pole Contest Group (KL 7 RA) will activate W 1 AW/KL 7 from Alaska between July 9-13th. Wigi, KL 0 R, Station Manager of the North Pole Contest Group, reports that dey are currently planning to have four station locations in Alaska, including KL 7 RA in Kenai, KL 2 R in Fairbanks/Two Rivers, KL 7 AA in Anchorage, and one more station, most likely in Homer. Activity will be on various HF bands (as many bands and modes as possible, plus EME), including activity in the IARU HF Championship (July 10-11th) as an HQ Station. QSL via W1AW, LoTW or ClubLog. (opdx) -------------- Members of the Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society will be on air as A 43 MI from Masirah Island, Oman, between July 22 and 27th. They will ALSO use callsign A 44 M during the RSGB IOTA Contest July 24 and 25th. QSL both callsigns via ClubLog's OQRS, LoTW or eQSL. (ARNewsLine) -------------- Navajo Code Talkers special event Look for Special Event Station N7C to be active between August 10-14th with the 17th annual special event station's celebration of the 'Navajo Code Talkers', normally from Window Rock, Arizona. However, because of the continued closure of the Navajo Nation due to the COVID-19 outbreak, N7C will be on the air from several home stations, including Herb-N7HG whose father was a Code Talker. QSL to N7HG or N7C at the QRZ.com address. (SouthGate) -------------- NIGERIA, 5N. 5 N 7 MSF Jean-Louis is on air while working with Doctors Without Borders in Abuja until September 2021. Activity is on 20 and 15 meters using SSB and you QSL via operator's instructions. (eHam) -------------- A large number of special event stations are now on the air to commemorate the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics until September 5th: Listen and work stations with 8N as the prefix and OLP as suffix. Calls are from 8N 0 OLP all the way through to 8n 9 olp (SouthGate) -------------- Mark, W5MED is stationed at McMurdo Station on Ross Island in Antarctica, AN-011, until October. Look for him on 14243 kHz SSB and 14070 kHz FT8. QSL direct to K7MT and Logbook of The World. (rsgb) -------------- REPUBLIC OF KOREA. Special event station D 90 EXPO is QRV to October 17 promoting "2021 World Military Culture Expo" that is taking place in the city of Gyeryong in October. QSL via DS 3 BBC. (SouthGate) -------------- Belgian special prefix The Belgian Institute for Postal Services & Telecommunications has announced that Belgian radio amateurs and radio clubs may replace their normal 'ON' prefix by the prefix OS until December 12, 2021. This to celebrate the 120th anniversary of the first transatlantic radio transmission, on December 12 when Guglielmo MARCONI first succeeded in bridging the Atlantic Ocean with radio signals. -------------- POLAND. Special event stations SN 0 ZOSP and SN 100 ZOSP are QRV until February 5, 2022 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Association of the Voluntary Fire Brigades of the Republic of Poland. (SouthGate) ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ASTRONOMICAL The chances of anything coming from Mars Are a million to hundred to one he said. BUT now Astronomers have discovered a comet so big, it might actually be a minor planet. The object, named 2014 UN271, is falling toward the sun for a 'close approach' outside the orbit of Saturn in early 2031. Promising signs of outgassing have already been detected. (Spaceweather.com) 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 SAVE THE DATE - DATV QSO Party 2021 Planning is underway for the annual DATV QSO Party and again it will be a global event! Peter VK3BFG let VK7WI news know planning is underway for the annual Party that will be held Friday 27th August and Saturday 28th August, Eastern Australian Time. Friday night will be a VK occasion with stations working through local repeaters as a priority to maximize the use of amateur radio. Saturday here ( will be Friday evening in the US) as usual we will start with stations more to the east and work our way over to the west coast. Saturday evening here it is possible to work into the UK. There will be Anchors who will be coordinating the various areas around VK, the US and the UK. Zoom will be used as the Internet Backbone between countries and then put out on the various ATV networks around the world. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org A new distance record has been claimed on TO-108. F 4 DXV completed a QSO with A 65 GC on 18-Jun, covering a distance of 5,298.6 km. Also, a new distance record has been claimed on the ISS cross band repeater. G 0 ABI worked VE 1 PK on 29-May and this transatlantic QSO covered distance of 4,403 km. All claimed satellite distance records can be found on amsat.org/satellite-distance-records/ [ANS] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW illw.net/ 24th annual ILLW a BEACON in these Covid Times. The International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend is alive and well despite the global upheaval caused by Covid-19. This time last year all thought was looking at cancelling but regular supporters wanted the event to be a beacon of hope And 366 registrations from 43 countries proved their belief. Currently ILLW have 180 who have registered their participation in this years event. John G6LNV asks us to listen out for GB 2 SL on most bands from the ILLW 21st and 22nd August, with lighthouse numbers Spurn High UK 0080 and Spurn Low UK 0081 coming from JO 03 BN. (Sourced to SouthGate) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS raotc.org.au Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW reminding you that tomorrow is the first Monday of month and time for the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australias July bulletin to go to air. This month we have an extended Club news which includes an announcement about the Queens Birthday honours award to Bill Roper VK3BR. This is followed by an item on Artificial Intelligence from Ian VK3JS after which Ill be telling the tale of the RAF jet fighter pilot who took revenge on a parsimonious government by flying under Londons famous Tower Bridge. Everyone, RAOTC members and non-Members alike, is most welcome to listen to the program and join in the call backs afterwards. The monthly RAOTC bulletin is transmitted on a wide range of frequencies and modes including UHF and VHF FM, HF SSB, D-STAR, Digital Mobile Radio and EchoLink. Full details of all transmissions times and modes can be found on the RAOTC website:- www.raotc.org.au or just Google RAOTC broadcasts. If none of the transmission times suit you, you can download the audio file at any time from today from the RAOTC website. If you do listen this way, brief feedback would be appreciated. Members and Friends of the RAOTC in Perth are reminded that the next lunchtime meeting at the Bayswater Hotel is on Tuesday, July 13th and youll be pleased to know that the buffet is back on. Once again, tune in tomorrow for the July RAOTC bulletin, enjoy the program and dont forget to join in the call backs afterwards. 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 NEW FCC RULES ADDRESS EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM In the USA, the FCC has adopted new rules to improve the country's emergency alert system by creating a new class of alerts while also providing ways to more efficiently report false emergency notifications. The nationwide system uses TV, mobile phone and radio to get the word out about disasters. Many of us streaming US radio would no doubt have heard some of these. The FCC's move comes in response to a false notification in 2018 that sent out a message that Hawaii was targeted by an incoming missile, indicating that [quote] "this is not a drill." [endquote] The false alert spurred hearings and an examination of steps that could be taken to prevent such a recurrence. The agency's move comes a few weeks before the nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts to take place on August 11th. (arnewsline.com) ------------------------------------------------------------* 2021 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. AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PORTAL Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest news, key facts and figures, contacts and answers to your questions. www.health.gov.au/ 'The Efficient Use of the HF Spectrum' Friday July 16th in Castlemaine. Bendigo Amateur Radio and Electronics Club invites you to their July meeting. BAREC member Mike Tobin VK3AHA, will provide a very interesting discussion on 'The Efficient Use of the HF Spectrum'. Discussion points will include: * A guide to ACMA Emission Designators * History of Demods and required band width * Attempts to acquire released spectrum for non-amateur communication, and * Example of high-density HF single frequency working You will also have the opportunity to find out more about amateur radio, an interesting and educational hobby that can also be used for alternative communications when other networks fail. The evening starts at 7.30 pm, Friday July 16th at the 1st Castlemaine Scout Hall, 16 Reckleben St, Castlemaine. A gold coin donation would be appreciated. Light supper provided. The presentation will also be streamed on the BAREC YouTube channel. VK6 - PerthTech October 23 (vk6pop) 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 send BOTH the audio and the text 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. ------------------------------------------------------------* 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*