2024 APRIL 7 VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ------------------------------------------------------------* THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK THIS LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos ------------------------------------------------------------* NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING APRIL 7 2024 I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y WIA AGM NEWS Gidday! This is David VK4DN from the Bundy Amateur Radio Club. Just a reminder that if you are attending the National WIA Convention and AGM in Bundaberg on the 4th/5th May and flying into Bundaberg, please make contact with our club and let us know the time of your arrival so we can make sure to meet you at the airport in our Minibus. The driver will take you to your accommodation and will also ferry you to and from the WIA Convention, Gala Dinner and AGM. So if you are flying into Bundy, please let us know your incoming flight time. Also, if you havent already registered for the event, the bookings can now be made via the WIA website. memnet.com.au/MemberSelfService/EventBooking.aspx?selectedEventId=1 There will also be opportunities for spouses and family to attend tourist venues in Bundaberg over the weekend such as the historic Bundaberg Rum Distillery tour / etc. If you have any questions, let us know! 73 from David VK4DN Secretary - Bundaberg Amateur Radio Club. AUSTRALIA SEE YOU IN THE NORTHERN TERRITORY. And what better way to "SEE" than by drone. Businesses, investors, training providers and industry stakeholders have been invited to participate in the Northern Territory Governments Drone Technology Innovation Cluster to grow the Territorys drone industry. Challenge participants will design a proposal for the Drone Technology Innovation Cluster to facilitate the development of drone and associated industries in the Territory. The winning design proposal will be judged based on which concept offers the most value for the Territory. The winning consortium will be able to negotiate a contract with the Territory Government for the procurement of the proposal and also receive $100,000 in seed funding. One group showing interest is said to be Surf Life Saving NSW. One of the SLSS units is the provider of the largest coastal uncrewed aerial vehicle surveillance program in the Southern Hemisphere. tinyurl.com/2cses9yb (NT Govt.) ________________________________________________ INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to DX-WORLD, IARU, RSGB, RAC, ARRL, NZART, eHam, AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE, ICQPodcast, Radioworld.com Hackaday and the World Wide sources of the WIA. World Amateur Radio Day is celebrated each year on April 18. The theme for 2024 is, "A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 Years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy." The global event spans 2 days: Thursday, April 18, 0000 UTC to Friday, April 19, 0000 UTC. On April 18, 1925, the IARU was formed in Paris and will celebrate its centenary in 2025. American Radio Relay League Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was the organization's first president. All radio amateurs on earth are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy the global friendship with other amateurs and to show their skills and capabilities to the public. WARD is not a contest but rather an opportunity to talk about the value of amateur radio to the public and fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to talk about local radio clubs and amateur radio in local media. Belgium: 23 cm band Restrictions Belgiums regulator the BIPT has published draft restrictions on amateur radio operation in their 23cm band. The new restrictions include: Class A (equiv. our full call) a whopping loss of almost 52 MHz. Size of band proposed to be reduced from 60 MHz to 8.24 MHz with the satellite allocation reduced to just 2 MHz., 1260-1262 MHz and the antenna elevation must always be more than 15 above the horizon and the transmission power is limited to 50 W EIRP. amsat-uk.org/2024/04/01/belgium-23-cm-band-restrictions/ UK Congratulations are in order for Chris Whitmarsh, G 0 FDZ who has been presented with an RSGB Lifetime Achievement Award by RSGB President John McCullagh, GI 4 BWM and RSGB Board Chair Stewart Bryant, G 3 YSX. Recipient Chris is the only amateur in the UK to have had a two-way QSO on every single amateur band for which we are licensed. Now THAT is some achievement! HOLLYWOOD FCC AUCTION PROGRAM RECEIVES EMMY AWARD The Emmy Awards, best known for their celebrity recipients, has a new well-known recipient among the ranks: The US Federal Communications Commission. That report comes to us from ARNewsLine and George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU. GEORGE: In the US, the Emmy Awards bestowed by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, are best known for acknowledging stellar achievements in the television industry. This year, however, a somewhat unconventional award recipient stood out among the more typical award-winners in entertainment and sports programming. The Federal Communications Commission, the US government regulatory agency, was the recipient of a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award for having held a broadcast auction. The auction, which took place over several years, opened the door for TV stations to receive incentive payments in exchange for their return of underutilized parts of the broadcast spectrum. The funds the stations received enabled them to reinvest in their own operations while the newly available spectrum was auctioned off to wireless broadband carriers, to use for 5G or other services. The auction brought in a gross total of $19.8 billion in US currency. Fifty broadcasters received a total of $10.05 billion in payments. Another $7.3 billion went into the US Treasury to help reduce the federal deficit. This is George Zafiropoulos KJ6VU Students from Plymouth State University in the USA will be spending 30 hours releasing human-sized weather balloons, one per hour, to collect data on temperature, humidity, air pressure, winds and ultraviolet rays between the ground and about 100,000 feet during the April 8 Total Eclipse. They're one of 55 teams around the country doing this in a project coordinated by NASA. Another project triggered by the eclipse involves amateur radio operators throughout the country who will be using their signals to study the effect of the moons shadow on the ionosphere. This upcoming eclipse offers all sorts of opportunities to discover more about how our universe works. While many will watch the Moon and Sun share the spotlight that day, some students at Case Western Reserve University are focused on the space between, specifically the hundreds of miles far above the clouds but below outer space known as the ionosphere. Members of the Case Amateur Radio Club, W8EDU, are among those across the USA and the globe set to test what happens when the Moon gets in the way of the sun and how that impacts (or doesn't) radio communications. An Indiana county that will experience totality during the April 8 solar eclipse is cranking up the power on its Travellers Information Radio Station to help visitors. The station normally runs at 10 watts but for the period April 115, its allowed 100w and an antenna height close to twice its norm. The station will provide locations and details of free events and viewing sites throughout the area. -------------------------------------------------------------------* HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT -------------- -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2024 -------------- -------------- IARU HF World Championship the second full weekend of July i.e. 13-14. Starts: Zero hours UTC Saturday Ends: 2359 UTC Sunday (CQ) ---------------------------------------------------- Trans-Tasman Low Band Contest July 21st 2024 The Trans-Tasman contest, always held on the 3rd weekend in July, aims to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL Only contest bands 160 80 and 40M are allowed with SSB, CW and Digital (i.e. RTTY OR PSK) This contest is another official WIA Contest and will count towards the Peter Brown Contest Champion Awards. (wia.org.au) ------------------- YOTA Contest 2024 The next 2 sessions of this year's YOTA Contest will be from 10:00 to 21:59 UTC on 21 July and 29 December on the five classic bands CW and SSB. Everyone can work everyone. The complete rules can be found on ham-yota.com/contest. ----------------- AUGUST 17 - 18 Remembrance Day Contest. This contest commemorates the Australian Amateurs who died during World War II and is designed to encourage friendly participation and help improve the operating skills of participants. It is held on the weekend closest to the 15th August, the date on which hostilities ceased in the southwest Pacific area. A perpetual trophy is awarded annually to the Australian state or territory with the best performance. The name of the winning State or Territory is inscribed on the trophy, and that State or Territory then holds the trophy for 12 months. The winning State or Territory is also given a certificate, as are leading entrants. Amateurs will endeavour to contact amateurs in VK call areas, ZL and P29 on all bands except WARC bands. Modes allowed are PHONE, CW and RTTY as per the era remembered Again the 2024 contest is 17th & 18th August. (wia.org.au) ----------------------------- 44th A.L.A.R.A. CONTEST AND this ALARA contest is ALWAYS held on the last FULL weekend of August. STARTS: Saturday 25th August 0600 hours UTC ENDS: Sunday 26th August at 0559 hours UTC (alara web page) ------------- Oceania DX Contest SSB and CW This years contest will be held on October 5th and 12th respectively. oceaniadxcontest.com ------------------- YOTA CONTEST Youth on the air test 3 of 3 will be from 10:00 to 21:59 UTC on 29 December on the five classic bands CW and SSB. (yota) -------------------------------------------------------------------- DX WINDOW TO THE WORLD. Special event station GB 0 WYT will be active from RAF Wyton during the Airfields on the Air event the weekend of the 13th and 14th of April. This is the 12th year that this station has put on a special station for the event. The callsign will again be operated by RAF Air Cadet Communication Staff and club members from the Huntingdonshire Amateur Radio Society from a site just west of the main runway at Wyton. (gb2rs) -------------- NAMIBIA. QRV is V 51 WH from Omaruru until the end of April. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters, including 60 meters for those in the world able to use that band. V51WH. QSL to Gunter, home call is DK2WH (eHam) -------------- SOLOMON ISLANDS H44MS Bernard, is operating in the Solomon Islands until the end of April on HF, using SSB and FT8. QSL via Club Log's OQRS. (ARNewsLine 2416) -------------- DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HI 180 RD is on the air to celebrate the 180th anniversary of the Dominican Republic declaring its independence from Haiti in 1844. Listen for activity on all bands and modes until the 30th of April when around 25 operators from five radio clubs will be part of the event. For details of a certificate that is available, visit QRZ.com (rsg) ------------- AUSTRIA OE 100 RADIO is active until the 31st of December celebrating the 100th anniversary of the beginning of regular radio transmissions in Austria. The station has heard recently on the 40m band using CW. QSL via the Bureau. (gb2rs) ---------- IRELAND Special event callsign EI 80 MB is active until the 31st of May to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the rescue of 168 German seamen who were rescued from the waters of the Bay of Biscay after a battle between British and German naval forces in 1943. The men were carried out by a small Irish coaster called Kerlogue [KER-LOG] which had the callsign EIMB. The rescue took more than ten hours. QSL WI80MB via Club Log's OQRS or via EI6AL (RSGB) ------------------------------------------------------------* WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS SUMMITS ON THE AIR, WORLD WIDE FLORA, FAUNA PROGRAM, PARKS ON THE AIR and other ADVENTURE GROUPS. hema.org.uk/index.jsp minesontheair.com/about-mota parksontheair.com/ sota.org.uk sotawatch.sota.org.uk/en/ facebook.com/SotaAustralia/ wwffaustralia.com/ https://bunkersontheair.wixsite.com/october23 Last week here on WIA National News we brought details of a Park Prefix Update. In an effort to reorganize the Parks on the Air database in a way that meets ISO standards, POTA has begun rolling out changes to the way park entities are prefixed in many countries and China was NOT impressed.. With an update, Jim Meachen ZL2BHF shares this development. There's good news for POTA hunters: As POTA completes its conversion of labels to conform to the ISO-3166-2 standard, China has returned to participating in Parks on the Air. China's re-entry follows a number of discussions to resolve what POTA describes as "simple language barriers." According to documentation on the POTA website, the misunderstanding over POTA's reorganisation of its code system resulted in an unfortunate breakdown in communications because of these language issues. On Monday, March 25th, POTA announced on its website: [quote] "We are happy to be able to reactivate China so quickly!" [endquote] This is Jim Meachen ZL2BHF. (arnewsline) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ASTRONOMY (and Wireless Weather) NASA SUNGRAZER PROGRAM HONORS HAM FOR COMET-HUNTING SUCCESS NASA's Sungrazer program is honouring an amateur radio operator here in the great southland for having tracked down previously unknown comets by studying spacecraft imagery. We hear about him from John Williams VK4JJW. JOHN: Congratulations to Peter Berrett, VK3PB, who has been recognised by the NASA Sungrazer programme as one of the top successful volunteer comet-hunters. Sungrazer is a NASA-funded citizen science programme that encourages anyone to participate in the discovery and reporting of previously unknown comets. According to Sungrazer, Peter was the first to locate a comet in imagery from the Parker Solar probe launched by NASA in 2018. Using a computer programme he wrote for this purpose, he has also identified comets in archived images that were collected by four spacecraft. NASA Sun & Space made the announcement about Peter earlier this month on social media. Viewers of Amateur Logic TV may be most familiar with Peter through his previous appearances there. This is John Williams VK4JJW. (ARNEWSLINE AUDIO) Ive been workin on the railroad: Northrop Grumman Corporation was selected last month to further develop the concept of building a moon-based railroad network as part of the broader 10-year Lunar Architecture Capability Study. The envisioned lunar railroad network could transport we mere humans, our supplies and resources for commercial ventures across the lunar surface. (ANS) SHIELDS UP Star date October 19, 1989. A monstrous X13 class solar flare triggered a geomagnetic storm so strong that day that auroras lit up the skies worldwide the following day. Had you been flying around the Moon at that time, you would have absorbed a dose that would most likely have killed you within a month or so. This is why the Orion spacecraft proposed to take humans on a Moon fly-by mission this 2024 year has a heavily shielded storm shelter for the crew. But shelters like that arent sufficient for a flight to Mars. To obtain protection comparable to what we enjoy on Earth would require hundreds of tons of material, and thats simply not possible in orbit. The primary alternativeusing active shields that deflect charged particles just like the Earths magnetic field doeswas first proposed in the 1960s. Today, were finally close to making it work. Fascinating full article at bit.ly/3PANp67 (ANS) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW www.morsecodeclassnet.com Before voice radio the world was connected by telegraph. Dougal VK4EKA joins us. First invented to make marks on paper, the operators learned to read the message from the clicks of the relays. Adding a passive amplifier by putting the relay into a wooden sounding box had operators messaging the world. Warren Fritz VK4FJ has a collection of Australian and New Zealand sounders and morse keys from the early telegraph and will display some at the April 8th Social and Technical gathering of the Darling Downs Radio Club Inc. If you are in the area, all are welcome to see the telegraph equipment and maybe even try reading the sounders at 7:30 pm in the Community Rooms above the Toowoomba City Library This is Dougal VK4EKA for the Darling Downs Radio Club Inc. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org AMSAT-DL Proposes Next Generation GEO/MEO Amateur Radio Payload. At the request of the IARU, the European Space Agency is supporting an initiative to define a future amateur radio satellite payload in geostationary orbit. The implementation is to take place through collaborative cooperation between internal, industrial and amateur radio participants. This activity will consolidate the requirements of the amateur and commercial satellite industry, weigh up different payload options, address the future user segment, develop scenarios for the financing, procurement and operation of such a payload, and investigate possibilities for placement on geostationary platforms. Among the possible orbits such as MEO, HEO and GEO, the GEO orbit has proven to be the most suitable due to the extensive experience with OSCAR-100. A good compromise for the orbit position would be ~43 degrees West to also support Eastern European countries and most of North America. AMSAT-UK, along with the British Amateur Television Club, AMSAT-NA, and the UK Microwave Group previously made a separate proposal. (AMSAT.ORG) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA IOTA GRANT PROGRAM EXPANDS TO MORE LOCATIONS Island on the Air has expanded a program that will help fund activations of more rare locations. The Islands on the Air DXpedition Fund created last year to support activations in rare locations with no activity for at least 15 years has expanded its qualifications to include additional islands and island groups. The fund's original announcement last September said it would provide grants to assist operations from IOTA references confirmed by fewer than one-quarter of IOTA members in the last decade. This has now been broadened to include operations to those locations confirmed by fewer than 30 percent of IOTA members on IOTA's Most Wanted List. Both categories must have had no activations for at least 15 years. IOTA Ltd. believes that having two categories will provide an advantage for DXpeditions to an estimated 250 IOTA groups. Applicants should note the rarity of the IOTA reference they plan to activate, how long they will be there, how many operators they will have, the estimated number of contacts they expect to log, the bands to be used and, of course, the estimated cost of the DXpedition. For an application and more details, visit the IOTA website using the link in the text version of this week's NewsLine script. [ iota-world.org ] WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - MARITIME INCLUDING ILLW NEWS - ILLW 17th August 2024 to 18th August 2024 Australian and New Zealand lights planned and advised to WIA :- AU 0102 Point Charles NT - Darwin AR Club - NZ 0001 Cape Campbell - - ZL6CC Maritime Radio Day 2024 The annual Maritime Radio Day is fast approaching. This year, it takes place on the 14th and 15th of April to commemorate the almost 100 years of wireless telegraphy service for seafarers which ended with the closure in the UK of Portishead Radio on the 30th of April 2000. Commencing at 12:00 UTC on the 14th and finishing at 23:00 UTC on the 15th, this event is a great opportunity to QSO with ex-Marine Radio Officers and Coast Station Professionals who exchange details of their previous ships and coast stations. The mode of operation is CW, and all the HF bands are used including the WARC bands. At the time of broadcast, 130 operators were registered for this event. A certificate of participation will be issued to all who submit results. Amateur Licence holders are invited to register and take part as Friends of MRD. SWLs may also submit logs. For more information, radioofficers.com/mrd-2024/ (irts) ------------------------------------------------------------* 2024 IT'S A DATE Clubs are welcome to email text with audio for this section Details of all WIA affiliated clubs and societies can be found on the WIA website, including email addresses and website links. VK - WIA AGM MAY 4 5 - BUNDABERG. (vk2tsg) VK2 and 4 - Park-fest 4 & 5 of May Bundaberg AND Dorrigo (vk4kc) VK3 - May 11 Moorabbin & District ARC HamFest Kingston City Hall (vk3gl) VK - National Volunteer Week Monday 20 Sunday 26 May 2024. National Volunteer Week (NVW) is Australias largest annual celebration of volunteers and their important contribution to our communities. VK2 - June 8-9. Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Field Day. (vk2zhe) Im Henry VK2ZHE, President of the Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club. The Oxley Region Amateur Radio Clubs 48th annual Field Day will be held at the Wauchope Showground hall on Saturday and Sunday the 8th and 9th of June 2024 during the NSW Kings Birthday Long Weekend. There will be all the usual field day activities including traders, trash and treasure, foxhunting and a homebrew display. The Field Day dinner will be held at the Port Macquarie Golf Club on the Saturday night. Mark your calendar now for the June Long Weekend. The Wauchope Showground permits camping so it is possible to stay on site in your own motor home, caravan or tent with power and amenities but you must book ahead with the Showground Caretaker. Im Henry VK2ZHE for VK1WIA National News. VK5 - Aust. Fox Hunting championships Mt Gambier 8/9 June.(vk5dj) VK3 - Bendigo AR & Electronics Club Radiofest August 18 (vk3gtv) VK4 - GOLD COAST HAMFEST OCTOBER 31 (QTH to be advised ) (vk4DMH) VK5 - Amateur Radio Experiments Group Radio & Electronics Sale Saturday 26th October 10AM David Roche Park Kilburn (vk5qi) VK7 - Tasmanian Ham Conference November 2 and 3 Hobart. (vk7news) VK3 - SPARC Rosebud RadioFest November 17 at Eastbourne Primary School, Allambi Ave. Rosebud. (vk3pdg) Reception Reports WIA News rebroadcasters often give Short Wave Listeners a welcome to the broadcast as they commence call-backs straight after the Local News. Local news follows National news in all states. It would be great if those SWL's would email their reception reports and location to callbacks@wia.org.au Submitting news items If you would like to submit news items for possible inclusion in the VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au and don't JUST send url's links or posters, but take the time to pen YOUR contribution. To submit audio, email nationalnews@wia.org.au and send BOTH the audio and the text We would appreciate items certainly no longer than 1.5 mts in length as we only have a half hour. Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition of WIA National News. Each recorded item will only 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 it in the 3rd person. (First if YOU are reading your own item). If you are mentioning your own name / call in the story, say something like "and myself, Pat, vk11abc" Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't plug DEALS from commercial traders "on air", but we at the WIA will put your supporters 'goods' in this text edition "no worries." We will not give blatant 'plugs' to raffles, be it raffles at the event or "on-line". ------------------------------------------------------------* Oh... and to contact us with your news because If It Matters To You It Matters To Us! Click the links below to download the most recent edition of National News, BUT this is ONLY the backup site! WIANEWS backup thanks to Brendan VK4BLP can be found on wiaq.org.au BACKUPS OF THE BACKUP!! thanks to Tony VK7AX www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/ wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/ (This is the link to the original text version and original audio on wia site) ------------------------------------------------------------* WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide. TWITTER twitter.com/VK1WIA Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail nationalnews@wia.org.au Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who knows, you might even get a "cheerio call". Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who utilize their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly broadcast. Who and where are they? wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/ Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to WIA affiliated clubs and active amateurs residing in Australia and the globe. We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of Australia and participation in the activities of local clubs. Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who submit material and do not necessarily reflect those of the rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but IF broadcast, are done so in the spirit in which they were submitted." If you would like to see the call-backs reported each broadcast, OR have call-backs to contribute to the National News call back tally then please send through your call-backs to callbacks@wia.org.au How do I join this National News List? (subscribe for an automatic weekly feed.) Email to vk1wia-news-join@lists.wia.org.au from the email account that you wish the emails to go to. How do I leave this National News List? (unsubscribe your weekly feed) Open mail program which sends mail from the address you want to unsubscribe from. Send unsubscribe 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 a message confirming your unsubscription from the list and at that point you should stop receiving messages. ------------------------------------------------------------*