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VK7 Amateur Radio News 10May20
Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR MAY 10 2020
(Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using)
VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 10th MAY 2020
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 10th May 2020, Mother's Day, and all the very best to all our mothers. This broad
cast is brought to you by VK7WI, and read today by Mike, VK7FB.
This broadcast utilises repeaters around VK7 and the following HF rebroadcast stations:
On 3.670 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 7.140 MHz by Justin, VK7TW
On 14.130 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD
On 28.525 MHz by Tony, VK7VKT
On DMR Talk Group 5 and D-Star Reflector 091 by Clayton, VK7ZCR
This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on
repeaters VK7RAA in the North and VK7RTC in the South.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SILENT KEY
I am saddened to announce the sudden passing of Peter Nicolle, VK7RN, on the 9th of April 2020.
I had the pleasure of training Peter along with Mark, now VK7ME, for their foundation licence in late 2016. They travelled week
ly from Sheffield to Burnie for their regular Monday night training sessions, a 2 hour round trip, and then once again when the
y wanted to upgrade to advanced licence later in 2017.
Peter was very active on the sewing circle and certainly liked a chat on air. Reportedly he was a prolific CB'er for many years
until he obtained his amateur licence.
He had a good collection of HF radio equipment and was always keen to experiment with various antennas.
He had recently moved to a quiet bush location on Claude Road near Sheffield.
I am sure the amateur community is the poorer for his passing and he will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
Regards, Dave VK7DC with the help of Eric, VK7EV
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WIA NATIONAL NEWS
VK7 Stepping Up
Given the current situation with COVID-19 and the cancellation of the WIA Annual Conference that was to be held in VK7 over the
weekend of 8-10 May 2020, VK7 has been asked to host the WIA National News for this weekend and next, the 17th of May 2020.
So, if you would like to be involved in the reading and recording of segments for the WIA National News then please contact me
at vk7tw @ wia.org.au and let me know what you would like to do.
Reading and recording takes place on the Wed-Thurs prior to the Sunday of the broadcast.
This will also give our hard working WIA National News team a well-earned rest!
Look forward to hearing from you.
Justin, VK7TW
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Sewing Circle Net
Please note that from now until further notice the Sewing Circle Net will commence at 17:00 on a frequency of 3.64MHz.
73, Gavin, VK7VTX
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23 CM QSO PARTY
Record Numbers take Part in 23 cm QSO Party
Last Sunday 21 stations participated -- an increase of three over the previous record. 19 stations in Hobart on 1296.15 FM with
VK7PD and VK7KWB up North on Digital on 1296.2 QRA64-D.
The FM session starts immediately after the Broadcast at about 10:00 am. With the increased numbers in Hobart the Digital sessi
on has been moved to 10:45 am.
We are very close to our goal of 23 on 23 so if you are operational on 23 cm please join in each Sunday morning.
73 Rex VK7MO
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QSL NEWS
Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
The WIA Head Office Bureau is now planning to forward QSL Cards to State managers on a quarterly basis.
Advice has also been received that due to the current situation with the Corona Virus, the office is not fully staffed and it m
ay be some time before we receive any further deliveries.
The current list of Cards held as at 3 April, including the latest delivery on 12 March, is in the email version of the broadca
st.
Please contact Herman if you can assist in delivery of any of the cards in your area.
Thank you those who have already advised him. He hopes to send a few more cards out in the next week or so.
If you have any questions re QSL cards, please contact Herman by email vk7bureau@wia.org.au
73, Herman, VK7HW, WIA Manager VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
--------------------------------------------
AA, AAA, AB, AC, AD, AE, AL, AM, AN, AO, AP, AS, ATH, AV
BA, BB, BBB, BBW, BM, BO, BP
CC, CH, CJ, CV, CX
DD, DG, DK, DO, DQ, DW, DX, DZ
FALX, FAZZ, FG, FGGT, FJFJ, FLAR, FOTR, FRJG, FTAS
GA, GC, GH, GL, GM, GW, GZ
HCH, HDX, HPD, HRS, HRW, HVK, HZ
IK, IS
JA, JB, JJ, JJJ, JON, JP, JW
KBA, KD, KJ, KRJ, KL, KR, KT, KX
LAZ, LCW, LDH, LF, LH, LM, LW
MAG, MBD, MBP, MC, MD(dm), ME, MHZ, MI, ML
NA, NC, NET, NMH, NRF, NSB, NSE, NTE, NWQ, NWT
OK, OR, OT
PAL, PBD, PSJ, PW
RG, ROY
SM, SN, SV
TCE, TED, TK, TR, TS, TU, TX
VAC, VAZ, VH, VKV, VR, VZ
WA, WC, WH, WT, WX
XDM, XX
YAD, YUM
ZA, ZCK, ZE, ZJJ, ZM, ZMS, ZT, ZX, ZZ
-------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS FROM THE NORTH
SOTA/WWFF PARKS GROUP
The SOTA/WWFF parks group at Glebe Gardens shall be back on track with plans for future events as soon as government regulation
s change from the current situation.
Time to think and plan for future events.
73, Al, VK7AN
-----------------------------------------------
Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
www.ntarc.net
We begin this week by wishing all the mothers among our listeners and all our mother members a Happy Mother's Day. I suspect it
will be hard for many of us, unable to catch up with family on this day, but please keep a positive outlook. Hopefully our soc
ial distancing requirements can soon be relaxed progressively and removed fully in a few month's time.
My requirement to socially distance has once again seen me fairly much confined to the property for the week, so my contributio
n to the NTARC segment must again revolve around life in this rural setting. Some listeners though might be interested in the g
oings-on here on Thursday.
Among our aviation friends are the owners and pilots of the largest agricultural aviation company here in the north. After the
recent prolonged spell of bad weather, this week saw them with an urgent need to quickly grasp a window of opportunity offered
by a couple of low-wind days to catch up on outstanding jobs. Among those was the need to drop fertiliser on some of the broad-
acre paddocks in the vicinity of this QTH. Pelleted fertiliser tends to be heavy stuff, so having to return to home field in th
e Cressy area to reload would significantly extend the time required to complete the task. In fact, probably push it into the u
pcoming patch of bad weather. Needless to say, given their brief life cycle, the crops donâÖt like to be kept waiting, bad wea
ther or not.
In these situations, we frequently receive requests to use our farm airstrip for the reloading site, being located fairly centr
ally to the target paddocks. This was the case this past week, when we received a request to again use the Monreith strip. We w
ere happy to again help out, although mind you, for me that meant a 5.30 am start as gates had to be unlocked in readiness for
the delivery of the semi-trailer loaded with just on 20 tons of Urea, the good stuff! Hot on his heals then came the loader veh
icle. This beast is fitted out with a crane and hopper, so its first job was to unload from the semi-trailer and let the driver
get on his way.
Next arrival was the Thrush, no not the infectious type but a big turbine-engined ag plane, manufactured in Albany, Georgia USA
. He was soon loaded and ready to roll, only to discover that the farmer hadn't dropped off to me the coordinates of the paddoc
ks he needed done. This had apparently been arranged to happen the previous evening, unbeknown to me, but had seemingly been fo
rgotten. After many frantic phone calls and thanks to modern technology, the details were sent to the loader and pilots" mobile
s. Quite why this had not been the original plan is beyond me, as we donâÖt normally tend to be involved in that level of deta
il, but the missing information meant an hour's delay for the Thrush pilot and with the turbine still burning Avtur during that
hour, not exactly a cheap exercise. With the weather due to soon change, with high winds forecast, a second aircraft was calle
d in. Within the hour the Air Tractor also arrived. She is another turbine powered machine but smaller, carrying half the load
of the Thrush. With the 2 planes coming and going the poor loader driver was unable to take his normal breaks. These pilots do
not muck around and it was all over in just under 3 hours. Yes, that's right - that's how long it took them to pick up, fly to
their destination, spread their load, return and reload and repeat the process until all had been done.
Ag-pilot operations always provides entertainment for the passing parade on the Midland highway but this time, the sight of not
one but two aircraft so engaged brought traffic to a frequent dawdle. All in all, it was a fascinating operation to watch and
I managed to get many photos for the OM's plane albums.
Remuneration for the use of the home QTH was a couple of low passes dropping some urea on the strip. Mind you, the 4 pet sheep
have yet to recover from this activity, involving as it did their home range. There should have been 5 but one was AWOL at the
time. My wandering self-shedding Wiltshire Horn got brought home from visiting the females in the many acres behind us the next
day. He was far from happy at the loss of his harem, despite his less than intact state, but the others were equally alarmed a
t the sight of me trundling up the strip in our orange ATV with the wanderer following. That sent them off at a hundred miles a
n hour. I suspect it will take them some days to calm down from the noise and the number of flights on and off the strip but pr
obably by then I will be ready to get the tractor out to slash beside the strip to make all the markers visible again. The poor
sheep are probably in for a disturbing time for some days to come.
So, that's it from the domestic front but once again in these trying times of almost non-existent contact with the rest of soci
ety, I have little other than home QTH happenings to write about.
Fortunately, some other members are better placed to keep their fingers on the pulse of northern amateur radio activity, so we
will now hand over to Nic VK7BEE our Net Coordinator to give you a run down on last Wednesday 6th May Tech Net session:
âFrom 19:00, before the net started, Nic VK7BEE, whose QTH is near Legana, monitored the QRP frequency of 3.580 MHz. As befor
e, he sent some CW from a home brew two transistor transceiver running 100 milliwatts. Sending a string of Vs, the signal was h
eard by Kevin VK7HKN and Peter VK7KPC who both reported on air and on Discord. Kevin VK7HKN had built a one-transistor transmit
ter, using a 2N3904, running 50 milliwatts, and Peter a modified WSPR rig running 500 milliwatts. Everyone could hear each othe
râÖs CW signals from these QRP rigs!
Bruce ZL1BWG, from Whangarei in the North Island of New Zealand, called in on LSB and CW running 5watts. Nic was running 300 wa
tts PEP LSB ready for the Tech Net so it became a voice to CW contact. This week conditions were excellent; with Bruce's low po
wer, Nic gave him a RST report of 599. Another great start to the evening!
The NTARC Tech Net started at 7:30 pm local, 19:30 AEST or 0930 Zulu on 3.567 MHz LSB.
THIS WEEKS MESSAGE "80% of effort in your station should go into putting up the best antenna you can" - the following results s
peak for themselves!
Nic VK7BEE, Net Control operated as VK7TAZ, using 380w PEP from an ICOM 751A and FL-2100Z amplifier into a double extended Zepp
antenna with 5/8 wavelength each leg for 80m which effectively doubles the ERP!
The net had 13 stations. Conditions were excellent. Though not all stations could hear each other at the start of the net, Sign
als Improved even further so that most could be heard by the end of the net. Net Control as VK7TAZ reported all signals except
for one, a VK3 in Melbourne, as 5 and 9+!
Some still used SDRs via the internet to receive because of high local noise, but using their rigs to transmit on.
"DISCORD" online communications was also used simultaneously, with Paul VK7KPA hosting" the NTARC Tech Net Group. Several ope
rators joined Discord; some also on the net monitoring at the same time, sharing pics and information whilst on-air. Alex, a SW
L also joined Discord, invited by Paul; and, it was nice to see Bill VK7MX from Gippsland, Victoria and many others "call-in"
to Discord.
Kevin VK7HKN, QRP 6 watts, discussed the success with his flea-powered 1 transistor CW transmitter on 3580 MHz, and the problem
of it not having enough power to drive his automatic antenna matching unit - perhaps he needs to build an L-Match unit, good f
or long wires?
Peter VK7KPC discussed his modifications and the success with his QRP rig on 3.580 MHz, but suggested the need for an improved
audio amplifier.
Paul VK7KPA called in for a quick signal report whilst watching Discord and welcoming SWL Alex.
Graham VK7KT from Burnie was using an improved ZS6 antenna with open wire feeder which gave a great signal!
George VK4GSF, 100km North of Brisbane running 80w was also using a ZS6 antenna. Phil VK7ZPD in Legana had made big changes to
his long wire antenna, and the improvement in signal strength was dramatic.
Jamie VK3TZE in Melbourne was difficult to copy until the end of the net when his signal conditions improved.
Paul VK3SS in Stratford on the river Avon, called in with a cracking signal of 400watts PEP using a IC7610 on a trap dipole for
40m and 80m only 6 meters off the ground. Later he used an Icom 751A with 100 watts and his signal appeared almost the same!
Andrew VK7DW reported that his tower was up and posted a photo on Discord. Nice job!
Peter VK7PD called in giving details of his smart Squelch system for his loudspeakers. He also explained about the Sunday net o
n 1296 MHz, run by Rex VK7MO, using simplex on digital mode, Launceston to Hobart!
Idris VK7ZIR, our President, called in having put a lot of effort into an antenna with André VK7ZAB. It paid off! A fantastic
signal running 5watts PEP!
Andy VK3HMV, ex RAN, called-in recognising Nic's voice from the Ballarat Net running each Thursday on 3.608 MHz at 8pm local ti
me.
Congratulations to VK7KT, VK7ZPD and VK7ZIR with VK7ZAB for HUGE improvements to their signals as a result of the efforts put i
nto their antennas!
Looking forward to next week's instalment.
73 de Nic VK7BEE
Thanks Nic. What a great night. Hope to hear all next Wednesday 13th May same times.
Once again, this must be all from NTARC for this week. As we have been saying for the past month or more, take care and if you
don't need to go out, stay home and read, listen to music, get on the radio and talk to the world or warm up that soldering iro
n and get on with those projects. Lord knows, here in VK7 and in the VK7RAA/VK7RJG listening area in particular, we should now
know only too well the risks of spreading the virus inherent in needless close social gathering. Above all though, please keep
well and keep as watchful an eye on the wellbeing of your immediate circle as is possible in the circumstances.
Finally
A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial
- it is always good to have something new with which to entertain the troops - then please email them to either of the followin
g
addresses ntarc.emails @ gmail.com or ypmaxwell @ bigpond.com
For some time to come, the weekly news will become the medium for informing all about happenings, or lack thereof, in the local
amateur radio world. It would be appreciated if any news, no matter how insignificant, could be sent no later than 17:00 hours
on the Friday prior to broadcast, to allow its timely insertion into the NTARC segment.
That gives all a chance to get the NTARC segment together and off to Hobart in time for collation into the VK7 Broadcast. Your
continued cooperation in this regard will be gratefully appreciated.
73, Yvonne, VK7FYMX, Secretary NTARC Inc
------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
https://www.reast.asn.au/
Club Virtual Gathering - DMR FeastClubÂ
Last Wednesday night was the REAST's second whole of club virtual gathering and was a focus on Digital Mobile Radio with Scott
VK7HSE.
Scott focused on the Radioddity GD77 handheld which is very popular in Southern Tasmania. Scott started with a short recap on D
MR terminology then dived into exploring Roger Clarke's OpenGD77 firmware and the features of this firmware enhancement.
This firmware update sits on top of the normal GD77 Firmware and provides many more features and the ability to download the us
er database for your area which then presents the callers callsign instead of their DMR identity number.
Scott took the audience through where to get the firmware update from GITHUB and then how to load the firmware on your GD77. So
me of the features of the loading software were also covered.
Scott and Clayton VK7ZCR then took questions from DMR, FM and Chat channels. A huge thank you to Scott and Clayton.
For more information with all the DMR links and an updated code plug go the link on the email edition of this broadcast.
https://www.reast.asn.au/2020/05/07/reast-virtual-club-gathering-dmr/
The presentation was recorded and can be found on the REAST YouTube Channel at the link on the email edition of this broadcast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTwdMK3ATDg
Our next month's virtual presentation will be an introduction to D-Star by Clayton VK7ZCR.
73, Justin VK7TW
------------------------------------------------------------------
DATV Experimenter's Night
Working from the Shack #6
This week we get back underway with our Working from the Shack interviews and shack tour with another notable amateur.
We get underway from 7:30pm and we will be taking questions via Repeater Two (146.700), DMR Talkgroup 3807 and the Youtube Chat
channel.
And a reminder that we go out on RF on 445.5MHz DVB-T 7MHz Standard Definition. So, if you have a TV, Set-top box or USB DTV Do
ngle that you can tune and scan 445.5MHz and you can see the Queens Domain, then you have a good chance of receiving the DATV E
xperimenter's Night Signal. Look out for VK7OTC. We also stream the nights on the REAST YouTube channel and Facebook.
https://www.reast.asn.au/special-interest-groups/amateur-tv/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC64To_tq1E7PfK1pqtX_vRw/
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
We get underway with the DATV Experimenter's "Working from the Shack" Night #6 from 7:30pm this Wednesday 13th.
73, Justin, VK7TW
----------------------------------------------------------------------
TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Electron effect produced with photons
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have replicated one of the most well-known electromagnetic effect
s in physics, the Hall effect, using radio waves instead of electric current.
The technique could be used to develop advanced communication systems that boost signal transmission in one direction while sim
ultaneously absorbing signals going in the opposite direction.
The Hall effect, discovered in 1879 by Edwin Hall, occurs because of the interaction between charged particles and electromagne
tic fields. In an electric field, electrons experience a force opposite to the direction of the field. In a magnetic field, mov
ing electrons experience a force in the direction perpendicular to both their motion and the magnetic field. These two forces c
ombine in the Hall effect, where perpendicular electric and magnetic fields combine to generate an electric current.
Light isn't charged, so regular electric and magnetic fields can't be used to generate an analogous "current of light". However
, in a recent paper published in Physical Review Letters, researchers explain that they have done exactly this with the help of
what they call âsynthetic electric and magnetic fields".
Principal investigator Gaurav Bahl's research group has been working on several methods to improve radio and optical data trans
mission as well as fibre-optic communication. Earlier this year, the group exploited an interaction between light and sound wav
es to suppress the scattering of light from material defects.
In 2018, team member Christopher Peterson was the lead author of a paper that described a technology that promises to halve the
bandwidth needed for communications by enabling an antenna to send and receive signals on the same frequency simultaneously th
rough a process called nonreciprocal coupling.
In the current study, Peterson has provided another promising method to directionally control data transmission using a princip
le similar to the Hall effect.
Instead of an electric current, the team generated a current of light by creating synthetic electric and magnetic fields, which
affect light the same way the normal fields affect electrons.
Unlike conventional electric and magnetic fields, these synthetic fields are created by varying the structure that light propag
ates through in both space and time.
"Although radio waves do not carry charge and therefore do not experience forces from electric or magnetic fields, physicists h
ave known for several years that equivalent forces can be produced by confining light in structures that vary in space or time,
" Peterson said.
"The rate of change of the structure in time is effectively proportional to the electric field, and the rate of change in space
is proportional to the magnetic field. While these synthetic fields were previously considered separately, we showed that thei
r combination affects photons in the same way that it affects electrons."
By creating a specially designed circuit to enhance the interaction between these synthetic fields and radio waves, the team le
veraged the principle of the Hall effect to boost radio signals going in one direction, increasing their strength, while also s
topping and absorbing signals going in the other direction.
Their experiments showed that with the right combination of synthetic fields, signals can be transmitted through the circuit mo
re than 1000 times as effectively in one direction than in the opposite direction.
The research could be used to produce new devices that protect sources of radio waves from potentially harmful interference, or
that help ensure sensitive quantum mechanical measurements are accurate.
The team is also working on experiments that extend the concept to other kinds of waves, including light and mechanical vibrati
ons, as they look to establish a new class of devices based on applying the Hall effect outside of its original domain.
Pictured: A microstrip circuit used to demonstrate Hall effect for radio waves. Credit: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champa
ign Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Sourced from CriticalComms
Read more: http://criticalcomms.com.au/content/industry/article/electron-effect-produced-with-photons-120555626#ixzz6LqHdNROk
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
NWTR&TVG - Club meetings cancelled till further notice.
NTARC - Club meetings cancelled till further notice.
REAST - Clubrooms are closed until further notice.
REAST - MICROWAVE QSO Party - following after the Sunday broadcast on 1296.15 MHz FM.
NTARC - Technical Net - Wednesdays 3.567 MHz LSB at 7:30pm local time
Events:
Sewing Circle Net - commences at 17:00 on 3.640 MHz.
VK7HH - "Ham Radio DX" on YouTube any time
REAST - YouTube channel for heaps of great videos
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A reminder to those people rostered for next weekâÖs broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7TW
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG
80m: VK7JGD
40m: VK7ALH
20m: Â VK7FB
10m: VK7VKT
DMR: Talk Group 5 and
D-Star: Reflector 091 VK7ZCR
-------------------------------------------------------------
This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in the North and VK7RTC in the South.
Thanks to all people and organisations that assisted with this broadcast.
-------------------------------------------------------------
That concludes our VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast for this week.
You have been listening to VK7WI. Next week the National WIA news can be heard at 0900 followed by the VK7 Amateur Radio News a
round 0930 hours.
Items for the broadcast can be emailed to vk7arnews @ gmail.com
Further information about the broadcast can be found at the VK7 Amateur Radio News Groups.IO Group.
https://groups.io/g/vk7arnews
The deadline for items is 21:00 on Friday prior to the Sunday of the broadcast.
VK7WI is now closing but will reopen shortly for callbacks and relay reports. Callbacks will be taken on the frequency to which
you are listening. Relay stations will use their own callsigns during the callback.
>From the VK7 Amateur Radio News, it is 73 from Mike, VK7FB
--------------------------------------------------------------
(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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