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WIANEWS - MAR 20 - VK NATIONAL NEWS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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@wia.org.au http://www.wia.org.au (click news in member area) Submit your audio news TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA Please.. If you are only submitting text and not audio, write your story as you would expect to hear it being read back and NEVER send just links & url's. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WIANEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING MARCH 20 2011. Amateur Radio we get people talking FROM THE DELTA TO THE DMZ, VIET NAM, XV. The situation worsens after triple disasters hit Japan ARGENTINA HEARD IN NORTH CAROLINA ON 2 METER FM VIA WIRE ANTENNA ALL THESE STORIES UP AND COMING IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING MARCH 20 2011. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- OUT OF THIS WORLD Students of Mackay State High School in Queensland talked to Astronaut Paolo Nespoli on the International Space Station on Wednesday 2nd March as the International Space Station passed over Australia. Sixteen students, asked questions like, Do you get physically tired in space even though your body does not exert force when you float and your muscles are not working against gravity? (answer) I still get extremely tired, we make sure we do about two hours of fitness everyday, we are tired mostly from the long hours we do, I always look forward to sleep. 200 people including students from the school, parents and invited guests listened in the School Hall. There was a telebridge link from the school to Tony VK5ZAI in South Australia who acted as the Earth Amateur Radio Station with a radio link to the ISS. The Ham Radio Contact Coordinator for the school is Shane Lynd, VK4KHZ. Teacher in command:- Kylie Anthes-Cole The Mackay Amateur Radio Association put on a display of Amateur Radio Brochures and Magazines and Books and information of interest . Channel 7 and WIN TV news were present and recorded the proceedings . BEHIND A SUCCESSFUL ARISS CONTACT IS THE PAPER WORK! At the end of this text you will see how a contact is meticulously planned. It is a copy of the script to the mentor, ground station, and school sent several days in advance. (Bruce Lenahan VK4NPF Mackay Amateur Radio Association with additional audio by Felix VK4FUQ) NSW Police recognise radio operator rescue effort MYSAILING.COM.AU have reported how Marine Rescue Terrey Hills radio operator Ian Murdoch has been awarded the Region Commander's Certificate of Appreciation from NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Ken McKay. Ian, together with four members of Broken Bay Water Police, received awards for their part in the rescue of six people on board the stricken yacht "Encore" which foundered in gale force conditions off Broken Bay on the afternoon of 23 October, 2008. On that day Ian was sole radio operator at the Marine Rescue Sydney radio base and although alone, managed 75 minutes of non-stop intense pressures in a Mayday call for help. He relayed the distressed vessel's position to other vessels in the area, informed Water Police, co-ordinated a veritable fleet of responding vessels - the police launch, a passenger ferry, a bulk carrier and a training yacht - and maintained contact with the vessel until Water Police were able to take the six off the sinking vessel. read the full enthralling story in mysailing.com.au WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI president@wia.org.au Vice President Phil Wait VK2ASD vk2asd@wia.org.au Secretary Sarah Thompson VK3AUD secretary@wia.org.au Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au WIA members and friends are invited to attend the formal opening of the WIA premises at Unit 20, 11-13 Havelock Road, Bayswater, Victoria at 4:00pm Saturday, April 2nd. The premises will be named "Andersson House" in honour of Henry Andersson VK8HA. Henry was an Honorary Life Member of the WIA, who passed away October 6 2004. He left his property at Humpty Doo, near Darwin, to the WIA. That generous bequest provided much of the funds needed to enable the purchase. Light refreshments will be served between 4:00pm and 6:00pm, and a memorial plaque will be unveiled at a ceremony commencing at 4:30pm. If you would like to attend, please RSVP to the Office on (03) 9729 0400 between 10:00am and 4:00pm Monday to Friday. Amateur Radio we get people talking So far a few clubs are registered for our hobby's big public relations event, World Amateur Radio Day the 17th of April. Tasmanias Central Coast Amateur Radio Club is to set up in Hiscutt Park, Melbournes EMDRC is booked at Lilydale Park, with a second EMDRC entry just received for the Jaycar carpark, corner of Springvale Road and Princes Highway, Mulgrave and last years winner Amateur Radio Victoria is set again for Point Gellibrand at Williamstown. We know that several other clubs are talking about registration and will do so in coming days. With only weeks to go a lot more clubs and groups of individuals should get right behind this nationwide effort to take amateur radio and show what it has to offer the public. All it really needs is knowledgeable and well presented people to explain amateur radio, plus a well presented station. Read the rules and plan immediately to get involved with the WIA National Field Day, read the article on the WIA website. A summary appears in this months Amateur Radio magazine. Tune-in to world Amateur Radio gets people talking Sunday the 17th of April. HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA. VK2 web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm VKG Roundup http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news Waverley Amateur Radio Society Waverley's clubhouse has a harbour side location in the Scout Hall at Vickery Avenue, Rose Bay with easy parking and is always open on the first Saturday afternoon of each month at 1:30pm for a variety of activities or just a rag chew, with all welcome to drop in. The next occasion will be on April 2nd. TRASH TREASURE Next Sunday morning will be the regular Trash & Treasure gathering at VK2WI Dural - at 63 Quarry Road - It is also the bi-monthly exam assessment for all grades, check out details on the ARNSW web site www.arnsw.org.au A sausage sandwich is available from the BBQ for lunch and in the afternoon the Radio Homebrew and Experimenters group meeting ... 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/ VK4 SILENT KEYS @ 2010 - 2011 QAC YEAR VK4MWT Tom Bowden November 14 2010 Advised by Gavin VK4ZZ VK4SS Alan Shawsmith November 23 2010 Advised by Stepphen VK4JSS VK4CK Colin King December 30 2010 Advised by Gary VK4AR VK4AMO Mike O'Callaghan January 02 2011 advised by Dale VK4DMC VK4HER Dawn Sebbens January 09 2011 advised by Margaret VK4AOE VK4YNL Egon Frangenheim January 19 2011 advised by Gordon VK4VP VK4DI Len Effeney February 01 2011 advised by Clive VK4ACC Silent Key Sadly we must advise of the passing of an Amateur and member of SCARC. Egon Frangenheim VK4YNL passed away January 19 after a battle with cancer. He was a frequent visitor to the club HF Net on Thursday nights and always had an excellent signal. Vale Egon VK4YNL 25/10/1928 to 19/1/2011 Welcome to QNews from VK4WIA. I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking. Recently I have been taking time to catch up on current trends in amateur radio. The software defined radio is a logical evolution in electronics. More and more computing power is being focussed in dedicated ic's for the commercial and military markets. For the hobbyist, the implementation can be with simple hardware and free software on the shack PC. Whilst relaxing in front of the TV, the mind started on a train of imagination as a result of a segment on "intelligent" prostheses. As the demands of war injuries has spurred research, new artificial limbs with functions controlled by body nerve pulses are achieving remarkable results for the users. Even during the 8bit computer era, speech recognition was a topic of great interest. The reported developments in military avionics with speech recognition puts some awesome capacity before the multitasking combat pilot. The studies into artificial intelligence, spurred by the robotics enthusiasts, are producing interesting algorithms for the development of independently operational machines. And so what does this have to do with amateur radio? It seems that innovation stirs the mind of many amateurs and all these streams of development could make the ultimate contest station. Imagine keying CW with thoughts alone! Telling the rig what band and mode to operate would make it the greatest "look Mum - no hands" experience. I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think.....how about you? This is Gordon VK4VP with news from the Sunshine Coast Annual General Meeting The SCARC AGM was held recently and some chair shuffling has occurred. The President is still Noel VK4NL, Richard VK4RY is Vice President. Other changes are a new Secretary in the shape of Warwick VK4NW who replaced Gordon VK4VP after 9 years in the chair. It was mentioned that another year would have allowed entitlements for long service leave, however Gordon decided that due to the generous salary the club paid he could live in the manner he has been accustomed to for many years to come. A new face on committee is Leicester VK4ALH and the club welcomes him. A quick dig through the archives shows that two committee members namely Harvey VK4AHW and Treasurer Keith VK4AKA are in their tenth year of service on committee. John Moyle Field Day The club is again doing Howells Knob west of Maleny for the annual John Moyle Field Day being held this weekend 19th and 20th of March. Members are reminded that the Sunday social BBQ on that Sunday will be held at Howells Knob. The club again thanks Mike VK4YFL for looking after the kitchen. It is thought most go for the food and operate in the contest just to while away the time between meals. This has been Gordon VK4VP Redcliffe and District Radio Club www.redclifferadioclub.org.au/ LISTEN TO RAY VK4CF by tuning http://www.wiaq.com/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3 Written script not supplied. (Apologies Ed. VK4BB) TABLELANDS RADIO AND ELECTRONICS CLUB vk4wat@wia.org.au www.treclub.org.au G'day again from Far North Queensland where it is still very wet and tropical, this is Dale VK4DMC for the Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club, TREC, in Far North Queensland. As this news goes to air TREC members are at Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tablelands working the John Moyle Field Day contest. We have 4 stations on air, working both HF and VHF. So if you here VK4WAT calling "CQ CONTEST" please call and say G'day. Conditions are damp but we are having a great time and the coffee is great. Next weekend TREC members will be on air again providing communications support for the Far North Endurance Riders. There are 10 rides this year so we will be busy providing a safety mantle for the riders and also practicing our field operations. Visit the TREC website at www.treclub.org.au for club information and you can also download the latest monthly club news in TREC-NEWS. This has been Dale VK4DMC and you are listening to the WIA news. Travel Well! VK7 local area news :- http://reast.asn.au/news.php vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com High above the Northern Tasmanian landscape is Mt Barrow, 1362 metres above sea level, and perched another 25 metres above that, located on the Air Services Australia tower, are the antennae for one of Australia's finest 2 metre repeaters, VK7RAA. Unfortunately the brackets that hold the antennae to the tower are getting old, and require replacement, and in this world of safety first, the landlord has mandated replacement of these brackets with something that would appear to be quite over-engineered for the job, obviously specifying a large safety margin in their construction strength and design. Such engineering doesn't come cheap, but With a little luck, these brackets may even outlast the tower to which they're going to be attached! (Jason VK7ZJA, Secretary Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club ntarc.net ) REAST April Presentation - Antarctic Telecommunications Wednesday 6th at 7:30pm will be on Antarctic Telecommunications and will be given by Peter Yates and Ian McLean who run telecommunications for the Australian Antarctic Division. The presentation will be at the AAD Headquarters in Kingston and will include a live demonstration. If you intend to go along then please let Warren VK7FEET know by calling him on R2/R5 or email: Committee.Member.B@reast.asn.au or calling him on mobile: 0428 927 736. Presentation should be from 1930 to about 2130. http://reast.asn.au/events.php#antarcticradio (73, REAST Committee) HOME OF THE GOOD GUYS the Manly-Warringah Radio Society offers grants to youngsters interested in becoming Radio Amateurs. Recently the Good Guys at the club awarded the first of its grants to Lachlan Boyle, who now sports the callsign VK2FBAH. Not for long though, as Lachlan is already studying for his licence upgrade! Congratulations Lachlan, who received a cheque for $100, plus a year's free membership of the club. For more information about the First Amateur Radio License Youth Grant, visit the wia.org.au and check out vk2 clubs and the "Education" link of Manly-Warringah. INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to RSGB, Southgate AR Club, the ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. Change of IARU Region 3 Secretary The Directors of IARU Region 3 very much regret to announce the resignation for personal reasons of Seiichi (Jay) Oka JA1TRC as Secretary of IARU Region 3 from 9 March 2011. Directors have appointed Katsumi (Ken) Yamamoto JA1CJP as new Secretary. In nominating Ken as Secretary, JARL President Shozo Hara JA1AN reaffirmed his society's strong and continuing support of IARU Region 3 and its secretary, at the same time stressing the importance of the regional secretary's independence from any member society. Ken holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electronics engineering and worked for KDD, now KDDI, in the satellite communications field for many years. During that time he worked in many countries, including five years stationed in the United Kingdom working with the International Maritime Satellite Organisation. Michael Owen VK3KI, Chairman IARU Region 3 said Ken was first licensed in 1967 and today continues to have an active interest in DX and contests. Still in JA land, The situation worsens after the triple disasters hit Japan Ken Yamamoto JA1CJP reports at the request of Central Emergency Communication Committee, the JARL is operating its HQ station JA1RL in Tokyo, and regional HQ stations. Earlier it was reported that JA1RL was using 7 MHz SSB, 144 MHz SSB/FM and 430 MHz SSB/FM. Ken, the new IARU R3 Secretary said, "Many radio amateurs are thanked for providing information and exchanging support to the rescue and disaster relief operations. Those who can operate in the affected areas are providing a lifeline for rescue teams and those at local shelters. Some stations are operating with car batteries and others with engine generators." Ken JA1CJP said, "Another problem is the nuclear power plant where the water supply system failure caused overheating of the nuclear fuel bar. That causes some radioactive gas release from the plant and people have been evacuated from the surrounding area." The earthquake also damaged electric power generation plants fuelled by oil or natural gas, resulting in a shortage of electricity. The following information also from Ken JA1CJP:- 7043 kHz SSB controlled by JR3QHQ the Osaka branch manager of JARL He is gathering incident information on radio and forwarding onto the internet. 7075 kHz SSB is operated by JL3YSP in Wakayama occasionally. 7030 kHz which is the JARL emergency communication frequency in their band plan is in use by JA7RL (JARL regional HQ station). The last frequency is particularly QRP relevant. There are obviously propagation factors which would limit their range but would all amateurs please make every effort to avoid interfering with emergency communications on these frequencies JA1RL continues to operate under instruction to be an emergency traffic centre and increasingly receiving help from JARL members in the affected area. Many other stations are active and are using various frequencies including some battery powered and others using small generators to exchange rescue and disaster relief operation information with JA1RL and others. While 3525, 7030, 7043 and 7075 have been mentioned as in use, its wise to keep those and all of the Centre of Emergency clear of normal and non-urgent traffic. There is no call for additional foreign radio amateurs. (sourced in the main to Jim Linton, VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee also VU Yahoo groups). ARGENTINA HEARD IN NORTH CAROLINA ON 2 METER FM ON WIRE ANTENNA The recent sunspots have brought some interesting propagation. Even on some of the VHF and UHF bands. According to W0WOI reporting over the VHF Reflector, at 16:55 U-T-C March 2, Jonathon Ballard, KI4UKF who lives in Stokes County, North Carolina heard Claudio Costa, LW2ECC in Argentina calling CQ on 144.48 MHz FM. What really makes this interesting is that KI4UKF was using a Moxon wire antenna tacked to a wall. He said the signal was steady for several minutes at about S6, before it faded away. H e emailed Claudio, who confirmed the transmission. Claudio reported that he was using three 5/8 wave verticals and 160 watts. ============================================================================= AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE CANADIAN HAMS ASK RAC FOR ASSISTANCE IN RIDDING PLASMA TV INTERFERENCE Members of Canada's Niagara Peninsula Amateur Radio Club say that noise and signals originating from Plasma screen digital television sets are causing considerable interference to their HF activities. They have asked their national society for help. According to a news release from Radio Amateurs of Canada, complaints of this nature require specific and detailed information before it can consider taking this matter to telecommunications regulator Industry Canada. To gather this information, Radio Amateurs of Canada invited its members who own Plasma screen television receivers to report their experiences of interference. Also they were asked to provide a description of their HF station and antenna system and the exact nature of the interference. This means what bands are affected, what the interference sounds like and any other pertinent information. Remedies should also be tried and reported such as using ferrite chokes on power cords and signal cables if interference is detected. Amateurs with advanced instrumentation such as spectrum analysers and calibrated antennas should measure signal intensity levels at given distances; these measurements will add credibility to investigations. Canadian hams suffering from this type of interference should send their reports to Norm Rashleigh, VE3LC, via email to ve3lc@rac.ca THREE HAMSATS LOST IN TAURUS XL LAUNCH FAILURE A launch failure has lead to the demise of several new ham radio birds. Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, is in the newsroom with the details: Three amateur radio satellites were lost when a launch booster failed to achieve orbit. The satellites were launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on board an Orbital Sciences Taurus XL rocket. According to news reports, its believed that the launchers fairing which covers the satellites on top of the rocket, did not separate properly. This added drag prevented the Taurus XL from gaining enough momentum to attain orbit. The ham radio payload consisted of the Explorer-1, KySat-1 and Hermes. The rocket is believed to have crashed near the Antarctic. By the way, Bill actually saw and photographed the launch from his front lawn in Santa Clarita, California. That's at least 80 miles from Vandenberg Air Force Base. He says that it was the brightest abject in the night sky. His pictures, which were a last minute idea are grab-shots taken without a tripod and are posted in his 2011 photo album on Facebook. ============================================================================= RSGB ORF to operate International Marconi Day station The Amateur Radio Section of ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, in conjunction with the Documentary Archives Radio Communications QSL Collection will operate OE11M from 00.01 UTC on 29th April to 23.59 UTC on 1st May. OE11M is an official International Marconi Day station and contacts made on 30 April are valid for the IMD Award. QSL via OE-Bureau or direct to OE1WHC. Cards without SAE & new IRC or dollars to cover postage will be processed via da Bureau. The 2011 International Museums Weekend special event will once again be a double-weekend and will take place on 18 and 19 June as well as 25 and 26 June. Radio amateurs are encouraged to participate in this event by setting up stations in their local museums. Harry, M1BYT, who is organising the event, asks that all those intending to take part should register their museum via harry.m1byt@tiscali.co.uk Full details of the event can be found on the International Museums Weekend website www.ukradioamateur.co.uk/imw ============================================================================= MEDIA WATCH www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/ NORTH WEST TASSIE NEWS News Rebroadcasts - New Time New time for the WIA and Regional News evening re-broadcast. For some time this re-broadcast had started at 9.00PM Tuesday evenings but from now on it will begin one hour earlier. For listeners in the North and Northwest, please tune in to the Mount Duncan repeater on 146.625 at 8.00pm on Tuesday evenings. (Winston, VK7EM) OPERATIONAL NEWS - SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2011 Mar 19-20 WIA John Moyle Field Day weekend Apr 23 ZL/VK 2011 VK/ZL RTTY SPRINT 80 metres ( zl2sky@zl2ko.or.au ) Apr 30 WW Marconi Day 2011 ( www.gb4imd.org.uk ) Apr 30 ZL/VK 2011 VK/ZL RTTY SPRINT 40 metres ( zl2sky@zl2ko.or.au ) 2010 IARU HF World Championships Scores are in and in our zone, Zone 55 Australia, VK4EMM racked up a MASSIVE 357,555 points! Well done! (sourced to nzart) JMC The Hunter Radio Group contest team are operating portable at Booral near Stroud for this weekends John Moyle Contest. Summerland Amateur Radio Club in Northern New South Wales, VK2SRC is also operating portable, this is from location QF 69 FU in the John Moyle contest on 2 metres, 70 and 23 centimetres. Dale VK4DMC from a very wet and soggy Far North Queensland tells us that Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club, TREC, are operating from Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tablelands on HF and VHF using the club call-sign VK4WAT. theTARCinc are on air from Baden Powell Campsite Toolakea Beach Rd. Bluewater. Brendon VK8FQRP is in the John Moyle from Darwin on QRP (love that call 8FQRP) 10m station under the VK8DA callsign. As an aside Brendon has been having great success, 500mw to VK7 and VK2 over the past few weeks from the Top End! SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, REPEATER BEACON DX AND NET ADVICE DX0DX mission postponed The DXpedition to the Spratly's has been postponed to April 2012. Team Leader Chris Dimitrijevic VK3FY said he was determined to recover as much of the costs as possible to put things right for all the Team members, Sponsors, organisations and individuals involved. He said "It's better to concentrate on getting the best value for the assets for the January venture so that I can recover the best return for the operators." Apologies are made by Chris VK3FY to the DX community for the changes that have been outside his control. Earlier on it was announced that difficulties with logistics and customs were the major problems, but have since been overcome. Chris VK3FY has personally undertaken to post the contributions, foundations, and costs on the DX0DX Yahoo group and to foundations. (Jim Linton VK3PC, Public Affairs) LORD HOWE The Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia are organising a DX Peditiion to Lord Howe Island in July using the club call sign VK9HR. They are looking for CW operators and experienced SSB and digital modes operators who would be interested in attending this DXPedition. Any interested operators please contact the President of HARAOA, Mr Tommy Horozakis VK2IR on 0413 005 511 or president@haraoa.com (John Chalkiarakis VK3YP HARAOA Treasurer) NAMIBIA, V5. Special event callsign V 5 21 NAM is active in celebration of the 21st anniversary of the independence of the country and the beginning of the Namibian Amateur Radio League. QSL via V 51 NAM ILLW 2011 shapes up well The 14th annual Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend will be held as a fun event in the weekend of 20-21 August. Already 135 registrations have been received and it on track to nudge last year's total of 447. Germany and Australia traditionally account for most entries and their enthusiasm shows again this year. Of particular interest will be DA2011LH at special event callsign at Campen Lighthouse. To inquire about the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend visit the website ILLW.NET FROM THE DELTA TO THE DMZ VIET NAM, XV. Yannick, XV4Y is active from the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam. Activity is mainly on 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters from 0700 to 0900z and then 1300 to 1500z. QSL direct via OK1DOT. Mike VK4MIK (vk4mike@yahoo.com.au) of Tableland Radio Group advises of the 2nd running of the Event known as "AM and CW on ANZAC DAY." 25 April 1200 EST to give an Amateur Radio salute to our veterans by using the modes that were used in world War 1, 2 and Korea Malaysia and Vietnam. It is hoped to activate ex navy ships and military museums as well as warbird and private museums as well as historical sites of military significance and operators using AM and CW. 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 CPUT TO BUILD S-BAND TRANSMITTER FOR UK SATELLITE The Cape Peninsula University of Technology South Africa has been invited by the UK to build an S-band transmitter for the first satellite to be launched by the UK Space Agency in December 2011. UKube1 is an exciting and novel collaboration between the UK Space Agency, industry and academia, and is envisaged as the pilot for a full UK CubeSat programme. Strathclyde University, who are coordinating the project, approached CPUT to build the transmitter. A similar unit is already under construction at CPUT for its own 3U CubeSat. (sarl) LOW DOWN IN THE NEWS New sub-9kHz Amateur Radio website Roger G3XBM brings news of a new Amateur Radio VLF sub-9kHz website. https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/ This group is bringing together information more accessibly. The original pages just grew and grew as activity at VLF just took off. It is almost 1 year to the day since Stefan DK7FC made his first historic DX transmission on 8.97kHz. Since then they've come a VERY long way. The new site also has a table showing the VLF DX records. https://sites.google.com/site/sub9khz/ (southgate) REWIND Early Australian Callsigns, I'm Col VK4CC Ever wondered how the Australian amateur radio prefix "VK" came about? According to "History of Australian Radio Callsigns" by K3HZ, Dave, it came from a block of prefixes beginning with the letter V, assigned to British Commonwealth countries in 1912 to commemorate the death of Queen Victoria. The block VH - VK was allocated to Australia but these were not assigned to Australian amateurs until 1928. 1910, after representations by the WIA, the then Postmaster General's Department began issuing experimental licenses. These used a three letter call beginning with X and did not differentiate between states until 1912 when these three letter calls were broken up into blocks according to state. In early 1914 the experimental calls were changed again when a number representing the states was incorporated into a 1 x 2 format. The Letter X was followed by a number, for example 4 to represent Qld followed by a two letter suffix. All licences were cancelled during WW1 and none were issued until 1922 when an A was added to the X prefix to designate "Experimental Australia" resulting in a 2 x two callsign format. The next change in Prefix came in 1927 when an international radio conference decided that Australia should use the prefix OA to signify "Oceania Australia". The OA prefix was short lived however as yet another international radio conference in 1928 resulted in Australia amateurs finally using the VK prefix. So if today's callsign format seems confusing spare a thought for our early amateur brethren and the many changes that they endured in only 18 short but tumultuous years. (Col VK4CC) SOCIAL SCENE 2011 Mar 20 vk7 MEET THE VOICE BBQ THIS WEEKEND "Ross Caravan Park". Apr 2 - 3 vk4 Bunya Mts & District AmCom and SCARC Somerset Dam Camp Out. ( 0488 687 649 ) Apr 9 vk6 Hills Amateur Radio Group HARGFEST at club rooms Lesmurdie. (HARGFEST. ie, hamfest run by HARG) Apr 18 WW "Amateur Radio: The first technology-based social network" World Amateur Radio Day, April 18 and WIA Field Day. Apr 30 - May 1 Clareview Gathering contact Clive VK4ACC of RADAR Club 04 2963 2815. May 27-29 WIA AGM Weekend in Darwin secretary@wia.org.au Jun 10-12 VK4 Far North and North Queensland Amateur Radio Gathering at King Reef Resort Kurrimine Beach. Jul 16 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club Hamfest Cranbourne Community Hall 10am ( secretary@ggrec.org.au ) Jul 31 VK2/3 Riverina Field Day 10am at Lavington Scout Group Hall. Aug 7 VK2 Lismore region - SARCFEST Sep 11 VK3 SADARC Comms Day at St Augustine's Hall Shepparton 10am. Sep 23-28 R3 Region 3 ARDF Championship Bendigo VK3 http://r3.ardf.org.au/ Sep 30-Oct 2 VK4 Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM at Camp Fairbairn CONTACT Secretary Gordon, (vk4kal@wia.org.au) Nov 20 vk5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society Hamfest Goodwood Community Centre, Rosa St Goodwood at 0930. Visit www.ahars.com.au for contact details 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 3-18 2012 VK5 YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com) THE FINAL FINAL Got this message few minutes ago. Message from Toru, JG1EIQ Following frequencies are assigned for emergency JA QSO. Please be clear. Thank you for your kind help! Ops JARL & volunteers 3520 to 3530 7025 to 703514090 to 1411021190 to 2120028190 to 2821050100 51000 kindly consider QSY freq & RTTY freq. 73 YO2MBU BEHIND A SUCCESSFUL ARISS CONTACT IS THE PAPER WORK! Here is how a contact is meticulously planned. Script to the mentor, ground station, and school several days in advance. Conferencing operator name(s): What touchtone codes call the operator? Ask operator to start recording Station checks: Station operator name(s)? Tony Hutchison Station callsign? VK5ZAI Tracked ISS recently? Antenna slews in azimuth and elevation? Flip mode enabled? Check their clock setting. When did they get elements? Check ISS sub-satellite point, az, el, and rise time. Confirm frequencies (channels not actual numbers) with station. Can someone use an HT to do an end-to-end check? Station will be asked for a brief overview. Name of school McKay State High School Location of school Mackay MC, Queensland, Australia Name of person at school Kylie Anthes-Cole Have first student at microphone. Have next student move up once crewmember starts answering. Say OVER. Teacher (or alternate) will be asked for a one minute intro. "Big Thanks" at the end. Followed by a brief script. Turn off (or set to vibrate) all phones and pagers Everyone needs to be quiet: no cheering or clapping until the end. May not get everyone through IRLP & EchoLink- John Spasojevich, AG9D Start at T-6 minutes Conferencing Operator Opens lines Hello everyone, this is Keith Pugh, W5IU, your Amateur Radio moderator for today. Through the help of amateur radio volunteers and the crew on the ISS we hope to soon establish ham radio contact with the International Space Station as it flies more than 200 miles above the Earth, over Australia. This is all accomplished with ARISS--Amateur Radio on the International Space Station. The ISS currently is flying over the Indian Ocean, whizzing along at around 17 thousand 500 miles an hour. This contact will be performed using the Amateur Radio telebridge network, a world-wide network of amateur radio ground stations that enable students to contact the ISS. ARISS is a consortium of ham radio volunteers from 9 nations that develop and operate the amateur radio station on the international space station. Some members of ARISS are the American Radio Relay League, the worldwide AMSAT Radio Amateur Satellite Corporations, CSA, ESA, JAXA, NASA, and Roscosmos. The amateur radio ground station that will establish contact with the ISS is VK5ZAI in Australia, operated by Tony Hutchison. Thanks for helping us out, Tony! We have about 4 minutes until contact time. Our contact for today is with McKay State High School. The Ham Radio Contact Coordinator for the school is Shane Lynd, VK4KHZ. We've asked teacher Kylie Anthes-Cole, to please briefly tell us about McKay State High School and the students taking part today. (if necessary, ad lib about student events until approx T-3 minutes) Where are the students from? Weather at ground station and school? T-3 minutes: Tony, before the contact begins, please tell us about your ham radio station, where you are, and how you'll handle the conversation. T-1 minutes: Remember that what we are doing on ISS is an experiment---so we can never tell the results---positive or negative until the experiment is over. And students, don't forget to say OVER. In about 30 seconds the station should be coming over Australia, so Tony, it's all yours. Good luck! Students First Names & Questions: 1. Aaron: Do you currently employ any methods to combat radiation emitted from the sun? And if not is anything being tested or planned for this purpose? 2. Joel: What do you see as the future for astronauts and NASA space exploration? 3. Jasmine: What are the physical effects of going into space and coming home? 4. Marcia: If the Earth was positioned anywhere else in our solar system, do you think life would be able to exist? 5. Sweta: Do you get physically tired in space even though your body does not exert any force when you float and your muscles are not working against gravity? If you do get tired then, why? 6. Amanda: How much of a difference is it, sleeping in space compared to sleeping on Earth? 7. Tessa: If a fish was placed in a sealed fish bowl full of water, could it swim inside the space station? i.e. given that a fish has a swim bladder that assists in buoyancy, without gravity, would the fish be able to swim? 8. Amy: Does it get hot in your spacesuit? 9. Shelly: Considering the chain of technical failures that contributed to a near catastrophic end to "Apollo 13" that was depicted in the film, what advances in technology and safety has occurred that gives astronauts a greater sense of safety than what they had during the early days of space travel. 10. Rebecca: What problems do you face doing experiments up there? 11. Shane: How different is the viewing of stars in space since there is no atmosphere around the ship. 12. Blessing: What is the Station's defence against solar flares and radiation? 13. Diana: How does zero gravity affect bodily functions? 14. Melissa: What systems do you have on-board the ISS to monitor the weather systems on Earth? 15. Tyler: How do you go to the toilet in space? 16. Jasmine: How do you control your movement or walking in space when you have zero gravity? (CLOSE) Ladies and Gentlemen, we have shared a moment of history. Amateur radio station VK5ZAI in Australia operated by Tony Hutchison, contacted Paolo Nespoli, IZ0JPA, aboard the International Space Station, talking with students at McKay State High School in Mackay, Queensland, Australia. Now, for the international volunteer team of ARISS, including the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporations around the world, the American Radio Relay League, CSA, ESA, JAXA, NASA, and Roscosmos, this is Keith Pugh, amateur radio operator W5IU sending my greetings to all of you in amateur radio terms, 73,---best wishes. ============================================================================= WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide. TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail nationalnews@wia.org.au Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who knows, you might even get a "cheerio call". 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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