2023 FEBRUARY 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 FEBRUARY 19 2023 THIS WEEK:- AUSTRALIA DAY CONTEST MANAGER ALAN SHANNON VK4SN. - WIA Director and WIA Company Secretary Peter Clee VK8ZZ. PLUS MUCH MUCH MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB Goodbye-Bouvet Island. Goodbye from the DXpedition team 3Y0J, which departed last Tuesday, February 14th after striking down camp. Goodbye too to the chasers who, whether they were disappointed or not, have turned to other pursuits. This story, written by ARNewsLine and I voiced for them, also for lead item in their news, as going to production, team leader Ken LA7GIA announced that with all equipment and team members on board, the sail would commence onwards to Cape Town, South Africa, where they expected to arrive on or about the 23rd of February. There was a possibility of /MM operation while enroute. Team members do not have access to the log, which will be handled by QSL Manager MOXO. Now I wonder how many VK's managed to work 3 Y 0 J. WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y Peter VK8ZZ Thanks Graham and good morning listeners First up I want to remind members that the Annual General Meeting of members will be held as a hybrid event on 13th May 2023. That is both in person in Canberra and online. The corporations legislation allows meetings to be held as virtual or hybrid meetings. That is utilising electronic means as we have done so in the past. A Hybrid meeting is both in person and by electronic means. During COVID we have held our AGM by electronic means allowing people to join from afar. This allowed members to join in on the AGM without the costs of airfares and accommodation to do so, and with less risk associated with Covid. Members are invited to ask questions of the Board and to vote on motions that are put forward to that meeting. The downside of that is that we no longer always have a field day or conference in association with the Annual General Meeting, something members have mentioned to me and something I definitely miss as well. However, with COVID infection rates still rather high it was felt that this was the best option for members at this time. We are yet to discuss with our members in Canberra if there are any opportunities to hold any events in conjunction with the AGM so more on that closer to the event itself. The Constitution of the WIA has been around for a number of years and has only ever had a few changes. A change to the constitution can only be achieved by a special resolution put to a General Meeting such as the AGM. So far there is only one special resolution that has been proposed and endorsed by the Board, and that was to rectify a typo error that was brought to our attention at last years AGM. Lastly , a reminder that nominations for WIA awards to be considered by the Board and notified at this years AGM close at the end of March. Nominations received after that date will be held over for next year. So, get in soon and nominate a person that has contributed to Amateur Radio in your area and that you feel needs to be recognised for their achievements. Cheers for now, this has been Peter Clee VK8ZZ WIA Director and the WIA Company Secretary signing off for now from a sunny Darwin. ------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, RAC, ARRL, NZART, eHam, AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE, eHam, Radioworld.com and the World Wide sources of the WIA. Registration Open for the 2023 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo: The 2023 QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo will be held on March 25 - 26, and registration is now open. The event is a fully interactive virtual ham radio convention offering new content, networking opportunities and more than 50 amateur radio presentations on a wide variety of subjects. Tickets are $15 US and registration information can be found at the QSO Today Virtual Ham Expo Website. qsotodayhamexpo.com/?mc_cid=cfa50a6bb8&mc_eid=d3e32f2624 REGION ONE TURKEY Heavily involved in the relief operations after the devastating earthquake in that region word in that Scouts are heavily involved with relief operations including amateur radio operations. Alec VK2APC will have more later in this newscast. RSGB Presidential Election There was only one nomination received so John McCullagh MBE, GI4BWM is elected unopposed for a two-year term. Regional Elections There were Regional Representative vacancies for five Regions. The only candidate for Region 8 was Michael Na bPiob, MI0HOZ so he is duly elected unopposed for a three-year term. The terms of office for both roles above will commence at the RSGB AGM April. IRELAND St Patrick's Day Award There is just under a month to register to participate in the annual St Patrick's Day Award. The event takes place over a 48 hour period from 12 noon UTC on the 16th of March to 12 noon UTC on the 18th of March, this in order to allow worldwide participation in all time zones. The St Patrick's Day Award is 48 hours of non-competitive fun for licensees and SWL. Anyone can participate, but also register to be a participating station for the St Patrick's Day award by completing short registration form online stpatricksaward.com REGION THREE NEW ZEALAND Auckland AREC was all geared up supporting Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) during the onslaught of Cyclone Gabrielle. They had been asked to prepare to support field teams throughout Auckland with radio communications to the Auckland Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC). The communications team was relaying traffic between ECC and the teams in the field via VHF radio. There was great response from local AREC members to the call for volunteers Multiple roles were filled including Communicators i.e. talking on the radio Log keepers - recording, forwarding messages. Even supporters / gophers - Handling phone calls, logistics, making coffee etc. ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- -------------- 2023 -------------- -------------- Australia Day 2023 Report by Alan Shannon VK4SN To keep things simple, an operator can use the AX or VK prefixes for all of Australia Day and submit a log for the 12 hours that the contest runs. This is good for FT8 users as the log can be made up from the adi file generated by normal use of WSJT-X. Very few pickings were heard on CW or SSB as most were on FT8 going for distance points with a never-ending flow of QSOs. 22 logs from VK and 5 DX logs were received. Feedback over log submission seemed to indicate that some are finding it hard to use or setup N1MM logger. A comprehensive set of notes shows the whole procedure complete with pictures. All this and more can be downloaded from the WIA contest pages. Remembering that half the world is sleeping during our contest time slot, if not at work during a weekday, but more overseas advertising for next year is needed to boost DX participation. Failure to read the new rules for this year was most evident resulting in a few problems for some, but were eventually overcome and logs were eventually accepted via vklogchecker.com This contest is all about having a bit of fun on your day off and does not gain points for the WIA Contest champion. Results are as follows: Single Op Phone Place Callsign Operators Score 1st AX5PAS VK5PAS 826,294 2nd VK7IAN VK7IAN 97,192 3rd VK5Y VK5JAK 30,623 4th VK1O VK1AO 12,568 5th VK3W VK3TIN 8,215 6th AX4OTZ AX4OTZ 7,727 7th VK4HRE VK4HRE 7,660 8th AX4ADC AX4ADC 3,139 9th VK3AMO VK3AMO 2,766 10th VK4SN VK4SN 1,,860 11th VK4ER VK4ER 1,474 12th AX2TTL AX2TTL 1,471 13th VK4O VK4MUD 1 Single Op CW 1st W7VC W7VC 11,667 Single Op Digital 1st AX4ADC AX4ADC 3,292,694 2nd VK4O VK4MUD 2,713,094 3rd VK4SN VK4SN 2,319,194 4th VK2EHQ VK2EHQ 2,262,338 5th VK1O VK1AO 1,783,561 6th AX5BD AX5BD 749,789 7th WH6EY WH6EY 739,096 8th KH6RDO KH6RDO 440,063 9th VL5F VK5AJQ 256,395 10th AX7STO AX7STO 243,465 11th VK5WU VK5WU 197,732 12th AX2EY VK2EY 153,919 13th NH6O NH6O 73,964 14th HS0ZOY HS0ZOY 67,497 15th AX4OTZ AX4OTZ 30,639 Multi-Single: 1st VK4HM VK4BOB VK4SJB VK4JU 257,432 2nd VL4A VK4BLE VK4FOMP 251,162 Multi-Multi 1st AX5ARA VK5STU VK5NIG 304,691 DX Winners: 1st CW W7VC W7VC 11,667 1ST DG WH6EY WH6EY 739,096 2ND DG KH6RDO KH6RDO 440,063 3RD DG NH6O NH6O 73,964 4th DG HS0ZOY HS0ZOY 67,497 Thanks for your participation. Best 73 Alan Shannon VK4SN.com -------------- ON NOW - KEYS AT THE READY The ARRL International DX Contest runs from 0000 UTC Saturday and ends at 2359 UTC on Sunday using CW on the 160 to 10m contests segments, the exchange is signal report and transmission power. American stations also send their State, Canadians stations send their province. (irts) -------------- FEBRUARY 25 - 26 New Zealands Jock White Memorial Field Day This annual ZL contest is named to honour Jock White ZL2GX, NZART Contest and Awards Manager for over 40 years, for the service that he gave to NZART during that time The Jock White is always held the last full weekend in February Saturday 1500-2400 NZDT Sunday 0600-1500 NZDT and on 40 and 80 meters. Overseas stations in the South Pacific area are welcome and a special category exists for "us". (nzart) -------------- MARCH 18 - 19 (the 3rd Weekend) John Moyle Field Day UTC 0100 Saturday to 0059 Sunday. (wia.org.au) -------------- YOTA CONTEST Youngsters On The Air 1st round 22nd April 0800 1959 UTC ham-yota.com/contest/ -------------- MAY SIX Saturday Harry Angel Memorial Sprint 106 mts an annual 80m contest event, first established in 1999, to commemorate the life of Harry Angel VK4HA who at the time of his becoming a Silent Key was the oldest licensed amateur in Australia. (106) The duration of the contest is 106 minutes one minute for each year of Harry's life. The Harry Angel Memorial Sprint has been run annually since 1999 It is usually held on the first Saturday in May each year 10:00 UTC - 11:46 UTC (wia.org.au) -------------- MAY 20-21 Don Edwards Memorial Slow Morse Contest begins the weekend after Mother's Day. 80m section Saturday 20th May 6 to 9pm Sydney time. 40m section afternoon of Sunday 21st of May, 1 to 4 Sydney time. (vk2wi) -------------- (wia.org.au) -------------- -------------- DX WINDOW -------------- -------------- And First up news of an Aussie Special event, Richard VK2SKY from Sydney's Manly-Warringah Radio Society The 26th of February this year is a big day for us That date marks 100 years since the first meeting of the Manly and District Radio Club, n 1923. That club eventually became the Manly-Warringah Radio Society. To celebrate, we'll be activating the Special Event Station V I 100 MB, on the day, Next Sunday and throughout 2023. To find out more, check out Victor India One Hundred Mike Bravo on qrz.com and visit the Society's web site on mwrs.org.au Hope to catch you on the bands! For WIA National News and the Manly-Warringah Radio Society, I'm Richard VK2SKY -------------- On air is TM 2 AAW until the 24th of February participating in the 20th Antarctic Activity Week which takes place from today for a week, i.e. it ends the 26th of the month. TM2011W is operating from France. QSL via LoTW, or via F8DVD home call, direct or by the bureau. (ARNewsLine) -------------- DENMARK Special event station OZ 625 E is on azir until 28th commemorating the opening of the new Enigma Museum of Communications in Copenhagen. The museum itself opens Saturday 25th and has items dating back to 1624. At Enigma you'll see from history and historical objects that people have always been challenged in the areas of communication For more than 80 years, the Danish national treasure Miss Klokken had faithfully provided the Danes with precise times. But mobile phones, the Internet and radio-controlled clocks have made the service virtually redundant. There was a time when Miss Klokken was a technical revolution that thousands of people contacted daily. But back to the Ham Scene:- Look for other OZ625E/xx stations to be active as well. QSL OZ 625 E via operators' instructions. ( arrl / wia ) -------------- UN Global Service Centre Amateur Radio club, 4 U 1 GSC, using the call sign 4U 13 FEB is on for this month, February. 4U 13FEB special call is on the air to promote World Radio Day, which WAS marked Monday the 13th. 4U 13FEB is based in Brindisi, Italy. QSL via 9 A 2 AA, either direct or by the bureau. (ARNewsLine) ------------------------------------------------------------* WIRELESS WEATHER In a continued sign of strength for Solar Cycle 25, sunspot counts just hit a 9-year high. NOAA says the monthly sunspot number skyrocketed in January 2023. The monthly sunspot number of 144 in January was only percentage points away from topping the previous solar cycle, Solar Cycle 24, which peaked in Feb. 2014 with a monthly value of 146. (eHam) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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 WHAT'S IN A NAME? USA Radio Orienteering Championships Set for April 19 - 23, 2023. This is the 22nd USA Radio Orienteering Championships and this year will be held at Cooper Lake State Park in Texas, and is hosted by the New Mexico Orienteers nm-orienteers.org The White Rock Lake Amateur Radio Club will provide communications support and the new name Radio Orienteering has been transitioning to this new name but it is actually the same radio navigation sport we know as Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF). The sport involves using special radio receivers to find hidden transmitters in timed events. (arrl) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - ASTRONOMICAL Two amateur radio events are scheduled in mid-February to celebrate an astronomer who mapped the universe and an astronomer who discovered a planet. The Northern Arizona DX Association ( nadxa.com/ ) has been conducting a 10-year special event countdown to the 100-year anniversary of Pluto's discovery. The planet was spotted in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. This is the third year of the special event, which is running until until February 20 from the Lowell Observatory using the call sign W7P on most bands and modes. In Poland, from last Friday February 17 until March 5 the Polish Amateur Radio Union ( 550mk.pzk.org.pl/ ) will operate nine special event stations honouring the 550th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. Copernicus mapped the universe and formulated a model that placed the sun, rather than Earth, at its centre. The nine special event stations using SN 550 and various suffixes. (eHam) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org Australia's School Amateur Radio Club can be mightily proud that their satellite antenna rotator has been featured for the world to see in AMSAT NEWS SERVICE edition ANS-043 The SARCTRAC Mk3b, a $290 satellite antenna rotator from Australia comes with all its components enclosed in a waterproof IP65 rated enclosure. It makes use of a 3D position sensor with magnetometer, allowing the unit to know its orientation at all times, meaning that it should be able to automatically position itself from start-up. More information available at sarcnet.org/sarctrac.html [ANS] Cosmos 2499 was speculated to be a spy satellite, or an experimental weapon test when launched almost 10 years ago, but, now its disintegrating. A mysterious Russian satellite of unknown purpose is breaking up in low-Earth orbit, US officials confirmed this week. Back in 2013 and 2014, Russia launched several satellites into space. One of these was an object that space watchers designated as Cosmos 2499. No one knows exactly what Cosmos 2499 is, but it was launched along with communication satellites. It wasnt on the launch manifest and was thought to be debris until it started manoeuvring in orbit. Speculation at the time proposed that it was possibly a spy satellite, or an experimental anti-satellite weapon. On Monday, the 18th Space Defence Squadron, a part of the U.S. Space Force, confirmed that Cosmos 2499 broke apart January 4 into 85 chunks of debris almost 700 miles above the Earth. Americas Guardians now are tracking the dozens of debris chunks hurtling through space. The debris will live in the atmosphere for years to come. http://bit.ly/3DZZQTb (this week in amateur radio) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA iota-world.org OC-047 Solomon Islands until the 8th of May. Call sign is H 44 MS and is operating from Malaita, IOTA number OC-047, until late April on 80-6 metres SSB and some FT8. QSL to his home call, DLGAC direct or via the bureau. He will upload his log to Club Log and LoTW when he returns home. (ARNewsLine) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP --- MILITARY Recordings of military transmissions can be found on the Signal Identification Guide Wiki at sigidwiki.com/wiki/Category:Military Manly-Warringah Radio Society Through the week a lecture was held at the Society. Former club president and author, Rod VK 2 ZZM, talked about his book, The Lost Women of Rabaul, the true story of a group of Australian nurses who were captured by Japanese forces during the Second World War. An early draft of Rod's book became the basis for the award-winning ABC TV production, Sisters of War, which can be seen on ABC iView. iview.abc.net.au/show/sisters-of-war (arnsw news) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING VKJOTAJOTI.COM scouts.com.au scout.org/jota international.scouts.com.au jotajoti.info/ Brett Nicholas VK2BNN Scouts Australia National co-ordinator for JOTA. Lorraine OHare VK2FICQ is Girl Guides Australia National JOTA-JOTI Co-ordinator. Jota always 3rd weekend in October so 2023 = October 20 - 22 CALLING FREQUENCIES Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication. Australian voice calling frequencies: 3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160 World CW calling frequencies: 3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160 World voice calling frequencies: 3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360, 24.960, 28.390, 50.160 Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV): 3.630, 7.033, 14.227 Calling Frequencies for PSK31 14.070 Scouts and amateur radio activities in Trkiye As you are aware, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in Eastern Trkiye and Syria on February 6th, 2023. Scouts from all over Trkiye have gone to the region to take part in search and rescue operations. The Scouts are also supporting the Red Crescent by helping with humanitarian aid activities to assist the earthquake victims. The Turkish Scouting Federation has transported many of their scouts, leaders and volunteers to the region with its own resources, mostly in their personal vehicles. Due to difficult communication conditions in the field, they communicate via amateur radio with each other, as well as between the camps. Their President of the Turkish Scouting Federation, Hasan Subasi, TA1GE is also involved in amateur radio operations to support the rescue and relief operations. Our thoughts go out to all that have been affected by this earthquake. (Alec VK2APC) 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 21360kHz March is shaping up to be a busy month for WICEN NSW. WICEN will be providing comms support for True Grit at Lower Portland on the 4th and 5th. Then there are five Memory Walk events: Western Sydney on the 5th, Illawarra on the 12th, Canberra on the 19th, and events in Cronulla and the Hunter on the 26th. WICEN NSW is seeking operators for all these events. The Memory Walks last just a few hours, so they are good starter events for newer WICEN members to get some experience. If you would like to participate, or just find out more, email wicen.ops@vrarescue.org. (arnsw news) ------------------------------------------------------------* I'M JOHN KNOX VK4FJRK AND THIS IS REWIND This year, electromagnetism will be 200 years old. The Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted proved in 1820 that electricity and magnetism really belong together. He immediately recognized the significance of the connection between the two phenomena and triggered the development of electricity theory and electrical engineering with the publication of his findings. Without Oersted's discovery, there would be no radio, no television, electronics, computers, amateur or mobile communications today. Almost everyone knows Volt, Ampere, Watt and Hertz also as terms from the theory of electricity. But who and what is Oersted? In 1820, the Danish physicist Hans Christian Oersted (1777 1851) observed the deflection of a compass needle by a current-carrying wire during a lecture and thus discovered the magnetic effect of electric current. On July 21, 1820, Oersted demonstrated his observation to a high-ranking society of scientists in Paris and wrote down his findings. From his research results on electromagnetism, electricity theory and electrical engineering as well as numerous applications based on them (radio and television, electronics, computers, amateur and mobile communications, etc.) developed, which have fundamentally changed our society in the course of time. Until 1970, the physical unit of magnetic field strength (abbreviated with the unit symbol Oe) was named after Oersted. Technically generated radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are also referred to as "radiofrequency radiation". This fundamental physical property is the basis of all high-frequency radiation. All applications in wireless communications technology as well as the operation of radio amateurs are based on this principle. MY TIME IS UP - I'M JOHN KNOX VK4FJRK AND THIS HAS BEEN REWIND ------------------------------------------------------------* 2023 Social Scene Clubs are welcome to submit text with audio for this section Details of all WIA affiliated clubs and societies can be found on the WIA website, including email addresses and website links. VK4 - REDCLIFFE - REDFEST APRIL ONE (vk4tfn) VK - WIA AGM May 13 at 10:30am AEST proposed for Canberra (vk8zz) A hybrid event conducted both in person and by video conference and able to be viewed on an internet streaming platform. VK4 - SUNFEST - NOTE THE DATE SEPTEMBER 9 (vk4an) At Mountain Creek State Schools massive air conditioned auditorium, just off the Sunshine Motor Way. Mountain Creek is tucked in to the west of Mooloolaba VK - ALARAMeet2023 4/5 November in HOBART (luther8@bigpond.com) 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 recorded 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) Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ 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 will not give blatant 'plugs' to raffles, be it raffles at the event or "on-line". ------------------------------------------------------------* 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/ Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ 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." 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*