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VK7AX > BCAST 04.02.19 05:21z 351 Lines 24044 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Regional News 20Jan19
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Sent: 190121/1202Z @:VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC #:3228 [Ulverstone] $:3228_VK7AX
From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : BCAST@WW
Text edition: VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 20 January 2019
(Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using)
VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 20 January 2019
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Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 20th of January 2019. This broadcast is brought to you by VK7WI, and read today by Idris, VK7ZIR.
This broadcast utilises repeaters around VK7 and the following HF rebroadcast stations:
On 3.670 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE
On 7.140 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD
On 14.130 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 28.525 MHz by Tony, VK7VKT
Australia wide on Talk Group 3809, user activated, VK7 News only from 0930 - 1000 by Clayton, VK7ZCR
This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RTC in the South and VK7RAA in the North.
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CONTEST NEWS
Summer VHF/UHF Field Days
Summer Field Day Report
January 12 and 13 – last weekend, was the nation-wide VHF/UHF Summer Field Day. A founding principle of field days is to spend time operating outdoors, test the range of communications equipment on the higher bands and have fun; this can involve all classes of licence and unlicensed enthusiasts alike.
Tasmania is well placed for such events; it has plenty of mountains and Bass Strait offers the challenge of distance for interstate contacts. The Strait is frequently blanketed by tropospheric inversion causing ducting that enables propagation over extraordinary distances for the frequencies affected.
The starting time of 0100 UTC on Saturday saw at least 7 stations setup in lofty locations: VK7ZBX and VK7ZMS on Mt Wellington; VK7HH on Mt Lloyd, remotely operated; VK7MO at home on Tolmans Hill; VK7JAM on Mt George; VK7PD with 2nd op, Colin at White Hills and VK7MD near Burnie. A number of home stations in all areas were on hand to provide local contacts as range permitted.
Bands on which some were equipped to operate included 6 and 2 metres, 70, 23, 9 and 3cm.
On Saturday voice contacts on FM and SSB were made between the higher altitude southern stations and those in the north on at least some of the above bands. VK7JAM made some contacts to the south, VK7MD, some local and interstate. The NTARC club station VK7TAZ was operated by president VK7ZIR after their January meeting, with contacts on 4 bands including 23cm.
On Sunday morning several QSOs were had around the southern area on bands up to 23cm. Meanwhile VK7PD and VK7ZPE set up operation on the northern slope of Mt Barrow. Numbers and grid squares were exchanged with VK3s on 6 and 2 metres plus 70cm, 9cm and 3cm.
VK3ALB was particularly pleased to receive an S9+ report for his 9cm signal, considering he was only running 800mW!
Overall it was a good participation rate in VK7, hopefully a promise of things to come. Detailed results will be published in AR Magazine.
The Ross Hull Contest is still running until the end of January. Please give participants a call if you hear them. The John Moyle Contest is to be held over March 16-17 and the Winter VHF/UHF Field Day on June 22-23.
73, Peter VK7PD
Ross Hull Contest and 23 CM QSO Party in January
For QSOs to be counted in the Ross Hull it is necessary to move off the calling frequency of 1296.1. So as to enable 23 cm QSO Party contacts to be counted for the Ross Hull the 23 cm QSO party will move up to 1296.175 FM during January. Digital Operations up to Launceston will continue on QRA64-C on 1296.2.
The QSO Party will start straight after the broadcast at around 10:00 am local each Sunday in January on 1296.175 and then beam to Launceston at 10:30 am Local. For those stations who have time please come up again on 1296.175 at 11:00 am for a second Ross Hull QSO as those QSO's can be counted again each UTC day.
73 Rex VK7MO
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EVENT NEWS
Meet the Voice 2019
Plans are underway for this year's Meet the Voice gathering in Ross on the weekend of 23rd to 24th March. The event has moved to the Ross Recreation Ground, and those who wish to camp can do so on site for a small fee, which will ensure access to the kitchen, shower and toilet facilities.
The event will span two days, and is a great opportunity to meet face to face with old and new friends alike, and of course, the annual gifting of the Sewing Circle trophy!
Weekly updates will be provided by the Sunday broadcast, on Facebook, and via email. If you want to receive the email, let Dani know by emailing vk7freq @ gmail.com. Shortly a call out for volunteers will occur. If you are interested in donating some time please let Dani know. Of course, there will be a raffle. If you wish to donate a prize, again, please let Dani know.
Dani can be contacted on vk7freq @ gmail.com or 0409232419 outside business hours. Meet the Voice 2019 at the Ross Recreation Grounds on March 23rd and 24th.
Many Thanks & 73, Dani VK7FREQ
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH WEST
North West Tas. Radio & TV Group (NWTR&TVG)
Meeting Notice
The next meeting of the NWTR&TVG is scheduled for Saturday, February 2nd 2019.
This will be the Club's AGM followed by the bimonthly General Meeting.
Venue is the Leven District Scout Headquarters, 73 Alexander Road, Ulverstone.
As per the Club Rules, ALL Executive Positions will fall vacant at the AGM, so it is suggested members give this some serious consideration, and maybe consider themselves or alternatively nominate a Club friend for one of the 5 positions.
The appropriate Nomination Form for Executive has been emailed or posted to all members.
Membership Subscriptions now Due.
Members are also advised that Membership Subscriptions for 2019 are now due as of 1st January 2019.
The appropriate reminder has been forwarded by email or posted to all members recently, including the Renewal Forms (Regular & Student) for 2019. Members are asked to return the renewal form along with the appropriate payment, to the Club Membership Officer at their earliest convenience.
Thank you to those members who have now renewed their membership for 2019.
Tail delay problem on VK7RDR Corrected
For a while now there has been a problem with an extended delay in the tail of repeaters associated with repeaters linked to VK7RDR via the VKlink network. The problem was traced to a configuration problem with the Node Radio on VK7RDR.
Changes were made to the Node Radio configuration and all appears to be operating as normal.
73 until next time, Tony VK7AX - Club News Officer
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH
SOTA and WWFF Parks and Reserves Group
Meeting times are from 10:30am on Monday and Friday At Glebe Gardens Cafe, 166 Henry St, Launceston.
For more details contact Al on Mobile: 0417 354 410.
73, Al, VK7AN
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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
We will commence this week with a quick rundown of the January non BBQ meeting held last Saturday the 12th. The report comes courtesy of Idris VK7ZIR.
Idris says “Last Saturday we held our first general meeting for 2019. As previously advised, the Committee had decided to organize the food and instead of our usual bi-monthly BBQ, the food was catered for by Subway. Platters of rolls and wraps were the order of the day, accompanied by salads. A good roll up enjoyed the change of fare and many mentioned it would be good to do this again or maybe consider in the colder months having soup and sandwiches instead of the barbecue. Something for the 2019 Committee to consider.
With lunch over and all cleaned up, the meeting commenced at the scheduled time. In keeping with our meeting pattern of recent months, the agenda was worked through in quick time, the whole meeting taking only approximately 20 minutes. The minutes of this meeting will be written up soon by the acting Secretary and placed on our ageing Yahoo site before the February General meeting.
Members then sat around the tables discussing the problems of the world and other general matters, while a couple moved into the radio room to take part in the Field Day utilizing the club call sign VK7TAZ.
Afternoon tea followed and was enjoyed by all. A thank you to our lady members who brought along goodies to share at afternoon tea. On the whole a very enjoyable and relaxing lunch and meeting.”
Thanks Idris for that update and Im glad to hear that all went well.
2019 Membership fees – just a further reminder that your 2018 membership expired on 31 December and if you hadnt renewed by that date, you are now listed on the membership register as an unfinancial member. Your status will stay that way until you have renewed your membership or until 30 June when your name will be removed permanently from the membership register.
Remember though that NTARCs 2019 membership fees are just $30.00 for a Full voting member and $5 additional for each Family member that the voting member wishes to add to his or her primary membership.
As all listeners must be aware, the replacement of aging legacy equipment along with other ongoing care and maintenance of our repeater systems does not come cheap. For you to be able to continue to enjoy this aspect of your hobby and for NTARC to continue to provide this great network, we need your support now.
If you are not a member of NTARC please consider joining. If you have been a member in the past but have let that membership lapse for any reason, please consider re-joining. In either case, an application form can be found on our website www.ntarc.net or why not pop into the clubroom on a Monday or Friday, during coffee hours and collect an application. You will be made most welcome.
If club membership is not your cup of tea, we fully understand. In those circumstances, perhaps you might care to make a direct donation to our repeater fund, rather than pay a yearly subscription. If so, we would be happy to receive your contribution, either in person at a club meeting or coffee morning, or by post to PO BOX 275 Launceston 7250. Any donation will gladly be accepted. All donations will be officially receipted and noted accordingly against the repeater project.
WIA 2019 Callbook -With the announcement by the WIA of the availability of the 2019 callbook, NTARC is again arranging bulk buys for members.
We received one order of Call Books on the Friday before Christmas and we will place another order once the WIA Office opens in late January. In the interim therefore, if you are interested in taking part in this purchase, could you please let the Treasurer André VK7ZAB know either at coffee on a Monday or Friday or email him at the following treasurer@ntarc.net so that we can gauge interest and order the appropriate number as soon as possible
The cost for the 2019 Call Book is $35, the same as last year. This is still a significant saving on the cost of a WIA member ordering directly from the WIA Bookshop, once postage is added on and is significantly cheaper than the price available to non-WIA members.
Now on to Coming events
Technical sessions – to all those members suffering advanced withdrawal symptoms and desperate for their regular technical fix, relief is rapidly approaching. Our first Technical session for 2019 is now only 17 days away. Thats right, we start again on Wednesday 6th February. Meet time will be from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm, at the Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea. Please note though that there will be no Technical session on the following Wednesday, 13 February due to our AGM being held that evening. Therefore, I suggest you dont miss the first technical session, as you will otherwise have to wait until the night of the 20th.
In the meanwhile, wield that soldering iron with a flourish and actually have something to show your colleagues by way of progress on the night.
February Annual General meeting – the Annual General Meeting of NTARC will take place on Wednesday 13 February 2019 at the NTARC Club Rooms, Rocherlea Scout Hall, Archer Street Rocherlea commencing at 19:30 hours (7.30 pm).
Business at the AGM will consist of confirmation of the Minutes of the 2018 AGM, then reception and consideration of reports from the Committee, including the Treasurers report and reports from our various managers and coordinators. This will be followed by the election of officer bearers and committee person for 2019. The meeting will then consider any item of special business for which the requisite notice has been received by the closing date.
All current office holder and committee positions fall vacant at the AGM. Nominations for each office bearer and the Committee member are invited and should be made in writing to the Secretary, along with the signatures of the Nominator, Seconder and that of the member nominated. Appointments will also be required to the positions of Internal Auditor and Public Officer.
Please note that for your convenience a nomination form is now available from the NTARC club room. Please ensure that the completed nomination form is returned to the Secretary by COB 7th February 2019 at the following address: The Secretary, NTARC Inc. PO Box 275 Launceston Tas 7250 or it can be handed to the Secretary in a sealed envelope at either coffee mornings.
Members are reminded that they will need to have paid their 2019 renewal subscription before the meeting commences at 19:30 hours (7.30 pm) to be able to vote at the Annual General meeting. Similarly, they will need to have paid their 2019 subscription before they can be nominated or nominate or second someone for office, as only financial members can exercise those privileges.
The AGM will be followed by the February General meeting.
Coffee mornings – are normally held every Monday and Friday in the NTARC Club rooms and are now again in full swing. My first attendance for 2019 was on Friday and what a roll up. That was so pleasing to see, considering many are still away. Catch up time is from 10.00 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2019.
Please remember that aside from the good company, freely offered philosophical views, maybe less than expert political analysis, tall tales and genuinely good fare on offer, these coffee events are normally a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards. Currently though we do not have any cards awaiting collection but no doubt that will change once the QSL system gets over the holidays.
Of course the ringleader when it comes to tall tales and funny stories is Ebeneezer, who I must say was in exceptional form on Friday. It is actually worth coming to these sessions just to hear him in session. Even if you dont happen to be feeling particularly cheerful on your arrival, I guarantee Ebeneezer will lighten your day!
Please demonstrate your appreciation of all the effort that goes into operating the club and its facilities and other services we provide by joining us at these sessions, enjoying the company, coffee and the cake and leaving a gold coin or two, or even a small bank note, in the jar to assist in our on-going operations.
Finally
As always, I look forward to catching up with you all at Rocherlea. A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to the weekly roundup, then please email me at the following address
ntarc.emails @ gmail.com
73, Yvonne VK7FYMX, Secretary NTARC Inc
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
Membership Update
Id like to thank all members who have paid so far along with their co-operation in filling out renewal forms. It has really made the process much easier.
Membership for the 2018 year expired on the 31st December and most notably for those who have not paid, this will mean no more access to the members only section of the website and you will no longer receive newsletters or other email correspondence.
This year the annual fee remains at $35 and, as always, funds the bulk of REAST's yearly operations. Current accepted forms of payment include Cash, Cheque or Direct Deposit. Credit card facilities are only available in person (i.e. with a card reader) but not online this year.
Please be aware that only members who pay before January 31st 2019 will be getting a member pack in 2019 which will include a member card and REAST sticker.
https://www.reast.asn.au/membership-login/renew-membership/
Ben, VK7BEN, REAST Secretary
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REAST Foundation Training and Assessment Days
Our dates for 2019 are 16th February, 20th April, 15th June, 17th August, 19th October and 21st December.
These dates are pending the transition to the new training and assessment arrangements with the WIA and will be fully confirmed once we know what is happening.
So, the next Foundation training and assessment day is on 16th February from 9am.
Please contact Reg, VK7KK if you are interested in attending the day. Check out the REAST Website or Facebook page for events. So, if interested please contact Reg on
email assessor @ reast.asn.au or phone mobile 0417 391 607.
73, Reg, VK7KK
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Experimenter's Night Wrap-Up
It was great to see Tom VK7NTK along, following his successful first SOTA activation of Mt Anne with Scott VK7LXX. Great stuff! Tom was also beavering away on his laptop.
Ben VK7BEN was showing off his new handheld satellite moxon/yagi antenna and a great satellite application for iPhone that enables you to point both in elevation and azimuth through a nifty alignment pointer on the screen. This app uses the xyz accelerometers and the compass in the iPhone. This is really handy as Ben has an iPhone mount on the boom and it acts as a pointing helper. Ben received the beacon from LilacSat on the night. Thanks Ben.
Ron Cullen came along with his three and four petal clover leaf antennas for 5.6GHz. Ron has made up a nifty jig for both types that hold the bent wire in place with blue tack so you can solder the ends to the semi rigid coax and just put an SMA on the end and you have a very compact and effective 5.6GHz antenna. Ron is using these antennas for video streaming from the cockpit of his radio controlled aircraft and tested these antennas up at Mathinna last weekend and compared to the Chinese ones they work a treat with 250milliwatts. On ya Ron.
Murray VK7ZMS and Richard VK7ZBX were working on Murray's HF amplifier kits for his FT-818. This is mounted in a very nice box and has the connectors back to the 818. Murray managed to get 25Watts out of the unit but something happened and the power level dropped suddenly. Murray was still working through what happened so, might be an on-going project for this week.
Steve VK7OO was describing the RaspberryPi and Arduino controlled GPS locking project for the Grandfather Clock he purchased. This was originally an electrically assisted 1920's clock and Steve is working through what is involved. He has the pendulum breaking three infrared photo diode beams for timing and direction and a neat OLED Arduino driven display showing the pendulum activity. On ya Steve - great project.
Rex VK7MO was assisted by Richard VK7ZBX and Jet VK7FJET to get his GPS heading devices back up a going. This involved some re-flashing and ensuring everything was talking between the units on the 900MHz ISM band.
Justin VK7TW was in the DATV studio and got the video cameras up and going through the mixer and on screen display. The streaming computer is also up and going so, this week we may even have some streaming activity. This week we will be focusing on the audio channels in the studio and getting the transmitter up and going.
Do you have a project that is screaming at you in the shack? Bring it along - soldering irons are hot and there is lots of advice of a helpful and maybe not quite so helpful nature...HIHI.
We get underway from 7:30pm in the Queens Domain clubrooms.
See you there, 73, Justin, VK7TW
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TECHNICAL
Boosted emergency comms for Sydney CBD
A new government radio site will boost emergency communications at the Pitt Street Mall in Sydneys CBD.
The new site provides in-building coverage in Westfield Sydney as well as improved network coverage and performance in the surrounding Pitt Street Mall precinct.
NSW Telco Authority Managing Director Kate Foy said the new site was crucial to improved public safety.
“Radio signals are weakened when they pass through buildings, particularly where there are thick concrete walls or UV protective glass,” Foy said.
“This upgrade ensures that emergency services are more able to do their essential work of protecting the public and responding to critical incidents as they unfold inside and outside buildings in busy precincts.”
The new site is part of the wider Critical Communications Enhancement Program that is improving government radio network coverage and capacity from 35% of the state to over 80%.
The enhanced network will allow emergency services to more easily share information and coordinate responses on the one consolidated network.
Read more: http://criticalcomms.com.au/content/public-safety/news/boosted-emergency-comms-for-sydney-cbd-174805136#ixzz5cx9GJYys
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Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
SOTA Group – Monday and Friday Coffee Sessions from 10:30am at Glebe Gardens Cafe 166 Henry St, Launceston
NTARC - Monday and Friday Coffee Sessions from 10am, Technical Sessions on Wednesdays from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm in the clubrooms Archer Street, Rocherlea, Launceston.
REAST – Wednesday Afternoon Group meets from Noon and the Experimenters Nights from 1930 in the Queens Domain clubrooms.
REAST – MICROWAVE QSO Party – following after the Sunday broadcast on 1296.16 MHz FM.
Events:
NWTR&TVG Saturday, February 2nd 2019 - AGM followed by the bimonthly General Meeting.
NTARC Technical Session Wednesday 6th February
NTARC – 13 February – Annual General Meeting of NTARC - Rocherlea Scout Hall, Archer Street Rocherlea from 7.30 pm
REAST - Foundation training and assessment day 16th February from 9am.
REAST AGM Sunday 17th February 1100
Meet The Voice - 23rd to 24th March at Ross
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weeks broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7FB
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG
80m: VK7ALH
40m: VK7TPE
20m: VK7JGD
10m: VK7VKT
DMR: Talk Group 3809 VK7ZCR
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This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RTC in the South and VK7RAA in the North.
Thanks to all people and organisations that assisted with this broadcast.
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That concludes our VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast for this week.
Next week the National WIA news can be heard at 0900 followed by the VK7 Amateur Radio News at 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 Idris, VKZIR.
(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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