2023 APRIL 23 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 APRIL 23 2023 IN OUR 28th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS THIS WEEK:- Hot on the heels of last weeks World Amateur Radio Day comes - International Morse Code Day Thursday and Mark, VK6QI will tell us of lots of opportunities to participate. WIA Director Chris VK3FY gives us details on his participation in WARD and details of how you can take part in Mays WIA AGM And this week, Discussion Point with Geoff BK4ZPP and the apparent lost art of club publicity and promotions. THAT PLUS MUCH MUCH MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB To our many VK5 listeners/readers today at the Seaford scout hall 7 railway rd. Seaford Meadows the South Coast Amateur Radio Club's Annual Buy & Sell gathering will take place in just hours. 23rd April starting at 11.30 am so after the news and call-backs, get cracking! (vk5one) International Morse Code Day is coming up this week - Thursday April 27th, the anniversary of Samuel Morses Birthday. Now theres some argument about whether or not Samuel Morse was the actual inverter? (inventor - Ed) of the Code but never-the-less, International Morse Code Day is still celebrated on his Birthday. Whether you love it or hate Morse Code, it has been the basis of radio communications since the late 19th Century, and today, theres been a real resurgence in amateur radio interest in the fine art. So to celebrate International Morse Code Day, the CQ QRS Slow CW Practice QSO Team is inviting you to a Morse Code Trivia Quiz on Thursday evening, ( 27th April ) using Zoom videoconferencing. Last year we had participants from WA, SA, NSW, Tassie and Florida and were hoping that youll join in the fun this year. Mister Morse Code Richard VK6PZT will run the Quiz for us. Although some knowledge about Morse Code will help, dont worry, like most trivia quizzes, well have multi-guess questions and youll have just as much opportunity to have a laugh as the rest of us. Also with Zoom, as long as you have access to a phone, tablet or computer connected to the Internet, youll be able to join in. Log-in details and the quiz time will be published on both the Bunbury Radio Club and Peel Amateur Radio Group websites. But wait - theres more! The CQ QRS Slow CW Practice QSO Team will also be running a really simple slow CW contest on 80m on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. No complex logs required - and you wont even need to be proficient at CW - the participants will match your speed - and lots of repeats will be order of the evening! And the organisers will be adding a twist, to the usual contest exchange. Information on the International Morse Code Day Slow CW Corroboree will also be published this week on the Bunbury Radio Club and Peel Amateur Radio Group websites. So put them in your diary: International Morse Code Day Trivia Quiz, this Thursday evening, April 27th. International Morse Code Slow CW Corroboree Friday, Saturday or Sunday April 28th, 29th or 30th. So those websites for information: bunburyradioclub.com - look on the Home Page parg.org.au - click on Whats New Any questions - please contact me, Mark Bosma by email mark.bosma@icloud.com Cheers and we look forward to sharing International Morse Code Day on Thursday and the weekend. This is Mark, VK6QI and VK2KI for the CQ QRS Slow CW Practice QSO Net Team. WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y This is Chris Dimitrijevic VK3FY on behalf of WIA Board for WIA National News The WIA Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday the 13th of May 2023 at 10:30am. This will be a Hybrid Event, meaning you can attend in several ways. In person at the Ann Harding Conference Centre, University of Canberra, Bruce ACT Or via an internet stream platform. Details to be advised. On the Agenda for this years AGM are as follows 1. To receive and consider The Annual Financial Statements, Directors Reports and Independent Auditors reports 2. To confirm the results of the election of directors 3. To consider a special resolution to amend a typographical error. Details can be seen on the Notice of AGM WIA 4. To consider a special resolution to bestow life membership to Peter Young VK3MB 5. Transact any other business that maybe brought before the meeting in accordance with the WIA Constitution. Dont forget to get your proxies in you are unable to attend. Proxys can be sent to proxy@wia.org.au World Amateur Radio Day. This week saw the activations of many special event stations across the world with many stations signing off with WARD as their suffix. In celebration of World Amateur Radio Day, I had the pleasure of working many of these stations whilst I was activating YU/VK3FY from Vitanovac, in Central Serbia. The local TV Station in Kralegevo, made a surprise visit to the station of YT1AD/YT5A contest station. To interview Hrane on what Amateur Radio is. It was a good PR Event for the hobby. To my surprise they interviewed me for the segment as I was a foreign visiting Amateur Radio Operator. 73s from Chris VK3FY on behalf of the WIA Board for WIA's Weekly National News Broadcast originating from VK1WIA. DISCUSSION POINT Geoff Emory, VK4ZPP who week upon week, never a fail, sends thoughts to the local VK4 area news, QNEWS, is sort of a proselytiser for the club and social side of the amateur radio community. Over to you Geoff.. "I mean, like many of us I want to see this community continue to expand and grow with the involvement of as many people as we can find to enjoy this recreation. Fishing might be the most popular past time in the country but amongst the pursuits that are technical, well I would like to see others get the enjoyment and involvement that we obviously have. To this end I periodically offer prompts as to what we can consider to grow our club membership and get the story of amateur radio percolating in the community. Pointers to activities and groups and segments of the local community have been relatively plentiful and I dare say will continue to be as the recruitment and retention of members ensures the continuity of a great story. Some years ago, the Wireless Institute of Australia produced a publicity kit that could be used to draft press releases and this was accompanied by poster artwork which could be reproduced to promote events. We no longer hear reference to these items and like the National Field Day that they supported along with World Amateur Radio Day, 18th April, they seem to have been archived as pieces of history no longer relevant. Well to a point that might be true because the mass media has moved on with many of the local papers caught under a monopoly ownership with publication now only online and only available to paying subscribers. Broadcasters are being caught in the jaws of needing money and having the various internet and social media platforms engorging on the advertising revenue that once supported everything from the buy and sell pages of the newspapers to production of local content and the buying of rights to popular programming. The art of the journalist is still surviving and newspapers, radio and television may be holding on to their place against the onslaught of the internet and when it comes to getting publicity out to the broad community, we depend on those professionals to present it. This brings us back to the publicity kit. Now putting things together and distributing it may need to be a bit more sophisticated than previously. We have our smart phones with nice cameras to capture still and video images. Local TV stations in my area ask for video and papers will gladly accept stills of good quality that are suitable for print. We are fortunate that the tools to show our function, our community service are in our hands these days. Videos only need to be short so we arent looking for a Spielberg production just a glimpse to whet the interest of the viewer. Now to my mind this all suggests that some of the hams who have the experience in the media could get their heads in front of their devices video cameras and revamp the old material to make it work for us today. I know the skills are in our audience and we just need to be given the direction to get it done and out to our clubs. Im Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and thats what I think....how about you?" ------------------------------------------------------------*1 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. WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY STATIONS CELEBRATING ON AIR INCLUDE PORTUGAL CQ 7 HS4A will be QRV until the 25th DENMARK 5 P 0 WARD also until April 25 And until the end of April:- BELGIUM OT 23 WARD. CROATIA 9 A 23 WARD SOUTH AFRICA ZS 9 WARD More information about 2023 World Amateur Radio Day is available at iaru.org/on-the-air/world-amateur-radio-day REGION ONE UNITED KINGDOM Ofcom has confirmed that the call sign GB 23 C can be used for the RSGBs Coronation SSES. Cray Valley Radio Society members led by Bob, M0MCV and Dave, G4BUO are organising the flagship amateur radio station which will use this call sign from 3-8 May. The SSES will be in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, along the riverside in Greenwich. From 10 May until the end of June the call sign will be available for individuals and clubs to use until the end of June 2023. If you are wondering what an SSES is, in the UK they have 2 types of Special Event Stations. Specials (SSES) short duration. Permanents (PSES) longer duration. REGION TWO U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko recently visited a HamFest and met with Amateur Radio operators at DeVry University campus in Phoenix, Arizona. Congresswoman Leskos visit was a highlight of the event, as she is a major supporter of Amateur Radio. Lesko arrived early and spoke with many Amateur Radio attendees and ARRL leadership representatives. She toured the emergency communications vehicles and explored with great interest the interrelationship of Amateur Radios emergency responders with federal, state, and local agencies. Congresswoman Lesko spent a considerable amount of time listening to how radio amateurs integrate communications support with first responders and how Amateur Radio supports civic activities and community events. ARRL leadership shared how Hams support government programs and how favourable legislation strengthens the effectiveness of the Amateur Radio Services mission of supporting the public. Lesko said: It was wonderful to join ARRL and ARRL-Arizona and meet with amateur radio operators at HamFest in Phoenix, Arizona. Amateur radio operators play such a critical role in emergency situations, and our communities are safer thanks to their information sharing. I will continue to be an advocate for amateur radio operators in Congress and highlight the important contributions they have made to our nation. The National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting, in conjunction with the West Chester Amateur Radio Association, announced expanded hours during the 2023 Dayton Hamvention. The West Chester Amateur Radio Association, WC8VOA, will be on the air. The museum is a short drive from Hamvention, down Interstate 75 or Route 42 from Xenia. New exhibits include a dedicated room for amateur radio and shortwave equipment and a newly renovated ham shack. REGION THREE INDIA A Special event station from VU land is operating until June 2 in conjunction with the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi September. Felix, VK4FUQ will tell us of the call etc. in just a few minutes time here on VK1WIA National News. -------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- The World Radiosport Team Championship Committee is grieving the loss of a fellow contester and avid DXer, Richard King, K5NA who had been chosen to be a referee for WRTC 2022 in Bologna in July. Richard was electrocuted while taking down a 40-meter beam which hit a powerline. -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- -------------- 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 and although when the concept, by our own Editor VK4BB and the Late Brian Beamish, VK4BBS was developed it was held Anzac Day evening, 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 -------------- Also make a mental note that the 2023 QRP Day happens June 17 (sourced to iaru r3) -------------- IARU HF World Championship Contest takes place the second full weekend of July beginning 1200 UTC Saturday and ending 1200 UTC Sunday July 8-9 July. All licensed amateurs worldwide are eligible to participate in this contest as the objective is to contact as many other amateurs as possible, especially IARU member society HQ stations around the world using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter bands. (sourced to iaru r3) -------------- JULY 15 - Trans Tasman Low Band Contest Held on the 3rd weekend in July, aims to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL 160 80 and 40M are allowed with SSB, CW and Digital (RTTY OR PSK) Contest Manager Alan Shannon VK4SN -------------- DX WINDOW -------------- These Aussie special calls on air are worth listening for, VI 6 CRO is the special event callsign for the Carnarvon Eclipse event April 17th to 23rd. so it ends today Sunday 23 VI 2023 HRH 1st to the 31st of May celebrates the coronation of King Charles III The next 4 are in play to years end. VI 10 VKFF celebrates the 10 year anniversary of the VKFF group. VI 100 MB celebrates the centenary year of the Manly-Warringah Radio Society VK 90 AR for the 90 years of the WIAs journal, Amateur Radio Magazine. VK 100 ZL celebrates the Centenary of the First Tran-Tasman Radio contact between Australia and New Zealand. Again until December 31 and speaking of VK100ZL, a special event callsign ZL100 has been issued for 3 months to the NZART to commemorate the event, commencing 26 April 25 July. -------------- Amateurs in Israel are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Israel Amateur Radio Club and the establishment of the State of Israel with special prefixes 4X75 and 4Z75 now until April 30. (ARNewsLine) -------------- DXNE DXpedition. DX 0 NE is a single-operator DXpedition to the Spratly Islands, IOTA Number AS-051, on the air from the 30th of April until the 9th of May. (ARNewsLine) -------------- INDIA Special event station AT2 G20 is QRV until June 2 to promote greater international cooperation through amateur radio in conjunction with the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi September 9 and 10. QSL via operator's instructions. (arrl) -------------- ------------------------------------------------------------* WIRELESS WEATHER SOLAR MAXIMUM MIGHT ARRIVE EARLY: Evidence is mounting that Solar Cycle 25 might peak much earlier than was expected. New research by a leading group of solar physicists predicts maximum sunspot activity in late 2023 or early 2024 with a peak that could be twice as strong as the previous solar cycle (spacveweather/ARNewsLine) ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS SUMMITS ON THE AIR, WORLD WIDE FLORA, FAUNA PROGRAM, PARKS ON THE AIR and other ADVENTURE GROUPS. hema.org.uk/index.jsp minesontheair.com/about-mota parksontheair.com/ sota.org.uk sotawatch.sota.org.uk/en/ facebook.com/SotaAustralia/ wwffaustralia.com/ VK7's SOTA/WWFF PARKS GROUP The Summits On The Air/World Wide Flora and Fauna parks group meets twice weekly Mondays and Fridays 10.30AM till 12.00 at the Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry Street, Launceston. Someone who will need a good 'coffee break' is Stuart, VK3UAO. He is presently riding his bicycle from Melbourne to Pilliga park-fest, (to be held April 29 - 30) a journey of more than 1,000 km. Listen for and work Stuart VK3UAO and wish him well on his massive bike ride. (vk7wi news ARNEWSLINE) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ASTRONOMY Radio waves have led astronomers to an exoplanet - a planet beyond our solar system - and it's likely the same size as Earth. Dave Parks WB8ODF gives us the details as he gave to ARNewsLine. Repeating radio signals have led astronomers to a rocky exoplanet that is the same size as our own Earth and, like the Earth, it orbits a star -- one known as YZ Ceti. Further studies of the signal suggest that the planet may also have an atmosphere and a magnetic field. Writing in a recent issue of the journal, Nature Astronomy, the researchers have named the planet YZ Ceti b. The scientists say that the magnetic field's interactions with the star are the likely cause of the radio signals. The signals were picked up in New Mexico by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array of telescopes. The star and exoplanet are 12 light-years away from Earth. Of course, this is not the first finding of its kind. Last year, the James Webb Space Telescope discovered its first exoplanet which is also believed to be rocky and almost as big as the Earth. That planet, called LHS 475b, is 41 light years away. The research team, which announced the discovery this past January, is trying to learn more about the star it orbits and whether the planet has an atmosphere. This is Dave Parks WB8ODF. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - DIGITAL March 17, 2023, and FT4DMC is launched. The aims of the club are promoting radio operations in FT4, creating incentives to use this mode of operation with a moderate number of available diplomas, and increasing activity on the amateur radio bands. Membership in the FT4DMC is free and open to all interested parties. FT4 is becoming more popular, and many DXpeditions use this type of transmission. FT4 was developed by Dr. Joe Taylor, K1JT. The original idea was to use only FT4 for contests. With about 2.5 times the speed of FT8, FT4 is efficient, and the level of interest is terrific. In just around 6 weeks, the FT4DMC already has more than 1,300 members and the first diplomas have been awarded. As with the FT8DMC, the application for issuing the diplomas takes place via the program developed by Heinz Urban, DK5UR. The FT8DMC now has 21,600 members from 148 DXCC entities. More than 1.5 million diplomas have been issued. Additional information is available at: FT4DMC: ft4dmc.com/ FT8DMC: ft8dmc.eu (arrl) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei KG5GNP won't be a record-holder for much longer. He made news after logging the most days in space for a US astronaut -- 355 days -- aboard the International Space Station in 2022. Now, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is right behind him and gaining. He's been on the ISS since September 21, 2022 and his mission has grown beyond its original six months. He's now scheduled to leave aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft by September 27th, meaning his 371 days will eclipse the one set by Vande Hei. However, even with that accomplishment, he will still be leaving the world record intact. That was set by the late Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov, who logged an unprecedented 437 days aboard Russia's Mir space station in 1994 and 1995. The cosmonaut died last year at age 80. (ARNewsLine) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SOFTWARE DEVELOPEMENT The Amateur Radio Software Award (ARSA) Committee has announced that GridTracker, a project led by Stephen Loomis, N0TTL, and the GridTracker.org team, has been selected as the recipient of the 4th annual Amateur Radio Software Award. The award recognizes software projects that enhance amateur radio and promote innovation, freedom, and openness in amateur radio software development. The committee was impressed by the breadth of features in GridTracker, its innovative graphic interface, and its ability to make amateur radio more fun. GridTracker is a tool that visualizes WSJT-X amateur radio traffic, like FT8 and contacts from log files, which makes it easier for radio amateurs to track their contacts and participate in contests. Its unique approach to visualizing radio traffic adds a new dimension of enjoyment to the radio art. To learn more about GridTracker, visit gridtracker.org. (ARRL) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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. VK5 - South Coast Amateur Radio Clubs Buy & Sell 23rd April 11.30 am Seaford scout hall 7 railway rd. Seaford meadows (vk5one) VK3 - MOORABBIN HAMFEST - May 6 (vk3gl) 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. VK2 - OXLEY REGION 47th Annual Field Day at Wauchope 10th and 11th of June (vk2zhe) VK5 - SERG CONVENTION/FOX HUNTING CHAMPIONSHIPS also 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) VK5 - Amateur Radio Experimenters Group Radio & Electronics Sale November 26 (vk5qi) 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). If you are mentioning your own name / call in the story, say something like "and myself, Pat, vk11abc" 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*