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FEB 4 2018 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA
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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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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING FEBRUARY 4 2018.
IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
WIA Director Comment from VP David VK4MZ
ACMA Spectrum Planning taken seriously
German decisions, a welcome to Kosovo and calling all Leprechauns
The Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge winner announced
Wyong Field Day just around the corner
NASA Zombie Satellite Hunting
Satellite Budgie Smugglers including YLs on AO-92
RAOTC on the war between Edison and Tesla
And strange voices on the airwaves in North West VK7.
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF FEBRUARY 4
And now across to David Ford VK4MZ for the WIA Board Comment.....
G'day from David Ford VK4MZ,
The WIA is an organisation of members, for members and the Amateur Radio community at large. Within that community is a smaller group, which is the collection of WIA volunteers both past, and present. Volunteering with the WIA is a rewarding experience, but for some that has not always been the case.
Over the years there has been a significant diversity of WIA volunteers. Those volunteers have given a part of themselves in working to grow the hobby. In making the best use of the organisations resources and helping the organisation to achieve much, with little. This has not always been smooth.
The WIA has had volunteer directors, treasurers, committee members, event managers, publications, news producers, assessors, learning facilitators, technical advisors, competition managers, managers of systems and marketing, spectrum advisors, and countless other positions. Volunteers that have helped build and support the processes, people and systems that make up the WIA and ultimately volunteers that have made the breadth of services that the WIA offers, and amateur radio as we know it today in Australia, possible. Many volunteers have gone well beyond the call of a typical volunteering position and have dedicated a significant part of their lives to Amateur Radio, they have dedicated a significant amount of time to an organisation that is the avenue for contributing to the hobby and that is the WIA. Like in sports, the WIA and its volunteers operate as a team, a team where cohesion and working together is the defining factor in its success. Success is defined by steering away from adversity and driving towards an outcome. That cohesion and mutual respect is paramount. The WIA is working hard to build a culture that respects diversity of opinion and perspective. That diversity aids the organisation navigate an environment that is increasingly competing for people's time. An environment where messages are harder to communicate under a deluge of information.
Without a doubt there are times in the organisations history where volunteering has been challenging. Sometimes, the pressure put on volunteers has been unreasonable and there are times when conflict and unreasonable interactions has led to irreconcilable differences. It is with disappointment that the WIA, an organisation of people, working together, look back on these interactions. They highlight a lack of mutual respect for volunteers. That is a past that the organisation is putting behind it. The WIA is moving into a bright new future where volunteers, members and staff work together to achieve greatness. That is our primary aim when recruiting new volunteers and this culture is both sponsored and steered by the board.
Today, I take a moment to thank ALL of the organisations volunteers, past, present, and future. For the contribution that you have made and all that you have done to support what we all hold dear, Amateur Radio. When asked why I volunteer for the WIA it is because I have a moral want to make things good, to ensure there is a future where an impressionable youngster can receive the recognition of their peers that they would never get without the hobby, the lifechanging outcomes that that recognition can bring where they find the confidence and respect in a hobby that celebrates their skills and intelligence.
A future where the hobby also continues to connect people around the world, and around the block, to discuss ideas in a positively respectful and embracing manner. Where the theme is support to achieve something greater than oneself. The WIA is the mechanism that helps me contribute, and the doors are also open for you to contribute. I volunteer because I have a moral compulsion to do what's right. As have many others who either currently work with, or work near the WIA. The WIA is now about inclusion.
As a team, the organisation needs to work together and within a structure that supports cohesion. To celebrate a diversity of perspectives, experiences and to allow people to speak out when they notice something is wrong. Whistle blowers are a valuable asset to an organisation, they help instigate change when its needed and recently the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has outlined the value of open and honest cultures within an organisation. I'll write more on the topic in our Amateur Radio magazine soon.
To reinforce and support a new culture in the WIA, the WIA is currently conducting a trial of organisational theory called Holacracy under Aidan Mountford's supervision. Overall the organisations structure is taking a different shape and setting a pace for sustainability and fairness to its volunteers.
Considering this, the following committees are no-longer operational and being replaced with new functions:
- The Administrative and Financial Committee
- Community Services Committee
- AR Advertising Sales Sub Committee
- The overarching Radio Activities committee, instead all sub-committees are operating as standalone committees
- New Initiatives Committee
- The IT services committee is also blending with other operational aspects of the WIA until a new committee is reformed.
Currently, the finance working GROUP is preparing to hand over the 2017 accounts to the auditors. Through 2018, the finance working group will transition to a standing committee called the Finance Committee and in preparation for this transition the Board recently approved the finance committee's initial terms of reference. The terms of reference define how the committee will operate and what is within their scope.
To assist the daily operations of the organisation and work with the office, the Board also approved terms of reference for an Executive Advisory Panel.
The Board additionally approved two different positions of a Board Secretary and a WIA secretary which is a departure from having a single secretary.
We are also about to introduce a new team of project managers to work with the WIA on special projects across the organisation.
Now, this sounds like allot of committees, panels and working groups to coordinate but the reality is, that's the truth of it. These structural changes pave the way for the WIA to not overly impose on individual volunteers to perform herculean efforts as they have been asked to do in the past, but rather, to engage volunteers in a way that is fun, exciting and rewarding. These steps also continue to move the Board away from rowing and into a position where it is governing and steering in accordance with good governance practices. We know that these new volunteer positions may stay open for some time, but the positions give the additional structure that is needed to support contributions and moving forward, together, towards a goal.
The board received a report from the AGM organising committee including a draft program of events. There has been some strong interest from vendors to demonstrate the exciting new radios available this year and its shaping up to be a very exciting weekend.
The Board received reports from Dale Hughes on the IARU/ITU World Radio Conference preparation. There was a report from the web re-development project on the progress of forming the team. The History and Archives Committee submitted their report and their exciting plans to digitise and make records available on-line.
The board considered and discussed finance, membership, marketing and education, all-in-all there were over 30 items on the agenda this month further contributing to the need for a fortnightly meeting cadence. Assessor numbers have increased in 2017 however assessment numbers have fallen from 1,200 in 2016 to 1,037 in 2017. The on-line trial examinations have been trailed by more than 350 people and the trial is continuing with close assessor supervision.
The WIA is also considering running the Trans-Tasman and VK-Shires contests which is a great opportunity and thanks to Trent Sampson, VK4TS for running the events over the years.
The Board settled on some preliminary amendments to the constitution that will be put to members at the AGM. These amendments will be shortly released for member comments.
So, it's certainly been a busy January which shows no signs of slowing down. Come join us, there are lots of opportunities to help your WIA.
Have a great day, this has been David Ford, VK4MZ
ACMA Five Year Outlook - Spectrum Planning
The Wireless Institute of Australia Board and its Spectrum Strategy Committee recently held a workshop to review the submission to the 5 year spectrum outlook.
This ACMA planning tool is taken seriously by the WIA in identifying the spectrum related matters for the amateur service and amateur satellite service that are expected to require ACMA resource allocation over the next five years. It draws on the IARU decisions and domestic matters concerning the spectrum.
WIA President Justin Giles-Clark VK7TW says the workshop went through the submission item by item, but concluded with minimal change from the draft from the SSC. The WIA submission has now been sent to the ACMA.
Justin VK7TW says the WIA is also about to submit a comprehensive evidence-based submission to the ACMA recommending changes to the Licence Conditions (LCD).
The WIA suggestions will soon appear on the WIA website, and we expect the ACMA will release a public discussion paper on the proposed changes later this year.
https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2018/20180127-1/documents/WIA%20Response%20-%20ACMA%205-yr%20Outlook%20%20(FINAL)%202018-01-19.pdf
https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2018/20180127-1/documents/WIA%20Response%20-%20ACMA%205-yr%20Outlook%20%20(FINAL)%202018-01-19.pdf
Thanks to Jim Linton VK3PC for that story.
We welcome Kerrie Taylor VK2FKND to the Broadcast Team this week. Kerrie bravely stepped forward and answered the call for broadcast editors and has done a great job on the International News this week. On Ya Kerrie!
A reminder that we are still looking for Editors to lighten the load and provide greater coverage and flexibility in the broadcast team. The more Editors means it lightens the load for everyone and allows everyone some time to play radio - isn't that what this hobby is all about!
Any now on to the International News with Brett VK7FTAS.
Silent Key Notice
It is with great sadness that we report the death of John Adcock, VK3ACA.
John died on Monday 29 January after a severe illness. He was 84 years old."
John was a highly respected member of the Wireless Institute of Australia and was secretary of the Victorian Division for several years.
John could be found on two metres SSB but also on the much lower frequencies including the Coffee Break AM net on 160 metres and on 136kHz.
John was also a keen amateur astronomer and had been a member of the Astronomical Society of Victoria since 1956.
A memorial service will be held for John Adcock on Friday 9 February 2018.
The service will be held at the Glenroy Oak Park Baptist Church, 9-11 Watt Avenue, Oak Park (3046), at 10:00 am.
Vale John Adcock VK3ACA, now a silent key.
(Jim Pollock VK3OX)
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.
German telecommunications regulator Bundesnetzagentur, or BNetZa, has extended the use of the 6 meter band by amateur radio enthusiasts. In Germany some amateur bands are made available for specified periods of time and the regulator decides whether the authorisation is extended or not. BNetZa has also authorised Novice licensees to use the 13 and 6 centimetre bands at a maximum of 5 watts PEP until the end of 2018. Other changes include an increase to 100 watts PEP on the 160 meters band between 1850 and 1890khz, and contests are now allowed on weekends but only on the frequency range of 1890 to 2000khz.
Welcome Republic of Kosovo to the radio map. The ARRL has approved a motion to amend the DXCC rules allowing the Republic of Kosovo, prefix Z6, to become the 340th DXCC location. Kosovo was formerly part of Yugoslavia and was admitted to the International Amateur Radio Union in 2015. Prior to the rule changes approved by the ARRL board, Kosovo did not qualify as a DXCC entity.
Time to find your inner Leprechaun and join in the St Patrick's Day Award celebrations from 12 noon 16 March to 12 noon 18 March. Organisers of the event encourage both mobile and fixed stations to register for this non-competitive fun activity. All the details are available from their website found on the email edition of this broadcast
stpatrickaward.webs.com.
(ARNewsline)
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
Contests 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.
Harry Angel Memorial Sprint:- Saturday May 5th 10:00 UTC - 11:46 UTC
VHF UHF WIA FIELD DAY CONTEST DATE For WINTER
23-24 June 2018
The VK SHIRES Contest is always held on the June long weekend, which is the
weekend prior to the second Monday of June each year so make a note June 9/10
Starts: 06.00 UTC Saturday 9, Ends: 06.00 UTC Sunday 10.
IARU HF Championship event on 15 and 16 July.
TRANS-TASMAN LOW BAND CONTEST
The contest is held on the Saturday night of the third full weekend of July,
making it July 21st, Start Time is 08:00 UTC and finish time is 14:00 UTC
11-12 August is WIA Remembrance Day (the RD) Contest.
The 21st International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is on
August 18 to 19, 2018
OCEANA CONTEST
Phone - First full weekend in October, ( 6/ 7th) 0800 UTC Sat to 0800 UTC Sunday
CW - Second full weekend in October, (13/14th) 0800 UTC Sat to 0800 UTC Sunday
VHF UHF WIA FIELD DAY CONTEST DATES For Spring 2018
Spring 24-25 November
MORE VHF UHF WIA FIELD DAY CONTEST DATES For Summer/Winter/Spring
2019 Summer 12-13 Jan Winter 22-23 Jun Spring 23-24 Nov
2020 Summer 18-19 Jan Winter 20-21 Jun Spring 28-29 Nov
2021 Summer 14-15 Jan Winter 26-27 Jun Spring 26-27 Nov
Congratulations VK5GR
Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge
Results of the Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge have now been released.
Congratulations to VK5GR for winning both the Most Wanted and Top 5
categories. Full results can be found on the Club's contest website.
vk2au.org
To get involved in the current period of the Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge, simply log at least 1 QSO with any DX station, (or even VK), between January - March, then head over to the website during the entry submission period in April and send in your entry.
And that comes from Peter VK2PR on behalf of the Fisher's Ghost Amateur Radio Club
And for the DXers out there the AARL International CW DX Contest will be held on 17 & 18 February. W0DLE will be competing and you can listen to him operating in Saigon between February and April. For more details on Charles and other DXers operating from various exotic locations, information is available from the transcript of this broadcast on the WIA website.
WIRELESS WEATHER
It's not only the biggest meeting of Amateurs it also has the biggest car boot sale for amateur radio enthusiasts in Australia! The Wyong Fieldday on February 25th.
Come along with your boot or trailer full of trash,
Sell it off and make some of cash,
Fill back up with treasures anew
and tell your partner you only sold a few,
Is this the perfect crime ??
No cost for your spot, just pay your normal entry fee, and have a great day.
With the number of Amateur Radio retailers reducing over the years the CCARC has been branching out see what retailers in other fields have that may be of interest to amateurs. Suppliers to the marine industry, to CB or HF Radio operators as well general electronics dealers often have items that are just as useful in our hobby. To this end the CCARC have invited a new retailer to the fieldday who manufactures and sells CB, UHF and Marine antennas and accessories. Based in the Hunter region of New South Wales, they have 50 years of radio communications experience and given a good response at the fieldday have said they would be happy to supply to the amateur market as well. Indeed their eBay store already has some Amateur antennas for sale! I can't give the company name on the WIA broadcast but you can find out about this and all other vendors and all fieldday details by going to FIELDDAY dot ORG dot AU.
To keep up to date on what is happening at the fieldday, be sure to bring your 2m handheld along and listen to the announcements throughout the day. All announcements will be broadcast on 147.125 as in previous years. This service is given to us by WICEN Central Coast and their RCO, Glenn.
For the Central Coast ARC, this has been Ed DD5LP.
MEDIA WATCH
Antennapalooza 2018 Announced
In a first for Amateur Radio in Australia, four Victorian Radio Clubs are joining forces to host a major field event.
EMDRC, GGREC, MDRC and FAMPARC have joined forces with the theme "what it takes to get started in the hobby"
Antennapalooza, now in its fifth year, will return to Drouin West on April 7 & 8 (the first weekend after Easter).
The location is set on a 6 acre field, 50km due East of Dandenong.
The event is open to members of the sponsoring clubs and friends who accompany the member.
Bookings are now being taken and it is free, yes, you heard right Free - costs are being covered by the four sponsoring clubs.
There is a formal lecture series is being run and details can be found on the website.
http://antennapalooza.org.au/
(Sourced from the Antennapalooza website)
Trans-Tasman 60m (5Mhz) Band access trial
NZART is pleased to announce that it has negotiated with RSM and the NZ Defence Force to obtain a licence to allow limited operation by ZL amateur operators on 60m on a trial basis.
The purpose of the trial is for RSM, NZART and primary users to investigate the ability for the amateur radio operators to operate on the frequencies of operation on a secondary basis without causing interference to primary users.
As the licence is held by NZART and does not currently include 60m, those wishing to operate in this band in ZL will need to apply to the NZART for permission.
Operation centres on 5353 kHz and 5362 - 5364 kHz with a maximum output of 10 dBW e.i.r.p.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- BALLOONING
Real-time balloon track
https://tracker.habhub.org
high altitude balloon links
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/balloons/
Horus 46: International Space University - 28 Jan 2018
The VK5 based Amateur Radio Experimenters Group teamed up again this year with the International Space University's Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program to simulate a space mission using Helium fuelled high altitude balloons.
The Southern Hemisphere Space Studies Program is an intensive, five week, live-in experience built around an international, intercultural, and interdisciplinary (3 "I"s) educational philosophy for which the International Space University (ISU) is renowned. The program provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the key activities and areas of knowledge required by today's space professions.
The hot weather meant that it was decided to have disposable payloads as the landing zone was in a severe bush-fire rating zone.
The launch was from front lawns of the Serefino Winery. The telemetry collection was vitally important as it would be the only way to get pictures back from the balloon. There was an automated tacking rig that generated a lot of interest and there was over 179 megabytes of data downloaded during the flight by five telemetry ground stations.
The flight duration was 2hours and 19 minutes and maximum altitude was 21.2km.
Recovery was attempted however given the balloon went 4km higher than predicted it ended up in Lake Alexandrina!
There is great report along with pictures available at the link on the email edition of this broadcast.
http://www.areg.org.au/archives/207837
Thanks to Grant Willis VK5GR and AREG for the information.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER
NASA Zombie Satellite Hunter
Media outlets are reporting that amateur radio astronomer named Scott Tilley has found awhat has been described as a undead NASA satellite. This is whilst he was looking for the presence of secret military satellites.
Tilley found radio signals and matched its orbit to a NASA satellite called IMAGE. IMAGE was launched back in 2000 with a mission of studying Earth's magnetosphere.
The ARSTechnica article says that over five years of operation, it created a three-dimensional map of the charged particles that move along Earth's magnetic field lines. But contact was lost in 2005, and NASA eventually attributed that to a one-time event in the power system that the satellite wasn't designed to recover from.
NASA noted that the satellite would reset when it went into eclipse (behind the earth with no sun) and tried to contact the satellite without success.
Tilley found that the satellite was still transmitting data - just that no one on earth was listening - until now!
Tilley is working with Rice and NASA on confirming if it actually is IMAGE and decoding the data that is flowing from the satellite.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/01/amateur-search-for-dead-spy-satellite-turns-up-undead-nasa-mission/
Interesting snippets from space
Whilst the Trump US Government shutdown was happening - Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield tweeted that during the Obama US Government shutdown whilst he was on the ISS - the Canadian Prime Minister tried to call the ISS however there was no one to take his call at NASA HQ - he then comments that he did talk to several nice people on the ham radio though!
Australia Day saw the announcement that AO-92 has been commissioned and was open for amateur use. Announcement was made by AMSAT Vice President - Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY. Initially, the U/v FM transponder will be open continuously for a period of one week. After the first week, operations will be scheduled between the U/v FM transponder, L-Band Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa's High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI).
https://www.amsat.org/ao-92-commissioned-open-for-amateur-use/
AMSAT's Bruce Paige, KK5DO, the Director Contests and Awards announced the Rover Award and already Number 7 has been issued for 2018. This award is granted to stations who achieve a combined 25 points using any combination of the defined criteria posted on the AMSAT website.
https://www.amsat.org/amsat-rover-award/
German Orbital Systems and iSky Technology have announced a revival of the D-Star ONE satellite project to replace their satellite lost as a result of a failed launch of the Roscosmos Meteor-M No.2-1 meteorological mission on November 28, 2017. The satellite will be launched on February 1 from the Vostochny launch site.
http://www.amsat.org/pipermail/ans/2018/001009.html
For more details take a look at the link on the Email edition of this broadcast.
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- FEMALES IN RADIO
ALARA - AUSTRALIAN LADIES AR ASSOCIATION
http://alara.org.au
Net is held each Mondays on 3.570 MHz, commencing at 1030 UTC.
(1000utc during daylight saving)
We are not sure if this one is satellite news or YL/ALARA news!
Jeff Johns, WE4B, tweeted about the satellite contact via AO-91 his daughter Marissa, W4AQT, completed with Alyssa and her dad Charlie Azofeifa, TI2CDA.
Jeff said Alyssa had seen Marissa's QRZ page and it turns out they are both Harry Potter, Pete the Cat and Minecraft fans and she wanted to get Marissa's QSL card. Charlie and I looked for favorable passes and decided the 18:16z pass of AO-91 on 1/20/2018 would be our first attempt to have the girls make contact.
Marissa and dad Jeff went outside with radios and our Arrow antenna and waited for AO-91 to crest the horizon. As soon as they could hear the bird, W4AQT started calling TI2CDA. After a few calls, there was Alyssa with Charlie serving as the control op. The girls had a very sweet, quick QSO.
Jeff wrote, "Ham radio is supposed to be about learning and progressing the radio art but it's also about forming friendships, even if they are long distance friendships. I have no doubt that this will not be the last time that Marissa and Alyssa have a QSO and I am confident that Alyssa will soon get her own license as Marissa is almost ready to take her General exam. I was fortunate that my daughter became interested in amateur radio when she would go outside with me and listen to me talking to other hams with my Arrow antenna pointed at the sky. Now that she's licensed, it's allowed us to have some great father and daughter time together, as well as, providing her some excellent STEM education."
Jeff's post on the QRZ.com satellite forum and photos can be seen at:
http://tinyurl.com/ANS-028-AO91-YL-QSO
Sourced from the AMSAT Mailing list
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- INTERNET --- THE HAMS DOMAIN
TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA
www.HamRadioNation.com
websdr.org
websdr.in
http://sdr.hu
Claiming to be better that the ACMA Radcom Lookup!
There is a new Australian radio licence lookup tool - Open Spectrum MAPRAD.IO
MAPRAD.IO leverages the latest web technologies to provide a unified, centralised view of radiocommunications register data that is free to use.
A key feature is a powerful filtering and categorisation system based on the modern faceted search concepts adopted by many large web-based search applications, coupled with up-to-date register data.
MAPRAD.IO intuitively correlates register 'site' information to licence information and related technical data such as device specifications and operating parameters. Other features include exporting to Excel and Google Earth and integrable services for an organisation's software.
No need to go to the email edition for this web address - just type maprad.io
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERS
http://www.raotc.org.au
Hallo everyone, we're back. This is Clive VK6CSW reminding you that the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australia's first bulletin for this year goes to air tomorrow.
As well as the latest Club news, this month we feature a talk on that remarkable polymath Alexander von Humboldt, an item on the war between Edison and Tesla, plus other snippets. Everyone is most welcome to tune in and to join in the call backs afterwards.
The broadcast originates in Melbourne at 10 am local time on the VK3REC 2m repeater with simultaneous relays on 7146 kHz and 1843 kHz. Please note the new 40 metre frequency 7146 kHz.
At 0100 UTC for eastern states listeners, Hans VK5YX will transmit the program on 20 metres on 14.150 MHz.
At 0200 UTC, for West Australian listeners the program is transmitted simultaneously on 7088 kHz and via the linked repeater network.
At night the broadcast is repeated at 2030 hours Melbourne time on 80 metres on 3650kHz, in Tasmania at 1930 on the VK7RAA and VK7RTC networks plus a TV presentation by Tony VK7AX at 2030 hours Tasmanian time.
Full details can be found on the Club website at www.raotc.org.au including how to download the audio file if you cannot listen via radio.
Tune in tomorrow for the February RAOTC bulletin.
73 from Clive VK6CSW.
SOCIAL SCENE
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2018
FEB 18 VK3 9am WANDARC HamFest Italian Sports Club, Werribee (VK3VKT)
Feb 25 VK2 Wyong Field Day (VK2AOR)
March 25 VK3 EMDRC HamFest Great Ryrie Primary School Heathmont (VK3BQ)
April 7-8Antennapalooza 2018 - EMDRC, GGREC, MDRC & FAMPARC at Drouin in VK3 (ARNSW)
April 22 Hill Amateur Radio Group HARGFest Swapmeet 10:00-14:00 (VK6ZMS)
May 4 -7 VK4 Clairview Gathering ( between Rockhampton/Mackay ) (TARC)
July 7 GippsTech 2018 (VK3PF)
The 21st annual Gippsland Technical Conference. Focus is
primarily on weak signal VHF, UHF and microwave communications,
plus any other relevant topics. Commences with a social dinner
on Friday evening, presentations all day Saturday with Conference
Dinner in the evening and Sunday morning presentations.
vk3bez.org/
Nov 11 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest (VK5KC)
FINAL FINAL
"The things we do to stay on air"
This week's slightly weird and definitely wonderful comes from Jim VK7JH on the NW coast of VK7.
Six weeks ago, Jim, VK7JH had throat surgery and a side effect was loss of voice. The best he can manage is a whisper and even that is unreliable.
What to do?
He already had software and an interface to play the weekly news broadcasts and a quick check on the PureBasic forum gave a method of controlling the Microsoft text-to-speech engine.
It didn't take long before the two systems were joined together and text to radio was born.
If you are on the North West repeaters and hear a strange voice, we haven't been invaded by aliens, it's VK7JH's new and hopefully temporary voice at work.
The main handicap is Jim's typing speed. Expect long delays between overs.
It is also common for the Microsoft system to revert to spelling words. Even words it said correctly a minute ago will get the spelling treatment next time.
Microsoft also has a strange idea of what an Australian voice sounds like. Definitely private school.
(Thanks to Jim VK7JH for that item)
Submitting news items
A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't plug commercial
traders "on air", but we at the WIA will put your supporters in this text
edition "no worries."
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
and don't JUST send url's links but take the time to pen YOUR contribution.
To submit audio read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/
We would appreciate items no longer than 2 minutes in length as we only have
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Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being
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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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Send mail to the list unsubscribe address vk1wia-news-leave@lists.wia.org.au
You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the instructions given
in that mail to complete the unsubscription.
Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will probably
receive another message confirming your unsubscription from the list,
and at that point you should stop receiving messages.
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