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WIANEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING OCT 25 2009.
FOUR DX HAMS KILLED IN PLANE CRASH
THREE ELECTROCUTED INSTALLING HAM ANTENNA IN FLORIDA
WIA PRESIDENT VK3KI REPORTS ON IARU R3 CONFERENCE
JOTA A SUCCESS
G5RV's Logbook sells
Sunspots and tree rings
ALL UP AND COMING IN THIS EDITION OF WIANEWS WEEK COMMENCING OCT 25 2009
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FOUR DX HAMS KILLED IN PLANE CRASH
It is with great sadness we have to inform the Amateur community of a tragic
accident Thursday morning at 6:30am EST.
The C6APR team, consisting of Pete, W2GJ, Ed, K3IXD, Randy K4QO and
Dallas W3PP were all killed as their aircraft crashed on take-off from
Summerville Airport, SC on their way to Crooked Island, Bahamas.
The Hams were flying to Fort Pierce, Fla., and then on to the Bahamas
to operate in the CQWW contest this weekend.
The plane had only climbed to about 150 feet before something caused it
to make a sharp U-turn and then crash into a wooded area near the Summerville
airport.
The twin-engine Piper PA-23, which seats six and was built in 1976, was
engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the scene.
Our thoughts are with their families in this tragic time.
(vk3fz/vk3frs)
THREE ELECTROCUTED INSTALLING HAM ANTENNA IN FLORIDA
Three people trying to help a Florida ham by installing an antenna for her
have been electrocuted in a bizarre accident that happened after
dark. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, has the details:
A mother, father and their 15-year-old son died on Monday, October 12th.
This, after being electrocuted while attempting to erect a ham radio antenna.
The Palm Bay Florida Police Department identified the victims as Melville
Braham, 55, Anna Braham, 49, and their 15 year old son Anthony. None were
licensed radio amateurs but they appeared to have been assisting an area
ham with an antenna installation.
Authorities say the family was attempting to raise the antenna mast when
they lost control and it struck an overhead power line. It made contact
with the overhead wiring and sent 13,000 volts down through the antenna
mast the three were holding,
When paramedics arrived, they found all three on the ground not breathing.
Rescue crews immediately tried to resuscitate them. Anna Braham was
pronounced dead at the scene. The father and son were taken to a local
hospital, where they were later pronounced dead.
Florida Power & Light Co. crews also responded to the scene. They shut off
power in the area while authorities collected evidence and documented the
scene.
According to news reports, Anthony Barham attended Southwest Middle School.
Grief counsellors were available at the school on Tuesday October 13th to
help students deal with the tragic loss of their friend.
Federal Communications Commission records do not show that any of the
victims were licensed amateur radio amateurs. They do, however, show a
license issued to a Barbara V. Tenn, KJ4KFF, at the address where the
electrocutions occurred.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.
This appears to be yet another case of those trying to put up an antenna
not realizing the potential danger of nearby overhead high tension electric
distribution, and the fact that these wires are all but invisible at
night.
(Published news reports fox Rolando)
VK4 Counter terrorism exercise Operation Hotel Taunt
A joint operation aimed at testing a coordinated response to an emergency
situation was held Wednesday at the Port of Brisbane.
The counter terrorism exercise involved several government and private
authorities working together to resolve a potentially dangerous situation.
The exercise involved a suspicious package being located on a wharf at the
Port of Brisbane.
Authorities then went about planning and participating in every aspect that
would be necessary if this was a real situation.
Wynnum District Superintendent Tony Rand was happy with the exercise and the
way the situation was successfully handled.
"This type of exercise is extremely important for everyone involved to hone
their skills and learn best practice methods.
"We will assess the exercise and educate ourselves on any areas that may need
improvement. Everything done here can be taken away and used in a real life
situation," Superintendent Rand said.
(QPS Media and Public Affairs Branch).
JOTA A SUCCESS
Lots of good reports coming in of JOTA last weekend.
Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC, Governor-General of Australia,
Chief Scout and Patron of Girl Guides Australia addressed Scouts and Guides
in a message which opened the annual Jamboree On The Air.
JOTA-JOTI involved some 10,000 Scouts and Guides in Australia, and about
500,000 worldwide and gave young people an opportunity to meet and learn
about Scouts and Guides in other parts of the world.
The amateur radio station of the World Scout Bureau was active from Geneva
on all short-wave and VHF bands during the JOTA weekend with the Bureau's
call sign HE8S.
On the Sunday afternoon, Secretary General Luc Panissod gave the closing
speech that was transmitted over shortwave and entered into a live contact
with J5S at the Scout HQ in Guinea Bissau.
HE8S - World Scout Bureau
NERG'S latest club newsletter has pointed out that from 9 November, there will
be some important changes to the Victorian road safety rules about using
mobile phones and visual display units.
While these don't appear to affect any rules regarding the legal use of
two-way radios whilst driving, some amateur radio equipment is starting to
look a lot like a mobile phones or GPS navigator, so it's probably best
NOT to use them whilst mobile and avoid attracting too much attention.
Notes regarding phones and visual display devices and other rule changes can
be found on the Vic Roads web site:
www.roadrules.vicroads.vic.gov.au
WIA PRESIDENT VK3KI REPORTS ON IARU R3 CONFERENCE
Last Friday week saw the conclusion of the IARU Region 3 triennial conference
in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Each of the three International Amateur Radio Union regional organisations,
with the regions matching the ITU regions, holds a conference every three
years.
The conference becomes the meeting for the national amateur societies, such as
the WIA, and the representatives of the other two regions as well as the IARU
officers.
The WIA participates in the IARU Region 3 conferences, because it is the way
that the WIA can participate in the formulation of the policy of the IARU, the
representative of the amateur service at the regional telecommunication
organisations and at the ITU.
In a broadcast I cannot go through all the many matters discussed over the
4 working days of the conference. I can give you an indication of the breadth
of the discussion by telling you that the focus of the Conference was the
protection of our bands through the IARU Monitoring System, what we call in
Australia Intruder Watch, and emergency communications.
Why is Intruder Watch important? Because without complaints about an intruder
causing harmful interference, it may be claimed that there is no breach of the
ITU Radio Regulations, which allow a station to be placed anywhere so long as
it does not cause harmful interference to a station operating in accordance
with the ITU's Radio Regulations.
It was agreed that there was a need to update and modernise the Monitoring
System to effectively deal with intruders causing harmful interference in the
amateur radio bands.
The other major matter was the role of amateur radio in emergency
communications. The conference commended the Indonesian society (ORARI)
and its amateurs and the Chinese society (CSRA) and its amateurs on the role
that they had played in Indonesia and China after major natural disasters.
The Conference considered the concept of emergency centre of activity (CoA)
frequencies worthwhile, and adopted 3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 & 21.360 MHz.
Among the many other matters considered were the matters affecting amateurs on
the agenda for the next ITU World Radiocommunication Conference, the WRC in
2012, particularly the agenda item dealing with the allocation of a small
secondary segment to amateurs around 500 kHz. In addition the matters
included ARDF, better utilisation of all allocated amateur bands, BPL/PLT,
EMC, visitor licensing including the Australian class licence, liaison between
societies and their radio administrations, operating standards, various
projects, together with support, for the development of amateur radio in the
region, the New Zealand KiwiSAT satellite project, the beacon project,
various matters affecting the 7 MHz band, including the footnotes to that
band, future financial implications and the budget for the next triennium.
The NZART was praised for its hospitality and efficiency as the host society.
The next IARU Region 3 Conference will be in Ho-Chi-Minh City, Vietnam in
late 2012.
October 2005 VK9 Callsigns
The headlines for this item are, I think, no more restrictions on retaining a
VK9 callsign and location indications in VK9 callsigns abandoned.
Earlier this year, after it had taken over the responsibility of recommending
callsigns, the WIA raised the question whether the conditions imposed by the
ACMA on the issue of VK9 callsigns for Australia's External Territories
continued to be appropriate.
In particular, the policies of requiring the callsign to include a letter as a
location identifier and the bar on retaining a callsign were questioned.
The WIA consulted widely, seeking submissions on the issue, and ultimately
submitted to ACMA a report on its investigations and its recommendations.
ACMA has now announced new arrangements for the issue of VK9 callsigns for the
Australian External Territories that represent a significant simplification.
From 1 November 2009 the arrangements for the issue of a licence for the VK9
call area will be the same as for the other Australian call areas.
In particular, all licences issued to authorise operation in the External
Territories (VK9), other than those issued to visiting overseas Amateurs, will
be issued for the period requested by the applicant. Unless a short term
licence is specifically requested, the licence will not be subject to a
renewal bar. This provision applies regardless of whether the applicant is a
visitor or permanent resident or does not provide a 'station address'. Where
a station address cannot be provided, for example on an uninhabited island,
the station location will be the name of the island.
All licences issued to visiting overseas Amateurs will be issued for a period
of one year unless a short term licence is specifically requested. Short term
licences will continue to be subject to a renewal bar and licences issued to
visiting overseas amateurs will not be automatically renewed.
As with these provisions, there will be no differentiation between visitors
or permanent residents, all VK9 licensees, including overseas visitors, will
be able to operate under the portable provisions of the Amateur Licence
Conditions Determination in any External Territory or mainland state or
territory
The other issue, the question of the callsign identifying the location,
attracted the most interest.
Callsigns allocated to Amateur licences authorising operation in the External
Territories will no longer contain a letter indicating a specific operating
location.
VK9 callsigns will continue to reflect the licence category (Advanced,
Standard or Foundation).
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
VK1
G'day all, could all persons holding keys for the Farrer shack please return
them to the committee as soon as possible.. The Farrer shack will no longer
be used from the 31st of October 09..
(Peter VK1NPW Pres.)
VK2
web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm
VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news
NORTHERN vk2
PRETTY GULLY REPEATER VK2RBR REPAIRS.
The wind associated with recent dust storms brought down antennas and made a
bit of a mess of them besides one coax getting wrapped around the blades
and shaft of the wind generator.
They have been rebuilt and put up again and it is now working on a single
dipole on each of Tx and Rx instead of the phased pair for each.
At the antenna phasing box on each antenna the sealant had failed and the
internals were severely corroded, now all is good.
(Ewan VK4ERM / VK4TA via Summerland News)
VK3
web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/
VKC Roundup http://www.police
Sherbrooke Community Radio Club would like to thank all the amateurs who
helped out over JOTA. Scouts from 3 troops and a one group of Guides attended
their shack over the two days. From this introduction to amateur radio there
will be a number of kids who will get into ham radio.
Without the older radio amateurs helping youth into the hobby, it would remain
an older person's activity.
Sherbrooke Community Radio Club's ARISS contact takes place at Sherbrooke
Community School 28th at 07:13UTC. As the link will not be in Australia
you will not be able to hear the downlink or uplink but if you tune to
VK3RBY, VK3RML or EchoLink Amsat server G7EVY you will be able to hear em.
(Jim VK3AMN)
VK4
web service local news:- www.wiaq.com/qnews/upload/qnewsbcast.htm
local news email qnews-vk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
VKR Roundup http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/
TARCadians on the High Seas
Townsville Hams currently at sea and sending position data by WinLink which
eventually ends up in the APRS ..
VK4HBV David onboard Sahula northbound
last report had David in Kokova, Greece - near the Lycian Way. He is cruising
the Aegean Isles until late 2011 and if you are visiting the region, call
David on 0539 503 95 32 and arrange to have a little friendly cruise.
view sailing blog at http://www.sailblogs.com/member/sahula/
VK4FUU Ashley and Brenda onboard Ashymakaihken currently at last report
at anchor at Breakwater Marina, Townsville
Finally in VK4 Wally VK4DO is after a Telecine for 8mm movies, suitable brands
include Panasonic, Sony or other. If you can help Wally out please contact him
on email
vk4do@internode.on.net
NEWS FROM THE TOP END VK8
The Darwin Amateur Radio Club had two stations active during JOTA last weekend.
Guides from around Darwin were at the clubrooms on VK8DA and had a good time
with quite a few good contacts. The Scouts gathered at Howard springs in
Darwin's rural area where VK8BP was set up. HF conditions were a little poor
but some useful contacts were made. Thank goodness for EchoLink during this
period of no sunspots.
87 Joeys Cubs Venturers and Rovers were there doing all manner of
communications related activities.
The next club meeting of the Darwin Amateur Radio Club is at the clubrooms in
Sports House Waratah Crescent Fannie Bay on Wednesday 4th of November 7pm.
Don't forget the AGM is on the 2nd of December. Nominate now for a position
on the club committee.
the club Christmas dinner is at the Hidden Valley Tavern at 7 pm on Thursday
December the 3rd.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.
G5RV's Logbook sells
On October 1st, the 1932 logbook of Louis Varney, G5RV, was put up for auction
on eBay. Within a couple of days the price reached 77 where it stayed until
after some intense bidding the logbook finally sold for 227.
The logbook shows that G5RV's final QSOs were on January 11 2000.
Varney was, of course using a G5RV antenna that he designed for those final
contacts.
Ironically, the final entries appeared on page 73 of the logbook.
(irts)
12th Ham Fair in Lisbon
If you are off to Portugal on holiday next month, you may be interested to
know that 15th November sees a major Ham Fair in Lisbon.
This is one of the biggest events in Portugal and aims to be more than just a
show with new and second hand goods as visitors enjoy meeting new and old
amateur friends and from around the globe.
arvm.org/index.fr2009.html
Researchers say they have created a special kind of paint which can block out
wireless signals.
It means security-conscious wireless users could block their neighbours from
being able to access their home network - without having to set up encryption.
The paint contains an aluminium-iron oxide which resonates at the same
frequency as wi-fi - or other radio waves - meaning the airborne data is
absorbed and blocked.
By coating an entire room, signals can't get in and, crucially, can't get out.
Developed at the University of Tokyo, the paint could cost as little as
10 DOLLARS per kilogram, researchers say.
(vk2fjl)
D-STAR REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
Here is the story of a ham who has taken D-Star to a new height.
New height as in 13,000 feet in the sky.
Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, in a recent Amateur Radio Newsline bulletin says that
Mark Meltzer, AF6IM, of Palo Alto California went sky-diving and brought
along an Icom IC 91AD D-Star enabled handy talkie.
Meltzer says that on his first jump he opened his chute at about 13,000
feet and worked numerous 2 meter analogue FM simplex contacts. He also held
a couple of analogue FM QSOs on 1.2 GHz through the W6CYX and W6LRW linked
repeater system on 1282.225.
At about 8000 ft he decided to try D-Star but heard only a garbled R2D2
sounding reply. At the time Mark says that he was flying his canopy away
from Mt. Diablo which placed my body between the repeater and the IC 91AD's
antenna. So he turned towards Mt. Diablo and the distortion went away and
he was able to work Rick Mc Cusker, WF6O, in Sacramento clearly through the
machine.
AF6IM notes that he was also carrying analogue APRS gear that not only
reported GPS derived data that not only included his altitude heading and
speed but also his blood oxygen level and pulse rate. He also thanks WF6O
for being the other half of the D-Star parachute mobile contact and
especially to Tim Barrett, K6BIV for making it all possible with his D-Star
repeater system.
OPERATIONAL NEWS -
ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2009
OCT 24 - 25 CQ WORLD WIDE SSB
NOV 1 ZL STRAIGHT KEY NIGHT
NOV 28 - 29 VK SPRING VHF-UHF FIELD DAY
NOV 28 - 29 CQ WORLD WIDE CW
SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2010
March 21-22 John Moyle Field Day
Time to get ready for this year's VHF-UHF field day, held on the weekend
28/29 November.
Some details have come to light courtesy of the NERG club in VK3 which we
share here.
The VHF-UHF Field Days provide VHF-UHF operators with the opportunity to
"head for the hills" and see how far they can work.
The Field Days has sections for single and multiple operators, with 24 @ 8 hr
sections. There is also a separate Home Station section.
The scoring is based on grid locator squares. Each new square worked gives
quite a boost to the score, and this encourages the entrants to operate from
locations in grid squares that normally don't have a great amount of amateur
activity.
There are no mode restrictions, except that all contacts must be simplex - no
repeaters, Internet, or satellites allowed. There is plenty of FM activity, but
one feature of the Field Days is a high level of SSB activity.
Stations can do very well with modest antennas and equipment from a good
hilltop. Operating mobile from more than one grid square can also improve
scores.
See the WIA web Contests page for more details:
www.wia.org.au/members/contests/vhfuhf/
Getting very serious with ham radio contests
Every major sport has at some time or another suffered from cheating.
Whether it be athletes using illegal substances to enhance performance, taking
a risk that the officials won't notice that rules are being flouted or just
falsifying the score-sheet.
So it should come as no surprise that amateur radio contests can be subject
to cheating too.
The issue is gaining greater publicity through the disqualifications to be
handed out by the CQ World Wide Contest Committee.
It has introduced a Yellow card and a Red card system, just like a soccer
referee. Under the CQ World Wide Contest rules all entrants agree that the use
of the card system and other decisions of the Contest Committee are official
and final.
For a low level indiscretion a Yellow card will be issued making the entrant
ineligible for an award. But two Yellow cards in three consecutive contests
means a two year ban.
For higher level matters, a Red card means the submitted log is rejected or
no score recorded, the entrant or operator is banned for 12 months and listed
at the end of the contest results for all to see. Get two Red cards and there
is a three year ban.
Cards are issued for breaches of contest rules or the operating requirements
of a country, unsportsmanlike conduct such as using non-amateur radio means
to pre-arrange contacts contrary to the rules, or taking credit for excessive
unverifiable QSOs or multipliers.
Hopefully this innovation will discourage those who don't abide by the rules
or are outright cheats.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
SPECIAL EVENT CALLS, BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE
hf nets ON the net, www.timroberts-vk4yeh.id.au/
GB 40 WAB 40th anniversary of the WAB Till Dec 31
OZ 1658 ROS 350th anniversary of the Treaty of Roskilde Till Dec 31
VARIOUS SM STATIONS USING 1658 (Treaty of Roskilde) Till Dec 31
VP 9 400 /home call 400th Anniversary of Bermuda Till Dec 31
VR 2009 EAG The 5th East Asian Games Hong Kong Till Dec 31
YL 90 AIR 90yrs of Latvian Air Force Till Dec 31
Another DXCluster for mobile phones
The GB7MBC DXCluster is now available for those with mobile smartphones.
Web pages have been created to make it simple to use the cluster when mobile.
Although designed for iPhone, they have been tested on Blackberry, Android and
the Nokia N95. It should work with most smartphones.
The pages feature filtering and the capability to click on a DX callsign to
get the QRZ information for it.
The cluster is available at
www.gb7mbc.net/webcluster/iPhone.php
(irts)
JU75BSI will work from Oct 23- Nov 20, 2009.
This is special event station for the 75 years anniversary Mongolian Border
Service Institute. JU75BIS will participate also WW DX PHONE CONTEST.
Special QSL for SASE. LOTW will accept. QSL via JT1CH
(Khos JT1CD)
BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS
aus_scanner@yahoogroups.com
http://www.scanaustralia.bigpondhosting.com
www.scanvictoria.com
www.tinyurl.com/BITS-026 (A receiver located in NY USA)
Radio Sweden to stop issuing QSL cards
With the start of the new transmission period for shortwave and medium wave, as
well as satellite, on October 25, Radio Sweden will only be publishing its
broadcast schedule on the Web.
At the same time Radio Sweden is discontinuing mailing QSL cards to listeners
in response to reception reports.
(irts)
WIRELESS WEATHER
Peter Ellis VK1PE has spotted an odd story about the sunspot cycle.
Sunspots and tree rings
Some of us just know that daylight saving fades the curtains. But, now,
it has been proved that sunspots affect the growth of tree rings.
Ms Sigrid Dengel, a postgraduate researcher at the Institute of
Atmospheric and Environmental Science at the University of Edinburgh,
has "investigated the interannual variation in the growth rings formed
by Sitka spruce (/Picea sitchensis/) trees in northern Britain (55N,
3W) over the period 1961--2005" finding that "there was a consistent
and statistically significant relationship between growth of the trees
and the flux density of galactic cosmic radiation.
Moreover, there was an underlying periodicity in growth, with four minima
since 1961, resembling the period cycle of galactic cosmic radiation"
corresponding to the 11 year cycle of sunspots. The more sunspots, the greater
the flux of the solar wind and the lesser the flux of the galactic cosmic
radiation. She has said, "the relation of the rings to the solar cycle was
much stronger than it was to any of the climatological factors we had looked
at." Does this also explain why my cherry tree is flowering so well this year?
Reporter: Peter Ellis VK1PE
References:
Paper abstract:
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122597017/abstract
BBC article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8311000/8311373.stm
THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report -
(Measure twice - Cut once!)
Wi-Fi signals used to see through walls
Monday's edition of the UK Telegraph reports that scientists at the University
of Utah in the United States have found a way to harness Wi-Fi signals to
'see' through solid walls.
The researchers say that the variation of radio signals in a wireless network
can reveal the movements of people behind closed doors or even a wall.
Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari, from the University of Utah, have used the
principle of variance-based radio tomographic imaging. The system works by
measuring interference between the nodes of wireless devices. If someone
passes through that field, the device registers a change in the levels of
resistance, and feeds that information back to a computer.
The system can currently see about three feet through a wall, and is so far
only capable of sensing motion. At this stage, it is not sophisticated enough
to generate an actual image of what lies beyond the wall, but the research
team is confident that this feature could be developed in time.
You can read the full article 'Wi-Fi signals used to see through walls' at:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6254646/Wi-Fi-signals-used-to-see-through-walls.html
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video
arvideonews.com
hamradiotube.com
youtube.com
REAST ATV Experimenters Night
We had a great roll-up last Wednesday night with a very special quest that
Ken VK7DY brought along. Gary Briant VK3KYF who is the President of the VK3
Sunraysia Radio Group based in Mildura.
Ken VK7TW and Justin VK7TW interviewed Garry on air and we found out what
makes Garry tick and what the Sunraysia Radio club gets up to.
Thanks to Garry and Ken. It was also great to see Reg VK7KK along for the
night.
Justin VK7TW then took the audience through a show and tell and demonstration
of what other functions a Grid Dip oscillator could be used for which
included:
- Resonance Testing of circuits
- Calculating an unknown L or C value with know component values and finding
the resonant frequency
- Q Factor measurements for inductors
- Absorption wave meter testing of tank circuits
- Field strength meter
- Signal generator
- Measuring the length of a coax using the open circuit wavelength or
shorted wavelength method; and,
- A crystal oscillator
Paul VK7FPAH was then interviewed about his construction of a Quadrifiliar
137MHz satellite antenna and we checked it's resonance and discussed on air
the problems Paul was having with the performance of the antenna. Watch this
space as there case is certainly not closed.HIHI.
We finished up with some great videos from the STEREO Heliospheric satellites
which showed real solar flare activity and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) events
that have been captured by the satellites that are currently monitoring the
sun.
We will have another cram packed session this Wednesday night so why not come
along and see what we get up to.
We will be continuing to prepare the new ATV studio and hanging some of the
conduit to provide structured cabling paths around the studio.
STOP PRESS - We have taken delivery of the new DVB-T DATV transmitter
components and this is currently being housed in a suitable rack box along
with the power amplifier.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FEMALES IN RADIO
ALARA - AUSTRALIAN LADIES AR ASSOCIATION
http://alara.org.au
Net is held each Mondays on 3.580 MHz, commencing at 1030 UTC.
(1000utc during daylight saving)
geencee@picknowl.com.au
ALARA had a great turnout for the VK5 September lunch with visitors from
interstate and overseas.
Marilyn VK3DMS and her OM Geoff VK3ACZ were there for the Adelaide Hills
Buy and Sell and Pat VK3OZ was there with Sharon ZL3AE and Glenn who were
visiting from New Zealand.
Everyone in South Australia knew that Marilyn would be presented with a
Certificate of Appreciation for her 27 years of service on the committee.
(ALARA newsletter)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER
AMSAT-VK UNOFFICIAL HF Net.
2nd Sunday each month.
April through October 1000 UTC 3.685 MHz
November through March 0900 UTC 7.068 MHz
AMSAT-NA ANNOUNCES NEW FM CUBESAT
AMSAT North America says that its once again headed back into space. This
time with a brand new CubeSat that will be like no other before it.
During the board meeting held Oct. 8 in conjunction with the Annual Space
Symposium the AMSAT Board of Directors adopted the Engineering Task Force
recommendation that low-cost launch options be pursued immediately. This
means that the AMSAT engineering team will develop a 1U CubeSat design
effective immediately.
The new AMSAT CubeSat's initial capability is planned to add to the popular
low-earth orbit FM transponder fleet allowing hams to continue to use their
existing handheld and portable antenna systems. Such a satellite also
continues the accessible entry path for new satellite operators to get started.
Meantime, word that the flight version of ARISSat-1 replacement for SuitSat 2
has been developed to be adaptable into the CubeSat model. This will allow a
modular approach to mission design using proven subsystems and components.
The ARISSat-1 mission planned in 2010 and will be the initial flight test
of AMSAT's modular satellite. According to Tony Monteiro, AA2TX, who is
AMSAT North America's Vice-President of Engineering, this approach to
building flight hardware gets AMSAT back up in space with new satellites by
leveraging the skills and technology it has today.
AMSAT says that there's another reason for this fast track approach. This
is because the existing FM satellites are starting to show their age.
(ARNewsLine)
SOCIAL SCENE
2009
International Telecommunication Union's Telecom World 2009.
OCT 25 VK3
Ballarat Amateur Radio Group Annual Hamvention
Oct 31 - Nov 1
Qld Sunshine Coast's October Camp Catch-up Maidenwell Observatory
Brisbane valley west of Yarraman.
NOV 1 VK2
Westlakes Amateur Radio Club's "Westlakes Field Day".
NOV 15 VK4
QUEENSLAND CLUBS "PRESIDENTS LUNCH" GEEBUNG RSL
NOV 29 VK2
Final Trash & Treasure at VK2WI for the year.
2010
JAN 24 VK2
Mid North Coast Amateur Radio Group's Radio Expo 2010 8.30am St Johns Church
Hall, Mc Lean Street Coffs Harbour.
JAN 30 VK4
Bunya Mts & Dist AmCom host "HAM AND WINE FEST 2010" at Maclagan.
FEBRUARY 14 VK3
WIA 100 Centre Victoria RadioFest No. 3.
FEBRUARY 28
Wyong Field Day, Wyong Race Course.
APRIL 2 VK3
Midland Amateur Radio Club's Radio, Electronic & Astronomy Expo.
Venue to be advised.
JUNE 5 VK2
Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club's 35th Annual Field Day.
JULY 17 VK3
GGREC Hamfest Start Time : 10:00
Oct 29 - 31
VK1OOWIA Westlakes ARC during our WIA centenary celebrations.
NOV 7 VK5
2010 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Hamfest Rosa St Goodwood
2012
15TH IARU REGION 3 CONFERENCE hosted by V.A.R.C. in Ho-Chi-Minh City, Vietnam.
JAN 23-FEB 17 YEAR 2012
World Radio Conference WRC-11 Geneva 23rd January TO 17th February 2012
MAY 4-7 2012 VK5
YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com)
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