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VK7AX > NEWS 07.06.09 08:00l 690 Lines 23745 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 7TH JUNE 2009
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Sorell Men's Shed Event "Community Project"
Southern Winter Ham Fest
This weekend is the Southern Winter Ham Fest being held at the
Sorell Men's Shed, Station Lane, Sorell.
Yesterday was packed with events including the activation of the
Men's Shed station - VK7SMS who conducted an on air Award across
all bands.
From 9am today is another jam-packed day of activities. Don't forget
to bring along your projects for the home brew competition.
There will be a BBQ lunch and a few small raffles as well as,
the main raffle which consists of a full sized two element 40 metre
Yagi and you can see it on display.
Local trade tables include: Icom , L D Antennas, and many pre
loved items will be available.
All proceeds will go to the Men's Shed.
See you there. from
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Men's Sheds
The common theme in all Sheds is about men feeling useful and
contributing again to their communities, learning or sharing their
skills and making friends.
Men's Sheds are fast being recognized as vital, viable places to
accommodate these needs and provide relaxed, happy creative spaces
for men of all ages to enjoy.
The Growing Problems with men's health, isolation loneliness and
depression are looming as major health issues. Men's Sheds can play
a significant and practical role in addressing these.
Activities within the Men's Shed are many and varied and may include:
Woodwork, Metalwork, Restoration of old cars, machinery and relics
from the past for placement in the Museum, Electronics, Amateur Radio,
Alterative energy and Gardening to name a few.
Having Fun, sharing, show and tell, it's great way to get yourself back
on track.
The Sorell Men's Shed and Heritage Museum is where skilled and unskilled
men can share time with each other, or just sit around the wood heater,
enjoying a cuppa and swapping yarns.
Why not come down today and see what it is all about,
You wont regret it!
http://www.sorellmensshed.org/
(Ken, VK7DY, SMS Coordinator)
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VK7 EVENTS CALENDAR
A summary of the events across VK7 over the coming month:
NTARC – June 10th – Meeting at Alanvale Polytechnic - Block B
Electrotechnology Rooms – Incorporation Discussion – 7:30pm
REAST – June 10, 17 & 24th – ATV Experimenter's Nights
– 7:30pm Queens Domain Club rooms.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
REAST – June 16th – Advanced/Standard Assessment Session.
http://reast.asn.au/amateurradio.php#exams
REAST – June 20th – Foundation Licence Course and Assessments Session.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#FoundationLicenceCourse
NTARC – June 20 & 21 - Museums on the Air – Flinders Island IOTA OC195
– VK7VTX
CCARC – June 27th - Bill, VK7MX demo of squid pole HF antenna 1.30pm
at the Penguin Lions club rooms.
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
WMBD – June 27th – World Moon Bounce Day celebrating the Echoes of
Apollo 40th Anniversary of the first Moon landing.
http://echoesofapollo.com/
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Non-Commercial FOR Sale and Wanted
We have a wanted this morning from Paul Stampton VK3IH (was G3ZDR and
VK3KXG) from Leongatha in Victoria, and Paul lets us know that some
years ago he sold his large collection of valve ham radio gear to a
ham in Hobart who owned a company involved in waste disposal of some
kind and had a mother who lived in the Dandenongs in Victoria where
he delivered the equipment in 2005/06.
Paul is looking to make contact with this amateur again so, if you
know of this person or are this person then please email Paul at
stampton(AT)dcsi.net.au
73 from Paul VK3IH.
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NORTHERN NEWS
Northern Tasmania Amateur Radio Club
Gavin, VK7VTX, who shouldn't be any stranger to amateurs in Northern
Tasmania, is going to be operating a "museum of the air" on the
weekend of the 20th and 21st. He'll be working from the Furneaux
Historical Research Association Museum at Emita on Flinders Island,
using a Swan 350 with squid pole and G5RV antennas. Since this is a
world-wide event, there should be lots of interest. Gavin would like
to get as many contacts as possible for the event, and any QSOs that
you make will count towards you obtaining IOTA awards (OC195).
QSL cards go VK7VTX, care of Gavin Barnes, Lady Barron Post Office,
Flinders Island 7255.
The next meeting for NTARC will find itself being held in the freshly
renovated Alanvale Polytechnic Block B Electrotechnology rooms where
they have been held in the past. Come along this Wednesday to hear
and participate in discussions relating to possible incorporation of
the Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club.
It seems as if the lure of warmer climates of the `big island' to
the North of Tasmania has seen a few amateurs migrate north for the
winter. This is the perfect opportunity to dust off your HF rig or
brush up on your IRLP skills and keep in contact with our nomad
comrades as they travel around the mainland. If only the rest of us
were so lucky. HIHI.
Thanks from
(Al, VK7AN and Jason VK7ZJA)
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NORTH WEST News
Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club (CCARC) – Formerly NWTARIG
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
On the Saturday 30th of May 2009 - NWTARIG held a special general
meeting with a focus to move towards incorporation.
The end result was that 3 main motions were unanimously passed by all
members present. These were as follows -
1 - The club is now renamed to the "CRADLE COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB",
which reflects the wide municipal areas that the club serves.
2 - The members voted to proceed with incorporation. This move offers
the club and members a much improved legal situation in these modern
litigious times.
3 - The members voted to adopt a new set of rules base on the current
Tasmanian model rules. The new rules will now provide a much clearer
framework for the club to go forward into the future.
One of the changes allows prospective members to join without having
to find a proposer and seconder for their application. This makes it
easier for any newcomer to amateur radio to join up and belong to a
club and get to know the general amateur population face to face.
The club also welcomed two new members, Scott and Kelly Wilson.
They both are aspiring to obtain their foundation licences in the near
future and the members will be doing their best to help them along the
way.
Another outcome of the meeting was to move to monthly meetings, with
meetings on alternate months deemed a "social meeting" with only
essential business to be covered and then to move on to the main focus
of the day, typically a demonstration of some aspect of amateur radio
or perhaps a technical session. As a result of this, Bill, VK7MX,
has kindly volunteered for the next meeting to do a presentation
featuring the squid pole HF antenna.
That meeting and presentation will be happening at a new time
- 1.30pm on Saturday the 27th of June at the Penguin Lions club rooms,
19 Ironcliffe road, Penguin,
The shift in the start time will allow more time for the presentation,
owing to the fixed hall closure time.
All members and visitors are welcome to attend.
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
(David Cleland, VK7DC, Secretary, CCARC)
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Southern News
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
Callbooks and Foundation Licence Manuals
Gavin VK7HGO lets us know that Foundation Licence Manuals and 2009
Call Books can be obtained from the Caltex Service Station which is
136-138 Main Road Moonah on the corner of Amy St.
You might even get some driveway service from Clayton VK7ZCR…HIHI.
Gavin also has some of these items so just give him a call on the
repeaters or on mobile 0407 724 431.
(Gavin, VK7HGO, President)
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REAST Education and Training
This Tuesday the 16th June an examination session for the Advanced
and Standard licenses will be held at 7:30 pm in the Queens Domain
Clubrooms. Please let Reg VK7KK know if you are interested in
attending.
There will also be a foundation training and practical assessment
session on Saturday June 20th starting at 9 am.
Anyone interested in participating in a Standard training course for
about 10 weeks starting around the end of June please let me know.
It could be on a Tuesday or Friday night. Please indicate if either
of these nights is unsuitable.
Reg VK7KK can be contacted on mobile: 0417 391 607 or
email: regemm(AT)ozemail.com.au
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#FoundationLicenceCourse
(Reg, VK7KK, REAST Education Officer and Assessor)
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REAST ATV Experimenters Night
We get back underway with our ATV Experimenter's nights this Wednesday
night at 7:30pm in the ATV Studio – Queen's Domain Clubrooms.
We will again be going out on 444.25MHz Analogue ATV and 23cm Digital
ADB-S ATV.
We have some great historical recordings relating to the lead up to,
during and after the walk on the moon including some great historical
footage of the Parkes Radio Telescope.
These presentation are to get viewers in the mood for the soon to be
celebrated 40th Anniversary of the first moon walk on 20th July 1967.
We will be finishing off with the third and final hour of the three
one hour presentations on the HPSDR project by Phil Harman VK6APH.
These lectures where given at the 2008 Digital Communications
Conference held jointly by the ARRL and TAPR.
Phil is one of the designers of the Software Defined Radio project
– Mercury.
This presentation honestly shows the future of radio with Digital Down
Conversion techniques.
This is a not to be missed presentation.
http://www.tapr.org/kits_merc.html
We are currently considering a permanent Digital ATV transmission
arrangement and are trying to work through the engineering issues of
whether it would be the DVB-S or the DVB-T standard.
DVB-S can tolerate much lower S:N ratios and has better forward error
correction capability where as DVB-T needs higher S:N but does
tolerate multi-pathing and other propagation issues much better.
However DVB-T hardware is more complex and therefore more expensive
in the transmitter area, but the receivers are cheaper!
So, please forward your ideas to Justin VK7TW for consideration.
See you Wednesday night around 7:30pm for another great night of ATV
and experimenting.
See you there.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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EVENTS NEWS
GippsTech 2009
Peter Freeman VK3KAI lets us know that the GippsTech 2009 program
has been announced and it happens on July 11th & 12th 2009 at the
Churchhill Campus of Monash University.
GippsTech is the premier 2 day conference organised & run by the
Eastern Zone Amateur Radio Club Inc for VHF, UHF & SHF enthusiasts
in Australia.
Various presentations are given by fellow amateurs covering different
topics over the two days and after the first day's presentation a get
together for dinner is organised for all interested to catch up,
discuss the day's topics and have a good in general chin wag.
Proceedings from Past Conferences, 2000, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07
are available unless sold out; 2008 will be available at the 2009 event.
Orders taken for electronic (CD) copies of volumes sold out.
Have a look at the website for the registration form and further details.
http://www.vk3bez.org/gippstech.htm
The current list of talks offered is listed below - I am happy to
receive additional topics (or remind me of a previous offer not on
the list!!).
Proceedings from 2008 will be available for sale at (and after) this
year's event.
The GippsTech 2009 Program thus far with the following presentations
that have been confirmed.
Doug McArthur VK3UM - Fires - being in the middle of it! (Will include
observations on communication system performance during the
Kinglake-Murrindindi complex fires.)
Doug McArthur VK3UM - Latest EME software updates
Roger Harrison VK2ZRH and Andy Sayers VK2AES - Square-Section Parallel
Transmission Lines: Theory, Practice and Applications. Which is
subtitled: How a Waltz with a round equation became the Unsquare Dance!
Roger Harrison VK2ZRH - Sporadic E and VHF Propagation:
New Observations and Advances in Understanding
Dale Hughes VK1DSH - Direct conversion, phasing type transceiver for
2 m SSB
Russell Lemke VK3ZQB - Experiences with the Qualcom boards as the
basis of a 10 GHz transverter
David Smith VK3HZ - A Simple USB Rig Interface
Andrew Martin VK3OE - Towers, Some of what you need to know plus
what you don't want to know
Neil Sandford VK2EI - Simple Coax Band Pass Filters
Neil Sandford VK2EI - High Level Wideband Noise Source
The Friday evening starts with a social dinner gathering at the
Bistro at the Morwell Hotel-Motel.
Saturday 0900-1800 at Monash University Gippsland Campus,
Churchill with BBQ lunch available if pre-booked with registration.
At 1900 the Conference Dinner at the Morwell Club, Helen St, Morwell
Sunday 0930-1300 at Monash University Gippsland Campus, Churchill,
followed by BBQ is pre-booked.
Conference closes just prior to the lunch.
(Peter VK3KAI, GippsTech 2009 Convenor)
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Emergency Communication News
Global ALE High Frequency Network
On the 26th of June 2007, HFN, the ham radio Global ALE High Frequency
Network was born. It has been alive and on the air ever since.
This is the first time a ham radio net has ever functioned continuously
on all 8 major HF bands simultaneously 24/7/365.
The main purpose is Emergency / Relief Communications, and the focus
is to provide a framework to help the various Emcomm and relief
organisations of the world inter-operate better with each other on HF.
All ham operators are welcome and invited to participate in the net on
the air at any hour of the day or night, for normal QSOs and messages,
soundings, or priority Emcomm use.
HFN has grown to many stations now, and is expanding to cover far-flung
areas of the planet. Congratulations to all the HFN Pilot Ops who make
it an ongoing success.
ALE On The Air Week (AOTAW) is an annual international amateur radio
event sponsored by HFLINK. All hams are invited to participate in
10 days
of HF Automatic Link Establishment activity on the air.
The purpose of the event is to encourage ALE communication techniques
among amateur radio operators worldwide. Operator experience in this
readiness exercise is useful for HF Emergency / Disaster Relief
communications.
AOTAW is an open informal operating event for hams to check out their
ALE communications equipment, get real-world experience initiating
and responding to ALE calls, link up with fellow ALE operators for
text or voice QSOs on HF, and share helpful information about setting
up ALE stations.
Thousands of amateur radio operators worldwide have ALE-capable
stations,
and many were active in last year's AOTAW event. Visit the ALE High
Frequency Network's ALE Channel ZERO web site for up-to-the-minute
activity loggings of all the ALE signals as they are received at the
various stations around the world during the event.
Whenever you transmit an ALE call or sounding on the air, it is
picked up by ALE Channel ZERO reporting stations, and displayed in
real time on the web.
Check it out along with the links to the IARU, ARRL and many other
national organisations at the web link on the email and internet
editions of this broadcast.
http://hflink.com/
(Sourced from the HF LINK website via Harvey VK7TED)
Harvey VK7TED has setup his IC706Gmk2 and it is happily scanning the
14MHz digital frequencies and beaconing every hour.
The software is freely available from the net and Harvey comments
that there are even some digital modes/frequencies that are not
in the Australian Band Plan.
The software PCALE is supplied by Charles Brain G4GUO and is full
Mil-Standard Automatic Link Establishment operation using HF SSB or
ham radio transceivers. The advanced features include Scanning,
Sounding, Channel Groups, Calling, Netcalls, Allcalls, AMD, DBM, DTM,
LQA, and many many other functions. The software uses the PC sound
card device to interface to the radio.
http://hflink.com/software/
(73, Harvey, VK7TED)
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ACMA News
Fighting Spam in VK & ZL
The Australian Communications and Media Authority has joined forces
with the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs in the fight
against spam by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to
establish channels of communication that will allow both agencies to
move quickly in response to the challenges and demands of the
ever-changing spam environment.
`Spam is a global problem that requires coordinated global action,'
said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. `Over 99 per cent of the spam that
reaches Australians comes from overseas. Fighting spam nationally is
vital, but long term gains can only be made through cooperation with
other countries and overseas regulators.
`This MOU allows each agency to promote and foster the assistance
and exchange of information relevant to our regulatory functions.
It also reflects the historically strong working relationship and
economic ties between the two countries.'
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD..PC/pc=PC_311742
(ACMA media release 64/2009 – 4 June 2009)
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Commercial Radio News
The RFID tags go round and round - underground
Confidex, a company with expertise in RFID design, manufacturing and
engineering, has supplied more than 10,000 of its Ironside UHF Gen2
hard tags to the London Underground.
The tags are being used to improve escalator maintenance.
The underground escalators carry more than three million passengers
every day. Most commuters and tourists don't give the travelling
metal staircases a second thought; a fact that is a testament to the
reliability of the system and the care taken over the maintenance.
The steps that make up these escalators are subject to constant wear
from the feet of passengers and from the mechanical movement on the
escalator track.
A failure in step could cause serious injury and if an escalator
step fails during rush hours, lives could be at risk and serious
disruption to travellers would result.
To prevent this, an inspection/maintenance regime has been implemented
in the underground that ensures the structural integrity of every step
is checked at least once during every year.
With almost 30,000 escalator steps in almost 200 escalators that need
to be checked, requires significant effort by engineering staff.
To address the need for faster, more accurate and more cost-efficient
maintenance, RFID technology was chosen. A decision was made to use
RFID tags.
The 'step tracking system' uses a PDA with RFID reader mounted on a
cradle beside the escalator and application software to read and write
information on the tag.
The tags are installed under the steps and attached with acrylic
adhesive and they haven't lost a tag yet over the two-month trial.
In the future, all new steps will come from the manufacturer with tags
riveted on them. The trial thus far is looking promising. Read more
about the project at the website that can be found on the email and
internet editions of this website.
http://www.radiocomms.com.au/
(Sourced from the RadioComms Website)
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Web & Email Edition Extra Bits!!
New Edition of Antennex is out:
http://www.antennex.com/preview/index.htm
Triangle ATV Association:
http://www.qsl.net/tri-atv/
TV Technology
http://www.tvtechnology.com/
Mirage Amplifiers
http://www.mirageamp.com/Search.php?searchit=atv
Decade Engineering
http://www.decadenet.com/
Narrow Band TV Association – Mechanical TV Enthusiasts
http://www.nbtv.wyenet.co.uk/
Insourcing is back in fashion:
http://www.radiocomms.com.au/articles/32388-Insource-for-a-better-future
The following links/info from AMSAT:
AO-51 Field Day Configs:
Dual repeaters, 1268.700/435.150 and 145.920/435.300. No PL tone
is required. Please note that the 435.150 downlink is left hand
circular polarized, and the 435.300 transmitter is right hand circular
polarized. This configuration will be available for the week preceding
Field Day, through the Field Day weekend (June 22nd-28th, 2009).
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/echo/
A compendium of non-ham spacecraft frequencies can be found on-line
at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/spectrumreform/Spectrum_Plans_2007/NASA_Strategic_Spectrum_Plan_Nov2007.pdf
A video of the Minotaur launch that lofted the latest flock of cube-sats
(PharmaSat, Hawksat, CP6) to orbit can be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEf9trI1Hf8
An online video simulating a flyover of Mars Olympus Mons volcano
can be found at:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/05/mapping-mars-mt.html
Do you have some interesting amateur related sites you have some
across in the last week – send them in to justingc(AT)ozemail.com.au
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VK7 Regional News Group Email Addresses
Post message: vk7regionalnews(AT)yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: vk7regionalnews-subscribe(AT)yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: vk7regionalnews-unsubscribe(AT)yahoogroups.com
List owner: vk7regionalnews-owner(AT)yahoogroups.com
VK7 Virtual BPL Tours Update
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdcY0Eetvsw - Mt Nelson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gsxpya3CnQ - North Hobart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7DfdxjRkpU - RU ready for BPL?
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If you are interested in becoming an amateur radio operator or
upgrading your licence then we suggest you contact your local club
for details and/or take a look at what the Radio and Electronics
School has to offer. They have a range of courses that can be
delivered through a variety of methods.
They can be found at: www.radioelectronicschool.com
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Finally today, a reminder to those people rostered for next
week's broadcasts:
Newsreader: VK7FB
160m: VK7DM
80m: VK7EM
40m: VK7JGD
20m: VK7AR
10m: VK7ZGK
UHF CB: VK7HGO
HF CB: VK7TED
Thanks to all people and organisations who assisted with
this broadcast.
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THAT CONCLUDES OUR VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST FOR THIS WEEK.
YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO OR JUST MISSED VK7WI. NEXT WEEK THE
NATIONAL WIA NEWS CAN BE HEARD AT 0900 FOLLOWED BY THE VK7 REGIONAL
NEWS AT 0930 HOURS.
DETAILS TO SEND NEWS FOR THIS BROADCAST CAN BE FOUND AT REAST.ASN.AU
AND THE DEADLINE FOR ITEMS IS 21:00 ON FRIDAY PRIOR TO THE SUNDAY OF
THE BROADCAST.
VK7 Regional Broadcast & News Coordinator
Justin Giles-Clark, VK7TW
*************************************************
- NEWS POSTING TO PACKET -
Courtesy Tony VK7AX VK7AX(AT)VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
*************************************************
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