2021 SEPTEMBER 19 VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ------------------------------------------------------------* THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK THIS LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos ------------------------------------------------------------* NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 19 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/ ALLRIGHTY WHO'S WHO IN THE NEWS ROOM THIS WEEK WIA's Publications Committee spokesman Simon VK2VSR. - WIA Director Phil VK2CPR. - WIA's Editor in Chief of AR Magazine Roger VK2ZRH. - and of course Felix VK4FUQ operational news Jason VK2LAW International and Col VK3GTV special interest group news. - John Knox VK4FJRK will rewind VK4LA beacons from South Eastern VK4. - Martin VK7GN on behalf of the Oceania DX Contest committee. AND Trent VK4TS on the Ross Hull ALL THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA PROGRAM RECORDED IN BRISBANE, OLYMPIC CITY 2032. Your Magazine Your View - Simon Rumble VK2VSR The new Publications Committee is delighted to bring each edition of Amateur Radio magazine to life. We would love to hear about your ideas and opinions about the magazine to help shape its future. Therefore, we ask that you complete this survey covering the content, advertising and, most importantly, what you would like to see. The survey is open to all magazine readers to have a single response. You will find the survey URL and QR code in the magazine or on the WIA website; you can then complete the survey online or on your phone or tablet. If you prefer to have a hard copy of the survey sent to you, don't hesitate to contact the WIA National Office. The survey closes on 22 October 2021. If you have questions, please email David@wia.org.au Hi Im WIA Director Phil VK2CPR. The board has been concentrating on alignment of various committees. Committees are vital to the correct functioning of the WIA. The boards job is to have a helicopter view of functions. Peter VK4EA advises that Ted Thrift is in the process of handing over the Club Coordination role to Angelo, VK2NWT. The WIA Board are very grateful for the massive contribution put in by Ted for many years. The INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR RADIO UNION (IARU) REGION 3 EIGHTEENTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE is to be held 20 23 September 2021. It is similar to an annual general meeting where office bearers are elected and member societies ratified. The WIA represents Australias amateur radio fraternity at region 3 IARU. The WIA may delegate others to participate and we would suggest that this should be a minimum of three delegates to cover all the proposed working groups. The WIA has the option of submitting papers to the conference these may include information papers on activities, technical matters; suggested changes to the Region 3 constitution, changes to the Region 3 Band plans, Awards, organisational structure, youth development or other matters relevant to the IARU within Region 3. The WIA may nominate persons to act as coordinators for its various activities; (this is a good way forward for a person to assist the IARU and gain a profile to seek further office in the future). Cheers and 73 this is Phil VK2CPR WIA AR MAGAZINE This is Editor-in-Chief of Amateur Radio magazine, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH. Have you got Issue 5, yet? Well, if not, then the latest edition is still making its way through the Australia Post distribution system to land in members mailboxes. For those of you who take the electronic edition only, check your email inbox for notification of your download. In last weeks broadcast news, I gave a rundown of the major features in Issue 5 for this year the special feature on Antarctica, plus Newcomers Notebook and the review of the G90 HF portable transceiver from Xiegu. If youre following The VK3AQZ HF antenna tuner project Im afraid youll have to wait for Issue 6 for the next instalment of this major project out in late November. Given the number of pages the instalment needs, it had to be held over. However, for the avid DXers among readers of Amateur Radio magazine, DX Talk in Issue 5 has an article from Johannes 5-T-5-P-A about his recent exploits activating Arguin Island off the coast of northwest Africa. And further to that, we have an update on the various DXpeditions to Bouvet Island. in the South Atlantic. For all the VHFers out there, Dr Kevin Johnston, VK4UH returns with his Meteor Scatter Report covering upcoming events and showers, plus meteor scatter activity schedules. Look for it Issue 5. And when you get it turn to Page 7 for details on our reader survey taht Simon told us about at the top of this weeks news. There you will find a QR code. Scan that with your smartphone and off you go! Or, just put the web address into your browser. We would love to hear about your ideas and opinions about the magazine to help shape its future. Completing the survey only takes about 12 minutes. Your magazine. Your views. Please. This has been AR magazine Editor-in-Chief Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News. 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 IARU Region 1 has announced the recipients of the Region 1 Medals. They are six people who have each made a very significant contribution to the IARU Region 1s work over the years. Hilary Claytonsmith, G4JKS, is an EMC Committee member and until recently, its Secretary for nearly 25 years. She has been an IARU representative in the European Telecommunications Standardisation Institute during discussions on power line technology. The EMC Committee is a forum for progressing the Regions work on EMC matters and much of its success is due to Hilarys early work. Hilary is also a past President of the RSGB. Dave Court, EI3IO led the Spectrum and Regulatory Liaison Committee through the period of WRC-19 that resulted in the region1-wide allocation to the amateur service of a 2MHz segment at 50MHz. Other medal recipients were Peter, HB9CET, Tore, LA9QL, Jacques, ON4AVJ and Hans, ON6WQ. It had been planned for Switzerland to shut down all FM broadcasters in 2022/3 but it has now been decided to delay until 2024 The Swiss radio broadcasters have decided to complete the shutdown as originally planned on 31 December 2024. At this time, the VHF radio licences will also expire. From this date, therefore, no programs can be broadcast via FM. With the return to the original shutdown date, consumers will also have more time to change technology. In 2014, Swiss radios agreed to switch off FM broadcasting of their programmes by 2024 at the latest. Since at the end of last year almost three quarters of radio usage was digital, the radio industry came to the conclusion that under these conditions an early and staggered shutdown of FM stations in August 2022 (SRG) and in January 2023 (private radios) would be responsible. This was agreed by 42 out of 44 radio broadcasters and SRG. Switzerland, with three languages, sees German-speaking Switzerland and Italian-speaking Switzerland, the vast majority of radio broadcasters are still in favour of the premature shutdown of FM. In French-speaking Switzerland, however, it was not possible to find a sufficient majority in the concrete implementation. Since a nationwide solution is needed, the radios have therefore returned to their original plan to switch off the FM stations 31 December 2024. In addition, the latest market figures indicate that listeners need more time for the changeover. With this shift, consumers, especially those who drive a car, have more time to change technology. In Switzerland, the proportion of new vehicles suitable for DAB+ has been almost 100 percent since 2020. There is a need for retrofitting, especially in older cars that have no reception via DAB+ or other digital channels. Since 2019, new cars from the EU must also have a reception option via DAB+ as standard in Switzerland. The radio industry is aware that FM has no future after 2024. REGION TWO Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) founder Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF an assistant professor in The University of Scrantons Physics and Engineering Department has been awarded an over $653,000 Australian Dollar grant through the NASA Space Weather Applications Operations Phase II Research Program. W2NAF will serve as principal investigator for a research project entitled, Enabling Space Weather Research with Global Scale Amateur Radio Datasets. Hell collaborate with Philip Erickson, W1PJE, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Haystack Observatory and Bill Engelke, AB4EJ, at the University of Alabama. This grant includes significant funding for participation of Scranton undergraduate students in this research, as well as support for new computation resources, Nathaniel Frissell W2NAF said. REGION THREE UP ANCHOR FROM NEW ZEALAND - BRAVEHEART ON THE MOVE. Paul, N6PSE, has announced this month, September, on the Intrepid DX Group's FaceBook page: "We were happy to receive some news from our old friend Nigel Jolly. He has sold the Braveheart to a new owner who will still make her available for amateur radio DXpeditions. Her new home port will be Ushuaia Argentina, on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, the southernmost tip of South America. Well it will be once Braveheart can be moved/sailed from New Zealand. ( www.facebook.com/The-Intrepid-DX-Group-180857615282553/ ) ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- 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 Hi, this is Martin VK7GN on behalf of the Oceania DX Contest committee. We are approaching the month of October and the 76th running of the contest. Thanks to VK5GR and the AREG crew we have a fantastic new website. Put it up in your browser, it is well worth a look oceaniadxcontest (all one word).com. There are links to the full rules as well as an introductory video, that is useful for new and old operators. Now is the time to get set with a logging programme. There are some very good ones available free on the web including VKCL and N1MM. See the Oceania contest web page for a full list. A logging programme is important as entries now have to be in by the end of October and hand written logs are limited to 50 contacts. That is because the committee has to enter them into the computer to facilitate the log checking. We have decided to continue with the new start finish times of 0600 UTC - it seemed to work out okay for everyone. The contest dates in 2021 are PHONE 0600 UTC Saturday 2nd Oct. to 0600 Sunday 3rd October. CW 0600 UTC Saturday 8th October to 0600 Sunday 10th Oct. Just exchange signal reports with a number starting at 001 (like 57001) Multipliers are prefixes which can be counted on each band so you can work VK7GN on each band for a multiplier, 160 to 10 is six multipliers! There are trophies for continent winners and certificates for many categories. This year there are two new YL trophies available commemorating two very significant YL radio amateurs in the history of VK. The Florence McKenzie (Mrs Mac) Award The Austine Henry (VK3YL) Award When using computer logging make sure the time and date are correct and the log knows whether the computer is set to local time or UTC! Getting trophies to winners while under various Covid restrictions has been difficult but we will persist! There have been some encouraging news on sunspots in recent days lets hope the sun keeps active until early October! Good luck and see you on the bands in October 73 VK7GN -------------- SPRING VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS November 27-28 -------------- December 4-5 160 Meter WW -------------- DECEMBER 11 - 12 10 Mtr World Wide -------------- -------------- 2022 -------------- -------------- January, the entire month every year is the WIA ROSS HULL VJF - UHF MARATHON CONTEST 00:00 UTC 1 January to 23:59 UTC 31 January The Ross Hull Contest is open to all amateurs worldwide and is a VHF and UP contest with a distance-based scoring methodology. Ross Hull was an Australian amateur who moved to the USA and was appointed Editor of QST shortly before his untimely death in 1938. This year there have been a couple of minor changes to the rules, and they are : The inclusion of CW as a mode, the inclusion of an overall championship category and the inclusion of Multi Operator stations. The Ross Hull could be won from anywhere however a quick look over the past winners shows all mainland VK states have had a winner as well as ZL3 but surprisingly no VK7s. Crank up the gear and strap yourself in for the VHF DX Fun during January, we hope to hear as many calls as possible. VK4TS Trent is now the manager of the Ross Hull Marathon Rob Heyer VK2XIC has volunteered to take over as contest manager. www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rosshull/ -------------- WIA VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS Summer 2022 - 0100 UTC Saturday 15 January through 0059 UTC Sunday 16 January (differs in VK6). -------------- John Moyle Memorial Field Day March 2022 (No date has been published as yet) -------------- Harry Angel Memorial 80m Sprint Saturday May 7th 2022 10:00 UTC - 11:46 UTC -------------- VK SHIRES CONTEST 11th JUNE 2022 -------------- WIA VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS Winter 2022 - 0200 UTC Saturday 25 June through 0159 UTC Sunday 26 June (differs in VK6). -------------- WIA Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest 16 JUL 2022 The Trans-Tasman contest, held on the 3rd weekend in July aims to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL -------------- WIA RD or Remembrance Day Contest August 2022 (No date has been published as yet) -------------- -------------- DX WINDOW -------------- -------------- ITALY Members of ARI Sezione Di Brescia are active as II 2 GP from Brescia until September 26th celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Italian Grand Prix which took place in September 1921. A special "First Italian Car Grand Prix Centenary Award" is available: tinyurl.com/5x4nsyh8 (opdx) -------------- MEXICO. Special event station 6I 1 M is QRV until September 27 to celebrate 200 years of Mexican independence, this on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4. QSL direct to XE 1 SPM. ( info from Paty Mohedano XE1SPM via ALARA ) -------------- RWANDA, 9X. QRV is 9 X 2 AW from Kigali in Rwanda until 28 September with activity on the HF bands CW, SSB, RTTY, and FT8. QSL via M 0 OXO. (arrl) -------------- 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) -------------- 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) -------------- BEACONS 28.205.8 I Would like to Let everyone know of a New Ten Meter Band Beacon that has been operating for the Last 6 months or so, about 27 Kilometre's N/W of Brisbane City at the my Home QTH, I'm Robert VK4LA. The Beacon is Located In Northlakes and is homebrew . It operates using callsign VK4LA and is on 28.205.8 cw. The Beacon consists of a 5 watt Transmitter with a 1/2 wave vertical antenna 35ft off the ground. I would Appreciate some Signal Reports from all who can hear it. If you wish to send a signal report VIA EMAIL, my email address is huntingqld@bigpond.com and I also have some photos of beacon in use to view on my page on qrz.com Looking forward to getting some signal reports from all. for WIA National news this is Robert VK4LA ------------------------------------------------------------* WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org Cosmonauts found "superficial fissures" in the aging Zarya module of the International Space Station, and worry that they will expand over time. Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian space program chief engineer, also pointed out that "at least 80 percent of in-flight systems on the Russian segment of the ISS have passed their use by or expiration date." [ANS] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA iota-world.org HERE TODAY - GONE TOMORROW IOTA EU-042, known as Hallig Hooge, is worth chasing because it is not there all of the time! Located of the northwest coast of Germany on a large tidal plain, it occasionally submerges during spring tides and storms. DA 0 DFF will be on air from tomorrow the 20th until the 26th of September on HF and QO100. QSL via the DARC QSL Bureau. (irts) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- MEDICAL IHS = IHSOFMN.org PHARMACISTS = malpensa.it/iphg Medical Amateur Radio Council marco-ltd.org/ Havana syndrome and the mystery of the microwaves Doctors, scientists, intelligence agents and government officials have all been trying to find out what causes "Havana syndrome" - a mysterious illness that has struck American diplomats and spies. We've brought you this story over quite a few years but the headaches not only continue but appear to be worsening. Some call it an act of war, others wonder if it is some new and secret form of surveillance - and some people believe it could just even be all in the mind. So who or what is responsible? It often started with a sound, one that people struggled to describe. "Buzzing", "grinding metal", "piercing squeals", was the best they could manage. One woman described a low hum and intense pressure in her skull; another felt a pulse of pain. Those who did not hear a sound, felt heat or pressure. But for those who heard the sound, covering their ears made no difference. Havana syndrome first emergedin Cubain 2016. The first cases were CIA officers, which meant they were kept secret. Five years on, reports now number in the hundreds and, the BBC has been told, span every continent, leaving a real impact on the US's ability to operate overseas. Uncovering the truth has now become a top US national security priority - one that an official has described as the most difficult intelligence challenge they have ever faced. ( www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-58396698 ) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP and WEAK SIGNAL COMMUNICATION QRP NZ up and running... QRP NZ has reformed after a short recess. If you would like a copy of the group's September Newsletter ("The 5-Watter") or information about the group, you can email the group's contact person Philip ZL1PSH at the link in this weeks text edition of WIA National News. qrpnzl2021@gmail.com (nzart) WIRELESS WEATHER Another Carrington Event Likely Ralph Squillace KK6ITB reports for Amateur Radio NewsLine that Professor Sangeetha Abdu Jyothi, a computer scientist as the University of California, Irvine, believes that major solar storms are capable of compromising the internet's global infrastructure, and probably will. It's not that a coronal mass ejection can disable the fibre optic cables that form the foundation of the internet. Those cables remain unaffected and local internet service would remain intact. But, the researcher said, the global network of undersea power supply cables that boost the internet's international signals, the equivalent of repeaters, would suffer directly from electromagnetic fluctuations brought on by severe solar eruptions. In a recently released research paper, the professor speculated that this could knock nations off the internet, isolating them for as long as several weeks. The professor presented her findings at a conference held virtually by the Association for Computer Machinery. She noted that astrophysicists say there is a likelihood of between 1.6 percent and 12 percent that a strong enough storm of this sort will occur within the next decade. For many, her findings describe a future version of the Carrington Event, a geomagnetic storm in September of 1859 that damaged the earth's ozone layer and disrupted telegraph lines around the world. ------------------------------------------------------------* I'M JOHN KNOX VK4FJRK AND THIS IS REWIND RADIO has revolutionised the way we live - allowing us to listen to the music we like in the car, around the house, or even on our phones. But where did radio come from - and who put together the very first one? Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi are the two main competitors for the accolade of inventing the radio. Inventor Tesla may have got there first as he demonstrated a wireless radio in St Louis, Missouri, in 1893 but Marconi got the very first wireless telegraphy patent in England in 1896. Tesla filed for patents for his basic radio in the USA a year later, and finally got his patent in 1900. The US Supreme Court made a decision to give the title of first patent to Tesla instead of Marconi in 1943. Marconi was the first person to transmit signals across the Atlantic, on December 1, 1901. As we've heard in 1893 Tesla demonstrated the first working radio, but Marconi actually sent and received his first radio signal in Italy in 1895. However, before this, Mahlon Loomis demonstrated that wireless telegraphy was possible in 1886. Prior even to that, in 1866, Heinrich Rudolph Hertz demonstrated the first radio waves, and even further back, in the early 1860s, James Clerk Maxwell predicted the existence of radio waves. RADIO - THAT MAGIC SPARK AND IT'S STILL GOING STRONG My time is up With REWIND I'm John Knox, VK4FJRK ( www.the-sun.com/news/3634618/who-invented-radio/ ) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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 - 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) ============================== WIA NEWS BROADCAST FEEDBACK www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/feedback/index.php =============================== > Hi Graham > > I always enjoy the weekly news bulletin and I know a huge > amount of work is put in by members. > > This is very much appreciated by me. > > Today several of the presenters were way off microphone and sounded > echoey. I believe that this spoils an otherwise quality > bulletin. > > 73 > Al Kirton > VK 4 FFKZ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*