2024 DECEMBER 8 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 ------------------------------------------------------------* WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y NEXT WES DIRECTOR TOB HERD ON NEWS WILL BE Giles VK5GK 15-Dec-2024 Then roster is Scott VK3KJ WIA PRESIDENT 22-Dec-2024 Peter VK8ZZ WIA SECRETARY 29-Dec-2024 Lee Vk3GK 5-Jan-2025 Chris VK3FY 12-Jan-2025 Peter VK4EA 19-Jan-2025 Steve VK2TSG 26 Jan-2025 AUSTRALIANA VK6SANTA Santa has a summer home and here in Australia, you can find him in Wangara, Western Australia, where he is in his shack, excited to have finally got his Australian callsign. It's VK6SANTA and he's making good use of it right now through to the 24th of December, yes he HAS to start delivering presents then so hop to it now and give VK6SANTA a shoutout Visit his page on QRZ.com and you'll find that Santa is eager to work local hams as well as some DX - he's on 2 metres as well as 10, 20 and 40 metres. Quoting SANTA from his qrz.com page, "I will be operating an Amateur Radio Net each day, giving children (and the young at heart) a chance to talk directly with me over the airwaves. Whether you'd like to share your Christmas wishes, ask about life here at the North Pole, or just chat with me, Santa, Id love to hear from you! The net will be operated daily from the 1st to the 24th of December with the below schedule of frequencies and times (AWST - UTC+8): 2 meters: 146.550 MHz ( QRM) Saturdays & Sundays: 16:00 - 16:30 10 meters: 28.916 MHz ( QRM) Monday through Friday: 18:00 - 18:30 Saturday & Sunday: 17:00 - 17:30 20 meters: 14.316 MHz ( QRM) Monday through Friday: 18:45 - 19:15 Saturday & Sunday: 17:45 - 18:15 40 meters: 7.190 MHz ( QRM) Monday through Friday: 19:30 - 20:00 Saturday & Sunday: 18:30 - 19:00 (newsline/qrz.com) Sands, VU2WXW / VK9WX is currently on deployment at the Giles Weather Station in Western Australia and is operating as VK6GWX. Giles Weather Station is near the Northern Territory border, about 330 kilometres west of Ayers Rock. It is the only staffed weather station within an area of about 970,000 sq miles and is situated mid-continent and near the core of the subtropical jetstream. This means it plays an important role as a weather and climate observatory for the country. So keep an ear out for Sands, (great name isn't it) VK6GWX in the foothills of the Rawlinson Ranges. ( m0oxo.com/ ) ALARA Sunday December 22 will be WIA National News Services ALARA edition. Michelle VK2AYL Linda VK7QP Lyn VK4SWE and Shirley VK5YL will be awaiting your check in that day for the news service. THE RETIRING TYPE VK4BAT Trevor Taege who is the voice of all our WIA NATIONAL NEWS and QNEWS station identifications has just announced his retirement from Radio 4GY Gympie / Sunshine Coast's mainstream breakfast show. Congratulations Trev on a job well done but you will still hear him each week announcing things on WIA such as.....> ------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS is with thanks to ARRL, DX-WORLD, eHam, Hackaday, IARU, ICQPodcast, IRTS, NEWSLINE, NZART, RAC, Radioworld.com, RSGB, SARL and the World Wide sources of the WIA. . . . Radio enthusiasts from Cornwall are celebrating the 123rd anniversary of the first radio transmission across the Atlantic this month. In December of 1901 Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi and two assistants travelled from Poldhu Wireless Station near Mullion, in Cornwall, to the Canadian province of Newfoundland. It was on December 12 that history was made, when a pre-arranged signal of three dots (the letter 'S' in Morse code) was heard by Marconi on Signal Hill at St John's, Newfoundland - having been transmitted from Poldhu. In doing so, Marconi was able to disprove the previously common held belief that radio waves could only travel in straight lines. His work laid the foundation for the development of radio, television and all modern wireless communication systems since. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) has warned its membership the impending import tariffs of the Trump administration will cause major disruptions to the cost of Amateur Radio gear due to almost all radio equipment being manufactured in Asian countries. Given the wildly fluctuating statements the US President-elect has made, ranging from 20% to 100%, import tariffs will undoubtedly make millions of products go up in cost to the American consumer and Amateur Radio will be no exception. Bart Jahnke, W 9 JJ, ARRL Director of Regulatory Affairs, has stated that "All manufacturing brands will be affected and the long list of items includes much more than radios, it will touch things like Raspberry Pi computers and Hot Spots. Expected big winners will be Canadian retailers along border states, US Hams are expected to just drive up North to such places as Toronto and buy gear there, thus avoiding the import tariff that Trump says he will impose. Jahnke said. Actually I'd take that story with a grain of salt, sourced to the online ham news service "The Dipole" out of Canada, a satirical blog at best. HiHi. The FCC has intensified its focus on the 5.9 GHz band where new rules are being finalized for the use of cellular delivery of communications to and from cars and trucks on the road. Intelligent Transportation Systems, or ITS, scored a big gain late November as the FCC voted on a proposal enabling the use of "cellular vehicle-to-everything" or C-V2X, on the 5.9 GHz band. This would establish new rules for the use of ITS within 30 MHz of that spectrum. The system is already in use by many automakers, sending and receiving messages over existing 5G cellular networks with alerts about traffic issues, weather conditions, road hazards or speeding cars. The FCC measure also sets out the technical parameters for the use of C-V2X, including power and emission limits. The system permits vehicles to communicate with roadside infrastructure and the cell phones of pedestrians, cyclists and road workers, enabling safety communications even when there are no line-of-sight warnings. In the heart of the Amazon, amidst the dense foliage and the symphony of nature's whispers, a silent revolution unfoldsone that transcends borders, defies regulations, and challenges the very essence of communication. At the centre of this enigma lies the tale of the South American satellite pirates, a clandestine network of individuals who have ingeniously tapped into retired UHF MilSat bands to extend their radio range deep into the heart of the rainforest. vapor95.com say for decades, Brazilian loggers have employed 2m radios modified with frequency doublers and directional antennas, turning the once-secret communication channels of the U.S. Navy Satcom uplink frequencies (280-310MHz) into conduits for their own purposes. Dubbed "Bolinha" or "little ball" by its users, the FLTSATCOM geo-sync satellites, once a pinnacle of military communication prowess, now find themselves unwitting accomplices in this subversive endeavour. What began as a means for Brazilian loggers to enhance their radio range has evolved into a phenomenon that spans the breadth of Brazilian society. Truck drivers, seeking superior communication capabilities in remote regions beyond the reach of traditional infrastructure, flock to these satellites. Rogue loggers, wary of authorities encroaching on their illicit activities, deploy them as covert communication channels to evade detection. Drug dealers, organized crime factions, and ordinary citizens alike have found utility in this illicit network, transforming it into an integral part of the Brazilian communication landscape. tinyurl.com/4sz6596n 820 WNYC(AM) plans to conduct an all-digital MA3 test of AM HD Radio TODAY, December 8. On the day of the test, New Yorks Public Radio's engineering team plan to drive around New York Citys perimeter in what is described as a corkscrew route. They will assess the digital signals performance in the outer boroughs of the city and then turn inward to areas like downtown Brooklyn, Manhattans Wall Street and Lower Broadway. The trip will conclude by going directly north through midtown. Representatives from the HD Radio developer will provide a vehicle and equipment to measure and record observations during the test. 820 WNYC runs 10 kW directional daytime and 1 kW directional at night. Under the test, WNYC will turn OFF its analogue transmitter and run the IBOC digital standard exclusively. Due to an ongoing Canada Post strike, mail services have been disrupted nationwide, delaying the delivery of letters, packages, magazines and other materials to and from Radio Amateurs of Canada. Delay in delivery of The Canadian Amateur (TCA) magazine is but one service effected. In a recent episode of This Week in Tech, the panel explored what is being called the worst hack in US history China's "Salt Typhoon." twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1007?autostart=false This massive cyber espionage campaign has compromised US telecommunications infrastructure, leaving officials increasingly concerned about the far-reaching implications for national security. The "Salt Typhoon" hack, first reported in October, has been ongoing for months, with some instances dating back a full year. Chinese hackers have exploited vulnerabilities in the outdated US telecom system, gaining access to the communications of high-profile individuals, including those in politics, intelligence, and law enforcement. During the discussion, the panel highlighted the challenges of securing aging infrastructure against sophisticated cyber threats. They noted that the US telecom system is built on a patchwork of older technologies, making it difficult to implement modern cybersecurity measures. This has left the nation vulnerable to attacks like "Salt Typhoon," which has allowed Chinese hackers to surveil targeted individuals with ease. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OPERATIONAL NEWS - A FELIX VK4FUQ PRESENTATION -------------- -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2024 -------------- -------------- RSGB HF CONTEST CHANGES. Not only as we have previously noted are there changes to the popular Commonwealth Contest where one change is you are encouraged to use CC rather than BERU when calling, but changes also in their FT4 series contests where there will be 12 (one per month) run, with the best nine results contributing to each entrants final score for the year. Other changes are in the 1.8MHz Contests along with Self-spotting Self-spotting will be permitted on a trial basis in 2025, for both assisted and unassisted entrants in all RSGB HF Contests and using all modes. I suggest if you do participate in RSGB contests to visit rsgb.org and brush up on the 2025 rules of engagement. tinyurl.com/2tm4tdbf (rsgb) SOUTH AFRICA Still looking at changes in world-wide activity although the SARL has five VHF/UHF operating trophies they have but ONE HF operating trophy. At their Council meeting on 22 and 23 November, it was decided to add TWO new HF operating awards - Council is now busy finalising the criteria for these awards. (sarl) ------------------- ARRL 160 METER CW ON NOW It is ALWAYS the first full weekend of December. Beginning 2200 UTC Friday, ending 1559 UTC Sunday. This is a forty-two hour period with no time limitation. Logs MUST be returned within seven days (arrl) ------------------------ 10 METER ARRL CONTEST For Amateurs worldwide to exchange QSO information with as many stations as possible on the 10 meter band. Second full weekend of December. Starts 0000 UTC Saturday; runs through 2359 UTC Sunday (December 14-15) Again as in most ARRL Tests logs are to be completed and returned within 7 days. (arrl) -------------- YOTA CONTEST Youth on the air test 3 of 3 will be from 10:00 to 21:59 UTC on 29 December on the five classic bands CW and SSB. (yota) -------------------------------------------------------------------- DX WINDOW TO THE WORLD. Our I.A.R.U. celebrates its centenary in 2025. Since its founding in Paris, France, IARU has worked tirelessly to promote innovation in amateur radio and to encourage the growth of the service in communities throughout the world. VI 100 IARU is a special event callsign transmitting from VK3 to help celebrate the IARU Centennial. qsl via MO 0 OXO (qrz.com) ---------- XMAS IN ENGLAND The Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club are once running the special callsign GB 0 MC until 26 of December. The MC in the callsign stands for Merry Christmas. The Club would like to invite you to call in and give them a hearty HoHoHo and tell them what radio equipment you would like from Santa this year. The Club will also be livestreaming on its YouTube Channel youtube.com/@humberfortressdxarc (rsgb) -------------- Listen throughout the rest of the year for the special callsign 9 A 1 RKZ marking the 100th anniversary of the Radioklub Zagreb which was founded the 24th of March 1924 in Croatia QSL via 9A1ADE. (ARNewsLine 2410) ------------- AUSTRIA OE100RADIO [OSCAR-ECHO-ONE-HUNDRED-ROMEO-ALPHA-DELTA-INDIA-OSCAR] is active until the 31st of December celebrating the 100th anniversary of beginning of regular radio transmissions in Austria in 1924. The station has heard recently on the 40m band using CW. QSL via the Bureau. (gb2rs) ------------ Y The Radio Club des Ardennes, ON4RCA, will be on the air as OO 8 BB now through to the 15th of December, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. QSLs can only be requested via Club Log's OQRS until the 31st of January 2025. (newsline 2455) ------------- Y In the World of DX, be listening for members of the Zurich City Police Radio Amateur Club who have been operating as HB 2 SP the club is marking its 20th anniversary. NO Bureau QSL's but you can use Logbook Of The World, and HB20SP runs until months end, December 31. (sourced to ARNewsLine 2410) ------------------- Y Special callsign HB 50 VC is active until 31 December celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Swissair Amateur Radio Club, HB 9 VC. A growing trend these days is that QSL cards will not be provided but QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World. You can also download a certificate for working this special event station from the link we like in the text editions of WIA National News tinyurl.com/HB50VC-24. (rsgb) ------------------------------------------------------------* 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/ https://bunkersontheair.wixsite.com/october23 Organisers will be watching the weather forecast in the days between Christmas and the New Year to see what day is most suitable for the return of Gaulfest, a SOTA tradition first held in 2003. Over the years, the event's purpose has become one-half SOTA and one-half social. Since the beginning, activators have set up operations on summits in the Shropshire area or on summits near the border of England and Wales, staying close enough to one another for a convenient meet-up afterward in Church Stretton for coffee and cake. Organisers Tom, M1EYP, and Jimmy, MHGY, are hoping for a turnout that even attracts SOTA first-timers. They expect lots of opportunities for summit-to-summit contacts. If you wish to participate, Tom advises following the discussion thread on the SOTA Reflector to coordinate with other activators as to which summits everyone is going to be on. By the way, Tom explains that the name for the event actually originates from the ancient name for Wales: "Pay de Galles" - but someone misspelled it when the first SOTA event was launched. Gaul - spelled "G A U L" was actually the name for a region of western Europe. Tom said no one ever bothered to correct the mistake and so the name Gaulfest simply became permanent. (newsline 2457) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FAITH. In anticipation of Christmas, special event stations 4 X 8 X from the Latrun Monastery and 4 X 9 X rom the Yardenit Baptismal Site will this weekend 6-8 December. Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient overlooking the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 25 kilometres west of Jerusalem whilst Yardenit is situated on the banks of the Jordan River in which Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. 4X9X will be followed by 4 X 7 X from the Abbey of the Dormition on 20-22 December. All QSLs via 4 X 6 ZM. A certificate will be available: iarc.org/xmas2024. (425 dxnews) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org Consider this: It is now four decades ago that astronaut Owen Garriott, callsign W5LFL, pioneered amateur radio communication from space. He was a crewmember on the space shuttle program's STS-9 mission. During that space shuttle flight in 1983, Garriott became the first ever person in space to communicate with amateur radio operators on the ground. He was also the first person to be heard directly from space by members of the public using simple radio receivers and scanners. That event transformed astronaut communications from space, forever, allowing amateur radio operators and the public to communicate with people in space. But don't change that dial! Much more is coming in terms of amateur radio and the International Space Station. tinyurl.com/2xtduash (space.com) IM-2. Intuitive Machines second CLPS lunar mission, IM-2, carries the Nova-C lander (Athena) and is now targeting a launch in February. IMs first CLPS mission landed, albeit roughly, on the Moon in February this year, becoming the first soft landing on the Moon by a private company (and the first American landing since Apollo 17 in 1972). For IM-2, IM is seriously upping their game, with multiple rovers and hoppers on board and a target of the Moons south pole in an area around 89S where water ice could be within the range of the landers 1 meter Honeybee Robotics TRIDENT drill. (orbitalindex.com) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - INTERNET, THE HAMS DOMAIN In a fascinating and disturbing segment on a podcast from Security Now, twit.tv/shows/security-now/episodes/1002?autostart=false the hosts exposed the inner workings of a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign by Russian state-sponsored hacking group known as Fancy Bear. Using an exploit dubbed the "nearest neighbour" attack, the hackers were able to breach the Wi-Fi network of their target organization from thousands of miles away by compromising an organization located in a building physically adjacent to their ultimate target. BUT here's where it gets even more devious - the hackers had previously obtained the credentials to log into the target's Wi-Fi via password spraying attacks. Once on the network, the attackers moved laterally, searched for key data, and exfiltrated it back to Russia. They relied heavily on "living off the land" techniques, utilizing common Windows tools to help cover their tracks. As Steve explained, this attack demonstrates that a sufficiently motivated adversary with enough time and resources can find a way to penetrate almost any network. (twit) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA iota-world.org/ AS-140 S21DX DHAL CHAR ISLAND Dhal Char is the southernmost island of the Bhola district in Bangladesh. The island has attracted the attention of researchers, environmentalists and tourists alike for its unique position as one of the country's remotest permanently inhabited islands, far out in the Bay of Bengal. It also one of the most threatened pieces of land in the world as a result of rising sea levels. The S21DX IOTA AS-140 DXpedition is scheduled for 13-19 December 2024. s21dx.org/ (dx-world) ----- 7X7N MARQUESAS ISLAND OC-027 The Marquesas Islands are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia. Word is that the DXPedition to Marquesas is underway with their 700kg maritime crate on board the ARANUI, a mixed cargo ship which is heading for Hiva Oa, arrival scheduled for December 16. They are preparing 17 radio bags that will travel with them by plane to carry transceivers, amplifiers, EME equipment, microphones/headsets, mains power supply, antenna analyser, multimeters etc. The antenna installation team will arrive on January 3, the other Operators will arrive on January 11. tx7n.com (dx-world) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS - YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) WIA committee:- Steve VK6SJ, Alec VK2MV and Pete VK2LP. ham-yota.com/category/yota-region-3/ facebook.com/groups/YOTAOC/ youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA EIGHT students from Kairi State School are now Australias youngest amateur radio operators after they competed in the largest amateur radio contest in the world. The Year 5 and 6 students took part in the CQ Worldwide Radio Contest and contacted a total of 31 different countries with the help and mentoring from the older amateur radio operators from the Tableland Radio and Electronics Club. To the sound of CQ Contest. CQ Contest. This is Victor, Kilo, Four, Kilo, Sierra, Sierra, the students belted out their identifier club name to make radio contact to countries from Alaska to Ogasawara Island. In the previous years competition, Kairi State School Amateur Radio Club came in at 4th in Australia in their category. However, the competition conditions this year were more challenging due to high solar winds and geomagnetic activity. Since the inception of Kairis school radio program, they have gone from strength to strength, winning the 2022 Encouragement Award in the Queensland State Finals of the Resilient Australia Award. The school library now has a fully functioning radio in the school library. theexpressnewspaper.com.au/conversations-from-another-world-2024-11-29 (the Express) --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024 IT'S A DATE Clubs are welcome to email 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 TODAY Brisbane VHF Group Showcase Day December 8 at Redcliffe and District Radio Club. (VK2ZRH) 2025 VK7 - REAST CAR BOOT SALE January 19 @ 11 am (vk7news) VK - Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association 50th anniversary Glen Waverly July 26 president@alara.org (vk2ayl) VK4 - GOLD COAST AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY 2025 HAMFEST NOV 9 (vk4dmh) Country Paradise Parklands 231 Beaudesert Nerang Road. 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*