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WIANEWS - FEBRUARY 16 - VK NATIONAL NEWS
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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. When you upload audio email us the txt version.
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WIANEWS WEEK COMMENCING FEB 09 2014.
OUR 19TH YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
The news as you know it but delivered 'just a little differently' this week.
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA FOR WEEK COMMENCING FEB 2 2014.
A couple of unusual items this week, including digital feedback from
YOU the listener.
Those around in the Mid-Sixties in VK will recall a radio jingle "Who
Listens To Radio", based on a Stan Freberg USA Campaign. Well later
in the audio edition of this news we'll learn "just who is listening" to
VK1WIA News.
Also in the audio news we play a sound recording and ask "where in the world"
it or a similar sound is. Suffice to say only in only 3 countries in the world,
USA, Japan and South Korea.
And with digital feedback, those with D-Star or the like, if you'd like to
hear Operational News before International, press ONE for operational or
2 for International during the first 10 minutes of the broadcast and the
numbers will be tallied and we'll play what you voted for. Due to this
exercise the text news may not exactly follow the audio news this week.. be
warned!
FAR OUT!
A team led by astronomers from the Australian National University has
discovered the oldest known star in the Universe, which formed shortly
after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.
It has now been confirmed using the Magellan telescope in Chile.
The composition of the newly-discovered star shows it formed in the wake of a
primordial star, which had a mass 60 times that of our Sun.
The discovery has allowed astronomers for the first time to study the
chemistry of the first stars, giving scientists a clearer idea of what the
Universe was like in its infancy.
The star was discovered using the ANU SkyMapper telescope at the
Siding Spring Observatory, which is searching for ancient stars as
it conducts a five-year project to produce the first digital map of
the southern sky.
(times of India)
Summer ducting blamed for TV interference
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has investigated
complaints of poor TV reception in the Shoalhaven and Nowra areas on New
South Wales south-eastern coast.
The ACMA visited the Illawarra Knights Hill transmission site. It found that
the most likely cause to be summer time tropospheric ducting.
Distant television transmissions operating on the same channels from Newcastle,
more than 300 kilometres away, have caused reception interference in
Shoalhaven and Nowra.
Viewers in marginal coverage areas, or those with inadequate antennas, are
more likely to be affected.
Telecasters are now looking at options to improve coverage to give more
reliable services from Knight Hill.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
WIA BOARD TALK
President Phil Wait VK2ASD vk2asd@wia.org.au
Vice President Chris Platt VK5CP vk5cp@wia.org.au
Secretary David Williams VK3RU vk3ru@wia.org.au
Treasurer John Longayroux VK3PZ vk3pz@wia.org.au
The role of promotion
The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) takes very seriously the need for
appropriate publicity for modern Amateur Radio, and its many benefits for
the individual and the community.
This is why it has announced the PR4AmateurRadio Expo to be held in early
April to enable clubs, organisations and groups to showcase what we have
to offer.
On the weekly VK1WIA broadcast, supplemented by the WIA website, Amateur
Radio magazine and direct emails to our affiliates, there have been frequent
reminders about the Expo.
The WIA believes everyone can tell others that the hobby does exist - after
all word-of-mouth publicity can be very effective.
For six months there has been a series of related topics issued on some of
the elements of public relations, as they can be applied to Amateur Radio.
These include thinking about 'How to describe Amateur Radio', 'Having the
right speakers and representatives', 'A picture can tell the story', 'Learning
is the key to everything', and relationships with the growing do-it-yourself
audience.
The WIA has surveyed the clubs and organisations via email and found promotion
of Amateur Radio is faced with a few barriers, but there have been some very
worthwhile responses to consider.
The WIA has announced that its PR4AmateurRadio Expo is to be held through
the clubs or groups, during April the 11th, 12th and 13th.
Expo details and on-line registration are on the WIA website. With only ten
weeks to go - now can be the time to make the necessary preparations.
(PR4AmateurRadio)
This is Trent VK4TS
The 2014 Annual Conference will be held at the Aussie World theme park on
the Sunshine Coast
The day will commence with the WIA AGM followed by the open forum. After a
break for lunch the afternoon has speakers on topics such as promoting your
club and EMR obligations.
We then have a break (maybe a beer or two) before the evening function in
the shed at Aussie World.
Look forward to catching up with as many as possible.
This has been VK4TS
AUSTRALIA'S MOST WANTED FIELD DAY
Hey! it's only ONE WEEK to go to the Wyong Field Day!
Here's the final lists of traders, exhibitors and seminars, don't forget
the big flea market of course.
The traders attending with the widest range of gear for you to buy are:
Andrews Communications
Radio Supply Limited
Jaycar
Softmark
RF Solutions
Cro-tek Instruments
NBS Antennas
Oakley Electronics
and this year we are very proud to welcome back ICOM Australia.
The exhibitors you'll find at Wyong are:
The Summits on the Air association
The historical radio society of Australia
The Australian radio DX Club
Westlake's amateur radio club
The WIA QSL Bureau
Hornsby & District amateur radio club
ALARA
WICEN New South Wales
Norah Head marine rescue
AMSAT VK
ARNSW Homebrew & experimenters group
The Wireless Institute of Australia
and an exhibition of many things amateur television.
Now on to the seminars:-
The seminars are held on the 1st floor of the main building and start
at 9.15 with a lecture on Summits on the Air, given by Andrew Davis VK2UH
& Andrew Moseley VK1NAM
At 10am we have a lecture for the AWA Centenary entitled "100 years of
Military Radio Production" given by Ray Robinson
11 am sees all you need to know on Electro-magnetic compatibility from
Brian Clarke VK2GCE
after the Annual Get-Together of the VHF-UHF Weak Signal Operators group at
noon David Burger VK2CZ completes the program at 1 O'clock with a lecture on
Gigantic Yagi Antennas
As always a little for everyone in the program!
For the Short Wave listeners, if you're still on the fence about taking the
foundation licence class on Saturday the 22nd let me give you a little push
and say you won't regret taking the jump and getting properly into this great
hobby of ours.
Full details about the course and everything about the field day is on the
club website at CCARC dot ORG dot AU just click on the Field Day graphic on
the main page.
Why not come along and join the biggest gathering of radio amateurs in
Australia at the CCARC Field Day at the Wyong racecourse next Sunday?
Whether it's seeking that bargain from the flea market, grabbing that
discounted new item from the traders stands, educating yourself at the
seminars and exhibitors stalls or even taking that licence upgrade assessment.
The place to be on February twenty three is undoubtedly - The CCARC Field Day
at Wyong!
73 See you next week at Wyong!
This is Ed VK2JI, Publicity Officer of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club.
HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.
VK2
web service:- http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/news_vk2wi.htm
Upgrade course.
The 2014 Upgrade course conducted by ARNSW will commence next month
on Monday evening, the 3rd of March, between 7 and 9 pm.
While the course is intended for those already holding a Foundation license
to upgrade to either Standard or Advanced, there is nothing stopping anyone
without a license from coming along. This allows one to gain knowledge to sit
a Foundation license, become active in the hobby and continue to the higher
grades.
It is now time to start registering your interest in the course and we ask
listeners to pass on details to anyone they know interested in doing the
course. Please email education@arnsw.org.au to book a place.
The course is conducted at the VK2WI site, 63 Quarry Road, Dural.
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
BALLOONING VK4 STYLE. For this story it's to BrenDAN and QNEWS
In the early hours of the morning, Saturday the 1st of February, a group of
Amateurs from the Sunshine Coast loaded up their cars and headed west to
Dalby.
Preparations had been underway for several months in order to launch a
High Altitude Balloon loaded with radio Telemetry equipment and a
video camera.
By 8.00am the team was well established at the Dalby Sports Field. The
payload was prepared and the balloon was filled with Helium.
Just after 8.30am the Project Coordinator, Brendon VK4HIA released the latex
balloon with payload attached into the atmosphere above Dalby.
The tracking system consisted of an Arduino transmitter sending RTTY and APRS
data as well as an FM Fox and a GPS tracker. Data received by ground crews,
both on site and at home stations was uploaded to the website "spacenear.us"
allowing anyone with a web browser to monitor the progress of the flight in
close to real time.
After a period of monitoring and tracking the crew stopped for a break. The
tracking systems were checked again and found to be performing well.
Soon after, the crews were back on the road again, monitoring the balloon and
communicating via 2m simplex. Suddenly, the data stopped showing a climb in
altitude and instead showed a rapid descent. Ground crews scrambled to
obtain suitable positions for recovery as the payload descended back to earth
under parachute.
As the air density became thicker, the descent slowed and the payload was
identified as having landed in State Forest not far from Condamine. Crews in
the area deployed Radio Direction Finding equipment and began a ground search
on foot. The payload was located not long afterwards with all equipment
intact and still operating.
After a long and eventful day, the team, who were now being called
"The Balloonatics" by some of the locals, made their way back to Dalby
for some rest and refreshment before driving home to the Sunshine Coast.
Some spectacular footage was captured while the balloon was in flight. Some of
this was put together and is available to view on YouTube. Just search for
VK4HIA. The team met again on the weekend and already planning bigger and
better things so stay tuned.
For the "Balloonatics" and QNEWS, this has been Brendan V4MAC
DISCUSSION POINT
What use is an F-call? Feb 16 2014
Being an Amateur is an exciting thing. It entertains and educates you,
exposes you to new people and social experiences, it keeps you off the street
and all in all, it's a great hobby. It's been around for over a century and
continues to evolve.
The Foundation License, as I understand it, was created to stimulate the
growth of the Amateur radio population. This seems to be a recurring theme,
introduction of Novice licenses, restricted licenses and other variations in
the past were created with similar aims.
There are some Amateurs today who feel that the Foundation License is too easy
and lowers the bar too much and while I don't agree, I do understand the
sentiment. The continued simplification of the license, in any of their
guises is a dead-end street. The only final item on the path is to make
Amateur Radio an unlicensed activity. Note that I'm not advocating this.
Getting new Amateurs into the hobby is an ongoing challenge. Our average age
is increasing and our collective experience while it's increasing as well,
does not appear to make the awareness of Amateur Radio in the wider community
any greater.
We have a stigma that we're old crusty men who sit behind a radio listening
to hiss and making funny noises with Morse keys while using a strange
language mostly including the letter Q.
Of course, for some of us, that is true.
Fortunately, it's not true for all of us.
At meetings where Amateurs get together a recurring topic is how to stimulate
growth in our pursuits. Some have suggested that we need to go to schools,
others propose going to scouts, or to young adults with disposable income.
There have been suggestions to promote Amateur Radio as a Sport, the pursuit
of competition, the making of league tables, teams and weekly events.
All of these things are possible, some of them might even work, but
fundamentally, unless we become visible in the public eye, we really don't
exist in the mind of the general public.
What activities have you undertaken to share your passion for Amateur Radio
and to make it visible to the world?
I'm Onno VK6FLAB
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.
AMSAT FUNCUBE DASHBOARD UPDATED
The AMSAT FUNcube developers have announced that version 820 of the FUNcube
Dashboard Software can now be downloaded.
Also announced was that a few changes have been made to the way Fitter
Messages are handled or displayed on the Data Warehouse.
Details are at warehouse.funcube.org.uk
Send your name to the asteroid Bennu!
NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names to be etched
on a microchip aboard a spacecraft headed to the asteroid Bennu in 2016.
The "Messages to Bennu!" microchip will travel to the asteroid aboard
the Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security
Regolith Explorer, or OSIRIS-REx, spacecraft. The robotic mission will
spend more than two years at the asteroid, which has a width of
approximately 500 meters.
The spacecraft will collect a sample of Bennu's surface and return it to
Earth in a return capsule.
The deadline to submit names online is Sept. 30, 2014.
Participants who submit their names to the "Messages to Bennu!" campaign
will be able to print a certificate of appreciation to document their
involvement.
For more information and to submit your name, visit
http://planetary.org/bennu.
PIRATE RADIO
Pirate FM transmitters have hit the airwaves in pockets across Syria.
Radio Watan is but one of more than a dozen opposition radio stations
that have sprung up since the start of the revolt against the Syrian
president, Bashar al-Assad.
The stations are run by young civilian activists who played an important
role early in the uprising but have since been targeted by government forces,
for airing music and women's voices.
The opposition radio stations are the most recent arrivals on Syria's
combative news media scene, where parties on both sides try to shape
perceptions of a conflict that is conducted largely out of the public eye,
because the violence and government restrictions severely limit journalistic
access.
"It is much cheaper than TV and more accessible to the public because the
listener doesn't have to have electricity to listen to you," said Obai Sukar,
the director of Radio al-Kul. "Just a small radio with two batteries, and you
are on."
The outlets range from small operations with a single transmitter that covers
one town to networks that broadcast in different provinces.
=============================================================================
OPERATIONAL NEWS - DATELINE 2014
WIA John Moyle Field Day weekend March 15-16
WIA VK Harry Angel Memorial Sprint May 3
10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 2 - 3
WIA REMEMBRANCE DAY (THE RD) CONTEST Aug 16 - 17
Manly-Warringah Radio Society's Flagpole contest September.
Amateur Radios International Air-ambulance Week, 9 days from Sep 28.
AM and CW on ANZAC DAY
25 April 2014 and annually
This is an Amateur Radio salute to those who served
This event is a way we , as Radio Amateurs, can recognise those who served
by using the radio modes used in Would war 1 and 2 plus Malaya, Korea,
Vietnam and whilst experiencing the particular difficulties of those modes
of the day.
It's simply a case of changing over to the old modes for nets on that day.
SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, BEACON REPEATER AND NET ADVICE
New Mildura beacon NOW on air
After delays caused by heatwave conditions and antenna tuning, the new 630
Metre band beacon is now operating at Mildura in Victoria's northwest - at
the cross-roads of Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney.
The project, the work of Noel Ferguson VK3FI, is a 473 Kilohertz beacon based
on the Drew Diamond VK3XU circuit with changes made mainly for available
components.
What a job, but it now radiates from an L-antenna against a mast, plus seven
radials and some 27 earth stakes.
The beacon on a part-time basis when VK3FI is present, currently about 2200
hours Australian Eastern Daylight Time.
Reception reports will be appreciated.
vk3fi@wia.org.au
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
WIRELESS WEATHER
Peter Ellis VK1PE has been reading scientific papers again, this time
about geomagnetic radiation and a new tool for predicting changes in
space weather and propagation for Amateurs.
Several weeks ago, I found an academic paper by an Australian author
that got me thinking about the Sun's cycles of electromagnetic activity.
It gelled with another paper I'd read about the two Voyager spacecraft's
readings showing structure and variations of solar activity near the
boundary with interstellar space.
Dr lan Edmonds of Brisbane had a paper published in ArXiv, "Association
of a planetary tidal effect with the time variation of the ~13.5 day
component of geomagnetic activity" htto://arxiv.orgiabs/1401.2712
and it is expected to be published in the Journal of Atmospheric and Solar
- Terrestrial Physics.
The premise of the paper is that the effect of the orbits of Mercury
(the closest planet) and Jupiter (the most massive planet) can be seen
in the rhythm of EM activity from the Sun, including a roughly 90 day cycle
of earth's geomagnetic variation. Roughly 90 days? What's the orbital period
of Mercury? 88 days. And, this cycle can be retrospectively shown to predict
the Wolf (Sunspot) number and "aa index" back through many 11 year solar
cycles.
httpzl/wwvv.oa.gov.au/orac!e/Qeomaqfqeomagnetism indicesisp
The "aa index" is a geomagnetic index derived from the mean of values
measure in Australia and UK. It has been measured since 1868. The systematic
recording of Wolf number sunspot sequence started in 1848, although some
sketchy data exists back to 1750.
Ian Edmonds confirmed to me in a phone call what I suspected from reading
the paper: that including other planets in the equations would have become
excessively complex, but that an underlying cycle in the data meant that the
massive planet Jupiter's effect was discernable and could be readily included
in the predictions.
Edmonds also points out that variations in solar wind speed and other
variables does not correlate with the sunspot cycle.
The bottom line, here is a method for predicting geomagnetic activity
that Amateurs and professionals in space weather need to consider.
For national radio news, Peter VK1 PE
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
HI HO SILVER!
Trevor Cox has heard it all. He's a professor of acoustic engineering at the
University of Salford in England, and he delights in discovering unusual
noises. He's also author of The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders
of the World, which describes some of what he's found.
National Public Radio in the USA recently interviewed Trevor and he told of
several strange occurrences.
One is Australia's "Whispering Wall", which is in fact the retaining wall of
the Barossa Reservoir.
Built between 1899 and 1903, the dam was a revolutionary engineering feat for
its day and attracted attention from all over the world, even making its way
into the pages of the journal Scientific American.
But what draws visitors to the Whispering Wall is its unique acoustic effects:
words whispered at one side can be clearly heard at the other, more than
100 metres away.
Children in particular love visiting the wall and testing its abilities.
To visit the Whispering Wall, travel to Williamstown in the Barossa Valley
and follow the signposts from the main street.
And top of Trevor's 'sound list', one noise is absolutely remarkable,
The Musical Road!
"I guess the one that gave me the biggest smile was probably the musical road
in California which plays the William Tell overture rather badly as you drive
over it. That gave me quite a laugh. ... When you drive down the highway often
there's rumble strips down the side which stop you driving off; you know, if
you were to veer off the highway you'd make a buzzing sound.
Well, a musical road takes that a step further by changing the spacing of the
corrugations so that you get a tune out of it. So sometimes the corrugations
are close together: You get a high frequency. Sometimes they're far apart:
You get a low frequency. And the musical road in Lancaster, in California, is
all these ridges ... spaced out on the second lane. And it actually will
play the entire first phrase from the theme from Lone Ranger.
To see, (and hear) more, visit our friends at
http://www.npr.org
INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE
Region III IARUMS Coordinator Peter Young VK3MV
VK IARUMS reflector email to subscribe intruders@wia.org.au
INTRUDER NETS
Friday 0730 UTC 7.065.5 with VK4CEU David.
Amateur exclusive frequencies where any non-amateur signal is definitely an
intruder.
Amateur HF Spectrum world wide
7.050 to 7.100
14.000 to 14.250
14.250 to 14.350 No broadcasters
21.000 to 21.450
24.890 to 24.990
28.000 to 29.700
Ofcom Baldock gets fix on French station
The Baldock monitoring station in the UK has got a fix on a possible French
military station that has been causing interference on 7166 kHz
The IARU Monitoring System (IARUMS) newsletter reports a French station has
been making long CW transmissions of 5 letter groups on 7166 kHz. The
Direction Finding (DF) facility at Ofcom's Baldock monitoring station has been
used to get a fix on the station, believed to be located in the Loire valley.
(SouthGate)
THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report - Measure Twice cut Once.
An interesting tip that might just improve the performance of those small
affordable handheld ham radios called a "Hand Held" in ham vernacular.
Video on adding a counterpoise antenna wire to an HT.
vuhams group claim it will noticeably improve both transmit and receive by
making a quarter-wave monopole into a makeshift dipole antenna system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szmQmCn1tH4
Per his instructions you basically add a short wire to the antenna's outer
ground connection or to an equivalent case screw that's electrically connected
to the antenna's ground side. Apparently this can be referred to as a
Tiger Tail and does make it look like your rig has a tail.
You would construct a counterpoise antenna wire 11.5 inch for VHF,
6.5 for UHF and about 19.5 inches for an OK performing dual band
VHF/UHF radio.
MEDIA WATCH
www.cq-amateur-radio.com/WorldRadio.html
VK Club Bulletins http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aarnie/
VK2 CCARC news ccarc.org.au/wp/2012/09/ccarc-news-12-31/
HF broadcasts return to the VK3BWI network
This broadcast of news and information from VK1WIA at 10.30am and 8pm each
Sunday by Amateur Radio Victoria has now restored its HF outlets on 80 metres,
40 metres and 30 metres.
Land to the northwest of Melbourne, previously used for the HF transmissions
was lost, while at about the same time the former VK3BWI hut in Waverley
became a new educational facility.
While reliable VHF and UHF repeaters were quickly re-located to Victory
Boulevard, Ashburton, the Waverley site owner was very keen on keeping the
good long-standing relationship.
A new area was found and with government funding of around $100,000 it was
able to be re-established. The work was done with the help of
St John Ambulance and WICEN (Victoria).
VK1WIA can now also be heard on 3.615, 7.158 and 10.130 MHz.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
THE ARRL AT 100: A CENTURY OF AMATEUR RADIO
The ARRL has released a preview of its new 100th anniversary video aptly
titled the ARRL at 100: A Century of Amateur Radio.
Running 25 minutes, the show was written by former ARRL PR Manager Allen Pitts
W1AGP. It is hosted by QST Magazine's Managing Editor Becky Schoenfeld, W1BXY.
The story line itself is simple. It plays out as a timeline in the history
of the League from its earliest days right up to the present.
design by Kevin O'Dell, N0IRW.
DVD's suitable for group showing are available at
tinyurl.com/arrl-100-video
(sourced to arnewsline)
New TX-Factor online TV show announced
Bob McCreadie, G0FGX, Mike Marsh, G1IAR and Nick Bennett, 2E0FGQ will be
hosting a new, streamed TV show, TX Factor, which goes live on Friday 21
February.
The show aims to explore all aspects of our diverse and fascinating hobby.
The free-to-view programme can be seen via www.txfactor.co.uk and should be
compatible with phones, tablets and smart TVs.
Regards,
Mike G1IAR
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ROAR
ROTARIANS OF AMATEUR RADIO
website: www.ifroar.org
email: webmaster@ifroar.org
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/RotariansROAR/
International President 2012 -2015: Bill Main VK4ZD
secretary: Dr Elwood Anderson, AE5EA
ANZO VP: Peter Lowe, VK3KCD
0645z - 0730z Anzo Net 7.118 (varies due to propagation)
0730z - 0830z International net 14.293 (varies due to propagation)
Rotary International aims to end polio by 2018
Special callsigns and general on air activity on February 22-23 is to be
generated as Rotary International reminds us of its campaign to rid the world
of polio.
Rotarians of Amateur Radio, or ROAR members will call 'CQ Polio' to
commemorate the founding of Rotary International by Paul Harris, February 23,
1905, and educate the public about Rotary's 'End Polio Now' campaign.
In 1978, Rotary had a committee, appointed by RI President Clem Renouf, from
Nambour on VK4's Sunshine Coast, to design a new direction for Rotary.
It was called the Health, Hunger and Humanity Committee.
The direction was to undertake projects far greater than any club could do
on its own.
One proposal was from the Philippines. Dr. Benny Santos wrote that if Rotary
could provide the vaccine, they would mobilize all the Rotarians in the
entire Philippines and immunise all the children against Polio!
It was a huge success.
A couple years passed, and another Rotary committee was created in 1982 by
RI President Stan McCaffrey called the New Horizons Committee. This group
had the idea of giving polio vaccine to all the children in the world.
The project was called "Polio 2005."
Move forward to 2013 and a partnership between Rotary and the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation in the campaign for polio eradication takes shape, matching
two-to-one, up to US$35 million per year, every dollar Rotary commits to
reduce the funding shortfall for polio eradication through 2018."
The program with immunisations has now cleared many countries of the disease,
but it still remains endemic in small pockets of Nigeria, Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Rotary wants to end polio by 2018.
The joint effort is now called End Polio Now - Make History Today.
And making history this coming week listen for special event callsigns
VI2POLIO, VI3POLIO, VI6POLIO and VI7POLIO. Elsewhere there will be at least
KB6NU, OH6SM, VE3BGG, W9UHL, YO9BC and YO9BGR.
The campaign is a joint initiative of Rotary, the World Health Organisation
and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
(Jim Linton VK3PC and GraHam VK4BB (PHF District 9600))
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SUMMITS ON THE AIR
www.sotawatch.org
www.sota.org.uk
Victor GI4ONL and Victor MI0JST - who are not surprisingly known as
"the Victors" - have been active on GI (and EI) summits over the past
two years. They have now activated all 65 GI summits.
Their plans for 2014 include some first time activations of EI summits.
In other SOTA news, we hear that Filip ON4TA, who has activated many
EI and GI summits over the past few years, is planning another visit
to Ireland this year and here in VK, SOTA will be seen at our 'loftiest'
field day, WYONG.
"If you're going to the Wyong Field Day you will be able to attend a
presentation about SOTA at 9:15 AM, and afterwards come and chat with
some experienced SOTA activators and chasers at our exhibit. We will
provide information about the expanding world of SOTA and explain why
it is such a popular and successful operating programme.
SOTA is an amateur radio award programme based on making contacts
from specific summits or making contacts with stations on those
summits. Activators on summits need to have carried their entire
station up to the summit, so low power (QRP) and simple antenna
systems are usually used.
We will also have a dinner on Saturday 22nd Feb to which SOTA fans
are invited. It will be an opportunity to meet other SOTA operators
and enjoy a chat. The location and time of the dinner will be
announced on the "SOTA Australia" mailing list.
I'm looking forward to meeting activators, chasers and curious
onlookers at Wyong.
73 from Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH, SOTA Association manager for VK2.
(Andrew Davis Canberra VK1DA QF44, Yass VK2UH QF45LD)
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
Radio Hams responding to Slovenia electricity disruption this story not
abvailable in the audio versions.
The cold weather in Slovenia has disrupted the electricity supply
the collapse of power lines under the weight of ice, snow and falling trees
with electricity disruptions now affecting 25% of households.
Within Slovenia, some radio amateurs are assisting with operations on a
local community level due to problems with the mobile phone and professional
radio networks.
The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism has asked for assistance from
nearby European states with Germany, the Czech republic and Austria providing
generators and assistance. Because of uncertainty whether the Austrian teams
responding to Slovenia will be able to communicate back to their home bases,
the Austrian Fire Departments have asked Austrian Emergency Communicators to
provide a link between Austria and Slovenia using Pactor/Winlink.
Gregor, OE1VGC the Emergency Communications Co-Ordinator for Austria asks
all European Radio amateurs to keep clear of the following frequencies
and services which are being used to support these links.
S51SLO 3.644MHz
OE3XEC 3.608 and 3.617MHz
OE6XPD 3.601MHz
Information on the European Union response can be found at :
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-102_en.htm
Source IARU Region 1
http://www.iaru-r1.org/
SOCIAL SCENE 2014
Mar 23 VK3 EMDRC White Elephant Sale 10am ( 03 9005 9251 )
Mar 28-30 VK4 Bunya Mts&District AmCom camp somerset dam (vk4bad@wia.org.au)
Apr 13-15 VK PR4AmateurRadio Expo.
Apr 18 WW Amateur Radio Day: Your Gateway to Wireless Communications.
Apr 25 vk3 ANZAC Day event Ballarat Showgrounds (johnkarr@bigpond.net.au)
May 2- 4 VK4 Clairview Gathering ( 0429 632 815 )
May 16-18 VK4 WIA Conference presented by SCARC ( vk4ts@wia.org.au )
Nov 2 VK5 HamFest Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society
Nov 30 VK3 SPARC HamFest at Rosebud ( howardjones155@gmail.com )
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 'and always if the news room is to read your
item write in the 3rd person.
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Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may
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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.
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