MAY 8 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA
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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK
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This is WIA NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING MAY 8 2016 good morning I am Robert VK3DN
And I am Bryan VK3GR, good morning Robert and welcome back again listeners. As we mentioned last week we are looking after the broadcast this month whilst Graham is away.
I dont know about you Bryan but life doesnt slow down, I have again been busy over this last week what with getting things ready in preparation for the upcoming AGM meeting on Norfolk Island, how about you ? How are things traveling in your world ..?
It sounds like we have both been busy - Well for those who may not be aware 9th to 15th of May is National volunteer week, heres Phil Wait to tell us a bit more about that
Thank you to our volunteers
The 9-15 May is National Volunteers week. An annual celebration to acknowledge the generous contribution of volunteers.
It has a theme of 'Give Happy, Live Happy', reflecting research that shows that volunteers live happier and healthier lives.
Established in 1989, National Volunteer Week celebrates volunteerism in Australia.
Think about the many volunteers in the WIA and radio clubs, who contribute so much to the running of Amateur Radio.
The countless hours spent delivering numerous WIA member services, including this VK1WIA broadcast, the WIA website and Amateur Radio magazine just to mention a few.
The WIA Directors who give their time to the WIA Board - that heads-up a not-for-profit company.
Recently the WIA has delivered a submission to the ACMA setting out a reasoned argument for reform to the Amateur service and our regulations. This was the result of many month of effort by our volunteers.
The WIA Board is now finalising material for the Annual General Meeting on Norfolk Island - as well as other important matters for the betterment of Amateur Radio.
When you next look at the list of WIA committees, think about the volunteers that make it all possible.
The WIA Accredited Assessors around Australia provide a free service, some of them have been doing so for more than a decade, some after already being involved in other forms of education for decades.
The motivation of our volunteers, shown time and time again, is wanting to put something back into the hobby that they enjoy.
We are lucky to have them - and on behalf of all of us - thank you.
They are part of the more than six million Australian's who volunteer, and we pay honour to through National Volunteer Week held on May 9 to 15.
Phil Wait VK2ASD.
This is WIA Director Roger Harrison VK2ZRH with more news on the Institute's submission to the ACMA concerning future amateur licence conditions.
Back on the 24 th of April, I went over the preamble and then outlined the WIA's proposals for future Foundation licence conditions.
Today, I'll give a rundown on the proposed Standard and Advanced licence conditions, as promised.
At this point, I'd like to reiterate that a key purpose of the submission is to enable greater self-determination for the amateur service, and to reduce the burden of regulation on both licensees and the ACMA, or what regulator we get from the outcome of the government's review still under way.
And another thing - many of the proposals in the submission - for all licence grades - are designed to ensure amateur radio remains relevant in the digitally-connected age.
There's something for everyone in it - existing and prospective licensees alike.
So - let me get on with it.
Back in 2014, the WIA Board adopted three policy principles in regard to future amateur licensing.
One was that future licence conditions should not be reduced or downgraded from the current principles embodied in Apparatus licensing.
This was agreed because no one wants to go backwards having more restrictions imposed on amateur licence conditions.
Another was that future licence conditions should not limit or hinder experimentation with, or adaptation of, emerging technologies and applications - particularly digital transmission technologies - including those . . not . . yet . . invented.
The third principle was that future licensing must incorporate flexibility for licensees to pursue their interests in communications technologies and applications as a self-regulating service within the framework of the licensing privileges and conditions.
It is these policy principles that are behind the proposal to relax the restrictions on permitted bandwidths for both Standard and Advanced licensees, as well as providing access to more frequency bands for both.
In summary, then - for Standard licensees - the WIA advocates:
- access to more bands between 1.8 and 28 MHz
- access to the 50-52 MHz sector of the six metre band
- relaxation of permitted bandwidths, where practicable, on the bands below 1 GHz
- and the same on all bands above 1 GHz, to allow use of wideband digital and image modes
- increased power, to 200 watts.
The WIA advocates strongly for improving the licence conditions for Standard operator to better match similar licence grades in other countries. Recall that the international definition of the Amateur Service is about - quote - self-training, intercommunication and technical investigations.
Improving Standard licence conditions affords these operators a greater range of opportunities for learning and gaining experience, as well as intercommunication with other amateurs.
When it comes to Advanced licensees, the WIA has recommended to the ACMA that licence conditions should represent "light touch" regulation, balanced with responsible use of the RF spectrum and respect for other stakeholders.
The WIA has foreshadowed seeking primary status for 50-52 Mhz, retention of access to 2300 MHz plus access to new bands at 70 MHz and 920 MHz, in addition to the new band at 5.3 MHz - 60 metres - brought down at WRC-15 last November.
The ITU has made 60 metres available from 1st January 2017, hence the WIA has requested access be granted at the earliest available opportunity. There is a means of doing this, which is used by the ACMA in its Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan, permitted by ITU Radio Regulations. I won't bore you with chapter and verse on that.
Other proposals for Advanced operators sought by the WIA include:
- relaxation of permitted bandwidths on all bands from 1.8 to 430 MHz
# there have been no restrictions on permitted bandwidths on all bands
above 430 MHz for many years now
- increased power, above 400 watts and up to 1000 watts, provided evidence of
compliance with the electromagnetic radiation regulations is presented.
The WIA submission notes that maximum permitted powers for top level licence grades around the world varies widely - from 400 watts to three kilowatts, shown in a table for 32 nations.
A dozen nations permit a kilowatt; eleven permit more than that. The submission notes that the median - or middle - maximum permitted power is 1250 watts.
The WIA set no timeframe for achieving changed amateur licence conditions. There's a new radiocommunications act to be drafted first - which, as anyone paying the least attention would be aware - is currently under way.
As the new act will bring in parameters-based licensing, there's quite a way to go before we get to the nitty gritty details.
The WIA submission on Future Amateur Licence Conditions was written to "open the conversation" with the ACMA. That conversation began with a strategic meeting between the WIA and the ACMA on the 12th of April, which you've heard about on the broadcast of 17th April.
As reported, the ACMA was impressed with the scope and vision for future amateur licensing set out in the WIA's submission, and indicated that there were few, if any, real impediments to achieving substantive reform to meet the emerging opportunities that will arise from the new Radiocommunications Act.
However, there will be a lot of work to do, some of which will necessarily involve advice from the ACMA's engineering branch.
To progress the WIA's proposals on licence conditions and frequency bands, the ACMA suggested that we meeting again around August-September, when more will be known about the shape of things to come with the new Radiocommunications Act and the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan update soon to commence public consultation.
I urge you, if you haven't done so, to go to the WIA website, download the submission and read it for yourself - right through. Some critics haven't even done that, yet.
This has been WIA Director Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News.
The WIA AGM on Norfolk Island
Those attending the Wireless Institute of Australia Annual General Meeting on Norfolk Island May 27, 28, & 29 have loads of planned and other activity ahead of them.
In all about 100 will be there via Sydney and Brisbane and the locals have been preparing for the influx.
An advance party will make final checks for the event, billed as the largest DXpedition of its type. They are expected to set up a UHF voice repeater for hand-held radio communication, and of course kick off the Norfolk Island Award.
Also to be launched is a high altitude pico balloon transmitting a greeting message to the WIA AGM.
There will be a traditional Friday evening get together, followed by the WIA annual general meeting and lively members' forum on Saturday. A tour for partners has been arranged through the Tourist Centre.
WIA to honour assessors achieving 10 years of service
The WIA Exam Service introduced its trained and accredited assessors more than a decade ago, at the time when the Foundation Licence began.
This was the last plank of the three-tiered qualification system for radio amateurs in Australia which also has the Standard and Advanced licences.
At the WIA annual general meeting in Canberra 2015, the WIA marked the 10 year milestone by honouring those assessors who had given a decade of service.
In May 2016 as part of the WIA AGM on Norfolk Island, it will again honour and thank the second batch of its accredited assessors now achieving this milestone.
All 39 will be named, thanked for being a key part of the WIA Exam Service, and given certificates to signify their 10 years of service.
The WIA website contains a lot of useful information that can be accessed 24/7.
Thank you to those who have recently sent suggestions or found a typo or two.
Try the Frequently Asked Questions section, or if you can't easily find what you're looking for, then use the friendly 'Search' website function.
Yes, "The Search Box IS Your Friend."
To renew your membership, change any details, enable greater access, then please do register for MEMNET.
Are you correctly listed on MEMNET? Check it out now.
DISCUSSION POINT - Amateur Radio has many different modes
When you think about the modes now available they go far beyond the traditional CW and SSB, and include clever weak signal software to get the message through, even below the noise floor.
The mind boggles at the modern radio amateur that uses these modes, let alone digitisation or software define radio techniques.
There's a variety of voice, text, image, and data communications modes, often harnessing the computing power of other devices via a sound card.
Digital voice modes encode speech into a data stream before transmitting it, including APCO P25, D-STAR, DMR, System Fusion, C4FM, FreeDV and more.
As the technology is embraced, and maybe some disposal equipment falls into the hands of radio amateurs, it begins to make inroads.
Image modes may have either video or still images, and have been digitised for fast scan television and slow-scan or SSTV.
Then there are text and data modes that use an existing transceiver coupled to a PC and software via an interface.
This is modern Amateur Radio, and takes it beyond just an analogue voice or Morse code means of communication.
There is nothing wrong with many still sticking to those older modes.
We must all share the same bands and because you can't hear or understand a transmission, doesn't mean the digital frequency is clear, or an intruder is on the band.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
Hello, I'm Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I've been thinking.
Who can you trust these days? I mean we have been seeing a
great electronic expansion in Australia and it has spawned a
great big business to shift the photons and electrons into our
homes. Yes we are in the era of the NBN and I have embraced
it.
Well, I am not the effusive type but I did register for notice that
this new service was available in my area. I am waiting for their
email.
A week or so ago, we were browsing the shopping mall and the
signage outside the former national telephone provider called
us inside as the great internet service was there for the taking.
I had been keeping an eye on the service which we were to be
given and the ever variable timetable for its switch on. For,
maybe, a year or more I had the information that our locality
would receive fixed wireless and I have emails seeking details
of the equipment requirements to this end.
The first thing that the consultant got was our postal address.
She came back from the computer, went to the printer and arrived
looking puzzled. The advice from the NBN, the first knowledge we
had, was that we would receive service by satellite. Sadly the
rural themed Sky Muster service was not available from that vendor.
Sky muster went on air at the end of April and the resellers could
sign you up from then.
I feel like the proverbial mushroom, kept in the dark and fed you
know what. I mean you follow the prompts and wait to hear from
them and you still have to find out from another source; just who
can you trust?
I'm Geoff Emery and that's what I think....how about you?
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club,
ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.
JARL 90 a celebration
The Japan Amateur Radio League JARL is having its 90th birthday and now is a good time to contact that country.
Centre-piece is the 'JARL 90th Anniversary Award', struck by this proud and active IARU member society which ends on December 31.
Among the qualifying special event stations that may count as nine points each, are more than 25 callsigns all with the 8J prefix.
For more information in the English language check out the URL in the text edition of this VK1WIA broadcast.
http://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-2_Awards/Award_Main.htm
Germany and Chile to hear about EMCOMM
The Friedrichshafen Hamfest in Germany on June 24-26 is to have an IARU Region 1 session about radio amateurs involved in emergency communications around the world.
Information is being gathered by IARU Region 1 Emergency Communications Coordinator, Greg Mossop G Zero D U B.
The session at Friedrichshafen, undoubtedly the biggest and best event for hams in Europe.
Meantime the International Amateur Radio Union Region 2 that covers the Americas and surrounds will hold an Emergency Communications Workshop in Chile this October.
That will be at the 19th IARU Region 2 General Assembly.
The aims of both events is to network and share information on the capabilities of radio amateurs react to disasters.
(Jim Linton VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee)
New ham at Mount Athos
For years Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A, had been the only amateur radio operator from
the Monastery.
However, this past week news came out that Monk Iakovos, who lives in the
Holy Monastery on Mt. Athos, has received his radio amateur training and
then his SV 2 RSG license from the Ministry of Telecommunication.
Reports indicate that Monk Iakovos has been on 40 meters (7141 kHz) on SSB
using a vertical antenna.
He does operate CW!!
QSL via SV1RP.
(sourced to SouthGate)
Workshops wanted for EMF 2016
Electromagnetic Field EMF 2016 will take place from the 5th to the 7th of
August near Guildford, Surrey.
It is a UK camping festival for those with an inquisitive mind or an
interest
in making things, aimed at hackers, artists, geeks, crafters, scientists
and
engineers. The organisers are looking for talks and workshops for the
festival
and they are especially keen to hear from people with different backgrounds
from what one would expect to find at a technology conference.
The London Hackspace Amateur Radio Club is planning to erect at least one
of
their Clark masts in the village, showcasing amateur radio on 3.5MHz to
430MHz
and maybe higher.
Further information is online
emfcamp.org/cfp
A SINGULAR SOLAR ACHIEVEMENT
A tale of hope for hassled, harried hams.
You can't outsmart the sun, and you certainly can't outshine it, but some
radio amateurs in India recently had their moment in the sun during their
National Field Day held by the Amateur Radio Society of India.
Camped out on a hilltop in the Turahalli forests, the group from Bengaluru
was
looking to go the distance, wherever that distance might take them.
It didn't look like that was going to be very far, however.
Conditions were not the greatest. They were marred by strong solar
flares, making HF contacts extra challenging - or nonexistent. To add to
that, the operators found the midday sun to be brutally hot and blistering.
And then - contact! Operator Madhu Prasad, operating station VU3NPI,
connected on 21 MHz with Hong Kong station VR2XMT. It was enough. More
than enough. Signal reports and call signs were exchanged. And the
moment became one of the brightest spots during the 24-hour period.
Prasad told the Bangalore Mirror QUOTE "Within a minute of the rig going
live, we could establish contact." ENDQUOTE.
Among his colleagues in the Bangalore Amateur Radio Club, Antarctica is
the farthest anyone has contacted on their rigs. But Hong Kong, under
tough conditions, still proved to be a shining moment. And VU3NPI
enjoyed his Field Day moment in the sun after all.
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL
qsl card audio from Jeremy for weird n wonderful is in wia upload area.
QSL CARD THAT DELIVERED
JEREMY: A QSL card that ended up in the hands of Jane Walton in the UK
in late February had to cross not just one ocean but two generations
before reaching her. It belonged to a British radio amateur named
Clifton Trevor Malkin, call sign G5IV. Clifton had been Jane's
grandfather. And though Jane is not a ham and never had a QSO with her
grandpa, she always had fond memories of being in his shack with him
when she was a child in Yorkshire. She would hear him make contacts
around the world via radio from Barnsley and be charmed by its magic.
Two months ago, some magic happened again - but a different way. Feeling
nostalgic, Jane decided to type her grandfather's call sign into the
Google search engine and one of the responses that came up was an eBay
listing. It said: "QSL CARD, ham radio card" and the call sign was G5IV.
The card had been mailed to the U.S. long ago from Barnsley, England,
following a successful QSO in 1939. Now, the American seller was asking
$6.50 for G5IV's card.
Jane bid on the item and some 77 years later, the card is back home to
where it all began. The Barnsley Chronicle carried the story of Jane
Walton and the QSL card in its April 1 edition, creating the impression
that perhaps this was one of those April Fool's tales that makes its way
to the public this time of year. But indeed, the offering of the card
can still be found on eBay, in the inventory of eBay seller, Anne's
Books & Stuff. The seller, not surprisingly, has a number of other
vintage QSL cards from around the world.
But Jane Walton has the only one she wants. It's a piece of her
childhood, come back home.
For WIA News via Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, in
Nottingham,
the UK.
OPERATIONAL NEWS 2016
10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 6 - 7
Remembrance or RD Contest August 13-14
36th ALARA Contest is on the last full weekend in August, Aug 27-28.
BROADCAST MONITORING SWL AND SCANNER NEWS
websdr.org
STORY 2 Is broadcast radio doomed?
James Careless writes in Radio World that the BBC is preparing for an
'Internet-only world' for broadcasting
He says: Conventional radio and television broadcasting are doomed,
eventually.
Or so one might reasonably assume from reading "British, Bold,
Creative," the
BBC's broadcast charter proposal for the next decade of its mandate.
The BBC's 10-year broadcast charter is up for renewal in 2016.
The proposal is the Beeb's funding pitch to Parliament.
To be sure, the BBC didn't use the word doomed, or put a timetable on it.
However, over the next 10 years, "We will be moving to an Internet-fit
BBC, to
be ready for an Internet-only world whenever it comes," states the BBC
proposal.
http://www.radioworld.com/article/is-broadcast-radio-doomed/278577
(SouthGate raed by Felix VK4FUQ)
INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE
Interference action against lawn mowers
Emerging on the European market and presumably elsewhere are robotic lawn movers that supposedly do all the work while you sip of cup of tea, or some other beverage.
The marketing hype invites you to spend your weekends enjoying a lawn instead of maintaining it, by using a robot mower.
Now the IARU Swedish radio society, SSA (Foreningen Sveriges Sandareamatorer) reports that the emissions from a particular model of robot lawn mower were so high, it had to be banned from sale.
The Electrical Safety Board found the unmanned mowing vehicle had radio noise at 19 dB above the threshold for interference.
It slapped a ban on their sale, and is also looking at other brands of robotic movers that are also programmable to cut grass for a perfect finish.
LED street lights a worry about RF noise
Imported light emitting diodes are planned in New Zealand as an energy saving measure, but the regulator Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) has issued a word of caution.
All LED lights should meet the Australian and New Zealand Standard CISPR (pron: siss-pah) 15 to ensure they comply with the radio disturbance or interference characteristics of electrical lighting and similar equipment.
RSM has advised all councils that they should stipulate supplying contractors meet those standard requirements and each light fixture bares a compliant mark.
LED lighting can produce severe levels of unwanted RF energy if the circuitry has not been properly designed.
The warning advises that the RF noise created by a series of lights may be cumulative given their proximity to each other and their evaluated positions.
In Australia the Australian Communications Media Authority is also busy on the issue, with their peak activity happening when non-compliant LED Christmas Lights affect television reception.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW
ILLW starts to heat up
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend held each August is as popular as ever as it nears 190 registrations of structures that once navigated and protected sea-going mariners.
In the lead with the most registrations on 37 is Germany, while others up there include Australia with 27, USA on 26, England having 14 and Scotland 12.
The Netherlands, Sweden make up the some 28 countries having registrations so far spreading from Europe, South Africa, South-East Asia, the Americas and a few others.
The 100th registration was the Avery Point Lighthouse W1QK in the grounds of University of Connecticut.
What will be the prestigious number 200 to be registered?
If you would like more information, read the simple guidelines, see past activity reports or register for August 20 and 21, visit the website illw.net
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
SOCIAL SCENE 2016
May 27-29 VK9 WIA AGM this year on Norfolk Island
(wia.org)
June 3- 5 VK4 Central Highlands Social Gathering Theresa Creek dam
(wia)
June 4 VK4 BARCfest Mt Gravatt Showgrounds.
(vk4atc)
June 11-13 VK5 VK Foxhunting Championship & SERG convention Mt
Gambier(VK5HCF)
July 9-10 VK3 GippsTech 2016 Churchill
(vk3pf@wia.org.au)
Aug 7 VK6 NCRG HamFest 9am Cyril Jackson Community Hall Ashfield
(vk6rk)
Sep 23-25 VK4 Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM weekend
Lake Maraboon Holiday Village, near Emerald.
(theTARCinc)
Sep-Oct 30-3 VK4 Cardwell Gathering Long Weekend, Beachcomber
Motel(theTARCinc)
Nov 6 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am!
(VK5KC)
Nov 26 VK7 Miena Hamfest Saturday 26th. (vk7wi
txt)
Well thats it for this week Bryan another week of WIA National News and we hope that Graham is enjoying his time off.
Yes sure is the end of this weeks news, and we hope that the listeners have a good week, until we meet again next week, as we say - We report it you decide
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