XPost: aus.radio.amateur.misc, rec.radio.info

Weekly news from the WIA:
MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2024-07-07.mp3 Text edition:


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2024 JULY 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

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NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING JLY 07 2024
IN OUR 29th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS

THIS WEEK:-

TWO VICE PRESIDENTS, THE VP OF RASA AD THE VP OF WIA JOIN US. -

TWO YOTA MEMBERS, VK2MV AND VK2COD. -

AND FROM THE ARDC TEAM, WE HIGHLIGHT A MEMBER OF THEIR GRANTS
EVALUATION TEAM, VK2TDS.-

Now I fully understand we ham radio ops LOVE acronyms' so for
newbies, RASA IS RADIO AMATEUR SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA, WIA IS
WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA, YOTA IS YOUNGSTERS ON THE AIR AND
ARDC IS AMATEUR RADIO DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS.

NOW 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

Gidday, this is Peter, VK4EA, on behalf of the WIA Board.

A work trip saw me in Melbourne for a couple days this week, something
was wrong with the thermostat, this VK4 got a bit of shock walking out
of the airport.

The short trip allowed me to catch up with President Scott - VK3KJ
and Lee - VK3GK for an informal dinner in an Eastern suburbs pub.
Some great chat as it's rare for us board members to meet face to
face.

I finished my work stuff early so I took the opportunity to drop into
the Bayswater office to meet Bruce - VK4DEE - our diligent Executive
Officer. It was good to meet Bruce in person after a lot of phone
calls and emails. I got the tour of the office and observed the huge
amount of historical materials stored, waiting for attention. I reckon
our historical people need a hand. Please get in touch if you have
some free time and some knowledge of cataloguing and archiving. It
would be a tragedy if the material was lost, without knowing its
value.

The visit also reinforced the functionality gaps of Memnet, members
will be pleased to know we have been working with Memnet to improve
the renewal process.

A quick plug for the REAST conference to be held in Hobart in
November. I, along with a few other VK4s, will be making the trip
as well as a few other board members. It will be a good opportunity
for us to connect.

The board is grateful for Grant Wills - VK5GR - for taking some time
out of his Friedrichshafen visit to attend a number of IARU region 1
meetings. Your W I A being represented internationally. This is
great preparation for the I A R U region 3 gathering in Bangkok,
Thailand, this coming November.

That's it for this time, cheers from Meeijin, home of the Turr'bl
and Yagera people.

This has been, Peter, VK4EA, Vice President, on behalf of the
W I A Board.

EDUCATION.

Are you thinking of studying for your Foundation level entry into
Amateur Radio? Or do you know someone else who is?

Its become a lot easier and cheaper to get into the hobby these
days, since the ACMA has done away with exam fees and annual licence
renewal fees, and you only have to pay for your callsign once.
Thats a good start isn't it? A good hundred bucks or so towards
your first radio is great.

So how do you go about getting from thinking about it to being
qualified?

A good port of call is an Amateur Radio club that conducts courses.
Most capital cities have these, and contact details can be found in
various websites, including clubs at the WIA site, and the ACMA
website, where you can find assessors in your State who can advise
you where you can access a course.

You may choose to study on your own, and many people have chosen this
path. There are resources available to guide you through the
syllabus. A recent publication is the Foundation Level Study Guide,
published by the Radio Amateur Society of Australia in early June
this year.

This study guide is in online format, and can be downloaded as a PDF.
Its a true electronic book, containing links to information sources
and purpose-made instructional videos. The Foundation Level Study
Guide is free for everyone.

You can access the Foundation Level Study Guide online. The links are
in the text edition

Im Bob VK6POP

vkradioamateurs.org/flsg/

wia.org.au/discover/sendinfo/about/

acma.gov.au/amateur-radio ------------------------------------------------------------*
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.

RETURNED TO SERVICE.

Effective July O1 Log Book of The World, LoTW has returned to
service.

It was opened a few days earlier for a period when close on 7
thousand logs were uploaded. The logs were not processed until the
weekend as ARRL tested that the interfaces to LoTW were functioning
properly.

LoTW are taking steps to help manage what will likely be a huge
influx of logs. They are requesting that if you have large uploads,
perhaps from contests or from a DXpedition, please wait a week or two
before uploading to give LoTW a chance to catch up. LoTW have also
implemented a process to reject logs with excessive duplicates.
SO please do not upload your entire log to ensure your contacts are
in as they will be rejected. Lastly, to report issues you are having
with LoTW contact support at LoTW-help@arrl.org
Friedrichshafen

A shared passion for amateur radio brings people together:

More than 11,300 attendees from 58 different countries gathered from
June 28 to 30 to engage in radio communication, acquire technical
gear, and attend informative talks.

For three days, more than 380 participants showcased the wide-ranging
world of radio, with 150 commercial exhibitors and international
associations as well as 230 flea market exhibitors. The joy of
reuniting again with fellow hobbyists was clearly evident throughout
the four exhibition halls and the Foyer West. Many radio enthusiasts
chose to camp overnight in their motorhomes at the exhibition site,
where more than 560 vehicles were parked on all days of the fair.

Some 77 young technology enthusiasts delved into the realms of
science and radio at Ham Camp. Discovering, tinkering, and crafting:
The young participants engaged in a technical scavenger hunt,
decoding Morse code, solving quiz questions, practicing soldering,
and taking part in various other activities.
There's good news for hams in Germany who have been enjoying part of
the 4 metre band on a temporary basis.
Regulators have extended the privilege through to the end of the year
for Class A licence holders.

Operation on 4 metres requires the use of horizontally polarized
antennas and no more than 25 watts ERP from a fixed station location
and remote transmissions are prohibited.

Use of the 4m band has been slowly expanding in some European
countries. The German regulator began issuing temporary privileges
for 4m 10 years ago.
ARDC

Often we mention the great work of the ARDC team, this week we
are will be highlighting Grants Evaluation Team (GET) member
Darryl Smith VK2TDS.

ARDC, or to give it its full name. " Amateur Radio Digital
Communications" well the mission is to support, promote, and enhance
digital communication and broader communication science and
technology, to promote amateur radio, scientific research,
experimentation, education, development, open access, and innovation
in information and communication technology.

But back to GET member VK2TDS

Darryl has enjoyed analysing the results of the work that ARDC has
funded, stating I feel privileged to be a part of the team.

Licensed in Sydney, here in Australia, more than 30 years ago, Darryl
became a ham to experiment with packet radio and has loved every
minute of it. After many years of focusing on VHF, Darryl got his
first HF radio early last year. When hes not volunteering at ARDC
or on the air, Daryl is a consultant electrical engineer, where he
had the amazing opportunity to work as a microwave and satellite
engineer & RF technician on the set of Furiosa - A Mad Max Saga,
work he cites as the work hes most proud of.

In his spare time, Darryl also enjoys recreational running, where he
averages running about one marathon a year.

To learn more about Darryl, you can check out his company website
at radio-active.net.au/web4/

That's it from VK1WIA National News and the international slant.
VK1WIA is the flagship station of all WIA news outlets from print
to social to the best of all... Genuine VOICE on ham radio bands.

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OPERATIONAL NEWS - A FELIX VK4FUQ PRESENTATION
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NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2024
--------------
--------------

VK SHIRES you'd recall was run (and won) back in June.

Contest Manager is Diane Main VK4DI a long time contester and DXer
and she joins us later with the results..
I.A.R.U. HF World Championship July 13-14.

Zero hours UTC Saturday Ends 2359 UTC Sunday

The aim of the contest is to support amateur self-training in radiocommunications, including improving amateur operating skills,
conducting technical investigations, and intercommunicating with
other amateurs around the world, especially I.A.R.U. Member Society Headquarters Stations including our own VK3WIA.

(SARL-VK3GK)

----------------------------------------------------

ZL Autumn and Winter Sprints

Start marking those calendars, as the greatest ZL Sprint series held
at 0800z on a Tuesday night is back for the month of July.

Just to change things up and in a blatant attempt to try and attract
"the cool kids", 30min of FT4 has been added to the series.

As before, this contest from New Zealand starts with 30min of CW
followed by 30min of SSB and then 30min of FT4 all on 80m.

The CW/SSB exchange is RST and your outside temperature.

The FT4 exchange is your 4 digit Maidenhead grid-locator.

The object is to work as many stations as you can in one or more of
the 3 sessions. It is a relaxed introduction to contesting and a
chance to try out a new mode or equipment

(nzart)

-------------

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)

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NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2025

HARRY ANGEL MEMORIAL 80 Meter Sprint, Saturday May 3. (vk4uh)

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DX WINDOW TO THE WORLD.

FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY.

Special event stations DL 2024 E, DL 2024 U, DL 2024 R, and DL 2024 O
are QRV until July 14 during EURO 2024, the 17th edition of the UEFA
European Football Championship. QSL via bureau.

(eHam)

--------------

GX 4 LMR will be operated by The British Railways Amateur Radio
Society from the 5th to the 14th of July to commemorate the first
amateur tests on a moving railway train in 1924.

Operators plan to concentrate on the 40m band, depending on
conditions.

QSL GX4LMR via the Bureau.

(rsgb)

--------------

Special callsign HF 25 NATO is active until the 31st of August,
marking the 25th anniversary of Poland joining the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization. Certificates and limited-edition QSL cards are
available. Visit QRZ.com for details.

(ARNewsLine 2428)
--------------

NEW ZEALAND - Wireless and Wool ZM 100 DX

Celebrating Historic 100 Year Trans World Radio Contact

This contact was by Morse and was the first ever, trans-world
two-way radio communication of any type. It was from Shag Valley
Station, Otago and the contact was with Cecil Goyder G2SZ at
Mill Hill School, London.

ZM100DX will be on air on site in Shag Valley Sheep Station.

The main planned contact is between Shag Valley sheep Station and
Mill Hill School 18th October and other celebration events are
planned for the following day or two.

NZART Branch 30 sincerely invites all amateurs to take part in this
celebration and join in marking the 100th year since the original
qso.

zl4aa.org.nz/zl4aa/history/z4aa-transworld-contact

(sourced to NZART Infoline) ------------------------------------------------------------*
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ASTRONOMY (and Wireless Weather)

Perseids Meteor Shower

The Perseids meteor shower is almost upon us again with activity
expected from July 17 until August 24 with best peak dates 12 and
13th of August.

Although we in VK are not as lucky in seeing the full spectacle it is
possible, without travelling to the Northern Hemisphere.

The source of the shower is the Comet Swift-Tuttle. Earth moves
through the comet's tail and fragments of comet debris burn up in
the our atmosphere and the shower is most intense when Earth is in
the dustiest part of the tail.

For meteor scatter fans, this is without doubt the most anticipated
meteor shower of the year with VHF contacts up to 2000km away by
using ionised trails caused by the fiery streaks to refract signals.
For sky watchers, the best time to watch is during the hours before
sunrise.

At its peak, the Perseid meteor shower can be expected to produce a
rate of around 100 meteors per hour, but as an example VK6 hams will
likely to see a handful of meteors per hour, even at the showers
peak. This is because the meteor showers radiant point is very low
in the sky `from there.

On our east coast THE place to be is about 30kms north of Sydney,
Palm Beach headland which has been recognised for its night sky
beauty, with DarkSky International officially designating it an
Urban Night Sky Place.

The area becomes only the worlds 10th urban place recognised by the
DarkSky Arizona-based organisation and the first in the Southern
Hemisphere.

( irts/abc news/astrotourism wa )

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FAITH.

This year, the annual Churches and Chapels on the Air event will take
place on Saturday the 14th of September.

If you are planning to put your church or chapel on the air, please
email John, G3XYF via jhwresdell@gmail.com and he will add you to the
list of participants.

(rsgb)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER
AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org

Beaming in from the final frontier this week is Shane VK4KHZ
the ARISS Coordinator for Australia, with a summary of recent and
if we can notify you early enough, upcoming ARISS events for this
region.

"Thursday the 27th June at 13:38 UTC a successful ARISS educational
outreach event was hosted via ARISS ground station VK6MJ, operated
by Martin Diggins from Mandurah WA. This telebridge contact was
scheduled with US Astronaut Jeanette Eps KF5QNU using the amateur
radio station NA1SS aboard the ISS as it passed over the west coast
of Western Australia.

The school involved in this contact was based in Perez, Argentina.

The student participants received some very detailed and thought
provoking answers to their questions from Jeanette. In summary this
event was a successful contact.

Then, on Monday the 1st July at 12:02 UTC Martin VK6MJ was again the
Ground Station that facilitated a very successful telebridge contact
with the Moroccan School of Engineering Sciences, which is based in
Casablanca, Morocco with this event the students had prepared 20
thought provoking questions for US astronaut Jeanette Epps using
NA1SS, of which 11 of the planned questions were answered during the
10 minute pass. The signals received through Martins ground station
were loud and clear.

Just a reminder that when scheduled ARISS events do occur over
Australia, the downlink frequency to listen to is 145.800FM +/-
doppler shift correction and you will usually find that the signals
are very strong and easily received, even on a hand-held.

Thanks Shane and if you have a school or youth group interested in
applying for an ARISS contact then please feel free to contact
Shane on vk4khz@bigpond.net.au and he will do his best to support
you with your application.
Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and U.S. space transportation company
Firefly Aerospace have signed a collaborative agreement to jointly
launch satellites with Fireflys Alpha rocket from the newly
inaugurated spaceport at Esrange Space Centre in Sweden, starting in
2026.

Together, Firefly and SSC are establishing an orbital launch service
in Europe with a flight-proven launch vehicle, supporting commercial,
civil, and defence customers.

Were pleased to announce this historic collaboration that will have
a huge impact on the global launch market, not least in Europe and
the U.S., said Charlotta Sund, CEO at SSC. Reducing the current gap
of orbital launch sites in Europe, this collaboration strengthens the transatlantic link between Sweden and the U.S. whilst offering unique
space capabilities for the Swedish NATO membership.

Owned and operated by SSC, Esrange has been operational since 1966,
primarily supporting sounding rocket launches for microgravity and
atmospheric research. Newly expanded infrastructure at Esrange now
supports satellite launches, making it a significant contribution to
filling the demands for orbital launch capabilities in Europe.

(fireflyspace.com)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA
iota-world.org/

RSGB IOTA Contest is July 27.

--------

Eric, is on the island and on the air as FP/KV 1 J from
Miquelon Island, IOTA Number NA-032, until the 16th of July.

He will participate in the IARU HF World Championship taking place
on the 13th and 14th of July.

FP/KV1J expects to operate primarily SSB and FT8 with a mix of some
CW, RTTY and FT4. Listen on 80-6 metres, especially on 12, 10 and 6m.
See QRZ.com for QSL details

(newsline 2435)

-------

Jacek, SP 5 EAQ is planning to be active from Niue as E 6 AQ
(callsign pending) October 22 to November 9. QTH is on the western
side of the island, right by the ocean.

This will be an SSB operation only on 80-10m bands. Participation in
the CQWW SSB contest.

Niu is a self-governing island country in free association with
New Zealand, situated in the South Pacific Ocean and is part of
Polynesia. The island is commonly referred to as "The Rock", which
comes from the traditional name "Rock of Polynesia".

Niue IOTA listing of OC-040 is located in a triangle between
Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands.

(dx-world)

---

Christian, using the call DU3/F4EBK is on Luzon Island,
IOTA Number OC-042, through to early 2025. You can listen for him on
20, 15 and 10 metres, where he may be found around 0009 UTC and
after 2100 UTC.

QSL via F4EUO.

(newsline 2435)
------------------------
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS - YOTA
(Youngsters On The Air)
facebook.com/yotaregion2
facebook.com/groups/YOTAOC/
youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA
twitter.com/hamyota
ham-yota.com
To encourage more interest in Amateur Radio, particularly for we
younger ones as well as Girl Guides and Scouts, ALARA, the
Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association, has now introduced a
Radio Challenge badge.

This involves participants completing 6 activities from a list of
electronics, radio and communications topics. By submitting a report
detailing what they learnt participants will be able to gain a
certificate of completion and a badge; In addition ALARA has also
added new information for beg