2021 AUGUST 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 AUGUST 22 2021 IN OUR 26th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS 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/ This being the ALARA edition today bringing you the news will be Norma VK2YL, Sel Embee KB 3 TZD, VK5YL Shirley will bring us the operational / contest news, Lyndall VK4ZM looks at Special interest group news, and Immediate Past WIA President Greg VK2GPK with news from the WIA board. Main Announcer today is Linda VK7QP President ALARA PROGRAM EDITED AND COMPILED IN BRISBANE, OLYMPIC CITY 2032. With today's news I'm Linda VK7QP President ALARA and was nice to hear at the WIA AGM and again on WIA National News last week of the annual WIA AR Magazine's Technical Award going to Carmel Morris VK2CAR for her article of Clothesline wire makes easy multi-band antenna our congratulations also from ALARA. WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y WIA BAORD COMMENT by Immediate Past President Greg Kelly VK2GK is in audio ONLY this week " Hi Graham, Sorry, No text this week my laptop power supply has died." Greg speaks of the latest ACMA news and survey for Hams. Now, thanks to Grant and the VKCC this extract from ACMA Amateur Update: August 2021 Survey: 2x1 call sign allocation We are aware of interest in the amateur community for the issue for 2x1 callsigns for use in amateur radio contests. The ACMA has discussed arrangements for 2x1 call signs with the Australian Maritime College. The AMC will manage the allocation of the 2x1 contest call signs on behalf of us. Amateurs will not be required to obtain a new licence or vary an existing licence to use these call signs. The ACMA and the AMC are seeking the views of the amateur radio community on allocation arrangements for 2x1 call signs. Please complete the ACMA survey, which closes31 August 2021. acma.cmail20.com/t/d-l-aliirdl-tlilhuutlk-i/ 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. There's bad news, good news and growing confusion on the long-planned (but currently cancelled) 2023 DXpedition to Bouvet Island. There are now three separate groups planning trips to the subantarctic island, including one that split off from the original group, but holds the 3Y0J license, which plans to make the trip in 2022 and another that says it's ready to go later this year. Ken Opskar, LA7GIA - who holds the 3Y0J license to operate from the Norwegian island - apparently has split off from the Intrepid DX Group and formed a separate group that is now planning a 2022 visit. Plus, Polish DXpeditioner Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, says he has secured a license for 3Y0I and has put together a group to activate the island later this year. REGION ONE A 1,032ft radio and TV broadcast tower, built in 1969 and provided coverage for 500,000 homes across northern England is now "OFF-AIR". Firefighters were sent to the site after a call from an engineer working on the transmitter near Helmsley. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said there were "concerns about the structural integrity of the mast" and a 300m exclusion zone was in place around it. Could be their local libraries will do a good trade as the transmission facility was home to over 8 Television multiplexes BBC FM and DAB stations and some 10 commercial DAB and FM outlets. The IARU Region 1 Monitoring System suggest the Pluto II Over The Horizon Radar system at the UK Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri may have been causing interference in several amateur radio bands. Akrotiri is a British Overseas Territory on the island of Cyprus. Icelandic WEB-SDR The Icelandic Radio Club reports that Ari, TF 1 A has installed a new web-based Kiwi-SDR receiver, owned and operated by TF 3 GZ, and that it has gone online in Iceland, at an elevation of 690 meters. It can handle eight users at a time. A 70m end fed long wire covers all bands from VLF to 10m. Two further Icelandic KiwiSDR receivers are already active on the internet, these receivers form a valuable resource when checking propagation across the world. The addresses for those receivers, amongst others, can be found on kiwisdr.com/public REGION TWO A student of ARISS educator Joanne Michael wins AIAA Kahn $10,000 scholarship. Joanne taught him hands-on science in kindergarten through fifth grade at Meadows Elementary in the Manhattan Beach District. The young man is now enrolled at Stanford University. He wrote, I love finding out the mechanics of any device and gaining knowledge by hands-on experience. I cannot stand not knowing what lies beyond our reach in the universe. My goal is to take part in Mars colonization plans as an engineer astronaut and help advance astronautical-engineering in the world. Congrats Joanne, your skills have won out here. Although the first CubeSat launched by Mauritius is still not available for general amateur radio use, it has already accomplished an important educational mission in the STEM Community. According to an audio post on Amateur Radio NewsLine by our own Editor, Graham VK4BB, the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society, students at three schools in Mauritius have received and decoded signals from the satellite, known as MIR-SAT 1, which stands for Mauritius Imagery and Radiotelecommunication Satellite number 1. AMSAT say that other schools and educational institutions are preparing to follow suit. According to AMSAT, the satellite is still in safe mode and being tested. The radio society expects to announce when we hams will be able to use it. The satellite was deployed from the International Space Station on June 22nd. MIR-SAT1 has an expected lifetime of between two and three years. REGION THREE Inventive amateurs in India have come up with a clever way to communicate with the QO-100 satellite. 2 Hams in Hyderabad have designed prototype converters that will enable the hams to use the transponders on board the geosynchronous satellite. The prototypes include both up and down converters. Homebrewers Sasi Bhushan VU2XZ and A. Amarendra VU2AAP told the Telangana Today newspaper that the converters eliminate the need for such expensive equipment as software-defined radios. They said the system works in a way similar to a TV set-top box that receives programmes beamed from satellites, converting radio waves into signals for the TV. The circuit boards within the converter are designed to communicate via the 10 GHz frequency for downlink and the 2.4 GHz frequency for uplink. ------------------------------------------------------------* WEIRD AND WONDERFUL NOT FOR THE ANTI-VAXXERS This is a story of surplus syringes being used in a ham radio tuner Hackaday reports on a project by Tom KB 9 ENS which uses a 60ml syringe to make a variable inductor and a variable capacitor for amateur radio use. Amateur Radio has a long history of encouraging experimentation using whatever one might have on hand. (or in this case may have been in the arm). When KB 9 ENS wanted to use his 14 MHz antenna outside of its designed frequency range, he knew hed need an impedance matching circuit. The most common type is an L-Match circuit which uses a variable capacitor and a variable inductor to adjust the resonance of an antenna. Go to the link we link in this weeks WIA News to read this Hackaday report. tinyurl.com/4ah6mexy ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- 41st 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 So that's NEXT WEEKEND. We of ALARA are really looking forward to hearing some young and new YLs in the contest again this year and catching up with many amateurs along the way. Some of the Committee will be handing out numbers on HF and EchoLink to show their support. We are also hoping to hear from Scouts and Guides in this years contest, so be sure to listen out for them. This year we will be using our Facebook page again for spotting YLs. This page is optional for amateurs using Facebook who wish to notify others about YLs who are in the contest. Just enter the YLs callsign, current frequency and mode. This page is now ready to join, just search for Alara Contest in Facebook. Sue, VK5AYL our Contest Manager reminds us that YLs cannot spot or encourage others to spot them but this page will give other Amateurs a chance to find YLs around the bands during the contest. The contest rules have been uploaded to the Alara Contest page. For those who dont have Facebook and would like a copy of the rules, please email Sue VK5AYL on alaracontest@wia.org.au Please join in and support our YLs, no masks required! -------------- 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 -------------- -------------- 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) -------------- AX 4 WIT Again, early news of this station for its "just about" 'once a year day.' JANUARY 26, which is Australia Day and a Wednesday next year Townsville Club will activate from their annual camp out Bluewater way. Bluewater for the uninitiated is about 30 klicks from Townsville CBD. -------------- 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) -------------- UGANDA, 5X. Elvira is signing 5 X 3 R until September 2, She has 100 watts to a dipole, doing SSB, digital and CW. QSL via the bureau. (arrl) -------------- SOUTH KOREA. Members of the Korean Amateur Radio League Chungbuk HQ have activated special event station HL 76 V to celebrate the 76th anniversary of South Korea's Liberation. Activity will continue until August 31. QSL via the Bureau. (arrl) -------------- Listen up for members of the Radio Club Queretaro in Mexico, using the special callsign 6 E 0 CC to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Consummated Independence from Spain. They will be on various HF bands until September 30th. QSL via XE1EE, direct or LoTW. (arnewsline.org) -------------- Switzerland joins Antarctic Treaty celebrations Members of the Swiss national organisation USKA, supported by the Radio Amateur Club Swissair, HB 9 VC join the celebrations around the Antarctic Treaty with the callsign HB 60 ANT until the end of the year. QSL via ClubLog OQRS; sending a card is not necessary. (southgatearc.org) -------------- THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report Measure Twice cut Once. SERVING HAM WITH RASPBERRY PI Hands down, the Raspberry Pi is an amazing open-source device. Technology hobbyists implement it in many projects from sending instant messages to making retro video games. Now, it's being used for projects for amateur (ham) radio. Recently, many ham radio operators have been incorporating Raspberry Pi's into their projects, and year by year, month by month these little single-board computers have seen the light of day in more and more ham shacks. They are easy to implement and portable -- eliminating the need for heavy, stationary, and expensive equipment. Now a list of the years BEST and EASIEST ham projects with the "PI's" are available at the link we like in this weeks text edition of WIA National News (the ALARA edition, on wia.org.au tinyurl.com/m3mmrksx Projects include:- RTL-SDR Scanner HAM CLOCK Satellite tracker Weather station Mini Antenna Rotator even a code keyer The list is endless but this list of cool pi devices is worth more than just a cursory glance (eham.net) ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS FAITH. Special call sign HG 52 IEC is active now until September 30. The call, HG52IEC is for the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress taking place in Budapest. The one-week event held regularly since 1881 (every 4 years in recent times) celebrates the Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist according to the teaching of the Catholic Church. This is the second time that Hungary hosts the International Eucharistic Congress, with the first one also held in Budapest way back in 1938 QSL HG 52 IEC via eQSL only. (sourced to SARL and VK4BB) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org A firm cofounded by a radio amateur has just merged with the SpaceX technology giant. Sel Embee KB3TZD from Amateur Radio NewsLine has more. "SpaceX, Elon Musk's giant California-based space technology company, has acquired a satellite communications company cofounded by an amateur radio operator. The merger makes Swarm Technologies a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX. Swarm, which specializes in Internet-of-Things technology and low-cost satellite connectivity, has asked the Federal Communications Commission to transfer control of its earth and space station licenses. Swarm was founded in 2016 by Ben Longmier, KF 5 KMP and Sara Spangelo. In 2020, the company launched its first dozen commercial satellites, established ground stations in Alaska, New Jersey, Washington State, Guam, the Azores and elsewhere and began expanding market access. Swarm is licensed in non-voice, non-geostationary mobile satellite service, operating in the bands between 137 to 138 MHz and 148 to 149.95 MHz. For Amateur Radio NewsLine, I'm Sel Embee, KB 3 TZD." Thanks Sel, in 2020, Swarm Technologies placed second in the most Innovative Space Companies list created by Fast Company. The top spot went to SpaceX. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- LIGHT HOUSES illw.net/ Despite the global effect of the Covid pandemic, the ILLW, or International Light House weekend is ablaze right now. 310 registered lights, Germany in the lead with 63 entries followed by the USA with 45 and some of the smaller countries with just one, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Iceland, Market Reef and Slovenia. (southgatearc.org) 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 Carlos, CO 2 JC is the Emergency Coordinator for region 2 and requests ALL Societies especially those in Region 2 to continue to protect the following emergency frequencies operating in conjunction with that devastating Haiti earthquake. 3750 kHz, 7150 kHz and 14330 kHz. The quake has left around 2,000 people dead and some 7,000 injured; that toll is expected to rise in the coming days, some 8 days after the quake hit. Search and rescue efforts are being hampered by a lack of resources and by heavy rains, which have caused mudslides that blocked roads in Haiti who also found itself this week in the direct path of Tropical Depression Grace, which is aggravating the recovery effort. In other rescue radio news, hams from the Algerian National Society ARA are assisting with emergency communications as deadly forest fires continue to sweep through the northern region. The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 reported that at least 65 lives were claimed by the blaze raging in the town of Ouacif in the Province of Tizi Ouzou. Operating on 7.110 MHz, 3.650 MHz and 14.300 MHz, hams established communications between the mobile station in Ouacif and the crisis centre in Tamda. (arnewsline.org / cnn/ arrl) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA twitter.com/hamyota Taking part in Morocco's annual Youth Day's celebrations, 21st August, the idea of Youth Day goes back to the Moroccan Independence Movement decades ago, members of the Association Royale des Radioamateurs du Maroc are using the prefix 5 E 8 between 20 and 29 August. Celebrated on the birth day of the reigning monarch (21 August), Youth Day is a public holiday across the land that honours the contribution of the youth to the Kingdom of Morocco. ------------------------------------------------------------* 2021 Social Scene 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/ VK4 - REDCLIFFE AR Club Car Boot Sale Aug 28 9am (vk4tfn) VK7 - REAST SEPTEMBER ONE PRESENTATION NIGHT (REAST) P25 Emergency Services Network Build On 1st September from 7:30pm Hobart Hams have the privilege of having Andrew Johns VK7AJ giving a presentation on how to build a state-wide P25 based Emergency Services radio network. This should be a fascinating look into what it takes to provide a digital radio network in a challenging environment like Tasmania. VK4 - GLADSTONE FUN DAY September 11 at 10am (vk4xmc) VK5 - Australian Fox Hunting Championship and SERG Convention CANCELLED FOR 2021 (vk5dj) VK4 - Cardwell Gathering October1 to 4 at Beachcomber Motel and Tourist Park. (BackScatter) VK4 - SunFest Field Day Monday October 4, Nambour Showgrounds, Queensland. ( mark@qslcomms.com ) VK6 - PerthTech October 23 (vk6pop) VK3 - ROSEBUD RadioFest by SPARC 9:30am Nov 14 (vk3pdg) VK5 - Australian Fox Hunting Championship and SERG Convention Mount Gambier SA Queens Birthday weekend June 2022 (vk5dj) And with that, that brings the curtain down on todays WIA National News, so thanks to Greg, Norma, Sel, Shirley and Lyndall .. I'm Linda VK7QP ALARA President, see you in the ALARA contest next weekend and again right here in December when ALARA WILL BRING YOU ALL THE NEWS THAT MATTERS in WIA National News. 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 ============================== WIA NEWS BROADCAST FEEDBACK www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/feedback/index.php =============================== LINKS WE LIKE 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! 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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. ------------------------------------------------------------*