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VK7AX > NEWS 20.06.10 05:49l 450 Lines 25501 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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To : NEWS@WW
VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 20 JUNE 2010
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Congraulations
Barry McCann VK7TBM OAM
As heard on the WIA National News Barry McCann was awarded the Order of Australia for services to Maritime Communications.
The following is a short history of how the maritime radio service was formed.
Barry's technical career started at 7HT and whilst manager there, joined forces in 1975 with the late Les Collins, to establish a radio network for pleasure craft. Throughout the following years, Barry worked to build up the service from 14 boats to what it is today, a network of over 1200 boats.
The Tasmanian Smallcraft Marine Radio Group (TSMRG) was formed by Barry McCann and Les Collins in 1975 to establish an economical means of communication between pleasure craft and a shore station. The sole purpose was to enhance the safety of life and property at sea.
The 27MHz base station was set up at the late Doug Bonnitch's home on the Esplanade at Margate in July 1976 and was operated for the next nine years by his son, Len. A VHF service also commenced during this time. A radio was also installed at the Denison Canal and operated by Charlie Curle. This made navigating the canal much easier.
Upon Len's retirement in 1985 the base station moved to South Arm and became Tasmar Radio. This station was run by Rex Griffiths until his retirement in the late 80s. In 1987, a remotely controlled base station was constructed at Snug Tiers and this facility is still an integral part of the much expanded system that is Coast Radio Hobart today.
When Rex retired the base was moved to Denison Canal and operated by the late Robert Wright. The base then moved to the homes of various volunteers when second and third control consoles were built. Operators during those years included Elaine Stokman, Bill Lush, Ted Thorne, Malcom, Stu Braunholz and Mike Hooper.
The name change from Tasmar Radio to Coast Radio Hobart had no bearing on the self-funded and voluntary nature of this network. It was a decision made by the body that oversees the national High Frequency Radio Network, for which we operate Coast Radio Hobart. The local service provided as Tasmar Radio, of course, still continues.
In 1993, the State Government granted TSMRG control and sole use of the old Hobart Radio receiving station on Bruny Island. This station, now fully re-equipped, forms a vital back-up and provides monitoring of the international distress frequencies.
Today the main operations room is located in the Coast Wireless Station on the Queen's Domain after an agreement was struck with the Radio and Electronic Association of Southern Tasmania Inc. This operation continues the proud tradition of a coastal wireless station started in 1912 when the building was built to communicate via Macquarie Island to the 1911 Mawson Expedition to Antarctica.
A big congratulations to Barry McCann OAM.
http://www.coastradiohobart.com.au/
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/tas/content/2010/06/s2926449.htm
(Sourced from the Coast Radio Hobart website)
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VK7 EVENTS CALENDAR
A summary of the events across VK7 over the coming months:
REAST June 22-24 REAST Operation of VK100WIA from the Historic 1912 Wireless Station atop the Queen's Domain Hobart.
REAST and VK100WIA
REAST June 23 & 30 ATV Experimenter's Group Queen's Domain Clubrooms starts around 7:30pm.
http://reast.asn.au/atv/
CCARC June 26 Presentation on the HP8924 RF test set and RF tools software package with Vernon VK7VF.
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
REAST July 7 Constructors Night Optical Transceiver starts 8pm in the Queen's Domain Clubrooms. BYO Soldering Iron, solder & side cutters.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#constructornight
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Northern News
Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club
www.ntarc.net
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NORTH WEST News
Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club (CCARC)
CCARC News
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
The next meeting will be on the 26th of June, and will feature Vernon VK7VF giving a talk on using the HP8924 RF test set, and afterwards, the RF tools software package.
Prospective amateurs and amateurs wishing to upgrade can contact the learning facilitator Keith Winkler VK7KW who can help you along the path to a new licence. Contact details are available on the Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club website, which is easily found by a Google search for CCARC Tasmania
Regards from
(David, VK7DC, Secretary, CCARC)
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North West Tasmania Amateur Television Group
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/atvgroup/
Amateur Radio Licence Assessments and Training
Persons in the N/West Area of VK7 interested in Training and Assessments for all classes of Amateur Radio are advised that the Club can provide all these requirements and in addition provision of Facilitators via the Radio and Electronics School if candidates so desire.
For more information regarding these facilities, please contact the Club's Learning Organizer Tony VK7AX, or the Club. Contact details can be found on the Club Web Site or the WIA site under VK7 Clubs.,
73's until next time
(Tony VK7AX, News Officer NWTATVG)
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Southern News
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
http://reast.asn.au/
Firstly a big welcome back to Warren VK7FEET who made it safely back to Hobart from Macquarie Island where he helped out on the pest eradication program. On Ya Warren. We are looking forward to the stories from the sub Antarctic adventure.
Also congratulations to Anders VK7FAJM who has been successful in applying for a job with the Tasmania Fire Service in the Radio Communications area. I can feel some PRM80s coming on
..HIHI.
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VK100WIA REAST Operation
We will be operating VK100WIA from 10:00am (local) on Tuesday 22nd June through until 23:00 then from 09:00 through until 23:00 on Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th.
We have setup a multiband multimode station which can operate MF, HF, VHF and UHF along with ATV on Wednesday night. We have setup an impressive array of antennas for the event in the Queens Domain compound.
We are still looking for operators so, if you can spare an hour then please drop up and I'm sure there will be a transceiver and computer spare do some operating.
We are especially extend a very warm welcome to our F-Calls who are wanting some operating experience on HF. You will be able to operate all band and even some digital modes like PSK and operate the VK100WIA callsign from the historic 1912 Coast Wireless Station.
Are you and F-Call and have a HF rig and need some help operating it? Then bring the rig along and we will help you out and you can operate VK100WIA with the rig.
Just give a call on the VK7RAD/RHT 2M Repeater to check who is at the Domain.
If you are interested in helping out then please drop up to domain during those times or contact Justin VK7TW ASAP via email VK7TW(AT)wia.org.au or 0439 016 622.
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July Presentation
Constructor's Night Optical Transceivers
We will be putting together simple light transceivers during the night and then testing and talking to each other via red LED light.
Please bring along your soldering iron, some solder and side cutters for a fun night of construction. Don't worry if you don't own a soldering iron there will be some spare irons, etc just in case you don't have one.
Kits will be available for between $10 and $20 to cover the component cost and everything is in the kit including a 9v battery!
Orders are coming in fast so, get in quick and let Justin VK7TW know before the 23rd June if are coming along so we can have enough kits available on the night.
This occurs on Wednesday 7th July 2010 starting at 8:00pm.
Even if you don't want to put a kit together then you are most welcome to come along and help the novice kit constructors and have some fun with the finished kits talking to each other.
See you there.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#constructornight
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Special General Meeting
Please note there will be the quickest Special General Meeting in the history of the club just before the Constructor's night to present the audited 2009 accounts by the Treasurer.
Members who have supplied their email address will be receiving notification in the near future.
(REAST Committee)
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Licence Examinations
If you are interested in sitting an amateur radio assessment and this can be for any of the assessments then contact Reg VK7KK on 0417 391 607, or email on regemm(AT)ozemail.com.au.
(73, Reg VK7KK, REAST Education Officer and Assessor)
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ATV Experimenters Night
It was a surprisingly warm night at the ATV Experimenter's night in comparison with last week's sub-zero adventure
HIHI.
Last week Paul VK7PAH brought a wonderful donation to the ATV group in four barstools of just the right height that were donated by David and Sally Richardson and they are final touch to the studio.
We can now fit three people behind the studio desk in relative comfort.
We started the night with a show and tell from Justin who demonstrated the prototype of the Optical Transceiver that we will be building at the July meeting then demonstrated another project that involved a VE1ALQ Versatile 2 PLL board controlling a VCXO for the local oscillator in his FT847. The PLL board is driven by a GPS Disciplined Oscillator which provide a very stable 10MHz with drift in the order of 1/100th of a hertz at 10MHz. This will be used to lock the FT847 for use at very narrow bandwidth weak signal modes.
We then had a chat to both Tom VK7TL and Graham VK7ZGK and finished off with the screening of the movie "Voyage to the White Volcano Anaconda II" which is second video showing the 1983 DXPedition to Heard Island.
Then inside for a hot cup of tea to finish off the night.
Next week will be a very special night as the ATV night will be during the REAST operation of VK100WIA.
We will be broadcasting the AMSAT presentations from Dayton 2010 which includes the AMSAT Status Report, AMSAT Satellite Operations and International Satellite Operations, Integrating Satellite Operations into DXpeditions, Getting ARISSat-1 Ready and NextGen CubeSat Program Update.
We get underway with the ATV night around 7:30pm with contacts from all over the place being.
Hope to see you along.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Satellite News
AMSAT Met The Dayton $5000 Challenge
Thanks to the generosity expressed by AMSAT members and others, we have met the "Dayton Challenge" one-for-one matching gift goal of $5,000.00. This goal was achieved in less than two months. AMSAT thanks the Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) for their continued support of AMSAT. These donations will help support "Getting AMSAT Back into Space."
DARA President Steve Coy, K8UD wrote to AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW, "I am glad that this promotion has worked well and I am looking forward to other endeavours in the future. AMSAT has been a major attraction to Hamvention for many years, and hopefully for many years to come. I hope other organizations will step up with similar programs. Launches have not been going down in price, however with the recent launch of Falcon 9, perhaps there may be other opportunities in the future. We all need to continuously look outside the box for new solutions. Again, DARA congratulates all the AMSAT members and best wishes for the new satellite."
While this one-for-one matching opportunity has been met, AMSAT continues on it's capital drive to raise $100,000.00 in both 2010 and 2011. One AMSAT member has just agreed to pledge $500.00 to AMSAT as an additional 'one-for-one' matching opportunity, so donations made now will continue to "grow".
Since announcement of the campaign in October 2009, over $25,087.00 has been raised to date, not including the DARA matching gift. If you haven't donated to AMSAT this year, please consider making a donation as we must continue to raise funds in 2010 to underwrite the construction and launch of our next satellite, Fox. We will continue to provide opportunities for 'small donations' at various hamfests as well as making contributions online:
http://www.amsat-na.com/store/donation.php
(From AMSAT President Barry Baines, WD4ASW via the AMSAT News Service)
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Regulator News
Amateur Radio Operator Charged in NZ For Operating at 3100 watts
The following was sourced from the NZART News.
Radio Spectrum Management recently prosecuted Amateur Radio Operator Alan Potter for transmitting outside the terms and conditions of the General User Radio Licence for Amateur Radio Operators.
The radio spectrum is an important resource for New Zealand and a key part of Radio Spectrum Management's work is to ensure responsible use of the radio spectrum in a way that doesn't cause interference to other users.
All amateur radio operators are required to gain a qualification that covers the risks and harmful effects of interference from their transmitting equipment. This includes the risks associated with transmitting at high power levels.
"As a qualified amateur operator, Mr Potter is well aware of the risks but has chosen to ignore them", says Chris Brennan, Compliance Manager for Radio Spectrum Management.
"This behaviour is unacceptable. Radio Spectrum Management are serious about protecting the radio spectrum for all users; we are continually monitoring and enforcing radio spectrum compliance, which includes prosecution when necessary".
Radio Spectrum Management was alerted to a video Mr Potter posted on `You Tube', a well known online video sharing site, which showed his transmitter operating at 3100 Watts. Operating at such high transmitting power is likely to cause interference to, and disruption of, a range of other licensed radio services in the local area.
Radio Spectrum Management's role is to protect the public good by ensuring equipment capable of transmitting radio waves complies with the terms, conditions and restrictions of radio licences and International standards applicable in New Zealand.
Mr Potter was charged in the Christchurch District Court on 14 April. He was found guilty of breaching section 113 of the Radiocommunications Act 1989. He was fined $1,750 and $130 for costs, plus he has been required to forfeit his radio equipment.
For the purposes of section 113, any person who erects, constructs, establishes, maintains, or is in possession of any radio transmitter is presumed to have used the radio transmitter. In this case, Mr Potter was found in possession of radio transmitting equipment that was capable of operating at a significantly higher power than the Amateur Radio Operators General Licence allows.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1005/S00283.htm
(Sourced from the NZART News)
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Contest News
Trans-Tasman CW & Digital Contest
This is a reminder of the newly resurrected Trans-Tasman CW & Digital contest which runs on 160m for CW & Digital on 26 June 2010.
Operation is between 0800-1300UTC (best 4 hours out of 5) and you can operate CW, RTTY, PSK31, and others.
This contest has been introduced to fill the gap left by the demise of the previous VK/Trans-Tasman CW contests. While there have been around 50 active stations each year in each of the CW contests, the lack of submitted logs, and the structure of the scoring system made the contest unviable.
To address this, the new Trans-Tasman CW & Digital contest aims to boost activity and contact rates by:
Introducing digital modes to the contest, and allow stations to be contacted twice per hour (once on CW and once on digital).
The use of CW decoding software is actively encouraged to boost CW activity.
For more information take a look at the link on the email and internet editions of this broadcast.
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/robglassey/TT_CW_dig/index.html
(Sourced from the website of ZL3AKM Contest Manager)
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Technology News
LEDs play key role in green efforts surrounding the World Cup
South Africa has launched a green program to mitigate the carbon impact of the FIFA World Cup and LED are participating in the environmental effort.
The FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) World Cup kicked off in Johannesburg, South Africa, and the host country has simultaneously launched an initiative to minimize the carbon footprint of the globally-popular event held once every four years. The South African government is attempting to implement green initiatives that offset emissions that are attributable to tournament visitors and has enlisted the help of LED lighting vendor Lemnis Lighting. Osram is also involved in LED lighting for both game venues and other indoor and outdoor spaces.
The World Cup Organising Committee say the carbon footprint reduction initiative focuses five carbon-offset projects that will presumably compensate for the carbon emissions attributable to those travelling to the World Cup. The five include solar cookers, soil composting, wind energy, solar-powered displays, and LED lighting.
In the LED lighting area, Lemnis Lighting is a partner to begin a large-scale retrofit of lighting in hotels, office buildings, and street lighting. The project will also include off-grid LED lighting for rural areas.
Buyelwa Sonjica, South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs said, "Whilst we welcome the world, South Africa's hosting of the World Cup must leave a legacy for the people of South Africa.
Venue lighting is being supplied by OSRAM using a variety of lighting technologies for game venues. Most notably, OSRAM has supplied LEDs for the illuminated arc called "The Arch" that is prominent spanning the entire Durban stadium. The architectural feature includes more than 12,000 Golden Dragon LEDs.
Philips, announced that its ArenaVision sports lighting system is being used in six of the world cup venues, although LEDs are not part of the system that illuminates the playing field.
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/7/6/4?cmpid=EnlLEDsJune162010
(Sourced from the LED Online Magazine)
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Technology News
Wireless transceiver cuts power consumption by 90%
European research group Imec plans to produce a short range RF transceiver ten times more power efficient than today's Bluetooth and Zigbee chips. Imec recently demonstrated discrete modules capable of sending 1,024 kbyte/s over 5 meters while consuming less than one milliwatt. Regular production is planned for the end of the year.
The Imec RF design uses a simple on-off keying modulation scheme and a regenerative receiver. This approach also allows communication links in -10 dB range, which is sufficient for the 5-m link distances needed for body area networks. The integrated transceiver is expected to measure 1.6 x.06 mm in 90 nm process technology. It will operate at 1.01.2 V.
The technology could enable body-area network devices that last for up to six weeks, compared to around 5 days with current devices. According to Bert Gyselinckx, general manager of Imec's Human++ program, this opens the door for long-term patient monitoring. Body area networks are regarded as key components for next-generation health care devices that monitor patients continuously at home.
Radio components consume as much as 47% of the power used by wireless networks, making them the first of many targets for Imec's low-power electronics program. The ultimate goal is to reduce the power consumption of electronics for wireless sensor networks so they can operate using energy harvesting techniques and not require batteries. This goal is still years away, in part due to the immaturity of energy harvesting technology. Today's best harvesting components deliver around three milliwatts of power at most, said Gyselinckx, while wireless electronics currently consume more than three times as much power.
http://www.imec.be/ScientificReport/SR2007/html/1384142.html
http://www.elektor.com/news/wireless-transceiver-cuts-power-consumption-by-90.1385254.lynkx?utm_source=UK&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news
(Sourced from the Elektor E-Zine Website)
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Web & Email Edition Extra Bits! !
The 3D Folded Loop Antenna Using Copper Piping (Thanks to VK7TED)
http://www.antennex.com/preview/Jun603/intro3dfl.htm
BAA Radio Astronomy Group
http://www.britastro.org/radio/
Baldness Cures A Let Down!
http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2010/06/17/2929573.htm
Male Menopause Symptoms Identified
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/3500/male-menopause-symptoms-identified
Pictures of Russian Moon Vehicle Returning Laser Reflections
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Old_Moon_Rover_Beams_Surprising_Laser_Flashes_To_Earth_999.html
Interesting Website worth exploring
http://www.prc68.com/
The 14th International EME Conference August 12-14, 2010
http://www.ntms.org/eme/
Martian Spirals Mystery Solved
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/16jun_martianspirals/
Skippy the Robot
http://www.skippyrobot.co.za/
The following links are courtesy of AMSAT News Service:
The SpaceX Falcon 9 blasted-off successfully from Cape Canaveral at 1545 UT on Friday, June 4. Watch the Falcon 9 Launch 1 Webstream at: http://tinyurl.com/26cjwuv
ESA's Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli will visit the International Space Station in November, and he needs your help to name his mission. More information can be found at http://tinyurl.com/35wukjn
A video of the French Over The Horizon (OTH) radar, Nostradamus, which operates across 3-30 MHz can be seen on YouTube: http://tinyurl.com/299g7oy
The Amateur Radio contact between the International Space Station (ISS) and Japanese boy and girl scouts is now available on YouTube. The contact with Astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP, was broadcast on Japanese cable TV. Watch at: http://tinyurl.com/28y6h7r
NASA has released the first-ever up close video available for the public, taken from inside a space shuttle after landing, showing the checkout procedures and the "towback" to the Orbiter Processing Facility. It was taken on May 26, 2010 following shuttle Atlantis' landing following the STS-132 mission. See: http://tinyurl.com/2fbkks4 (UniverseToday.com)
Watch the YouTube video at http://tinyurl.com/23fftkg that addresses one of amateur radio's urban legends regarding homebrewing an antenna from a Slinky.
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
80m: VK7ZK
40m: VK7TW
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.
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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