• WIANEWS for WEEK COMMENCING OCTOBER 31 2021

    From National News Broadcast Email List@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 29 06:54:06 2021
    XPost: aus.radio.amateur.misc, rec.radio.amateur.misc

    Weekly news from the WIA:
    MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2021-10-31.mp3 Text edition:
    2021 OCTOBER 31 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 OCTOBER 31 2021
    IN OUR 26th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS

    THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK

    We'll start where we ended off last week when we made mention how only 2 groups thought it newsworthy enough to send reports to the news on their JOTA activity.

    Nick Quigley OAM VK4CNQ has dropped us a most interesting note on JOTA where the Ham Ops came from over 5 and a half hours drive away!

    Nick, a fellow Vietnam Vet is heavily involved with Cockscomb Veterans Bush Retreat, a safe harbour open to all serving and Ex-military and all Emergency Services and their families. It is also open to Civilian Service Groups for meetings and conferences.

    The Chinchilla Scout group go up to Cockscomb every year for a
    ten day camp. This year they visited Keppel island, went caving, visited Emu Park Memorial Walk and had a great time. VK4CNQ was talking to Leanne Fitzgerald the District Commissioner for Chinchilla and surrounds and heard they were not having JOTA as
    such because they didn't know any amateurs.

    So Nick said "I'll come down".

    As Nicks walking and breathing is not as good as it was in earlier times, he travelled with Robert Holmes, Cockscomb President and set up a JOTA station including as centre piece a CW ops position.

    "I think everybody had a go on the key that JOTA weekend and came back
    next day for more and so many came by just to thank me for bringing Morse to their JOTA."

    "Now I'm sure there would have to be amateurs in the region of Warwick, Miles, Goondiwindi, Pittsworth, Millmerran, Roma, Chinchilla and Dalby, and I know dealing with kids is not everyones forte, but only Amateurs make JOTA possible."

    Cheers, 73's
    Nick Quigley OAMVK4CNQ
    EDUCATION
    HERE WE GO AGAIN

    IRELAND'S HAM EXAM MAY GET NEW OVERSEER

    In Ireland, the regulator is seeking applicants to oversee
    the amateur radio exam there.

    This after regulator, ComReg notes the current agreement expires with the Irish Radio Transmitters Society December. The Harmonised Amateur Radio Certificate, or HAREC, is to be set, organised and corrected by whoever enters into the new agreement with
    the regulator afterward.

    The Ham Society IRTS has been administering the 60-question HAREC exams on paper. There has been no option to take the exams online. A report on the Southgate Amateur Radio News website noted, however, that the Radio Society of Great Britain has been
    using a Dublin-based provider for its own online exams.

    (sourced to arnewsline.org)

    WIA NATIONAL NEWS AND YOUR 3 W's.
    WASH YOUR HANDS

    WEAR YOUR MASK

    WATCH YOUR DISTANCE (1.5 metres)
    www.health.gov.au/ ------------------------------------------------------------*
    INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, RAC,
    Southgate AR Club, ARRL, NZART, eHam, AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE
    & the World Wide sources of the WIA.

    REGION ONE

    On October 24, last Sunday just after this WIA National News 'went to bed' a new Executive Committee was elected on the final day of the IARU Region 1 Conference and Workshop

    The new IARU R1 EC includes:
    - President: Sylvain Azarian, F4GKR
    - Vice-President: Hani Raad, OD5TE
    - Secretary: Mats Espling, SM6EAN
    AM Radio
    A recent British government publication states that AM radio reaches around three percent of listeners, responsible for a considerable part of the electricity bill of the UK radio industry, which is calculated to consume around 115 GWh/year of energy
    at an estimated 16 million per annum on electricity for transmission. That is the electrical energy equivalent to that used by 30,000 households. This represents around 0.03% of UK energy use. Of this, around three quarters of the energy is used for
    analogue radio broadcasts and one quarter for digital radio broadcasts.

    Most of the radio stations provided as analogue broadcasts are duplicated on DAB transmission networks which also carry many digital-only services. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport report states that only FM is to be retained until 2030. It
    recommends that the UKs three national medium wave networks be closed in
    the mid 2020s, though the final decision is to be left to the individual broadcasters.

    New museum to recognize Warsaw radio station that was second biggest in the world

    In memory of what was once the second tallest radio transmission station in the world, scientists are looking to set up a museum to commemorate its history.

    Built after Poland regained independence at the end of the First World War, by 1923 half of Europe was sending telegrams to the USA via the Transatlantic Radiotelegraphic Broadcasting Centre in Warsaw.

    Consisting of 10 massive 126-meter-tall towers [over 430 feet], the radio stations transmitter was powerful enough to reach both North and South America.

    The Warsaw station was also one of the best equipped in the world with two machine transmitters of 200 kW each being powered by a 500 kW diesel-powered generator ensuring 24-hour communication with the U.S.
    When WWII broke out following Hitlers invasion of Poland, German troops captured the station allowing the Nazis to communicate with their U-boat fleets and with Japan. At the end of the war, they destroyed it, the detonation of which broke windows of
    houses over 16 km away.
    Read more at:
    New museum to recognize Warsaw radio station that was second biggest in the world (ampoleagle.com)
    REGION TWO

    How your phone, laptop, or watch can be tracked by their Bluetooth transmissions

    Over the past few years, mobile devices have become increasingly chatty over the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol and this turns out to be a somewhat significant privacy risk.

    Seven boffins at University of California San Diego tested the BLE implementations on several popular phones, PCs, and gadgets, and found they can be tracked through their physical signalling characteristics albeit with intermittent success.

    That means the devices may emit a unique fingerprint, meaning it's possible to look out for those fingerprints in multiple locations to figure out where those devices have been and when. This could be used to track people; you'll have to use your
    imagination to determine who would or could usefully exploit this. That said, at least two members of the team believe it's worth product makers addressing this privacy weakness.

    The academics describe their findings in a paper "Evaluating Physical-Layer BLE Location Tracking Attacks on Mobile Devices," which is scheduled to be presented at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy in 2022.

    WASSUP?

    The US Federal Communications Commission has given its approval to wireless charging technology from a San Jose, California company.

    Energous Corporation sought approval for its 900 MHz, 1-watt active energy harvesting transmitter that enables wireless transfer of power. The US regulatory agency's OK follows similar approval granted in Europe this past May. The transmitter, known as
    WattUp, is able to charge several devices at the same time and is seen as key to the growth of devices reliant on the Internet of Things.

    The company heralded the move on its website, praising WattUp as [quote]
    "the world's first and only regulatory-approved wireless charging
    technology that supports near and far field wireless power transfer."

    REGION THREE

    Radio ham restores emergency comms system
    The Hindu reports radio amateur Shibu George has rejuvenated a radio communications system for disaster management

    The Hindu newspaper says:

    A radio wireless network system, which was installed more than a decade ago (in 2009) in all district headquarters in the State but abandoned later due to poor range and lack of proper maintenance, has been rejuvenated to effectively coordinate rescue
    operations even in adverse weather conditions.

    Shibu George, an employee of DEOC (District Emergency Operation Centre), Thrissur, who is doing his research in disaster management, re-developed the system, with necessary upgrading, which can make disaster management faster and effective, during
    calamities.

    Now all the seven Taluks in Thrissur district are connected to the Collectorate through the radio system. The radio wireless system will function even when the mobile network and even satellite phone connection develop snag in adverse weather conditions.
    The system was effectively used in the district to coordinate relief operations during the floods last week, says Mr. George.

    Shibu George, who is doing his Ph.D. research in Modern Applications in Disaster Management based on Kerala Floods-2018, happened to stumble upon the novel idea quite accidental.

    He noticed the abandoned, dust-covered repeater, lying somewhere in the Thrissur Collectorate control room.

    Mr. George, who is a Ham Radio licence holder, sought the help of C.S. Sarath Chandran, radio officer and the duo, with permission from the then Thrissur District Collector S. Shanavas, made the repeater functional.
    tinyurl.com/6c4pjvw2

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    HAM RADIO OPERATIONAL NEWS - IT'S A CONTACT SPORT

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    THIS CONTEST IS HAPPENING NOW

    CQ WW is the largest Amateur Radio competition in the world. Over 35,000 participants take to the airwaves on SSB during the last weekend of October, and CW later in November, with the goal of making as many contacts with as many different DXCC entities
    and CQ Zones as possible. This year's mammoth contest is held this weekend of the 30th and 31st of October.
    (IRTS)

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    SPRING VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS November 27-28

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    CQ World-Wide CW contest Nov 27-28

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    December 4-5 160 Meter WW

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    DECEMBER 11 - 12 10 Mtr World Wide

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    2022
    --------------
    January, the entire month every year is the
    WIA ROSS HULL VHF - UHF MARATHON CONTEST
    00:00 UTC 1 January to 23:59 UTC 31 January

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    WIA VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS

    Summer 2022 - 0100 UTC Saturday 15 January
    through 0059 UTC Sunday 16 January (differs in VK6).

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    John Moyle Memorial Field Day

    March 2022

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    Harry Angel Memorial 80m Sprint

    Saturday May 7th 2022
    10:00 UTC - 11:46 UTC

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    VK SHIRES CONTEST 11th JUNE 2022

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    WIA VHF - UHF FIELD DAYS

    Winter 2022 - 0200 UTC Saturday 25 June
    through 0159 UTC Sunday 26 June (differs in VK6).

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    WIA Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest

    16 JUL 2022

    The Trans-Tasman contest, held on the 3rd weekend in July
    aims to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL

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    WIA RD or Remembrance Day Contest

    Weekend closest to the 15th August each year.

    2022 its Sat Sun August 13 and 14

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    DX WINDOW

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    NORTH - from Alaska

    VY 0 ERC from the Eureka Weather station is operated by the Eureka
    Amateur Radio Club [probably the most northerly located amateur radio club in the world] from Eureka, Nunavut.

    Eureka is a small research base on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is the third-northernmost permanent research community in the world. Eureka has the lowest average annual temperature and the lowest amount of precipitation of
    any weather station in Canada.

    To give you an idea just HOW far north, it's about the same distance north from Anchorage in Alaska as the Panama canal is SOUTH.

    Work this one you HAVE achieved something special.

    The VY 0 ERC team (VE1RUS and VE3KTB) is active from the Polar Environment Atmospheric until November 22nd and plan to be in todays
    CQWW DX SSB and also the ARRL Sweepstakes Contests. Outside of the contests, the suggested bands are 40 and 20 meters as well as FM satellites

    QSL via M0OXO, OQRS or direct.

    For updates, see: twitter.com/vy0erc

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    VK 20 HOME

    Dont forget that the WIA special event callsign VK 20 HOME
    is still available for members use until December 31st 2021.
    Check the WIA website and Special Event pages to book your
    time slot for use.

    (VK3GK)

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    VI 50 SG is QRV until December's end commemorating 50 years
    of the St. George Amateur Radio Society in New South Wales.
    QSL via bureau.

    (SouthGate)

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    PANAMA.

    Special event stations 3 F 200 AT, 3 E 200 P and 3 F 200 NG are
    QRV until November 30 celebrating Panama's Bicentennial anniversary
    of Independence from Spain, QSL route is via ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW.

    (SOURCED TO ARNEWSLINE.ORG) ------------------------------------------------------------*
    MEDIA WATCH

    Advertising for a national radio Additional Service Licence

    Ofcom in the UK is inviting applications for a national radio Additional Service Licence.

    Additional services use the spare capacity within signals carrying sound broadcasting services on certain frequencies.

    The current licence - held by INRIX UK Ltd - uses spare capacity from the frequencies used to broadcast Classic FM to transmit traffic and road travel information to in-car navigation devices. This licence is due to expire on 28 February 2022.
    (southgatearc.org) ------------------------------------------------------------*

    WIRELESS WEATHER

    Volcanic comet 29P erupts again

    Volcanic comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann erupted again last weekend, suddenly brightening 10-fold and puffing a shell of vaporized cryomagma into space.

    The new shell is expanding into an older one produced by a "super eruption" only one month ago. Amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor this unique object as it changes every night.

    Full story is at spaceweather.com
    (southgatearc.org) ------------------------------------------------------------*

    WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS
    WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS ATV (Every pixel tells a story) -

    tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos
    THAT LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF THIS NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD
    BEVAN
    WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW
    www.morsecodeclassnet.com

    The Straight Key Century Club (SKCC) has enrolled its 25,000th member the Florida Island Hoppers, W4USI. The Florida Island Hoppers were granted SKCC Number 25,000.

    SKCC was founded in 2006 to promote and preserve the art of manual keying. The idea caught on quickly, and membership has continued to grow to include members in Europe, Oceania, and Asia, as well as the US. SKCC members can earn various awards and
    participate in sprints using manual devices such as straight keys, bugs, and sideswipers. The club also supports new and returning CW operators, and its overarching philosophy is to always be considerate of the other operators speed and skill, and to
    adjust sending accordingly. Membership in SKCC is free and open to operators of all skill levels.
    (arrl)
    WORLD WIDE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DIGITAL
    vkdmr.info/
    brandmeister.network/?page=repeaters

    The WSJT development team has announced the General Availability release of WSJT-X version 2.5.1.

    This release mainly contains improvements and defect repairs related to Q65 and JT65 modes when used with non-standard and compound calls. Also included is a new feature for microwave aircraft scatter, and repairs for defects detected since the 2.5.0
    release. Just type WSJT-X into your favourite search engine.
    (gb2rs)
    WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER (or is it final final?)

    Failed Russian satellite crashes back to Earth over the US and Canada
    The spacecraft didn't make it to orbit and went out in a blaze of glory instead

    A fireball that blazed a slow trail across the skies above Michigan and other nearby states and provinces Tuesday night wasn't a meteor but instead a spacecraft making an unexpected homecoming.

    Dozens of photos, videos and eyewitness reports came pouring into the American Meteor Society from the Great Lakes region and as far south as Tennessee.

    Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, a leading observer of satellites and other orbital spacecraft, was quick to note on Twitter that the sightings corresponded very closely to "the exact predicted time Kosmos-2551 passed over the region."

    Kosmos-2551 was a Russian reconnaissance satellite that launched on Sept. 9 but didn't make it into orbit.

    Videos captured from across the region show a fireball working its way across the evening sky for nearly a minute. This is one hint that the fiery object likely was not natural, as meteors are typically much smaller and can move faster, allowing them to
    burn up quick. A bulky satellite, on the other hand, can take longer to disintegrate and meets more resistance as it renters the atmosphere, leading to a more prolonged burn.

    Although the images appear to show the artificial satellite edging ever closer to the ground as it makes a run for the horizon, McDowell clarified that it was actually being observed at an altitude of about 64 kilometres.

    The fireball isn't the only one to be seen this week. The Orionids reached a peak Thursday morning, and fireballs from that meteor shower may continue to light up the skies through the weekend.

    www.cnet.com/news/failed-russian-satellite-crashes-back-to-earth-over-the-us-and-canada/
    WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- IOTAiota-world.org

    Miguel, EA1BP will be active as FM/EA1BP from Martinique, IOTA reference NA-107, from the 27th of October to the 5th of November, including an entry in the CQ WW DX SSB Contest as TO7O [Tango Oscar Seven Oscar]. QSL via his home call; the logs will be
    uploaded to Logbook of the World and Club Log.

    Toni, EA5RM and a large multi-national team will be active as HD8R from San Cristobal, Galapagos Islands, SA-004, from the 26th of October to the 7th of November. They will operate CW, SSB and FT8 on the 6 to 160m bands, plus RTTY on 20 metres, with at
    least four stations on the air simultaneously. QSL via EA5RM.
    (rsgb)

    WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR OLD-TIMERSraotc.org.au

    Hallo everyone, this is Clive VK6CSW reminding you that tomorrow is the first Monday of month, time for the Radio Amateurs Old Timers Club of Australias November bulletin to go to air.

    Following the Club news, we have two articles for you:

    The first one is about Michael Faraday, the scientist who gave us units of capacitance plus many other things, read by Ian VK3JS,

    The second is another trip down memory lane, Remembering Windows 1.0, read by Bruce VK3UV, Remembering Windows 1.0

    Everyone, RAOTC members and non-Members alike, is most welcome to listen to the program and join in the call backs afterwards.

    Full details of all transmissions times and modes can be found on the RAOTC website on www.raotc.org.au or just Google RAOTC broadcasts. If
    none of the transmission times suit you you can download the audio file at any time from today from the website. If you do listen this way, brief feedback would be appreciated.

    Members and Friends of the RAOTC in Perth are reminded that the next lunchtime meeting at the Bayswater Hotel is on Tuesday, November 9th. All are welcome.

    Once again, tune in tomorrow for the November RAOTC bulletin, enjoy the program and please join in the call backs afterwards.
    73 from Clive VK6CSW.

    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
    Region 1 3760 7110 14300 18160 21360 kHz

    Region 2 3750 3985 7060 7240 7275 14300 18160 21360kHz

    NBN Co is calling on Australians to put safety measures in place this disaster season and follow some simple tips to help maintain communications during emergency and disaster events. It is backing this up with a rollout of emergency equipment Australia-
    wide ready for emergencies across the country this summer.

    Critical Comms say this seasons recovery efforts will be boosted by the addition of 58 new pieces of temporary infrastructure, including multi-technology trailers, network on wheels, wireless mast trailers and hybrid power cubes, which will be stationed
    in different locations across the country for potential deployment if needed.

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    2021 Social Scene
    Due to the COVID-19 situation, please check these events'
    direct for up-to-date status information and even without
    Covid dates have an uncanny knack of being changed at last
    moment.

    AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PORTAL
    Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest news, key facts and figures,
    contacts and answers to your questions.
    www.health.gov.au/

    VK3 - ROSEBUD RadioFest by SPARC 9:30am Nov 14 (vk3pdg)
    VK5 - Australian Fox Hunting Championship and SERG Convention
    Mount Gambier SA Queens Birthday weekend June 2022
    (vk5dj)
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