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WIANEWS - Jul 25 - VK NATIONAL NEWS
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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK
Oh... and to contact us with your news because
If It Matters To You It Matters To Us!
email nationalnews@wia.org.au
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WIANEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING JULY 25 2010.
ALL UP AND COMING IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF
AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JULY 25 2010
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WIA Centenary Update
Share the good news and add to the growing Centenary Media File
Now here's a plea to radio clubs and individual radio amateurs involved in
getting media exposure for the Centenary of Organised Amateur Radio in
Australia.
Do please share your media hits with the wider amateur radio community to
show what has and can be achieved.
There are a few WIA affiliated clubs on the VK100WIA roster yet to file
their media report.
Doesn't matter if it's a mere column inch in a local newspaper, mention on
a website, or a feature newspaper or magazine article, radio or even
television.
Reports on news media achievements are being posted on the WIA website
under the section 'VK100WIA Club & Media Feedback'.
Thank you to the club's that have put the special callsign VK100WIA on
air. Please don't forget to file an activity report to the WIA Centenary
Committee so it can be included in the Centenary Media File.
And also a reminder that the WIA Media Kit is available on request from
all WIA affiliated clubs - whether or not they are rostered to use
VK100WIA.
VK100WIA flooding the QSL Bureaux
If you're among the thousands who have made contact with the special
callsign VK100WIA then you have qualified for its commemorative QSL card.
It will look just great on display in your radio shack showing that you
actively took part in this on air activity to celebrate the Centenary of
Organised Amateur Radio in Australia.
Being registered with the WIA membership service QSL Bureau will result in
an automatically issued card reaching you soon.
The WIA website advises that Bureaux operate in each state and the
Northern Territory.
Those radio amateurs wishing to receive their incoming cards usually make
arrangements with those Bureaux.
Another way to get the VK100WIA QSL card is by the direct QSLing method.
Before doing so please check your contact details in the online VK100WIA log.
Then send your QSL card or full QSL details with contact time and date in
UTC, plus funds or a self-addressed-stamped envelope to the WIA National
Offfice.
And the VK100WIA callsign online log is now showing around 7,000 contacts
having been made its first nine weeks of operation - so the QSL Bureaux
will be awash with cards for the special callsign.
First WIA Centenary Award issued
Quick off the mark to qualify for the WIA Centenary Award is John Fisher VK3DQ who has been presented with his award certificate personally by the WIA President, Michael Owen VK3KI. The award claim by VK3DQ had three contacts with VK100WIA, one with the WIA during May, then with the Wagga and Midland Amateur Radio Clubs in June, plus 14 WIA members to tally up the required 100 points.
John VK3DQ was absolutely delighted and considered it a real privilege and an honor to be the very first to receive the award. Michael VK3KI made a surprise visit to the home of John and XYL Jean VK3VIP in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Wantirna South on Sunday to extend congratulations and personally present the award. During afternoon tea served by the couple, John VK3DQ commented on the success of the special call sign and the Centenary Award, observing it was generating a lot of interest and on air activity.
Jean VK3VIP, who is on her way to qualify for the Award too, is looking forward being part of ALARA's turn at activating the special call sign in a couple of week's time. The first DX station to qualify is Masami Shinhaze JF6CHY. About a half a dozen other award claims received are now being checked with more certificates to be issued in the coming week.
FIRST INTERNATIONAL RECIPIENT OF CENTENARY AWARD
Further WIA Centenary Award certificates have been claimed and issued
during the past week, with more just arrived waiting verification.
The first overseas radio amateur to get the award has written with his
thanks and best wishes for the Centenary celebrations.
Masami Shinhaze JF6CHY of Fukutsu-City the capital of Fukuoka Prefecture
in Japan said, "I have the honour as the first qualified not only JA
station but also DX station.
"100 years, it's long long time indeed, and I am very interested in the
great history of the WIA. I wish you continued success and prosperity in
the future."
The WIA Centenary Committee expects the award to be popular among Japanese
radio amateurs and the DX community generally.
Looking ahead at the VK100WIA roster
Today, 25th, tomorrow and Tuesday the Townsville Amateur Radio Club intends
to have at least 36 hours of operating logged for the special callsign.
It has advised that VK100WIA will be the control station for the North
Queensland Net tonight on 3605.4 kHz from 0930UTC.
The Townsville news media has been told that the club's radio station will
be open to the public who can not only see a display of amateur radio
equipment but also ask questions of knowledgeable club members.
In the media statements too are details of what occurred in 1927 after
devastating tropical cyclone Willis.
Now that's the very first known occasion when radio amateurs provided
emergency communications following a natural disaster in Australia.
Next on the roster is the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Amateur Radio
Club, 28th to the 30th of July, operating VK100WIA mainly from member QTH's.
Then it's across to VK6 next weekend with the Hills Amateur Radio Club
opening its club station at Cannington to the public.
The Central Goldfields Amateur Radio Club, on Tuesday the 3rd of August,
will operate from the Talbot Radio, Arts and Historical Museum, with WIA
President Michael Owen VK3KI attending, but more about that on next week's
broadcast.
NATIONAL FIELD DAY - 23 OCTOBER 2010
Good Morning Trent Vk4ti here.. (cut 4 july 25) (audio supplied)
Automate that rig...
Take your time to automate as much as posible in your contesting work.
Modern software will check all ongoing during a contest and after the contest
will submit the log to the contest organisers.
No more than what is needed for modern soundcard modes are needed for
contesting in fact if you have a sound card multi mide interface you have
99% of what is needed to get that rig optimised for contest performance.
Back to the news desk.
Links to common Software
http://web.aanet.com.au/mnds/
http://web.aanet.com.au/mnds/
http://www.qsl.net/w3km/gen_log.htm
http://www.ei5di.com/
http://writelog.com/
Hello Listeners. I am peter Harding, VK4OD the WIA RD Contest Manager.
Today being the 25th July and as this news goes to air, you have about 4 weeks to check your equipment, logs sheets, and Logging Software updates.
At the bottom of the RD Contest page on the WIA website you will find the Files For Downloading, they are:- the Rd 2010 Rules, RD Introduction, Logging Data Sheets for those that are going to handwrite their logs, ( OHHH and I have increased the cell sizing to make it easier ) , Log Cover Sheet, WII Equipment Declaration Forms, all these forms are available in PDF format.
PLEASE read the rules to ensure that you enter your logs in the correct category, as last year I had several logs where I had to confirm with the operators under which category they wanted to be entered into.
Those operators that are going to be operating between 01:00 and 06:00 local be sure to check for your logs shows correct time, to accrue the extra points for that time period.
Anybody requiring any of the forms posted to them please contact me ASAP.
It is anticipated that the opening speech will run between 20 and 30 minutes, links will be available on the RD Contest page, as soon as I complete the assembly.
Until next week.
ACMA Proposes Temporary Use of 70cm.
On Monday the 19th July WIA directors Peter Young, VK3MV, and Phil Wait, VK2ASD, attended a briefing
presentation by the ACMA on the proposed re-arrangements for the 400 MHz band (403 - 520 MHz) that
includes the 70cm amateur spectrum and the UHF CBRS band.
The WIA has made written submissions to the ACMA in respect to the 70cm amateur Secondary Service
allocation, detailing amateur use of the 400MHz spectrum and expressing its concerns.
The presentation to 100 radiocommunications industry members, emergency and government users, follows
on from an ACMA paper "The Way Ahead - Decisions and Implementation Options for the 400 MHz Band,"
released in April 2010, (a copy can be obtained from the ACMA website). The ACMA's Executive Manager,
Spectrum Infrastructure Branch, Andrew Kerans, provided background to the re-arrangements and to the
series of discussion papers that have been released on this issue over the past 2 years. Of particular interest
to the amateur community, the ACMA confirmed the need for the temporary ad-hoc use of the spectrum
segment 440 to 450 MHz by affected land-mobile licensees.
Clearing out parts of the land mobile spectrum at 400MHz is necessary for an orderly transition from a 9.5
MHz to a 10 MHz transmit/receive frequency split, and those affected land-mobile users need somewhere to
go within the tuning range of their existing radios. The temporary use of the 440 to 450 MHz amateur band
will be contained to the top and bottom 500 kHz, (440-440.5MHz and 449.5-450MHz, i.e. either side of the
70cm ATV segment), and most likely will be confined to the heavily congested areas of Sydney, Melbourne
and Brisbane.
The ACMA has indicated that the temporary use arrangements could last up to 3 years.
The temporary use of 440 - 450 MHz has been utilised in the past for major sporting events and has not
resulted in any reported interference issues. The WIA will be working with the ACMA's Operations Branch
that will have carriage with the implementation arrangements.
The ACMA will be holding briefing sessions in all the capital cities and regional centres over the next coming
weeks. The WIA will have representation at most of these sessions.
WIA
President Michael Owen VK3KI president@wia.org.au
Vice President Ewan McLeod VK4ERM vk4erm@wia.org.au
Secretary Geoff Atkinson VK3AFA secretary@wia.org.au
Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA
VK0
VK1
VK2
Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club is holding its annual Winterfest August 22
at the clubhouse in Orchard Hills.
Please note this is the 22nd not the date inadvertantly broadcast
last week.
Venders and displays From Yaesu, Action Comms, ATRC, NBS Antennas and Masts,
AUZ Comms, ALARA, AMSAT, Flea Market and Boot Sales, Food and Drinks, so go
along and grab a bargain.
More information www.bmarc.org
follow the prompts to Winterfest page.
40M PORTABLE ANTENNA SHOOTOUT
Northern Rivers WICEN in conjunction with the Summerland Amateur Radio Club is holding a 40M portable antenna shootout at the SARC clubrooms on Sunday 19 September 2010
The idea behind the event is to encourage interest in HF portable and mobile operation.There won't be any overall winner as ease of use, robustness, portability Vs mobility, transportability and costs are all factors for the individual to consider.The results won't be precise signal strength measurements but will reflect the practical usability of the antenna.Participants will receive a certificate.
There ARE rules; trees and mobile whips on cars are OK, but don't think you're going to lash up to the club's antenna mast. 10Watts max and a predetermined frequency of 7075+/- to give experimenters a goal to kick towards for any pre-cutting and beam spacing. Well done to the SARC and NR WICEN and if you hear Chris VK2ACD or Duncan VK2DLR on air after the event, ask them how the event went. There will also be the pre-requisite sausage sizzle to pass time during the adjudication process, hi hi.
VK3
VK4 - QNEWS
Caboolture Show attendees learn about amateur radio
A display at the recent three-day Caboolture Show about an hour drive north
of Brisbane demonstrates what any group of radio amateurs to publicise amateur
radio.
David Brownsey VK4AFA and Mic Lohse VK4CRC set up the display using a couple
of tables to display that included a 1910 diathermy unit claimed to cure
all diseases known to mankind and some not yet identified, a replica spark
gap transmitter built by Al Shawsmith VK4SS.
To complete the display there was a modern amateur transceiver, an active
lap-top computer display of amateur satellites, plus both the WIA?s ?Calling
CQ? and ?WIA Centenary? posters ? with two knowledgeable radio amateurs on
hand to answer questions.
The manning of the display at the Caboolture Show is not a one-off, but this
pair of radio amateurs has shown strong initiative in mounting seven displays
this year.
There are other radio amateurs, clubs and groups around Australia that do
take the task of publicising amateur radio seriously, but there is room for
many more.
With the WIA posters and other readily available resources it has never been
easier to promote the wonderful world of amateur radio.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
- Help Mike get on his Bike
Here is an update on the activity that dashing aero-paramedic,
avid dx-er and all round good guy Mike VK4MSA is currently in training for.
The Big W Townsville to Cairns Charity Bike Ride will be leaving Townsville
on Thursday 29th July and finishes in Cairns on Saturday 31st July,
along the way raising funds for The Childrens Cancer Institute of Australia.
Mike has the entry fee all saved up but has to raise at least 500 dollars
for charity before he can participate in the ride - and time is running out !
So, can you help out a fellow ham who is doing something good ?
Contact Mike VK4MSA next time you hear him on air or head over to
this website to find out more and help donate !
find out more at http://www.everydayhero.com.au/michaelpaulsen
(News from the North VK4ZZ)
VK5
Cable & Connector Testing Day
31st July 2010 0900 - 1400
This will be held at the Tranmere Sea Scouts Hall, corner of Moore St and
Milton Ave, Tranmere, SA. Anybody can bring in cables which will be tested
'free of charge' for them. Then the person will be taught how to resolve
any the issues and/or how to install connectors on new cable. Further
details on http://www.sa.wicen.org.au/news/news2.php
VK6 - NEWS WEST
VK7
VK8
VK9
ACMA NEWS
EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO
Canberra Region Amateur Radio Club Foundation Course
Alan VK1WX sends word that "A successful foundation course was held last weekend 17/18 July with six foundation and two upgrade candidates.
The following foundation candidates passed their assessments,
Erin Thorncraft, Stan Jarvis, Lyndsay Sheldrick, Philip Bryne, John Ekman, Steve Stanton, also Matthew Bowman and Robert Smith successfully upgraded to Standard level.
The weekend was not without equipment problems, the projector failed after two minutes, an antenna tuner would not tune and the Yaesu FT757 lost its display.
Despite all of this plan B's went into operation and the assessments proceeded with some minor delays.
Many thanks to the team, John VK1ET, Gilbert VK1GH and Dom VK2HJ who very kindly came down from Goulburn to assist with assessments."
SILENT KEYS
Black box flight recorder inventor dies
The death of Dr David Warren brought to the close a very interesting life
of a man who developed the black box that has played a crucial role in improving
aviation worldwide.
He was born in 1925 at a remote mission station on Groote Eylandt in the
Gulf of Carpentaria, North Australia, and the first European child to be
born on that Aboriginal settlement.
In father was killed in one of Australia's earliest air disasters in Bass
Strait, and the last gift received from his dad was a crystal set.
That encouraged the young David in boarding school to build radio receivers
and enrol to sit for his ham ticket, hoping to become Australia?s youngest
radio amateur.
But this ambition was thwarted when the government imposed a ban on amateur
radio with the outbreak of World War II.
However his schoolboy knowledge of electronics led him to later to build
the world?s first flight data recorder.
Being involved in the accident investigation of the world?s first jet-power
aircraft, the Comet, in 1953, led him to advocate that there be a cockpit
recorder as a means of solving otherwise unexplainable aircraft crashes.
The idea initially raised little interest, so while the Principal Research
Scientist, Aeronautical Research Laboratories in Melbourne, he designed and
built an experimental unit that could record four hours of speech as well
as flight instrument readings.
The idea took five years to be finally accepted. Dr David Warren died aged
85.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.
An important meeting dealing with wireless broadband and medical electronics
is slated for Washington DC later this month.
The Federal Communications Commission and Food and Drug Administration will
be seeking comment on converged communications and health care devices
impact on regulation. This, at a public meeting to discuss topics related
to this issue is scheduled for tOMORROW AND tUESDAY July 26 and 27th.
According to a joint news release there have been significant developments in
recent years in medical and health care devices using radio technology to
monitor various body functions and conditions. These include including
critical care elements as well as those used to deliver treatment and therapy.
Examples of the latest implant or body-worn monitoring, therapeutic, and
treatment technologies include blood glucose monitors and automated insulin
pumps, heart monitors, pacemakers, defibrillators, and neural pathway
replacements that stimulate muscle movement. There has also been an
increasing proliferation of devices using established commercial
communication networks, including those providing
Internet connectivity to communicate with care providers.
The FCC and FDA say that they both recognize the need to work with all
providers and users of these devices to identify pathways and strive to
improve processes that will help continue to spur innovation in these areas
while maintaining safety and effectiveness and promoting public health.
Therefore the objective of this meeting is to gather information and to better
understand issues and perspectives so the agencies can identify potential
areas where each agency's jurisdiction can be identified and clarified for
affected parties. Also to gauge how the collection and assessment of each
agency's respectively appropriate information can be improved, expertise can
be shared, and regulatory approval can be coordinated and simplified.
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
SPACE News - Solar Sail Project (audio supplied)
On a "light theme" the following was sent through by Tom VK7TL and is a
fascinating look at a project where light is being used to move very small
satellites through space.
The Planetary Society is building a spacecraft that will sail on sunlight
alone by the end of 2010. The new solar sail project, boosted by a
one-million-dollar anonymous donation, is the beginning of an innovative
program that will launch three separate spacecraft over the course of several
years.
The program starts with LightSail-1, which will demonstrate that sunlight can
propel a spacecraft in Earth orbit. LightSail 2 and 3, more ambitious and
aim to reach farther into space.
Sailing on light pressure (from lasers rather than sunlight) is the only
known technology that might carry out practical interstellar flight, helping
pave our way to the stars. The project also has many practical applications
that include
Monitoring the Sun for solar storms, providing stable Earth observation
platforms, and exploring our solar system without carrying heavy propellants.
The solar sail propulsion is simple in concept. Light photons bounce onto a
mirror-like aluminized Mylar sail. As each photon hits, its momentum is
transmitted to the spacecraft.
Photons have no mass but lots of energy, so a solar sail space probe requires
no onboard fuel. The force acts continuously, meaning a solar sail can
eventually reach speeds five to ten times greater than any chemical rocket.
For more information on this fascinating project take a look at the link on
the email and internet editions of this broadcast.
http://planetary.org/programs/projects/solar_sailing/
(Sourced from the Planetary Society website via Tom VK7TL)
OPERATIONAL NEWS
SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2010
July 31 ZL Waitakere Sprint Phone 1000 - 1100utc
Waitakere Sprint Contest <zl1dk@nzart.org.nz>
Aug 07 ZL Waitakere Sprint CW 1000 - 1100utc
Waitakere Sprint Contest <zl1dk@nzart.org.nz>
Aug 14-15 WIA Remembrance Day Contest
Peter Harding vk4od@wia.org.au
Aug 21-22 International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend.
register on website illw.net
Oct 23 WIA WIA National Field Day
nfd@wia.org.au
Oct 2- 3 WIA Oceania DX Contest Phone
Tony Burt vk3tz@wia.org.au
Oct 9-10 WIA Oceania DX Contest CW
Tony Burt vk3tz@wia.org.au
NOV 20-21 WIA Spring VHF-UHF Field Day
John Martin VK3KM tac@wia.org.au
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, REPEATER BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE
5B4AHJ CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN HAM RADIO
Alan Jubb, 5B4AHJ, will celebrate his 50th anniversary as a licensed radio
amateur on October 25th. To commemorate the event, he will use the special
Cypress call 5B50J beginning this October 25th and continuing for a
year. Listen out for him on CW and SSB. QSL via 5B4AHJ, direct or via
Logbook of the World.
(ARNEWSLINE)
CROATIA
On the air, keep an ear open for Croatian special event station 9A10P to be
active through the end of the year. This, to celebrate the anniversary of
the city of Djurdjevac. A special QSL will be issued, and all QSOs will
be confirmed automatically via the bureau.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
And if you missed working ON4HIL as 9Q50ON, I the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, don't worry. Patrick will help the locals in Kinshasa get their
club station on the air and assist them in making their first QSOs as
9Q50AR. This is another special event call sign to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the
independence of the Democratic Republic Congo and will be used by different
local operators until the end of the year. A QSL Manager is expected to be
announced shortly.
(OPDX)
AO, AM, AN: Spain Soccer World Champions
The joy of a whole country will be also transmitted by radio hams through the
airwaves until July 31th.
The Spanish PTT has authorized all their radio amateurs to use these special
prefixes (AO, AM, AN) until then, at the request of EA Digital Federation.
It comes to recognize the effort of these dedicated sportsmen, its team work
and fair play, beyond winners and losers.
So, don't be surprised to see these prefixes populate our bands and feel free
to contact these callsigns - happy hams are behind them.
Thanks to all !
EA Digital Federation
http://www.fediea.org/
PORTUGAL
On the air, word from Portugal comes word that special event station CS29MR
will operate from July 12th to the 18th. This to celebrate the 29th
International Motorcycle Concentration Faro. Operations will be on 80
through 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. More information can be found on
QRZ.com
(Southgate)
AWARDS
AWARDS
WORKEDGRIDS FREEWARE APP FOR GRID SQUARE CHASERS
WorkedGrids is a freeware Windows application that displays a map showing
Amateur Radio grid squares contacted and logged using a third-party logging
program. The app was developed by VE2ZAZ, and uses colors to display
information on a per-band basis. Up to four bands can be displayed
concurrently. For its input, the program reads the plain-text ASCII log
files generated by most logging programs. The file is read at a set
interval and the worked grid squares on the map are updated in a dynamic
way as the contest progresses and the log file is periodically
saved. WorkedGrids can be downloaded from tinyurl.com/24okrtm.
(ARNEWSLINE)
A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere
July 15, 2010: NASA-funded researchers are monitoring a big event in our planet's atmosphere. High above Earth's surface where the atmosphere meets space, a rarefied layer of gas called "the thermosphere" recently collapsed and now is rebounding again.
Image not shown here ED
Layers of Earth's upper atmosphere. Credit: John Emmert/NRL. [larger image]
"This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years,"says John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19th issue of the Geophysical Research Letters (GRL). "It's a Space Age record."....
Extract and notes:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/pdf/2010/thermosphere-collapse-IL-211.pdf
The full article:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/15jul_thermosphere/
Thanks to Bob Gregory For These Items
(NZART)
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Website Address for the 440Mhz Rock Covers Band
http://www.440mhz.net/
http://www.youtube.com/user/440MHzBlackmore
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