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VK7AX > NEWS 01.02.10 13:26l 502 Lines 26564 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Regional News Broadcast for 31 January 2010
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From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : NEWS@WW
VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 31ST JANUARY 2010
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VK7 EVENTS CALENDAR
A summary of the events across VK7 over the coming months:
WICEN South January 30 and 31 Targa Wrest Point Saturday - Command and Results Nets between Tahune and Wrest Point at designated locations by 06:45 and Sunday Stage Nets with individual deployments
http://tas.wicen.org.au/
WICEN South February 6 Next Muster at VK7TPE QTH - 11:30 a.m.
WICEN South February 7 Hobart Run the Bridge - fun run - Bellerive to Salamanca event communications on site 04:00 a.m.
http://tas.wicen.org.au/
REAST February 10 & 17, 24 ATV experimenter's nights Queen's Domain Clubrooms around 7:30pm.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
NTARC February 10 - Annual General Meeting Tasmanian Skills Institute at Alanvale, Block B 7:30pm.
NWTATVG - February 13 Annual General Meeting
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/atvgroup/
CCARC February 14 Garage Sale - Old Penguin Railway Station from 9.00 am
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
REAST February 21 Annual General Meeting starts 11am at Queens Domain Clubrooms with BYO BBQ after.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#AGM
SEWING CIRCLE NET March 21 - Meet The Voice BBQ at Ross.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#MeettheVoice
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Northern News
Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club
Tony VK7YBG has set up a yahoo mailing group for those who might be interested in getting involved in WICEN in northern Tasmania. If you are interested in this, go to yahoo groups on the web and search for "wicennorth". I'm sure that Tony would be very pleased to hear from you.
A group of NTARC members including Joe VK7JG, along with David VK7NTD attended the repeater site at Snow Hill recently to find a grim sight. Originally, only the top section of the State Emergency Service tower had been reported as damaged, which is where repeater VK7REC lives. On arrival, it became apparent that the SES had meticulously dismantled the entire tower, not just the undamaged section, along with the heliax coax that fed the repeater antennae. Unfortunately this means that for the foreseeable future, VK7REC voice repeater will be off air while the options are considered. Some of the ideas being considered are to: do nothing or move the repeater to another commercial repeater site nearby if permitted. Since a new tower is very unlikely to be erected, and due to very limited antenna space on the fire watch tower, a third option could be to replace the repeater with a UHF one that requires minimum antenna mounting space. To do anything other than nothing will cost money, so it will be up to radio users of VK7REC to voice their support if they want the repeater facility to continue to be available.
The Annual General meeting is but only 10 days away now. We hope to see you at Alanvale campus of the Tasmanian Skills Institute, at 7.30pm Wednesday the 10th of February. As an added incentive to come along, a $2 raffle will be held for two bottles of wine on the night
the perfect accompaniment to those late night construction projects, so long as they're not 240 volt based circuits hihi.
Have you paid your annual NTARC membership fees yet? You'll need to be up to date with this to make your vote count at the AGM. Membership has been kept at $20 for the year, see Ann VK7FYBG if you need to make your payment.
Thanks from
(Jason VK7ZJA, NTARC Secretary)
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NORTH WEST News
Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club (CCARC)
CCARC News
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
The CCARC Inc is holding a garage sale on SUNDAY the 14th of FEBRUARY 2010 in conjunction with the Penguin History Groups Annual Bizarre. This will be held at the Old Penguin Railway Station and normally gets under way about 9.00 am
This event is for the sole purpose of raising money for the Club to help cover yearly ongoing costs of our infrastructure which is in place for all to use.
Now if any member, or non member for that matter, has some stuff in the shed that they are thinking of taking to the tip but are having trouble doing so because it might be a bit to good, then we have a very good solution to your problem, donate it to the garage sale, after all it will benefit your Club and the general amateur community rather than the tip shop.
For any items that you may wish to donate, but cannot attend the sale, drop off points will be notified on next weeks broadcast. The QTH of VK7EX in Ulverstone will be one of these points. So remember the sale date, SUNDAY the 14th of FEBRUARY 2010
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If you are a non amateur or a short wave listener living in the North West, or West coast of Tasmania, and would like to become a licenced amateur radio operator, then come along to a meeting and find out about this interesting hobby. If you cannot make the meeting but would like to find out more about the hobby then contact the learning facilitator, Keith Winkler VK7KW, or any of the committee members.
Full contact details are available on our website which can be easily found by a "Yahoo" or "Google" search of CCARC TASMANIA
Cheers from
(David, VK7DC, Secretary, CCARC)
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RAOTC Broadcast
A quick reminder from Winston VK7EM that the Radio Amateur Old Timers Club news broadcast can be heard in North and North-Western Tasmania on the Mount Duncan repeater, 146.625 MHz tomorrow evening at 8.30pm.
(73, Winston, VK7EM)
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North West Tasmania Amateur Television Group
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/atvgroup/
Scheduled Club Meetings
Two Meetings of the NWT-ATV Group are scheduled for Saturday 13th. February 2010.
The first of these will be the Annual General Meeting of the Club and as per the rules, all 5 executive positions of the Club will be declared vacant at this meeting.
Any financial member of the Club is entitled to nominate for any of the positions. Nomination forms, Membership Renewal Forms & notice of AGM will be forwarded to all members this week.
If any member feels he/she would like to have a go at holding an executive position within the Club, here is your chance.
So please give it some thought.
The second meeting will be a General Meeting of the Club and will take place at the conclusion of the AGM.
Meeting venue will be the QTH of Ivan VK7XL, 9 McNaughton Drive, Gawler.
Starting time 2.00 PM.
73's until next time
(Tony VK7AX, News Officer NWT-ATV Group)
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Southern News
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
10th Model Makers and Collectors Exhibition
Will happen on the 20-21 March 2010 at the Derwent Entertainment Centre. REAST has attended these exhibitions and presented amateur radio to the public.
The exhibition is great chance for REAST to show Hobartians how dynamic and interesting our hobby is.
From emergency communications, TARGA comms, satellites, Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, DXpeditions, DX, morse code, packet, optical communications, amateur radio direction finding, mobile and portable operation, IRLP, echolink, Amateur TV, the list is endless and it makes for some great demonstrations at the exhibition.
We are looking for volunteers who would be prepared to come along and help out on the stand, talk with people interested in the hobby, maybe loan some equipment for the exhibition and/or help setup.
The committee is excited about the opportunities this presents for the promotion of the hobby and will be out at the DEC telling the pubic all about our great hobby.
So, if you would like to be involved then contact Gavin VK7HGO or a committee member ASAP.
Also a reminder that we only have eight 2010 WIA Centenary callbooks left so, if you would like one then contact me or leave your name on the whiteboard at the clubrooms.
(Cheers, Gavin, President, VK7HGO)
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Annual General Meeting
The REAST AGM will start at 11am on Sunday the 21st of February 2010 following the broadcast at the Queen's Domain Clubrooms.
There will be a BYO BBQ after the AGM.
All committee positions are open for nomination and nomination forms can be found at the clubrooms or on the REAST website.
(REAST Committee)
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REAST Memberships Due
REAST membership renewals for 2010 are now due. Please include a renewal form with your payment to ensure our database is up to date.
Renewal forms are available from the club rooms or can be downloaded from the REAST website.
If paying by direct deposit please email a copy of your renewal form to bob.vk7zl(AT)gmail.com or phone me on 62 611 297 with your details.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#membershiprenewal
(73's Bob VK7ZL, REAST Membership Officer)
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Education and Training
If you would like to participate in a future training and/or assessment and it could be for any assessment (foundation, standard, advanced or practical) then let Reg VK7KK know 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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ATV Experimenters Night
Another great roll-up with a very special guest straight from the Australian Antarctic Bases. We welcomed Berndt Wulf VK5ABN who came along with Warren VK7FEET. Berndt was originally DL5JR before immigrating to Australia in 1982.
http://vk5abn.ping.net.au/index.php?mode=home
Berndt had the privilege of operating HF maritime mobile on the voyage back from Antarctica and made many DX contacts on the way back. Berndt heads back to the Adelaide hills today.
Our ATV studio desk anchors were Warren VK7FEET and Graham VK7ZGK and it was a wonderful casual chat to get the night underway.
Then it was on to our main presentations which included three different tours of the Parkes Radio Telescope, then into the talk given by Richard Garriott the recent space tourist to the ISS and then the 1956 RCA documentary of how records are made called - The Sound and the Story.
Much was also going on in the background to configure the video distribution amps and video switch matrices to accommodate the video mixer which arrives in about a week.
We are also installing an Optimod-TV multiband compressor, loudness controller and Hilbert clipper in the audio chain prior to the transmitters so our audio quality should improve in the near future.
We take a break next week as it is the first Wednesday night of the month and get back underway on Wednesday the 10th February.
This Wednesday night will see some more show and tell of interesting items and some very interesting videos courtesy of K7AGE.
Hope to see you along in a fortnight's time
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Intruder Watch News
QRM from Security and Home Control Systems
Roger Harrison VK2ZRH through the Spectrum-Issues mailing list alerts us to another possible source of localised interference on the 40m band.
Nigel Holmes from the ABC raised the alarm after using a spectrum analyser to detect a signal that has a continuous sweep from about 7.1MHz to 8.5MHz at a two to five second rate.
It was traced to a neighbour who just installed the X10 security and home control system which is using the spread spectrum protocol and under 100mw however at 300 feet it makes 40 meters unusable.
Roger's comment on the list is
..
"Mmmm.? Looks like we may need to be alert to the appearance of these systems in Australia."
(Sourced from the Spectrum Issues Mailing List)
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CONTEST News
The FISTS Military Appreciation Award
The North American FISTS CW Club announces a new operating achievement award, the USA FISTS Military Appreciation Award. To earn the award, make 2-way CW QSOs with 100 FISTS members who are U.S. military veterans or currently serving in the U.S. military.
Logs must include the following QSO information for the station worked: Call, Name, Date, Band, FISTS Number, and Branch of Military Service. Each FISTS number may be worked only once for one point. Remember that it is the FISTS NUMBER that counts not the call sign. If a person changes their call, you cannot work them again for credit, because they will still have the same FISTS number.
Anyone, FISTS and non-FISTS may earn the award. The award is free; including postage, to current FISTS members who submit qualified logs.
For more information on this award take a look at the website on the email and internet editions.
http://www.fists.org/military.html
http://www.fistsdownunder.org/
(Sourced from the FISTS Downunder Magazine Feb 2010)
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Satellite News
Happy Birthday
Guess who turned 20 years old on January 22nd?
AO-16, DO-17, WO-18, and LO-19
.HIHI
To honour the great work of AMSAT volunteers that created, built, and launched the original "fleet of four" microsats exactly 20 years old, during January 20-24 - AO-16 operated in its special "voice mode" on select passes when it within the footprint with the command station N8MH.
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/satellites/satInfo.php?satID=11
73, Mark L. Hammond [N8MH], AO-16 Command Station
(Sourced from the AMSAT Mailing List)
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Technology News
Flexible antennas can multiply tune
Antennas aren't just for listening to the radio anymore. They're used in everything from mobile phones to GPS devices.
Research from North Carolina State University is revolutionising the field of antenna design - creating shape-shifting antennas that open the door to a host of new uses in fields ranging from public safety to military deployment.
Modern antennas are made from copper or other metals, but there are limitations to how far they can be bent - and how often - before they break.
NC State scientists have created antennas using an alloy that "can be bent, stretched, cut and twisted - and will return to its original shape", says Dr Michael Dickey, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State and co-author of the research.
The researchers make the new antennas by injecting an alloy made up of the metals gallium and indium, which remains in liquid form at room temperature, into very small channels the width of a human hair.
The channels are hollow, like a straw, with openings at either end - but can be any shape. Once the alloy has filled the channel, the surface of the alloy oxidises, creating a 'skin' that holds the alloy in place while allowing it to retain its liquid properties.
"Because the alloy remains a liquid," Dickey says, "it takes on the mechanical properties of the material encasing it."
For example, the researchers injected the alloy into elastic silicone channels, creating wirelike antennas that are resilient and that can be manipulated into a variety of shapes.
"This flexibility is particularly attractive for antennas because the frequency of an antenna is determined by its shape," says Dickey. "So you can tune these antennas by stretching them."
While the alloy makes an effective antenna that could be used in a variety of existing electronic devices, its durability and flexibility also open the door to a host of new applications.
For example, an antenna in a flexible silicone shell could be used to monitor civil construction, such as bridges. As the bridge expands and contracts, it would stretch the antenna - changing the frequency of the antenna and providing civil engineers information wirelessly about the condition of the bridge.
Flexibility and durability are also suitable for military equipment, since the antenna could be folded or rolled up into a small package for deployment and then unfolded again without any impact on its function.
Dickey thinks these new applications are the most likely uses for the new antennas, since the alloy is more expensive than the copper typically used in most consumer electronics that contain antennas.
http://www.radiocomms.com.au/articles/38168?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emailmarketingsoftware&utm_content=383943965&utm_campaign=rc_1001+_+uuhtz&utm_term=Flexibleantennascanmultiplytune
http://www.radiocomms.com.au/
(Sourced from the RadioComms.com.au Website)
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Space News
Mars Rover now a Stationary Science Platform
On Australia Day 2010 NASA announced that after six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is no longer a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated Spirit a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap have been unsuccessful.
"Spirit is not dead; it has just entered another phase of its long life," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
"We told the world last year that attempts to set the beloved robot free may not be successful," adds McCuistion. "It looks like Spirit's current location on Mars will be its final resting place."
Ten months ago, as Spirit was driving south beside the western edge of a low plateau called Home Plate, its wheels broke through a crusty surface and churned into soft sand hidden underneath.
After Spirit became embedded, the rover team crafted plans for trying to get the six-wheeled vehicle free using its five functioning wheels the sixth wheel quit working in 2006, limiting Spirit's mobility.
At its current angle, Spirit probably would not have enough power to keep communicating with Earth through the Martian winter. Even a few degrees of improvement in tilt might make enough difference to enable communication every few days.
"Getting through the winter will all come down to temperature and how cold the rover electronics will get," said John Callas, project manager at JPL for Spirit and its twin rover, Opportunity. "Every bit of energy produced by Spirit's solar arrays will go into keeping the rover's critical electronics warm, either by having the electronics on or by turning on essential heaters."
Steve Squyres, a researcher at Cornell University and principal investigator for Spirit and Opportunity said that "Degraded mobility does not mean the mission ends abruptly. Instead, it lets us transition to stationary science."
One stationary experiment Spirit has begun studies tiny wobbles in the rotation of Mars to gain insight about the planet's core. This requires months of radio-tracking the motion of a point on the surface of Mars to calculate long-term motion with an accuracy of a few inches."If the final scientific feather in Spirit's cap is determining whether the core of Mars is liquid or solid, that would be wonderful -- it's so different from the other knowledge we've gained from Spirit," said Squyres.
Tools on Spirit's robotic arm can study variations in the composition of nearby soil, which has been affected by water. Stationary science also includes watching how wind moves soil particles and monitoring the Martian atmosphere.
Spirit may have been stopped, but it hasn't stopped discovering the secrets of Mars.
(Edited by Dr. Tony Phillips from the Science(AT)NASA website)
Some great pictures and the full story is available from the website on the email and internet editions of this broadcast.
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/26jan_spirit.htm?list1098418
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EMS News
WiFi Suit: Neighbour Sues Neighbour For Using Electronics
The Santa Fe reporter newspaper reports that a Santa Fe man who alleges he suffers from "electromagnetic allergies" is suing his neighbour because she refuses to turn off her gadgets, he claims.
According to the Santa Fe Reporter, Arthur Firstenberg, the plaintiff, has been sleeping at friends' homes or in his car to avoid the electromagnetic waves created by his neighbour's cell phone, wireless network, computer, compact fluorescent lightbulbs and dimmer switches.
Firstenberg claims he suffers from Electromagnetic Sensitivity, or EMS, which induces "nausea, vertigo, diarrhoea, ringing in the ears, severe headaches and body aches, crippling joint pains, insomnia, impaired vision, impaired muscular control," as well as other potentially life-threatening ailments.
According to Firstenberg, he first started experiencing symptoms when he was in college in the 1980s and has been a vocal opponent of
wireless systems being established in public buildings, though he has met with little success.
When Firstenberg first hired Monribot to cook meals for him in his home, Monribot had initially made concessions by turning off her phone and computer. However, when she moved in next door, she refused to keep her phone, computer and wireless network turned off when not in use. When asked if she could use a landline instead of her iPhone, Firstenberg says the neighbour "flatly refused without explanation."
The battle against Wi-Fi isn't one Firstenberg is fighting alone. He's part of a group of Santa Fe residents who are pursuing legal means to remove all Wi-Fi hotspots from public locations because they claim the wireless internet waves aggravate their "electromagnetic allergies." To add merit to their case, they are classifying their "allergy" or "sensitivity" as a disability and are claiming the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability.
http://www.sfreeper.com/2010/01/06/theres-no-app-for-that-electrosensitive-activist-sues-to-stop-neighbors-iphone-use/
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7017499815
(Passed on from Bob VK7ZL)
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Web & Email Edition Extra Bits!!
Group Plans to Save Dish
http://echoesofapollo.com/2010/01/23/radio-interview-and-the-moon-dish-rescue/
All about Chroma-Key
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chroma_key
http://www.lenses-and-lights.blogspot.com/
http://www.seanet.com/~bradford/blue_green_screen_visual_effects_1.html
http://www.borisfx.com/tutorials/chroma_key.php
TI LED Reference Design Cookbook
http://focus.ti.com/lit/sg/slyt349/slyt349.pdf
Wonderful Optical Phenomenon Websites
http://www.atoptics.co.uk/
http://www.australiasevereweather.com/
http://jari.pic.fi/kuvat/Atmospheric+phenomena+and+sky/
Microsoft post $6.6B profit
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100128/tc_afp/usitcompanycomputersoftwareearningsmicrosoft
Apple iPhone App Security in Spotlight at Black Hat
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Apple-iPhone-App-Security-in-Spotlight-at-Black-Hat-398696
NZART - VHF/UHF/SHF Contest Notes - DX Weekend 6/7-FEBRUARY-2010 http://www.vhf.org.nz/VHF-UHF-SHF-ContestRules
AMSAT-VK Mailing List
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/amsatvk/
The following links and comments are sourced to the FISTS Downunder Magazine February 2010:
http://www.fistsdownunder.org/
An interesting kit for an integrated paddle & keyer - www.cwtouchkeyer.com/P1K.htm
The Radio Club of Tacoma (Washington State) web site - www.w7dk.org has plenty of activity to interest its members. While you are there, check out their newsletter.
AC6V'S homebrew antennas links including antenna theory - www.ac6v.com/antprojects.htm - a treasure trove of information on antennas and associated topics.
One might think that marine radio relates to seagoing vessels. This site features "inland marine radio" on the Great Lakes and the Mississippi river system - http://www.imradioha.org/#
Graf Zeppelin "Funk raum" Radio room - An airborne telegraph station aboard the airship Graf Zeppelin http://www.ptt-museum.dk/en/online_magazine/previous_articles/broadcasting/index.php?id=82
Do you have some interesting internet 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
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: VK7RS
160m: VK7DM
80m: VK7ZK
40m: VK7RO
20m: VK7IL
10m: VK7ZGK
UHF CB: VK7ZCR
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
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- NEWS POSTING TO PACKET -
Courtesy Tony VK7AX VK7AX(AT)VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
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