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VK7AX > NEWS 10.10.10 05:03l 509 Lines 21896 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Regional News Broadcast for 10 October 2010
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From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : NEWS@WW
VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 10 October 2010
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VK7 EVENTS CALENDAR
A summary of the events across VK7 over the coming months:
NTARC – October 13 - Tony VK7YBG and his antenna analyser – bring your antenna along for testing – Alanvale Tasmanian Skills Institute Block B at 7:30pm.
www.ntarc.net
REAST – October 13, 20, 27 - ATV Experimenter's Night - starts around 7:30pm in the Queen's Domain Clubrooms.
http://reast.asn.au/atv/index.php
WICEN South – 15 to 17 October – Safety Checkpoints for Southern Tasmanian Endurance Riders at Clifton Vale
http://tas.wicen.org.au
ALL CLUBS INVITE – October 16 – Saturday Tour of the Grote Reber Museum and 3D Virtual Cinema at Cambridge starting 1:00pm - Entry Fee: $5
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#GroteReberMuseum
NTARC – 16 & 17 October – JOTA in North at JOTA HQ in Launceston with Peter VK7KPC.
www.ntarc.net
NWTATVG – 16 & 17 October – JOTA in NW at Burnie Scouts - Burnie, Paton Park -Ulverstone, and Camp Boomerang - Port Sorell
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/atvgroup/
WICEN South - 16 & 17 October – JOTA – Wellington District at Hamilton
http://tas.wicen.org.au
National WIA – October 23 – National Field Day – See WIA Website for further details.
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/centenary/nfd/
REAST – November 3 – ACMA Presentation – Queen's Domain Clubrooms 8pm
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ACMAPresentation
CHARCT – December 4 – Central Highlands Biennial Hamfest at Miena Community Hall in the Central Highlands.
http://www.qsl.net/charct/
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RD 2010
Congratulations and VK7 Participation
Peter VK4OD has released the final results and report for the RD 2010 contest.
A big congratulations to Martin VK7GN and Wayne VK7FWAY. Martin topped the HF Single Open category with 798 points and was closely followed by Laurie VK7ZE with 772 points. Wayne was the only VK7 Foundation Licence entrant and came fifth in the list for the HF Single operator category with 574 points – a fantastic effort!
There were 29 VK7 logs which is 7 logs less than last year although VK7 had 394 points more in 2010 than 2009.
VK7 came fourth in VK with WA first, SA/NT second and NSW was third. So based on points, VK7 actually beat VK3 & VK4!! That is not bad given then number of amateurs in these states.
Congratulation to all who operated and submitted their log.
The report can be found at the link on the email and internet editions of this broadcast.
http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/documents/RD_2010_Final_Report_for_Web.pdf
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Central Highlands Hamfest
4 December 2010 at Miena
Sponsored by the Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club of Tasmania this biannual event is centered literally in the middle of Tasmania in the thriving Central Highlands town of Miena.
Held in the great facilities of the Miena Community Hall, this is an event not to be missed.
Dave VK7OB has got in early and raised the idea of hiring a bus to take people from Hobart to Miena. This is a great way to sit back and see the scenery, let someone else drive and be able to chat with people on the way up and back from this great event. The Northern and North West clubs might like to consider a similar arrangement.
Last hamfest the arrangements were left a little late and as such there was not enough interest to make it viable.
We are again considering this option and would like to hear from anyone interested in a seat on the bus from Hobart to Miena and back.
If you are interested and you would like to book a seat on the bus then please contact Tony VK7FTCL on 6249 1949.
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Open Invitation to All VK7 Amateurs
Grote Reber Museum and 3D Virtual Reality Cinema
The REAST Club invites all amateurs and their families to tour the Grote Reber Museum at the Mt Pleasant Radio Observatory at Cambridge.
The museum has many wonderful artefacts and information about amateur radio operator Grote Reber (SK) and his experiments mapping the Milky Way using HF from his square kilometre array at Bothwell along with radio astronomy displays and a 3D Virtual Reality Cinema where you can fly in 3D to the planets in the Solar System.
We will even have members from the Astronomical Society of Tasmania with their Solar Telescopes looking at the sun and seeing those elusive sun spots!
We have booked Saturday the 16th October 2010 starting at 1:00pm to allow interested people to time to travel down to Cambridge and travel back afterwards.
The cost will be $5 per person as we need to cover the opening of the museum after normal weekday business hours. The more we get may mean the cost will be less per person.
We can also organise vehicle pick-ups for those amateurs who cannot drive and would like to come along.
As they say in the advertising – "But wait there's more!!" The Astronomical Society of Tasmania and the University of Tasmania are holding and open night at the Mt Canopus Optical Astronomy Observatory on the night of the 16th of October and has invited us along. They will even have images from the 1 metre optical telescope being displayed along with many other types of telescopes looking at stars, planets and all sorts of astronomical features.
Please let me know if you are interested in attending the visit over the next couple of weeks so we can get an idea of the numbers.
I can be contacted on email: VK7TW(AT)wia.org.au or phone: 0439 016 622.
A great big thank you to Karen Bradford and Dr Stefan Deiter, the curator of the museum who have made this visit possible.
http://www.groterebermuseum.com.au/
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Northern News
Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club
www.ntarc.net
How time has flown this month. At this Wednesdays' meeting at Alanvale TSI campus, Tony VK7YBG will be bringing along his antenna analyser and invites members to come along and bring their own antenna for testing. If you've ever been curious as to just how good your mobile whip is working, or were ever suspicious of your handheld antenna really being a dummy load in disguise, this night you will have the chance to find out for sure.
Jamboree On The Air is coming up on the weekend of 16th and 17th of October. You might like to just help to set up some antennae or equipment on the Friday, perhaps you'd like to be the friendly face that greets the next generation of potential amateur radio operators, or maybe you'd be more comfortable being an "out station" to chat to with from JOTA HQ. If you would like to help out with this, Peter VK7KPC is organising things, and would most definitely appreciate a hand.
Ann VK7FYBG is taking orders for the call books again this year, so if you'd like to put your name down for one, let Ann know.
Joe VK7JG may have stepped aside as NTARC repeater co-ordinator, but he continues to devote valuable time & effort to improving facilities for amateurs in the region. The 6 and 2 metre beacons at Don Heads, using the callsign VK7RAE, is now locked to a highly accurate GPS clock reference. If you tune to these beacons exactly 1kHz low in USB mode, the beat tone you get from the speaker should be 1000 Hertz. You can measure this beat tone quite easily with a computer software package like Spectrum Lab. We've a few people to thank for this project: Rex VK7MO supplied the GPS receiver, Peter VK7PL supplied the Philips chassis & power amps, David VK3HZ for making the GPS locked exciters and of course Joe for putting it all together and installing it at the beacon site. A real collaborative effort by all involved, and I'm sure it will be put to good use.
With 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
Amateur Radio Assessments
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/
JOTA 2010
The Club has again offered its services to the Scouting Fraternity by providing equipment and operators for this year's JOTA activities.
Club members will be assisting the camps at Burnie Scouts - Burnie, Paton Park -Ulverstone, and Camp Boomerang - Port Sorell.
It is intended to be active from around 10.00 AM through to evening on Saturday 16th. October. Frequencies in use will be the 2M and 6M VK7RTV Repeaters and their associated IRLP and EchoLink ports. 2M. VK7RTV IRLP 6616 / EchoIRLP 467772, 6M. VK7RTV IRLP 6124 / EchoIRLP 469119
HF will be active with frequencies to be advised.
We would appreciate any contacts you could make on the day… showcasing Amateur Radio to the Youth (and perhaps not so young) to this wonderful hobby.
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.
Potential candidates and interested persons in the North West and Central Coast Areas should note that it is NOT necessary to have to travel relatively long distances (such as Launceston) to attend assessments or training, as all these facilities can and are handled at a central location within the North West.
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 Inc.
http://reast.asn.au/
WIA Centenary - Hobart FM Community Radio 96.1FM
On Monday 18 October, Justin VK7TW will be the guest of Historian Reg Watson on his local history program on Community Radio station 96.1FM in the Hobart area.
This program will start around 11am and feature some interesting early Wireless Institute of Australia history and he might even be able to slip in some Tasmanian amateur radio history!
The program emanated from the ABC local radio program with Chris Wisbey on a weekend which Reg is a regular contributor to and Justin presented some info about amateur radio and the WIA Centenary.
http://www.hobartfm.org.au/
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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November Presentation
Showcasing the ACMA
David Long and David Hay will be coming along to give a presentation on what the Australian Communications and Media Authority does.
We as amateurs have linkages, through our licensing with the ACMA however, they do so much more than just licensing.
Have you ever wondered what happens out at the Quoin Ridge facility. Well they will let us know.
This should be a fascinating insight into the organisation and why it exists.
It happens on Wednesday November 3rd at 8pm in the Queens Domain clubrooms.
See you there.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ACMAPresentation
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Licence Examinations
A class for aspiring Standard Licence candidates has been scheduled to start on Friday evening 29th October. It will run for 4 weeks and cost expected to be $50.
If you are interested contact Reg Emmett VK7KK on 0417 391 607
or regemm at ozemail.com.au.
(73, Reg VK7KK, REAST Education Officer and Assessor)
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ATV Experimenters Night
Last Wednesday night saw a huge night with our first DVB-T digital broadcast from the Queen's Domain clubrooms.
The frequency is 446.5MHz and is a standard DVB-Terrestrial broadcast which means that many standard and high definition set-top boxes and Digital TVs will be able to tune into the broadcast.
What do you need to tune into the signal?
A directional antenna pointed toward the domain with a reasonable amount of gain. A set-top box or TV that can tune 446.5MHz and the specifications are not always 100% accurate...HIHI.
Both the cheapy Standard Definition DVT-T STB from Jaycar XC-4914 ($30.00) and the DSE GH5912 ($40.00) can both tune the frequency and pickup the signal although the specification for both boxes says that they cannot tune that frequency range. The Jaycar box seems to perform better. These are just two on the market.
Take a look at the link on the email and internet editions of this broadcast for a list of those STBs that can tune the frequency.
http://vk3rtv.com/atvrx.html
If there is a STB that tunes the frequency that is not on the list then let them know at the email address on the site.
To tune you need to jump into the tuning menus and select tune by frequency, put in 446.5MHz and search for a signal. The callsign is VK7OTC and we are VERY interested in signal reports of signal intensity, signal quality, your location and antenna.
We had some great reports including one from Eric who is formerly VK7TAS who was using an older Kreisler STB with an antenna looking at the Domain from West Hobart with excellent results. Thanks to Eric and Tom VK7TL for passing that report on.
One thing that our improved picture quality has done is created a requirements for the aligning of the white balance and monitor adjustments to ensure they are all presenting a common colour and quality of video and audio. This will done of the coming weeks.
Our video presentation was a bunch of tower worker videos showing those workers who climb high >1700ft towers as a job along with a range of other interesting videos in glorious digital.
This Wednesday night we will get underway with a range of other videos including the video of the talk by Warren on his recent trip to Macquarie Island which currently being edited.
We get underway around 7:30pm.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
Hope to see you along.
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Satellite News
AMSAT – VK Net This Tuesday
The monthly National Satellite net in VK happens this Tuesday 12 October 2010 at 20:30 - 21:30 with check-ins from 8.20pm-ish.
Operators may join the net via Echolink by connecting to either the *Amsat* or *VK3JED* conferences. Past experience has shown that the VK3JED server offers clearer audio. The net is also available via IRLP reflector numbers 9558.
In Tasmania on the NW coast it is available on VK7RTV 6M. Repeater Gawler 53.775 MHz IRLP 6124 and the VK7RTV 2M. Repeater Gawler 146.775 MHz. IRLP 6616.
(Sourced from the AMSAT-VK mailing list)
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DX News
ANTARCTICA.
Otani, JE5XYT is QRV as 8J1RL from the Syowa Antarctic Station on Ongul Island, IOTA AN-015. He is here until February 2011. QSL via operator's instructions.
(Sourced from the ARRL Mailing List)
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History News
Origin of RG as in RG-58 Coax Cable
RG means "radio guide" and was the original military specification for coax cable, starting in the 1930s. So what do all the numbers mean? RG-6, RG-8, RG-58, RG-59, RG-62, RG-122, RG-213, RG-405 and on and on?
The number is just a page in a book. RG-1 was the first page (and obviously wasn't a very successful cable design). RG-6, the sixth page, was wildly successful. Most CATV/broadband cable these days is RG-6.
For more information take a look at the link in email and internet edition.
http://www.ac6v.com/73.htm
(Sourced from the AC6V Website)
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Special Event Station
SU8JOTA in Egypt
Said Kamel SU1SK writes....
Dear Friend
The Egyptian Radio Amateurs Society (ERASD) celebrating the 53rd Jamboree On The Air at the Cairo International Scout Center. The amateur radio station SU8JOTA will be active on HF Bands during the JOTA event 16 - 17 Oct 2010.
During the weekend, SU8JOTA station will be operational from the Cairo International Scout Center. Activity will be on all amateurs bands near the World Scout Frequencies CW & SSB & digital modes. ERASD will introduce the scouts and girl guides to HF digital communications RTTY & PSK31.
We will try the 160 meter band this year, and will be looking forward to work other Amateur Radio Stations all over the world.
More information is available at the link on the email and internet editions of this broadcast.
New ERASD Activity page http://erasd.net/activety.aspx
73s de Said Kamel SU1SK (Via Kevin VK2CE)
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General News
The Trouble with VOX
<Geoff VK7HAL with audio file 4m>
(Thanks to Geoff VK7HAL for this wonderful story)
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Web & Email Edition Extra Bits! !
Heatsink Basics
http://www.jaycar.com.au/images_uploaded/heatsink.pdf
Cutter Electronics
http://www.cutter.com.au/
Ullrich Aluminium Heat Sink Extrusions
http://www.ullrich.com.au/heatsink1.php
Yet another Power over Ethernet Solution
http://www.wireless.org.au/~jhecker/poe/
What's inside and Apple TV Box
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Apple-TV-2nd-Generation-Teardown/
What's inside an iPhone 4
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone-4-Teardown/
What's inside an iPad
http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPad-3G-Teardown/
How astronomers use spectroscopy
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/10/07/3012690.htm
Set-Top Boxes List – that can tune 446.5MHz DVB-T
http://vk3rtv.com/atvrx.html
Apple Glass Gate
http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/07/apple-afraid-of-a-shattering-followup-to-its-antennagate-woes/
How to blow up a server in one mouse click
http://scripting.com/stories/2010/10/06/howToBlowUpAServerInOneMou.html
Electronics Kits that may benefit people – Send in by Richard Hole
http://www.advantagein.com/electronics/print.pdf
DIY as an extreme Sport
http://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/hands-on/diy-as-an-extreme-sport
The following links have been sourced from CG-Communicator:
An engineer's experience going Solar
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/my-first-year-with-solar/1
The HDTV Code has been Cracked
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/16/intel-confirms-hdtv-code-cracked/
1950's Westinghouse TVs
http://xoteria.com/CH7.html
This miniature quadri-copter is controlled by an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad. While that is a novel concept, the 'copter's motor-battery won't last long due to the heavy load: http://ardrone.parrot.com/parrot-ar-drone/usa/how-does-it-work
A full size Sikorski helicopter known as the X2 hits 300 MPH: http://tinyurl.com/26oalo7
Building the B-24 bomber for WW-II -- one every 55 minutes: http://tinyurl.com/B24assemby
Ring galaxies within ring galaxies, strange and beautiful: http://tinyurl.com/StrangeGalaxy
The fabulous dancing dog video: http://comedy.video.yahoo.com/?v=8171221
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?
Other VK7 Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jelfNgzPPYQ – SHPS ISS Contact
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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: No Broadcast
UHF CB: VK7ZCRO
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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