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JULY 29 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
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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 JULY 29 2018.
IN OUR 23rd YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
WIA President Justin VK7TW with this week's Board Comment. -
WIA Board welcomes 16 new members including the Christmas Island
Amateur Radio Club.
THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA 2018 AND FOR WEEK OF JULY 29
ISS SSTV to be active Monday/Tuesday
The Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station are expected to
activate amateur radio Slow Scan Television transmissions on 145.800 MHz FM
during July 30 and 31
The Inter-MAI-75 SSTV experiment should be active on:
Monday, July 30 from 16:00-19:30 UT
Tuesday, July 31 from 13:25-19:15 UT
It is expected they will use the PD-120 SSTV format.
Note the ISS transmissions use 5 kHz deviation FM
ISS SSTV links for tracking and decoding software
https://amsat-uk.org/beginners/iss-sstv/
(SouthGate)
August sees the ILLW or International Lighthouse weekend but here is
a group of lights causing havoc to shipping!
The Dutch Ham Radio Society VERON, report investigators from the
Netherlands Radiocommunications Agency have discovered RF Pollution
emitted by LED lights caused the loss of AIS shipping signals around 162 MHz
In the mouth of the Waalhaven in the Nieuwe Maas in Rotterdam, ships supposedly
on the electronic map have been missing for some time.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority and skippers were completely in the dark
about the cause of this.
During an investigation the inspectors of the Radiocommunications Agency
quickly discovered in the surrounds of the Waalhaven they came to a
"work of art."
An artist had made a work of art with the help of LED lights.
All these lights appeared to be the key to the solution together with
the power supply.
In this case, the frequencies of the AIS band were by the LEDs.
After the power to the lighting was switched off, the disruption was
resolved. In retrospect, it appeared that the lighting and the power supply
exceeded the interference limits.
To prevent new failures, a solution is sought for the artist together with
the business community.
When Felix, VK4FUQ joins us we'll have more on this year's ILLW, also this
week on 'Felix's' couch he'll have Trans-Tasman Lowband contest manager
Alan VK4SN and ALARA President Shirley VK5YL.
(SouthGate)
Lunar eclipse and Martian conjunction
Friday, July 27th, was a big night for astronomy. Mars was at opposition,
making a 15-year close approach to Earth.
The full Moon and Mars were in conjunction. And, best of all, the Moon
passed through the shadow of Earth, producing the longest lunar eclipse
in a century.
Here in JimBoomBa it wasn't just the moon that seemed to 'disappear' but the
entire cosmos... and back yard.. this part of earth was 'fogged in' in a
real pea souper, such a shame!
No reports of any 'comms' with Martians, though our International newsman
Jason VK2LAW will have a story involving "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
a little later down this weeks 'StarLog.'
A new call will grace our airwaves today to bring you World Wide Special
Interest Group News, out of Victoria VK3GTV, but next VK7TW WIA President.
WIA
This is Justin VK7TW Director and President of the WIA with this week's
Board comment.
In the recent WIA Board meetings we considered the monthly membership report
and welcomed 16 new members including the Christmas Island Amateur Radio Club
as the latest club to become affiliated with the Wireless Institute of
Australia. Their callsign is VK9XX and they welcome dxpeditioners.
The Strategy Advisory Committee reported that it is about to expand with
at least three more members and have a focus on membership engagement.
We did unfortunately accept with regret the resignation of Director
Brian Clarke VK2GCE. We thank Brian for his huge contribution to the
Institute.
We accepted a generous offer from Nev Thomas VK5XD to work with our ICT team
to include the Australian Contests into the ADIF 3.0.8 specification, thanks
Nev.
The Board also accepted a report on the proof of concept of the
Ticketing System and it will now be rolled out across the organisation
to include all requests the WIA receives and resolution by the relevant
areas of the organisation.
Our international representation with the IARU saw the Board endorse
Peter VK3MV as our IARU Region3 director and the Board also endorsed
Greg VK2GPK as IARU delegate and Dale VK1DSH as IARU Observer at the
IARU Region3 conference in Korea in September.
We received our regular QSL report from the QSL manager and noted the
special handling of DXpedition cards. The committee revitalisation
continues to review and improve organisational structures. This includes
formalising a marketing group that came from the President's Lunch held
before the AGM weekend. The Finance Committee Role Description was approved
and this will be advertised soon.
We are continuing to develop a great working relationship with our
counterparts across the Tasman - the NZART with contact being made
at a range of levels.
The Board has formalised the student membership with a better definition
of what qualifies for a student membership and there will be more information
about this in future broadcasts, on the website and Facebook page.
The above only represents some of the agenda covered by your WIA Board in
the July Board meetings and the rest can be seen in the minutes that become
available for members after the first August Board meeting.
Lastly don't forget our flag ship Remembrance Day contest that will be held
over the 11th and 12th of August.
For the WIA Board this has been Justin VK7TW.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club,
ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, RAC, NZART and the World Wide sources of
the WIA.
Astro-Ham Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO, Jams with Kraftwerk .
European Space Agency Astronaut Alexander Gerst, KF 5 ONO, had the
opportunity on July 20 to sit in with German band Kraftwerk, no not on
the Autobahn but from outer-space.
He began his part of the concert by "sneaking in" the well-known five-note
melody from the film, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."
As Gerst explained, "It just fit too perfectly."
(pause for effect)
KF5ONO accompanied the four Kraftwerk musicians, each on synthesizers,
using a tablet device equipped to serve as a mini-synthesizer as part of the
Jazz Open Festival held on Schlossplatz, the largest square in Stuttgart,
Germany.
"Never thought that the first concert I [would] ever play in is with the
legendary Kraftwerk, let alone jamming live from space with them, from the
Columbus directly to Stuttgart," Gerst tweeted afterward.
He was in the ESA Columbus module for the event, the event attended by about
7,500 Earthlings.
Aleandr Gerst, KF5ONO, will be aboard the ISS until December.
THAILAND
Thailand 3rd largest ham radio nation.
As of February 2018, Thailand had the third highest number of licensed radio
amateurs in the world with a total of over 101,000
Totals by license class:
100,800 Novice (100 watts 28 MHz, 60 W 144 MHz)
703 Intermediate (200 watts all bands)
260 Advanced (1 kW)
It is only recently that Thai amateurs have been able to sit exams for the
Intermediate and Advanced licenses
RAST report for IARU Region 3 Conference
http://www.iaru-r3.org/17r3c/docs/009.docx
SCOTLAND
Scottish site selected as launch base for Lockheed Martin, Orbex
Two companies U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed Martin and Orbex, a British
start-up are seeking to carve out a share of the burgeoning small satellite
launch market and plan to fly their rockets from a remote site on the
northern shore of Scotland.
The proposed launch facility would be built on A'Mhoine Peninsula, a
sparsely-populated stretch of land overlooking the sea. The first launch
could happen in the early 2020s.
British government officials said the development of a U.K. spaceport would
give that nation's industry broader access to the space market. British
companies, such as SSTL in England and Clyde Space in Scotland, are already
counted among the global leaders in constructing small satellites.
Time travel with software defined radio
At HOPE XII, ( an event just held in New York)Thomas Witherspoon gave a talk
called "Creating a Radio Time Machine: Software-Defined Radios and
Time-Shifted Recordings", an overview of the work he's been doing recording
and cataloguing the broadcast radio spectrum.
At HOPE XII (Hackers On Planet Earth Twelve) he demonstrated how anyone
can use low cost SDR hardware to record, and later play back, whole chunks of
the AM and shortwave bands.
Rather than an audio file containing a single radio station, the method he
describes allows you to interactively tune in to different stations and
explore the airwaves as if it were live.
Read the full Hackaday article at
https://hackaday.com/2018/07/23/hope-xiii-time-travel-with-software-defined-radio/
(SouthGate)
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
August 11-12 - VK - Remembrance Day Contest
August 18-19 - WW - Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
August 25-26 - VK - ALARA YL CONTEST
October 6 - WW - Oceania DX contest
HI All, This is Alan, VK4SN,
Those who played in the Trans-Tasman Contest last weekend one would agree
it was the best Trans-Tasman seen for a while. Approximately 300 plus
operators put signals to air in really good conditions across 160, 80, and
40 meters.
One station was just a few short of 400 contacts for the 6 hour contest.
Logs closed yesterday, but if you have forgotten to send your log, I'll give
you a day's grace and accept logs today. With the new log checking software,
the results are instant at the close of logs and the results will be out by
next weekend including PDF certificates that will be available for download
from the WIA web page.
Thanks to all who participated including a good response from ZL land.
With such a great turnout in the Trans-Tasman, many have commented that the
RD looks to be an excellent weekend also. The RD is on the 11th and 12th of
August starting at 0300z Saturday and finishing at 0300z Sunday.
Logging programs now output in cabrillo 3 and logs can be uploaded to the
new log checking website or sent to rdlogs at wia.org.au
Best 73, de Alan VK4SN.
ALARA CONTEST with SHIRLEY TREGELLAS VK5YL
Yes, the ALARA contest will be on again on the last weekend of August - that
is Saturday 25th through to Sunday 26th.
Starting time is 0600 UTC, ending 24 hours later at 0559 UTC.
The rules have been changed a little, so please check on the ALARA website
www.alara.org.au and click on 'Contests' or in the ALARA newsletter for the
updates.
All YLs and OMs are in invited to take part, and we hope that the YLs
especially will come on air to enjoy this friendly contest. It is not
necessary to aim for a high score, but just to have a chat with those
we don't usually meet on air.
It has been great recently to hear many OMs and we look forward to meeting
them again this year.
How about it girls - let's make this year a great one for YL participation!
Good Luck in the ALARA Contest 73/88 Shirley VK5YL
Results for the Ted Powell Memorial DX Challenge are now published on
the contest website.
Congratulations to VK7CW for winning the Most Wanted category.
VK5GR and VK3OHM took second and third place respectively.
Congratulations also again to VK5GR for winning the Top 5 category.
VK3AWG and VK3SIM took second and third place respectively.
Full results may be viewed at the contest website.
http://www.vk2au.org/#Results
(Submitted by Peter VK2PR on behalf of the Fisher's Ghost Amateur Radio Club)
A LOOK THRU THE DX WINDOW
DXpedition team hit multiple snags
Members of the Nara DX Association are now active as V6J from the rare
IOTA Ta Islands in Micronesia (OC-254) until July 31st.
However, it was reported QRZ.com
V6J is operating from the island chief's property and one guard is watching
the V6J operation site from morning till night. Since the guard has to
go back home at night, the full midnight operation is impossible.
V6J has no choice but to accept the local rule. So the operation hour of
V6J is between 22 GMT and 14 GMT.
Another obstacle is interference to the local radio equipment that runs on
8 MHz Ta Island people communicate with other islands people twice a day
using this 8 MHz radio equipment. The problem is that not only routine
reports are exchanged, but also the Ta Island people enjoy rag chewing with
the people on the other islands and sometimes the rag chew continues over
one hour.
Since V6J gives interference to the local telecommunication, when Ta Island
people start the communication, V6J has to stop right away and all of sudden.
In the worst case, V6J might be silent for over one hour.
Christian is operational as D 44 EK from Sal Island in the
Cape Verde Archipelago from 23rd July - 7th August.
QSL to his home call, M 0 UPL
(IRTS)
Karel OK 2 ZI will be signing 3 B 8 / OK 2 ZI from Mauritius during the
period 26th July - 4th August on 160 - 10m on CW, SSB and digital.
QSL via Club Log OQRS.
(IRTS)
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED IN JULY
In the world of DX, listen for Carsten, OZ 4 CG operating through the
31st of July as OZ 4 SOP from Bornholm Island for the
'Sea Of Peace Award.'
Send QSLs via Club Log, LoTW and eQSL.
(ARNewsLine)
Eric, is active as SJ 1 SOP from Gotland Island through the 31st of
July for the Sea of Peace Award.
Send QSLs via home call, SM 1 TDE LoTW and eQSL; or search on Club Log.
(ARNEWSLINE)
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)
Radio Caroline 2018
The 'Martello Tower' group will once again be running a special event station
GB 5 RC from the Radio Caroline ship the MV Ross Revenge over a long weekend
3rd to 5th August.
They also have arranged trips out to visit the ship for a tour including
studios, transmitter room etc.
(Sourced to SouthGate)
WIA - YOUR NEWS SERVICE
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Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who utilize their time
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WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW
International Convention of CW Operators
The U-QRQ-C are holding an ' International Convention of CW Operators' on
August 24-27 near Moscow, Russia.
It will be a field-day style event and they are inviting all HAM-radio
CW operators to attend this free event BUT attendees must provide their
own outdoor sleeping gear.
Detailed information on this event is available at
https://clck.ru/DoNR2
(IRTS and SouthGate)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTA
The RSGB Islands On The Air contest is taking place this weekend,
for 24 hours from 12:00 UTC on Saturday 28th July.
80 metres to 10 metres, CW and SSB.
Don't forget the IOTA contest is a good source for contacts.
Here are some of the contacts you can make:
Be listening for Taka, JA8COE, who will be active from Hokkaido Island.
Send QSLs via JA8COE.
A number of operators on the Island of Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides
will be operating as GM7V. Send QSLs via Steve, N3SL.
Listen for Ian, G3WVG, operating as MX5A from St. Mary's on the Isles of
Scilly. QSL via LoTW and ClubLog.
Branislav, OM2FY will be operating as SV8/OM2FY from Kefalonia Island.
QSL via OM2FY.
Andreas, DL1KZA and a number of friends will be using the call sign DK3R
from Ruegen Island. QSL via DL1KZA.
(sourced to IRTS and ARNewsLine)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW
ILLW reaches 300
Almost right on cue the 300th entry for this year's International
Lighthouse Lightship Weekend event came in from Germany for the
lighthouse on the West Mole at Lindau on Lake Constance.
The lighthouse was built and operated by the railroad until they sold.
Then 8 years ago the town of Lindau acquired the lighthouse and opened it
to the public as a museum.
This year's highly popular ILLW fun event takes place on the 18-19 August.
Activity does not need to take place INSIDE the structure itself.
A Field Day-style setup at the light or other building adjacent to the
light is sufficient.
Sponsors say the intent of that requirement is to make the station visible
to visitors.
Remember it's not a contest, logs are not required and for full information
and online entry form please see https://illw.net
(ARRL and SouthGate)
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
Townsville Amateur Radio Club Communications Support
There is a full programme of Communications Support events that northern
VK4's can get involved with and have some radio fun !
If you can help out with any or all of the following please contact VK4ZZ
This weekend sees 28/29 sees both the Maggie Island Swim and the 3rd round of
King of the Hill Hillclimb.
Fri 31 Aug to Sun 2 Sept - WRERA Euri Gold Farms Winter Harvest Harness
Endurance Rides - Bowen Region
Then Sunday 23 September King of the Hill Hillclimb Round 4
(TARC)
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- STAMP COLLECTING AMATEURS
radiostamps@yahoogroups.com
FABIO FLOSI, PU 2 KLM says on July 9th, 2018, the Postal Administration
of Indonesia issued a pair of stamps to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the ORARI - Indonesian Amateur Radio Organization.
One First Day Cover with the 2 stamps and a commemorative cancellation
was also issued.
On March 21st, 2018, the Postal Administration of Italy issued a stamp
to honour Giuseppe Impastato, also known as Peppino (Jan 5th, 1948 -
May 9th, 1978).
Peppino was an Italian political activist who opposed the Mafia, which
ordered his murder in 1978.
The 0.95 Euro stamp shows a portrait of Impastato. In the foreground there
is the inscription "Radio Aut", founded by him in 1977.
Radio Aut was a radio station he set up to satirise the Mafia and air very
fresh and confidential anti-mafia news.
The role played by Radio Aut in the Impastato affair finds an authoritative
confirmation in the proceedings of the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission and
his story, that of Peppino, as well as that of the radio from which he
proclaimed his war on the mafia, was told in the film entitled
" I cento passi ", which was winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the
2000 Venice Film Festival.
As has been said many times 'where ever you go there's radio.'
(SOURCED IN PART TO FABIO FLOSI - PU2KLM)
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- SUMMITS ON THE AIR
www.sotawatch.org
www.sota.org.uk
Tony VK3KKP in the Central Victorian Amateur Radio Newsletter advises of a
Sota Sprint, this Sunday 29 July 2018 from 2 till 4pm.
This is a SOTA activator and chaser sprint activity day
2 metre and six metre SSB activity period operating under SOTA rules.
Spotting on Facebook: VKFF, SOTA & ALL ACTIVATIONS
The SOTA event is particularly aimed at clubs and individuals in
central Victoria.
(wia web)
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight)
The locals in VK7 have welcomed Rex VK7MO back to the state after his
Grid Square activation extravaganza!
Rex has over 150 grid squares on 10GHz EME these days and we've came to the
conclusion that he is addicted to grid squares. This was due to his
explanation of what happened after the WIA AGM.
Rex left the Gold Coast and thought, "I'll just do the next grid square"
and after that he thought "I'll just do the next grid square".
Well Rex then found himself only 30km from the tip of Cape York !
Maybe the locals will organise a "Square Dance" to welcome Rex home!
(vk7wi news)
Social Scene 2018
July 28 was/will be QRP by the Bay on Chelsea Beach near Victory Park
Aug 4 VK3 Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club HamFest (vk3bft)
Sept 8 VK4 SUNSHINE COAST HAMFEST WOOMBIE SCHOOL OF ARTS (vk4kx)
Sept 21-23 VK4 Central Highlands AR Club AGM weekend Lake Maraboon (TARC)
Sep 28-Oct 1 VK4 Cardwell Gathering (TARC)
Nov 11 VK5 - Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest
Nov 17 VK7 - VK7Hamfest Miena Community Centre (vk7wi)
Nov 18 VK3 - The Rosebud RadioFest (vk3pdg)
2019 Social Scene
May 3 - 6 VK4 - Claireview Gathering, between Mackay and Rockhampton (tarc)
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WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide.
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