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VK7AX > BCAST 30.10.21 03:29z 440 Lines 22274 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Amateur Radio News 31Oct21
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From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
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VK7 Amateur Radio News 31Oct21
Text edition:
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VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 31st October 2021
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Welcome to the Halloween edition of the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 31st October 2021. At the mike of VK7WI this week is Mike, VK7FB.
This broadcast goes out on repeaters all over VK7 and on digital radio - DMR Talk Group 5 and D-Star Reflector 91C by Clayton VK7ZCR.
We also go out on medium and high frequency courtesy of the following rebroadcast stations:
On 1.865 MHz by Graham VK7GS
On 3.670 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE
On 7.140 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 14.130 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD and
On 28.525 MHz by Dale, VK7DG
You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RTC in Southern VK7.
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RAOTC
November Broadcast
This is a reminder about the RAOTC broadcast for Monday the 1st of November 2021 over 2 of the VK7 repeater networks; thats tomorrow night for those listening on Sunday.
The first article looks at the life of Michael Faraday, 1791-1867; he came from a humble background with little formal education. Most listeners would know that the unit of capacitance, the Farad, was named after him. Not as many would know that Faraday was also a chemist; he is said to have discovered benzine.
His work with electricity was mainly to do with magnetic fields; his fame includes observations on the principles of electromagnetic induction and use of such words as electrode, cathode and ion. Construction of the first transformer is attributed to Faraday.
The second article continues the series on computer history. This month considers the 35 years of MS Windows and how it became the most popular desktop operating system in the world.
Windows 1.01 was released in 1985; it was a graphical environment that ran on top of MS DOS. Although it made little impact at first, it turned out to be an impressive start considering the primitive equipment on which it could work.
At least a dozen versions later, Windows is still big business for Microsoft.
Listen at 8 pm Monday local time over the VK7RAA/RTC state-wide network or at about 8:30pm as a telecast on VK7AX ‘Spectrum Tasmania via the BATC members stream or in the Ulverstone area on 445.50MHz DATV.
The date is November 1st. Call backs will follow on both networks. Please call in if you are able. Callback statistics are sent to the RAOTC broadcast committee.
If you miss the off-air broadcasts you can listen to the audio file on the RAOTC website.
https://www.raotc.org.au/
73, Peter VK7PD
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QSL News
Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
The current list of QSL Cards held as at 15 October from recent WIA delivery, is in the email version of the broadcast.
If you have any questions re QSL cards, please contact Herman by email vk7bureau(at)wia.org.au
REAST members can collect their cards from the Domain Club rooms if they let Herman know to deliver them there. He can drop them off most Wednesdays at lunch time.
Thank you to those amateurs who have already been in touch.
73, Herman, VK7HW, WIA Manager VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
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Under arrangement some of the Cards have been delivered on 15 Oct as follows :-
NTARC Club Rooms - DW, DON, BO
SOTA Glebe Gardens - AC, AN, BBB, GH, KR, NMH, XX, YUM
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VK7 Inwards QSL Cards held as at 15 October 2021
AAA, AB, AD, AIR, AL, AM, AP, AS,, AV
BA, BB, BEN, BYE
CJ, CL, CMV, CV, CX
DD, DG, DIK, DP, DT, DZ
ER, EV
FG, FJFJ, FOTR, FTAS
GA, GC, GG, GM, GN, GZ
HCH, HCK, HDM, HH, HOB, HRS, HRW, HVK, HZ
IK, IS
JA, JB, JJ (for new CH?), JON, JP, JW
KBA, KD, KI, KH, KJ, KL, KO, KRJ, KX
LAZ, LDH, LJ, LTD, LW, L70217
MAG, MBD, MC, MD, ME, MHZ, MI, MK, MR
NA, NET, NRF, NSE, NTE, NWT
OR
PSJ, PW
QP
RG, ROY
SV
TAS, TCE, TED, TK, TU
VAC, VAZ, VH, VKV, VR, VZ
WA, WC, WIA, WT, WX
XDM, XTC
ZA, ZE, ZJJ, ZM, ZT, ZTA, ZX, ZZ
The following Callsigns were not displayed on the ACMA Database on 12 August 2021.
ACN, AG, AO, APZ, ATH, BPV, DN, DO, DQ, EG, FALX, FAZZ, FCIA, FGGT, FLAR, FRJG, FTAS, HSJ, JOK, LLL, LM, LT, LVH, MAT, MBP, MC, ML, MS, NC, NSB, NWQ, PBD, PRN, QK, SN, TL, TS, VA, YN, ZX
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH
SOTA/WWFF PARKS GROUP
The Summits On The Air/World Wide Flora and Fauna parks group is now meeting twice weekly – Mondays and Fridays 10.30AM till 12.00 at the Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry Street, Launceston.
For more information contact Al on 0417 354 410.
73, Al, VK7AN
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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
www.ntarc.net
My goodness, last day of October and now only one month left of Spring. Mind you it has been a pretty cool and wet spring. My mower has been in constant use, well at least when it hasnt been raining. The amount of growth far exceeds previous years, so heres looking forward to a great summer and less mowing.
Speaking of Summer, there are now only 54 days from tomorrow 1 November until 25 December 2021, Christmas Day. So probably time to start planning if you havent already.
This time of the year our weekly news segment can either be a feast or famine and this week it is again time for that famine. There is however the usual standing items of coming events and some housekeeping, so lets get down to those.
2022 Membership fees – yes with the year rapidly disappearing it is time to start reminding all that your 2021 Membership fee expires on 31 December. A letter advising of the fee payable for 2022 will be forwarded to all members in late November to the email address noted on our records.
We confirm that the 2022 membership fee will see a slight increase to $40 for each voting member with an additional unchanged $5 for each member of the family that the voting member wishes to add to his or her membership.
UPCOMING EVENTS
TECH NIGHT – Wednesday 3rd November at the NTARC Club rooms, 19:30 hours until whenever.
TestNet and TECHNET – Wednesday 10th November. TestNet/CW course on 3580 from 7pm till 7.30pm….and a TECHNET on 3567 from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will again be Nic VK7WW.
Equine Endurance Event – 13th November. The NTARC Safety Communications Team has been asked to provide safety comms at the Tasmanian State Equine Endurance Championships at Merseylea. The rides will be 160km, 95km and 50 Km. The 160km is a 24 hour ride that starts at 00:00 hours Saturday. We will be providing Base Comms, checkpoints and RFID tracking. We will need additional crew members to handle this event so if you can spare some time on that Saturday why not pop down to Merseylea, a pleasant 1 hour or so drive from Launceston and utilise your radio skills. Please advise if you are able to assist by emailing secretary(at)ntarc.net or catch up with Idris at a coffee session.
FUTURE EVENTS
Plenty of notice this time. NTARC will be holding a Christmas dinner on Wednesday 15th December. Venue Mowbray Hotel, meet time is 6.00pm. Tables has been booked under the name of NTARC. Menu is a-la-carte and there is plenty of parking at the rear. Please RSVP the secretary at either of these email addresses news(at)ntarc.net or ypmaxwell(at)bigpond.com or jot your name down on the sheet next to the sign in register on a Wednesday night session or coffee morning. We will need to confirm final numbers with the Hotel on Tuesday 14th December, so please ensure you get your name on the list before that date. A number of members have already advised notice of attending, obviously eager for another night out.
COFFEE MORNINGS – currently held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Catch up time is from 10.00 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all.
These coffee events represent a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards. We currently have cards awaiting collection, so why not pop in and check the QSL box and join us for a cuppa and chat.
Just a friendly reminder, please demonstrate your appreciation of all the effort that goes into operating the club, its facilities and the other services we provide, especially in these abnormal and very trying times, enjoying the company, coffee, biscuits and cake, by leaving a gold coin or two, or even a small bank note, in the jar to assist in our on-going operations.
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, then please email me at the following address news(at)ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 17:00 on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
Your continued cooperation in this regard will be greatly appreciated.
We will bring you all such contributions next Sunday morning.
73, Yvonne VK7FYMX, Secretary NTARC Inc
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
https://www.reast.asn.au/
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
https://www.youtube.com/reasthobart/
November Presentation
Digital Voice Hotspots
REAST's November presentation is this Wednesday night and will be all about Digital Voice (DV) hotspots with a focus on pi-star and openspot3.
The presentation will be given by Scott VK7HSE - our resident hotspot / Digital Voice expert.
All you need is a hotspot, an internet connection and you can use your DV handheld to get access to your favourite talkgroups using your favourite DV mode - DMR, DSTAR, Fusion or P25.
They are particularly good in Aged Care facilities where you can set one up and be able to operate amateur radio using a handheld operating all over the world without having to find space for large antennas.
This is happening this Wednesday night 3rd November from 7:30pm in the Queens Domain clubrooms.
See you there.
https://fb.me/e/O0kLI5pg
73, REAST Committee
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Training and Assessments
REASTs next Foundation Licence course and all licence assessment day is on next Saturday the 27th November 2021 from 9am to 3pm.
If you are thinking of coming along then please let Reg Emmett VK7KK REAST Learning Organiser know ASAP that you will be coming along by phoning 0417 391 607 or email assessor(at)reast.asn.au.
Check out the REAST Foundation Licence Training Videos that can be found on the REAST YouTube Training and Assessment playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsnsP_zjw831mdC6sY4XqavRUY-53ZWUn
Checkout the REAST Facebook page events for further details.
https://www.facebook.com/events/718404075716863/
73, Reg, VK7KK
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DATV Experimenter's Night
We started the night with Rex VK7MO and his presentation on his Aircraft Scatter experiments and the contribution to the WSJT-X 2.5.1 release.
Rex has been working with Roger Rher W3SZ who has coded for improved decoding of WSJT-X Q65 with aircraft scatter. Rex and Rhett VK3WE would then test the new software between Hobart, Table Cape and Gippsland. Rex showed comparisons between the WSJT-X modes and the improvement that the new Q65 mode has made with large Doppler shift from the aircraft moving across the signal path.
Justin VK7TW and Rex then moved to the next segment on Radio Frequency resonance.
Justin showed a Grid or Gate Dip Oscillator which is a piece of test equipment that measures the resonant frequency of nearby components and resonant circuits by injecting a signal through the exposed coil and measuring the loss of power (the dip) at which both the circuit and GDO are at resonance.
Justin demonstrated the GDO with inductor and variable capacitor to find the resonance and the minimum and maximum frequencies with the variable capacitor - about 1-6MHz.
We then moved to using the Nano-VNA as a Spectrum Analyser with sweep generator to confirm the Grid Dip results.
In Radio Frequency terms resonance is a special condition where there is no reactance in a tuned circuit for a particular frequency set by the inductor and capacitor - said to be its “resonant frequency”.
Justin showed the classic formula to calculate the resonant frequency from Ian Ridpath ZL1BCGs book.
The special condition called resonance include:
At resonance Z=R - purely resistive - ohms law applies - resistance and impedance is at a minimum - component resistance
L & C set the resonance frequency.
At resonance I=V/Z and is maximum and in phase with applied voltage
The voltage across the inductor or capacitor may be much higher than the V supply voltage - based on Q quality of the circuit. Q is the ratio between the resonant frequency and the bandwidth.
At freq below resonance I is low and Z is high - negative phase angle therefore looks capacitive
At freq above resonance I is low and Z is high - positive phase angle therefore looks inductive
We then showed a ZL built - Blyth AM Commercial Transmitter, a huge thank to Jim Parish and we will be looking to add to the club station for 160m.
We finished with a reminder of the presentation night. A recording of the night is available on the REAST YouTube Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsPFSBXcr9I
Our next DATV Experimenters night is on Wednesday 10 November from 7:30pm and we will explore RF resonance in more detail with some interesting hands on equipments with Grid Dip Oscillators and Crystal resonance.
Keep an eye on the REAST Facebook Events for more details.
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 Dongle 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 Experimenter's Night Signal.
Look out for VK7OTC. We also stream the nights on the REAST YouTube channel.
https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/live-stream/
https://www.reast.asn.au/special-interest-groups/amateur-tv/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ReastHobart/
73, Justin, VK7TW
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History News
Project Diana bounces radio waves off moon, January 10, 1946
The US Army Signal Corps made the first attempt to “touch” another celestial body when on January 10, 1946, it bounced radio signals off the moon and received the reflected signals.
Dubbed “Project Diana” for the Roman moon goddess, the effort led to what is today known as EME (Earth-Moon-Earth) communications, used for ham radio.
Project Diana is often noted as the birth of the US space program, as well as that of radar astronomy. The project was the first demonstration that artificially-created signals could penetrate the ionosphere, opening the possibility of radio communications beyond the Earth for space probes and human explorers.
Project Diana also established the practice of naming space projects after Roman gods and goddesses, like Mercury and Apollo.
Project Dianas first successful echo was detected by engineer John H. DeWitt and chief scientist E. King Stodola from a lab at Camp Evans, in Wall Township, NJ.
The team there built a large transmitter, receiver, and reflective-array antenna for the project. The transmitter was a modified World War II SCR-271 radar set, which provided 3,000 watts at 111.5 MHz in quarter-second pulses, while the “bedspring” dipole array antenna provided 24 dB of gain.
Attempts could be made only as the moon passed through the 15-degree-wide beam at moonrise and moonset, as the antennas elevation angle was horizontal. About 40 minutes of observation was available on each pass as the moon transited the various lobes of the antenna pattern.
Reflected signals were received about 2.5 seconds later, with the receiver compensating for Doppler modulation of the reflected signal. The radar pulse sent toward the Moon bounced off the lunar surface, and its echo appeared on an oscilloscope.
The Project Diana site is today maintained by the InfoAge Science & History Learning Center. In May of 2019, Project Diana was dedicated as an IEEE Milestone.
https://infoage.org/history-ia/space-age/project-diana-january-10-1946/
https://spectrum.ieee.org/project-diana-honored-with-an-ieee-milestone
https://www.edn.com/project-diana-bounces-radio-waves-off-moon-january-10-1946/
Written by Suzanne DeFrees and the EDN web e-zine.
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Amplitude Modulation News
SPAM on 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.
The Friday evening net of the Society for the Preservation of AM, also known as SPAM, has been running now for 30 years, and unlike their professional UK counterparts, they are not likely to go away that quickly. They are also unconcerned about their power consumption. Unfortunately, it's not a net we can participate in from IARU Region 1.
The special call ZL6AM continues to attract a small, but enthusiastic group from all over New Zealand. Looking at their monthly newsletter it is obvious that they are a lively bunch, using a mix of old professional grade equipment and modern transceivers.
Their net runs on Fridays from 0830, and Wednesdays at 1130 New Zealand time. It's their net frequency that is of interest to us, as 3850 kHz is outside our allocation, meaning that their weaker AM Signals are not drowned by European stations around morning greyline time.
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/october/am-radio.htm
Sourced from the IRTS and Southgate AR News Web-ezine
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Industry News
Codan wins comms contract for military program
DTC Communications, a subsidiary of Codan Communications of South Australia, has secured a multi-year contract to supply DTC software defined mesh radios to a publicly listed, global technology corporation as part of a sensitive military program.
The initial purchase order, to be delivered in the upcoming 12-month period, is worth approximately AU$37.6 million.
The company reports this contract is consistent with its strategy to grow by delivering communications solutions to the security and military sectors globally.
https://www.criticalcomms.com.au/content/industry/news/codan-wins-comms-contract-for-military-program-302296032
Sourced from Codan Radio Communications and Critical Comms Web E-zine
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Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
SOTA/WWFF Group – Meeting Mondays and Fridays 10.30-12.00 midday at Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry St, Launceston.
NTARC – Friday coffee session – Rocherlea clubrooms Launceston from 10:00am
NTARC - Tech Night sessions Wednesday 3rd November - Rocherlea clubrooms Launceston
NTARC - TestNet and TECHNET – Wednesday 10th November. TestNet/CW course on 3580 from 7pm till 7.30pm and a TECHNET on 3567 from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm
NW VK7 – Wednesday from 2000 local – NW Tassie Amateur Repeater Group Net on VK7RMD
NW VK7 - Thursday commencing at 09:30 UTC (20:30 local) - N.W. Tassie 2m DX Net 144.190 USB (upper sideband).
REAST – MICROWAVE QSO Party – following after the Sunday broadcast on 1296.15 MHz FM.
REAST – WAGS – Wednesday Afternoon Group meet in the Queens Domain Clubrooms from 12 noon.
REAST – DATV Experimenters Nights from 7:30pm live in the club rooms also on DVBT RF and YouTube Streaming
Sewing Circle Net – Daily on 3.640 MHz commences at 6:00pm AEDST.
Events:
REAST - 3 November - Digital Hotspots Presentation with VK7HSE - Queens Domain clubrooms from 7:30pm
NTARC - 15th December - Xmas Dinner at Mowbray Hotel from 6.00pm - let secretary know if coming along.
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weeks broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7PD
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and in the NW thanks to N W T A R C, West Coast Radio Group, Cradle Coast Radio Amateur Radio Club, VK7AX, and VK7DC
160m: VK7GS
80m: VK7ALH
40m: VK7JGD
20m: VK7DG
10m: VK7VKT
DMR: Talk Group 5 and D-Star: Reflector 91C VK7ZCR
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You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RTC in Southern VK7.
A huge thank you 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.
You have been listening to or have just missed VK7WI. Next week the National WIA news can be heard at 0900 followed by the VK7 Amateur Radio News around 0930 hours.
Items for the broadcast can be emailed to vk7arnews(at)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.
On behalf of the VK7 Amateur Radio News Team its 73 from Mike, VK7FB.
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(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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