-------------------------------------------------------------------69 2024 JUNE 09 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 JUNE 9 2024 IN OUR 29th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS THIS WEEK:- As long time listeners, maybe not first time callers would be aware, we don't normally acknowledge Silent Keys in the WIA National News feeling best suited to local area newscasts, unless, that ham is well known across the spectrum. Later word in on a Silent Key, the guy behind FAMPARCs famous Mobile whip project who also engineered various offshoots of the antenna which ended up attached to vehicles all over Australia We'll also hear from WIA Directors Steven Green VK2TSG and Peter VK4EA PLUS Felix VK4FUQ will have the WIA VHF UHF Field Day Manager along with a last word before this years winter contest. BUT WAIT - THERE'S MUCH MUCH MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA. I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB WIA JOIN THE WIA tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y Hello, this is Steven Green VK2TSG, one of your National WIA Directors... It has now been a few weeks since the AGM and conference, but one of the main things I took away from the events of the weekend was the wonderful work of the volunteers from the Bundaberg Club, and related teams which is echoed in Amateur Radio clubs, societies, associations and our state bodies across the country. To all our Radio volunteers, we at the WIA say thank you. Your efforts are appreciated and help to build Amateur Radio across the country. In saying this, we also need to start looking at recruiting more people to Amateur Radio and particularly roles within clubs and groups, including taking on understudies and looking at succession planning. Up and coming club members need to build experience and confidence, and this can only be gained through partaking in projects, planning, and committees. With the average age of amateurs increasing all the time, it is only through such action will we have the numbers and experienced team members to maintain club activities and services. Until next time... 73 from Steven VK2TSG. This is Peter VK4EA coming from Meajin, home of the Turrbl and Jagera people. Also the newly minted WIA vice-president, I thank the board for having confidence in me. So, no more than 2 weeks in the VP role and Im off to New Zealand where over the weekend just gone, I attended the NZART (New Zealand Amateur Association of Radio Transmitters) AGM, Conference and Council Meeting in Christchurch on behalf of your WIA. As part of the WIA AGM held in Bundaberg a few weeks ago we welcomed Daniel vanDeberg ZL2DRV President of the NZART, consequently, we accepted the invitation to attend the NZART AGM. The Christchurch Amateur Radio Club did an amazing job organising the venue, event and gala dinner. The New Zealand Air Force Museum in Wigram, Christchurch, provided a fantastic backdrop for the event. The Saturday kicked off with the 2024 AGM which provided me an insight into the operations of the NZART member organisation, their business operation AREC (Amateur Radio Emergency Communications) and the NZART branches or clubs. Saturday evening turned it on with a themed musical presentation sitting amongst well preserved warbirds and an awesome buffet. Many lies were told around the tables, I do love the Kiwi wine. Sunday proceeded with a range of presentations from amateurs from all parts of the country. It is inspiring to see what ZL operators are achieving. It is interesting to observe ZLs have an online and printed callbook. Planning for the 2026 100 year anniversary of the NZART are well progressed with an impressive invitation list. Monday morning, I was fortunate to be invited as an observer to the NZART Council meeting, Monday. Its remarkable how the NZART have the same issues and concerns as us in VK-land. There is some interest in our practical assessment to, perhaps, replace their requirement for new licensees to make 50 contacts before full access to the bands is granted, The most interesting topic discussed, that also concerns us here in VK-land, is the upcoming IARU Region 3 (International Amateur Radio Union) meeting to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, this coming November. I undertook to make sure our WIA delegate is in touch with the NZART delegate to ensure our positions align. Your WIA will be in attendance representing Australias Amateur Radio interests for all Australian license holders. Before my flight home I was fortunate enough to visit the Christchurch Amateur Radio Club premise. A positive story from the disastrous earthquake in 2011, the clubs previous premises was right in the middle of the red zone preventing any further use, however the local council located a vacate ex-Scout den and invited the Club to take up the lease. Its truly an impressive setup. I wish to extend my gratitude to the NZART Council for their hospitality, I enjoyed my time in Christchurch, a special shout out to Debby, NZART Business Manager, for making all of the arrangements on my behalf. And on another topic, during my ZL visit I held a NZART 2024 callbook in my hands, I wondered whether VK wanted the WIA Callbook back. I started a bit of a discussion on the WIA Facebook page and on the Ham Radio Discussion Forum, so far the engagement has suggested that yes, VK peeps want a callbook. Please keep the discussion going, I am keen to establish whether the effort is worthwhile. Cheers for now, this has been Peter VK4EA WIA Vice President. ACMA Mark Halliwell VK2MOH wrote to WIA National News to bring everyones attention to a petition to parliament calling for ACMA to be instructed to reinstate a licence document for amateur radio operators. As one who is currently operating overseas, he is sensitive to the need to show a convincing, authoritative document to local authorities if requested to do so. aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN6254 EDUCATION. Credit where credits due - for this story it's off to Ireland. The National Short Wave Listeners Club is delighted to announce that the most recent HAREC course, Class G, has delivered a great result. After six months of hard work and study, a group of 26 students sat their HAREC exams in Dublin and in Tralee last month. In a first, all of the candidates have passed! There are already 24 new Irish call signs, and a further two on their way to Germany and the Netherlands. A special welcome to Jzef EI6JDB who is 13, and who took the exam with his dad, Derek EI6JEB. The students' hard work and dedication was only matched by the dedication of the teaching team of 18 volunteers, who invested 700 hours of work into Class Golf. Gratitude also goes to ComReg for processing the results rapidly, with almost all the candidates receiving their new call signs within a matter of just a few hours. The National Short Wave Listeners Club has 133 members, all of whom are also members of the IRTS. ------------------------------------------------------------* INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to ARRL, DX-WORLD, eHam, Hackaday, IARU, ICQPodcast, IRTS, NEWSLINE, NZART, RAC, Radioworld.com, RSGB, SARL and the World Wide sources of the WIA. WIA Secretary Peter VK8ZZ directed us to an ABC story on "Noisy Satellites of VK6" As an increasing number of satellites orbit the Earth, the $3 billion radio telescope being built in Western Australia's outback may need to find new ways to listen for faint radio signals in the universe. The number of satellites is expected to increase significantly in coming years and for scientists who need the ground and the space above to be quiet, satellites and their booming loud radio interference are a significant challenge. When operational, the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope in Western Australia's Murchison region will detect and interpret faint radio signals from space via low frequencies and allow astronomers to see the birth of stars and galaxies. It's expected to be operational by 2030, when some experts are predicting up to 100,0000 satellites will be orbiting Earth and emitting both intentional and unintentional radio noise. tinyurl.com/mr2evaud A percentage of Japan's AM radio broadcasters have pulled the big switch. It is for a trial period, maybe to years end or early 2025 as officials study the impact of the loss of this form of radio broadcasting which has been on the air in Japan for 99 years. 34 of Japan's AMers have gone silent, and the trial closure is being conducted so that the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications can evaluate the impact of the suspensions. Main reason cited? Cost of AM infrastructure over FM. Back in June of 2021 41 of only a total of 47 said they would close or convert to FM, TV or THE WWW. SOUTH AFRICA TAKES FIRST STEPS TO WRC-27 Every 3 to 4 years the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) holds a World Radio Conference, commonly referred to as WRC, to manage the radio spectrum and review where new technologies fit in. The last WRC was in October and November last year and the next one will be in 2027 - WRC-27. The Department of Communication and Digital Technologies (DCDT) represents South Africa at these conferences supported by experts from industry. To develop positions on the various agenda items, the department established the National Preparatory Working Group (NPWG) at which experts from the department, industry and academia develop the positions that are of the country's best interest and support the National Development Plan. On 27 May the WRC-27 NPWG met in Pretoria. The SARL was represented by Brian Jacobs, ZS6YZ and Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV. On the WRC Agenda there are several items of interest to secure the future of amateur radio and developments not only in their region 2 but internationally. To better understand the impacts of the geomagnetic storm on the U.S. communications sector, the Federal Communications Commissions Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau is requesting information from communications service providers and the public regarding disruptions in communications between May 7 and 11, 2024, that it believes to be a result of the storm. Back on May 11, the FCC High Frequency Direction Finding Centre, which supports the public safety community and federal partners by locating interference to radio spectrum below 30 MHz, observed significant disturbance in the propagation of HF radio signals. This disturbance resulted in the disruption of voice and data communications passed over HF frequencies. HAM RADIO 2024 will take place in Friedrichshafen, Germany as Europe's largest amateur radio exhibition and trade fair. This year's theme is 60 years of Islands on the Air: technology meets adventure! HAM RADIO serves as a platform where radio enthusiasts can get together and exchange information and experience. As one of the largest amateur radio exhibitions in the world, alongside the Dayton Hamvention USA and Ham Fair in Tokyo/Japan, HAM RADIO attracts exhibitors and visitors from more than 50 countries all round the world to Friedrichshafen. A special feature is the combination of commercial exhibitors, worldwide networked associations and Europes largest radio flea market with over 300 participants from 25 countries The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 is inviting hams to come up with a game changing idea, which increases awareness of amateur radio. They are looking for your cool idea or project which you think is part of the future of amateur radio. BUT BE AWARE. The challenge is open ONLY to any country member of International Telecommunication Union Region 1. Microsoft will invest 33.7 billion kronor ($4.8 billion AU) over two years in artificial intelligence infrastructure in Sweden, they will train some 250,000 people by 2027 to boost AI knowledge and competence and also increase capacity at its three data centres in the country. Microsoft, in recent months, has announced similar AI investments in other countries, including in France where it vowed to invest four billion euros Japan where it announced a $2.9 billion AI push, and in Indonesia and Malaysia. A USA engineer who developed a composite material to increase antenna efficiency is suing his former employer, which had once widely praised his patented creation as a breakthrough. The design by Christopher Fuller, KD WMU, facilitates speedier charging of electric vehicles through the use of considerably smaller antennas. His antenna design delivers the needed power as electromagnetic energy - over long distances and without loss. Acknowledging that his antenna design also held the potential to power military weapons from a distance, Christopher asked the US State Department last year to scrutinize Honeywell's plan to market the technology to overseas commercial customers. According to a Star Tribune News story, the engineer worried that Honeywell was potentially overstepping the federal restrictions on exporting US military technology. Neither the state department nor the FBI responded to The Star Tribune's requests for comment. A statement from Honeywell dismissed Christopher's claims as baseless. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OPERATIONAL NEWS - A FELIX VK4FUQ PRESENTATION -------------- -------------- NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2024 -------------- -------------- ON NOW is the VK Shires Contest June 8 - 9 starts 0000 UTC Sat until 2359 Sunday ALL HF Bands all the way from 10 to 160 meters SSB & CW only (Diane Main VK4DI VK Shires Contest Manager) -------------- Also on this weekend, June 9, but only CW is New Zealand Straight Key Night (Winter Edition) 0800 to 0900 UTC on 80 metres. Full details about SKN are available zl1.nz/skn or you can email neil@zl1.nz (nzart) -------------- JARL's ALL ASIA CW Saturday 15 June, 0000 til Mon, 17 June, 0000 jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-3_Contests/2015AA_rule.htm (vk4sn calendar) -------------- WIA WINTER UHF VHF FIELD DAY 0100 UTC Saturday 22 June through 0059 UTC Sunday 23 June (in VK6 it's 0300 / 0359 in VK6). wia.org.au/members/contests/vhfuhf/ This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH, manager of the VHF-UHF Field Days. The 2024 Winter event will proceed as planned over Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd of this month. Thats the weekend after next! As usual, we have a little verse: See that e-vent comin', rollin' round the bend Get out on that hilltop, and call from start to end . . . You may have heard something like that elsewhere. The Rules for the event have been posted to the VHF-UHF Field Days web page, which has also been updated. I encourage you to download the latest Rules as a few changes are in the document. Dont rely on what you recall from last year . . or the year before. You have been warned! Also, as noted on the web page, following recent discussions, efforts to catch up preparation of the outstanding results for past events are under way again. So, get your gear together for the 2024 Winter VHF-UHF Field Day and enjoy it! This is Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News. ---------------------------------------------------- IARU HF World Championship July 13-14. Starts: Zero hours UTC Saturday Ends: 2359 UTC Sunday (CQ) ---------------------------------------------------- Trans-Tasman Low Band Contest July 21st 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 session of this year's YOTA Contest will be from 10:00 to 21:59 UTC 21 July on the five classic bands using CW and SSB. Everyone can work everyone. The complete rules can be found on ham-yota.com/contest. ----------------- RSGB IOTA Contest July 27. ----------------- 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. ELIGIBILITY? All licensed operators throughout the world are invited to participate. Scout and Girl Guide groups are encouraged to take part using their Club's equipment and callsign. YLs work everyone; OMs work YLs only. CONTEST: Combined phone and CW run over 24 hours: STARTS: Saturday 25th August 2024 at 0600 hours UTC ENDS: Sunday 26th August 2024 at 0559 hours UTC SUGGESTED FREQUENCIES: All HF Bands except 160m & WARC Bands. Contacts made on ECHOLINK will also be accepted. (alara web page) ------------- Oceania DX Contest 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. -------------- -------------- Logbook of the World is still offline The American Radio Relay Leagues popular Logbook of the World (LoTW) their online database is still down at the time of compiling this news. The ARRL also report that even their telephone system is also still down despite the reported cyberattack occurring almost 3 weeks back. The ARRL have NOT made any claim it was a cyberattack, however many dx bulletins are saying that's what occurred nearly 3 weeks ago. -------------- CQ magazine's former publisher, Dick Ross, K2MGA, who recently became a Silent Key, has been inducted into three CQ Halls of Fame: the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame, the DX Hall of Fame and the Contest Hall of Fame. Dick became a Silent Key in April at age 84 after a lifetime of providing the world's amateurs with relevant news and information through a variety of publications, most notably CQ magazine itself. (newsline 2431) -------------- Members of Ari Colli Albani are on the air as II LOR until the 30th of June, marking the 80th anniversary of Rome's liberation during the Second World War. QSL via I KNQ and certificates will be available. (newsline 2431) -------------- Niger. Elvira is active calling 5 U 5 K now until June 20 using SSB, RTTY, other digital modes and sometimes some CW all bands 160 to 6 metres. Francesco, IK 0 XBX is her pilot station. QSL 5U5K direct to IK 2 DUW. (sarl) ------------- AUSTRIA OE100RADIO [OSCAR-ECHO-ONE-HUNDRED-ROMEO-ALPHA-DELTA-INDIA-OSCAR] is active until the 31st of December celebrating the 100th anniversary of the beginning of regular radio transmissions in Austria in 1924. The station has heard recently on the 40m band using CW. QSL via the Bureau. (gb2rs) ---------- In the World of DX, the Rushyhill Radio Society will be commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Landings, which took place on June 6th, 1944 by using the callsign GB 8 DDY now until the 28th of June. See QRZ.com for details. -------------- TM 80 DD will be active from the 1st through to the 16th of June using CW, SSB and the digital modes on all bands marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. See QRZ.com for QSL details for TM80DD (NewsLine 2429) -------------- Active is TR 8 CR from Gabon until at least the end of June, the operator? F8EN Roland, He will operate CW only and will celebrate his 96th birthday while there. QSL for TR8CR is via F6AJA directly or the Bureau. Roland can usually be found on the 30 to 10m bands. And a Happy 96th Roland. ( rsgb ) ------------------------------------------------------------* WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org Blue Origin resumed crewed spaceflights on May 19 after a nearly two-year hiatus following a rocket mishap in 2022, which left Virgin Galactic as the sole operator in the suborbital tourism market. Among the six passengers was Ed Dwight, a former Air Force pilot who had been poised to become NASAs first Black astronaut in the 1960s. Ed, now 90 years old, became the oldest person to go to space, expressing the profound impact of the experience. Despite one of the capsules parachutes failing to fully inflate, the mission was deemed a success, and all passengers returned safely. This flight marks the seventh human mission for Blue Origin, highlighting its ambitions for future space endeavours. The company has now flown 37 people aboard its New Shepard vehicle, named after the first American in space, Alan Shepard. (ANS) Voyager 1 has resumed transmitting science data from two of its four operational instruments after a computer issue arose in November 2023. The mission team is working on recalibrating the remaining two instruments, with plans to complete this in the coming weeks. This progress follows a five-month troubleshooting effort, during which the spacecraft began sending back usable engineering data. Mid last month, commands were successfully sent to the 46 year old spacecraft, located over 15 billion (yes BILLION) miles from Earth, enabling it to resume sending science data. The plasma wave subsystem and magnetometer are now operational, while efforts continue on the cosmic ray subsystem and low energy charged particle instrument. Launched in 1977, Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, are NASAs longest-operating spacecraft and the first to explore beyond the heliosphere, having flown by Jupiter, Saturn, and, in Voyager 2s case, Uranus and Neptune. (ANS) 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 "Exciting news for POTA in Australia. Alan VK1AO, Mark VK4EMP and myself, VK4KC Marty, have been busy the last two weeks adding over 450 NSW State forests into the system. This brings our total number of parks in Australia to 8 0 8 2. Also of special note a recent park addition in Darwin, East-point reserve. This park has major historic significance as the area0 provided the last major fortress built on Australian soil and a reminder of Australias only battle ground. POTA in Australia has also experienced significant growth in the number of activations with over 900 just in the first five months of 2024. Thank you Activators and Hunters. This is Marty VK4KC on the Sunny Coast. POTA on!" WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - DIGITAL APRS Thursday Every Thursday, a global net called APRSThursday takes place using Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS) for 24 hours. It is a network we licensed amateur radio operators who share messages and position packets through radio and internet. For any operators both old and new, it is a great opportunity to explore the APRS mode and make contacts with other stations joining the net. Up to 500 operators take part in the net each week. Further information may be found at aprsph.net (irts) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - INTERNET, THE HAMS DOMAIN A Wiki for Open Source in Amateur Radio OpenSource.radio is a new wiki started by DK1MI which aims to highlight all things open source in amateur radio. From hardware to software, this project is designed to provide hams with a free source of information to help further our exploration into the ham radio hobby. The OpenSource.radio wiki can be viewed by typing in opensource.radio Opensource.radio is a public Wiki that lists and describes available open source projects in more detail, as well as providing ready-made recipes for setting up a free amateur radio station. It should serve as a first port of call to find out what alternatives there are to commercial products or simply to get inspiration for new projects. (ard) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA iota-world.org/ RSGB IOTA Contest is July 27. V 47 JA St. Kitts, IOTA NA-104 Listen out for John, W5JON, operating as V47JA from St. Kitts, IOTA Number NA-104, until the 13th of June using both SSB and FT8 on the HF bands and 6 metres. (newsline) VP 6 DF Pitcairn Island, IOTA OC-044 Dave is operating on Pitcairn Island, IOTA Number OC-044, using callsign VP 6 DF, until Monday the 10th of June operating mainly CW on 40 through 10 metres BUT listen for him also on 160 and 80 metres. QSL via N 2 ZN and LoTW. (newsline) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - MILITARY Recordings of military transmissions can be found on the Signal Identification Guide Wiki at sigidwiki.com/wiki/Category:Military June 6 marked 80 years since that historic D-Day invasion of Europe which in turn brought about the end of WW2 in the European theatre. MARK DURENBERGER from RADIOWORLD.COM has penned a remarkable story of how folk back home and the powers that be were kept informed, by radio. The U.S. Army Signal Corps, or SigC, was tasked with establishing massive, reliable, multi-channel high-speed voice and data networks. These networks would support a mission build-up of more than a million troops in a hostile environment. SigC had estimated it would need some 90,000 transmitters for the job! This mandated frequency coordination. The radios were largely short-range hand-helds but also included short and medium distance radio links to naval and air elements and Allied headquarters. A significant amount of radio gear was lost in the initial landings but SigCs planning had suitably provided for battle attrition and contact with the beach was generally successful. Less susceptible to battle damage were some 500 pigeons, landed for the purpose of carrying ammunition-status reports, undeveloped film and emergency messages. At the end of the day, electronic communications were so effective the pigeons could go home to roost. But, the valour and sacrifice of the soldiers landing on those beaches would be the biggest story and would far outstrip the work of the deskbound planners. (radioworld.com) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - QRP QRP DAY JUNE 17 We told you last week how IARU Region 3 has declared the 17th of June to be QRP Day, a day when hams are being encouraged to amplify their interest and activities in QRP. Still no word on specific VK activity BUT coming to light through Newsline, some New Zealand amateurs are already well into the spirit of the day. They have been participating in Go QRP Night on the last Saturday of each month. So ZL are perhaps more QRV than we here in VK - even first-timers are encouraged to turn down their power and see what kind of magic happens. In a world of superstations and linear amplifiers, a little power CAN go a long l long way. WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO HAMS RESPOND TO INDIAN REGION'S FIRST MAJOR CYCLONE A deadly tropical cyclone has left parts of coastal India and Bangladesh devastated. In the middle of it all, hams were there, relaying messages nonstop, as we hear our own John Williams VK4JJW reporting for NewsLine. "As tropical cyclone Remal battered India and Bangladesh, a team of 27 amateur radio operators from West Bengal worked around the clock to keep the lines of communications open in a region overtaken by lost power and flooding. The West Bengal Radio Club responded to requests by local authorities to set up at various strategic locations in and around the Sagar Islands in Sunderbans. Operators used two mobile vans and eight control rooms, communicating on VHF and UHF frequencies. According to updates the amateurs posted on their Facebook page, the van patrolled the coastal areas reporting back with updates to the control centres. The deadly storm was estimated to have affected millions in the coastal region of the two nations and the death toll estimates varied - but continued to climb. Authorities rushed to have people evacuated as their homes collapsed around them. At its peak, the storm achieved maximum speeds of between 110 and 120 km/h, with gusts of as much as 135 km/h. It was the region's first major cyclone of the year. This is John Williams VK4JJW." (newsline 2431) WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS YOTA I am Alan, VK2COD sitting in for a flu stricken VK2MV Radio club kids at Dresden Elementary Amateur Radio Station KD8NOM are excited to use their new Get On The Air or GOTA stations! A grant from the Straker Foundation was able to allow K D 8 N O M to purchase radios, SWR meters, power supplies and the Gator boxes to house the stations in complete and secure rack mount case for protection and portability. The Straker Foundation is a not-for-profit that enthusiastically supports activities that allow students to broaden their sites through travel, training and experience. The HF and VHF radios, one being an ICOM IC-7300, are perfect radios for these wonderful young hams to get on the air and will give them great experience on our hobby and help them to communicate with others across the globe. For any VK clubs or individuals that are helping us young hams to get on the air, please send your short article of no more than 250 words, plus a couple photos, to my brother Alec on nationalnews@wia.org.au He will make sure your article can get on air for us to share the good news and ideas about YOTAs with the rest of the VK community. For WIA National News, I'm Alan, VK2COD in Sydney. Now back to you Col WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- VIDEO. ATV SSTV and other forms such as YouTube. Peter VK3BFG is your WIA ATV representative. pcossins@bigpond.com tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos THAT LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF THIS NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN Direct from Dayton a video well worth watching. Every ham knows about grounding, right? What if what youve been told isnt exactly true? ARRL First Vice President Kristen McIntyre, K6WX, tackles this topic in a compelling presentation called Ground is a Myth! She lays out the case that ground means different things at different times and in different cases and that much of what many operators have accepted as fact may just be legend. The presentation was a part of the 2024 ARRL National Convention forums hosted at Dayton Hamvention and may be seen on YouTube. youtube.com/watch?v=VvE570NPmmI arrl.informz.net/arrl/data/images/Ground.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------* --------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ON NOW:- VK2 - June 8-9. Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Field Day. (vk2zhe) VK5 - Aust. Fox Hunting championships Mt Gambier 8/9 June.(vk5dj) ------ON LATERS---------------------- VK4 - Caboolture Radio Club HamFest is to be held on Saturday 13th July. The venue, a new one, the Caboolture Uniting Church Hall, 257 King street. That's the corner of King and Smiths Road. Breakfast will be served from 8 am, with the HamFest opening at 9 am. Admission is $5. For further information see the Club's Facebook page facebook.com/vk4qd (Alan VK4TG Secretary, Caboolture Radio Club Inc.) (vk7jea) Please ensure that this item is scrapped - do not use again. Alan VK4TG VK3 - Bendigo AR & Electronics Club RadioFest August 18 (vk3gtv) VK6 - PerthTech 2024 Sept 21 for 2 days at Gidgegannup (vk6pop) VK4 - GOLD COAST HAMFEST OCTOBER 13 at Nerang Country Paradise Parklands 231 Beaudesert-Nerang Road Nerang. (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) Held at the Sandy Bay Campus of UTAS. VK3 - SPARC Rosebud RadioFest November 17 at Eastbourne Primary School, Allambi Ave. Rosebud. (vk3pdg) final final Members of the Frankston and Mornington peninsular amateur radio club have lost a good friend & long time club member in the passing of Bill Grypstra VK3MMM now SK Bill was an integral part of the club for many years, at one time serving as president and was also club net co-coordinator for more than 20 years. He was a driving force behind FAMPARCs famous Mobile whip project and also engineered various offshoots of the popular antenna which ended up attached to vehicles all over Australia. Bill has been described as the kind of member every club needs and often went above and beyond to ensure FAMPARC ran smoothly. He was always ready to assist anyone requiring help and always ready for a much valued deep and meaningful chat Vale Bill Gyrpstra VK3MMM (above from vk4bat) 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. ------------------------------------------------------------*