WIANEWS - May 13 - 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 WEEK COMMENCING MAY 13 2012.
CubeSat workshop in Canberra
Philip VK3JNI on the WIA National Field Day.
St. Anthony's parish school Canberra ISS contact thanks to VK1IRC Peter.
Summits on the Air activity growing in VK
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING MAY 13 2012.
Public appeal, Central VK4 Region - Aircraft distress call
Police are appealing for public information in relation to an emergency
radio message received from an aircraft around 5.45pm yesterday in central
Queensland.
Around that time, another pilot in the air near Alpha reported hearing a
distress call to the relevant authorities.
Anyone that may have information relating to an overdue aircraft in the area,
including recreational aircraft such as ultralights, are urged to contact
Rockhampton Police on 4932 3500.
It is believed the distress call may have been made from within an area
encompassing Quilpie, Alpha, Winton and Hughenden.
Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations
should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or
crimestoppers.com.au
CubeSat workshop in Canberra
Australia is to hold a low cost space missions workshop in July that will
explore the NASA CubeSat initiative to include an 8kg 6U satellite, designed
to perform some of the Earth observation missions of larger 100 kg
microsatellites.
The 6U CubeSat has a range of possible missions related to astronomy,
atmospheric and other planetary science, space physics, observation and
biology.
The workshop is particularly aimed at scientists and engineers interested
in payload and mission concepts that take advantage of the greater payload
capacity of the 6U CubeSat.
The Technology Keynote speaker is John W. Hines, Chief Technologist,
NASA-Ames Research Centre.
Science Keynote is Professor Harvey Butcher, Director Research School of
Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the Chair, Dr Steven Tsitas, Senior Research
Associate, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research, University of
New South Wales.
Registration details of the July 17 and 18 workshop in Canberra, the world's
first on the 6U CubeSat, are now available.
The URL is http://www.acser.unsw.edu.au/events/cubesat.html#register
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
Summits on the Air activity growing in VK
SOTA activity has continued to increase in April with new summits
activators, operators activating for the first time and more operators
joining the SOTA chase. Summits activated include Mt Cope in the
Victorian high country; Mt Langi Ghiran, Mt Abrupt and Mt Sturgeon in
and near the Grampians and no less than 5 summits within 2 metre range
of Melbourne. Chasers have come from most call areas of VK and a good
number from Europe. Life may be too short for QRP, but QRP is making it
to Europe on 20 metres.
Efforts are continuing to bring SOTA activations to summits in VK1, 2
and 5. If you would like to help out or simply just find out more, check
out the Yahoo Groups: SOTA Australia on the web at
groups.yahoo.com/group/SOTA_Australia
If you would like to know more about SOTA, and are in Melbourne, the
EMDRC are having a SOTA presentation by Wayne Merry VK3WAM next Friday,
the 18th of May. All are welcome to attend this meeting, starting at 8pm
in the EMDRC club rooms at Milpara Scout Hall, 13A McCubbin St. Burwood.
(Wayne VK3WAM)
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
This is Philip VK3JNI with a brief update on the WIA National Field Day.
The support by radio clubs in all states of Australia over the weekend of
the 14th and 15th of April continued to promote the hobby of amateur radio.
Many private stations where heard on air assisting stations with contacts
and reports during the weekend.
The clubs and individual operators who made the effort to demonstrate the
hobby of amateur radio to the public should receive the congratulations of
not only the WIA membership, but the amateur radio community as a whole.
Hundreds of people encountered our field day stations during this major
Public Relations activity. The challenge now for the participating teams,
is to convert some of the interest generated into new amateur radio operators
and enthusiasts.
Personally I thank the participating teams in VK3 for the welcome I received
over the two days. I was impressed with the effort and enthusiasm displayed
by the operators and all those present at the stations.
Please remember to submit your reports and logs to the WIA before Friday 18th
May. The WIA wish to acknowledge your work in promoting the hobby
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
VK1
As all amateur radio operators are continually trying for that long distance
QSO, one outer space contact was made in VK1 earlier this month. On Tuesday
3rd April 2012 at 20:13 UTC (18:13 Local Canberra time), a succuss full
contact was made between St. Anthony's parish school, Wanniassa Canberra,
where VK1IRC Peter's two sons attend, and Earth telebridge ground station
Tony Hutchinson VK5ZAI in Kingston, South Australia with Keith Pugh, W5IU in
Fort Worth Texas as Master of Ceremonies.
A full school hall was present to witness this amazing once in a life time
event. All students at the school were asked to write a question to the
Astronauts, of which Ten lucky students were selected to ask the Commander of
the International Space station, Dan Burbank their questions, of which he
provided excellent responses to the students. Commander Dan Burbank is the
current commander of expedition 30.
Application for inclusion to participate in the ARISS programme (or Amateur
radio on board the International space station) is a lengthy process, taking
up to 18 months for a school or educational institution to be selected and
setup with the space station crew. From the moment Peter VK1IRC told the
school about this opportunity, St Anthony's school truly embraced the idea
and entered the queue. The opportunity came around faster than expected,
being selected within twelve months, and the race to get everything in order
was on.
As the contact is made using a phone patch device to an analogue line that is
connected back to Tony VK5ZAI's base station, a lengthy run of phone cable
was required to patch the device into the school's fax line located at the
front of the school to the school hall which was at the other end of the
school. Once this cable run was achieved, Tony mails the phone patch to you
and you then set it up with the line and auditorium speakers. To make the
contact even more enjoyable, a laptop with an internet connection was setup
and after a brief presentation and introduction, a live view of the space
station's position was projected so the audience could see that it was
tracking over South Australia, VK5ZAI's ground station as the students
talked live to Dan Burbank with the space station travelling in an orbit of
around 27,000 Km an hour. This allowed for around a 10 minute window to talk
from acquisition of signal to loss of signal, when the space stations dips
over the horizon.
Leading up to the contact, St. Anthony's got into the space theme, with all
the students preparing drawings of space and the solar system. These pictures
were all on display in the hall on the evening resulting in a great
educational event for everyone.
After the contact, the ten students that talked to Dan were awarded a
certificate signed by Michael Owen, President WIA and Tony Hutchinson VK5ZAI.
Organising an event such as this does take time and Peter VK1IRC worked
closely with Tony in South Australia to make sure that it was a night for
everyone to remember. This contact, as is every ARISS scheduled contact to
the ISS is also relayed live over EchoLink conference node *AMSAT*.
Each contact is also recorded and stored for playback at a later stage. The
contact with St.Anthonys , along with others can be heard here by connecting
to this conference node and entering the command .play 8.
Peter VK1IRC hopes to work with Tony again in the future and provide more
schools and students in VK1 the opportunity to talk with an astronaut all
in the name of education and what can be achieved in the world of Amateur
radio.
(Peter VK 1 IRC)
VK3
web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/
Police Roundup http://www.vicpolicenews.com.au/
MDRC Hamfest 2012
The Moorabbin and District Amateur Radio club are pleased to announce, this
year's Hamfest will be held in at a BRAND NEW LOCATION with improved access
and parking.
This year's event will be at the Southern Community Centre, Rupert Drive,
Mulgrave (Melways map ref 80 F4) on Saturday 26th May 2012 - doors opening
at 10am.
The Moorabbin Radio Club's annual Hamfest is proud to be Victoria's biggest
with displays and sales of new and preloved equipment. A must come must see
event for anyone interested in Radio Communications and Electronics.
Major door prizes, free tea and coffee, light refreshments and a sausage
sizzle will also be on offer.
Trader table bookings and general enquires can be made by emailing
Graeme Lewis VK3GL (vk3gl@bigpond.com) or by phoning mobile 0418 171601.
A Must see, must come event!!
VK4 - QNEWS
Send your stories for news. SCRIPT to qnews@wia.org.au
send audio to http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/upload/
get local audio news www.wiaq.org.au/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3
get local news emailed qnews-vk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
FNNQARG 2012 Cancelled
At the May Management Meeting of theTARCinc it was reluctantly decided to
cancel participation in the Far North and North Queensland Amateur Radio
Gathering - due mainly to lack of support from Far Northern clubs who will be
otherwise engaged in other activities during the Queens Jubilee Long Weekend
in June.
There will be discussions amongst TARC club members during the next few
Management Meetings to put together a more sustainable program of
opportunities for hams in the north to attend gatherings in the field
designed to enhance social contact and provide a chance for relaxation and
radio operating in well supported yet economical camp sites.
HOWEVER! The Clairview Gathering weekend WAS a great success during the
May Long Weekend.
Hams from as far as Charters Towers and Gladstone made a beeline to the
Clairview Beach Holiday Park to enjoy a weekend of catching up,
idea swapping, relaxing, outdoor cooking, portable radio operations and
participation in a foxhunting session, a lovely evening banquet and the
famous Mega Auction.
A view of the Super Moon across the bay and the procurement of such treasured
items as morse keys, vintage radio equipment, computer and antenna gear,
HANDBAGS, and other quality goods highlighted by the creative auctioning by
Roy VK4RM assisted by Clive VK4ACC, Tony VK4HOG and Neil VK4MKY made the trip
even more worthwhile.
Clive VK4ACC , Secretary RADAR CLUB in Rockhampton did a 40 minute
presentation on radio and F Licencing at a local primary school recently.
All grade 6 and 7 pupils attended.
A small display and demo showing smallest ham radios to a large base stn
HF went down well.
The kids loved it and were interested enough to stay behind and ask questions.
Looks like a weekend in training and a day doing assessments for a couple of
teachers and a few students.
Looks promising for new recruits.
Looking Out for Your Mates
Greetings from the WIA, this is Ewan VK4ERM, considering Looking Out for Your
Mates.
Within the Amateur Radio community we should be looking Out for Our Mates in
many direct and indirect ways.
Operating our equipment in a comfortable shack at home, mobile through
innumerable places in this broad land or setting up a field or portable
station for a contest or to escape urban RF noise provide ample opportunities
for Looking Out for Your Mates.
Unfortunately it is a truism that familiarity does breed contempt or at least
avoidable carelessness or the taking of unnecessary risks. Sometimes the
first we become aware of the error of judgement is when a situation goes
wrong resulting in damage to what we have been working on, a minor physical
inconvenience or personal injury.
What would you reasonably expect a mate to do in such circumstances? What
would you do if you were witness to the potential for such a situation
occurring?
In the first case a friendly word of caution from your mate may be all that
was needed to jolt you out of complacency to reconsider your course of action.
In the second case wouldn't you believe it was your responsibility to caution
your mate on the likely outcome of his or her actions?
Either way, both situations demonstrate Looking Out for Your Mates and
unlikely to cause offence with real mates.
The foregoing physical cause and effect situations are readily observable to
which we can spontaneously react without offence to those with whom we are
familiar. Far worse and more insidious is the onset and manifestation of
mental stress. The gradual change in the behaviour of a mate may be so subtle
that in the long term we don't notice it nor become aware of the past and
present circumstances causing the change.
However, it is unfortunate that the first we become aware that a mate is
under stress is when he or she explodes or crashes with unpredictable
behaviour and outcomes. This is when you have to be Looking Out for Your
Mates, hopefully before situations come to a head and afterward if too late.
We like to think that we know and understand those whom we have known for
years or decades but the reality is there may be disturbing or traumatic
events buried in their memory and eating away at their very being; events and
emotions they have never communicated to others, not even their mates.
Those in the far reaching fraternity of Amateur Radio are no different and if
you become aware of changes in the personality and behaviour of your Amateur
Radio friends in any circumstances then it is truly time to be Looking Out
for Your Mates.
The changes you see may be their cry for help.
Look Out for Your Mates
This has been Ewan VK4ERM for the WIA Board
SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012
VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 80metres Phone May 12
VK Shires Contest June 9-10
VK Winter VHF-UHF Field Day June 23-24
ZL NZART Memorial Contest July First full weekend
VK/ZL Trans Tasman Contest 80+160metres July 21
VK Remembrance Day Contest August 11-12
WW International Lighthouse Lightship Wknd August 18-19
VK Spring VHF / UHF Field Day November 24-25
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE
Repeater for Android
The latest version of Repeater for Android and Playbook by ZBM2 Software now
includes repeater information for Australia, VK, as well as the UK, Germany,
Italy, Poland, Norway, Spain, with more countries soon.
Features
Easily find Amateur Radio Repeaters across the UK, Europe and Australia.
Complete database of UK Analogue, IRLP, EchoLink and D-Star repeaters.
Growing database of German, Italian, Polish, Norwegian, Spanish and
Australian repeaters, with more countries soon.
Use network, GPS or a Locator to find Repeaters.
No network connection required.
Displays your locator and selection distance.
Comprehensive selection, sorting and display options.
Displays distance, heading and full repeater details.
Supports App2SD.
Fast and flexible, designed to help you use the repeater network.
Repeater will remain free. There will never be any charge for people to use
it.
Finding Repeater
zbm2.com/repeater - Goes straight to Repeater on Google Play
Web www.zbm2.com
nick@zbm2.com
E 51 WL in the North Cook Islands has been heard on 6 meters. Keep an ear
open for him just before 2300 UTC on or around 50.120 MHz
QSL as directed on the air
One for the prefix hunters to look out for this month is R1945HS
which is celebrating the 67th Anniversary of the end of World War 2.
The call will be in use until 31 May and QSL info is via RW6HS.
LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD MARKS 50,000 USERS
On May 1, Dragan Pavlovic, YT3PDT, completed his registration process for
Logbook of The World (LoTW), becoming the 50,000th person to take advantage
of the ARRL's online QSL confirmation system.
According to ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N
there are more than 3500 individuals from outside the US in the process of
obtaining a digital certificate, and more than 1800 individuals inside the
US who have started the certificate process, but not yet finished.
4KS0NG - Eurovision Song Contest Azerbaijan
Sixteen amateur radio special event stations are being run in Azerbaijan to
celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest.
The 2012 Eurovision Song Contest will take place on the 22nd, 24th and 26th
of May in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku. Azerbaijan won the right to host
the contest when viewers and professional juries across Europe chose their
2011 entry "Running Scared" by Ell/Nikki as winner.
The Federation of Radio Sport of Azerbaijan will be celebrating
"EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2012" and is sponsoring a commemorative Diploma for
amateur radio stations that have established two-way communications with
EUROVISION-2012 special event stations from Azerbaijan.
RULES:
1. Available to all Amateurs and SWLs.
2. Contact period: March 15 until June 15, 2012.
3. Make 3 (three) two way contacts with EUROVISION-2012 special event
stations using HF, VHF and UHF frequencies either in SSB, CW or Digital
modes. Repeater, cross band or echo link QSOs will not be acceptable.
4. To earn the award, it is obligatory to make at least one QSO with 4KS0NG
or 4JS0NG.
List of special event stations:
4KS0NG, 4JS0NG, 4K2012SONG, 4J12SONG, 4K9SONG, 4K12SONG, 4K6SONG, 4J5SONG,
4J7SONG, 4JR0SONG, 4J1SONG, 4K1SONG, 4J9SONG, 4K4SONG, 4K8SONG 4J4SONG.
The award is free of charge, but applicants should send sufficient postage to
cover the mailing costs, such as:4 Euro or 5USD or 5 new valid IRCs.
Applications for the award may be submitted in both hard copy and on the
E-mail: ru3sd@yandex.ru
Mailing address:
Vasily Bardin (RU3SD)
P.O. Box 1,
Ryazan' 390000
Russia
THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report - Measure Twice cut Once.
High-performance HF transceiver design
The free fortnightly magazine EDN (Electronic Design News) features an
article about amateur radio high-performance HF transceiver design.
The article by Doug Grant K1DG describes how high-end ham equipment reaches
new levels of performance using state-of-the-art technology and design tricks.
Read High-performance HF transceiver design: A ham's perspective
http://www.edn.com/article/521690-High_performance_HF_transceiver
_design_A_ham_s_perspective.php
Read Doug's previous article in EDN - Ham radio in the 21st century
http://www.edn.com/article/519742-Ham_radio_in_the_21st_century.php
Read previous issues of EDN at
http://www.edn.com/archive/
(SouthGate)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL
FDMDV Open Source 1400 bps HF Modem
David VK5DGR has made available open source software for a 1400 bps HF modem.
F.D.M.D.V. stands for Frequency Division Multiplexed Digital Voice.
A FDM modem is a basically a bunch of slow modems running in parallel. For
example FDMDV has 14 carriers spaced 75 Hz apart, each running at
50 symbols/second.
Due to multipath problems on HF this approach works better than
one carrier running at 1450 = 700 symbols/second.
Each symbol is encoded two bits using differential QPSK, so the bit rate
is 1400 bit/s.
One of the applications of the modem will be Digital Voice since it offers
fast sync, no multi-second training sequences, the ability to recover quickly
after a fade, and no automatic re-transmit of "bad" packets.
http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=2458
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freetel-codec2
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- INTERNET --- THE HAMS DOMAIN
TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA
www.HamRadioNation.com
RFINDER FOR APPLE PORTABLE PRODUCTS RELEASED
W2CYK has announced the latest platform release of RFinder - The World Wide
Repeater Directory. The new version is designed for Apple iPhone, iPad and
iPod users and is available for immediate download from the Apple App Store.
Previous versions of RFinder run on Android based gear and can be found
on-line with a quick google.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW
A milestone for the ILLW scored in the USA
The West Side Amateur Radio Club of Los Angeles W6A is the 200th registration
for this year's International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend with its members
to set up at the Port Fermin Lighthouse.
The Stick Style lighthouse is an early Victorian architectural method
characterised by its gabled roofs, horizontal siding, decorative cross beams
and hand carved porch railings. A decade ago the lighthouse was restored.
The entry by the West Side Amateur Radio Club put the USA on 28 registrations,
behind Australia with 38 and Germany 33, followed by England 16, and The
Netherlands on 13 with the total countries so far involved nearing 30.
International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend in a fun event. It will be held
for the 15th time on August the 18th and 19th. Check it out and register
for the weekend by visiting the website ILLW.NET
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
What use is an f-call?
(Past editions of What use is an f-call can be found online at harg.org.au
under F-troop.)
Recently I found myself discussing satellite communications with a group of
Amateurs. It dawned on me that I had been using 1 Watt to transmit to
geostationary orbit, more than 35,000km away. Compared to a circumnavigation
of the earth at 40,000km, that's most of the way there.
Yes, I know, there are no obstacles, it's basically focused line of sight,
but you don't get ionosphere bounce or ducting either, so I figure, it all
balances out in the long run. My point being that this is a QRP broadcast,
less than 5 Watts and it gets into orbit, that's quite something if you think
about it.
I continue to hear amateurs complaining about how little power they have.
It's not limited to Foundation Calls, I hear Standard licensees hanging out
for their Advanced call so they can use more power and I hear Advanced calls
complain that other countries can use a Kilowatt, so why can't we? What's
next, a Megawatt, what about a Gigawatt Amateur Radio transmitter?
While I completely understand the pull toward more power and I applaud those
who are working to increasing our allocation, I don't really share the same
need. To me it's a little like a Turbo button on an IBM PC, or souping up
your car. I get that it's a challenge, I get that it can be fun and I get
that it does more when it goes faster. I get that we learn from pushing the
envelope and potentially breaking things.
What I don't get it that there is the equivalent of disdain for those who try
to achieve their aims using less power.
To me the skill is getting the job done with as little power as possible.
It's better for the bands, it's better for interference, power consumption,
wear and tear, danger and all the other things that come from pushing more
power.
Why is it that more power is more important that less power?
I'm Onno, VK6FLAB
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, ARVictoria and the WW sources of the WIA.
Julian Sortland, VK2YJS / AG6LE dropped the news desk an item through the
week using Wi-Fi over the North Sea!
Are you are a Norwegian living in Australia?
Did you know you can use the AX prefix to celebrate your National Day
"17 May" here in Australia?
This is because the Norwegian National Day, known simply as "17 May", happens
to coincide with World Communications Day, for which the ACMA allows any VK
Amateur use of the AX prefix. And if you do hear an LA, LB or LC station,
or a rare JW or JY, wish them Happy 17 May.
CALIFORNIA COPPER THIEVES UPGRADE TO FIBER OPTICS
Copper thieves in California have expanded to stealing glass as well.
In this case we are talking about glass as in fibre optic cable. In one case
some AT&T customers in the city of Alpine experienced disruptions in phone
and Internet service after thieves stole copper and fibre optic wiring from
underground lines.
The thieves took about 75 feet of 600 strand fibre optic cable along with the
copper wiring. To accomplish this the robbers climbed into a manhole and cut
into the underground pipes. An AT&T spokesperson said that three conduits
carrying fibre optic or copper cables were damaged and that the vandalism
affected some cell phone users as well.
The theft of fibre optic lines is something new and could signal a developing
market for this kind of product.
DELFI C3 DO-64 CELEBRATES 4 YEARS IN SPACE
The 3-unit CubeSat, developed by a University in the Netherlands was launched
on April 28, 2008. The nanosatellite has since performed technology
demonstration experiments for the space industry in the Netherlands.
It still transmits its telemetry and measurement data which can be received
using simple amateur radio equipment and using the RASCAL software.
=============================================================================
NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA
ANTENNA RESTRICTIONS IN BELGIUM GET TIGHTER
If you think it's hard to put up an antenna in
some locations here in the USA its nothing in
comparison to what's happening in
Belgium. That's where antenna restrictions have
gotten even tighter than before and it's happening
with the government blessings. In fact, the
rules are so stringent that it could force some
hams off the air.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Skeeter Nash, N5ASH, reports:
The Belgian national amateur radio society's
website has posted an update on the restrictive
antenna requirements recently imposed by the
Flemish Government. The registration seems to
apply to antennas that operate between 10 MHz
through 10 Gigahertz, the amount of time a ham is
actually transmitting and the power output of his or her station.
Going by the latest information, it would appear
that Flemish amateurs who transmit less than 175
hours a year at 20 watts Effective Radiated Power
or less, are required to submit forms to the
government for each antenna they
have. Multi-band antennas require multiple submissions of forms.
For instance, a tri-band Yagi antenna for 20, 15
and 10 meters requires three separate
submissions. And if any changes to an antenna is
made, all of the paperwork must be resubmitted.
But wait. It gets worse. If transmission are
made from an antenna for more than 175 hours a
year or with an Effective Radiated Power greater
than 20 watts then it appears the bureaucracy
involved is even more complex. You can find out
just how bad it is at tinyurl.com/NoticeForTxAntennas.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Skeeter Nash,
N5ASH, reporting from Jonesboro, Arkansas,
According to what we are hearing, the Belgian
national amateur radio society's known as the UBA
has been attempting to get these strict antenna
rules modified, but to date with little to no
success.
FAA MAY LOOK AGAIN AT BANNED RF DEVICES ON PLANES
And using your laptop, iPad or Kindle
during a commercial U-S flight might
become a reality in the not too distant
future. This with word that the Federal Aviation
Administration may be willing to take a second
look at its policy on electronics usage aboard
airplanes.
Amateur Radio Newsline's Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, reports:
While some airlines permit very limited use of
wireless devices one an aircraft is at altitude,
actual availability is quite limited. But
according to a recent report credited to
columnist Nick Bilton and the New York times, the
FAA has decided to take a updated look at the use
of personal electronics on planes.
The report continues by quoting FAA spokesperson
Laura Brown. She told the press that with the
advent of new and evolving electronic technology,
and because the airlines have not conducted the
testing necessary to approve the use of new
devices, the FAA may be taking a fresh look at
the use of personal electronic devices,
other than cell phones, on aircraft.
Currently, airline passengers must turn off any
electronic device that can transmit or receive a
radio signal that cannot be disabled. While, the
FAA indicates that it is open to testing new
devices, it will more than likely be a long road
before any substantive changes take place. This
is because every airline giving thought to allow
such operations would first have to test one of
each version of a device on each of model of
every aircraft in its fleet.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Fred Vobbe, W8HDU.
Whatever happens, the FAA has already been quoted
as saying that it will not budge on its policy of
not permitting use of mobile phones during a
flight. And don't even consider trying to use a
ham radio H-T on a commercial airliner. Even if
that one were lifted by the FAA the domestic U-S
airlines would likely keep a ban in place on the
use of ham gear and other two way radios on board
their flights.
=============================================================================
SOCIAL SCENE 2012
MAY 3-18 VK5 YL International 2012 Australia (vk5tmc@bigpond.com)
MAY 25-27 VK3 WIA Annual Conference Mildura
MAY 26 VK3 MDRC Hamfest Southern Community Centre, Mulgrave 10am
MAY 26 VK4 BARCFEST (a hamfest) Mt Gravatt Showgrounds 9am.
JUN 8-11 VK4 cancelled ! FNNQARG! QLD Cassowary Coast CANCELLED!!!!!!!!!
JUN 9-10 VK2 Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club field day Port Macquarie.
JUN 9-10 VK5 South East Radio Group Convention, Mt Gambier.
JULY 14 VK4 Wide Bay Hamfest. West Maryborough Scout Hall
JULY 21 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club Hamfest @ Cranbourne
JULY 21 VK4 WIA VK4 CLUB PRESIDENTS LUNCH Hervey Bay AR Club
NOV 4 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HAMFEST @ Goodwood
NOV 11 VK3 Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group Hamfest
NOV 25 VK3 SPARC HAMFEST AT ROSEBUD
WIA Annual Conference Mildura
May 25th, 26th and 27th 2012
Details for the WIA 2012 Annual Conference being held in Mildura are on
wia.org.au
Host club is Sunraysia Radio Group, led by Garry Briant VK3KYF and
Noel Ferguson VK3FI.
WIA Members who register for the event will be able to participate in a
range of fascinating and memorable activities.
FINAL FINAL
CALLBACKS AND CHECKINS TO VK1WIA NATIONAL NEWS AS AT MAY 10.
This WIA year(2 broadcasts to go) we will have our highest ever, 120,000 plus
and some 40,000 of those are RF checkins.
Week of May 5 RF in Cap Cities
vk1 = 27
vk2 = 58
vk3 = none supplied
vk4 = 16
vk5 = 95
vk6 = 85
vk7 = 33
vk8 = 32
Submitting news items
If you would like to submit news items for inclusion in the
VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au
to submit audio read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on
wia.org.au
Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being
broadcast in the very next edition of WIA National News. Each item will only
be broadcast once, if you want a couple of mentions, please submit different
slants to keep your event 'fresh'.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
=============================================================================
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 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
|
