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VK7AX > NEWS 01.06.08 04:09l 557 Lines 18800 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Regional News Broadcast for 1 June 2008
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From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : NEWS@WW
VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 1ST JUNE 2008
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VK7 EVENTS CALENDAR
And a quick reminder of the events and broadcasts across VK7:
REAST - June 4 - THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT - Antennae and the Art of
Compromise - illustrated talk by Mike Groth VK7MJ - Domain Clubrooms -
8pm
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#antennae
WICEN SOUTH - June 14-15 - Field Weekend at The Lea Scout Camp.
http://tas.wicen.org.au/
NTARC - June 18 - Allenvale TAFE College Block B 7:30pm - PLEASE NOTE
ONE WEEK LATER THAN USUAL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ntarc/
REAST - July 2 - Telecommunications Installation in Kiribati - Domain
Clubrooms 8pm
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#telecominpacific
NTARC - July 9 - BBQ Mt Barrow Interpretation Centre.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ntarc/
Sewing Circle Net - Every day from 5pm on 3.59MHz
http://reast.asn.au/awards.php#sewingnet
CHARCT Quiz Net - Every Thursday night from 8:30pm on 3.585MHz.
http://www.qsl.net/charct/
NWTARIG broadcasts in the South, North and NW during the week. Check
the website for details.
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/spectrum/
REAST - Winter Project Saturday Afternoons - 2-4pm at Queen Domain
Clubrooms. Interested in amateur radio and getting your licence then
come along and see what it's all about and you may even be able to do
some of the activities toward getting your licence along with a great
information session presented by a range of REAST members.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#winterproject
REAST - Every Wednesday evening from 7:30pm is the ATV Experimenter's
Night so, why not come up and see what we get up to. Check the
website for details.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
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NORTH WEST NEWS
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/nwtarig/
Nightly Broadcasts from the N/West
Due to the non availability of some Programs, the Nightly Broadcasts
have been re scheduled as follows:
Monday - Q5 Education Hour - Part A or B
Tuesday - Solder Smoke OR International News Roundup )
Wednesday - This Week In Amateur Radio - Part A (News Highlights)
Thursday - This Week In Amateur Radio - Part B (Special Segments)
Friday - Tech Talk Radio
The broadcasts can again be heard in the south of the state courtesy
of Danny VK7HDM via his UHF repeater VK7RAK on the 70CM. frequency of
438.700 MHz.
Check the website for further information and relay locations of the
broadcasts.
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/spectrum/
73's until next time.
(Tony VK7AX, President, NWTARIG)
----------------------------------------------------------
NORTHERN NEWS
Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club News
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ntarc/
First up, NTARC would like to congratulate Bryn VK7FBAW who has just
been awarded George Town's 'Volunteer of the Year' award, in
recognition for the dedication Bryn gives to monitoring the various
marine bands with the Tamar Sea Rescue Association. Bryn broadcasts
weather forecasts at least three times a day on the VHF marine band,
and when significant weather events are expected, Bryn also notifies
amateurs on the VK7RAA repeater. Congratulations Bryn, a very well
deserved award.
And more congratulations to Tim, VK7TIM who has become a proud parent
to new arrival Samuel.
NTARCs fearless leader, Allen VK7AN is rumoured to have run out of
breath blowing out 65 birthday candles on Thursday. Happy birthday
Al.
For everyone waiting on news about the LED badges, they have been
ordered, and should be arriving soon. Watch this space for more
details.
Thanks from
(Jason VK7ZJA, NTARC Secretary)
----------------------------------------------------------
SOUTHERN NEWS
WICEN Field Weekend
http://tas.wicen.org.au/
WICEN Tasmania (South) will be at The Lea Scout Camp off the Southern
Outlet between Hobart and Kingston on Saturday and Sunday 14th and
15th June.
The program is still being developed but plans so far are for the
weekend to kick off at 10:00 am on Saturday with:
- move in and set up HF, 2m and 70cm stations
- a WICEN members meeting at 1100 hours
followed by lunch at 1300 - available at low cost.
Activities will then include:
- Power connector and cable tests and comparisons
- HF dipole building - materials will be available for purchase
- NVIS trials using the WICEN 5MHz frequencies on CODAN radios
Saturday evening plans include
- Dinner - make your own or join a take-away group
- Illustrated talk by John VK7ZZ - Zinbad - on his recent Antarctic
voyage
- DVD showing of the FT5XO 2005 Kerguelen DXpedition
- Social tastings - BYO
Bunkhouse accommodation is available and recommended especially for
those taking the tastings seriously.
On Sunday:
- An introduction to Radio Mobile - radio system performance
prediction software
- APRS - what it takes to get started
- Show and tell on members' recent projects - bring them along -
small or large
BYO BBQ lunch
Visitors are welcome. A contribution to the venue hire charge is all
that's asked.
Just turn into The Lea from the Southern Outlet and follow the road
up the hill.
Turn left at the turning circle at the top to the Storm Hut.
(Roger VK7ARN)
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Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
June Presentation
As heard on the WIA National News our resident Physicist Mike Groth
VK7MJ will be giving us an illustrated grass roots look at antennae.
Titled - Antennae and the art of compromise or transmitting a signal
using a pair of free steak knives!!
I'm sure you have wondered sometime about how RF energy gets into the
air in the direction you want it?
Mike will cover the basics of the why and how antennae work in
layman's language and cover the relative advantages and disadvantages
of a wide variety of antenna types.
This talk is aimed at all levels of radio enthusiast from those that
have a passing interest in antennae through to the experienced radio
amateur.
Mike will be presenting on the big screen an illustrated practical
talk of antenna basics in simple easy to understand language and all
radio enthusiast especially Foundation Licensees. Potential
Foundation Licensees are encourage to come along and find out all
about antennas from an radio amateur who has years of experimentation
under his belt and I even think Mike will prove you can use a pair of
steak knives as an antenna.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#antennae
Prior to Mike's presentation, there will be a presentation of a
different variety, with the presentation of the Athol Johnson Trophy
and John Grace Perpetual Trophy to the contest winners from earlier
this year. It is hoped that we will have a special guest presenting
the John Grace Trophy. Following Mike's presentation there will be
the raffle of a lucky door prize - a fantastic RSGB Radio Handbook
thanks to Martin VK7GN. You have to be there on the night to claim
this prize!
http://reast.asn.au/awards.php#johngrace
http://reast.asn.au/awards.php#ajcontest
See you there, Domain Clubrooms, 8pm.
(REAST Committee)
-------------------------------
RD Contest
The RD Contest is not all that far away, and this year it is planned
to activate the VK7OTC Station again, this time from the domain
itself. VK7BEN is keen to hear from anyone who is interested in
assisting with this, even if you can only man the station for a
couple of hours. The Club will run both HF and VHF Sections of the
contest, with BBQs and other Activities during the weekend. If you
are interested, please contact Ben Via R2, or leave your name on the
whiteboard at the club.
Cheers,
(Ben VK7BEN for REAST Committee)
----------------------------------------------------------
REAST Education & Training
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#TrainingCourses
Ian VK7QF is currently organising two assessment sessions for a group
of about six Foundation licensees who want to upgrade to the Standard
Licence and about seven people who want to undertake the Foundation
assessment. These session are being organised for around the middle
of June so, if you are interested in either of these session please
contact Ian on 0417 125 708.
We've also established an alternative methods of training for the
Foundation Amateur Radio Licence. Rather than hold a whole Saturday
training exercise we aim to incorporate it into our existing Saturday
afternoon Winter Project Group program.
Candidates will be given a check sheet to guide them into completing
experiences that will assist in understanding areas in which they
will be later examined. It may be that other participants are willing
to help them with some of the activities.
In addition they will be encouraged to attend information sessions
held as part of this afternoon program.
And remember, Foundation Licence Manuals and CD's are available for
purchase at McCann's Model World in Elizabeth St. Hobart at $20.
(Only the first edition is available at this stage)
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#FoundationLicenceCourse
(Ian VK7QF, REAST Assessor)
----------------------------------------------------------
Winter Project
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#winterproject
As heard above our Winter project sessions continue next Saturday
afternoon and over the next few weeks there will be other guests
tutors and a focus on a range of topics required for your amateur
radio licence.
So if you would like to come along you will need to be there by 2pm
Saturday in the Domain Clubrooms for the informal information section.
(Regards from Ken VK7DY - yep it's back to DY!!)
----------------------------------------------------------
ATV Experimenters Night
We had good roll-up last Wednesday night at the ATV Experimenter's
Night.
Tony VK7FTCL and Sam, VK7FSTL ran the video and audio switching and
started the night with those professional ATV lead-ins and
promotions, thanks guys.
We then headed into a short talk on a few highlights in the science
world over the last week including a piece about some interesting
research that has been conducted that demonstrates that you may live
longer if you hang out with younger people!! That one raised some
eyebrowsHIHI.
We were then fortunate to have a short DVD presentation from Graham
VK7ZGK who did an audio technology and shack tour for the ATV viewers.
Graham has a great setup and thanks for sharing it with us. I
encourage others to video a tour of their shacks and send them in for
playing at a Wednesday ATV night. Richard VK7RO suggested that we
start a "Messy shack" competition similar to QST and see each month
who can out-do last month's messy shack. Let me know what you think
and we may be able to organise something with a prize at the end of
the year.
In a fortnight we will have something special from Professor Walter
Lewin from MIT who has a unique way of teaching physics as he gets
very involved in the experiments as well as teaches us about basic
physics, these videos are not to be missed.
And a reminder that the ATV nights start around 7:30pm and ATV goes
out on 444.25MHz - just below SBS on the UHF TV Band.
If you have an antenna pointed somewhere toward the Domain why not
try tuning down the low end of the UHF TV band on a Wednesday night
and give us a call on what you are seeing and hearing.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
(Justin, VK7TW)
----------------------------------------------------------
SATELLITE NEWS
New Russian Satellite in Orbit
A Russian rocket launched from Plesetsk on May 23 carried a number of
payloads to orbit, including a new Amateur Radio satellite named
Yubileiny -- Russian for jubilee -- since christened Radio Sputnik 30
(RS-30).
Operational details are vague at this time. Amateurs throughout the
world report receiving signals at 435.315 and 435.215 MHz; some
report reception of CW telemetry while others report what appear to
be image transmissions from the satellite. RS-30 is orbiting at a
maximum altitude of 1500 km, creating a substantial communications
footprint below.
The satellite will broadcast audio and video about the history of the
Soviet and Russian space programs, as well as signals imitating those
broadcast by Sputnik in 1957.
According to the satellite's launch team, "The motive for development
of the Yubileiny small spacecraft was the 50th anniversary of the
first space satellite. With the help of that satellite, the new space
systems and equipment are expected to get flight qualification, and
radio-amateurs all over the world will be able to receive information
on the history of space development and domestic cosmonautics
achievements."
(Sourced from the ARRL W1AW Mailing List)
----------------------------------------------------------
HISTORY NEWS
US Navy-Marine Corps MARS in Vietnam
During the Vietnam War a small number of Marines, all licensed ham
radio operators (sometimes known as radio geeks) in civilian life,
were given civilian amateur radio equipment and told to use their ham
radio skills to run phone patches, or telephone calls home for their
fellow Marines.
The operation was called the Military Affiliate Radio System. Most of
the operators lived in their radio stations, which were known by
their callsigns. November zero echo foxtrot alpha (N0EFA) was the
first operating station. Eventually there were stations Alpha through
Zebra (N0EFZ) in Vietnam and on hospital ships off the coast.
They had their own chain of command, as no other Marine Corps unit
wanted any thing to do with them, they seldom wore rank insignia,
went by only first names (even on the radio) and answered only to
other MARS personnel.
Early in the Vietnam war there was no such thing as a MARS operator
MOS (Military Occupation Specialty) in the Marine Corps. Operators
came from infantry, recon, tanks, artillery, motor transport,
engineers, helicopters, air wing and just about every other job in
the Marine Corps. A few even came from communications. The one thing
they had in common was ham radio. Some had been members of their high
school amateur radio clubs just a few short months before and few had
the money to invest in a real store-bought radio. Many had built
their own or converted old WWII military surplus radios. But the
Marine Corps handed them fifty to a hundred thousand dollars worth of
state-of-the-art ham radio equipment and said, "Go play".
And play they did. The Marine Corps MARS operators ran hundreds of
thousands of phone calls from Marines to their loved ones back
in 'The World'. Many seasoned veterans, before email or cell phones
were even dreamed of, simply didn't believe it would work. There was
no way some kid with a civilian radio, often under horrendous enemy
fire, was going to figure out when the peak of the sunspot cycle
would ionize the 'E' layer of the ionosphere, point an antenna at
exactly the right spot a hundred miles out in space at the right time
and reflect a high frequency radio signal off the ionized layer, over
the curve of the earth into a similar station in the United States,
much less hook it all up to a telephone line to their family.
But these 'kids' knew how to do exactly that. They had learned it to
pass the Federal Communications Commission's test to get their
licenses, some when they were 13 or 14 years old. Then they had
(mostly) wished for the opportunity to own a radio to practice what
they had learned.
Then, for whatever reasons, they became United States Marines. By the
time they got to Vietnam, most had shelved their ham radio knowledge
somewhere in the back of their minds and concentrated on doing their
assigned jobs and staying alive. But by various means their talents
were discovered and they were taken from their units, from combat
infantrymen to cooks, and reassigned to MARS stations.
Sometimes, when the signals became too weak to be 'phone patch
quality', they sent and received written messages for the troops in
the form of MARSGRAMS by 'CW', or Morse Code, that could blast
through the interference. Another skill they had acquired to get
their 'ticket'. Many had only managed to pass a 5 word per minute
test to get an entry level (novice) license and some of them were now
working traffic at 30 to 50 words per minute. Practice makes perfect!
http://www.marinecorpsmars.com/
http://www.marinecorpsmars.com/BarrysSite/Counterparts.htm
(Sourced from the Ham Radio History Mailing List)
----------------------------------------------------------
WEB & EMAIL EDITION EXTRA BITS!!
Flame Triode (7RO)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNl0sFViaxs&feature=related
Microsoft WorldWide Telescope Project
http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/
Phoenix's Fourth Day on Mars
http://www.planetary.org/news/2008/0529_Phoenix_Glides_into_Fourth_Day
_on_Mars.html
VK Ionospheric Prediction Service
http://www.ips.gov.au/
Latest Weather for VK7
http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/tas/observations.shtml
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDT60900.shtml
Upload Your Weather Photo to ABC News
http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/upload.htm
Official Goodies FanClub Website
http://www.goodiesruleok.com/
Urban Dictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/
Do you have some interesting amateur related sites you have some
across in the last week - send them in to justingc@ozemail.com.au
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?
----------------------------------------------------------
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
----------------------------------------------------------
Finally today, a reminder to those people rostered for next week's
broadcasts:
Newsreader: VK7FB
160m: VK7DM
80m: VK7EM
40m: VK7TS
20m: VK7AR
10m: VK7ZGK
UHF CB: VK7HGO
HF CB: VK7TED
Thanks to all people and organisations who assisted with this
broadcast.
----------------------------------------------------------
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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