2023 APRIL 30 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 30 2023 IN OUR 28th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS THIS WEEK:- WIA AGM registration is now open. - WIA Director Peter VK4EA. - And from the RAOTC, Clive VK6CSW PLUS MUCH 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 Gidday, for the WIA News, this is Peter, VK4EA, on behalf of the WIA board. Warm greetings to all listeners from Turrbl and Jagera country. By now you should have all received the notices for the May 13, WIA annual general meeting via email and the Amateur Radio Magazine. For those who wish to be there in person, we have secured a nice venue in our nations capital thanks to the Uni of Canberra. Most of the directors will be present, unfortunately I cannot be there in person due to an upcoming trip away, but, I shall be there virtually using the Uni of Canberras live video conferencing facilities. For those, like me, that cannot be there in person, please keep an eye out for the registration messages because registration is now open and without prior registration you will not be able to participate remotely. REGISTER NOW tinyurl.com/3fwt78az Items on the agenda are -> * presentation of the audited financials for the year ended December 2022 * confirmation of elected Directors * life membership nomination * awards Following the AGM there will be an open forum, an excellent opportunity for you to ask questions, make suggestions and even better volunteer! This has been Peter, VK4EA, on behalf of the WIA Board of Directors - for WIA National News Cheers, Peter VK4EA / KQ4PS 0407 407 636 EDUCATION Across Australia from VK1WIA you are tuned to the National News Service. In Melbourne it can be seen and heard on the Melbourne DATV Repeater VK3RTV on Sundays at 10.30 AM and 8 PM. I am Peter VK3BFG Amateur Radio Victoria will be holding another On Line Tutorial for the Foundation Licence starting Monday 22nd May. It is expected that participants will have read the book Your Entry to Amateur Radio available from the Amateur Radio Victoria or Wireless Institute of Australia websites. The cost of the Tutorial is $60.00 and goes for three nights 7 9 and an On Line assessment service is offered at the end. You can enrol right now via the Amateur Radio Victoria website and is open to anyone anywhere. amateurradio.com.au/ ------------------------------------------------------------* 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 UNTIL TODAY INCLUDE 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 Following the recently held RSGB AGM, a brief Board meeting was held to consider necessary appointments. The Board was aware that Stewart Bryant, G3YSX, who had been in a dual role since the resignation of Richard Horton, G4AOJ, had expressed a willingness to continue as Chair if required. It was agreed that Stewart should be co-opted to the Board and he was asked to join the meeting. He was then elected unanimously to serve as Chair until the 2024 AGM. BEACON CONNECT This is the RSGB's idea of connecting, via Ham Radio all of the ancient fire beacon sites around the UK Now, Ofcom has agreed to a block of 676 Special Special Event Station callsigns for the RSGBs Beaconnect activity for the Coronation of the King and Queen Consort. And yes you did hear correctly - 676 special calls. These are GB23 BAA to BZZ, which will be available throughout May and June. The RSGB is asking its members to find a beacon site they could activate one or more times for this event Hams in Hungary's national ham radio society want to hear from you. Yes we hams around the world are being invited to provide our views and share experiences about amateur radio through an online survey. The short survey asks questions about your personal preferences and radio history but also wants to know what your priorities are -- whether it is your operating preferences, your expectations from membership in a national society or the roles you think a local club should have. There are also questions about whether you know very many active younger operators. The society is interested in having the survey responses in time for the Youngsters on the Air Region 1 camp which it is hosting in August in Hungary. The group would also like to present the survey results at the IARU general conference in November. A link to the survey appears in the text version of this week's WIA National News mrasz.org/state-of-hamradio REGION TWO 'Look what I found!' Hours after the first test flight of SpaceX's Starship ended with the spacecraft and its Super Heavy booster tumbling until it was commanded to explode, possible debris from the colossal rocket began to wash up on the shores surrounding the company's Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, Texas. Photos shared on social media showed that more than one person had come across small fragments of the black and white ceramic tiles from the Starship. Though the Starship test flight was a privately funded activity, it was conducted under a Federal Aviation Administration launch license asserting it was being undertaken with the oversight of the United States. As a party to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, protections are extended that any spacecraft components found anywhere on Earth (or in space) remain the property of the launch operator until such time that the entity explicitly relinquishes them. As such, all of the Starship debris remains SpaceX's property, even if it is found on private property or in the Gulf of Mexico. On April 3, Ria Jairam, N 2 RJ, joined the board of directors of Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC). After seeing what ARDC has done and is doing, Im a believer. So Im here to make that happen. she said. Ria, N2RJ, has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1997, after first having been licensed in her native Trinidad and Tobago. She has served on the boards of the American Radio Relay League and the ARRL Foundation and is actively involved in amateur radio outreach and education through speaking at clubs, conventions, social media, her weekly radio show on WRMI shortwave radio and her YouTube channel. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from NYU Tandon School of Engineering, and currently works in software and systems development for the financial industry and design consulting for renewable energy and energy storage projects. Congratulations Ria. REGION THREE FIJI One member of the team is back home from the recent Bouvet Island 3 Y J DXpedition but not for Cezar, VE 3 LYC, is getting ready to put one of the Fiji islands back on the air after too many years of things being quiet there. Yanuca Island, IOTA Number OC-189, was activated first in 1993 and again in 2007 - but there's been no radio operation there since then. Cezar will be on the air May 1st through the 5th using the callsign 3 D 2 LYC. DX World.net reports he will be on most of the HF bands and will operate both CW and SSB. While not as harsh an environment as the one found on remote Bouvet Island, Yanuca does not have any visitor accommodation. Cezar said he has been able to locate a generator and gas as well as food and water to use during his stay. -------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- -------------- -------------- MAY SIX NEXT Saturday Harry Angel Memorial Sprint 10:00 UTC - 11:46 UTC (wia.org.au) -------------- MAY 20-21 Don Edwards Memorial Slow Morse Contest 80m section Saturday 20th From 6to 9pm AEST 40m section Sunday 21st From 1 to 4 AEST (vk2wi) -------------- JUNE 24-25 WINTER VHF-UHF Field Day. 0100 UTC Saturday 24 to 0059 UTC Sunday 25 in VK6 add 3 hours onto start and end times. (wia.org.au) -------------- JUNE Weekend prior to 2nd Monday of June VK SHIRES -------------- 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. (sourced to iaru r3) -------------- JULY 15 - Trans Tasman Low Band Contest 3rd weekend in July 160 80 and 40M with SSB, CW and Digital (RTTY OR PSK) -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- DX WINDOW -------------- -------------- These Aussie special calls on air are worth listening for, 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. -------------- Special callsign 3 A 8 AB is operating from Monaco until today, Sunday the 30th of April commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first transatlantic amateur two-way contact between Leon Deloy, F 8 AB and Fred Schnell, 1 MO in 1923. QSL via Logbook of the World. (rsgb) -------------- JD 1 BMH is on air from Ogasawara until May 5th. Listen for him on 40 - 10m where he is using CW, SSB and RTTY. For QSL and other details follow the link on QRZ.COM to the JD 1 BMH webpage (ARNewsLine) -------------- DR 100 XRAY will be active until the end of June. It's a special callsign commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of Wilhelm C Roentgen [ pronounced RUND-GUN], the physicist whose discovery of X-rays earned him the inaugural Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901 and revolutionised diagnostic medicine. QSL via the bureau, or direct to DJ 6 SI. ------------------------------------------------------------* QNEWS WORK BENCH Measure twice cut once. Weve all picked up a radio and switched it on, only to hear an awful scratchy noise emitting from the speaker. Richard Langer SPEAKING (no pun intended Mr Speaker) on Hackaday is no stranger to this problem, and has identified a cheap and unusual solution, using toilet paper! The cause of the scratchy sound is that when the speakers paper cone warps, it can cause the voice coil to rub up against the magnet assembly. In time, this wears out insulation on the coils turns, damaging the speaker. Richard found that realigning the coil to its proper place would rectify the issue. This can be achieved by stuffing a small amount of toilet paper in the back of the speaker, between the cone and the metal housing. To identify the right spot to put the paper, one simply presses on the back of the speaker LIGHTLY with a pen while listening out for the scratchy sound to stop. The paper can then be stuffed into this area to complete the fix. This can realign the cone and voice coil and stop the scratchy sound for good. hackaday.com/2023/04/20/this-one-simple-trick-rehabilitates-scratchy-sounding-speakers/ MEDIA WATCH The station of shortwaveradio.de is run by shortwave radio enthusiasts from their transmit site in Lower Saxony, Germany. Their program frequently features Amateur Radio related topics. The new transmission schedule for this European Summer is 07:00 to 17:00 UTC weekends 15:00 to 17:00 UTC Monday to Friday 6160 kHz AM. Also from 17:00 to 23:00 UTC daily on 3975 kHz AM. If you hear the stations and send in a reception report with at least 30 minutes of programme details, including comments, QSL-manager Mario will reply with a printed QSL card. for details visit shortwaveradio.de (irts) ------------------------------------------------------------* WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DEFENSE The US Department of Defence will host this year's Armed Forces Day Crossband Test on May 13. This annual event is open to all licensed amateur radio operators in the US and will not impact any public or private communications. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this event. The AFD Crossband Test is a unique opportunity to test two-way communications between military communicators and radio stations in the Amateur Radio Service. These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise scenario. Military stations will transmit on selected frequencies and will announce the specific Ham frequencies monitored. All of the times are Zulu, and all frequencies are Upper Side Band unless otherwise noted. A complete list of frequencies, time periods, QSL cards, and other information can be found at DoD MARS - Armed Forces Day. dodmars.org/mars-comex-information-website/armed-forces-day (eHam.net) 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/ SOTA "MOUNTAIN GOAT" SAYS "TAG, YOU'RE IT" For this story, we catch up with a very grateful SOTA activator who has this important message for all those hams who, like him, achieved the coveted status of Mountain Goat: "TAG - You're It!" Jim Damron N8TMW tells us his story. Dave Altman, KO4YLZ, is looking for a few new goats. Actually, he's looking for a few old goats too. None of this has anything to do with age - it's a reflection of pride in Dave's recent accomplishment. The SOTA activator achieved Mountain Goat status in the Summits on the Air awards scheme on March 30th, 11 months after making his first successful SOTA activation. When his informal mentor Dean, K2JB, celebrated his new status by saying "welcome to the herd," Dave felt inspired to give something back to colleagues in his own region. What better way to identify a local goat than with a genuine ear tags, the kind of tags Dave sees often on some of the local livestock?? Using the SOTA logo with permission, Dave had the durable plastic tags laser-printed for all those in the W4 region of SOTA who attained the necessary 1,000 points for Mountain Goat status. He's giving them as gifts to fellow members of the herd and no, he doesn't expect anyone to attach the tags to their ears. These are for bags used on SOTA outings. Dave said in a recent email to NewsLine that he had already given out seven but has many more. Using the SOTA Reflector and the groups.io board for his local region, he has told fellow Mountain Goats to either email their name, callsign and mailing address or, better still, meet up with him sometime for an activation. Picture it: Just a couple of Mountain Goats climbing their next summit together. That would not be so BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD. This is Jim Damron N8TMW. (ARNewsLine) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org SPACEX PUT NEW SATELLITES INTO ORBIT. A SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-7 mission has placed these satellites carrying Amateur Radio into orbit and have been added to the AMSAT-NA TLE distribution list KILICSAT (uncoordinated frequency: 436.9 MHz). CIRBE (IARU coordinated frequency: 437.25 MHz). INSPIRE-SAT 7 (IARU coordinated frequencies: 435.2002 MHz and 437.4100 MHz). ROSEYCUBESAT 1 (IARU coordinated frequency: 436.8252 MHz). TLE's or two Line Elements, often referred to as Keplerian elements or keps in our amateur community, are the inputs to most amateur tracking programs and weekly updates are completely adequate for most amateur satellites. TLE bulletin files are updated Thursday evenings around 2300 UTC, or more frequently if new high interest satellites are launched. amsat.org/keplerian-elements-resources/. (AMSAT) NOKIA AND NASA TO PUT WIRELESS SERVICE ON THE MOON A whole new wireless network of sorts is being looked at - for the moon! An LTE/4G network destined for the moon is expected to launch on board a SpaceX rocket ( when bugs are ironed out), this according to plans from the Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia. According to reports on CNBC, it's part of a partnership with NASA that envisions the creation of the first colony on the lunar surface. A message on Nokia's webpage states that the network will be designed to support the transmitting of telemetry, biometrics, and sensing applications and will also be available for HD video and robotics. Nokia states that the high-bandwidth network will be a vital tool in NASA's plan for so-called "sustainable exploration" of the moon. NASA chose the Finnish telecommunications company back in in 2020, announcing Nokia's role in the Artemis lunar program to return a human presence to the moon -- this time for extended operations by the end of the decade. According to the Nokia website, the network will include an LTE Base Station with integrated Evolved Packet Core functionalities, LTE User Equipment and RF antennas. The system will have hardware redundancy and through its software, the capacity for remote operation. (ARNewsLine) A $50 SATELLITE IN ORBIT " $50Sat, also known as EAGLE-2, is an open-source, PocketQube satellite project that was designed to demonstrate the feasibility of building and launching a functional satellite for just $50. The project was launched 10 years ago, in 2013, with the goal of providing a simple and low- cost platform for educational and amateur space missions. $50Sat is equipped with a basic communications system, including a UHF/VHF transceiver, a microcontroller and a simple power system. The satellite is based on a modular design, which makes it easy to modify and customize for different missions. One of the key innovations of $50Sat is the use of Commercial Off The Shelf components, such as a cellphone battery and a Bluetooth module, all of which helps to lower costs. The satellite also leverages a number of open-source hardware and software tools, making it easier for others to build their own satellites based on the $50Sat design." For more ideas on PocketQubes, see satmagazine.com/story.php?number=1780991041 [ANS] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - MARITIME An historic event Amateur Radio is about to commence from the historic warship, HMAS Vampire, located at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydneys Darling Harbour. The HMAS Vampire Radio Room team will consist of seven amateur radio operators, all ANNM Volunteers, on 7050kHz CW and 7150kHz SSB, all days except Sundays during the normal operating hours of the Museum. Listen out for the call sign VK2VMP. This new partnership with the Museum also provides an excellent opportunity for visitors to see the ship and experience the world of amateur radio. HMAS Vampire is a Daring class destroyer, which was commissioned in 1959 and served in the Royal Australian Navy until 1986. (vk2wi news) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS qcwa.org raotc.org.au Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW reminding you that tomorrow is the first Monday of the month, time for the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australia's May bulletin to go to air. This month, instead of the usual broadcast, we will offer an historical broadcast from years past by Allan Doble, VK3AMD. The usual news and information will be broadcast next month. June. Everyone, RAOTC members and non-Members alike, is most welcome to listen to the program and join in the call backs afterwards. Full details of all transmissions times and modes can be found on the RAOTC website raotc.org.au or just Google RAOTC broadcasts. If none of the transmission times suit you, you can download the audio file at any time from today from the club website. Members and Friends of the RAOTC in Perth are reminded that the next lunchtime meeting at the new venue, the Woodbridge Hotel, East Guildford, will be held on Tuesday May 9th. All are welcome, further details are published on the clubs website. Once again, tune in tomorrow for the May RAOTC bulletin, enjoy the program and please join in the call backs afterwards. 73 from Clive VK6CSW. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS - YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) facebook.com/yotaregion2 youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA twitter.com/hamyota ham-yota.com Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) was founded in 2011 by a small group of young radio amateurs in IARU Region 1. Together, they created the worlds first YOTA camp, which brought friends together for a weekend to play ham radio. This effort got the attention of IARU Region 1, and shortly thereafter, YOTA became an officially supported advocacy organization for youth in amateur radio. This idea then spread to Region 3 and Region 2 of the IARU where Youth on the Air Americas began conducting camps for and by young hams in 2020. Now a $125,000 US grant from Amateur Radio Digital Communications (ARDC) will fund YOTA Americas summer camps through 2025. In addition, the grant will allow the group to increase the number of campers from 30 to 50 in 2024 and 2025. The 2023 camp will take place in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in just a few months, July 16-21. On a closing note, a special thank you to the activators who I spent time with, including the organisers Alan VK1AO and Marty VK4KC and to those I made contact with on the air during this weekends Pillag Park Fest. For VK1WIA National News, I am Alec VK2APC in Sydney. Now back over to you Col (yota/vk2apc) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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 - MOORABBIN HAMFEST - May 6 (vk3gl) VK - WIA AGM May 13 at 10:30am AEST in Canberra A hybrid event conducted both in person and by video conference and able to be viewed on an internet streaming platform. REMEMBER WIA AGM registration link is now open. - https://tinyurl.com/3fwt78az 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*