MAY 28 2017 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA
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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING MAY 28 2017.
IN OUR 22nd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
WIA BOARD COMMENT with newly elected President Justin Giles-Clarke VK7TW. -
WIA honours achievers with awards at WIA AGM / Conference. -
WIA Spectrum Strategy Committee member Roger Harrison VK2ZRH on
draft Radicommunications Bill 2017. -
WIA 2017 AGM & Convention organising committee's Grant VK5GR. -
WIA AGM - SMILE - your on our AGM cameras.
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA 2017 AND FOR WEEK OF MAY 28
WIA BOARD COMMENT
Well our new board has had it's feet under the boardroom table for just 7 days
and they are off and running as we will hear from newly elected President
Justin Giles-Clarke VK7TW in just a moment.
Just a refresher, your new board under VK7TW is, David Ford VK4MZ,
Greg Kelly VK2GPK, Marcus Berglund VK5WTF, Peter Clee VK8ZZ,
Brian Clarke VK2GCE, and Phil Wait VK2ASD, Immediate Past President.
But now to Hobart and President Justin.
WOW - what a fantastic AGM and Convention weekend 2017 in Hahndorf in VK5!
A huge thank you to the organising committee who put on a very entertaining
and informative weekend of amateur radio. It was a real credit to VK5 and
showcased many amateur related activities culminating in the EME, Project Horus
and Amateur Radio Technology demonstrations on the Hahndorf Football oval on
the Sunday afternoon and you will hear more about these activities in this
broadcast.
A huge thank you must also go to Phil VK2ASD past president and the past board
who have endured some challenging times. The AGM weekend saw the hand-over to
an almost completely new board and this will provide a challenge in itself as
the new board begins a period of discovery and adjustment.
Following the first board meeting of the new board is was announced last Sunday
that the new WIA president is myself Justin Giles-Clark VK7TW and the new
Vice-President is David Ford VK4MZ.
At the Open Forum the new board outlined some of the areas that we will be
seeking to improve and I offer the following summary to provide an idea of
the direction we will be heading.
We are looking for greater openness and transparency and this starts with us
releasing the board minutes for members perusal. These will be made available
via memnet. The first draft board minute is already there for members to see
what we got up to at the first new board meeting. The board also resolved to
release the AGM & Open Forum videos without edit.
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2017/20170525-1/index.php
The board resolved to establish Terms of Reference for a Strategy Committee to
guide the development of a member driven strategy and vision for the WIA.
Whilst this is going on the board also resolved to continue the important work
of the existing committees and any vacant committee positions will be filled in
accordance with the Volunteer Charter. The board is also looking to give
committees greater responsibility and extract itself from many committees to
enable it to steering not row the organisation and this will form part of the
important work of the Strategy Committee.
Finance is another important area that the board will be focusing on through
reviewing existing arrangements, making improvement and providing regular
reporting to the membership. This is also linked to improving membership numbers
and a reoccurring theme in the Open Forum last Saturday was increasing
membership.
There is also a major body of work for the Spectrum Strategy Committee who has
been charged with undertaking consultation with members and the wider amateur
community on the recently released drafts of the Radiocommunications
Legislation from the ACMA. I encourage everyone to review these documents and
contribute to WIA through the consultation portal within the next 14 days.
There will be a couple of phases of consultation on different aspects of these
changes so, stay tuned.
Over the coming weeks each director will be presenting a segment to introduce
themselves and update members on board activities.
This has been Justin Giles-Clark VK7TW on behalf of the WIA board.
WIA honours achievers with awards at WIA AGM / Conference
Noel Ferguson VK3FI of Mildura and Graeme Scott "Scotty" VK2KE from Albury
were made Honorary Life Members.
Noel became a radio amateur in May, 1958, was an avid homebrewer, very active
in education, special events, promotion, and operating and is our VK1 National
News rebroadcaster in Mildura.
Graeme, a radio amateur since 1957, was formerly with the WIA Education
Committee, and for many decades a teacher and mentor of Amateur Radio
throughout Australia.
In other recognition, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) Coordinator and telebridge station, Shane Lynd VK4KHZ, received the
Chris Jones Award.
The Ron Wilkinson Award went to Phil Moat VK4CDI for his 23cm band moonbounce
(EME) experiments focusing digital modes, which achieved a world record
distance of 18,918.3 km with Aleksandr EA 8 DBM on the 27th of November, 2015.
Johnno Karr VK3FMPB received the WIA Foundation Licence Award for taking part
in ILLW, KRMNPA, being a WWFF VKFF Hunter, and running ANZAC Day events.
A number of WIA Presidents Commendations were awarded, these were to:
Peter Richardson VK2PR who compiles the WIA Contests Champion list.
Kevin Mulcahy VK2CE for International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
achievements.
Tony Falla VK3KKP who has led publicity and awareness activities.
John F. Drew VK5DJ who epitomised the term STEM before it was coined, being
an avid homebrewer and repeater developer.
The "Australian Travellers Net" controllers -
Ross VK5KMH, Noel VK4NL, Victor VK4WST, George VK4HGT and Bob VK6KW.
Bernie Lupinacci W1CDM and Terry Page VK2JTP received individual Presidents
Commendations for 15 years as the only administrators worldwide of the EchoLink
system.
The WIA Publications Committee Awards were announced by the Amateur Radio
magazine Editor Peter Freeman VK3PF:-
The Al Shawsmith Award for journalism went to Joe VK3YSP and Julie VK3FOWL for
the non-technical article, "ANZAC Day 2016 Amateur Special Event".
The Amateur Radio magazine Technical Award for a second year in a row to
Jim Tregellas VK5JST, for the article "A $10 Antenna for 2 m that anyone
can build".
The Higginbotham Award went to Christine Taylor VK5CTY for a long history of
Amateur Radio magazine contributions particularly on Women in Radio, ALARA &
AHARS News.
The 30 WIA Assessors who reached the milestone of 10 years were each given a
Certificate and pin by the WIA Exam Service to mark the occasion.
And last but no means least a Big Batch of VK5ers of which we will here more
of later in this News Bulletin from VK1WIA.
But now it is to one of our immeadiate past Directors wearing his SSC Cap.
This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH from the Spectrum Strategy Committee -
we'd like your help, please.
As you know, the government released the draft Radicommunications Bill 2017
just over a week ago.
A whole package of information was posted to the Department of Communications
and the Arts website - some 17 files, in all. There's a LOT to read !
The Department is seeking stakeholder feedback, with a closing date for
submissions of 30 June 2017.
Every licensed amateur - and even prospective amateurs - are a stakeholders.
You can make your own submission to the Department of Communications.
However, as announced, the WIA's Spectrum Strategy Committee is analysing the
Bill package in advance of preparing a comprehensive response on behalf of the
amateur radio community.
Here's where we want your help to assist the Committee in developing the WIA's
submission.
This coming week, we will make available a Consultation page on the WIA website
( wia.org.au ) which will enable you to submit to the WIA your views on what
the government is proposing. Share with us what you feel may affect amateur
radio.
The information papers in the package that you can download from the Department
of Communications website provide a LOT of explanation in plain language, which
will help you gain some understanding.
It is wise to remember that nothing is "set in concrete, yet".
It will likely take a couple of years for the transition between what is in
place now and the brave new world the government envisages.
As the Spectrum Strategy Committee needs to develop the WIA's submission and
lodge it by 30 June, our Consultation page for your input will necessarily only
be open for a short period.
Keep a watch on the WIA home page this coming week for our request for your
input.
This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News.
This is Grant VK5GR, for the WIA AGM & Convention organising committee 2017.
Well, what can we say ?
Last weekend, the WIA and the Radio Clubs of Adelaide combined to hold this
year's convention. The aim was to rekindle the Magic of Radio in everyone
who attended. By all accounts, we have done just that, with a huge turnout
and a fantastic response from all who travelled to VK5 for this year's event!
From all the feedback received, it's clear that we have re-lit the fire and
excitement of radio again in everyone who came. Many were heading home at the
end of the weekend, inspired to try new things. The response from everyone who
came was beyond all of our hopes and expectations. So, on behalf of the
organising committee, I wish to thank everyone who came to Hahndorf in
South Australia and joined in the celebration of what is at the core of Amateur
Radio, that magical spark that drove all of us to take up this fantastic hobby
of ours in the first place!
So, if you couldn't make it, and are wondering what all the fuss was about,
here is a short summary of the events over the weekend.
The event kicked off with a social dinner firstly on Friday night. It was great
to meet so many people you ordinarily only get to talk to on radio. We must
thank the Adelaide Hills Convention Centre for their efforts in accommodating
the change in location at such short notice.
Next came the AGM meeting & open forum itself on Saturday morning which was
followed with an introduction by Doc VK5BUG to his MF and LF publications
before lunch.
At 1.30pm, the "Radio is Magic" showcase kicked off, with our first guests.
Iain VK5ZD and David VK5KK started with a presentation on amateur microwave
communications, which surprised everyone when they realised that David was
9km away on Mt Lofty, communicating with the audience on 47GHz. He had a
10GHz back channel so he could hear what was going on too. Then, to top it all
off, we then crossed live via 1.2GHz digital HD ATV to see what David was
using at the other end of the link, ably assisted by Tim VK5ZT as cameraman.
A huge thanks to the microwave team from the Elizabeth Amateur Radio Club for
that demonstration!
Next up, continuing the ATV theme, we had David VK5DMC from Port Pirie talk
about how the VK5RDC digital ATV repeater came about, as well as how DATV was
once again giving the general public an opportunity to access a window into
Amateur Radio. Following David, Mark VK5QI took us up into near space, as he
presented the latest developments around Project Horus and the new HD imaging
systems now flying using new advanced modems on 70cm. Next, David VK5DGR then
spoke about the latest FreeDV HF digital voice developments, including his new
FreeDV 700C and D modes, which now can better SSB in performance. Paul VK5PAS,
then took us through the joys of HF portable operation. A highlight was watching
Paul assemble his station before your eyes in under 5 minutes right there in
the auditorium. He was followed by Steve VK5SFA, who talked about his work with
Transmitting Magnetic Loop Antennas.
Then, our attention turned to how we can build on all of these magical things
by taking them into the classroom. Joe VK3YSP and Julie VK3FOWL talked about
their School Amateur Radio Club program and showed us how it was inspiring
young people, by giving them a "wow" moment on air. Matt VK5ZM and yours truly
then spoke about promoting the hobby. We showed how all of the facets of
Amateur Radio presented at the event could be used to spark interests in
Science Technology Engineering and Maths studies within both University and
High school environments, as well as into groups such as the Maker Movement.
Everything tied together to reinforce the theme that "Radio is Magic"
While all of this was going on, the partners tours to either Mt Lofty or the
Barossa Valley took the opportunity to showcase the best that the Adelaide
region has to offer, taking in our many arts, crafts and culinary delights
at venues from across the Adelaide Hills. A big thankyou must be given to Joy
and Shirley who lead those events and to all of the venues who hosted them
across the day!
Next up was the conference dinner on Saturday evening. Sue VK5AYL opened with
the launch of her new Parks and Peaks application for the iPhone, and this was
followed by our Keynote Speaker Craig VK5CE who presented both the serious and
humorous side of being an "Islands on the Air" or IOTA activator in Australia.
Craig was a great ambassador for the IOTA program, and we would encourage you
all to consider getting involved! Finally, Grant VK5GR gave a short
presentation looking back on the Project Horus balloon flights undertaken for
the 2012 AGM Convention in Mildura. Finally the secret behind the second
balloon was revealed when we showed the audience showing how Rising Sun Pictures
a Hollywood Special Effects house based in Adelaide, used the footage from the
balloon to help build the academy award winning special events for the major
motion picture "Gravity". It showed just what extraordinary places amateur
radio can take you in the world!
The fun continued into Sunday too, with the morning Parks activations carried
out by 5 teams across the Adelaide Hills, a visit to the National Motor Museum
in Birdwood or a chance to again experience the magic of radio down at the
"Come and try radio" day held on the Hahndorf Oval. Each of the presenters from
the "Radio is Magic" show brought their equipment along for people to take a
much closer look at. They were also joined by many other activities including
demonstrations by Chris VK5CP of remote HF station operating, DSTAR
communications by Ben VK5BB, digital MF communications on 630m by Andrew VK5CV
and a Horus ground station tracking system manned by Bob VK5FO and Ray VK5RR.
David VK5KK, in addition to his microwave equipment also demonstrated his 10GHz
moon bounce station while Roger VK5YYY joined David VK5DMC in demonstrating
digital ATV equipment and techniques. WICEN was represented by Louis VK5FLY and
Arno VK5ZAR, and attracted a steady stream of interest, and Sue VK5AYL showed
people how to use her iPhone APP. The EARC microwave team were also out in
force bouncing signals across the oval, and were joined by some VK2 amateurs in
the event. AREG then flew high altitude balloon flight number Horus 45 to mark
the event. Meanwhile on HF, Steve VK5SFA drew a crowd all day long of people
wanting to get a much closer look at his "magical" transmitting magnetic loop
antenna, completely fascinated by what could be done in such a compact antenna.
The most magical event of all however had to be the visit by the children and
their parents from Hahndorf Primary School. Joe and Julie took them on a
journey introducing amateur radio and all of its facets along the way. They
were shown HF digital communications, radio direction finding, HF voice comms
and each of them then made enough contacts to qualify themselves for their own
Radio is Magic award for working VK5WOW/VI5WOW. The looks on the children's
faces said it all, and they truly had an amazing time seeing what could be done
with radio communications. We can't thank Joe and Julie, plus Ron VK3AFW, enough
for the efforts they put into their element of the program. It is truly
inspirational to see what the School Amateur Radio Club program is capable of
doing, and we can't encourage clubs around Australia enough to consider taking
up the program themselves.
All up, we estimate that around 400 people visited the site on Sunday, many
were amateurs who just came up from Adelaide for the day. Everyone who came
found something I am sure to spark their interest in trying something new!
Now, all that is left for now is to simply say a heartfelt thank you to
everyone who came, to everyone who volunteered, and to each of the clubs who
contributed to making this year's WIA AGM & Convention one of the best. In
particular, we wish to thank the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society, Hahndorf
Football Club and the Lions Club who sponsored and provided the BBQ on Sunday
night, the North East Radio Club who organised the VK5WOW/VI5WOW special event
callsigns, the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group who organised special
permission to fly a balloon from Hahndorf Oval, the South Coast Amateur Radio
Club who sponsored the gifts for the presenters and the Elizabeth Amateur Radio
Club for the fantastic work of the microwave team and their input into the
organising committee. We also must thank all of the volunteers who contributed
in ways both big and small, from leading the partners tours, to dealing with
the venue bookings, and in particular, we must thank the WIA board and most
notably Robert VK3DN for his contribution to the running of the event. It is
only through the partnership between the WIA and the regional radio clubs that
events of this magnitude can be successfully staged.
Next week we will give you an update on how we are going getting ready to
process the VK5WOW awards from this year's event and let you know what is
happening with the awards and the QSL cards.
73 to all this has been Grant VK5GR, with a wrap up report for this year's
WIA AGM & Convention weekend. We are looking forward to coming along to
next year's event, wherever that may be held!
( AND Certificates of Appreciation went to the WIA AGM weekend
South Australian Organising Commmitee: David Clegg VK5KC,
John Dawes VK5BJE, Jim Tregellas VK5TR, Shirley Tregellas VK5YL,
Stuart Fillmore VK5STU, Roy Gabriel VK5NRG, Grant Willis VK5GR,
Matthew Cook VK5ZM, David Minchin VK5KK, Iain Crawford VK5ZD,
Joy Robins, Dan Flakelar VK5DF... )
--
'Wireless Men and Women at War' book launched
The Wireless Institute of Australia launched its 'Wireless Men and Women at War'
book at the WIA annual general meeting in Hahndorf.
WIA Historian, Peter Wolfenden VK3RV, explained that originally a few
war-related articles were on hand for the ANZAC 100 commemoration, but after
he made a call for any others he was overwhelmed.
Many articles were in Amateur Radio magazine and summarised for the VK1WIA
broadcast.
The idea of a book was now viable and interest grew.
While noting that there were numerous contributors, Peter VK3RV commented
that one from Jim Gordon VK3ZKK with facts of Bert Billings XJP, was a
stand out. In 24-pages it traces the so-called 'First and Last ANZAC Wireless
Operator' and his service in WWI and WWII.
The Australian War Memorial in Canberra was to get a number of copies.
Other interest comes from war veterans, the radio industry, defence service
personnel, academics and anyone interested in the development and use of
communications.
There were 52 copies at Hahndorf that quickly sold out.
Further orders for the 'Wireless Men and Women at War' are now being taken
by the WIA online bookshop.
( http://www.wia.org.au/members/bookshop/page_data.php?id=258 )
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
SMILE - your on AGM camera
Unedited video recording of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) annual
general meeting and Open Forum held in Hahndorf are now available to members.
The draft minutes of the Board of Directors meeting held on Sunday 21 May, are
also available.
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2017/20170525-1/index.php
Part of the 2017 WIA Annual General Meeting and Convention was the
'Come and Try Amateur Radio Day' at Hahndorf, South Australia on Sunday May 21.
Shown in a youtube video by Peter Parker VK3YE are diverse facets of amateur
radio including a Project Horus balloon launch, microwaves, homebrewing,
digital voice modes, awards and more.
Video opening comments are by Michael VK5ZEA and it is closed by Grant VK5GR.
Well done Peter!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOObNDf0Fk
INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, WIA Local News Service VK7, VK3PC and the WW
sources of the WIA.
Harmonisation of CEPT Novice licences
In a paper for the IARU Region 1 General Conference the Netherlands national
society VERON is proposing the harmonisation of CEPT Novice licences in member
countries. Although it is not clear from the name, the CEPT Novice licence is
equivalent to the UK Intermediate, USA General and our Australian Standard
licence. One countries Novice is another's Standard licence!
Currently there are major differences among the various CEPT member countries
in the frequencies permitted and transmitter power for Novice licenced amateurs.
VERON say that because of the international character of the amateur service,
these differences are undesirable.
Conference 2017
The Rotorua Branch of NZART has invited NZART members and their partners to
Rotorua.
New Zealand's Coolest Hotspot.
The venue for this year's conference is the Sudima Hotel
All conference proceedings will be accommodated at the Sudima Hotel and
reasonable room rates are available for those wishing to stay at the Hotel.
There is still time to make late registrations
For further information go to http://www.hamradio.co.nz/
Ham Radio Awareness Program conducted at Science City Ahmedabad India
For summer camp students at Science City, a Ham Radio Awareness program was
conducted on 20th May by VU 2 EXP Rajesh Vagadia - Regional Coordinator,
AMSAT-INDIA.
Participants learnt basic concept of Radio, their setup, propagation,
types of conversation allowed & some limitation, communication modes,
features used by hams to send voice, text, images & data, Licencing procedure
in India etc.
Students were surprised to realize potential of Amateur Radio to do
Satellite Communications or to have contact with Astronauts aboard ISS !
Radio Caroline gets AM licence
Many of our 'Old Timers', who thru foggy eyes can still remember the sixties,
will remember that UK Pirate Radio Ship.
Now Ofcom has announced that Radio Caroline has been awarded an AM licence.
The new service to cover Suffolk and Essex
Be this only a Community radio service, it is provided on a not-for-profit
basis and focus on delivering specific social benefits to a particular local
area or community of interest.
Rock on "The Boat That Rocked."
US Amateur Radio Bands Charts
The ARRL has revised and updated its 'US Amateur Radio Bands' charts, and these
now are available for download
The revised charts reflect the new 630 and 2,200-meter bands, but also
emphasize that these bands are not yet available for Amateur Radio use.
The effective date of the recent FCC Report & Order granting these allocations
has not yet been determined, and until the start date has been set, it is not
legal under an USA Amateur Radio license to transmit on either band.
Download the Frequency Band Charts, in colour, greyscale or black and white,
from the link we like in this week's WIA News Service in text.
http://www.arrl.org/graphical-frequency-allocations
Who and Where are our broadcast stations?
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/
HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT
All major Australian contests, rules and results, are on the
Contest Section of the WIA website.
wia.org.au/members/contests/about
2017
Jan 1 - Dec 31 The Victorian Local Government Award 2017 Challenge
VK SHIRES June 10 and 11.
Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest 160/80/40 Saturday night July 15 and Start Time
is 08:00 UTC and finish time is 14:00 UTC
10-10 INTERNATIONAL SUMMER CONTEST Aug 5 - 6
VK1 Winter SOTA QSO Party takes place August 6th 2017 9:00 am till 11:30 am.
WIA's Flagship contest the Remembrance Day Contest 12th & 13th August
Aug 19-20 ILLW the 3rd full weekend in August since 1998
Aug 26 ALARA Contest Start Time 1600 this is a 24 hour Contest for YL's
IARU High Speed Telegraphy world championships are 8th to 12th September.
October CQ WW DX / SSB CONTEST (always Octobers Last full weekend)
Running ALL year 'til Dec 31 Victorian Local Government Award 2017 Challenge
2018
John Moyle Memorial Field Day will be held over the weekend of the 17th-18th
March 2018 and will run from UTC 0100 on the Saturday until 0059 on the Sunday.
IARU HF Championship event on 15 and 16 July 2018.
TM 500 LH
To commemorate the 500th anniversary of the founding of Le Havre, the city's
amateur radio club, F6KOH, will be putting TM 500 LH on the air May 25-31
This 25th to the 31st May operation will be using SSB, CW, SSTV and digital.
A special diploma is available to all stations making three contacts.
Le Havre during World War One was the major disembarkation point for the
Western Front for the Aussie Soldiers arriving from the UK.
See QRZ.com for details.
(RSGB AND VK4BB)
Mills On The Air - a great success
You may recall WIA News Rebroadcaster VK5HEL told us of the plans that the
Lower Murray Amateur Radio Club, in VK5 had in activating Dunn's Mill
in Mt Barker on Saturday the 13th and Sunday the 14th of May as, VK5ALM.
Well although nothing in from that group on its success or otherwise Jim VK3PC
tells us that Australia's first registered entry in this annual fun event
that has been going for a decade OS was the picturesque Andersons Mill at
Smeaton Hill in central Victoria.
At a five-storey historic bluestone mill built in the 1850s, was the
Central Goldfields Club VK3BI.
The activation was the brainchild of Smeaton resident Cheryl Just and husband
Alan who fell in love with the mill on a visit from Melbourne. They bought a
house nearby and befriended descendants of the old flour mill. Before the
descendants passed away, their wish was that the Anderson Mill would become
the centre piece of a community event.
Well that happened when 1500 people attended various events at the mill site.
The VK3BI station was busy with local and DX contacts, including the
Shetland Mill in Scotland that was also among those in the event.
Well done to the Central Goldfields Amateur Radio Club by being the first
Australian that joined those in the UK and parts of Europe.
(Jim Linton VK3PC)
Resting Place of Keel from Marconi's Floating Lab Elettra to be "Museum Ships"
Event Site.
The resting place of the keel from wireless pioneer Guglielmo Marconi's
floating laboratory the yacht Elettra will be the site of a special event
in conjunction with the annual Museum Ships Weekend Event, June 3-4.
Marconi named his youngest daughter after the Elettra, which means "electron"
in Italian.
The Elettra special event, under the sponsorship of the Guglielmo Marconi
Foundation, will use the call sign IQ 4 FE.
The Elettra operation will be part of a technical-cultural event at
Villa Griffone, near Marconi's birthplace in Bologna, Italy.
The Marconi Museum in Pontecchio, is where the vessel's keel is kept.
(arrl)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW
FISTS Club - East Asia www.feacw.net
FISTS Club - Australasia www.fdu.org.au
FISTS Club - UK & Europe www.fists.co.uk
FISTS Club - Americas www.fists.org
Recommended FISTS calling frequencies (MHz):
1.808 3.528 7.028 10.118 14.058 18.085 21.058 24.908 28.058
This story, which comes from down here in VK3, isn't exactly about amateur
radio but it IS about changing times and changing communication.
It's the story of John Riddett, a long time postal service employee
who obviously knows all too well that a message delivered effectively
is always a welcome message.
John isn't a ham, sorry to say, but his telegraphy skills are something
many CW operators would envy.
He trained in Morse as a teenager in 1953 at the Postmaster General's
Office and he used his talents afterward to help send telegrams.
That's a practice now out of use for about 50 years.
Now John gets the message across by demonstrating his skills to children
visiting the Telstra Museum in Hawthorne, Melbourne. John has just been
to VK8 and 'The Alice' for a ten-day gathering of former postal workers
who, like him, were once fluent in the poetry of dots and dashes.
He told ABC Australia that judging from the size of the turnout, the
get-together was probably going to be one of the last.
(ABCNET.AU via ARNewsLine)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FINAL FRONTIER
Mike Foale, KB 5 UAC, and Ellen Ochoa, ex-KB 5 TZZ, have joined the
Astronaut Hall of Fame
These 2 NASA astronauts, both with one-of-a-kind career credits, were honoured
May 19 when they were inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame
at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
Ellen Ochoa, ex-KB5TZZ -- the first Hispanic woman to go into space and the
current director of NASA's Johnson Space Centre in Houston -- and former
astronaut Michael Foale, KB5UAC.
Foale, a veteran of six missions, logged more than 374 days in space and four
spacewalks totalling almost 23 hours, including a spacewalk to perform repairs
and upgrades to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. He is also the only American
citizen to have served on both the Russian Mir space station and the
International Space Station.
Foale retired from NASA in 2013.
During his ISS tour, the British-born Foale set up the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) Phase 2 equipment, a Kenwood TM-D700E
dual band transceiver, in the Zvezda Service Module.
(arrl letter)
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
Maritime Mobile Service Net Relays Distress Call; Crew, Passengers, and
Vessel Safe
The Maritime Mobile Service Network (MMSN) recently served as a critical
communication link after the sport fishing vessel Free Spirit put out a
"mayday" distress call on VHF marine channel 16 after running into trouble
in Mexican waters.
Brian Stipak, KF7QCX -- skipper of the sailing vessel Ubiquity -- heard the
May 13 mayday, which advised that the Free Spirit was sinking quickly with
four people on board and that all were abandoning ship.
Unable to raise coastal stations on his vessel's VHF radio, Stipak went to the
MMSN's 14.300 MHz frequency. Despite marginal band conditions, he was able to
relay a position report to net control station Ken Porter, AC0ML.
End result? - All safe and sound.
(arrl letter)
A little further south, In Cuba, radio amateurs are constantly preparing to
face earthquakes, intense hurricanes and periods of intense and widespread
drought, as well as events of other nature
With that objective in mind, an exercise called Meteor is held every year,
which puts all the factors that participate in its development, under stress.
Federacin de Radioaficionados de Cuba (FRC), as an International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU-R2) Member Society located in the Caribbean area, works
systematically to provide attention to this important activity, due to the risk
factors entailed by its geographical location and prioritizes efforts in this
direction.
"Meteor 2017" was held on May 20 and 21, led by the Civil Defence Staff
and in this framework, hundreds of radio amateurs from all locations were
mobilized.
(SouthGate)
SOCIAL SCENE 2017
June 2- 4 VK4 Theresa Creek Camp-out-day (CHARC) (tarc)
June 3 VK3 Melbourne WINTER QRP by the bay 3pm (vk3ye)
June 10-11 VK2 Oxley Region ARC 42nd Annual Field Day, Port Macquarie (vk2ztm)
June 10-11 VK5 SERG Annual Convention / VK Foxhunting Champs. (vk5dj)
July 1 VK3 GippsTech 2017 technical conference in Churchill. (wia events)
July 22 VK3 Great Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club HamFest. July 22
Cranbourne Community Hall Clarendon & High St, Cranbourne.
Sep 9-10 ALARAMEET 2017 Cairns. Listen for VI4ALARA from July (vk4swe vk3pc)
Sep 10 Shepparton HamFest St Augustine's Hall, Orr St. Shepparton. (vk3fnqs)
Sep29-Oct2 VK4 Cardwell Gathering (tarc)
Nov 5 VK3 BARG Hamvention greyhound racing track, Ballarat. (wia events)
Nov 12 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am (vk5kc)
Nov 12 VK3 Rosebud's annual celebration of all things Amateur Radio (wia)
2018
March 25 VK3 EMDRC HamFest - Great Ryrie Primary School, Heathmont. (VK3BQ)
May 4 -7 VK4 Clairview Gathering ( between Rockhampton and Mackay ) (TARC)
==============================
NEW WIA NEWS BROADCAST FEEDBACK
===============================
Hi GraHam.
Today's Call Back on VK5RAD was conducted live onsite at The WIA AGM Venue
at Hahndorf under the Special Callsign of VK5WOW
A Separate log is being lodged so the callers can use the call back as points
toward the AGM Special Award 2017.
All told 82 calls were recorded comprising many visiting interstate delegates
here for the AGM.
Many Thanks again
Roy VK5NRG.
Submitting news items
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edition "no worries."
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item write in the 3rd person.
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National News compiled by VK4BB on behalf of the National WIA.
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