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WIANEWS - Sep 05 - VK NATIONAL NEWS
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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK
Oh... and to contact us with your news because
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WIANEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEP 05 2010.
Our newest radio club celebrates the Centenary
A milestone for the WIA Centenary Award
HOW TO QSL CYPRESS DX STATIONS
RADIO MEMORIAL: CLUB TO HOLD ON-AIR 911 OPERATION
Open Source Digital Voice Codec
Invitation to go straight, for a week
ALL UP AND COMING IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF
AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING SEPTEMBER 5 2010
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WIA Centenary Update
Our newest radio club celebrates the Centenary
The Macedon Ranges Amateur Radio Club successfully operated VK100WIA from
the 18th to the 20th of August from a combination of member's homes and the
Woodend Scout Hall.
Club members arrived at the scout hall early on the Friday with rain, wind
and sleet, the local temperature about 2.5 degrees and reports of snowfall
on the nearby Mt Macedon.
While the chill are being addressed inside the hall by way of a wood fire
and gas heater, there were six members outside in the wind and on water-logged
ground while erecting a multi-band aerial support by gum trees.
Club member Peter Wolfenden VK3RV mounted a small historical display within
the hall while others set-up the operating station.
For the next 12 hours it was a busy time operating on 80M, 40M, and 20M using
SSB and CW.
The 2M repeaters and a specially installed IRLP node courtesy of Graeme VK3NE
McDiarmid and John Nunan VK3IC was also used.
A great time was had by all especially Joe Aprile who managed to "snag" a
number of stations in Italy on 20m by calling them in Italian, although it
sometimes took a while for him to explain the significance of the VK100WIA
call sign.
On the Friday night, the main scout hall filled with about 100 scouts,
Leaders and parents, while VK100WIA continued in full swing in a backroom
with operators Luke Steele VK3HJ and Peter Wilmott VK3TQ.
Later Peter VK3TQ, who is also a scout leader explained the operation of
the amateur centenary station.
Other club members on the three-day operating roster were Ron Burman VK3ZJ,
Bob RobinsonVK3SX, Ray Tampion VK3YAR, Peter Wolfenden VK3RV, Jenny Warrington
VK5ANW/3, Colin SmithVK3YWY, Richard Hoskins VK3JFK and Gary Greer VK3GSG.
In all more than 600 contacts were logged. And to top it off the club gained
publicity in the Macedon Ranges Leader newspaper with a story and photograph.
Well done to Victoria's, and possibly Australia's youngest radio club on
its support for the world's oldest national radio society, the Wireless
Institute of Australia.
The Hunter Radio Group
The September monthly meeting of the Hunter Radio Group will be
held Friday 10th of September at the NBN TV Studios, Newcastle.
After general business, the lecture will be presented by Tim Mills,
VK2ZTM. It will be on the 100 years of the W.I.A.
Lockyer Valley Radio and Electronics Club - online log update
On last week's broadcast we reported that the club had done well with its
VK100WIA associated activities including plenty of DX contacts.
At the time it was believed that Lockyer Valley Radio and Electronics Club
in Queensland had made 337 contacts, based on the online log for VK100WIA.
It was later learnt that the club was not able to immediately record
contacts on the online log, which is okay.
Now that the online logging task has been completed, it shows a whopping
927 contacts, and some 248 of these were on CW.
The club worked 31 countries, six continents, 23 zones, and 229 callsign
prefixes! Well done!
A milestone for the WIA Centenary Award
Claims continue to steadily arrive for this limited edition operating award
celebrating the Centenary of Organised Amateur Radio in Australia with more
than 160 now issued.
The first from Hawaii, is also the 100th award certificate, and it goes to
Dan Greeson KH6P. Congratulations! This achievement is sure to be the subject
of plenty discussion when he and other members of the Honolulu Amateur Radio
Club meet this month.
The first radio club to get the award is the Moorabbin and District Radio
Club VK3APC.
Also receiving his award certificate is Franck Alcidi VK8FNCY of Palmerston
in the Northern Territory. Franck, a new radio amateur who in May made his
very first ever contact on air, with VK100WIA.
Now he has the WIA Centenary Award Certificate proudly displayed in his radio
shack. He joins ten other Foundation Licensees now qualifying for the WIA
Centenary Award and their first amateur radio operating award.
Some of the award claims have included personal comments, many simply to
congratulate the WIA on its Centenary and making the award available.
Winston Henry VK7WH said, "I have held a licence since 1958 but have been
QRT the past 30 years. It was the Centenary of the WIA that was the catalyst
to get back on the air and rejoin the WIA."
The special callsign VK100WIA will be on air until the end of October. Claims
for the award close on the 30th of January 2011. Eligibility requirements
and full details can be found on the WIA website
www.wia.org.au
A look ahead at the VK100WIA roster
The special callsign returned to Tasmania today with Cradle Coast Amateur
Radio Club operating it from the 5th to the 7th of September, including 10am
to 4pm at the Maritime Museum in Devonport.
The public has been invited to the museum to see the Centenary of Organised
Amateur Radio station in operation, plus a display or historic radios and
computer presentations.
Listen for it on 7090 kHz, plus 2m and 70cm FM. In the evening club members
will put VK100WIA on air from their home QTH?s on 3590 kHz plus or minus QRM.
On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the Sunshine Coast Amateur Radio Club
that is also celebrating its 40th anniversary, will activate VK100WIA 24
hours a day, on the HF, VHF, UHF, Microwave bands, and some E-M-E moon bounce.
Then next weekend the Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club will be operating
from Barrabadeen, combined with its social gathering held in conjunction
with the club's annual general meeting. The bands to be used are HF, 6m,
2m and 70cm.
WIA
President Michael Owen VK3KI president@wia.org.au
Vice President Ewan McLeod VK4ERM vk4erm@wia.org.au
Secretary Geoff Atkinson VK3AFA secretary@wia.org.au
Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au
International Space Station Contact with South Hobart Primary School
On Friday 27th August at about a quarter to five students from the South Hobart
Primary School got the opportunity to ask questions of US Astronaut
Colonel Doug Wheelock as he flew over the Goddard Space Flight Centre in
Maryland USA.
The telebridge contact was organized through the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station program.
Let's listen in to one of the questions asked by Student Reuben.
<Student Audio in here>
We received great media coverage of the event in the local press, the Southern
Cross Radio Network before the event and 7 minutes on ABC Local radio after the
event on Michael Veitch's morning program.
<Veitch audio grab>
A special thank you to Tony VK5ZAI, the Australian ARISS Coordinator and his
dedicated team of volunteers who made this all happen.
(73,Justin, VK7TW)
Tune In To The World - Amateur Radio Gets People Talking -
WIA National Field Day
Registrations are open for the WIA National Field Day, 23rd of Oct. Club
coordinators and individuals participating are requested to register via
a online information form on wia.org.au
Look for the links under the WIA Centenary Celebrations or Contest pages.
Registration with a password will enable the coordinator to update details and
clothing order as details become available. It is anticipated that the
clothing pricing will be available at the end of coming week.
Please see the webpage for updates.
The new catchphrase and logo is available on the information page.
PDF Print files for various sized banners and posters will be available
for download in PDF format from the bottom of the web page.
Also Officeworks catalogue numbers will be provided for each of the display
banners that corresponds to the correctly sized artwork file for download.
Interested participants will be able to download a piece of artwork off the
website, put it on memory stick and simply take it to the local Officeworks
store who will produce the poster or banner as required.
Rules for the contest are in September AR magazine.
The current rules and checklist are also available for download via the
WIA National Field Day webpage.
The WIA look forward to seeing the innovative locations that your club selects
for your event.
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
VK2
web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm
VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news
Amateur Radio New South Wales Radio Homebrew and Experimenters Group.
The next meeting of the group will be the informal meeting on the
first Tuesday of the month that's the 7th of September. These are
informal meetings where interested amateurs get together to
discuss their latest projects or ideas regarding amateur radio. The
only major rule of the meetings is to finish at 9pm, so it will not be
too late for those who have to go to work in the morning.
So if you want to meet other amateurs interested in home brewing
their own radios, or you are looking for a new challenge in the
hobby, then go along and join in.
(VK2EMU)
VK4 - QNEWS
web service local audio news:- www.wiaq.com/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3
local news email qnews-vk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
VKR Roundup http://www.police.qld.gov.au/News+and+Alerts/Media+Releases/
Central Highlands AGM stop press date change
The date for the famous and popular Central Highlands Amateur Radio
Club AGM at Camp Fairbairn near Emerald has been CHANGED !
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the AGM will now be held from 4pm Friday 24th
to Midday Sunday 26th September.
Welcome to QNews from VK4WIA. I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP and I've been thinking.
Our history has been filled with the fears of change as technology evolves
and seems to displace the order we have been comfortable with. So it has been
with this hobby, in some ways. The historical fact that Morse code was the
technique used to establish effective radio communications was made a sacred
symbol, never to be relinquished.
More recently, the great Packet revolution came and went and some of the
adherents of RF only communications railed at the moon as to how the world
was doomed by the forwarding of traffic via internet worm-holes rather than
station to station links using "radio". Well the insatiable curiosity that
propels mankind has seen the evolution of many digital modes and
revitalisation of lapsed modes. Very slow Morse and Hellschrieber are 2 modes
that pre-date most of us current amateurs but are available because of
current technology.
Similarly, there have been the cries of the VOIP modes are killing "real"
radio. There still remains an antipathy between IRLP and Echolink proponents
but now we have D-Star and Wires. This is evolution.
In some QSP from VK4KEV, Kevin advised an update to his QRZ web page details.
This was that he hopes to be using VK0KEV from Macquarie Island later this
year. That information has gone viral amongst the DXers thanks to the
internet.
To paraphrase, the internet killed the radio star - I don't think so.
I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think, how about you?
CLUBBING -
Again I remind you that the Queensland Club President's lunch will be held
in Rocky, hosted by the Rockhampton & District Amateur Radio Club.
The venue will be the Rockhampton Leagues Club, George Street, Rockhampton.
The doors will open at 12:00 on Sunday 14th November, to start lunch at 12:30.
Prior to the lunch, Michael Owen will visit the radio museum at the Rockhampton
Heritage Village, starting at 08:30am, and will participate in the news
call-back on the 2 metre repeater at 9:45am.
Following lunch, presentations on WIA, and amateur radio issues, will be made
by WIA President Michael Owen. There may be additional speakers, to be advised.
The WIA will sponsor the cost of the room, and the cost of lunch will be
$24-, to be paid on the day by each attendee. This will include a served meal
of beef, chicken, or fish, followed by a desert. Special dietary requirements
can be arranged if required.
The intention of the lunch is to have as many Queensland clubs represented as
possible.
The RADAR Club will be able to assist with transport from airports and railway
stations if required.
Please advise if you wish to attend. Please advise the lunch organiser
RADAR Club Secretary Clive Sait vk4acc@wia.org.au
Regards,
Don Wilschefski VK4BY
WIA Queensland Advisory Committee Chairman
Ipswich & District Radio Club
P.O. Box 250
Ipswich Qld 4305
http://ipswichdistrictradioclub.webnode.com/
The Ipswich & District Radio Club held its AGM on August 23rd and saw the
election of new Office Bearers.
Re-Elected as President for the 5th year in a row - Mike Charteris, VK4QS.
The Club's new Vice President is Darrin Last VKFVRX who formally held the
position of Club Secretary for the last two years.
The position of Treasurer has once again been filled by the very capable
John Edwards VK4IE. John was unanimously voted by those present to
undertake this valuable role of holding a tight grip on the purse strings.
The position of Scribe -Club Secretary - has been filled by the newly elected
Jamie Ware, VK4JY.
Robert Bryce VK4HW has been elected as Station Manager, as his past track
record sees him most aptly positioned to fill his vital role at the club.
This was followed by the election of Derek Toreaux, VK4MIA, as Radio Contest
Manager. Finally the election of the person to carry out Public Relations has
fallen to yours truly Allan Roebuck VK4FABR.
In other news from the Ipswich region - What prompts some 1200 otherwise normal
people to mount their bicycles and ride 100 km along the rugged Bicentennial
National Trail which covers long steep climbs and downhill tracks over
generally very rough ground. I'm told it's a great adrenalin rush.
Mobile phone coverage is very poor along the route, and mountain biking is
Among the most hazardous sporting activities. Therefore the organisers ask
the Ipswich and District Radio Club us to provide safety communications in case
of accidents needing a medical response.
The undulating country making phone coverage bad also makes radio patchy. One
repeater cannot cover the course and the three checkpoints (all in different
valleys), so we have to use two repeaters, linked together on UHF.
The Wicen crew for the event included one base operator, 2 operators at each of
the 3 checkpoints, one person for the sweep vehicle and the two repeater
personnel.
Communications for the event worked well and there was only one emergency which
happened near check point 2 that eventually was not as serious.
A special thanks to all those who volunteered to assist again this year,
I'm Allan VK4FABR.
MARYBOROUGH RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CLUB
For more info, call Secretary Kathy Johns 040-939-8853
Email: kathy.johns@bigpond.com
Channel 14 UHF CB call "CQ MERG"
Over the weekend of 11 and 12 September the Maryborough Electronics and Radio
Group, Inc. will be assisting in the 2010 Maryborough Technology Challenge
- this year sponsored by the RACQ.
http://www.technologychallenge.com.au/
Amongst the annual events for schools, this weekend features the endurance
event of the 24 hour human powered bicycle race. With the course running
around a complete city block, safety and control has to be ensured. An army
of local volunteers fill the roles of marshals, caterers, administrators
and race officials. Providing the comms for this race has been the privilege of
MERG for successive years.
This year MERG is inviting radio operators who would like to participate in
controlled or closed net exercise for a few hours to contact Ray, VK4TPT via
the MERG listing on wia.org.au
If you are passing through the Wide Bay and Maryborough, in particular, why not
come along and see the events being held during the 2010 RACQ Technology
Challenge.
SUNSHINE COAST
Maleny VK4RSC 146.850 and 438.075 VK4RSN 53.7
Noosa Heads VK4RSL 146.825 and 438.175
This is Gordon VK4VP with news from the Sunshine Coast
VK100WIA and Sunfest
SCARC has use of the VK100WIA callsign on 8th through to 10th of September this
year. This is leading up to the annual Sunfest that will be held in the same
location as the past few years at the Woombye School of Arts building in the
main street of Woombye starting from 09:00.
The usual tables of equipment will be there along with great food and
friendship.
See you there next Saturday
TABLELANDS RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CLUB
vk4wat@wia.org.au
www.treclub.org.au
G'day this is Dale VK4DMC for the Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club,
TREC in Far North Queensland.
This week saw TREC members participate in a communications support event
for the Far North Horse Endurance Riders. The ride was conducted
overnight along forestry trails on the Atherton Tablelands. It was a cool
evening with a few light showers.
Members manned checkpoints along the route and provided a safety mantle and
logistic support for the riders. A couple of the operators even set up
HF stations and worked DX - as any good ham would Hi Hi.
TREC is gearing up for our Annual General meeting to be held in conjunction
with the 3 day activation of the VK100WIA special event call-sign from
Lake Tinaroo near Atherton on 11, 12, and 13th September. Going on what I
have heard and worked around the bands it should be a busy 3 days on air.
Dale VK4DMC
VK5
David Clegg says that Sunday September 19th the AHARS will be presenting a
technical symposium at their Belair clubrooms, commencing 9.30.
Keynote speakers are Drew Diamond, Home construction, Rob Gurr, early SSB
techniques Keith Gooley and Iain Crawford, Microwave construction techniques
and Phil Harman, HPSDR Several demonstrations will be held during the breaks.
Admission will be $20, pay at the door, This includes morning and afternoon tea
and lunch.
EDUCATION YOUTH AND ADVANCEMENT OF AMATEUR RADIO
www.hamcollege.com.au
NEXT SUMMERLAND FOUNDATION COURSE 25/26 SEPTEMBER.
Yes the Foundation licence course will be held at the clubrooms on the weekend
of 25/26 September.
The cost of the course is $20 and the text book is available from the club or
the WIA for about $25.
For more details contact Duncan VK2DLR on 02 6628 1337
or e-mail education@sarc.org.au
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.
The ARRL is again saying no to sharing the amateur radio spectrum with
public safety robots. Last month the League filed a Petition to Deny
Applications with the FCC to reject 68 pending Public Safety Pool license
applications associated with the ReconRobotics Video and Audio Surveillance
System.
Each license application is accompanied by a waiver request to permit
operation of the devices in the 433 to 445 MHz band. The applications were
coordinated by APCO International Inc Licensing Services and would allow
the use of the Recon Scout product currently being marketed by
ReconRobotics pursuant to an FCC waiver. APCO International Inc Licensing
Services is the frequency coordinator for the public safety land mobile
radio services --
Dan Henderson, N1ND, is the ARRL's Regulatory Information Manager. He says
that while several issues factor into the League's Petition to Deny these
applications, most notable is that the Commission has not acted on an
earlier ARRL Petition for Reconsideration in WP Docket 08-63, which has
been pending since March of this year. Henderson sat that petition raises
issues that should be addressed prior to any action on the individual
applications. He says that granting applications based on the Docket 08-63
waiver, which is not final, would be premature.
Henderson goes on to note that there is the potential for significant
interference from these devices to licensed operations in the amateur 70 cm
band. Therefore the ARRL urges the FCC to take thoughtful and expedient
action on our Petition for Reconsideration.
=============================================================================
NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE
ALLEGED MURDERERS OF N5VGH AND HIS WIFE CAPTURED
The last two of three alleged killers of Gary Haas, N5VGH, and his wife
Linda have been captured in Arizona. Amateur Radio Newsline's Mark
Abramowicz, NT3V, is here with the details:
Authorities in Arizona say it was the suspicions of a forest ranger about
an unattended campfire and a vehicle backed into trees which helped lead to
the arrests of John McCluskey and Casslyn Welch.
They say the two were hiding out in a campground southeast of the Sunrise
Ski Resort in Apache County, Arizona, when the ranger made the discovery
and called federal authorities.
After checking the license plate of the car, authorities found it matched a
vehicle missing from Santa Rosa, New Mexico and suspected McCluskey and
Welch were responsible for the theft.
Investigators say the car came from an area where authorities discovered
the bodies of Gary Haas and his wife in a burned-out trailer.
In charging documents released by the U.S. Attorney's office in New Mexico,
graphic details of events leading up to the couple's murder were spelled out.
Investigators say McCluskey, Welch, and another man, identified as Tracy
Allen Province carjacked the couple's pickup truck and their camper trailer
on Aug. 2 at a rest area off Interstate 40 in Quay County, New Mexico.
Authorities allege the trio forced the couple to drive to an area between
Tucumcari and Santa Rosa, New Mexico where they stopped. It was there,
investigators say, McCluskey took the couple at gunpoint to the camper
trailer and shot them, killing both.
With the bodies still in the camper, the fugitives drove to a remote area
of Guadalupe County in New Mexico where they unhitched the camper trailer
and set it on fire with the couple's bodies still inside. The burned out
trailer with the couple's remains inside was found August 4th.
That led to a massive manhunt for McCluskey, Province and Welch. It is
believed Welch helped McCluskey and Province and another inmate, Daniel
Renwick to escape from a private prison in Arizona.
Renwick split from all of them right away and was captured in Colorado a
few days after the breakout.
Province then split from the couple and was captured in Wyoming on Aug. 10.
McCluskey and Welch, who were first cousins and fiances, remained on the
lam for another nine days.
All are jailed in lieu of very high bail and facing a host of serious
charges ranging from kidnapping to murder.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mark Abramowicz, NT3V.
If found guilty at a federal trial, McCluskey, Province and Welch would
face either life in prison without the possibility of parole or death by
lethal injection.
OPERATIONAL NEWS -
SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2010
Oct 23 WIA WIA National Field Day
nfd@wia.org.au
Oct 2- 3 WIA Oceania DX Contest Phone
Tony Burt vk3tz@wia.org.au
Oct 9-10 WIA Oceania DX Contest CW
Tony Burt vk3tz@wia.org.au
NOV 20-21 WIA Spring VHF-UHF Field Day
John Martin VK3KM tac@wia.org.au
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, REPEATER BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE
hf nets ON the net, www.timroberts-vk4yeh.id.au/
HOW TO QSL CYPRESS DX STATIONS
The QSL Bureau of the Cyprus Amateur Radio Society says that it is
receiving large numbers of QSL's that cannot be delivered to the
intended recipient. This is because that station has a QSL manager
outside Cyprus.
According to 5B4AHJ who is the society's QSL Bureau Manager, the
problem is threefold. Those generating the QSL's are not bothering to
check to see if the station has a manager. And, even if a manager's
call is written on the QSL, many QSL Bureaus are still sending the QSL
to Cyprus. Lastly. QSL's for calls 5B DXcalls are being sent to Cyprus
when either they should be sent to the operators QSL manager, or in the
absence of a manager, they should be sent to the bureau for the home call.
5B4AHJ says that he has produced a list of stations with foreign
managers for Cypress stations. It's on line at
tinyurl.com/cypruscalls.
VK6LC is operational as XV2LC through September 10th from Ho Chi Minh City
and as XV4LC from the Mekong Delta. Listen out for him primarily on CW with
some SSB. QSL via VK6LC.
The great expectation of DX quadruplets
The five islands of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean Sea are to
undergo constitutional status changes on the 10th of October and result in
a four new DXCC entities.
Sint Maarten PJ7, Curacao PJ2, Bonaire PJ4, each are to become a DX
entity, while Saba PJ6 and Sint Eustatius PJ5 combined, are set to be a
single entity due to their close proximity.
There are two announced DXpeditions to Sint Maarten, and one each to Saba,
Bonaire and Curacao, with that island also being the venue at the time for
the Global Amateur Radio Emergency Conference GAREC-2010.
The DX community is waiting for the 10th day of the 10th month 2010 for
the new DX entities
Two existing DXCC entities, PJ2/PJ4 Leeward Islands and PJ5/PJ6/PJ7
Windward Islands, is said to be set for deletion at the same time.
Aruba P4 seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and gained DXCC
entity status at that time.
I'm Jim Linton VK3PC and you're listening to VK1WIA.
RADIO MEMORIAL: PA CLUB TO HOLD ON-AIR 911 OPERATION
Look for special event station N3U slash United Flight 93 will be on the
air between September 9th to the 13th. This to commemorate the lives lost
in the wanton acts of terrorism against the United States by agents of al
Quida that took place on September 11, 2001.
This operation is to be sponsored by the Blair Amateur Radio Society, W3PN,
along with various local, state and government agencies. These include the
City of Altoona, Blair County Pennsylvania, the Red Cross and several
others. Operators at N3U will include W3BTX, W3TEF and other W3PN club
members.
Listen for N3U slash United Flight 93 on 160 through 6 meters using CW and
SSB. QSL N3U/Flt 93 via W3PN, by the Bureau or direct. Please include
Self Addressed Stamped Envelope with enough postage to reach your location.
For more details, see the call N3U, the Pennsylvania Memorial Station For
the Sept 11th, 2001 Attacks on QRZ.com
MEDIA WATCH
www.wiaq.com/admin/uploads/weeklytally.rtf
www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html
The September edition of Amateur Radio magazine
Editor Peter Freeman VK3PF in his editorial discusses continual
improvement and self-education, now part of many workplaces, is equally
applicable to amateur radio.
He mentions a range of opportunities for us to learn more and be better
informed.
The WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI in the WIA Comment section discusses
the 'Tune in the world - amateur radio gets people talking'- the
National Field Day being held on Saturday the 23 of October.
Also published are the rules and full details of this public relations
exercise to promote our hobby.
There are stories about the re-enactment in July of the First UK-Australia
Press Message between Wales and Koo-Wee-Rup in Victoria.
An insight into the Welsh end of the re-enactment involving the Dragon
Amateur Radio Club in North Wales GB2VK is provided by Jim Linton VK3PC,
while a reproduced newspaper clipping has information on the Gippsland
Gate Radio and Electronics Club's VK100WIA end of the re-enactment.
Amateur Radio magazine, a WIA membership service and also available at
selected newsagents.
This is Barry Robinson VK3PV, I will be report more on the contents of
September edition Amateur Radio magazine in next week's VK1WIA broadcast.
American musician and song writer Joe Walsh WB6ACU, best known as a
guitarist with The Eagles, has described how his amateur radio technical
knowledge came in very handy when he was starting out in his career.
Let's listen into a segment from a syndicated radio program to learn more.
(VK1WIA studio play audio that ends with 'I'd make a great roadie for
someone I tell you.')
[TRANSCRIPT: In an on air question time session on Eagle Radio, Joe gets a
call from a listener named 'Billy' who asked him about the role amateur
radio had played in his music career. Joe got his callsign in 1961 at
about the time he first picked up a guitar. In answer to the question he
said, 'Learning some theory about how radios work gave me some knowledge
to understand how guitars are wired and how a guitar amplifier works. It
turned out to be invaluable because I understood amps enough to mess
around and change some parts in them, and soup 'em up. In those days we
did not have roadies (technical support crew) .... and when your amp broke
and you're playing live you have to do something about it. I could rewire
guitars and get different sounds out of it. A quick fix in general was
pertaining to survival on those days.' Joe quipped 'I'd make a great
roadie for someone I tell you.'
(VK1WIA studio closing text)
The interview ended with caller Billy revealing that he too is a radio ham
and the pair exchanging amateur radio greetings.
An interesting piece of radio broadcasting and what great public relations
for amateur radio.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
DAB+
Radio's such as Pure's Sensia are both DAB+ and Internet Radio.
If you have an internet radio such as this, now, the WIA National News can be
delivered fresh when you want it direct to the set. Just hit the 'lounge'
button and Podcasts and "hey presto" WIA National News comes in loud and
strong!
If you are in VK and don't as yet have a DAB+ Radio, you can get the same
edition of the WIA news by visiting http://www.thelounge.com
When you search the podcast list, you will also see Amateur Radio Newsline and
Tech Talk Radio.
Visit both the lounge.com and http://www.pure.com Link to check
out the radios and the podcast and overseas broadcast band stations available
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL
Australian Coordinator for TCPIP domains is Indy vk2xb@wia.org.au
Open Source Digital Voice Codec
David Rowe VK5DGR has released V0.1 alpha of Codec2, a fully function
2550 bit/s codec for Amateur Radio digital voice. It fills a gap in
open source, free-as-in-speech voice codecs beneath 5000 bit/s.
It is released under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
The lack of a copyright free Codec has impeded the development of Amateur Radio
Digital Voice communications at both HF and VHF.
It is hoped Codec2 will eventually be incorporated into DV software such as
WinDRM and FDMDV which had relied on a non open source Codec.
Further information on Codec2 and audio samples are at
www.rowetel.com/
(SOUTHGATE)
Invitation to go straight, for a week - well, straight key operating that is!
The Straight Key Week is organised by the FISTS CW Club runs from the 5th
through to the 11th of September UTC, all HF except the WARC bands.
The contest is meant to be fun and friendly as well as competitive.
Up until this year only straight keys could be used. However the rules
have changed to manual side-swiper keys to be used, as long as there is no
electronic keying deployed.
That will accommodate those who find straight keying for a long period of
time causing discomfort and aggravating any medical condition.
For more information check out the FISTS CW Club, International Morse
Preservation Society website www.fists.co.uk/
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO
EMERGENCY FREQUENCIES IARU REGION 3
3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz
RaDAR Special event station PD55RADAR
Peter PD1AJJ and Elmar PD3EM will be active with the special event callsign
PD55RADAR between 4 - 14 September 2010.
RaDAR is short for Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio. This is an international
concept of Radio Amateurs being able to operate anywhere under all
circumstances.
The goal is to setup an Amateur Radio station quickly on remote sites anywhere
using only battery power. And anywhere means not only sites reachable by
car but also on locations after a few miles walk. The 5x5 concept means
being able to communicate by Amateur Radio within 5 minutes after arriving
with the QRP power of 5 watts maximum.
Peter and Elmar are participating in the IARU HF SSB Fieldday this weekend
(Sseptember 4-5) from the Dutch polders near the famous windmills of
Kinderdijk.
More information on http://www.pd3em.com and http://www.youtube.com/PD3EM
SOCIAL SCENE
Oct 9 VK4 Wide Bay Mini Hamfest 9.00a.m.
Scout Hall, Ariadne Street, Maryborough.
Oct 23 WIA WIA National Field Day
nfd@wia.org.au
NOV 7 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Hamfest Rosa St Goodwood
Nov 14 VK4 Queensland Club President's lunch this year in Rockhampton
details from vk4acc@wia.org.au
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)
Please think of the environment before printing this email
=============================================================================
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Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may
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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.
*****************************************************************************
/ex
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