April 29 2018 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA
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THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK
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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING APRIL 29 2018.
IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
WIA Board has concerns in managing communications with you.
THIS STORY AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF APRIL 29
First, there was Mills On The Air, then Summits on The Air, Museums, Scouters,
even train riders.
Now, just when you thought it was safe to come out, comes.. wait for it - WMPLOTA
WMPLOTA?
Walmart Parking Lots On The Air
WMPLOTA is a special event and award scheme for amateur radio satellite operators
that encourages the practice of portable operation in the ubiquitous and easily
accessible location of Walmart parking lots.
Maybe here in VK it will be known as ' Westfield' ? just make sure you pay the
parking fee if you intend n long QSO's!
WMPLOTA 2018 takes place April 28 and April 29
http://wmplota.org/
(SouthGate)
The VK4RDS Dstar repeater sited at Maleny around 60 km north of Brisbane near the
Sunshine coast has been converted to MMDVM on VHF repeater TX is 147.7375 MHz and
RX is 146.1375 mhz.
Details a little further down the log and I'd suggest you read the text edition
of WIA National News for Mark VK4KZK's very detailed explanation of the linking.
The Darwin Amateur Radio Club held its annual general meeting recently.
In his Annual Report the President Brian VK8BL advised that the club would try to
increase participation in contests, including John Moyle, International
Lighthouse and Lightships as well as participation in some special events.
The report noted that NT based clubs are starting well behind southern
counterparts, but participation is the key element.
At its AGM meeting the president was re-elected but we also saw a couple of new
faces that have been elected to the club executive.
The committee for the next 12 months will be: -
Chair: VK8BL Brian Bates
Vice Chair: VK8BN Gary Gibson
Secretary: VK8ZI Paula Chappel
Treasurer: VK8RW Ray West
Public Officer: VK8VWA Phil Brennan
Station Manager: VK8RR Richie Chappel, and
Committee: VK8AL John Matthews,
VK8NTF Tom Fitzgerald,
VK8RD Rowan Dollar.
In his Annual Report the President encouraged the incoming committee to be
active and to promote club activities to members in 2018.
The Darwin Amateur Radio Club meets on the first Wednesday of each month.
Details on the club web site VK8DA.com
The club re-broadcasts the WIA broadcast on Sunday mornings and call backs are
taken after the broadcast.
There is a new 80 metre net on Tuesday evenings at 1030UTC on 3602Khz contact
Phil VK8VWA who hosts the net.
There is also a regular club activity meet on Thursday mornings at 10.00am at the
club house. Visitors are always welcome.
This is Peter VK8ZZ for the Darwin Amateur Radio Club
WIA
Hello folks, Brian, VK2GCE here.
I want to share some concerns the Board has in managing communications with you.
You may be:
an old-time radio amateur
a middle-aged volunteer who want to help the WIA
a newly licensed amateur
or you're just interested to learn what amateur radio is all about and possibly
want to find out how to become a licensed operator.
On the one hand there are many young, potential radio amateurs who use computers
and digital media quite fluently for their daily sustenance. US radio amateurs
have telephone patch devices available, so that a phone subscriber can chat with a
ham who has such a patch, and then join in an on-air conversation, without the
benefit of an amateur licence. And there are many digital products exploding onto
the radio scene, possibly starting with the modems we use to connect our computers
to the Internet - and Software-defined Radio. These three streams - patching,
modems and SDR - have developed and begun to converge.
As we discovered with the Product Market survey, there was almost no response from
people under 30 years of age. These are the people for whom the present content of
the linear, monolithic syllabus has little of interest or value and yet who
consume social media like it was mother's milk - it can't harm you can it?
On the other hand, there are older folk who have many connections via email and
Internet interest groups, who would dearly like to be sure their personal details,
like credit card numbers, bank account details, extra-curricular dalliances, stay
private. My credit card provider is in the process of reimbursing me for over
$1000 of charges made by so-called service providers from all over the world, to
whom I gave no permission. This is the 3rd time in 2 years I've had to change
credit cards to get around further fraud and theft. And I've just suffered a
Ransomware attack whose decryption, after paying the ransom, still left
considerable damage.
Am I concerned about IT security?
When the new Board started last May, we directors faced a tsunami of requests for
instantaneous clarification of all manner of things. Because amateur radio is such
a multi-faceted hobby, at first it was difficult for us to see the wood for the
trees that, like the flu virus, kept self-replicating while continuously mutating.
So, we started writing Policies, Terms of Reference, Rules and Procedures. These,
together with the Ticketing system we are prototyping at Head Office, have started
to clear the air. However, as any good cyber security expert will tell you,
Policies, Terms of Reference and so on, are no defence against people determined
to get your data.
Presently the Board is working on documentation for the WIA's management of IT and
security. But with all the push to use social media like Facebook, and the recent
scare over Cambridge Analytica's alleged non-breach of member privacy and security
I wonder just how far we need to go.
Should we set up systems that are impregnable, fool-proof and last forever?
Or should we, like governments in Australia and overseas, take a Risk Management
approach?
This will be the basis of the WIA's IT Security Policy.
If you want to assist, let us know, but please, no tsunamis. 73 de Brian, VK2GCE.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club,
ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART, Local News Services VK2, 7 and the
WW sources of the WIA including VK2FKND
Beijing authorizes 60m from July 1
CRAC report the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing has
announced that on July 1 radio amateurs will have access to the 5 MHz (60m)
WRC-15 band
Thanks to SouthGate Amateur Radio Club a Google translation of the CRAC website
reads:
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published the latest version
of the "PRC Radio Frequency Division Regulations" in the form of Decree 46. This
revision was made in accordance with the Radio Regulations of the People's
Republic of China, the 2016 edition of the Radio Regulations adopted by the
ITU World Radio Conference 2015, and the development of our radio service.
According to the newly promulgated "Regulations of the People's Republic of China
for Radio Frequency Division," since July 1 this year, amateur radio amateurs in
China will be able to set up amateur radio stations in the frequency band of
5351.5-5366.5 kHz, which will be used as a secondary service conditionally.
Source http://www.crac.org.cn/?p=4790
Changes also in the wind for Norwegian Hams
Norway's communications regulator Nkom is consulting on changes to the amateur
radio regulations and among the planned changes is allowing 1 kW output at
VHF/UHF for EME or Meteor Scatter operation.
The ARRL reports Brian Justin, WA1ZMS, in Virginia, has completed contacts on
all 29 US amateur radio bands
On April 11, he completed a CW contact on the new 2200-meter band with K3MF in
Pennsylvania, wrapping up a sweep of completed contacts on all 29 Amateur Radio
bands. Justin is a bit of an old school guy he worked K3MF on CW, and now he's
awaiting a QSL card. A paper QSL card.
Justin said he started working his way through the bands at the high end of the
spectrum, those allocations above 24 GHz. "By the time 2002 came around, I had
managed to have built enough millimetre-wave gear to complete formal QSOs, with
QSL cards, on all the bands at the time," he told ARRL. "On the bands above 24 GHz
I had to build two stations and pass one off to K2AD, W4WWQ, or WA4RTS to be on
the other ends of these VUCCs and QSOs."
To consider it a valid contact, Justin said he used the New England Weak Signal
Group (NEWS) guideline of at least a 1-kilometer distance on each band. "While at
first this seems very easy, very few hams have even had a QSO across a benchtop
on bands like 134 GHz, much less over 1 kilometre," he said.
By 2003, Justin had confirmed contacts (and paper QSLs) on each band from 1.8 MHz
to 300 GHz. He submitted his cards to NEWS, which presented him with a framed
award and plaque the very first "Worked All Bands Award."
Since then, a few ham bands have changed. For example, the 2.5-millimeter band
shifted from 120 GHz to 122 GHz, and the 2-millimeter band moved down from
145 GHz to 134 GHz. "In order to stay current with the award, I built gear for
those new allocations as well and made QSOs, VUCCs, and more DX," he said.
NOAA 'TAPS' the KEG
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has named Kenneth Graham,
WX 4 KEG, as head of the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.
WX4KEG picked up the reins from Deputy/Acting Director Ed Rappaport.
Preparations at the NHC continue ahead of the 2018 hurricane season, which begins
on June 1, following 2017's historic tropical weather season.
Just last Thursday, April 26, saw International Girls in Information and
Telecommunication Technologies Day.
"Girls Can Do ICT!" was the theme of International Girls in Information and
Telecommunication Technologies Day, an initiative of the International
Telecommunication Union and aimed to "create a global environment that empowers
and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the growing ICT field,
" the ITU said.
International Girls in ICT Day will be celebrated every year on the fourth
Thursday of April.
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
April 21 - WW - INTERNATIONAL MARCONI DAY
April 25 - VK/ZL AM CW for ANZAC DAY
April 28-29 - VK - AMRO Weekend
May 12-13 - WW - Mills On The Air
June 2- 3 - WW - MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND
This will run from 00 Zulu Saturday, June 2 to 2359 Zulu
June 3. This event is hosted by the battleship New Jersey
amateur radio club and involves over 100 museum ships
registered for the event from around the world.
This is not a contest but rather an event to highlight the
work done in preserving these historic vessels and the Amateur
clubs who will be operating these stations. On some, the
original radio equipment will be used, some requiring AM mode.
GOOGLE; "MUSEUM SHIPS WEEKEND" Bands and frequencies are
mentioned on the site, including for PSK 31 users.
If you're lucky enough to contact 15 of the registered vessels
and it is confirmed by cross checking logbook entries you are
eligible to apply for a certificate.
A visit to the site will provide the latest list of ships and
call signs registered for the event.
The RADAR club of Rockhampton and District will be activating
Museum Ship HMAS Gladstone for the first time for this event
and invites all operators in the Gladstone and Central
Queensland area on the weekend to make contact and get
involved.
VK4FRAL is coordinating HMAS Gladstone operations and more
operators are required.
The HMAS Gladstone, A Fremantle Class Patrol Boat launched in
1984 and retired in 2007 is likely to be the only museum ship
in Australia involved in the event.
(Ray Mulder VK4FRAL via Clive VK4ACC)
June 17 - IARU R3 - 2018 QRP Day Region 3
August 11-12 - VK - Remembrance Day Contest
August 18-19 - WW - Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
October 6 - WW - Oceania DX contest
THE DX EDGE
VI 4 GAMES
Yes whilst the Commonwealth games have drawn to a close, making contact with
the special event station VI 4 GAMES is still possible right up until the 31st
of May when the licence issued by the ACMA expires.
VI 50 IARU 3
IARU Region 3 has 39-member countries and to help celebrate the formation
50 years ago, the WIA has been able to secure a special call sign VI50IARU3
which will be on air until 31st August.
(sourced to memnet)
Royal Wedding - Prince Harry to Ms. Meghan Markle
Something special for our loyal Royalists listening in, it's the first use of the
'GR9' prefix in the United Kingdom
GR9RW 19th - 23rd May 2018
Ofcom has issued this unique 'Special Event Call sign' to be used from 19th to 23rd
May inclusive, and we believe it may be the first time that the 'GR9' prefix has
ever been active.
The special callusing GR9RW will be active for five days in May to mark the
occasion of the Royal Wedding between HRH. Prince Harry and Ms. Megan Markle
due to take place on 19th May 2018 at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in
England.
GR9RW will primarily use SSB and CW, and additionally FM on the VHF and UHF bands.
Two HF stations and one VHF station will be active and will cover all bands from
80m to 70cm.
A very special QSL card will be sent on request.
(Sourced to SouthGate)
Japanese Special Event
Look for special event station, 8 J 1 ITU, to be on the air from Japan between
1500z, on April 30th, and 1459z, on May 31st.
Activity is to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of the ITU (World
Telecommunication and Information Society Day - May 17th).
8 J 1 ITU is operated by the Japan ITU Amateur Radio Club during the month of
May every year. This activity counts for Japan Honshu Island (AS-007,
JIIA AS-007-001, WLOTA 2376), as well as Kasumigaura City (Japan JCC# 1430).
QSL via the Bureau (JARL) or eQSL.
THE QNEWS WORK BENCH - the nuts and volts report - Measure Twice cut Once.
The VK4RDS Dstar repeater sited at Maleny around 60 km north of Brisbane near the
Sunshine coast has been converted to MMDVM on VHF repeater TX is 147.7375 MHz and
RX is 146.1375 mhz.
This means the one repeater can accept inputs on Dstar, P25, DMR and Yaesu Fusion
and NXDN is coming soon.
There are dedicated links out to DMR, Fusion and P25 and Dstar can be linked and
unlinked to various Dstar repeaters or reflectors.
Dstar is linked to DCS028 Q,
APCO 25 is connected to talk group 10400 with NAC of 293.
The DMR is linked to connected XLX 389 Master and on the BrandMeister
BM_Australia_5051 network.
Yaesu Fusion is connected to 04201-AU YSF001-1st WW YSF
The UHF is in the process of becoming a MMDVM repeater as well and hopefully will
be operational in another couple of weeks. Some antenna modifications will also be
taking place in the very near future
Mark Kyle VK4KZK
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video
arvideonews.com
hamradiotube.com
youtube.com
qdg.org.au
Thousands of slow-scan television enthusiasts around the globe enthusiastically
tracked the International Space Station to download commemorative SSTV images
transmitted as part of the ARISS-Russia Cosmonautics Day (International Day of
Human Space Flight) celebration April 11 - 15.
Stations who received SSTV images from the Cosmonautics Day event can apply for
a special certificate and upward of 9,000 images relating to the 40th anniversary
of the Interkosmos Project period of the Soviet space program have been posted
for viewing
Another ARISS-Russia SSTV event is planned for May.
(sourced to arrl letter)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- BIKER RADIO
Amateur Radio is on a roll here in Australia, well certainly in VK3.
Now when we say "roll" we do mean roll.
Hams are rolling out their bicycles, their trikes and even their velomobiles and
going places. Of course they're not going anywhere without their trusty rigs.
Members of a month-old online group called Pedal Radio have been promoting the
combination of push power and foot power with the idea that fitness leads to
fellowship - and probably more than a few good QSOs. There is even a homebrew
aspect to the group, as some members share their tips for building your own trike.
Most of the members right now are in VK3.
If you want to try talking coast-to-coast while you're....coasting.....this group
wouldn't mind if you rolled on in.
Send a post to group's address pedalradio at groups dot io.
(pedalradio@groups.io via ARNewsLine)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL
A lot of hams tend to discount the newer digital modes, mainly for the reasoning
that they depend on the Internet to link to reflectors, or master servers in the
case of DMR, somehow making them not ham radio. That argument usually extends to
the contingency scenario of a loss of infrastructure, such as telephone, Internet,
cell phones, etc.
Those same hams seem to think that a DMR repeater becomes a paper weight; nothing
can be further from the truth.
Writing in a recent edition of the ARES newsletter, Greg Horine, N9PBD, Trustee,
KD9JNB Multi-Mode Digital Repeater Southwestern Illinois Digital Group says 'DMR
(as we use it) is a Time Domain Multiple-Access (TDMA) protocol that provides
two voice/data channels in the same spectrum space as a narrowband analogue voice
channel. A DMR repeater will continue to function as a conventional (non-Internet
linked) repeater if the Internet is not available, repeating both timeslots the
same way it would with the network up.
DMR provides emergency communicators with twice the number of channels in the
same bandwidth (actually less) as an analogue repeater. It also allows emergency
coordinators and communicators to segment their traffic by talkgroups, providing
even more capability
YLs Around the World
When in Doubt Blame the Women, introducing Peggy Whitson, formerly KC5ZTD.
Peggy was commander of an all women flight crew aboard the International Space
Station.
In 2017, Whitson became the first female astronaut to command the International
Space Station, twice. On April 24, 2017, Whitson broke the record for most total
days spent in space by any NASA astronaut, at more than 534 days.
Her all female flight crew were famously blamed by the Russian space agency chief
Anatoly Perminov when their Soyez craft suffered a ballistic re-entry and landed
400 kilometres off-course. It was later established that the re-entry was caused
by a problem that had occurred with Soyuz craft on previous flights.
http://www.parabolicarc.com/2008/04/20/when-in-doubt-blame-the-women/
I'm Kimberly Olsen VK2KMI
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
FEMA, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency has invited the whole USA
community to participate in a national level Exercise. FEMA is an ARRL Partner.
FEMA is conducting its 2018 National Level Exercise for the whole community and
invites other government agencies, representatives and organizations in the
private sector, communities, and individuals to participate in this historic
exercise.
The 2018 National Level Exercise (NLE), based on a mid-Atlantic hurricane
scenario, represents one key step towards implementing FEMA's recently released
2018-2022 Strategic Plan.
The ARRL has had a longstanding relationship with the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, formalized in its most recent memorandum of understanding.
The 2018 National Level Exercise, which takes place April 30-May 11, is the first
major exercise following the release of the plan. The exercise will test lessons
learned from the 2017 hurricane season.
(ARES)
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - WORLD WIDE FLOA AND FAUNA (parks) PROGRAM
https://www.wwffaustralia.com/
Keep an ear out May 12 for lots of VK7 activity as they hold their special
VK7 day in association with this program.
To get involved and find out more, please visit Jon VK7JON's website that
can be found on the email edition of this broadcast.
www.vk7jon.com.
(sourced to vk7wi news)
Social Scene 2018
May 4 - 7 - VK4 Clairview Gathering ( between Rockhampton/Mackay )
May 12 - VK3 Moorabbin & District Radio Club HamFest (VK3GL)
May 18 - 20 - VK WIA Radio & Electronics Convention & AGM Gold Coast
June 2 - VK4 Redcliffe and Districts Radio Club's REDFEST 8.30AM (VK4TFN)
June 9 & 10 - VK5 2018 South East Radio Group's Convention and
Australian Fox Hunting Championship - Mt Gambier
June 9 & 10 -VK2 Oxley Region ARC Field Weekend - Oxley Radio ARC
July 7 & 8 - VK3 GippsTech 2018 The 21st annual Gippsland Technical
Conference vk3bez.org
August 4 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club HamFest (vk3bft)
Nov 11 VK5 - Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest
Nov 17 VK7 - VK7Hamfest Miena Community Centre (vk7wi)
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