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VK7AX > NEWS 06.12.08 10:18l 787 Lines 27614 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK
Oh... and to contact us with your news because
If It Matters To You It Matters To Us!
email nationalnews(AT)wia.org.au
Please.. write your story as you would expect to hear it being read back
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WIANews 24/7 with the following bulletin in Audio
when you visit the MEMBERS AREA on www.wia.org.au
This weeks WIANews available in Audio after 0100hrs UTC Saturday.
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Now you can dial this WIANews wherever you are on the
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Dial 1300 558 592 and at the prompt type W.I.A.N. (That's 9426).
"Standard call rate from fixed home phone, higher from mobiles".
This is WIANEWS for week commencing Dec 07 2008
HAM RADIO HAS A PATRON SAINT!
I wonder how many of us were aware we indeed seem to have a Patron Saint?
GI70MY writing in the 30 meter psk yahoo group says that during the WW2
German occupation of Poland, a Ham radio Priest, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe,
SP3RN was arrested by the Germans.
The Germans believed his amateur radio activities were somehow involved in
espionage and he was transferred to Auschwitz on May 28, 1941.
After some prisoners escaped in 1941, the Germans ordered that 10 prisoners
be killed in retribution. Fr. Kolbe was martyred when he volunteered
to take the place of one of the condemned men.
On October 10, 1982 he was canonized by Pope John Paul II as
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared a
Martyr of charity.
He is now considered the Patron saint of Amateur radio operators."
You can also check www.qrz.com/sp3rn
IT'S A GIFT WE HAVE
Are you looking for something special to give a radio enthusiast friend or
a loved one for Christmas, yet can't decide what to buy, then look no
further, consider giving them a new Wireless Institute Of Australia Gift
Certificate.
Available to the dollar value of your choice and redeemable for any purchase
made through the WIA Online Bookshop, for any book or item of merchandise or
any service provided by the WIA, the WIA Gift Certificate makes the perfect
Christmas gift!
But wait .. there's more !!
In addition to the new WIA Gift Certificate, we are also pleased to announce
the availability of the WIA Membership Gift Certificate. Why not encourage
your friends to become members of the Wireless Institute of Australia by
giving them a "Become a WIA Member" Gift Certificate.
Available for purchase in Full, Concession, Student and Family membership
grades.
Both types of Gift Certificates can be purchased online through the
"Gift certificate" section of the WIA online bookshop. Gift certificates
will be mailed to you from the National WIA office. Alternatively, Gift
Certificates can be purchased by mail or in person directly from the
Wireless Institute Of Australia Office, Unit 20 - 11 Havelock Road
Bayswater VIC 3153.
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
VK2
web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm
VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news
PADDLE FOR LIFE CANOE MARATHON. 25-27 April '09
Canoeing Lismore - Coraki - Ballina on again next April.
Summerland club have again been asked to do comms support for this weekend.
Saturday is ANZAC Day, so many will be involved at the march etc so SCARC
are looking for some extra help from the area to cover this.
WAVERLEY'S 90TH ANNIVERSARY
I'm Eric VK2VE has news from Australia's longest continually licensed
Amateur radio club, about to celebrate the 90th anniversary of it's
founding on January 27th 1919.
The club's normal callsign is VK2BV and the ACMA has allocated it the use of
the special event callsign VI 2 BV 90 over nine days from January 24th to
February 1st 2009, inclusive.
A series of activities during this period is currently being planned.
These are expected to include a special event station and QSL card, working
on HF and VHF as well as IRLP and EchoLink, operation from a variety of
portable and mobile locations as well as an award for contacting the club
and its members.
Fuller details will be announced nearer the time and it is hoped that as many
Amateurs as possible, from both Australia and overseas, will work the club
over the period of the special event.
Its website at vk2bv.org will be updated as further information on the event
becomes available.
Under the caption of "Tuned in for Life" the Lakes Mail News presented an
article on long time and possibly Westlake's oldest member Bill Hall VK2XT.
The article outlined Bills amazing collection of radio paraphernalia and his
long time involvement with Amateur Radio. Frank vk2fjl has been privileged
to see Bill's collection and says it is truly amazing.
VK4
web service local news:- www.wiaq.com/qnews/upload/qnewsbcast.htm
local news email qnews-vk-subscribe(AT)yahoogroups.com
VKR Roundup http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/
TARC Xmas Lights Tour Date claimer
Hot News off the presses !
theTARCinc 2008 Xmas Lights Tour will be happening
in Townsville City on Friday evening December 19th.
Marshalling point will be at the Picnic Tables and Playground,
northern end of The Domain near the DSE Powerhouse by 7pm.
A very comfy coach piloted by ace lights tour captain
Ian VK4ZT will be the preferred mode of transport. and listen in on 2 meters!
Attendance numbers are needed, please advise Gavin VK4ZZ soonest.
VK6
web service http://www.vk6.net/newswest-index.html
Hills Amateur Radio Group which meets at the
Paxhill Guide Hall, Lesmurdie hold their next
Practical Arvo at 1pm 13th December
ACMA NEWS
Open and subscription narrowcast television services must not broadcast
programs that would be reasonably understood as:
directly recruiting persons to join, or participate in, the activities of
a listed terrorist organization; or
soliciting or assisting in the collection or provision of funds for a listed
terrorist organization.
ACMA has also developed guidelines to assist narrowcasters in applying the
standards. These guidelines focus on:
determining whether a person or an organization is a 'listed terrorist';
applying the tests of 'recruiting for a listed terrorist' at section 7 of
the standards and 'financing terrorism' at section 8 of the standards; and
reminding licensees that complying with the standards does not abrogate the
need for licensees to comply with other relevant anti-terrorism laws such as
those contained in the Criminal Code Act 1995 and the Charter of the
United Nations (Dealings with Assets) Regulations 2008.
EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO
www.hamcollege.com.au
Students sought for European Space Agency projects
The European Space Agency Education Office is looking for student teams to
fill several vacancies in the Global Educational Network for Satellite
Operations project.
The offer is open to students and amateur radio enthusiasts from any country.
The projects available have been identified by current team members as tasks
that are distinct enough to be suitable for a university project or thesis,
while still forming a valuable addition to the overall GENSO project.
For full information, check out http://genso.org
The deadline for initial applications 12th December.
(rsgb)
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program (ARISS)
has captured the attention of the US Department of Education (DOEd).
According to ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO, the DOEd has
been tracking ARISS's activities for a long time: "The Department of
Education invited ARISS to help celebrate the ninth annual International
Education Week (IEW) by coordinating three contacts with the International
Space Station (ISS) during IEW, November 17-21.
International Education Week is a joint initiative of the US Department of
Education and US Department of State.
To go along with the theme of this year's IEW -- International Education:
Fostering Global Responsibility and Leadership -- White explained that the
Department of Education requested ARISS's participation through NASA.
Mere days before the IEW QSO, students and teachers from all three schools
took part in a practice ARISS QSO. To add to the international flavour for
ARISS, Steve McFarlane, VE3TBD, stepped up to the plate to serve as
ARISS Mentor for the practice session and for the ARISS QSO itself.
Due to the IEW, the three school communities got an education treat:
"On November 18, students from all three schools tied in to a
videoconference activity held at the US Department of Education auditorium.
Students asked questions round-robin style to a panel of experts from around
the world.
The panel was made up of astronaut Don Thomas, KC5FVF;
ARISS Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, and other ARISS worldwide volunteers
and science leaders.
Top-level staff from the Departments of Education and State, as well as
representatives from educational associations such as the Sally Ride Science
Club and the head of NASA Education watched the proceedings."
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. I'm VK5MM Rob.
Morse Code from The Stig - Ep 5
You recall that a few weeks ago the world was agog with the sounds of Morse
Code happening during Season 12 of the most popular autosports show on the
planet -
Top Gear (currently screening in the UK)
Well The "Stig" is at it again, doing his Morse Lessons this week whilst
driving the new Lexus around the Dunsford Park Test Track.
Season 12 Episode 5 Morse Code embedds
"Too Many Gears" and
"I Like Mr Sulu" into the show.
What will The Stig's new callsign be once he goes for
the licence upgrade ? HiHi
Busy IARU Region 1 Conference
All is now in place for the expansion of the 40-metre band with the recent
IARU Region 1 Conference held in Croatia increasing that region's band plan
to incorporate 7.1 to 7.2 MHz.
This very useful HF band will double in size in many parts of the world on
the 29th of March next with the exit of broadcasting stations. What was once
amateur spectrum is being returned at long last.
The five-day IARU Region 1 Conference attended by 50 delegates had a packed
agenda related to various amateur radio activities - contesting, beacons,
QRP, intruder watch and specialised emission modes.
Among other topics were operating procedure, emergency communications, BPL
and the promotion of amateur radio.
One conference initiative may see the IARU proposing to the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, that it acknowledges
the Amateur Radio Service as an activity to be protected.
The QSLing practices of some DX stations were discussed. The conference
resolved to encourage QSL managers of DXpedition, DXCC, IOTA or other
stations to accept both direct and Bureau QSL cards.
It was also recommended that contest-free band segments be included in rules
of contests organised by national societies, and where possible, contests
include a category for youngsters and newcomers.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
Still in Europe and we learn that an Amateur Radio 2009 Year Planner has
been sent to all 785 Members of the European Parliament along with an
introductory letter, co-signed by M.E.P. Fernando Fernandez-Martin, EA8AK
and IARU Region 1 EUROCOM Working Group chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF.
The Year Planner was created by RSGB staff and highlights the use of amateur
radio in Space and Emergency Communications, amongst other aspects of the
hobby.
LEONID METEOR STORM A HAM RADIO SUCCESS
Going by QSL cards and logs filtering in we see that this years Leonid
meteor shower peaked on November 17th and 18th much to the delight of
weak signal scatter enthusiasts world-wide. Peak rates of 20 to 100 meteors
had been anticipated during the early hours of the
17th and again during the waning hours of the 18th at around 21:30 UTC.
While the rather bright moonlight probably spoil the show for star
gazers, ham were reportedly thrilled with the pings, hits and QSOs they
had during the storm. This, by bouncing their signals off the ionised
trails of meteors burning up in the Earths atmosphere.
Researchers who study the comet Tempel-Tuttle say that it is the source
of the annual Leonid meteor swarm.
COMMUNICATIONS SAFETY: ANOTHER LAPTOP BATTERY RECALL
Sony has announced that it will recall roughly 100,000 notebook batteries
worldwide. This following several reports that the batteries could overheat.
The recall covers notebooks made by Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba,
during the same timeframe as the widespread Sony laptop battery recall of
2006. However, the laptops named by the Consumer Products Safety
Commission with whom Sony is cooperating not overlap with the models
previously recalled.
There is some good news this time around. The hazard cited by the agency
does not include the risk of a short-circuit or fire as in the last
recall. Sony's previous recall cost the company at least $429 million, and
covered over 10 million batteries.
Go to your machines manufacturers website to find out if your battery is
among those being recalled.
OPERATIONAL NEWS -
2009 ON AIR CONTEST AND EVENT COLUMN - D A T E L I N E
JAN 1 ROSS HULL Contest starts
JAN 17 - 18 Summer VHF Field Day
VHF CONTEST NEWS
As you all should be aware the closing date for SPRING VHF-UHF Field Day
logs is now past. The contest manager John Martin is going through the logs
now and the results will be announced in the next couple of weeks.
One club who had a ton of fun and racked up some fair points is the
Tablelands Radio and Electonocs Club (TREC)
What a field day to remember with a 40 foot tower courtesy of Jeff VK4BOF
and bacon and eggs on the built in barbeque done by that famous chef Dale.
Record number of stations on 1296 include VK4ZDP, VK4BKS, and VK4AFC,
VK4EMF/P and VK4DK. Top scoring band was 70cm mainly operated by Stuart
VK4SDD.
Jeff amassed 15 grids this helping the score along.
The next VHF-UHF event is the Ross Hull Contest, which will run through the
month of January. The rules have been completely revamped this year to make
the scoring and log-keeping much simpler. The new scoring system is based on
Maidenhead locators, so the rules are now very similar to the VHF-UHF Field
Day rules.
As well as scoring points for each contact, entrants can claim 10 points for
each locator square worked on each band. The contest runs throughout the
month of January, so it will allow plenty of time for anyone to build up a
good score while still fitting in family commitments over the holiday period.
The rules for the Ross Hull Contest are in the latest issue of AR magazine,
and also on the contest page of the WIA web site. And if you aren't familiar
with the Maidenhead locator scoring system, there is also information about
this on the contest web page.
SPECIAL EVENTS, BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE
Only a couple of weeks left to work these 3 "biggies".
C 4 EURO E-Day, 1st of January currency changes to Euro. Until Dec 31
ON 55 INR marks start of TV broadcasting from Brussels Until Dec 31
PY 100 JA Centenary of first Japanese immigration to Brazil. Until Dec 31
75th ANNIVERSARY OF FM RADIO
The USA's Major Edwin H. Armstrong Memorial Radio Club will operate special
event stations W2XMN & W2XEA, December 13 & 14 to celebrate the 75th
anniversary of the invention of FM radio by Major Edwin H. Armstrong in 1933.
Frequencies: 7.270, 14.270, along with FM channels 29.6 & 52.525.
AWARDS
The Brendan Awards
In 1995 the IRTS announced that they would award a pair of Challenge Trophies
to the first amateur stations to establish two way communications across the
Atlantic on the 144MHz band.
The Trophies, two inscribed cut glass vases, were kindly presented by
Waterford Crystal and are known as the ''Brendan Trophies''. Brendan the
Navigator was a 5th century explorer whose exploits are well documented
in early Irish and Scottish literature.
The Brendan Awards are designed to give new impetus to the challenge of the
Atlantic at VHF, to rekindle the spirit of experimentation which drove those
early enthusiasts in the new science of radio, and to encourage dedicated
expeditions, breathtaking antennas or serious propagation studies in an
attempt to claim that elusive ''First across the Atlantic'' .
A full set of the detailed rules is available on the IRTS website
NOW - VK3DN - REPORTS FROM MELBOURNE.
AMSAT-VK UNOFFICIAL HF Net.
2nd Sunday each month.
November through March 0900 UTC 7.068 MHz
April through October 1000 UTC 3.685 MHz
SATELLITE QSO BETWEEN SOUTH AFRICA AND BRAZIL
After some trying, Keith, ZS6TW, succeeded in making a satellite QSO with a
South American station via AO-7 mode B.
Keith had a QSO with Angelo, PY1UNU, on Friday evening, 28 November, very
good signals all-round, but with the as usual, highish 'noise-floor' from
the satellite.
Their QSO lasted a good 4 minutes and 20 seconds - about the full duration
of the mutual window. The elevation at the start of the QSO was about
5 degrees and the total distance between ZS6TW and PY1UNU is about 7,155 km.
Twenty-five years ago, Owen Garriott, W5LFL, made history by being the first
Amateur Radio operator to talk to hams from space.
His historic flight on STS-9 on board the Space Shuttle Columbia was
launched on November 28 and landed on December 8, 1983.
Garriott's ham radio adventure on that mission ushered in a host of what
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Chairman
Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, called "outstanding outreach activities that continue
today with the ARISS program."
To celebrate 25 years of Amateur Radio operations from space, ARISS has
planned a set of special event opportunities for December and part of
January. According to Bauer, a special certificate will be available for
those who communicate with the ISS, either two-way direct (with the ISS
crew, the digipeater or cross-band repeater) or one-way reception of SSTV
or voice downlink.
"Several 'surprises' are planned over the month-long celebration," he said,
and will be announced soon.
Starting December 7, ARISS will then run a test of 9600 baud packet
operations on 145.825 MHz. "Given that PCsat should be in full sun starting
December 9," Bauer explained, "we will switch to 1200 baud packet on
145.825 on December 14-19 to support double hop opportunities. At times,
especially during the weekends, you might see some SSTV operations if the
crew is available."
Emergency communications role of amateur radio
A Training Workshop on the effective use of telecommunications for disaster
response has just been held in Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia (24-28 November 2008).
Again Jim VK3PC reports..
Among the speakers to this ITU Asia-Pacific Centres of Excellence Training
event was former IARU Region 3 Director, Sangat Singh 9M2SS.
It attracted government agencies, telcos, satellite firms, broadcasters,
equipment makers, non-government organizations and academia.
The workshop heard that the Asia Pacific region had experienced more
disasters than any other region in recent years, accounting for more than
70 per cent of all lives lost globally.
It looked at how various technologies can be deployed to facilitate rescue
and relief operations. The workshop had a number of aims including a
strengthening of partnerships of those with roles in disaster relief.
Sangat 9M2SS was one of the first speakers. His topic was the "Role of
Amateur Radio in Disaster/Emergency Communications".
He told the audience that the ability of radio amateurs to provide emergency
communications was formally recognised at the ITU World Radio Conference in
1979, while in 2003 the International Radio Regulations were further relaxed
for radio amateurs providing disaster relief communications. .
Sangat 9M2SS told participants how amateur stations provide one of the most
efficient and indispensable communication services for providing humanitarian
service, without pay or pecuniary interest.
In fact radio amateurs pay a fee for the privilege of operating their
stations and invited delegates to imagine the enormous amount of money that
would be required to provide some substitute for the communications services
provided by radio amateurs.
At a very short notice you can depend on the radio amateurs to swing into
action and establish compatible means of communications with common language
and terminology, on frequencies that are in use 24 hours a day.
These radio amateurs also bring a variety of skills, he told the workshop,
as they all come from all walks of life, engineers, scientists, doctors,
kings, prime ministers, students, shopkeepers, and space travellers.
To conclude the presentation that was very well received, Sangat 9M2SS
included a slide show from the Chinese Radio Sports Association about the
Great Sichuan Earthquake.
(Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman, IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee)
Improved band may soon be on their way. Scientists say that after more
than two years of few sunspots, even fewer solar flares, the sun is finally
showing signs of life.
David Hathaway is a sunspot forecaster of the NASA Marshall Space Flight
Centre in Huntsville Alabama. In his opinion the solar minimum is behind
us. He said that in October scientists counted five sunspot
groups,. Hathaway says that this may not sound like much, but in a year
with record-low numbers of sunspots and long stretches of spotlessness,
five is significant.
Even more significant is the fact that four of the five sunspot groups
belonged to Solar Cycle 24. That's the new and long-awaited next
instalment of the sun's 11 year solar cycle. Hathaway says that October
was the first time sunspots from new Solar Cycle 24 outnumbered spots from
old Solar Cycle 23.
Hathaway adds that this is a good sign that the new cycle is taking
off. This will be welcome news to the ears of hams who have waited a long
time to work some new and possibly rare DX.
SPEAKING OF RARE DX: SPRATLEY OPERATION ON HOLD
Hams who have waited a long time to make contact with the
Spratley Island group will have to be patient a bit longer. This as its
announced that a planned operation has been put on hold. Amateur Radio
Newslines's Don Carlson, KQ6FM, HAS SAID THAT THE long awaited 9 M 0
DXpedition to the Spratley Islands has been postponed.
A team of six operators was expected to activate Pulau Layang
Layang Island in the Spratly group in March 2009.
Now, an according to their Web page dated November 14th puts the operation
in to a state of delay. It says that due to a combination of personal and
logistical reasons that it has been necessary to postpone the operation to
a later date.
The announcement goes on to sat that its is hoped that the DXpedition will
go ahead at a later date but none was announced. The posting notes
that donations will be returned to those sponsors who made contributions
to the proposed operation.
More is on-line at spratly2009.com
SOCIAL SCENE
Dec 27 VK5
AS-LAN #10 takes place in Adelaide.
2009
International Telecommunication Union's Telecom World 2009.
JANUARY 18 2009 VK2
Mid North Coast Amateur Radio Group's Radio Expo St Johns Church Hall,
Maclean Street Coffs Harbour 8.30am
Feb 8 2009 VK2
WYONG FIELD DAY
June 5 - 8 VK4
FNNQARG at Cardwell Village Beachcomber Resort book on 1800 005633
Contact FNNQARG co-ordinator Gavin VK4ZZ for site booking guidance.
July 11 - 12 VK3
GippsTech 2009, the technical conference with a VHF, UHF & microwave focus.
OCT 12 - 16 ZL
14th IARU R3 Conference Christchurch 12 ? 16 October 2009.
Details at www.christchurch.org.nz/
The Region 3 Web Site: www.jarl.or.jp/iaru-r3/
REWIND - A LOOK BACK IN HISTORY
(Will McGhie VK6UU is WIA National Historian)
VK4APD Peter President of the Historical Wireless Society of SE Queensland
(HWS SEQ) reports on a meet at Highfields, north of Toowoomba early November.
Peter said Gail Bull, assisted by host Harold Bull, put on an excellent
morning tea and lunch for 34 members and partners.
This out-of-Brisbane excursion gave the group the opportunity to catch up
with Downs members Keith Hoffman, Rod Webb and Peter Chapman.
The club auction saw much good-humoured joshing, and auctioneer John Murt
moved 50 items rapidly.
Harold rounded off the meeting with a presentation on repairing and restoring
wooden radio cabinets. This was followed by an extensive question and answer
session.
Those who could, retired to Harold's place after the meeting to view his
large collection of radios featuring yes! console radios, among others.
Please think of the environment before printing this email
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Thanks to to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who utilize
their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly broadcast.
The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to
active amateurs residing in Australia and the globe.
We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of Australia
and participation in the activities of local clubs.
Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who submit
material and do not necessarily reflect those of the rebroadcasters,
nor the National WIA, but are broadcast in the spirit in which they were
submitted.
Material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, a credit to
WIANews wouldn't go astray...
Compiled by VK4BB on behalf of the National WIA.
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- NEWS POSTING TO PACKET -
Courtesy Tony VK7AX VK7AX(AT)VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
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