Weekly news from the WIA:
MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2014-09-14.mp3 Text edition:
WIANEWS - SEPTEMBER 14 - VK NATIONAL NEWS
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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK
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WIANEWS WEEK COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 14 2014.
HEADING TOWARDS OUR 20TH YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
WIA ANZAC 100 and AWA TELEFUNKEN
WIA, VK4ZPP COMMENTS ON THE HARD WORK PUT IN TO SUPPORT WE MEMBERS
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 14 2014.
TRENDING ON VK1WIA TWITTER ACCOUNT
http://twitter.com/VK1WIA
Glad you are still able to join us, and glad we are still here to bring you
WIA National News.
You see last Sunday, September 7th, a house-sized asteroid named '2014 RC'
flew through the Earth-Moon system approximately 40,000 km from our planet.
At closest approach, the space rock was almost inside the orbit of Earth's
geosynchronous satellites.
Check http://spaceweather.com for more information.
FADE TO BLACK
COMMUNITY television channels in Australia will be forced from the airwaves
and onto the internet under new government plans to reclaim and resell the
spectrum currently used to broadcast their services.
Community channels, including Melbourne's Channel 31 and TVS in Sydney, have
until December 31 next year to switch their broadcasts to the internet.
The switch-off forms part of new government plans to reallocate the spectrum
from the "sixth channel" — which is primarily used for the broadcast of
community TV channel — so that it can be used by free-to-air television
broadcasters or alternatively sold off to telcos such as Telstra and Optus
who are keen to get more spectrum to improve their mobile phone services
and deliver faster 4G download speeds.
(Sourced to The Australian)
ANZAC 100 for 14092014 broadcast
To commemorate ANZAC 100, a series of articles is appearing in Amateur Radio
magazine written by the WIA Historian, Peter Wolfenden VK3RV. They are well
worth reading.
Now let's take a brief look at what the newspapers reported early in World
War 1.
The Sydney Morning Herald, on 14th of November 1914, reported that Senator
Long of Tasmania was informed by the Minister for Defence, that the
Australian-owned Shaw Wireless Works and station was under a military guard.
The newspaper report from the Senate also said that the business of
Amalgamated Wireless - a collaboration of Marconi and German Telefuken - was
treated similarly.
Then the Argus newspaper on the 23rd of September 1915, reported that
Convictions were made under the Trading with the Enemy Act.
The Argus reported that at the Sydney Central Police Court, the magistrate
fined Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Limited, and individuals, of a
breach of the Act.
It had entered into an indenture of a licence from the German Telefunken
Company.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
On Sunday 23rd November 2014, the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society, will
be holding a 'Welcome to Amateur Radio' symposium. The purpose of the
symposium is to discuss the basics of the hobby of amateur radio.
During the day there will be 16 short 20 minute presentations concluding with
a general question session. Topics will include the history of ham radio,
operating legally and the model QSO, the DX Code of Conduct, ham jargon,
QRZ.com, APRS, the DX cluster, contesting and chasing awards, QSL cards,
electronic logging programs, antenna basics, Blogs/wordpress/and You Tube,
Demystifying the learning of More Code, Summits on the Air, Operating QRP,
the VK5 National and Conservation Parks award, and the World Wide Flora and
Fauna program.
The day is designed to cater for all amateurs, new and old alike. There will
be something for everyone.
The venue is the Blackwood Community Centre, at Young Street, Blackwood.
Doors will open at 8.30 a.m. with a welcome by Tony VK5KAT, the AHARS
President, at 8.45 a.m. followed by the first presentation. The day will
conclude at 4.00 p.m.
The cost is $5.00, which is an exceptionally good price considering that this
will include morning tea consisting of tea, coffee, and biscuits. Lunch
which will consist of sandwiches and rolls from Subway, and pizza. And also
afternoon tea. Again, tea, coffee and cake.
Please wear your call sign badge so others know who you are.
Please RSVP to Paul VK5PAS by no later than Monday 17th November, 2014, so
that suitable catering and seating can be arranged. RSVP to
or mobile 0410 687 998.
Again the date is Sunday the 23rd November, 2014 at the Blackwood Community
Centre. And please RSVP no later than 17th November.
Thanks for listening, I'm Paul, VK5PAS, on behalf of the Adelaide Hills
Amateur Radio Society.
DISCUSSION POINT
Hello, I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking
It's about time that people got an idea of what it takes to support
this hobby. Now I don't intend to go too deep but just to get you
to read a letter, posted online by Phil Waite, VK2ASD, WIA President.
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/new...01-2/index.php
Now this is a document aiming to provide discussion of the needs of
amateur radio in Australia for the future. As you are aware, the LCD's
expire next year and work has begun on securing a regulatory framework
that will serve over the next several years.
What I would like is for all of us to consider the detail and the time that
this letter represents. It is not simply a thank you note sent by email; this
is a formal submission explaining the position of technology and the evolution
of the hobby from now and to come. The research just to compile the charts
with the letter represents many hours of work.
And how many of our fellow amateurs put their heads together to get this
down on paper? How many hours are behind this one letter that have taken
people away from ragchews, contests or soldering irons? Just think.
Then look at the suggestions for the expansion of licence conditions for you
and me.
This is our WIA serving the amateur community.
I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think....how about you?
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.
TEXAS MAN ACCUSED OF ASSAULT AND CRIMINAL MISCHIEF TO HAM RADIO OPERATOR
An Austin, Texas man is facing assault charges after police say he tossed a
drone aircraft and an amateur radio transceiver over the fence because he was
tired of his neighbour "getting in his head."
According to the arrest affidavit filed by Austin Police, the man stormed
into KE5WRU's yard making gestures indicating he was looking to fight.
Supposedly he first broke the radio's antenna and then head butted him.
At this point KE5WRU went inside his home from where he watched as the
accused allegedly threw a Yaesu transceiver and a personal DJ- Phantom drone
over the fence causing an estimated $4,000 in damage.
The man told officers his neighbour was using the equipment to spy on him
and using triangulation to speak to him in his head, he was taken into
custody and booked on charges of assault, causing bodily injury and criminal
mischief. At last report he was still being held in lieu of $10,000 bail.
Are we running out of radio frequency space?
As demand for new mobile services grow, can the UK's (Let alone the globes)
limited radio frequencies keep up with technological development? Or will
there be a serious shortage of RF space in the very near future?
The last 15 years have seen an explosion of mobile technologies.
Smartphones, TV channels, wireless internet and mobile data, all requiring
a chunk of the mobile spectrum, but with a relative finite amount of space
how much more can it hold?
Read the full article at
http://www.ebuyer.com/blog/2014/07/a...requency-space
BROADCASTERS SUE FCC OVER SPECTRUM AUCTION RULES
The US broadcast community has sued the Federal Communications Commission
over rules for an upcoming spectrum reallocation bid.
Next year's auction which was ordered by Congress forces the FCC buy back
portions of what is now broadcast spectrum and then resell it to wireless
broadband providers.
National Association of Broadcasters argues that the FCC's rules for next
year's auction would allow fewer people access over the air stations while
at the same time forcing broadcasters to spend hundreds of millions of dollars
in a process known as repacking. Repacking is a fancy way of saying that
stations would have to once again change frequency and in some cases may have
share a channel with other broadcasters.
Ofcom Consultation - licence changes from April 2015
UK regulator Ofcom has published a 32 page proposal covering possible changes
to the UK amateur radio licence. If approved these could come into effect
from April 2015
Among changes are:
Dropping the Regional Secondary Locators ("M" for Scotland, "W" for Wales,
etc.), except for Intermediate. Access to 470kHz and 5MHZ for Full licensees
without an N.o.V.
The consultation runs from now until the 20th of October 2014.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/con...-radio-licence
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ARNEWSLINE
MAKE SURE YOUR DEVICES ARE CHARGED
If you are planning a trip by air to the United States you will want to
make certain that the batteries in any electronic device you plan to carry
with you are charged and ready to demonstrate to the TSA as we hear from
Amateur Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK:
The TSA recently published an announcement stating that
passengers boarding flights to the United States from
certain overseas airports will need to prove that all
electronic devices they plan to take with them on board a
flight can be powered up.
Part of the text of the announcement says that the Secretary
of Homeland Security has directed TSA to implement enhanced
security measures at certain overseas airports with direct
flights to the United States.
It says that as the traveling public knows, all electronic
devices are screened by security officers. During the
security examination, officers may also ask that owners
power up some devices, including cell phones. Powerless
devices will not be permitted on board the aircraft. The
traveller may also undergo additional screening.
The announcement goes on to say that the TSA will continue
to adjust security measures to ensure that travellers are
guaranteed the highest levels of aviation security conducted
as conveniently as possible.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, reporting.
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MOLDOVA HAS JOINED CEPT LICENSING
International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 reports that Moldova has signed
the pan-European CEPT Novice and Class 1 amateur radio license agreement.
The CEPT Radio Amateur License Class 1 corresponds to the United States Extra
and United Kingdom's Advanced and Full licenses. The CEPT Novice License is
closely compatible to the Unites States General and UK Intermediate license.
There is also a CEPT entry class license, however Moldavia is not joining in
that entry level system at this time.
CEPT which is an English acronym for the European Conference of Postal and
Telecommunications Administration was established in 1959. Among its duties
is the administration of a universal licensing system that permits radio
amateurs in a given member nation to receive reciprocal operating privileges
in that of other member nations.
JAPANESE ASTEROID MISSION TO CARRY AMATEUR RADIO
A news report out of Japan says the asteroid mission called
Hayabusa 2 with a planned launch this December will also
carry the amateur radio satellite. Amateur Radio Newsline's
Heather Embee, KB3TZD has the details:
--
Shin'en 2 will be among the first ham radio satellite go
into orbit outside the influence of the Earth's gravity.
The relatively small bird will be put into an elliptic orbit
around the Sun and travel to an orbit between Venus and
Mars. Its inclination will be almost zero degrees, which
means Shin-en 2 will stay in the Earth's equatorial plane.
Its distance from the Sun will be between 0.7 and 1.3
Astronomical Units. An Astronomical Unit is 149,597,871 km
which equates to about 92,955,807 miles.
Looking at its technology, Shin'en 2 is described as a
polyhedron measuring 490x490x475 mm and weighing 17
kilograms. It was built in Japan by students at Kyushu
Institute of Technology and carries a Mode J linear
transponder for amateur radio communications along with CW
and WSJT beacons.
The satellite will operate on 437.505 MHz for its CW beacon
and 437.385 MHz for the WSJT telemetry. The inverting C-W
and SSB transponder will uplink on 2 meters from 145.940 to
145.960 MHz using Lower Sideband. The downlink will use
435.280 to 435.260 MHz on upper sideband. All in all a very
ambitious project for ham radio in space.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heather Embee, KB3TZD.
--
Another amateur radio satellite called ARTSAT 2 DESPATCH
will also be carried into space on the same launch. More is
on the web at tinyurl.com/ham-radio-orbital-mission
OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2014
Manly-Warringah Radio Society's Flagpole contest September 20.
Amateur Radios International Air-ambulance Week, 9 days from Sep 28.
OCEANIA DX Contest Phone 0800 UTC Sat 4th Oct to 0800 UTC Sun Oct. 5
OCEANIA DX Contest CW 0800 UTC Sat 11th Oct to 0800 UTC Sun Oct. 12
In this, the operational news segment, many of our new friends in Amateur
Radio tend to think contesting is a bit beyond their ability, or,
"Contesting is not for me".
In talking to some of those people, it's clear Contesting as an activity is
not really understood.
Onno VK6FLAB joins us with a great "Dummies Guide to Contesting" report.
I'm not going to talk to you about how much fun it is, and it is, or how much
you learn, because you do, or winning, because you can, I'm going to talk
about the mechanics of contesting.
At its heart, contesting is nothing more and nothing less than making a
contact between two stations and exchanging some information and getting
points for the effort.
How that precisely works depends entirely on the contest itself.
On a typical contest, the exchange is the readability and signal strength,
which in most contests is 5 9, followed by a serial number. So, the
information exchanged might be 59001 for your first contact, 59002 for the
second and so-on. The other station will supply their information as it
relates to them, if they've been working hard, their number to you might be
59402 and the next number they'll use will be 59403 and so on.
The process is known as giving out a number.
Sometimes the information is the number of years you've been an Amateur,
sometimes it's the ITU or CQ zone you're in, it depends on the contest.
There are two basic ways you can participate, either by calling CQ, or by
Searching and Pouncing, and some do both, sometimes even at the same time.
In the CQ participation, you find a clear frequency and call CQ, something
like this: CQ Contest, VK6FLAB Victor Kilo Six Foxtrot Lima Alpha Bravo,
Contest. Rinse and repeat. If you're lucky, someone will come back to your
call with their callsign, at which point you can send your numbers, they'll
send theirs and you start from the top.
If you're Searching and Pouncing, you'll tune up and down the dial, looking
for stations calling CQ. Wait until you hear the pause in their call, and
throw your callsign into the gap, once. If they call your callsign, give out
your number and you're done. The recommendation is to start at the top and
scan down, then go back to the top and scan down again. That way you'll
cover the whole band in a systematic fashion.
Some other things to know.
You should take note of the numbers sent and
received as well as the station worked, this is called logging and is a
whole new topic all by itself. The contacts you made during a contest will
count towards points if you decide to submit your log. These contacts will
also count towards your DXCC if you should choose to keep track of how many
countries you've worked.
I've stayed with the basics here to give you a taste of what it looks like.
Have a go at a contest, they're on most, if not all weekends, often more than
one at the same time, all over the world.
I'm Onno VK6FLAB
(ep 20131006)
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, BEACON REPEATER AND NET ADVICE
NEW DXCC APPROVALS
Some news from the ARRL DXCC Desk. ARRL Staff Liaison Dave
Patton, NN1N reports that A52JR, 4W/HB9FLX, 4W/N1YC and
4W/PE7T have all been approved for DXCC credit. If you have
had cards for these operations rejected in a recent
application, please send an E-mail to the ARRL DXCC Desk at
and you will be placed on the list for an update.
(ARRL via ARNewsLine)
British Antarctic VP8 could be on air next year
An Australian-born, now UK Information Technology professional, Cathy Colless
M0RTW, is headed for the British station on Adelaide Island in the Antarctic.
However due to baggage restraints, is not expected on air until next January,
when hopefully another radio amateur who has an extended stay on the station,
sends a transceiver by boat.
Born in Bowral New South Wales, and obtaining a Master's Degree at the Central
Queensland University, her last position was the Senior Systems Architect
at Anglia Ruskin University in the UK.
Preparations are now being made to take up duty as the British Antarctic
Survey Communications Officer at the Rothera Research Station, handling
communications and IT support.
Adelaide Island is south of the Falkland Islands and south-east of the southern-most
part of Chile, with the summer temperatures typically in the range of freezing
to 5 degrees Celsius.
Cathy M0RTW tells us how the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society, particular
the very patient, experienced and knowledgeable lead instructor, Murray Niman
G6JYB, first helped with the Foundation Licence and then ultimately the Advanced
Licence last December.
There has been plenty of Amateur Radio activity and skill building before
leaving formal training at Cambridge for the Antarctic on October the 19,
to stay until March 2015.
Ahead for the Antarctic team of five in summer are long hours talking to
aircraft, ships, boats and field parties.
Cathy M0RTW now runs a blog that will detail her time at Rothera Research
Station, in what she describes as, an opportunity of a life-time. Follow
it at http://passyourmessage.com/
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix - special event calls
Sochi hosts the Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix on October 10 to 12.
The following will be active from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 on all bands and modes
representing the F1 teams
UE16IR Infiniti Red Bull Racing
UE16MP Mercedes AMG Petronas F1
UE16SF Scuderia Ferrari
UE16LT Lotus F1 Team
UE16MM McLaren Mercedes
UE16SA Sahara Force India F1 Team
UE16ST Sauber F1 Team
UE16SR Scuderia Toro Rosso
UE16WR Williams Martini Racing
UE16MT Marussia F1 Team
UE16CT Caterham F1 Team
There is also a Ham Formula One award available.
http://f1award.ru/en/ http://f1award.ru/rulesen.pdf
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW
FISTS Club - East Asia www.feacw.net
FISTS Club - Australasia www.fistsdownunder.org
FISTS Club - UK & Europe www.fists.co.uk
FISTS Club - Americas www.fists.org
CW Operating Procedure
Following a suggestion by the IARU, the Icelandic member society IRA will
present a paper at the upcoming Region 1 conference (Sep. 21-27) concerning
CW operating procedure.
The paper will be presented by Villi TF3DX.
So far little has been done to promote the paper, but we feel that making it
known to the actual practitioners of CW would be important, especially now
that general familiarity with the mode can no longer be assumed in the
Ham radio community.
Having members of clubs dedicated to the Morse tradition participate in the
discussion within their national societies would lead to more meaningful
stand taken, one way or the other.
Then, of course, the CW Operators' Club comes to mind.
In addition to the document submitted to the IARU R1 conference you may find
of interest these documents
http://www.tf3y.net/files/Conflicting_CW_Proced.pdf
http://www.tf3y.net/files/KeyNoteJuly2014PC1112b.pdf
http://www.tf3y.net/files/Letter_FISTS_TF_20140808.pdf
(73, Yngvi TF3Y http://www.tf3y.net)
ARNSW would like to advise listeners that the 3699 kilohertz morse
transmission from VK2WI re commenced a couple of weeks ago.
Additional speeds of 20 and 25 words per minute have been added,
along with more text. It is a continuous service except at
Sunday broadcast periods.
Reports are most welcomed - which can be emailed to
The VK2RSY beacons on 2 and 70 will have new antennas installed when they
return to service - once there is a period of dry weather to enable the
installation.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER
Sarah Brightman to start space flight training
In 2012 in conjunction with Virgin Galactic, The Brightman STEM Scholarship
program (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) was launched to
help young women in the US pursue STEM education across their four-year
college careers.
Then her album, "Dreamchaser" was released on January 22, 2013.
She said "I don't think of myself as a dreamer. Rather, I am a dream chaser,
I hope that I can encourage others to take inspiration from my journey both
to chase down their own dreams and to help fulfil the important UNESCO
mandate to promote peace and sustainable development on Earth and from space.
I am determined that this journey can reach out to be a force for good, a
catalyst for some of the dreams and aims of others that resonate with me."
She intends to become the first professional musician to sing from space.
It is not yet known if she will make any amateur radio contacts while on the
ISS.
In 1991 the first UK astronaut Helen Sharman was issued with a special
callsign GB 1 MIR by the Radiocommunications Division of the Department of
Trade and Industry. She was then able to contact radio amateurs on Earth
during her stay on the MIR space station.
Read the TASS story at
http://en.itar-tass.com/non-political/747859
Sarah Brightman
http://www.sarahbrightman.com/
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS
http://www.raotc.org.au
Oct 23rd is the Adelaide RAOTC Annual Luncheon.
Bring your Seniors Card ( it is cheaper!)
Marion Hotel, 849 Marion Road, Mitchell Park.
RSVP: so we can ascertain numbers BEFORE 21 October, to;
Ron Coat VK5RV, Ph 08 8296 6681,
SOCIAL SCENE 2014
Sep 13 VK4 Sunshine Coast AR Club's SUNFest, Woombye School of Arts
Sept 14 VK2 Westlakes field day, club grounds at Teralba.
Sept 14 VK3 Shepparton and District AR Club Hamfest kicks off at 10am.
Sep 28 VK3 Melbourne Amateur Radio Technology Group Hamfest Keilor East.
Sep 28 VK4 Central Highlands ARC Weekend at Camp Fairbairn.
Oct 3 VK4 Townsville Amateur Radio Club's Cardwell Gathering 4 day event.
Oct 17-19 WW JOTA
Oct 23 VK5e Adelaide RAOTC Luncheon Marion Hotel, Mitchell Park.
Oct 25 VK4 HAMFEST on the Gold Coast. ( )
Nov 2 VK5 HamFest Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society
Nov 9 VK3 Yarra Valley AR Group Hamfest 10am Gary Cooper Pavilion.
Nov 9 vk3 VHF / UHF and Microwave experimenters
Nov 15 VK7 Miena Hamfest (My-enah)
Nov 30 VK3 SPARC HamFest at Rosebud ( )
2015
June, Queens Birthday weekend 40th annual Oxley Region Field Day
T
July 11-12 VK3 GippsTech 2015
REWIND
The UK's Science Museum is in the final stages of preparation before the
opening of Information Age: Six Networks That Changed Our World.
It will the first permanent gallery to be delivered under the Science Museum's
new masterplan, a 10-15 year programme that will transform the institution's
buildings, displays and ways of working.
Curated by Tilly Blyth, the museum's keeper of science and technology,
the gallery, lcated in Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, will
explore the history of communications and information technology,
displaying more than 800 objects over six zones:
the cable, the telephone exchange, broadcast,
the constellation, the cell and the web.
It opens to the public on 25 October.
Information Age is first and foremost about displaying and interpreting our
historic collection. The gallery invites visitors to reflect on the
long history of information networks, telling 21 incredible stories and
showcasing some truly iconic objects.
For example, you can see the original instruments used to receive the first
telegraph messages sent across the Atlantic in 1858, the BBC's first radio
transmitter, 2LO, and the NeXT computer with which Tim Berners-Lee invented
the world wide web.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
Submitting news items
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The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to
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