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2020 JANUARY 05 - 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

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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING JANUARY 5 - 2020
IN OUR 24th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS


WIA PRESIDENT AND DIRECTORS ON THE VK WILDFIRE EMERGENCY


THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE
WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA






WIA

Not a WIA Member? details email nationaloffice@wia.org.au
OR the link on bottom right of wia.org.au
https://wia.memnet.com.au/MemberSelfService/NewMemberForm/WIA/NewMemberForm.aspx


WIA board minutes can be found on wia.org.au click
WIA Information.

Board Comment Sunday 5th January 2020 - Mike VK8MA

Welcome to 2020 and we hope all Amateurs had great New Year
celebration under the circumstances.

Unfortunately not everyone has had a Happy start to the New Year.

It is with much sadness that we hear of the terrible situation
NSW and Victoria are in as a result of the current bush fires.
Even Western Australia has several bush fires still burning
most of which are out of control. South Australia, Queensland and
Tasmania are not all clear yet and the weather is predicted to turn
bad again right across the country.

With communications down in a much of the eastern states our
President has placed an important notice at our news website.


BUSHFIRE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS ADVICE - (EMCOMM) - WIA PRESIDENT

Hello, this is Greg VK2GPK WIA President.

Bushfires continue to rage widely across large areas of Australia
with the both loss of life and property.

The WIA has been advised that there are major outages of
telecommunications in areas impacted by the bushfires either
currently or expected to occur in the near term. This disruption
advice, at the time this news item was composed, currently applies
to areas of NSW and VIC " but this may change.

The scope and range of these impacts is unknown at this stage but
are predicted to cover all internet and phone ( fixed and mobile )
and other commercial radio services.

The WIA kindly asks Radio Amateurs to monitor the WIA EMCOM
HF frequencies ( as per IARU-R3 EMCOM bandplan on the WIA or IARU-R3
website ) whenever feasible during the bushfire emergency. These
frequencies will be detailed later in this item and are also
available on the WIA website.

VHF and UHF Repeaters should also be monitored wherever possible.

Amateurs seeking to establish emergency communication should use
these EMCOMM frequencies in the first instance, or repeaters if
available.

As an IARU member society, the WIA has adopted these recommended
frequencies:
3.600 MHz.
7.110 MHz.
14.300 MHz.
18.160 MHz.
21.360 MHz.

These "Centre of Activity" frequencies are not spot frequencies or
net frequencies. They are recommended as starting points for
emergency traffic which may extend 5 kHz above or below the
designated centre frequency.

Radio Amateurs who are volunteers for WICEN, CREST, etc should keep
themselves updated from the respective websites of these
organisations.

Emergency Communication is one of the three main reasons
Radio Amateurs have access to RF Spectrum. Please assist if and when
you can

This is Greg VK2GPK

Thanks Greg, I have been advised that several Amateurs are currently
providing a listening watch on these EMCOM HF frequencies whilst the
fires are active.

The Board of the WIA wishes everyone a safe 2020.

This has been WIA Director Mike VK8MA

Another WIA Director, John VK4JJW has been busy keeping our friends
staffing Amateur Radio Newsline up to date on the worsening situation.

" As property losses mounted and towns were cut off, military aircraft
and navy ships were bringing supplies into the region. By New Year's
Day, New South Wales confirmed the death toll had risen to 15 - but
the toll nationwide reached at least 18, according to news reports.

Amateurs were monitoring IARU Region 3 disaster frequencies because
of communication outages. WICEN was sending communications
operations and logistics resources to Fire Control Centres across
the State and Territory from WICEN NSW and WICEN ACT, which is part
of Canberra Region ARC. They were also staffing aviation radio
operations and telephone operations at the Bush Fire Information
Line in Sydney.

Amateurs remained active supporting the Rural Fire Service as well
as other agencies.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm WIA DirectorJohn Williams, VK4JJW.



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DISCUSSION POINT - THE 'WRITE' WORD'

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

Welcome to the new year. Today we must remember that many people
including fellow radio amateurs are dealing with the forces of nature.
There are many of our fellows who have lost livelihoods, homes and
mementoes. Towns have been changed forever and sadly lives have been
lost.

Members of the Defence Forces are out in the field using the skills
and training in a humanitarian way. With soaring summer temperatures
and a state of emergency in force in New South Wales, those of us who
are going about their normal lives must wish these people well as
they engage in something abnormal.

One thing that I have been watching is the discussions on social
media on the involvement of WICEN in this national disaster. With
only the Northern Territory not dealing with wildfire, it is really
involving the whole country. Once the amateurs had a voice which was
national in the emergency preparedness discussions with WICEN noted
as an involved entity but that changed about 20 years ago.

There is confusion as to the nature of WICEN and its role in the
whole emcoms issue and part of that is the scattered nature of the
beast, these days. It seems neither state based or truly regional and
people are trying to understand what it does, how it skills its
members and how they assist the first responders when called on.

Publicity is important for organisations. Publicity within the peer
group, the other amateurs and publicity externally to maintain
recognition and credibility in the wider community. Sadly I have to
ask, how often have we heard or read of WICEN activities? I note that
in the rollcall of Queensland radio clubs, WICEN gets a call but
doesn’t seem to provide stories to the broadcasts or print. Is this
simply an oversight or have amateur groups become totally self
absorbed?

It seems to take a disaster to bring the questions out and surely we
need a response.

We have enthusiastic offers from people wanting to train and organise
but no way to go forward. We need to turn this around for our own
good and that of the community.

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

( hear Geoff each week in QNEWS from VK4 on the World Wide Wireless
http://www.wiaq.org.au )


Follows an article published here in WIA National News December 15
by our editor Graham VK4BB


INSIDE THE WIA NEWS ROOM - GRAHAM VK4BB EDITOR - DECEMBER 15

( http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/2019_wianews/ )

Over the past month or so I've been asked how come little, if any
news, pertaing to the bushfires and our (read WICEN) involvement
and this particularly from overseas news bulletins. Also I had
been trying to get an Aussie perspective on the recently concluded
WRC in Egypt where we had sent 2 participants at not an insugnificent
cost.

Just a day or so back we were told why nothing from a VK perspective
when WIA President Greg sent the following

" Re WRC: The WRC reports from the WIA Team ( and any of the
Australian delegation ) were embargoed by DOCA until the
conclusion of the WRC. We had the reports but couldn’t publish
anything. Annoying, but nothing we could do about it.
Hence only reports from those on the IARU team - which we were
- but only those NOT on country delegations. So a pain- until it
finished."

So that's that one, re WICEN in some delving around it neccesates we
look at it's history ..

WICEN is the Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network

WICEN had its origins in the ad-hoc networks formed by Amateur Radio
operators to assist the community.

BUT

WICEN is totally independent from the WIA

During the 1939 'Black Friday' bushfires in South Australia and
Victoria Amateur Radio operators using their own equipment and
knowledge established an emergency communications network.

After WW2, 1945 saw the Bushfires Emergency Network come into being in VK2
and following new P.M.G regulations on portable and mobile operations the
Wireless Institute of Australia Emergency Communications Network started
in 1946, subsequently renamed Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network,
WICEN.

For many years WICEN has provided field deployed emergency communications
during disasters, emergencies, and community activities.

These days WICEN is more an umbrella name given to a collection of
emergency or community service communications groups who have set up
in response to their local needs.

WICEN is totally independent from the WIA, though many WICEN members
are of course WIA members and the WIA strongly supports the continuing
activities of WICEN.

WICEN consists of a number of state or territory based volunteer emergency
communications service organisations whose members are primarily licensed
amateur radio operators. Members are accredited to assist in emergency
situations and are able to provide emergency and safety communications for
other agencies when conventional communications networks fail or are
inadequate.

It is important to realise each WICEN entity operates independently
under appropriate local, state, or other disaster plans.

http://vk4tub.net/TARC/WICENINF.htm
http://www.wia.org.au/members/emcom/wicen/


(Graham VK4BB Editor)

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club,
ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of
the WIA.

BOOK ABOUT ANTARCTICA BY UKRAINIAN HAM BREAKS THE ICE

A Ukranian biologist is sharing his science and radio adventures
in the Antarctic.

Pavlo Tarasoviych UT1KY knows how to break the ice with high school
students: He simply shares the adventures he had when he was living
on the ice. Pavlo was part of the fifth Ukrainian scentific
expedition to Antarctica from 2000 to 2001.

Amateur radio operators who are Antarctic chasers likely remember him
from his activations in the South Shetland Islands, on Galindez
Island and Peterman Island, among others. But students will remember
the Ukrainian biologist as the guest author who visited their
classroom last month.

He was there to discuss his book "Antarctica, the Sixth Continent,"
which is an overview of the southern continent's history as well as
its birds and other animals. The book, which is available in English,
is also rich with pictures taken at the time UT1KY was at the
Vernadsky Research Base where the Ukrainian Antarctic Program
conducts much of its work.

It was here that many hams who worked him received a QSL card with a
cartoon of him operating alongside penguin onlookers as EM 1 KY.





GERMANY

DK 2 OM receives IARU Diamond Award

Wolf Hadel DK2OM, has retired at the end of 2019 after working for
DARC monitoring system in Germany for more than 30 years and since
2005 has also coordinated the IARU Monitoring System of Region 1

Wolf has made a name for himself over the years as a committed radio
amateur and competent band guard, and he is known for his excellent
contacts with the official spectrum monitoring units.

Wolf, DK2OM has worked closely with monitoring activities in the
other IARU Regions and has built an excellent reputation amongst
his colleagues around the world.

In recognition of his contribution to spectrum monitoring over the
years, not just in Region 1 but across the whole of IARU, on his
retirement Wolf has been awarded the IARU President’s Diamond Award
for his outstanding contribution to amateur radio spectrum defence
through leadership of the IARU Monitoring Service. This is a
well-deserved recognition of a very significant contribution to the
amateur radio service.





SWEDEN

An extraordinary outbreak of stratospheric clouds is underway around
the Arctic Circle.

Longtime residents are describing it as a "once in a lifetime event,"
and the clouds are so intense that lots of the tourists on the ground
thought they were looking at daytime auroras. They were actually
clouds in the stratosphere."

Polar stratospheric clouds are newsworthy because normally the
stratosphere has no clouds at all. Home to the ozone layer, the
stratosphere is arid and almost always transparent. Only when the
temperature drops to a staggeringly cold -85C can sparse water
molecules assemble themselves into icy stratospheric clouds





UNITED KINGDOM

Repeater stolen

GB7PY has been stolen from Madingley, Cambridge, on 23rd December
at approx 2115hrs.

Repeater info -
Motorola SLR5500 UHF
Model: R10QCGANQ1AN
Tanapa : PMUE4392AA
Serial: 478IRW1189

Also stolen a Teltonika RUT950 4G router which has been network
blocked and will therefore not work on any network now.

IMEI on the Router is 3516220701486502 -

Any world wide reader/listener to this the WIA National News who has
information please pass to Cambridgeshire Police.

Crime reference number 35/92597/19.





HISTORIC UK CONTROL TOWER NOW HOME TO AMATEUR CLUB STATION

A control tower in the UK with an established place in history is
now home to a local radio society.

At one time, the Greenham Control Tower was a focal point for troops
during the English Civil War in the 17th century, as well as a
significant military establishment in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Now the tower, which is owned and restored by the Greenham Parish
Council, is a regular assembly spot for amateurs calling QRZ.

It officially went on the air December with the president of the
Radio Society of Great Britain, David Wilson M 0 OBW and local
deputy mayor Billy Drummond in attendance.

NADARS -The Newbury and District Amateur Radio Society G5XV - had
worked on establishing the station, which will also be able to work
the QO-100 geostationary satellite. The club's chairman Jeremy Willis
G 4 DOQ told the newspaper [quote]: "NADARS has been looking for
somewhere to set up a permanent station for some time and the
location of Greenham Control Tower exactly fits our criteria."
[endquote]

The tower is also a visitors’ centre and community gathering spot
to draw the local public's attention to its military legacy. Now with
a ham shack on the premises that story can be heard around the world.





JANUARY SUN IN CUBA

We now celebrate ingenuity.

Hams are known for it but, as one filmmaker has learned, so are the
people of Cuba.

On his first trip to Cuba with an American tour group in 2014,
Levi Maaia K 6 LCM immediately recognized the ingenuity and
self-sufficiency of the people there that were threads commonly held
with radio amateurs and hobbyists throughout the world. That memory
stayed vivid until Levi's next encounter with Cuba, which arrived via
the HF bands the following year when he answered the CQ of Cuban
station CO 2 YQ - a ham named Joel.

The QSO lasted perhaps 6 minutes but its memory also left an enduring
impression. Only weeks later - quite by coincidence - Levi got to
visit Joel during a professional research trip to Cuba. In January,
Levi is headed back to Cuba once more. Levi, who is a filmmaker,
plans to start the new year laying the groundwork for a documentary
about the tinkerers and inventive spirits of the Maker movement in
this Caribbean island nation.

Levi, who has worked for two decades in broadcasting and has been a
ham since 2006, has assembled a team of industry veterans including
executive producer Noah Mark, whose work has been seen on both
broadcast and cable TV.

Their film will be called "Making It in Cuba."

Its progress can be seen on the website makingitincuba.com

Also making progress in CUBA are a xcouple of HUNDRED new hams.

In December, 210 candidates took their amateur radio exam in Cuba
and 208 of them (99%) passed. A favorable indicator in these exams
held last December 21 and in the ones before is that the number of
candidates for Entry Level and of those approving the exam remains
fairly stable, which also shows in the number of new members,
reaching a total of 295 during 2019.

Now, the challenge is to keep them active, which is the objective
undertaken in order to stop the decreasing trend of recent years.



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HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT



--------------

Ross Hull Memorial VHF/UHF Contest takes place ALL of January 2010

--------------

VHF - UHF SUMMER FIELD DAY - Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 January.

--------------

CQWW 160M CW CONTEST

--------------


February 16-17 International DX CW Contest


--------------

March 2 - 3 International DX Phone Contest


--------------

WIA John Moyle Field Day 2020
Weekend of 21-22 March from UTC 0100 on the Saturday to 0059 Sunday 22.

--------------

March 28-29 the CQ World Wide WPX Contest

--------------

The provisional date for the next Harry Angel Sprint will be Saturday
May 2nd 2020. 10:00 - 11:46 UTC.

--------------

The VK SHIRES the June long weekend, which is the weekend prior to the
second Monday of June each year.. making it June 6 - 7 in 2020

--------------

IARU HF World Championship July 13-14

--------------
TRANS TASMAN LOWBAND CONTEST

Next contest - 17 JUL 2020 - and has the aim of encouraging
Low Band activity between VK and ZL on 160 80 and 40M using
SSB, CW and RTTY OR PSK

--------------

RD or Remembrance Day Contest will be August 15 - 16 next year.

--------------


OCEANA CONTEST

VOICE from 0800 UTC Saturday October 3 to 0800 UTC Sunday October 4

CW from 0800 UTC Saturday October 10 to 0800 UTC Sunday October 11


--------------


December 6 - 8 160 Meter WW

--------------

DECEMBER 14 - 15 10 Mtr World Wide

--------------


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

wia.org.au/members/contests/about
--------------


***********************


--------------
THROUGH THE DX WINDOW
--------------



2020 JANUARY


Cyprus

Members of the Cyprus Amateur Radio Society during the entire year of
2020, as it's an important year for the Republic of Cyprus which
completes 60 years since its establishment, can use 5B60 prefix

Specifically, CARS members, will be able to use the 5B60 prefix
(instead of 5B) if they wish, starting from 1 Jan until 31 December
2020.

Not only but also 8 UK operators are QRV from the Sovereign Base Area
of Cyprus until January 7 with callsign ZC 4 UW on all bands
160 " 10m on CW and SSB.



--------------


Norfolk Island operation

Janusz, SP9FIH, will be active as VK9NK from Norfolk Island (OC-005)
between January 12th and April 12th.

He states, "It is my tribute to Jim Smith, VK9NS, who lived and
operated from there for years. According to last internet poll VK9N
is 85th most wanted entity."

Activity will be on 160-10 meters using SSB, RTTY and FT8.

(SouthGate)


--------------



JAPAN, JA.

Special event station 8 N 7 JAPAN is QRV until October 31, 2020
to commemorate the Olympic Games 2020, the Paralympics 2020,
and the World Cup Games 2019. QSL via bureau.

(SouthGate)


--------------


BARTG GB60ATG special event

Members of the British Amateur Radio Teledata Group (BARTG) are
active as GB 60 ATG until June 20-20.

The BARTG is celebrating their 60th Year Diamond Jubilee anniversary
with this callsign and special awards are available for contacts with
GB 60 ATG using any Data Mode.

More information can be found on the BARTG Web site on
bartg.org.uk


--------------


In 2020, radio amateurs in the North Limburg region of the
Netherlands, will be on the air with Special Event Station PA 75 OV.

Just like in 2015 with PA70OV, the station PA75OV is a Special Event
and Memorial Station for the occasion of commemorating 75 years
of freedom and WW-II "Operation Veritable."

Operation Veritable, a.k.a. the Battle of the Reichswald or the
Great Allied Rhineland Offensive that started February 8th 1945
took place in the North Limburg region and was the successor of
Operation Market Garden.

There are no particular band plans, with activities announced on the
DX-Clusters and QSL cards will be sent automatically by the end of
2020 after closing of station PA 75 OV.

An English website www.pa75ov.nl contains information from
Operation Veritable and for PA75OV.

(SouthGate)


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WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS

DEFENCE

Townsville Amateur Radio Club does the Defence Welcome and
Information Expo.

theTARCinc will be involved with the 2020 Defence Welcome and
Information Expo run by the Townsville office of Defence Community
Organisation North Queensland and happening on Saturday 8th February
at Murray Stadium from 10am to 1pm.

TARCadians will be drawing on expertise gained from participation in
other Expos at the complex to show Defence members and their families
currently residing or new to the garrison city some of the aspects of
the wonderful world of Amateur Radio. The club is hoping to
demonstrate the hobby through a mixture of static, dynamic and
interactive displays, with members experienced in many facets of the
hobby able to provide meaningful answers and guidance for those
attending the Expo.

(sourced to BackScatter)





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER
AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org

WERE THEY KLINGONS OFF THE STARBOARD BOW?

Reports that on Dec 18 at ~01:00 UTC, the Meteor M2-2 meteorological
satellite collided with an item of space debris and entered a tumble.

This event reduced orbit SMA by 1 km and height from 813 x 815 km
to 811 x 814 km. The satellite is now stabilized and communicating.

Damage is being assessed.

( zarya.info (@Zarya_Info))





Satellite built by students to beam anthem from space

The Hindu news reports that a satellite built by engineering students
of NRI Institute of Technology in Krishna district is all set to
beam the country’s national anthem from space, once placed in orbit.

A five-member team designed the satellite named ‘Kesari’ and is
planning to launch the satellite into orbit with the help of the
Indian Space Research Organisation.

The students uploaded the audio file of the national anthem to the
satellite using Morse code. Once placed in orbit, the satellite would
beam the anthem across the country, which can be picked up by amateur
radio operators anywhere in India who can listen to it after
decoding the Morse code.

thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/satellite-built-by-students-to-beam-anthem-from-space/article30415698.ece





WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- LIGHT HOUSES

Canadian lighthouse operation

Operators Chris VE3FU (VO2AC), Frank VO1HP and Dave VE9CB (VO2AAA)
will be active as VO2AC during the 2020 CQWW 160M CW Contest
January 24-26th from the Point Amour Lighthouse, the tallest
lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, on the south coast of the rare
Labrador (LB) multiplier.

Point Amour is located in the southeast part of CQ Zone 2, and has a
salt water path from NE clockwise through SW. The team will be
putting in a serious Multi-Op/High-Power effort as VO2AC.

Expect some pre contest activity on 160m as they get their wire
vertical array and beverage working; they will especially be looking
for JA/Asia on CW and FT8.

If time permits, they may also be active before the contest on
80m, 60m, 40m and the amateur radio FM satellites (AO- 85, AO-91 and
AO-92) from Grid GO11.





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

OE 1970 WWL celebrates a single radio ham's 50 years on-the-air.

Austria's national amateur radio society -VSV reports Wolfgang Wagner
is celebrating the 50th anniversary of his first amateur radio
license as OE5WWL with two special call signs

As well as the special call sign OE1970WWL on March 28-29, 2020,
Wolfgang will be using the contest call sign OE0WWL in the
CQ World Wide WPX Contest.

(https://tinyurl.com/AustriaOeVSV)






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


IARU Region 1 3760 7110 14300 18160 21360 kHz

IARU Region 2 3750 3985 7060 7240 7275 14300 18160 21360 kHz





SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SOFTWARE DEVELOPEMENT

Introduction of AirHamLog

JJ1SXC, a ham based in Tokyo, Japan has released an English version
of the free ham radio logging tool, "AirHamLog".

https://air-hamlog.com/?locale=en

AirHamLog is different from other logging tools, as it works inside
the browser. This way, users can access their logbooks from anywhere,
with any device. Additionally, this tool is designed to be
mobile-friendly, and with the user interface dedicated to the user
from smartphones, it makes it easy for users to use the tool from
their mobile devices.

There are already 2,000 users in Japan using this logging tool.





SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight)

New tropo world record contact between Cape Verde Islands and
Scotland made at 432 MHz

Tropo conditions over the eastern part of the North Atlantic has been
exceptional allowing many stations in the UK and Ireland to make
contacts with D41CV on the Cape Verde Islands on 144 MHz.

Conditions however were not just confined to the 2-metre band as
some excellent contacts were made on 70cms as well.

Saturday the 28th of December 2019, Ian White, GM3SEK in the
south-west of Scotland managed to work D41CV on FT8 on 432 MHz
extending the IARU Region-1 tropo record to an amazing 4,562 kms.

It would seem as if this is not only a Region-1 record but also a
new world record for tropo on 70cms.

GM3SEK was using 100 watts and a 23 element on 432 MHz for the
contact which was mostly over a sea path.

https://ei7gl.blogspot.com/2019/12/excellent-end-of-year-tropo-opening.html



---------------------------------------------------------------------*

Social Scene 2020



VK4 - TARC Australia Day Long Week Family Radio Camp Thursday
afternoon 23rd to Monday afternoon 27th January 2020 at
Girl Guides Association of Qld Campsite and Training Centre,
Bluewater. (TARCinc)

VK2 - WYONG FIELD DAY 23rd February 2020 (dd5lp)

The Central Coast ARC wishes everyone a positive and safe
new year. Our thoughts are with those still suffering from the
bush fires whether directly in danger or having to deal with
the smoke and ash from more distant fires.

Let’s hope this emergency soon clears and everything can get
back to normal quickly.

For clarity the CCARC field day is going ahead on the last
weekend of February as it has done for over 50 years. As it has
been for many years the venue for this, the largest event for
Radio Amateurs in the Southern Hemisphere, is the Horse racing
course at Wyong about an hour’s travel north of Sydney.

Traders are registering through the web portal fieldday.org.au
to get their usual places in the large air-conditioned marquee
tent. Car boot sellers can also already apply for their tickets.

Our lecture calendar is quickly filling up and we nearly have a
full program for the first lecture room with a second room
available if required.

Why not arrange a meet-up of your group of Amateur radio
friends, perhaps take advantage of the free tea and coffee in
the race course building? We are happy to announce your
“meet-up” over the Tanoy system, which is also used for public
safety and lecture start announcements.

Thinking of upgrading your ticket, or do you know someone who
wants to take the foundation licence? Watch the website for
details on how to register.

That website, for all details is FIELDDAY.ORG.AU
and then click on the large “Wyong Field Day” button
or select specific information from the pull-down menu
at the top of the webpage. If something is not clear, use the
“Contact us” panel and one of the organisers will get back to
you to clarify whatever is required.

For the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club, this was Ed VK2JI.


VK4 - SEQ Amateur Radio Field Day March 10, 10am at
Landsborough Sports Complex 15 Tunnel Ridge Rd. (vk4an)

VK7 - Meet the Voice event, Ross Recreation Centre Sun 22 March (vk7tw)

VK4 - REDFEST 2020 18th April. St. Michael's College
Old Toorbul Point Rd from 8am (vk4tfn)

VK - WIA Annual Conference, Hobart 8-10 May. (vk7tw)

VK5 - South East Radio Group Annual Convention and
Australian Fox Hunting Championships. June 6-8 (vk5hcf)

Start Time: Sat. 12 noon
End Time : Sunday 4 p.m.

Hamfest featuring new and second hand tables, Full catering.
Fox hunt events all weekend including night time events.

VK4 - Caboolture Radio Club Hamfest July 11 (vk7jea)

It will be held adjacent to the Club house at Scouts Den,
169 Smiths Road Caboolture.

It all happens Saturday 11th July with canteen open before
first light and the hall opens at 8am for sales.

VK - ALARAMEET 2020 Bendigo October 2 - 5 (vk5yl)

VK7 - VK7 biennial Hamfest November (vk7tw)








Submitting news items

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

To submit audio email nationalnews@wia.org.au and ask for the current
password then read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/

We would appreciate items certainly no longer than 2 minutes in length
as we only have a half hour.

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 it in the 3rd person.


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

We cannot give blatant 'plugs' to raffles. (new Jan 2019)


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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
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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 IF broadcast, are done so 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...

If you have call-backs to contribute to the National News call back
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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
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You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the instructions
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Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will probably
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A member society of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)