May 12 2019 - 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 May 12 2019
IN OUR 24th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS
WIA AGM DELEGATES LIVE AT DURAL MAY 26.
THIS & MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE
WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA 2019
AND FOR WEEK OF MAY 12 2019
On Sunday the 26 th May - some delegates from the WIA AGM - which is
being held in Sydney - will be in attendance at the VK2WI Dural site
during the morning VK2WI news bulletin. It is planned to have a live
report from some of the delegates.
Next weeks national bulletin will have details of the transmission
frequencies and expected time of the report. ...
WIA AGM weekend 26th of May at the ParkRoyal, Darling Harbour
The past year has been a tumultuous time for education and
qualification processes within our hobby. Join Liz Billiau, VK2SXE
for a dive into the past, present and future of education with the
WIA.
VK2SXE is a medical practitioner with 40 years experience and holds
a Master of Education completed in 2016. She is a Clinical Senior
Lecturer for the University of Wollongong and an examiner for the
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
Liz has 10 years of experience on not for profit boards and over
30 years of experience in Amateur Radio.
Don't miss Liz VK2SXE at the AGM/Conference.
Raffy VK2RF will have more on the AGM later in this newscast.
EDUCATION
US Exams in Sydney
OzVE will be running US Exams in the lead up to the WIA AGM, but
available to any interested person.
What use is a US-call, I hear you ask? They give you a simpler call
while travelling, including the option of a vanity call; they allow
you to operate some great RemoteHamRADIO.com stations; and they
allow you become a Volunteer Examiner.
On Thursday, 23rd OzVE will be at Engadine McDonalds, in "The Shire",
from 6:30 pm.
On Friday, 34th the session will be at St Peters McDonalds, on the
corner of Bishop Street, from 11:30 am.
Both are near railway stations bearing the suburb name, while
St Peter's is a short taxi trip from the airport.
Further information is available at: veexams.com
For WIA National News, this is Julian VK2YJS and AG6LE.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club,
ARRL, RAC, NZART AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE & the World Wide sources of
the WIA.
AO-91 Anomaly on April 30th Resolved
Around 0500 UTC on April 30, 2019, several operators, including
BX2ABT and K4KDR, reported that AO-91's FM repeater was not passing
transmissions. WA4SCA reported that the voice ID beacon signal was
normal, but when the repeater was brought up, there was an odd signal
with no telemetry.
At approximately 1608 UTC, AMSAT Vice President of Operations Drew
Glasbrenner, KO4MA, commanded an IHU reset which resolved the issue.
Burns Fisher, WB1FJ, from the AMSAT Flight Software team believes
that "some bits got flipped in the data for the software high pass
filter, which would explain why there was trash in what should have
been the telemetry audio frequency band (below 200 Hz)."
INDIA
HAMS HELP WOMAN DISPLACED FOR DECADE
Imagine being displaced from your home for a decade or more:
A tribal woman in India was reunited with the family she'd not seen
in more than a decade after ham radio operators were asked to
step in.
Members of the West Bengal Radio Club assisted the woman after a
state hospital where she'd been treated more than a month earlier
asked club members to intervene. Ambarish, VU2JFA the club's
secretary, told local media that hospital management informed
the hams that they could not determine her identity because they did
not understand her language.
They were hoping to send her home but did not know where home was.
The hams circulated a recording of her speech and with the help of
one ham located villagers whose language was similar. The villagers
reported that the woman had been missing for as many as 12 years.
On Sunday the 21st of April, she departed for home to the village,
where residents had said they would welcome her and look after her.
According to the Millennium Post newspaper, some family members
there had long since died. Subir, VU3ZSD, the radio club's president,
said that police accompanied her on her journey home at last.
MAURITIUS
Jean Marc Momple, 3 B 8 DU reports that the first 3 B 8 satellite
project, MIR-SAT1, is moving in the right direction.
3B8 Radio Amateurs are deeply involved with the project and this has
already created a new generation of potential hams, about 7 more
candidates taking the exams in beginning May with at least 5 only
due to the "bird".
In spite the figure may seems low, there are only about 20 active
hams in 3B8.
The first secondary school has built a receiving ground station
and already are receiving LEO signals.
This is a pilot project which will be extended to many schools in
the coming months and surely create motivation for hundreds of
students to become HAMs.
The project has the full support of the Mauritius Government and
fully financed by the Mauritius Research Council which is a
non-profit organization for the development of science and
technological innovation.
MOUNT ATHOS
Mount Athos' best-known radio amateur, Monk Apollo, SV 2 ASP, died
May 5 after complications resulting from cancer. He was 64.
Monk Apollo was essentially the lone DX voice from Mount Athos,
the 20th most-wanted DXCC entity, where he operated from his
Orthodox Monastery.
He became a monk in 1973, eventually joining the ascetic monastery
on Mount Athos in 1980. When the need for reliable communication
surfaced, the Monk become a radio amateur, in 1988.
He had to wait for permission from the Holy Council to operate,
before he was able to get on the air for the first time in 1990.
SWITZERLAND
ITU-R WORKING PARTY 5A MEETING IN GENEVA
IARU Region 1 reported that two of ITU-R Study Group 5 Working
Groups met in Geneva between 29 April and Friday just gone, May 10.
Working Party 5A deals with the Land mobile service above 30 MHz
wireless access in the fixed service and the amateur and
amateur-satellite services.
Working Group 5A1, responsible for amateur matters is chaired by
WIA's Dale Hughes VK1DSH.
The main topic was to finalise a technical report on spectrum
requirements and sharing to support the work for World
Radiocommunication Conference 2019 Agenda Item 1.1, considering
an allocation of the frequency band 50 to 54 MHz to the amateur
service in Region 1.
The Working Group consists of a mix of radio amateurs and
administrations from all over the world and other interested parties
like meteorologists and military.
UNITED KINGDOM
At the RSGB AGM in Birmingham, April 28, two awards were made in
recognition of work related to the amateur radio transponders on the
geostationary satellite Es'hail-2 / QO-100.
The prestigious Louis Varney Cup for Advances in Space Communication
was awarded to Peter, DB2OS for his leadership of the team
responsible for the Qatar-OSCAR-100 mission which is now in service.
The Fraser Shepherd Award for Research into Microwave Applications
for Radio Communication was awarded to 4 British hams, G8GKQ, M0DNY,
G8GTZ and G3VZV for enabling access for all the amateur radio
community to QO-100 by developing and installing a Narrow Band
transponder WebSDR, and wide band transponder spectrum monitor.
USA
Hams Help Trace "Mystery" Signal Disrupting Keyless Entry Devices
A recent article in The New York Times reported that many garage
door openers and keyless vehicle entry fobs in an Ohio town near
Cleveland mysteriously stopped working.
While the article invoked The X-Files and hinted initially that a
NASA research center somehow could be involved, the cause was not so
much mystifying as arcane.
The source of the problem was a homebrew, battery-operated device
designed by a local resident to alert him if someone was upstairs,
when he was working in his basement," the Times reported.
"It did so by turning off a light."
The inventor, who had no malicious intent, had no inkling that his
device was wreaking havoc on the neighborhood until a knockon his
door.
The device operated on 315 MHz, the frequency many keyless-entry
devices use, thee device's battery was removed, the signal stopped,
and all who were involved breathed sighs of relief.
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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
2019
IARU HF World Championship 13-14 July.
Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest July 20
VK Remembrance Day Contest is August 17-18
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MILLS ON THE AIR
No not our good mate TIM MILLS from ARNSW but always this second
weekend in May is time for the 'Mills on the Air' activity.
During this weekend many Mills (wind and water) will be active on
the radio.
In the Netherlands it is known as National Windmill and Pumping
Station weekend and in the UK, it is part of the National Mills
Weekend.
(sourced to the sarl)
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NZART Sangster Shield Contest 2019
The 2019 NZART Sangster Shield Contest is to be held Saturday
18 & Sunday 19 May 2000hrs - 2300hrs NZST each evening.
Rules for this year are unchanged since those published in the
2016 April/May Break In and as per the NZART website:-
http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contest-rules/rules-sangster-shield/
This is a 80 metre CW only contest for entrants with power output
up to 5 watts pep.
On VERY interesting aspect of this contest is that the
"Transistor Trophy" entry criteria allows first time Sangster
entrants, rather than just newly licensed operators.
EVEN previous participants are fine to enter in this section if you
have NOT ever submitted a previous contest entry.
(nzart)
The Radio Society of Great Britain has organised an International
Amateur Radio Marathon on the HF bands to celebrate the
International Cricket Council (ICC) Cricket World Cup which is being
held in England and Wales between 30 May and 14 July 2019.
UK and International callsigns will be activated on 9 HF bands using
SSB, CW and Digital. From the UK they will be activating 31 special
callsigns including eleven for the famous Cricket Grounds that will
be used in England and Wales and ten for the teams that are
participating, including GB 19 NZ for New Zealand.
The UK callsigns will all have the prefix GB19 with a two or three
letter suffix.
RSGB say " We have special stations participating from Australia,
VK 19 AUS and South Africa ZS 19 CWC among the competing countries."
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THRU THE DX WINDOW
(read the numerals 64 as sixty four)
This year's Eurovision Song Contest is being held in Tel Aviv,
Israel and to mark the occasion 5 special event callsigns are
on air until 18th May.
Listen for 4 Z 64 EURO
4 X 64 S
4 X 64 O
4 X 64 N and
4 X 64 G.
(irts)
To celebrate World Telecommunication and Information Society Day
May 17 a special station, 8 J 1 ITU, will be on the air throughout
May from the Japanese island of Honshu. QSL via the Bureau.
(irts)
FREE DV QSO PARTY:
POOR PROPAGATION, BRIGHT OUTLOOK
In this recent global QSO party, the spirit of amateur radio
experimentation was strong even if propagation was wanting.
Amateur Radio Newsline are reporting just days after the second
FreeDV QSO Party was held on April 27th and 28th, the event's
Australian sponsor reported active participation on four continents
but challenging band conditions that kept most QSOs regional.
The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group VK5ARG noted however that its
own log reflected that about half of the contacts made were likely
newcomers to the mode.
"That alone made the event a roaring success in our eyes."
In South America Hams in Argentina kept logs showing contacts
made on 20, 40 and 80 metres FreeDV, an HF digital voice mode,
is the creation of David VK5DGR.
Go to freedv (dot) org for more information.
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WIRELESS WEATHER
The Mystery of Geomagnetic Jerks
In the late 1970s, researchers realized something strange was
happening to Earth's magnetic field.
From time to time, without any gusts of solar wind to cause it,
global magnetic fields would "jerk," suddenly accelerating in one
direction or another.
A big jerk in 2014/2015 prompted officials to update the
World Magnetic Model years ahead of schedule. A new model of Earth's
interior, just published in Nature Geoscience, may explain this
phenomenon, possibly solving a 40 year mystery.
Get the full story on Spaceweather.com
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WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ATV (Every pixel tells a story) -
arvideonews.com
hamradiotube.com
youtube.com
qdg.org.au
Even MORE RSGB Convention videos released
The RSGB have released more YouTube videos of presentations given
at their 2018 Convention in Milton Keynes
The latest releases are:
PI4: the Digital mode for beacons and why it is a success
this by Bo Hansen OZ2M
VHF Balums - Fact and Fancy by Ian White GM3SEK
Watch on the RSGB YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRSGB
(southgate)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- COMPUTERS
Arduino and RF from kHz to 1 GHz
RFzero - a multipurpose Arduino RF and GPS controlled platform, can
generate frequencies from 2605 Hz and beyond 200 MHz.
At the same time 28 In/Out pins are available and eight of those are
via an ULN 2803 A power driver.
For more information please visit http://rfzero.net
The typical use of the RFzero is as a beacon or as a low cost 10 MHz
GPSDO.
A dozen of example programs in sketches are integrated into the
Arduino IDE.
The RFzero has been developed for radio amateurs, RF enthusiasts and
everyone else who wants to extend the Arduino skills in combination
with RF.
(SouthGate)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER
It was some 50 years ago, 1969 in June, that AMSATS Perry Klein,
K3JTE reported in their newsletter that the Australis-Oscar A
satellite (the first AMSAT undertaking) had been delivered to
Goddard Space Center and was undergoing final tests.
Hams were advised to monitor W1AW for bulletins as the launch date
approached.
Move on 50 years from W1AW to our own ABC
AUSTRALIS OSCAR 5, THE ABC's CONVERSATIONS & 8.4 MILLION CANE TOADS?
Peter Wolfenden VK3RV, WIA Historian tellus that a book about
Space Junk, recently written by Australian Space Archaeologist,
Dr. Alice Gorman was reviewed and discussed in the ABC's radio
program "Conversations" last month.
The official definition of Space Junk is along the lines of:
"Something that does not now, or in the foreseeable future, have a
purpose".
About half way through the 52 minute program, up popped "Australis
Oscar 5" and a conversation surrounding it, Australia's first
conceived, designed and built satellite.
Dr. Gorman and Fidler had "done their homework" about AO-5.
They knew when and where it was built during the mid 1960's and the
fact that it was ready for launch in 1967. Dr. Gorman suggested
that AO-5, still orbiting the Earth is part of Australia's space
heritage. It 'could' be considered as space junk, but then she went
onto suggest that it does indeed have a "future foreseeable purpose",
for now it also has Cultural significance:
It represents Australia.
It was a Community Amateur Volunteer Project.
It was a useful project of co-operation world wide.
And it is not a big collision risk.
It is estimated between 23,000 and 29,000 bits of stuff larger than
10 cm and millions and millions of pieces smaller than 10 cm exist.
A very Queensland assessment of space junk weight was:
more than 8.4 million Cane Toads!
The Cane Toad Index is possibly quite appropriate as cane toads
are spreading out of control and effecting our Earthly environment,
not unlike unwanted space junk!
Keep an eye out in our journal AR Magazine for Peter, VK3RV's
very interesting read.
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
IARU Region 1 3760 7110 14300 18160 21360 kHz
IARU Region 2 3750 3985 7060 7240 7275 14300 18160 21360 kHz
CYCLONE SEASON
Radio hams help Odisha communicate
The Indian Express reports radio amateurs were called to Odisha
by that state's disaster management authority in response to
cyclone Fani
The newspaper says:
A medical representative, a driver with an app-based cab service,
and a technician in a pathological laboratory these three amateur
radio operators from West Bengal have been called to Odisha and will
be the last line of defence when all communications failed after
Cyclone Fani struck Odisha.
They are using both HF and VHF to communicate from affected spots to
state government control room and from control room to Delhi.
Back in Kolkata, Ambarish, VU 2 JFA, who works in a milk processing
company, and his daughter Saborni a Class XII student are among
the people manning their HAM radio stations helping the three relay
messages to Delhi.
(southgate)
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - VHF AND ABOVE (The Plumbers Delight)
UK 241 GHz record broken twice in one day
On the Groupsio UKMicrowaves list Chris G0FDZ reports that the
UK distance record for a contact on the 241 GHz band was broken
twice on April 30 when Roger G8CUB/P worked Chris G0FDZ/P first
over a 7.36 km path from West Tilbury to Higham.
Roger then moved to Thurrock Thameside and worked Chris at Higham
over a 9.33 km path.
The first contact was completed on SSB with signals averaging
56 each way and over the second path (which was over more of the
Thames) CW signals were exchanged at the 549/ 529 level.
Fading of up to two S points was certainly noticeable on each
occasion.
See the post at
https://groups.io/g/UKMicrowaves/message/49729
(southgate)
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REWIND
Radio Experiments by Colonel Dennis EI2B
I.R.T.S. reports Colonel Meade Dennis, who lived near Baltinglass,
Co. Wicklow, began experimenting with radio transmission in 1898,
making him probably the first amateur radio experimenter in the
world !!
His first call sign was D N X.
Following Irish independence he was issued with the call sign
GW 11 B, becoming EI 2 B in 1928 when the Irish Free State began
issuing EI call signs.
Colonel Dennis continued with his radio experiments until his death
in 1945. The house in which he lived and undertook most of his
experiments was recently sold by his great-grandchildren.
The radio equipment belonging to EI 2 B has been donated to the
Computer and Communications Museum of Ireland, at Galway.
Robert EI 5 KH and Joe EI 7 GY, on behalf of I.R.T.S. recently
assisted the family in identifying the radio equipment of historical
interest and, during this process, the family agreed to make
available to I.R.T.S. the Colonel's papers relating to his
radio experiments, and also agreed that these papers could be
published.
A project to scan and index Colonel Dennis's papers has now been
completed; they are available for viewing on the I.R.T.S web site
http://www.irts.ie/ei2b
(southgate)
2019 Social Scene
VK3 May 17 Bendigo Amateur Radio and Electronics Club present
'Surface-Mount and the Amateur Radio Operator'
The May 17 topic will be by Ron Davidson, VK3AAN.
Many circuits these days use surface-mount components, and can be a
challenge to work with due to their extremely small sizes. Ron will
discuss soldering techniques, solder masks, tips and tricks,
resources and more.
The evening commences at 7.30 pm, Friday May 17th, at the BAREC club
room, 20 Longlea Lane, Longlea, just East of Bendigo.
A gold coin donation would be appreciated and a light supper will be
provided.
(vk3grk)
VK
2019 WIA Annual Conference Sydney weekend 24-26 of May. (wia)
https://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/2019agm/
CQ W I A, Annual Conference
The W I A, Annual Conference is only a couple of weeks away.
If you haven't registered yet, it's getting tight.
Do it now!
And all attendees who register for the Conference and Dinner will be
in the draw for a shiny new Icom IC-7300, which will be drawn at the
Saturday night dinner.
All of the events and speakers of the conference have shaped up to be
very interesting, exciting and memorable. On Friday night, it will be
the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Waverley Amateur Radio
Society. This historic evening event will be celebrated at the
iconic Marconi Room of the Sydney Town Hall. Listen out for the
VI2BV100 callsign to guide you in.
The main event of the Annual W I A Conference and AGM will be held on
Saturday 25th May at the prestigious Park Royal Hotel in Darling
Harbour. This is a day not to be missed. The Forums and Technical
talks promise to be very stimulating and informative.
Sunday the 26th, Amateur Radio NSW will host a special field day
event, with more interesting talks and stalls.
So don't miss this premier event, especially if you are a
Sydney-sider. To register visit wia.org.au and follow the AGM 2019
links.
See you there!!
73 Raffy VK2RF
VK2 Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Field Day June 8 and 9 (vk2zhe)
VK5 - South East Radio Group 2019 Annual Convention and Australian
Fox Hunting Championships 8-9 June (vk5hcf)
VK3 - GippsTech 2019 13'14 July (vk3pf)
VK4 - Townsville Amateur Radio Club's Cardwell Gathering 4 days
commencing October 4 (vk4zz)
VK3 - Yarra Valley Amateur Group HamFest, 13th October (vk3cnw)
WW - JOTA 2019 Friday 18th, Sat 19 & Sunday 20 October (vk2gx)
VK3 - Ballarat Amateur Radio Group, BARG Hamvention Oct 27 (vk3kqt)
2020 Social Scene
ALARAMEET 2020 Bendigo (vk5yl)
October 2020 in Bendigo Victoria.
Heidi VK3FHID and Jenny VK3WQ are leading the team who are planning
an eventful weekend. This team is meeting regularly and are looking
forward to seeing you in Bendigo.
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