January - February 2023
January - February 2023
 WIA Member Digital Edition Download
Editorial
90 Years of continuous publication!
It’s our ‘granite jubilee’! We’re going to make rather a song-and-dance of Amateur Radio magazine’s 90th anniversary.
This issue, we start with Part 1 of a two-part feature on how AR came into being. As is said on Facebook about personal relationships – it’s complicated. In the environment of the times, in which the nascent WIA had survived 20 years, the Great War, the Roaring 20s, and global depression, during which many commercial magazines catering to audiences interested in the new wireless and radio technologies came and went, it is indeed a wonder the WIA’s magazine venture got any sort of start. After all, the much better resourced American Radio Relay League’s QST magazine had an early start, only to falter during WW1. But, the ARRL picked up the threads of QST from 1919 and hasn’t looked back.
From the get-go in October 1933, Amateur Radio has maintained its presence as the WIA’s journal. The story begins on Page 12.
Notable things this issue
NB: Compromised images and photos - see below
Readers will notice a couple of things this issue that differ from AR’s past editorial practices.
Our Silent Key this issue, on pages 62-63, commemorates the passing of an amateur of notable importance – Rod Champness VK3UG. He was a frequent contributor to this magazine dating from the 1960s (he devised and conducted Newcomers’ Notebook “back in the day”), a widely known and respected stalwart of the broadcasting industry and a district radio inspector. Naturally, he was a notable WIA member.
The general practice with Silent Key pieces has been that they should not exceed 400-500 words. This is only relaxed in the case of particularly notable amateurs.
You will also notice that Rod authored a feature article on the history of Radio Australia, published in this issue. The editorial team worked with Rod on the feature’s preparation over mid-late 2022. He will be missed.
A change from past editorial practice that is designed to hang on for many years is the title block for our long-lasting VHF/UHF – An Expanding World column. From this issue, the title becomes “Spectrum Horizons”, with the hearty agreement of our columnist, David Minchin VK5KK. I commend it to the house!
Reflections on 2022
With 2022 finished and gone, we have completed a whole year’s worth of Amateur Radio magazine in its new format, six vibrant issues. Comments from readers have been positive, ranging from conservative ‘approval’ through to enthusiastic support.
The other interesting thing to note about the ‘new look & feel’ magazine is that newsagent sales during 2022 have held up, maintaining much the same sales as over 2021, with perhaps a hint of an uptick in sales numbers. I confess that I was concerned about newsagent sales as two significant things were changed with the magazine – the banner and the newsagent distribution.
The latter action involved changing the distribution so that AR was delivered to newsagents in, or close to, those postcodes where amateurs are known to live (based on a postcode interrogation of the ACMA’s Register of Radiocommunications Licences [RRL]). Better to “stick it under their noses” where AR is more likely to be seen than continue with “the way it’s always been done.”
I guess it’s not too late to wish readers one and all a Happy New Year!
Table Of Contents
General
 AGM 2023
Election of Directors
West News - Will McGhie VK6UU
How the WIA’s Amateur Radio magazine came into being - Part 1 - Peter Wolfenden VK3RV
Moonbounce musing after momentous efforts - Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
How Radio Australia reached the world - Rodney Champness VK3UG
Sporadic E – stardust propagation - Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
Technical
A Multi-Mode transmitter for the 2200 metre band – Part - Dale Hughes VK1DSH
A simple controller for bipolar stepper motors - Eric Christer VK3EAC
The PLD – a portable linked dipole - Justin Giles-Clark VK7TW
Antenna Modelling using 4nec2 – Part 5 - Gregory Mew VK4GRM and Michael Barbera
Collins S-line conservation and conversion – Job 2 - Phil Fitzherbert VK3FF
Homebrew 400 watt T-network antenna tuner – Part 1 - Luigi Destefano VK3AQZ
Compromised images and photos: Issues with the drawings and photos in this article led to compromised reproduction in both the print and digital (PDF) editions. No problems were identified elsewhere. The affected drawings are on pages 32, 34, 36, 38 and 40. Photos 1 (page 33) and 2 (page 37) are affected. The issues were in no way the fault of AR’s graphics producer, Fontana Design.
For the benefit of readers following this project, we have posted high quality images below.
WIA Members Only - Files For Download
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