July - August 2024
July - August 2024
 WIA Member Digital Edition Download
Editorial
Ode to Bundaberg AGM
Lo the roving radio ham!
Mighty are the preparations!
They riseth early and go forth
Full of great expectations
And returneth late
Smelling of strong rum
And the truth is bent by them!
(after anonymous ‘Ode to fishermen’).
A hobby, a sport or a service?
As both an observer to and a participant in the proposal and the creation of the amateur Class license, I, like many readers no doubt, have been both bemused and occasionally alarmed at the ‘stumbles’ along the way.
From quite early in the whole process, perhaps even beforehand, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) began referring to amateur radio as a hobby where previously it was studiously referred to as “the amateur service.” This, naturally enough, derives from the original definition created by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), early in the 20th century when the world was beginning to grapple with the burgeoning technology of ‘radio,’ or was it still ‘wireless’?
Google ITU definition of amateur radio and what tops the list is “[a] radiocommunication service . . .” It seems that definition has been expunged (deleted, erased, purged) from the annals of the ACMA’s corporate memory. Enter the same term in the ACMA’s website search window and it retrieves: Sorry, we couldn’t find that. Just searching for definition of amateur radioI yields the same result.
The ACMA’s website home page shouts its raison d’être, or justification for its existance, as: “We regulate communications and media to contribute to maximising the economic and social benefits of communications infrastructure, services and content for Australia.”
So, where do we stand, us radio amateurs?
A century ago, when control of the spectrum was sorted-out by global geopolitical interests, small bands of frequencies were allocated for amateurs so that governments knew who they were, and where they were located, with little interest in what they were doing. Amateur radio spectrum allocations and licensing creates a service to the community by enabling a legitimate outlet for personal interests in radio communications.
If there was little satisfaction to be gained pursuing an interest in radio technology, few people would continue it. If a “hobby” is defined as “an activity done . . . in one’s leisure time for pleasure”, then clearly, amateur radio is a hobby. The same goes for building and flying model aeroplanes. Hence, we can say that the Amateur Service encompasses a hobby pursuit.
A dictionary definition of ‘sport’ says “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.” Do amateur radio activities, in any way, fall within this definition? You bet! The word ‘entertainment’ causes a pause, but then, the dictionary says: “. . something affording pleasure, diversion, or amusement”. There it is.
I write this shortly after the 2024 Winter VHF-UHF Field Day has ended and the Oceania DX Contest looms. Read that definition of sport, again. Every weekend, month, and year, throughout the world, there is some amateur radio contest under way. Think ARDF, DXCC, the Harry Angel contest, the Oceania DX Contest, and so on. All of it is amateur radio sport.
Let us shout it to the world! Amateur radio is a service, a hobby, and a sport – and not accept anything less, from anyone.
Table Of Contents
General
 An online DXCC map of the world - Marc Hillman VK3OHM
Annual Awards - Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
Centenary of first direct voice communications by wireless, UK – Australia - Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
What’s in our logo? - Peter Wolfenden VK3RV
AM-&-CW get an annual airing under AX prefixes- Mike Patterson VK4MIK
Are we there, yet? - Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
Winter propagation on the VHF-UHF- μwave bands - Graeme Battistuzzi VK2QJ
I am bored, what do I do now? - Peter Sumner VK5PJ
Highlights from the WIA Convention and AGM 2024 - Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
Technical
Comprehensive, innovative test sets for processing homebrew transmitters - Part 2 - Lou Destafano VK3AQZ
A GPS-controlled frequency reference to build — Part 3 - Paul McMahon VK3DIP
Fixed It - A Wobbly FT-101ZD - Keith Gooley VK5OQ
Page Last Updated: Thursday, 25 Jul 2024 at 16:51 hours by Webmaster
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