WIANEWS - JULY 1 - VK NATIONAL NEWS
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WIANEWS WEEK COMMENCING JULY 1 2012.
ILLEGAL REPEATERS. -
2012 Leap Second. -
IARU HF World Championship. -
SOTA activity in VK. -
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING JULY 01 2012.
Repeating the facts mobile telephone repeaters are illegal
Despite what you may hear, read or be told by someone who wants to sell you
one, mobile telephone repeaters cannot be used in Australia, unless you're
the holder of an applicable spectrum or apparatus licence (in practice,
usually a mobile telecommunications carrier), or the licensee has personally
given you direct permission.
What is a mobile telephone repeater?
A repeater is a fixed active device that may be used in mobile networks. It
is designed to regenerate or replicate a mobile signal. Mobile carriers
regularly use repeaters as part of their ordinary network management.
However, when used without a carrier's permission, repeaters have the
capacity to cause substantial interference to the cellular network and may
have an impact on mobile services, including access to emergency call
services.
Why are we telling you this?
The ACMA is aware that certain overseas-based internet traders (often
appearing to be located in Australia) have been informing the Australian
market that anyone in Australia can use repeaters 'legally'. This is not
correct.
Simply put, the unlicensed operation of a repeater is illegal, and subject
to the offence provisions in sections 46 and 47 of the Radiocommunications
Act 1992.
Penalties for the use of repeaters are significant, including up to two years
imprisonment or fines totalling $165,000.
(acma)
Television viewers in Melbourne will be the last city dwellers to see
analogue TV in Australia.
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has announced the final timetable for
the switchover from analogue to digital TV signals in the remaining cities and
regions.
Melbourne, along with remote and central Australia, will have its analogue
signal switched off on December 10, 2013.
Other cities and areas from Adelaide, Tasmania, Perth, Brisbane, Darwin and
Sydney will have their analogue signals turned off progressively from April 2,
2013.
The government has been progressively switching off the analogue television
signal since 2010, with northern NSW the next area to become digital only
on November 27.
Senator Conroy also has welcomed the passage of legislation to improve
captioning on free-to-air and subscription television for deaf people.
The changes would include measures to make the captions more readable and
accurate, while ensuring better access to televised emergency warnings for
the hearing impaired. More than five million Australians were expected to
have hearing loss by 2020.
(acma)
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
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
Central Highlands ARC AGM Weekend
The famous and popular Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM weekend at
Camp Fairbairn south of Emerald, will be on 4pm Friday 28th to Midday
Sunday 30th September.
Caravaners please book into Lake Maraboon Holiday Village, as soon as
possible. CHARC Secretary Gordon VK4KAL needs to know from you if you are
attending, so he and Dot can plan catering for the acclaimed Saturday Night
Gastronomic Feed Up, arrange the troops to get enough chairs and treasure
together for the coveted AGM Monster Auction, divvy up the available beds
in the dorm and ensure there is enough grub for the Sunday Recovery Breakfast.
Find out more by contacting gordon.l23@skymesh.com.au
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/charc/
(sourced to theTARCinc news)
VK7
vk7 local news, email vk7regionalnews-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vk7regionalnews/
REAST Training, Education & Assessment
Their recent successful Foundation licensees have received their callsigns.
So, if you hear the following then why not give them a call and make them
feel at home on the bands.
Lee VK7FAAI, James VK7FAAL, Tony VK7FTNY and Andrew VK7FAAJ.
If you are interested in amateur radio training and assessments and live
in the South of VK7 please contact learning organiser Reg VK7KK on
0417 391 607, or via email on regemm@ozemail.com.au
(73, Reg VK7KK, REAST Education Officer and Assessor)
DISCUSSION POINT
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.)
A recurring theme appears to be "What radio do I buy?" I asked another HAM
and their breakdown went like this:
Basically it's like Macintosh vs. Windows,
or vi vs. emacs, or Holden vs. Ford, or Petrol vs. Diesel, or Gin vs. Tonic.
Every person you ask will give you a different response.
Instead of asking "What radio do I buy?" ask yourself another question:
"What do I want to do with my radio?"
In answering that question, you'll come
across some suitable candidates. With your short-list in hand, do some
research, ask other Amateurs and see what your supplier has access to. You'll
get a much better outcome and end up with a radio you can use.
Soooo, "What do I want to do with my radio?"
The obvious response is
"Everything!" Well, yes, but if you have a Foundation License, you cannot
talk everywhere, you cannot use all modes and you can only use 10 Watts. You
might live on a hill with nothing but farmland around, or you might live in
an apartment with neighbours in all directions. You might have $100 to spend,
or $5000, you may want to do contests or have your radio as a safety device,
it might want to live in your car, or you might need to take public
transport. You might want to talk to a local repeater, or you may want to
work DX on HF.
Each of those different answers requires a different radio. The more you can
articulate what you want to do, and talking to other Amateurs is an excellent
way to find out what there is to do, will give you a completely different
answer.
I purchased my radio because I wanted it to be all-bands, small and
portable, but that's not necessarily you. So, think about what you want to do
with your radio so you can decide what radio to get.
As a final note.
Each use scenario might call for a different radio, so don't be surprised if
you end up with more than one - I know I'm beginning to see a trend - Hi Hi.
I'm Onno VK6FLAB
SILENT KEY
Richard "Dick" Baldwin, W1RU passed away on Thursday, June 21.
He was 92.
An ARRL Charter Life Member, Baldwin capped a long career on the ARRL staff
with service as General Manager from 1975 until his retirement in 1982. He
served as Secretary of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) from
1976-1982. After retirement, he continued his involvement as a volunteer,
serving as IARU President from 1982-1999 and as ARRL International Affairs
Vice President from 1982-1986.
In 1991, Baldwin received the Hall of Fame Award from the Quarter Century
Wireless Association (QCWA). In 1992, he was named the Dayton Hamvention
Amateur of the Year. In 2003, he was inducted into the CQ Amateur Radio Hall
of Fame.
A memorial service is planned for 11 AM Friday, June 29 in Maine USA
(wia frontpage news)
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, ARVictoria and the WW sources of the WIA.
NEW Zealand technology company Tait Electronics says more than 9000 of its
digital radios are being used by fire-fighters in Victoria.
The contract is one of the largest of its kind for the company founded by
Sir Angus Tait, who died aged 88 in 2007.
CFA project director Doug Booth said the radios would also allow CFA to
communicate with other state emergency-response agencies as new digital
networks became available, improving co-ordination of resources during
large-scale incidents and disasters.
Zimbabwe's first licensed commercial radio station has gone live, ending a
32-year monopoly by the state-controlled broadcaster and meeting some demands
to free up the nation's airwaves ahead of proposed elections.
Star FM radio claimed that it is the first independent broadcaster since
President Robert Mugabe led the nation to independence in 1980.
Japan is demonstrating a new cell phone that uses vibrations in its screen
to transmit sound to the ear, in place of the traditional receiver speaker.
The phone went on sale Thursday in Japan.
This is the world's first to use "tissue conduction" technology in this way.
The vibrations produced by the phone are picked by the ear physically,
meaning there is less interference from background noise.
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NEWS FROM ARNEWSLINE USA
UAE GOVERNMENT REGULATOR MEETS WITH NATIONAL HAM RADIO SOCIETY
The Emirates Amateur Radio Society has met with the United Arab Emirates
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority or TRA. This to discuss amateur radio
issues.
According to news reports, the meeting shed light
on Emirates Amateur Radio Society perspectives
related to regulations for radio communications
amateurs issued by the TRA. This included
amateur radio authorizations, frequencies used by
UAE hams, the mechanism of authorizing visitors
and residents to operate in that nation, and
cooperation and coordination between the two
groups during various activities. The two sides
also discussed ways to utilize ham radio to
support governmental entities while performing
public service activities and at international
competitions throughout the year.
At that gathering, the TRA stated that the United
Arab Emirates is a country concerned with
providing various types of communications to
users including radio communications. It said
that meeting with a specialized entity such as
the society is highly important in order to
promote radio communications in the country. It
added that this meeting garners further
significance especially when it takes into
consideration that the United Arab Emirates is a
country that hosts numerous desert sports
activities and competitions. This it says makes
radio communications a key issue particularly
with regard to cases of accidents, disasters,
or being lost in the desert.
The meeting took place at the TRA headquarters in
Abu Dhabi and brought to light a number of issues
related to radio communications.
The full report of the meeting can be read at
tinyurl.com/uae-hams
PHASE MODULATION TESTS ON WWVB
The National Institute of Standards and
Technology or NIST is currently testing phase
modulation in addition to the existing amplitude
modulation on time standard station WWVB. The AM
signal continues while the phase modulation is
tested, so there should not be any interruption
in service to existing AM devices. However, the
NIST warns that phase-locked loop devices AM
devices may lose signal lock at times during the
tests. The experiment will end prior to the June
30th leap second correction at 10am AEST.
HAMS IN BROADCASTING VOIP GROUP
Hams in Broadcasting is a new on-line VoIP group
that connects those in the broadcasting industry
with one another world-wide. The system
interconnects IRLP conference bridge 9615,
EchoLink conference 96150 and Allstar Node 27405
for 24 hour a day communication and chatting
between hams who are in the broadcast field. For
more information on the "Hams in Broadcast"
conference bridge, take a look at
tinyurl.com/ar-conference-bridge
Also of note are two nets that meet on the
bridge. Every Sunday night at 8:00 PM Eastern
there is a general "Hams in Broadcast Net." It
is usually hosted by Bruce Schiller, WA2ZST, who
works for the CBS network in New York City.
There also is a twice a month "SBE Hams on the
Air" net. More information on that gathering is
at tinyurl.com/broadcasters-VoIP
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RSGB
Oscar 7 celebrates 10 years of second life
Amateur satellite AMSAT-Oscar 7 was launched in November 1974 and worked for
around 8 years, until its batteries short-circuited in mid-1981.
20 years on, the batteries mysteriously went open circuit and the satellite
came back to life, operating purely from its solar cells. On 21st June 2002,
the satellite was heard again, and last Thursday marked 10 years of AO-7
operating in this second lease of life.
The full story is at www.uk.amsat.org/8524
=============================================================================
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
2012 Leap Second
The last minute of June 30th 2012 UTC will be 61 seconds long, the extra
second being a "leap second". Leap seconds are introduced to maintain
synchronisation between atomic clocks and more traditional time scales
such as Greenwich Mean Time.
These leap seconds are introduced approximately every 18 months, at the end
of June or December, usually to give the Earth's rotation a chance to
catch up on our clocks.
In Eastern VK the leap will take place close to 10am.
This leap second represents a chance to record the leap second by DXing an
international time signal (e.g. Moscow on 4.996 MHz). As the future of
leap seconds is under discussion at the ITU, this could be the last chance
to have a QSO with a leap second!
SPECIAL EVENTS AND ON AIR CONTEST COLUMN - D A T E L I N E 2012
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
WW Oceania Dx Contest SSB October 6
ww Oceania Dx Contest CW oceaniadxcontest.com Oct 13
VK Spring VHF / UHF Field Day November 24-25
2012 IARU HF World Championship
Second full weekend of July, beginning at 12:00 UTC on Saturday 14 July
and ending at 12:00 UTC on Sunday 15 July.
The objective of this contest is to contact as many other amateurs,
especially IARU Member Society HQ stations, around the world as possible
using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands using phone and/or CW.
All IARU Region 1 Member Societies are invited to actively participate with
their official stations and to encourage their members to also participate.
The rules for the 2012 contest are available on http://bit.ly/9droX1
WIA news has not been informed if a HQ station from this society is planned.
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX and BEACON AND NET ADVICE
C K 6 S - Special Event Station for the 100th Anniversary of the Calgary
Stampede July 5 to 15. A special QSL card will be available through
the QSL bureau or direct. Planned frequencies are in the general
portion of the US phone bands around 3.825, 7.180, 14.250, 21.320
& 28.475
The team who were so "bad" at Cape Liptrap last August have decided to be bad
again! VK3BAD that is. At the end of August a 20 strong team will travel
into the Otway Ranges. The Station will operate on most HF frequencies 160 - 10mtrs
and on 6 and 2 metres and 70cm with contact to the Melbourne Area via the
Geelong 2 mtr repeater.
So please listen out for VK3BAD on 31st August through until September 3rd.
Further details on QRZ.com under VK3BAD
Thirty years have passed since 1A made its way onto the DXCC list.
An activation by an International team looks to celebrate from the 1st to
the 4th July,as 1A0C from Santa Maria del Priorato, home of the Sovereign
Military Order of Malta.
GB 0 TLR Railways on the Air
Southgate Amateur Radio Club will be operating a Special Event station for
the Railways on the Air event on 22nd and 23rd of September.
This is being run in conjunction with the North London Model Engineering
Society at the Tyttenhanger Light Railway site near London Colney,
Hertfordshire using call sign GB0TLR, the same callsign as used last year
and operating on 20, 40 and 80 metres.
Members of the Jersey Contest Group will be active as GJ 2 A from the
Isle of Jersey during the Radio Society of Great Britain's'
Islands on the Air Contest.
This event taking place July 28 and 29.
QSL direct to GJ 3 DVC.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video
arvideonews.com
hamradiotube.com
youtube.com
qdg.org.au
2012 ATV QSO Party
Peter VK3BFG the custodian of the VK3RTV Digital ATV Repeater let's all know
that he is planning the 2012 ATV QSO Party.
It is planned for the weekend of the 24 -25 and perhaps 26th August.
At this stage, participants from VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 and VK7.
It is hoped to link to the Gosford ATV Repeater in VK2 and also have a QSO
via linked stations on various frequencies from VK5. Again a link to the
W 6 ATN network in Southern California thanks to Don, KE6BXT who has
agreed to be the US anchor.
Peter is asking ATV stations and others who wish to participate to keep these
dates in mind. At this stage a VK hook-up probably Friday night, with a
VK/US hook-up on the Saturday morning/afternoon.
Peter is also trying to include stations from ZL and G.
www.vk3rtv.com
(73, Peter VK7BFG)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS
http://www.raotc.org.au
Yes, it's that time of the month once again!
Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW with a reminder that tomorrow
Monday July 2nd the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australia's
monthly News and Information Bulletin will be broadcast on a number
of HF and VHF frequencies.
The principal HF transmissions will be on 20 metres on 14.150 MHz USB at
0100 UTC beamed north from Melbourne for the eastern states, and at 0200 UTC
beamed westward for Western Australia.
During tomorrow, numerous local relays will take place on both VHF and lower
HF frequencies. To find the times and frequencies for your area please visit
the RAOTC website at www.raotc.org.au
Once again, that's www.raotc.org.au
Everyone, RAOTC Members and non-members alike, is invited to listen to this
interesting half hour of Old Timer news, information and anecdotes and to
participate in the call backs afterwards.
Once again, the RAOTC monthly bulletin is scheduled for tomorrow,
Monday July 2nd.
If there are any problems, please let me know.
73 from Clive VK6CSW.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING
http://www.scouts.com.au
http://www.scout.org/jota
http://www.international.scouts.com.au
CALLING FREQUENCIES
Please QSY off the calling frequency after establishing communication.
Australian voice calling frequencies:
3.650, 7.090, 14.190, 21.190, 28.590, 52.160
World CW calling frequencies:
3.570, 7.030, 14.060, 18.080, 21.140, 24.910, 28.180, 50.160
World voice calling frequencies:
3.690 & 3.940 MHz, 7.090 & 7.190, 14.290, 18.140, 21.360,
24.960, 28.390, 50.160
Calling frequencies for Slow Scan TV (SSTV):
3.630, 7.033, 14.227
Calling Frequencies for PSK31
14.070
This weekend an international team of scouts was present at HAM RADIO in
Friedrichshafen Germany. The team had members from Germany, Switzerland,
Austria and Netherlands.
At the stand more than 500 visitors were registered from which many wanted
more information and liked JOTA-JOTI a lot.
They participated in the Ham Rally for youngsters with two typical scout
communication games. In this more than 60 children participated.
The presence of Scouting, the biggest youth organisation at the fair, was
well recognised and welcomed.
The photos of the JOTA stand have been uploaded and you can see them at the
following link.
https://plus.google.com/photos/106521796031032346462/albums/5757528805625099665?authkey=CO-fovq88Ke2mAE
(YIS, Remko, PE1MEW)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO
IARU REGION 3
Emergency Centre of Activity (CoA) frequencies
3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz
Sri Lanka's amateur radio operators have renewed their call to be included
in communication work during national disasters, after the defence
authorities relaxed rules on clearing equipment.
The report in Lanka Business says:
Popularly known as "ham radio" enthusiasts, amateur radio operators use a
designated radio frequency spectrum to communicate non-commercial messages,
private recreation, wireless experiments and emergency communication.
"We would like to join-up with the National Disaster Management Centre in
some small way, to help them with emergency communication work," Radio
Society of Sri Lanka official, Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK said
during the public lecture on Disaster Risk Reduction, organised by LIRNEasia,
a regional ICT think-tank.
With some 200 members under its umbrella, the Radio Society of Sri Lanka is
not new to disaster communications in the island.
The society played a crucial role during the 2004 Asian tsunami that claimed
over 30,000 lives when giant tidal waves struck the island's shores
displacing about one million people.
Read the full Lanka Business story at
http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/fullstory.php?nid=1289520459
The Radio Society of Sri Lanka
http://www.rssl.lk/
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SUMMITS ON THE AIR
www.sotawatch.org
www.sota.org.uk
SOTA activity in VK drawing in more activators and chasers
In just 5 short months, there have been 41 summits that have seen at
least one SOTA activation, with some summits seeing up to 4 activations.
The Queen's Birthday weekend stood out, giving VK SOTA Activators and
Chasers a buzz with several stations activating and a good number of
summit to summit QSOs. Prior to June there had only been one VK s2s.
First VK SOTA pileups starting to form.
The bonus season in VK3 has started and so far there have been two
activations, at Mt Richie VK3/VC-003 and MT Donna Buang VK3/VC-002, both
activated by Wayne VK3WAM. The Donna Buang activation will go down in
history with the first ever SOTA s2s VK/DX contact with G0PEB/p on
G/SE-008. June also saw a second VK3 operator, Allen VK3HRA achieve a DX
contact with ND0C.
Ian VK5CZ made a trip to Melbourne to spend time looking at summits for
a future VK5 association. So far around 300 summits have been
identified, with a comprehensive survey around all of the state. There
are some summits around Adelaide, many in the Flinders Ranges, some in
the Eyre Peninsula and a large number in the north west of the state.
Some of these areas are very remote, but could make for memorable trips
in the best traditions of a DXpedition. Something to look forward to.
Some VK5'ers are actively chasing VK3 activators, and SOTA look forward to
VK5 joining the SOTA family in the not too distant future.
Also welcome a new activator, VK3AFW, and chasers VK3AFW again, VK5PAS
(worked 2E0YYY in May on Shining Tor G/SP-004), VK3YY, VK2UH, VK3AZZ,
VK3TPH.
Wayne VK3WAM will be presenting on SOTA from a VHF and up perspective at
GippsTech on July 7.
REWIND
GB100MWT from Sandford Mill Museum
Saturday, June 23, the Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society operated GB 100 MWT
to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the world's first
purpose built radio factory.
Work on the Marconi factory in New Street, Chelmsford started in February
1912 and on June 22 a special train brought International Radiotelegraphic
Conference delegates from London to Chelmsford for the formal opening.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary members of C.A.R.S. operated from the
Sandford Mill Museum in Chelmsford where there is an extensive collection
of radio equipment from 1912 to the present time.
A Marconi T 1154 transmitter and R 1155 receiver station was operated from
the Marconi Hut inside the museum on 80m AM. Some 80,000 of these sets were
produced during WWII but very few are in operational use today. The equipment
was restored by G3SUY and used an 80 Metre doublet antenna. A separate
station was operated on CW.
(sourced to southgate)
SOCIAL SCENE 2012
JUL 7- 8 VK3 GippsTech 2012, Monash University Gippsland Campus Churchill.
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
JULY 29 VK2/3 Albury Wodonga ARC HamFest @ Lavington Scout Hall
AUG 5 VK6 NCRG HAMFEST Cyril Jackson Rec Centre Ashfield.
AUG 12 VK2 SARCFEST at Summerland ARC Clubrooms, Lismore.
SEP 28-30 VK4 Central Highlands ARC AGM at Camp Fairbairn, Emerald.
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
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