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MAY 21 2017 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA


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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK

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Email nationalnews@wia.org.au

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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING MAY 21 2017.
IN OUR 22nd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS


WIA tries out on line trial exams. -

WIA Volunteer Charter finalised and available for download. -

WIA NEWS Report for Saturdays AGM and open forum.


THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA 2017 AND FOR WEEK OF MAY 21




PULSE TAKEN

Pulse FM is a youth community radio station serving the Kingsborough and
Huon Municipalities in Tasmania and operates several LPON stations to cover
the region.

Last weekend, the Pulse was taken - by -- WannaCry that infamous new strain
of ransomware malicious software that encrypts a computer's files and then
demands payment to unlock them.

It destroyed all the station's data including documents, videos and pictures.

Pulse FM was launched on the 8th of April 2016 while broadcasting from the
Kingborough Council Colour Festival on Kingston Beach.

Pulse FM is often found broadcasting live at the Kingston weekly Rotary Market,
as well as other local events.

Now another remarkable thing about the Tassie Pulse FM Network is its General
Manager Josh Agnew, Josh is but 12 years of age!!

Josh did NOT pay the Ransome and already is" back on air."

It would seem Australia fared well in this latest cyber-attack with only a
half dozen companies falling victim.

https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/ransomware-infects-narrowcast-radio-station

http://www.pulsefmtas.com.au/





Perth rail comms upgrade gathers steam

The Western Australia state government is progressing its plan to upgrade the
radiocommunications system for Perth's urban rail system by issuing a request
for proposal.

Five short-listed companies will be asked to respond to the RFP, after the
Public Transport Authority (PTA) called for and evaluated expressions of
interest earlier this year.

The $120 million project will see the current analogue radiocommunications system
replaced with a modern digital system.

It will involve installing new towers and poles with new digital-friendly
infrastructure. It will be at the forefront of technology, allowing the PTA
to take advantage of modern applications.

All radio devices in trains, security vehicles and handheld radios for mobile
staff will be replaced with new equipment.

The contract will be awarded early next year.

criticalcomms.com.au/content/radio-systems/article/perth-rail-comms-upgrade-gathers-steam-1178695571


( Critical Comms )





QB50 IN SPACE

Back some 5 weeks ago on WIA National News Paul ex VK5FPAU who now lives in the
USA and sent us the story of the 3 "nanosatellites" developed in Australia as
part of a research project involving Australian universities under the
European-funded project, QB50 an international network of 50 CubeSats.

Following on with more on that exciting news comes further from Cameron VK2CKP.

Australian Made Satellites Awaiting Deployment from the ISS

In the early hours (0111 AEDT) of the morning of Wednesday 19th April 2017,
an Orbital ATK Atlas V rocket complete with the S.S. John Glenn (a Cygnus
Supply Vessel) lifted off from the SLC41 Pad at Cape Canaveral. As part of the
3459kg of cargo lay the hopes and dreams of 28 of the teams involved in the
international QB50 (see footnote 1 in this story) cubesat project including the
three satellites designed built and tested in Australia - the first in 16 years
and only the 4th, 5th and 6th in Australia's history.

These three satellites were built by academics and students from
the following universities:

AU01(SUSat)2 - University of Adelaide in collaboration with the University of
South Australia.

AU02(UNSW-EC0)3 - University of New South Wales

AU03(i-INSPIRE II)4 - University of Sydney in collaboration with the Australian
National University and the University of New South Wales

Each of these satellites carry a specified QB50 scientific payload as well as a
number of other in-house and co-contributor payloads. Command and Control
typically utilises the 70cm amateur band after the IARU declared restrictions
(footnote 5) to 2m spectrum for future satellite missions.

Frequency coordination was undertaken by the IARU (imagine the work involved in
that task alone for the 52 proposed satellites forming the entire project)
which provided dedicated single point of contact for the entire project.

In Australia, the university teams reached out to the wider amateur radio
community for technical support and guidance. In the case of the AU03 team
from the University of Sydney, they were fortunate enough to have a former
staff member, Dr Tony Monger - VK2KZ, a licenced amateur available to provide
guidance and assistance.

Through various contacts, Dimitris Tsifakis - VK1SV/VK2COW, a staff member at
the Australian National University in Canberra, volunteered to provide ground
station support for the team from the ANU's 'Blue Wren' ground station.

For the AU01 team, University of South Australia staff member Bill Cowley VK5DSP
provided assistance and guidance.

The author's (VK2CKP) involvement with the AU02 initially came about in
responding to an enquiry regarding amateur radio operator licencing for
ground station operations which since September 2015 has seen 14 candidates
licenced and another 11 potential candidates currently studying for their
assessments. Similarly, at the ANU, there are four students and staff about
to sit their exams to obtain an amateur radio licence, in order to be able to
operate the ground station. In addition, technical advice to the UNSW
BLUESat's6 team (who were co-opted to provide the ground station and associated
operators) on groundstation configuration, implementation and commissioning
as a result of a severely neglected ground station at the UNSW's Kensington
Campus was provided which has seen this ground station returned to full
operational capability with plans for future expansion.

After a successful docking operation to the ISS on the Saturday afternoon
(2239 AEDT) following the launch, the teams now wait anxiously for their staged
deployment (which is to occur in multiple waves due to the number of satellites
involved which requires multiple ISS air-lock events). At this stage, all
satellites are scheduled to be placed in orbit commencing with the first round
of deployments successfully occurring on 16th May 2016 @ 0825 UTC however the
deployment times and dates for the Australian Satellites are not yet declared
at the time of writing.

7

Obviously, there is still a long way to go before 'mission success' is claimed
however with each small step that goal gets closer as the residual risks reduce.
The teams will need to establish communications with their satellites (which
history shows is 'easier said than done'), undertake orbit stability
(detumbling) manoeuvres, start and stablise all on-board systems, begin their
scientific missions (which includes uploading new experiment requirements and
downloading experiment results) before spontaneous de-orbiting of their
satellites in approximately 1 to 1.5 years time.

With STEM appearing to be the buzzword of the decade, what greater example of
the alignment and collaboration of amateur radio and STEM 'at work' could there
be than the reintroduction of Australian students back to space whether it be
through cubesat development or the Off World Rover competitions. Who knows
where amateur radio can next be used in supporting education and technology?

We already know - the sky is not the limit!

So, over to you - What would you like to see as the next amateur radio related
payload on the next Low Earth Orbit satellite built in Australia?

(Submitted by Cameron McKay VK2CKP with contributions from Tony Monger VK2KZ,
Dimitris Tsifakis VK1SV/VK2COW and Bill Cowley VK5DSP.


1 - www.qb50.eu
2 - https://www.itr.unisa.edu.au/itrusers/bill/public_html/QB50/QB50_Comms_Payload.html
https://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/students/wiki/projects/index.php/Projects:2015s1-01_LaunchBox
3 - http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/QB50
4 - http://sydney.edu.au/inspire-cubesat/project/index.shtml
5 - http://www.iaru.org/uploads/1/3/0/7/13073366/satellite_frequency_coordination_in_the_two.pdf
6 - http://bluesat.com.au/
7 - https://ukamsat.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/qb50-iss-cubesats-deployment-and-radio-information.pdf







WIA BOARD TALK

WIA tries out on line trial exams

The Wireless Institute of Australia has been working toward some on line
assessments for some time and has introduced a trial exam system as a
'proof of concept' exercise.

There are currently two trial theory assessments at the Standard level
and in future these will include a couple of Advanced theory assessments.

The trials are on the Assessor Information System website

http;//www.silvertrain.com.au

and for the log-on and process details check out the WIA website

http:// www.wia.org.au

The latest version of the flash player is needed.

Eventually the final version of the theory assessments exams will be put on
the WIA website and programmed in HTML5.

This trial is only to prove the process. However, the assessments are similar
in content faced by candidates for the Standard assessment making them ideal
practice. There have been some initial results reported by Fred Swainston VK3DAC
with more than 70 registering for access in the first 48 hours.

Some 16 of them are Foundation Licensees looking to upgrade, and interesting
four registration did not have a callsign, and after contact are looking to get
into Amateur Radio.

There are also six Standard Licensees waiting for the trial Advanced assessment
that should appear by June. The remaining are already Advanced Licensees just
looking at the trial.

Many favourable comments have been received and it continues





Volunteer Charter finalised and available for download
Date : 17 / 05 / 2017
Author : Roger Harrison - VK2ZRH

Development of a Charter for WIA Volunteers was agreed and announced by the
Board in 2016. A draft was developed, based on principles defined by the
community-based non-government organisation (NGO) Volunteering Australia.

The Board reviewed the draft Volunteer Charter in October 2016, which was then
circulated to WIA Committee volunteers in November for their feedback.

Following revision, a second draft Charter was released in January 2017
to the Amateur Radio community at large for comment. This consultation round
finished at the end of February.

The finalised WIA Charter for Volunteers is now available for download
from the 'Information about the WIA' web page, at this Link

http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2017/20170517-1/index.php

(text edition of news only)





WIA National News Broadcast

Report on News for Saturdays AGM and open forum

Among all the reports which have been available several weeks on the wia.org.au
site is this one on the WIA News Service, I prepared earlier!


"We again this year thank our readers and listeners; without you there would be
no need for a myriad of volunteers who put the weekly news to air each and
every Sunday.

To our call-back operators who take the time to forward to
nationalnews@wia.org.au the number of check-ins each week; to the various
clubs and individuals up bright and early transmitting the audio files; to the
writers and particularly those who take the time to voice their reports thanks
for your input.

With one notable exception, material is edited, in the main, to try and adhere
to a 30 minute bulletin.

I thank you all for your dedication, effort and understanding.

Much has been written in the main stream media about so called 'fake news'.
I believe the VK1WIA News broadcast has been successful in reporting the
real news rather than manufacturing fake news.

There have been items in some Ham publications questioning why we are having
a complete board election this year, and claiming that the WIA news is
censored.

The WIA news is not censored by the WIA Board. Yes, lies were told and then
re-circulated, and several emails to the 'perpetrators' asking to 'desist'
went unanswered.

Let us all hope this situation is well behind us now, although I tend to think
no matter WHO are elected there will be those who will never be happy.

(A bit like one club member who wanted his HamFest plug given the same spot
5 minutes into a broadcast that he figured we gave a VK2er because he was
a WIA Director).

On HamFest material, over many years, the Wyong Field Day promotions on this
newscast show the way it can be done. Each week new recordings contained
something new. Each week the expanded text editions also highlighted their
commercial traders, which, to adhere to ACMA regulations, could not be aired
on the Broadcast.

Those members elected to the new WIA board this weekend have a lot to live up
to as far as supplying the ham radio operators of VK the latest "No Spin" news.
So I'll finish this year's report with a BIG thank you to regular reporters,
Jason VK2LAW, Bryan VK3GR, Robert (retired WIA Director) VK3DN and Felix VK4FUQ
and to Jim VK3PC - last year's WIA Secretary, Phil VK2ASD - WIA
President, and Roger Harrison VK2ZRH - WIA Director, for regular input not only
on WIA material but amateur radio operating in general.

RFCheckins this year:- Close on 38 Thousand

VK1 = 944
VK8 = 1336
VK3 = 3375
VK7 = 4709
VK2 = 5428
VK5 = 5938
VK6 = 6950
VK4 = 7310


Including the downloads RF and interweb editions of National News a total
reach of close on 115 Thousand


Walking a little louder than usual. I'm GraHam VK4BB, WIA NEWS EDITOR





The ACMA looks ahead

Among the many pages we call the Federal Budget is expenditure and plans set by
the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The ACMA is budgeting for total expenditure of $93.7 million.

Among its work is the regulation of broadcasting, radiocommunications,
telecommunications and online content - under four pieces of legislation.

The ACMA supports and encourages an innovative communications sector,
works closely with stakeholders in a regulatory framework, safeguards public
interest, and meet the needs for spectrum access.

VK3PC Jim Linton tells us that ACMA are looking at spectrum planning and
interference management services for the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The ACMA also has the reform of the current Radiocommunication Act.

The document entitled 'entity resources and planned performance,' sets
out a series of outcomes and target performance.





DISCUSSION POINT
( text only audio at http://www.wiaq.org.au/ftp/vk4_qnews_32.mp3 )

Hello, I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking.

A long time ago, the fantasy land of Hollywood made a film which
took the world by storm. It was an allegory where the main characters
felt they were not adequate because they lacked certain characteristics.
As they joined together and travelled the Yellow Brick Road, they
learned to appreciate what they had.

Now I have a vision of what I want as the annual get-together is winding
to a close in Hahndorf.

I would like there to be courage to face the future for our new board of
the Wireless Institute to go to further and better places.
The courage to faithfully take amateur radio into the homes, the schools and
the clubs. The courage to advocate for our hobby at home and abroad without
acrimony and with fairness for all amateurs.

I would like the vision to include the intelligence to seize new opportunities
and to settle disagreements. I would like to see thoughtful discussion and
fruitful outcomes and I would like minds to grasp the challenges that are
in front of the management of our hobby. I would like to see a progressive
and respectful attitude to settle over this land.

I would like there to be a joy in the adventures that amateur radio can provide.
I would like people to know the warmth of a tear on their cheek as they feel
the movement that is world wide amateur radio. I would like people to feel
they belong.

And like Dorothy, the great fantasy that ends at the end of the Yellow Brick
Road is the knowledge that there is no Wizard and the magic lies in us.

If the amateurs have learned from the journey, there is hope ahead and sorry,
there is no Wizard of Oz.

I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think....how about you?





INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, WIA Local News Service VK7, VK3PC and the WW
sources of the WIA.

Less than a week ago, the top news story among the headlines on the Belize
Amateur Radio Club website was about....the Belize Amateur Radio Club!

Amateur Radio Newsline, in a story by WIA News Editor Graham VK4BB, tells
after much waiting, the ham radio group received its hard-won admission into
the International Amateur Radio Union in an overwhelmingly positive vote
77 member societies voting yes to membership status, where only 55 votes were
needed.

Although IARU membership is new to this club, the group adopted the same
name of an organization that previously belonged to the IARU but no longer
exists. Now the right to membership in IARU Region 2 rests exclusively
with this Belize club, after IARU officials determined the group met
requirements established by the IARU constitution and its bylaws.

The club's website, barc.bz proudly displays the IARU press release,
issued the 11th of May, announcing the club's new official status.

According to its website, the club was established in 2015 to promote
technical education, encourage wireless experimentation and advance
international partnerships. Speaking of partnerships, the Belize club's
admission into the IARU makes it one of 167 member societies involved in
this ever-widening global community.





Glenn Baxter, ex-K1MAN, SK; Engaged in Protracted Enforcement Battle with FCC

Glenn Baxter, ex-K1MAN, of Belgrade, Maine, died on May 5. He was 75.

In 2014, Baxter ultimately lost his battle to retain his Amateur Extra class
license when the FCC dismissed his long-standing renewal application, citing an
unpaid $10,000 forfeiture stemming from violations over a period extending back
several years.

Baxter was originally licensed back in 1956.

Over a period of decades, Baxter a licensed professional engineer in Maine
and Illinois ran afoul of the FCC stemming from complaints of malicious
interference resulting from his program-length AM transmissions under the flag
of his self-styled American Amateur Radio Association.

Baxter's transmissions included, news, interviews, commentaries, and
rebroadcasts of ham radio news produced by others, including ARRL, with which
Baxter also had feuded.

K1MAN also had a series of identifications voiced by a VK4 Ham back just prior
to QNEWS starting in VK4 in '95





"Frequency," "Last Man Standing" TV Shows QRT

Hollywood Reporter reports that The CW television network has pulled the plug
on the Amateur Radio-themed show "Frequency," which stars Peyton List as
young police detective and radio amateur Raimy Sullivan.

"Frequency was a combination of two of the season's most popular trends:
time travel and movie reboots," Hollywood Reporter said, noting that the
show had been averaging 1.5 million viewers.

"Frequency" has joined ABC's "Last Man Standing," starring real-life radio
amateur Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, KA0XTT, in providing Amateur Radio some
small-screen exposure, albeit fictional.

News on May 10 from Variety is that ABC has now cancelled "Last Man Standing"
after six seasons. Occasional scenes on "Last Man" showed Allen's character
at his ham station.

The program's producer is John Amodeo, NN6JA, and real-life Amateur Radio
special events have been staged from the show's Hollywood set.

Now the question is..who gets Tim's Rig?





THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED.

MP3 changed the way we listen to music, as we shifted from bulky Walkman's to
compact digital listening devices.

But the digital audio encoding format has now been officially confirmed as dead
-- by the people who invented it.

The Fraunhofer Institute officially terminated its licensing program for
certain MP3-related patents, in a move widely interpreted by tech experts as
MP3's "official death warrant".

Yes, you can still listen to MP3 files

While the move is fairly symbolic you can still use MP3 files if you want to
the removal of support for the format signals an official shift in the industry.

Better quality formats that offer more efficient compression and more
functionality are now the standard.

These days, most state-of-the-art media services such as streaming or TV and
radio broadcasting use modern ISO-MPEG codecs, such as the AAC [Advanced Audio
Coding] family, or, in the future MPEG-H.





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





HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT

All major Australian contests, rules and results, are on the
Contest Section of the WIA website.

wia.org.au/members/contests/about



2017

Jan 1 - Dec 31 The Victorian Local Government Award 2017 Challenge


VK SHIRES June 10 and 11.

Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest 160/80/40 Saturday night July 15 and Start Time
is 08:00 UTC and finish time is 14:00 UTC


10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 5 - 6

VK1 Winter SOTA QSO Party takes place August 6th 2017 9:00 am till 11:30 am.

WIA's Flagship contest the Remembrance Day Contest 12th & 13th August

Aug 19-20 ILLW the 3rd full weekend in August since 1998

Aug 26 ALARA Contest Start Time 1600 this is a 24 hour Contest for YL's

IARU High Speed Telegraphy world championships are 8th to 12th September.

October CQ WW DX / SSB CONTEST (always Octobers Last full weekend)

Running ALL year 'til Dec 31 Victorian Local Government Award 2017 Challenge




2018

John Moyle Memorial Field Day will be held over the weekend of the 17th-18th
March 2018 and will run from UTC 0100 on the Saturday until 0059 on the Sunday.

IARU HF Championship event on 15 and 16 July 2018.






The Frontenac Amateur Radio Club Canada will be sponsoring the special event
call sign XM 3 CARF to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the
Canadian Amateur Radio Federation (CARF), which was founded in 1967.

CARF was Canada's first successful national amateur radio society and existed
between 1967 and 1993, when it was amalgamated with the Canadian Radio Relay
League to form the Radio Amateurs of Canada.

XM 3 CARF will be active on SSB, CW and various Digital Modes throughout the
month of June, and will sign off shortly after the RAC Canada Day Contest on
July 1st.

AND Canada continues to celebrate its 150 years

The Radio Amateurs of Canada IARU member society reminds us that radio amateurs
in Canada can be heard using optional callsign prefix's to celebrate Canada 150.

All VA callsigns may use CF, while VE can be CG, VO becomes CH and VY is CI.

These prefixes are automatic, optional and available to the end of December.





DXCC reinstatement of Midway and Kure islands.

On 31 March the ARRL announced that Midway and Kure Islands had been placed
on the list of DXCC deleted entities.

"The stated reason for this action," the ARRL reported on 11 May, "was because
of changes in the administration resulting from changes in Papahanaumokuakea
Marine National Monument", which includes Midway and Kure.

"After further review it has been found that the deletion of these two entities
is not supported by the changes that were made to the relevant administrations.
Therefore, the deletions from the DXCC list should not have occurred and the
two entities, Midway Island KH4 and Kure Island KH7K, will return to the
DXCC list as separate entities".





Indian Ocean 6M EME DXpeditions
Lance, W7GJ, will be active from the Indian Ocean to focus on 6 meters EME QSOs.
West Island/Cocos Island as VK9CGJ between September 12-28th.
Christmas Island as VK9XGJ between October 2-18th.





Franz Josef Land

Members of the Russian Robinson Club (RRC) are planning their next Arctic
operation.

Look for RI 1 F to be active from Victoria Island (EU-190) sometime late
September (26th or 27th was mentioned). This island group has never been
activated.

Activity will be on various HF bands. They plan to have up to 12 operators.

QSL via the Bureau.





Francois FT 3 YL is on Dumont d'Urville Research Station,
Petrels Island in Antarctica for a one year stay. He has been issued with the
callsign FT 3 YL which is valid from 1st December 2016 until 1st February 2018.
He will be on the air when possible during his spare time and his QSL Manager
is F6KPQ.



Rotarians of Amateur Radio (ROAR) in Australia have hit the HF bands for
3 months from 26 February to May 26, with the special event callsign VI 100 TRF.
This to highlight the Rotary Foundation's work over the past 100 years.




Marc, ON 5 SM is transmitting as DU 9/ON 5 SM from Mindanao in the
Philippines, OC-130, to the 24th of May. Activity on 80 to 6 metres
using SSB, SSTV and various digital modes.
QSL to home call, ON 5 SM.





VK SHIRES CONTESTING

Now some more ideas for the VK Shires QSO 2017.

The VK Shires QSO Party is not a WIA Contest but they kindly provide access
to the WIA WEB Site.

http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/wavks/

VK Contest tips Number 1 :

Read the rules - this new concept has many implications - beware of sub rules -
for example the WIA has General Rules for contests as well as the rules of
individual contests.

What is stopping you, during the midnight to dawn yawn, running Keyers on more
than one rig - what is stopping you running more than one rig on the same band
in different modes? What is stopping you ?

Do the rules in the VK Shires, the RD, the JMMFD, the VHF/UHF Field Days
prohibit it ?

The VK Shires is on in four weekends time; get ready to have fun on the
low bands; 80 and 40M will be where it is happening. In 2016 VK6POP made up
a two element 40M array for the East Coast to great effect - What could be your
secret weapon?

This has been Trent VK4TS "





REPEATERS

Peter VK4OD looks after the Data input on the VKHAM Website for all of the VK
repeaters, the data there is only as accurate as is received from your
repeater personel.

Recently VK4OD was asked to update the data for the Bribane VHF group Beacons,

The attached linked will show what format he has adopted.

If you'd like your site to reflect similar just send a message to
"Allan VK2CA" saj507@gmail.com

http://www.vkham.com/Repeater/brisbane.html

Scroll down to the Beacon Data.

(text edition news)





MEDIA WATCH

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


"Cellar-Dwellers" On The Go! Upcoming Book Release

The sequel to the MF Down Under book edited by David "Doc" Wescombe-Down VK5BUG
is being released this wekend

At over 240 pages in 15 chapters it has 25 articles by 12 authors about
operating 2200m, 630m and 160m away from home.





"WIA News rebroadcaster in Brisbane of a Monday night Bruce VK4EHT advises
the Redcliffe Radio clubs 2 meter repeater on 146.925 MHz now needs
a 91.5 HZ sub audible tone for access."





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL


Clayton VK7ZCR lets us know via VK7 news that he is rebroadcasting the WIA
and VK7 Regional News broadcasts each Sunday on channel 505 around VK.

So far 4 call backs have been received, so if you are DMR capable why not give
VK7ZCR on channel 505 a call.





Last week we told you of how the Victorian DStar Users Group is on the search
for a new President.

So a reminder that their Extraordinary General Meeting to elect a President
is Saturday the 27th May at 10.00am.

The Location:
Milpara Scout Group Hall, (EMDRC Clubrooms upstairs)
13A McCubbin Street,
Burwood.
Melways Reference Map 61-E7.

Entry to the hall is via the driveway from McCubbin St.
Look for the Green Letter Box beside the driveway.


Further Information:
www.vk3dstar.orh.au
Secretary: Allan vk3slr@apollo-net.co.uk





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER

South Korea Air Force Academy proposes FM repeater K2Sat to IARU

The Republic of Korea Air Force Academy has submitted a coordination request
to the IARU for the K2Sat satellite, a 3U CubeSat Mission.

The K2Sat's primary mission is to demonstrate satellite imaging and transfer,
to also test voice repeating capability.

The following are the payloads:

1. On-board camera

2. On-board voice repeater proposing a V/U FM voice transceiver

3. 9k6 BSPK AX25 downlink for data and telemetry and planning a 2 Mbit QPSK
downlink on S Band.

The launch is planned for a 500/600km SSO orbit in 2018.

(SouthGate)





RadFxSat (Fox-1B) has successfully cleared another hurdle.

A Mission Readiness Review was held April 29, at the Cal Poly campus
to verify that all requirements have been met for a safe and successful
launch and deployment.

AMSAT Vice President for Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, presented 81
PowerPoint slides covering all Interface Control Document requirements,
mission, operations, and deorbit. Following the presentation and a
question-and-answer session, the panel unanimously approved RadFxSat
as ready for flight.

The next milestone will be integration of the CubeSat into the Poly Picosat
Orbital Deployer. Launch is set for no earlier than September 21, 2017,
aboard a Delta II launcher from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

(arrl)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA
http://rsgbiota.org

OC-235.
The DX 8 ZWC operation from Mindanao Islands which was to be active sometime
in April was called off due to the high terror alert status in the area,
and with reports of armed bandits.





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

Deputy State Coordinator, WICEN ACT, Phil Longworth VK1PL says with the
National Capital Rally now only days away they find themselves short of people
to assist.

On the Saturday are needed 17 field stations and 4-6 people in HQ, Sunday
15 field stations and again 4-6 in HQ.

VK1PL says 'Don't be daunted if you have not done anything of this nature
before,' they have numerous locations where all you have to do
is watch the cars go past, write down the car number and time it
passed you and then radio the car number to HQ.'

This is an ideal opportunity for anyone interested in Amateur Radio around our
Nations Capitol to take part, and if you don't have a licence as yet then
they can use you in HQ as an operator under supervision.

Saturday 27th or Sunday 28th May (or both).

Please send an email to wicen@crarc.ampr.org





Cedar Springs residents in the USA may soon be getting a first-hand look at how
an amateur radio operation might work in an emergency.

The Grand Rapids Amateur Radio Association has applied to the City of
Cedar Springs for an Amateur Radio Field Day, celebrating the 100th anniversary
of Michigan State Parks, to be held in late June at the staging area for the
Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park.

Henry Greib, on-air director for the radio association, told the Cedar Springs
City Council that the event is a 24-hour test of radios to ensure they are
ready in case of an emergency

If the event gains city approval, several amateur radio stations will be set up
on the site, demonstrating how such a station might be deployed in case of a
major disaster in the city or county, which could knock out or overload other
communication systems.

mlive.com/rockford/index.ssf/2017/05/post_146.html

(SOUTHGATE)





SOCIAL SCENE 2017


May 19 VK WIA AGM Hahndorf some 25km from Adelaide (vk5kc)


June 2- 4 VK4 Theresa Creek Camp-out-day (CHARC) (tarc)
June 3 VK3 Melbourne WINTER QRP by the bay 3pm (vk3ye)
June 10-11 VK2 Oxley Region ARC 42nd Annual Field Day, Port Macquarie (vk2ztm)
June 10-11 VK5 SERG Annual Convention / VK Foxhunting Champs. (vk5dj)

July 1 VK3 GippsTech 2017 technical conference in Churchill. (wia events)
July 22 VK3 Great Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club HamFest. July 22
Cranbourne Community Hall Clarendon & High St, Cranbourne.


Sep 9-10 ALARAMEET 2017 Cairns. Listen for VI4ALARA from July (vk4swe vk3pc)
Sep 10 Shepparton HamFest St Augustine's Hall, Orr St. Shepparton. (vk3fnqs)
Sep29-Oct2 VK4 Cardwell Gathering (tarc)


Nov 5 VK3 BARG Hamvention greyhound racing track, Ballarat. (wia events)
Nov 12 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am (vk5kc)
Nov 12 VK3 Rosebud's annual celebration of all things Amateur Radio (wia)



2018

March 25 VK3 EMDRC HamFest - Great Ryrie Primary School, Heathmont. (VK3BQ)

May 4 -7 VK4 Clairview Gathering ( between Rockhampton and Mackay ) (TARC)








==============================

NEW WIA NEWS BROADCAST FEEDBACK

===============================


The solar cycle and shorter days are favouring the low bands. Top Band,
benefiting from this combination, produced 25 callbacks this morning.

The 160 meter breakdown:-

0700 = 19, comprising 4 country (furthest 220km south and 240km north)
and 15 greater Perth metro area, including 1 SWL via QSP and 2 via email.

0800 = 6, all greater Perth metro area.


Thanks to you all, have a good week, 73, Phil VK6GX.










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