2023 MARCH 05 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 MARCH 5 2023 IN OUR 28th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS THIS WEEK:- Chris VK3FY on behalf of the WIA Board PLUS MUCH MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y Hello everyone this is Chris VK3FY on behalf of the WIA Board for VK1WIA Weekly News. The WIA AGM will be held on 13 May 2023. Details will be provided to enable registrations closer to the event. The WIA Merit Award The WIA Merit Award program identifies and recognises sustained outstanding achievement in the diverse field of Amateur Radio that furthers the science of radio, and/or service to the WIA. Nominations are called for using a special form located on the WIA Web Site. tinyurl.com/5n8uedzp If the nomination is successful, these are usually announced at the WIA annual general meeting, and where possible presented at that gathering of members. All WIA Merit Awards are not necessarily awarded every year. Awards for this years AGM close at the end of March. FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS. The WIA is currently reviewing the rules for Frequency allocations for Repeaters and Beacons. This review is being conducted by the WIA Spectrum Strategy Committee DAYTON 2023 This year there will be a number of Hams going to The DAYTON Hamvention to be held on the third weekend of May. Myself, Chris VK3FY along with Lee VK3GK will be once again attending this years Contest University and the DX and Contest Dinners. The WIA is arranging a meeting with the current President of the ARRL and WIA Board members Chris and Lee whilst they are there. Any VK Hams intending to visit the Dayton Hamvention can communicate through the Facebook Page VKs going to Dayton, to arrange catch-ups etc. tinyurl.com/p9n4nvzc Those wishing to attend the DX and Contest Dinners will need to book in advance as these activities are usually sold out prior to the event. This has been Chris VK3FY on behalf of the WIA Board and VK1WIA Weekly News. DISCUSSION POINT Equipment Trading News Beware of radio selling scammers here is Justin VK7TW. Someone else got scammed by our regular scammer, selling an Icom 7300 from an alleged deceased estate in Turners Beach. The scammer took the money and ran, thankfully Bank of Queensland have frozen the bank account, pending further investigation. The buyer said the seller was very confident on the phone, even sending a photo of his Tasmanian drivers licence indicating he lived in Rocherlea but it expired in 2021. The seller usually lists the item as deceased estate, says he doesnt know much about it, and has claimed to live in Bicheno, Launceston, Ulverstone and other suburbs, but doesnt want to meet up in person. If you are fairly confident its a scam, you can google the bank account bsb number to see what bank it belongs to and contact the bank, they really appreciate the intel, and froze a bank a/c from a scammer I rang them about. Copy and paste photos of the image they supply into google image search, as they steal most images off the web to entice you to buy it, so you can soon see if its fraudulent. SK Jason VK7ZJA and some other friends would notify Facebook Market Place, Gumtree and eBay re the dodgy listings, and usually got them removed. All I can say is buyer beware, don't send any money, ask to see the goods in person and then pay. And be very wary of using some of the money transfer sites (vk7wi news) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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. REGION ONE The overview of the national 160 m allocations within IARU Region 1 has been updated. The new document is available at IARU R1 HF Committee. tinyurl.com/2p9bmfwv At 7pm on 6 March 1923, BBC broadcasting in Scotland officially began from a studio housed in a small attic apartment at Rex House in Glasgow, and transmitter at Port Dundas. Using 1.5kW on 722kHz, the station was allocated the callsign 5SC. This year, 100 years on, the BBC Amateur Radio Group will be celebrating the anniversary with special event callsign GB 5SC on the 4, 5 and 6 March from the present BBC Pacific Quay headquarters, using HF, VHF, UHF and QO-100. REGION TWO St. Vincent and the Grenadines The Rainbow Radio League / Youlou Radio Movement ( RRL / YRM ), is now one step closer to developing an island-wide HF emergency communications network, thanks to another donation of radios and antennas from Barrett Communications, Australia. The equipment which arrived on February 14, 2023, according to RRL/YRM Director, Donald De Riggs J88CD, can be viewed as a gift of love, not only from Barrett, but from all the agencies and government departments that assisted with the transport and clearance of this vital equipment. The equipment is normally powered by a 12 volt DC source which makes this ideal in times of natural or man-made emergencies. It allows radio operators to communicate locally, regionally and worldwide in the absence of a phone service and it is possible to send emails wirelessly through a programme called WINLINK and CLOVER MAIL, as well as sending/receiving texts via other digital modes like PSK31 and RTTY. Pictures can also be transmitted wirelessly via SSTV, and, with an increasing number of Ham radio satellites and balloons, one of which is believed to have been mistakenly shot down recently, hams can monitor the weather on a real time basis as well as communicating via these birds. The National Science Foundation awarded a nearly 50,000 US dollar grant to Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D., assistant professor physics and electrical engineering at The University of Scranton, to support "The Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) Workshop 2023." He also received a grant of just over 25,000 dollars from Amateur Radio Digital Communications to support the workshop. The HamSCI Workshop 2023 will take place Mar. 17 and 18 at The University of Scranton and the historic Radisson at Lackawanna Station. On line registration to join from the comfort of your own home via ZOOM is also available tinyurl.com/5xc3zh3s Ahead of Region 3 news, for our final story from Region 2 this week, we visit with a group of hams in Minnesota USA on a wintertime fishing expedition. Kent Peterson KCDGY from ARNewsLine tells us what they caught while at the lake. Here's a hint: It wasn't fish. "In Minnesota, it's considered a winter tradition for some people to go out on the frozen lakes for fishing. One group that took to the frozen waters in the Twin Cities region of the state were hoping for a very different kind of catch: They set up their equipment on White Bear Lake at Mahtomedi Beach in the hopes of reeling in some QSOs while operating portable. This was the February 11th "Hams on the Ice" event where antennas took the place of fishing rods and the waves being plumbed were radio waves The four-hour event drew 20 or so amateurs. Some brought portable heaters. Others simply were warmed by the idea of working some DX -- and many did. This was the amateurs' winter equivalent of a monthly group gathering known as Hams in the Park held during warmer months. According to a video on the YouTube channel of Matthew, KLWC, the hams were also there to provide an opportunity for some of the regions youngest licensees: With a little help, some of the newer hams got their first contacts on HF radio. With mic fright being a big concern for a lot of newcomers, you might even say they broke the ice. REGION THREE INDIA Ham radio could be one of the most useful technologies whose potential is evergreen, said the founder of the National Institute of Amateur Radio S. Suri VU2MY. In an effort to create awareness about the same, his book The Untapped Potential of Amateur Radio serves as a guide to all who wish to learn the workings of ham radio. The book was launched on the occasion of World Science Day at the NIAR campus by V. Sivakumar, IGP Intelligence, Telangana Police, T. Hari Babu, IRRS, Deputy Director, Ministry of Communications, and G.L. Rao, Chairman, NIAR, all of whom are avid ham enthusiasts themselves. The event had not just regular hams in attendance, but also doctors, engineers, advocates and journalists who have over the years nurtured their interest in the workings of radio. ------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- -------------- 2023 -------------- -------------- ARRL DX PHONE CONTEST THIS WEEKEND This contest sees us, VK, as DX stations and we contact W/VE stations only. 0000 UTC Saturday through 2359 UTC Sunday. (ARRL) -------------- The 86th Commonwealth Contest BERU HAPPENS 11-12 March - CW only. between 1000utc and 1000utc (NZART BREAKIN and RSGB) -------------- 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) -------------- JUNE 24-25 WINTER VHF-UHF Field Day. 0100 UTC Saturday 24 to 0059 UTC Sunday 25 BUT in VK6 add 3 hours onto start and end times. (wia.org.au) -------------- JUNE Weekend prior to 2nd Monday of June VK SHIRES -------------- -------------- -------------- DX WINDOW -------------- -------------- VI 10 SOTA all year from summits in VK1 -------------- The Special Event Station VI 100 MB is active all year, celebrating the centenary of VK2's Manly & District Radio Club. (Richard Murnane) -------------- A group of amateurs, including Dan VK6NAD, and Michael, VK6TU will activate the yet to be confirmed call sign of VI 6 CRO in recognition of the NASA Carnarvon and Overseas Telecommunications Commission historic location April 17 to 23 to coincide with the massive surge of visitors as a result of the April 20 Eclipse event in the area. The Station will be set up in the middle of the historic OTC buildings between the Casgrain Horn used during Apollo 11 and the large 30m Dish. Also near the station site is the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum which Moon Astronaut Buzz Aldrin opened in 2012. (hamradiodaily) -------------- GUAM. QRV is N 7 JVJ until April 28 on 40 to 10 meters using SSB and FT8. QSL via operator's instructions. (eHam) -------------- ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos THAT LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF THIS NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN Hackaday has published an entertaining YouTube video, Searching for Space Pirates on Old Military Satellites. The video explains how U.S. Fleet SATCOM UHF transponders, still in space from the 1970s, are being used illegally, often for criminal purposes. It also describes using a simple RTL receiver to listen in on these pirate transmissions. The video is available on hackaday.com/2023/02/24/hunting-for-space-pirates/ (ans) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW www.morsecodeclassnet.com Nervous Novices CW Net on 80m A new weekly CW net has been recently started in Ireland and could be the formation of maybe similar here in VK? It is a friendly place for inexperienced operators, for anyone still learning Morse, and for those who would like to have a chat using CW without feeling the pressure of a traditional QSO. This new Nervous Novices Net takes place every Wednesday at 2030 Irish local time, somewhere between 3.5503.555 MHz. Good operating practices and quality sending are highly encouraged but are not required. There is no maximum speed, however, the net requires that all operators QRS to the slowest participant so that everyone can copy. For those still new to CW, this sure sounds an enjoyable way to improve your skills. (irts) In South Africa another CW idea is to create some space for the new amateur radio CW operator, without feeling intimidated trying to break into a conversation at normal speeds. The first SARL CW QRS week runs from Wednesday 3 March to Tuesday 9 March with activity from 15:30 to 16:30 UTC each day. The exchange is a RST report and your name. Nothing more! (SARL) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org The USA's Federal Communications Commission has approved Amazons plan to deploy and operate 3,236 broadband satellites, subject to conditions that include measures for avoiding collisions in low Earth orbit. Amazon got initial FCC clearance for its Ka-band Project Kuiper constellation in 2020 on the condition that it secured regulatory approval for an updated orbital debris mitigation plan. The FCC said its conditional approval of this mitigation plan allows Kuiper to begin deployment of its constellation in order to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to customers around the world. The conditions include semi-annual reports that Kuiper must give the FCC to detail the collision avoidance manoeuvres its satellites have made, whether any have lost the ability to steer away from objects, and other debris risk indicators. In the order, the FCC also requires Kuiper to ensure plans to de-orbit satellites after their seven-year mission keeping inhabitable space stations in addition to the International Space Station in mind. twiar.net/?p=14524 (TWIAR) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS qcwa.org raotc.org.au Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW. Unfortunately, there will be no RAOTC bulletin tomorrow. Due to personal circumstances, producer Bill VK3BR has had to resign immediately from this position. A volunteer to take Bills place is urgently sought. However, the April news should appear on schedule. Some good news. Chris VK6JI has volunteered to assist webmaster Andrew VK3CAH. Chris is well qualified in this area and the website has been brought up to date. Have a look by typing www.raotc.org.au or just Google RAOTC broadcasts and follow the links. The March issue of the RAOTC journal OTN was posted on February 19th, so keep an eye open for your copy. VK6 Members and Friends of the RAOTC are reminded that the monthly lunch will be held on Tuesday, March 14th at the Woodbridge Hotel in East Guildford. All are welcome. Once again, no RAOTC bulletin this month; the next one will be on Monday, April 3rd. 73, Clive VK6CSW. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) facebook.com/yotaregion2 youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA twitter.com/hamyota ham-yota.com Freshman Katie Campbell represented Columbiana High School at a national Amateur Radio Club Convention in Orlando last month (HamCation 2023). She was selected to give a presentation in the Youth Forum entitled The ABCs of a YL in STEM, School Amateur Radio Clubs and Code Coaching. In the presentation, Katie explores gender disparity in STEM and asserts the early introduction of Amateur Radio is a potential solution to that issue. Katie has an extra-class-level license (the highest US level available), a process she began when she was in fifth grade as a result of being a founding student-member of Columbianas Amateur Radio Club. Katie hopes to encourage other young women in STEM to put themselves out there and learn more about the field as well as teach others; its important to get young women in leadership positions to provide diverse views. Katie will next travel to Dayton to present Young Ladies in Morse Code in May and will be teaching a morse code class in Ottawa, Canada at the YOTA Camp in July. She hopes to continue participating in presentations and teaching Youth Amateur Radio. tinyurl.com/yc75jbbc Space Station Contact With Students In Malta An ARISS contact between students at Stella Maris College, Gzira, Malta, callsign 9 H 1 MRL and the International Space Station took place successfully February 15. It was the first ever ARISS contact from the European island nation of Malta. ISS crew member, astronaut Josh Cassada, KI5CRH, used the ISS callsign OR 4 ISS on the downlink frequency of 145.800 MHz. The ARISS team Malta made use of the callsign 9H1MRL, the club call of the Malta Amateur Radio League, MARL. The downlink signal was receivable in the British Isles and across Europe and the contact was conducted by five local radio amateurs; Dominic 9H1M, Manuel 9H1GW, Andrew 9H2AV, Trevor, 9H5TS and Anthony 9H2AS from the station set up in the schools auditorium with a 10 element crossed Yagi and rotator on the roof. Stella Maris College is part of a network of Lasallian Colleges that include De La Salle College and the Mellieha Retreat Centre. The schools take their inspiration from their founder, John Baptist de la Salle. In the Christian faith, John De La Salle is Patron Saint of Teachers. (amsat.org) "Thanks Michelle and Alec Speaking of Alec, he, along with his dad, Pete VK2LP took a detour from a recent trip to Melbourne to catch up with Bruce VK3FFF and myself in Bendigo. It was a great opportunity for three WIA News presenters to get together. A photo of us can be seen on Bevan VK5BDs video version of the broadcast. tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos THAT LINK IS THE VIDEO VERSION OF THIS NEWS Cheers, Col 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 One month in and the rescue and recovery operations continue after those earthquakes struck Syria and Turkey with casualties reaching nearly close on 50,000. Please note these frequency's, 28.540 MHz, 3.777 and 7.092 hams are asked to keep these frequencies clear for emergency traffic. Amateur radio continues to be the major link for communication for the entire area. Turkish amateur radio operator Aziz Sasa, TA1E, has been at the disaster areas coordinating frequencies for the teams and carrying out search and rescue operations. Sasa was interviewed on the BBC Digital Planet program, where he talked about the continued amateur radio help during the disaster. An audio link to the program is available here. bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct31zr While the entire program lasts 46 minutes, the interview with Sasa is within the first 6 minutes. (arrl letter) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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. VK3 - Melbournes Wyndham Amateur Radio Club HamFest today 5 of March. (vk2zrh) VK4 - REDCLIFFE - REDFEST APRIL ONE (vk4tfn) VK3 - Antennapalooza at Drouin West April 15 & 16 (vk3kj) 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. VK5 - SERG CONVENTION and FOX HUNTING CHAMPIONSHIPS June 10 - 11 (vk5dj) VK4 - SUNFEST 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) 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 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! 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/ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*