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APRIL 3 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA


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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

http://www.wia.org.au (click news in member area) Submit your audio news

TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA

Please... If you are only submitting text and not audio, write your story as
you would expect to hear it being read back and NEVER send just links &
url's. When you upload audio email us the txt version.


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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING APRIL 03 2016.
IN OUR 21st YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS


WIA logo adorns club websites. -

WIA talks with St George Amateur Radio Society. -

WIA JMFD, double check your logs made it to Manager. -

WIA ANZAC Award Certificates now available.



THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA 2016 AND FOR WEEK OF APR 3


An Australian online retailer has offered an olive branch to the iconic
electronics brand Dick Smith.

It was believed life was over for Dick Smith, as the company went into voluntary
administration in January and closed down all of its physical stores, resulting
in thousands of job losses.

On Tuesday, Kogan.com announced it would swoop in and buy the failed company
and turn it into an online-only business. The revitalised company, purchased for
an undisclosed sum, will start on June 1 and run with a dual brand strategy
alongside Kogan.com

(Richard G4TUT)





WIA BOARD TALK

President Phil Wait VK2ASD vk2asd@wia.org.au

WIA logo adorns club websites

A number of WIA Affiliated Clubs now have the specially designed WIA logo on
their website home page, among those, Port Stephens, Oxley Region, North West
Tasmania Amateur Television Group, The Eastern and Mountain District Radio Club
and the Ballarat Amateur Radio Group.

A few clubs also use the old WIA logo with words of support and affiliation, but
are invited to consider upgrading the image with the 'WIA Affiliated Club' logo.

We remind all that the WIA logo is the copyright corporate logo of the Wireless
Institute of Australia. However, pre-approval conditional permission of its use
by WIA affiliated club websites, and individual WIA members is allowed.





WIA to talk at the St George Amateur Radio Society

The Wireless Institute of Australia has been busily advocating for Amateur Radio,
and the latest on this will be given by WIA Director Roger Harrison VK2ZRH.

He will be this month's guest speaker at the St George Amateur Radio Society, and
is part of a specialised team looking to achieve the best for all radio amateurs
both existing and future hams.

A lot is now starting to slowly emerge and it may take several years before the
new process is fully completed.

The speech is:

Everything You Want to Know About the Future of Amateur Radio in VK and Then Some

The Spectrum Reform program will see a new Radiocommunications Act. That will
mean a new licensing regime, spectrum access, use of frequencies, and the
regulation of users and applications. The entire radio communications industry
which includes the WIA representing Amateur Radio - is facing a "perfect storm"
of challenging change.

Part of the effort to better position the WIA for the future has been involvement
in the reform of the WIA office operations - a process set by the WIA Board in
2015.

The St George Amateur Radio Society clubrooms in Donnelly Park, Kyle Parade,
Connells Point near South Hurstville, is the venue for the WIA talk that starts
at 7.30pm, Wednesday April 6.





HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

VK3
web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/

Foundation Licence course in Melbourne - closes very soon

Amateur Radio Victoria will hold its very successful Foundation Licence training
and assessments on the weekend of April 9 and 10 at the Amateur Radio Victoria
office 40G Victory Boulevard, Ashburton.

To enrol please contact the Education Coordinator, Barry Robinson VK3PV
foundation@amateurradio.com.au or 0428 516 001.





Get into portable radio amateur activity

Those interested in or involved with portable activity should head to the
Brisbane Ranges National Park west of Melbourne VK3 this month. An operating
station VK3WI will be on site giving an opportunity to gain points in the Keith
Roget Memorial National Parks Award.

The aim is to use the station to demonstrate simple set up processes, first hand
operational demonstration and logging methods. The session will include
information and displays of gear for use in a variety of portable activities.

Among those helping with it are Peter VK3ZPF, Allen VK3ARH, Joe VK3YSP, Julie
VK3FOWL and Tony VK3VTH. It all starts at 10am on Sunday April 17, followed by
a free sausage sizzle at midday. To help cater for all, and details of the exact
all-weather site to be used, a register of those to attend is being gathered.
All inquiries about the Show 'n Tell are welcome and should go to Tony Hambling
VK3VTH on vk3vth@amateurradio.com.au

(Jim Linton VK3PC)





VK5

SERG in VK5 have been rebroadcasting this WIA News for many a year
and Col VK5HCF has advised us that Bill, VK5WCC who, never missing a beat in
forwarding us the number of listeners each week, has decided that it is time
for him to give it away.

Bill has done a magnificent job for a number of years now but at the age of
84+ I understand his position.

Many thanks Bill, and now Many thanks Col





VK7
vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vk7regionalnews/

VK7 NW Training News

Anyone in the North West wising to undergo training in Burnie for a licence
exam of any class are encouraged to contact David, VK7DC, either directly or
by email vk7dc@wia.org.au

Persons wishing to sit exams without training should also register an interest
so as to be slotted in to the next available exam date.

(David Cleland, VK7DC, WIA Assessor VIA VK7 NEWS)





DISCUSSION POINT

"I have had a shocking week or so."

So started of an email in from Denis VK4AE our WIA John Moyle Field Day Manager.

The John Moyle Field Day has been held and while Denis got some 80 logs submitted
and processed, the computer then "melts down."

WIA's File forwarding system, Wednesday decided to no longer to forward any logs.

Some logs are now coming but many files may have been lost or blocked.

Denis now has been able to recover 103 logs.

If you can send him a note to check that he indeed has yours that's what I'd be
doing BUT there is not even a gaureentee your email will get to him..still
worth a go!!

It's not ONLY the JMFD material lost / blocked or floating in Cyber Space
but news material in and out of the nationalnews@wia.org.au account.

Those that send material for broadcast regularly would be aware I ALWAYS
reply with a note soon as I get the story..if you did not get the note
changes are I have not received it from our ISP.

Over thae past weeks, about the same time it would seem as Denis started with
JMFD email and forwarding problems this broadcast has also been effected by not
getting emails in in a timely manner, some blocked up to 8 days1 and that
also is probably why when you read the past weeks broadcast tally sheet of
checkins many stations are not counted!

So again anything missing, please resend, both to myself for news and vk4ae
for the all important John Moyle Field Day

(vk4bb/vk4ae)





What use is an F-call?



In the normal day-to-day interaction between amateurs on air we use the
procedure to say the other station's call-sign, followed by our own.

If there's two people on-air, this is a simple way to have a discussion.



But what if there are more?

If it's informal, we tend to talk in a circle,
that is, we keep handing the microphone to the next person in the line. For
this to work, you need to remember who comes after you, so you can hand it
over to them. If you want to join in a discussion like this, say your callsign
between hand-overs and you'll be asked to join in. It's best to wait for a
whole circuit, so you know who is in the discussion and what the sequence of
people is. Again, you need to remember who comes after you.



Sometimes this descends into anyone talks to anyone, but often that means that
one or more people miss out, so be mindful of those who are sitting on the
side, they too might have something to share.

If the discussion is a more
regular occurrence, it might turn into a more formal thing, called a net.
There are many different ways of managing a net, but all of them require that
you leave some time between each over, to allow new people to check in, or for
the net controller, often the convener of the net, to manage the net.



A net can be run with a master controller. Picture it like a spoke and hub.
The controller sits in the middle like a chair person in a meeting and you
speak to the chair, they hand the microphone to the next person. So the
controller will call you and you'll call them. You only need to remember their
callsign (and yours of course). To join in, announce your callsign between
overs, and the next station should acknowledge you and if it's the controller
will invite you in. Sometimes you'll be next, sometimes you'll be added to the
list, sometimes you'll be placed where the controller thinks it fits best. If
you have urgent business, you might say your callsign with the words "with
urgent business", so the controller can hand the microphone to you sooner.



As a tip, write down each callsign, name and signal strength you hear, since
it will help you figure out who Roy is talking to, and it will help you figure
out who you might be able to contact. A station in the USA with a signal
strength 2 might not be able to hear your station, then again they might.



Each on-air discussion has its own set of conventions, or rules. It pays to
have a listen to a discussion before you barge in. If two guys are on air
discussing their personal lives, they might not want to talk to you and may
ignore you. On the other hand, they might want to hear your contribution,
since they too were new hams at one point in their life.



Have a listen to on-air discussion, be respectful, and participate. It's lots
of fun and often leads to lifetime friendships.




I'm Onno VK6FLAB







INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.


Olivier ON4EI's family escape Brussels airport bombings

Olivier ON4EI, who installed his antenna park in Ireland at the beginning of
March in order to operate during the contests from his caravan as EI8GQB and
EI1A, was awoken on Tuesday 22nd morning by a call from his wife.

She and their two 8-year-old twin daughters were running out of the Brussels
Airport after escaping the 2 bomb explosions.

They were on the way to join him in order to spend the Easter holidays with the
in-laws. They were 40m away from the second blast and saw horrible things.

They are shocked but not injured.

Olivier decided to leave Ireland on Wednesday and return to Brussels via a last
minute flight from Dublin to Amsterdam.

According to his wife, it was a question of 30 seconds to be on the list of
death or injured people.

Olivier decided to bring the whole family to Ireland via Amsterdam on Friday
25/03 in order to take time with them and with the in-laws for Easter holidays
as initially planned.

Oliviere operated EI1A during the WPX contest as possible according to the
support needed for his family and under very very windy conditions.

The participation of EI1A during the contest represented the resistance and a
beacon signal of liberty in memory of the 22 March 2016 victims.





PROMOS COSTLY MISTAKE

A ZL membership promo that was sent out to in non-members mail boxes also went to
some members, who had not paid their 2016 subscription due at the end of last
year, offering a discounted rate.
Due to time restrictions this could not be helped, therefore NZARTl honour a
promo payment amount of $50 if received.
Well done Debbie ZL2DL and all at the NZART





Rash sufferer blames phone mast

A resident of Welsh Newton in Herefordshire claims a mobile phone mast gave her
a rash.

Diana Boughton claims she has had electrosensitivity for over 15 years.

Despite being told the rash could have been caused by a medication she was taking
called Humira, she believes the rash was triggered by a phone mast 200 metres
away.

Read the full story at
ledburyreporter.co.uk/news/14372170.Woman_voices_concerns_about_phone_masts_after_she_developed_severe_skin_rash/





The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought support from ham radio
operators, who were applauded for their service during the earthquake in Nepal,
in the upcoming Assembly elections in Bengal

The Deccan Herald reports:

Amateur operators with high frequency radios will provide communications support
to EC officials in areas with negligible or zero mobile telephone network. In a
letter to Ambarish Nag Biswas VU2JFA, secretary of West Bengal Radio Club
the poll panel has asked for support during the six-phase polls in Bengal,
starting from April 4.





K1JT is Amateur of the Year

Joe Taylor, K1JT has been named as 2016 Dayton Hamvention Amateur of the
Year. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1993 for the discovery of the
first orbiting pulsar, leading to observations that established the
existence of gravitational waves.

Joe was first licensed in 1954 as KN2ITP. Since his retirement, he has
been developing and enhancing digital protocols for weak-signal amateur
radio communication, including JT65 and WSPR.



SILENT KEY
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/about/
Silent Keys are best sent to AR Magazine and your local state or club news
rather than this WIA National News Service.


Amateur Radio inspirational Elmer dies

The term Elmer is synonymous with radio folklore, but most would not know that
its origin is a reference to Elmer 'Bud' Frohardt Jr, W9DY, who passed away aged
93.

He was the specific Elmer referred to in the QST magazine 'How's DX' column in
March 1971, written by workmate Rod Newkirk, W9BRD (also SK).

It writing about his friend Bud, the term 'Elmer' was penned as someone who
helped to mentor new Amateur Radio licensees - he called them "the unsung fathers
of Amateur Radio." Before then there were radio amateurs who gave their guidance,
knowledge and experience to newcomers, but since that QST column, the word Elmer
has been used to describe them.

Bud was most proud of all the wonderful young people he has been able to interest
over the years in science, radio, DX, CW and electronics. His QRZ page describes
many of them as excellent operators, engineers, scientists, doctors or business
people.

The Illinois State Police communications technician, before retiring in 1986,
had been active in DX work since 1939, working all 381 countries at that time
from his former home in Chicago. When he moved into an antenna-restricted
retirement area in the 1995, he got his almost daily DX fix from the car scoring
326 entities.

Long live the spirit and tradition of the Elmer, which continues the tradition
of encouraging and helping others get into and enjoy our diverse modern activity.

(Jim Linton VK3PC)






Who and Where are our broadcast stations?
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/





OPERATIONAL NEWS 2016


QRP Hours contest on 9th April

The annual QRP Hours contest will run on 9th April on 80m.


Harry Angel 80 mtr sprint (WIA) Saturday 7th May.


10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 6 - 7


Remembrance or RD Contest August 13-14


36th ALARA Contest is on the last full weekend in August, Aug 27-28.



TED POWELL MEMORIAL DX CHALLENGE

The first 3 month period of the Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge for 2016 is
now closed and entries are open until 14 April.

The objective of the challenge is to work the most wanted DXCC entities based
on their ranking in Clublog's "Most Wanted" list, which is published on the
contest website. All Australian amateurs are eligible to enter and entering
is easy. You don't need to be a serious DX'er. If you've worked any DX during
January - March, head over to vk2au.org and submit an entry. The website is
tidy and easy to understand. Scroll down to the "Entry Submission" section
where you will find a number of simple ways to submit your entry.

This is a fun and relaxed challenge where you work DX in your own time over a
3 month period, unlike serious DX contests where you have to sit at your radio
for hours giving out serial numbers. It's too easy, and submitting an entry
only takes a few minutes.

This is a relatively new contest, run by the Fisher's Ghost Amateur Radio Club,
and they'd love to get an entry from you. The website again... vk2au.org

(TEXT ONLY - Peter VK2PR)





AWARDS

ANZAC Award Certificates

The WIA announced the ANZAC 100 program at its Sunshine Coast Queensland annual
general meeting in May 2014, and then kept WIA members up with the details as
they evolved. This week we will look at this in detail.

By September 2014, the world began to commemorate the 100 years since World War I
which was centred in Europe 1914 to 1918.

With that theme, several Australian commemorative events took place before
April 25, 2015, involving Amateur Radio, but the WIA program was based on
Gallipoli, and allowed all radio amateurs to commemorate this event with related
activities or individually.

Through a series of ANZAC-suffixed callsigns, one for each VK callsign area plus
the national VK100ANZAC callsign, some 50 events were held. It took in all wars,
conflicts and peacekeeping operations involving Australians.

The nation honoured the service and sacrifice of all those who have worn our
nation's uniform, including the more than 102,000 who have made the supreme
sacrifice.

The WIA ANZAC 100 commemoration encouraged all radio amateurs to also reflect
upon and learn more about Australia's wartime involvement, the costs and its
impacts on our nation.

It began on April 25, known as ANZAC Weekend, and because of the importance the
WIA asked the ACMA to have the alternative callsign prefix AX available for
48 hours.

The events began with an opening address from VK100WIA in Canberra.

Also as part of ANZAC 100, there were numerous historical stories and photographs
in Amateur Radio magazine, and items on the VK1WIA Sunday broadcast. With
electronic logs of ANZAC-suffixed callsigns now received, the four ANZAC Awards
can be issued.

These are:

The ANZAC Centenary Award, for contacting 10 ANZAC-suffixed events with
17 applications received.

Each WIA registered AX-callsign station that made a qualifying 100 points on the
ANZAC weekend are eligible for the AX ANZAC Award.

ANZAC 100 commemorative event organisers will receive an Award certificate.

Also the highest scoring participant will be acknowledged with a certificate.

(VK3PC)





SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, BEACON REPEATER AND NET ADVICE

The ARRL Awards Committee has voted to delete Kingman Reef (KH 5 K) from the
DXCC List, effective 29 March, 2016.

The total number of entities on the List will drop from 340 to 339.

Honour Roll status will now be attainable after confirming 330 entities
on the DXCC List

An entity may be deleted from the List if it no longer satisfies the criteria
under which it was added. Kingman Reef's original addition by virtue of
separate administration has changed (separate administration by the U.S. Navy
has been removed), and the reef does not meet any current criteria to remain
on the list.

DXCC members who have affirmed credit with Kingman Reef will see their current
entity totals drop by one on their DXCC awards -- including on the bands and
modes where Kingman Reef credit is given.

(sourced to SouthGate)





SOTA world wide AM activity weekend

This weekend of 1/2/3 April the SOTA community can be heard making
contacts using AM - just for fun.

Most modern radios will produce a reasonable AM signal and it is possible to
make AM contacts even with the low power that most SOTA summit activators use.

On 80m there is often good propagation supporting contacts up to 1000km for
low power stations. A SOTA activator on 80m could well make many AM contacts
after sunset.

This weekend has been endorsed as a world-wide AM activity period within the
SOTA community. So you may even hear DX AM signals.




4 S 7 KKG from Moragalla, Sri Lanka, IOTA reference AS-003, until 3rd April.
Mainly in CW and digital modes with operation on 20 to 10 metres.
QSL via DC 0 KK, via the bureau.




IOTA AS-202.
Members of Bahrain Amateur Radio Group (BARG) will be active as A 91 HI
from Hawar Island between April 28th and May 1st.
QSL via A 9 2AA.




LX 1 AM a special call sign in Luxembourg is activated through June to mark
the 95th anniversary of His Royal Highness the Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg.
Luxembourg Amateur Radio Union will be working LX1AM on single sideband
and as LX 1 EA and LX 3 X in digital modes.
There is a special QSL card that will be sent via the Bureau.




MALTA, 9H.
QRV is 9 H 3 DJ until June 1 while on a business trip.
Activity is in his spare time using mostly SSB on 17 meters.
QSL to home call K 0 MDJ.





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video
arvideonews.com
hamradiotube.com
youtube.com
qdg.org.au


New ESA Tim Peake video

A new video has been released by the European Space Agency showing a
summary of astronaut Tim Peake's Principia mission so far.

It can be viewed on
https://youtu.be/5PHpF4xnvKQ





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW
FISTS Club - East Asia www.feacw.net
FISTS Club - Australasia www.fistsdownunder.org
FISTS Club - UK & Europe www.fists.co.uk
FISTS Club - Americas www.fists.org

a memo to those who make use of the VK2WI morse training transmission on
3699 kilohertz.

On Easter Sunday some additional text was added to the memory which doubled the
previous selection. There is now about 8000 words available. The transmission
is almost continuous, being off only during the VK2WI Sunday news sessions.

The transmission serves both as a training aid and a propagation indicator.

There is a write up about these transmissions in Louis VK5EEE CW Today column
in the April issue of Amateur Radio magazine. Reports are most welcome by a
email to callbacks@arnsw.org.au

(Tim VK2ZTM)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FEMALES IN RADIO
ALARA - AUSTRALIAN LADIES AR ASSOCIATION
http://alara.org.au
Net is held each Mondays on 3.570 MHz, commencing at 1030 UTC.
(1000utc during daylight saving)

Radio ham Holly Bevan celebrates 100th birthday

Capital Gazette reports radio amateur Margaret 'Holly' Bevan N 3 MB,
celebrated her 100th birthday on March 20

In October 1942, she signed up to join the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for
Volunteer Emergency Service), which was the World War II branch of the U.S. Naval
Reserve. She was in the first group of enlisted WAVES.

Bevan took her first ham radio class in 1979 so she could communicate with her
son Michael while he was onboard a Navy ship. She explained while he was home on
leave, he told them (his parents) about ham radios and then told them he'd
signed them up to take 12-week course to learn how to operate a ham radio and
get an FCC license.

They went. "We were very obedient parents," she said.

Bevan enjoyed it and kept advancing all the way up to the "extra" certification,
which is the highest level.

Read the full story at
capitalgazette.com/neighborhoods/ph-ac-gn-kathys-people-0326-20160323-story.html

(SouhGate)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER

SA AMSAT Gets New Name

SA AMSAT has changed the SA in its name around and will now be
known as AMSAT SA. The amateur radio satellite group made the
decision to line up its name with the organisation's web address. It
was confusing having the name and web address different. It now also
follows the international trend of other AMSAT organisations.

(SARL)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- INTERNET --- THE HAMS DOMAIN
TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA
www.HamRadioNation.com
websdr.org
websdr.in


The first WebSDR in the Indian subcontinent has been established by the
South India Amateur Radio Society at Chennai.
This 40m band webSDR server can be accessed at websdr.in

email admin@siars.org.in

(SouthGate)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- QRP and WEAK SIGNAL COMMUNICATION

Interest in QRP activities is everlasting in our Ham Community worldwide.

QRP radio communications testify to the high ability of radio amateurs, and
offers advantages concerning, among others, the reduction of QRM on the bands.

Member Societies are requested to appropriate actions with reference to the
holdings of events, for example, in order to contribute to more effective use of
radio spectrum:

1) QRP Field Day;
2) QRP Contest;
3) Distribution of QRP Transmitter Kits and Reference Book; and
4) Workshop of QRP Operation.

Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP Secretary, IARU Region 3 is hoping for an even wider
appreciation of QRP and to observe QRP Day June 17 2016.

(sourced in part to NZART infoline)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS
http://www.raotc.org.au

Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW with the usual reminder that tomorrow,
Monday April 4th, the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australia's monthly News
and Information bulletin goes to air.

As well as the latest Club news, this month Ian Godsil, VK3JS, continues with
the story of graphene, that remarkable substance which has the potential to
become one of the most important and versatile materials of the 21st Century
and one likely to revolutionise the electronics industry.

Everyone, RAOTC members and non- members alike, is most welcome to listen to the
program and join in the call backs afterwards.

There are several ways to hear this broadcast.

At 0100 UTC Bill VK3BR will be beaming the program northwards from Melbourne
on 20 metres on 14.150 upper sideband for eastern states listeners.

An hour later at 0200 UTC there will be a 40 metre transmission from Perth on
7088 kHz lower sideband with a simultaneous transmission via all linked
NewsWest VHF and UHF repeaters.

In addition, numerous local relays will take place, including the new service on
various Tasmanian repeaters following their regular News Night program. To find
the times and frequencies for your area please visit the RAOTC website on
www.raotc.org.au and click on VK3OTN Broadcasts.

And remember, as from Tuesday you can download the audio file from that website.

Once again, the RAOTC monthly bulletin is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday April
4th .

73 from Clive VK6CSW.





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO
IARU REGION 3
Emergency Centre of Activity (CoA) frequencies
3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz

In the Katoomba area, over 11 days from 10 March, 20 WICEN NSW members
contributed 651 hours to the effort to locate a missing woman, Elizabeth
O'Prey.

WICEN is an association of amateur radio operators providing
communications support to support an emergency such as this search and
rescue (SAR) operation and to support community events. WICEN, now a
squad affiliated with the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA), worked
a longside NSW Police, other squads from the VRA, NSW State Emergency
Service (SES), NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS), and NSW Ambulance.

WICEN provided communications support to search teams from VRA.
Typically communications with the search teams is handled on commercial
frequencies and an amateur frequency is used as a back channel.

WICEN members worked in the search control room at Katoomba Bushfire
Control and were deployed to the field to provide remote relay points.
The skills and flexibility of radio amateurs enables WICEN to provide
communications to teams searching very difficult areas where the
infrastructure used by other services has no coverage. Reliable
communications between search controllers and the teams is essential for
the safety of the searchers and management of the search. For the first
time most of the communications were handled on DMR equipment acquired
over the last 12 months.

The lead VRA squad was the Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad supported
by WICEN, NSW Cave Rescue Squad (CRS), and general land rescue squads
from Cessnock and the South Coast.

During this search WICEN still managed to fulfill its commitment to
provide communications support for the Alzheimer's Australia Memory Walk
and Jog which is a community fund raising event and was held on 13 March
in Penrith.

If you want to find out more about WICEN have a look at the web site at
http://nsw.wicen.org.au.

(Steven VK2BOS)





SOCIAL SCENE 2016

April 2 VK4 REDFEST see Redcliffe Club Page under clubs on wia.org.au (4uh)
April 10 VK3 Darebin Park for the ARDF Day (vk3www)
April 17 VK6 HARGfest 96 Gladys Road Lesmurdie open to public 10am (vk6zms)
April 30 vk6 PerthTech (wia)
Ap-May 29-2 VK4 Clairview Gathering check Mackay ARS website. (theTARCinc)

May 7 VK3 Moorabbin & District Radio Club Hamfest, Mulgrave. (VK3GL)
May 27-29 VK9 WIA AGM this year on Norfolk Island (wia.org)

June 3- 5 VK4 Central Highlands Social Gathering Theresa Creek dam (wia)
June 4 VK4 BARCfest Mt Gravatt Showgrounds. (vk4atc)
June 11-13 VK5 VK Foxhunting Championship & SERG convention Mt Gambier(VK5HCF)

July 9-10 VK3 GippsTech 2016 Churchill (vk3pf@wia.org.au)

Aug 7 VK6 NCRG HamFest 9am Cyril Jackson Community Hall Ashfield (vk6rk)

Sep 23-25 VK4 Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM weekend
Lake Maraboon Holiday Village, near Emerald. (theTARCinc)
Sep-Oct 30-3 VK4 Cardwell Gathering Long Weekend, Beachcomber Motel(theTARCinc)

Nov 6 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am! (VK5KC)






2017

March 26 VK3 EMDRC HamFest, Great Ryrie Primary School, Heathmont (VK3BQ)







Submitting news items


A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't plug commercial
traders "on air", but we at the WIA will put your supporters in this text
edition "no worries."

If you would like to submit news items for inclusion in the
VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au
and don't JUST send url's links but take the time to pen YOUR contribution.

To submit audio read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/

Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being
broadcast in the very next edition of WIA National News. Each 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 in the 3rd person.

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WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide.

TWITTER http://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? http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/

The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to
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 are broadcast
in the spirit in which they were submitted."

Material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, a credit to
WIANews wouldn't go astray...

Who listens to radio? A weekly 'tally sheet' is sent to all rebroadcasters
and interested listeners, to get your free copy send a blank email to:-
wiabroadcasters-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.au
Put the word subscribe in the title or subject field

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.
Send mail 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 another message confirming your unsubscription from the list,
and at that point you should stop receiving messages.

National News compiled by VK4BB on behalf of the National WIA.


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The National Association for Amateur Radio in Australia
A member society of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)