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VK7AX > BCAST 20.08.22 02:20z 387 Lines 22690 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
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VK7 Amateur Radio News 21Aug22
Text edition:
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VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 21 August 2022
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Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News and this was first broadcast on Sunday the 21st August 2022. At the mike of VK7WI this week is Mike, VK7FB.
On Sunday 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 go out on medium and high frequency courtesy of the following rebroadcast stations:
On 1.862 MHz by Graham, VK7GS
On 3.670 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD
On 7.140 MHz by Dale, VK7DG
On 14.130 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE and
On 28.525 MHz by Tony, VK7VKT
We also go out on UHF CB Channel 15 thanks to Mark VK7FMAC in the Hobart area.
You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RAD in Southern VK7.
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Event News
JOTA 2022 Update
Here is a JOTA/JOTI 2022 update from Peter VK7KPC.
It’s only just over 50 days to go to this years JOTA/JOTI and at this time there are at least 5 stations being organised.
Thanks to members of North West Tasmania Amateur Radio Club, the station at Paton Park has been upgraded ready for activation. They have been actively searching for some more operators to help on the weekend, even if only for a few hrs. Please contact Eric VK7EV if you can help. They are also waiting to hear if Spreyton group has a building to operate from this year, which will mean an extra couple of operators
Burnie will be having a station operating, probably 10 to some time on the Saturday. Lucas VK7LSB is looking for a couple of operators to help out.
He is also looking at some small construction projects for the attending youth members.
The Storm Hut at The Lea has been booked and Noel VK7FLCN and Danny VK7HDM are planning to activate this site. I have heard that several scout groups have booked to camp there on that weekend.
The REAST station at the Domain is planned to be open. I am meeting with Justin VK7TW today, if you are listening on Sunday, to discuss further. Randall VK7VWK has indicated that he is interested in operating from the Domain.
The Radio Patrol comprising licensed scouts from Huonville are considering operating probably portable in their district. There is another possibility that they may operate portable in Hobart city as part of a district cub event.
Planning at Rocherlea is under way with most of the normal site activities held there in recent years.
We may also have a portable operation on the Sunday, just waiting on further info from the District Cub Scout Leader.
Thanks to Michael VK7MRS, Assistant Project Commissioner Radio for promoting JOTA in the South of the state.
More to Follow or QTX if receiving via morse code.
Peter VK7KPC, Project Commissioner Radio, Scouts Tasmania
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Contest News
Remembrance Day Contest - LOGS LOGS LOGS!
The 2022 RD Contest was last weekend and a big effort was put in by VK7 - thank you!
I heard a few comments from mainland HF operators that there were alot of VK7s on the air!
Now comes the task of submitting your logs - this is a simple process of exporting a Cabrillo formatted log from your favourite logging software and uploading into the VKLogChecker website.
https://www.vklogchecker.com/
Once uploaded please ensure your callsign appears on the list. At the time of writing there were 37 logs uploaded for VK7 which is down from last year’s upload total of 57.
You have until August 28th to upload your log so, please don’t delay, VK7 needs your log!
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Conference News
Tassie Ham Radio Conference & Expo
5th & 6th November 2022 - Registrations NOW OPEN
https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/tassie-ham-radio-conference-and-expo/
Registrations for the Tassie Ham Radio Conference and Expo are now open.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tassie-ham-radio-conference-and-expo-tickets-399848637037
On Saturday 5th November we have a full day of presentations - a veritable degustation menu of amateur radio activities that includes - youth engagement, remote stations, electrical and RF safety, low power portable EME, QRP SOTA, POTA, WWFF, interference mitigation, digital amateur television, microwave experimentation, history and much more.
On the Saturday 6th November there are a huge number of vendors coming down in person. Vendors include ICOM and All About DX and many more. We have a number pre-loved tables already booked and informational tables including ALARA, WIA, VEA, WWFF, SOTA, ROAR and many more.
Why not give that shack a good spring clean and sell some of that preloved equipment so you can save for that new transceiver you've always been wanting.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tassie-ham-radio-expo-vendor-pre-loved-portal-tickets-400456154137
Additionally if anyone would like to setup a stand showing off their favourite interest in the hobby, please let us know.
Please email us at tassiehamexpo(at)gmail.com
This conference and expo is all happening at the University of Tasmania, Sandy Bay Campus in a spacious and contemporary Sir Stanley Burbury Lecture Theatre complex.
There is plenty of free car parking available directly outside the venue for those coming in vehicles.
Registrations for the Conference and Expo is NOW OPEN just head to the REAST website.
https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/tassie-ham-radio-conference-and-expo/
We look forward to seeing you all in Hobart!
Tassie Ham Radio Conference and Expo Organizing Committee
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Statewide News
Thursday Night SSTV Nets
We have had two SSTV nights since our last report with a huge number of photos shared.
On the 11th there were the following participants - VK7s - ZBX, KRJ, DG, WP, ZGK, ZAB, PD, FGGT, ZIR and VDC. There were some great pics from Peter VK7PD’s recent trip to VK4, thanks Peter.
On the 18th we had many photos from the following participants - VK7s - ZBX, ZAB, KRJ, PD, TW, FGGT and KPC. A definite transport related theme through the night with many great large scale model railway pics, thanks Ken.
The pictures are available from the SSTVCam from Ken VK7KRJ and the images can also be viewed on the NTARC Blog page thanks to Andre VK7ZAB and the link can be found on the email edition of the broadcast.
https://sstv.vk7krj.com/2m.html
https://www.ntarc.net/blogs
A reminder in Southern Tasmania, VK7RAF (146.650 -600kHz) can be used both locally and linked to VK7RJG by using different CTCSS tones. 123Hz for local Southern operation and 141.3Hz for linking RAF to VK7RJG (438.55 -7Mhz). When using VK7RJG you need a 141.3Hz CTCSS tone to link with VK7RAF.
We will continue these nights so why not join in and share some pictures. It’s a great way to test your digital interfacing. We get underway from around 7:30pm.
73, Justin VK7TW
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH
SOTA/WWFF PARKS GROUP
The Summits On The Air/World Wide Flora and Fauna parks group meets 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
We will begin this week with an update on the last Wednesday’s Tech Night. These nights usually start with at least one item for show and tell and tonight was no exception.
Ross VK7ALH yet again delved deep into his collection and brought in an excellent example of a KW108 Monitorscope. These units were sold as matching accessory for the range of KW2000 vintage HF valve transceivers, made by K.W. Electronics of Dartford, Kent, England and were manufactured in the 1960s. Its purpose was to monitor your transmitted "Waveform" in the 10 to 160 metre bands and connected permanently in the antenna feed. It was suitable for use with 50 or 75 ohms output transmitters. The unit incorporated a Two-tone generator to ensure “optimum linearity for SSBö and could display SSB, AM and CW "Waveforms." The waveform display was a 75mm diameter single colour Cathode Ray Tube.
K. W. Electronics was yet another example of an amateur, in this case the late Rowley Shears G8KW, needing amateur radio equipment. Couldn’t get what he wanted or thought he could do better, so he started his own company, manufacturing amateur radio equipment. So K.W. Electronics came into existence in the mid-1950s. It was based in Dartford, Kent, and manufactured a wide range of high frequency band receivers, transmitters and accessory equipment. The company was taken over by DECCA and subsequently ceased production during the late 1970s. It’s a shame to see so many of these companies closing down.
Andre’ VK7ZAB, with a few helpers was busy setting up a newer PC in the radio room for amateur radio software. The priority was to load the WSJT-X digital suite by Joe Taylor K1JT, with the intent to run whisper, spelt as WSPR, short for Weak Signal Propagation Reporter programme. This will allow us to check the range and pattern characteristics of the newly installed HF antenna from the last working bee. Andre’ loaded the USB drivers which then provide a serial port and USB sound card for the HF rig but couldn’t get CAT control working, further work needed.
Ross also brought in a repaired Kenwood PS-30, 13.8 Volt 30 Amp power supply that he had just finished working on. When originally brought into the club rooms its symptoms were fairly obvious, when plugged in and turned on it was electrically arcing over internally and the dreaded smoke was emanating from its case. This in itself was a pretty strong indication that there might be a problem with it! On taking it home and opening it up on his work bench, Ross ascertained that it had been previous modified for remote control. Something had failed in the extra circuitry that had been added causing a dangerous fault situation. As the current owner had no use for the additional remote control Ross took it back to original factory wiring and the unit is now working perfectly, plus one happy owner.
This was once again an excellent night, well worth venturing out into the cold.
This is a timely warning that any equipment that has been modified may not always be safe, if it’s a transceiver usually the smoke just escapes and hopefully a fuse blows, but if 240 Volt is included in the mix it could be a lot more dangerous to life and limb, compared to a puff of smoke! A good reminder for definitely including equipment fuses and preferably the 240 volt power circuit that feeds the shack to include a Residual Current Detector or as it is commonly known RCD for a bit more protection.
At the Friday morning tea Peter VK7KPC, continued with setting up and getting the PC in the radio room to work with the HF rig. Peter did a few successful test transmissions then left WSPR running overnight in receive only mode and uploading to the WSPR database.
The August general meeting held on Saturday, 13th had a good roll up of members, considering it was the RD contest weekend. The meeting didn’t start until an hour after the official RD contest introduction, this gave time for the Radio Room to be utilized. Many members arrived well before meeting kick-off time, claiming their seats and refreshing their memories by reading the minutes of the previous meeting held in June. Correspondence and reports from the relevant coordinators were worked through.
General business covered some new equipment for the Radio Room and club amenities.
One of the main items was the upcoming “VK7 - Tassie Ham Radio Conference and Expoö and the need for ideas for possible stalls, displays and anyone wishing to volunteer for the event. Get your thinking caps on!
The rest of the agenda was quickly worked through in a timely manner. Close of business was called at 14:40. Members were advised that the next general meeting will be held on Wednesday evening the 12th of October.
After the meeting Peter VK7KPC displayed on the large monitor a world map showing the propagation paths of the new HF antenna over the last 24 hours. This was accessed at the web site WSPRnet.org. These plots confirmed the new antenna is working very well. You can see the latest result by selecting the club call sign of VK7TAZ on the map tab. If you haven’t checked your own HF antenna’s propagation, give this software a go!
Members then adjourned to what we do best, afternoon tea and what a feast of goodies it was. We thank all those members that donated food and especially to Ros for setting up the room which included the important task of lighting the fire to remove the chill.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Club Technical night – Wednesday 24th August. Held at the NTARC Club rooms, 7.30pm until late.
SSTV Net - held every Thursday night on the 70cm repeater, VK7RJG and linked to the South via repeater VK7RAF. Conducted from 7.30pm till about 9.30pm, at the moment. These SSTV images will be available on the NTARC website under ‘Blogs’.
TestNet and TechNet – Wednesday 31st August. TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7pm till 7.30pm….and a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will again be Nic VK7WW.
Club Social Night - Wednesday evening the 14th of September. To be held at the family friendly Mowbray Hotel. Those who wish to attend please register the number of places required to the Secretary or on the registration sheet at the club rooms.
Coffee Morning – held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Get warm while you catch up, time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. 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.
The club is following the Covid 19 recommendation to continue wearing face masks when gathering.
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 them to the Secretary at the following address news(at)ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC.
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
WICEN Tas (South)
https://wicentas.org/
In mid October the WICEN resources are being called on again to provide comms for the annual endurance ride held in the Pyengana area.
There will be an 80, 40 and a twenty kilometre leg, so no need to work in the dark.
Any amateur or listener that can assist, please contact Rod VK7TRF via email on roja3kel(at)yahoo.com.au.
The ride is on Saturday 15 October, but we will be setting things up on the Friday. Our base will be at the Pyengana recreation ground.
See you there,
73 Rod VK7TRF
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Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
https://www.reast.asn.au/
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
https://www.youtube.com/reasthobart/
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September Presentation Night
An interview from Casey Station
Our REAST presentation night will be an interview with Warren VK7WN/VK0WN direct from Casey Station in Antarctica.
This will be a free-flowing discussion with Warren following an outline of a typical day at Casey Station with some interesting stories thrown in.
The interview will take place on Wednesday 7th September 2022 from 7:30pm from the Queen’s Domain clubrooms and via Zoom.
A huge thank you to Warren for making time to do this for us.
The interview and Q&A will be streamed on the REAST YouTube channel.
73, REAST Committee
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Training and Assessments
Congratulations to Stephen, Christine and Ron who all passed their Foundation Licence assessments at our last session. We look forward to talking with you on air soon.
REAST’s next Foundation Licence training and all licence assessment day is Saturday the 1st October 2022.
PLEASE NOTE - we have moved this assessment day forward one week due to Assessors not being available.
If you are thinking of coming along then please let Reg Emmett VK7KK REAST Learning Organiser know 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
And checkout the REAST Facebook page events for further details.
https://fb.me/e/1YiYqV2wC
73, Reg, VK7KK
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DATV Experimenter's Night
https://fb.me/e/3oJDUBwuY
Last week our DATV Experimenter’s Night focused on a Remembrance Day Contest feedback and log review session.
There were many great comments and experiences related by those who participated - some for the whole 24 hours and some for just a few hours. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there were certainly some big scores being suggested on the night.
We then went through how to export the log and import into a spreadsheet format then how to do column sorting to check things like the numbers that repeat contact station gave were all the same, the callsigns for repeat stations are all the same, callsign format is correct with a common error like VK7 zero zero instead of VK7OO. Where a signal report was not “59ö was it recorded by at a similar level from the other station.
Steve VK7OO then gave us a 160m dummy load whoops sorry antenna presentation and log analysis. Steve took us through his unique 160m vertical design from Bob VK7RX. Steve felt his 160m signal was well down and most of the power dissipation was suspected to be in the dummy load. This antenna did work well on other HF frequencies.
Steve then took us through his log analysis - he put together a spreadsheet then pivot tabled the results and found some issues with contacts against operators who could not actually use that frequency so, it was a good log checking exercise!
We were able to correct a number of simple mistakes that will hopefully contribute to operators not losing too many points.
This coming Wednesday night we will be looking at some of the ground plane experiments with the 160m short vertical along with the new firmware in the RIDEN SMPSU and much more.
We will be back streaming 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/
We go out on RF - DVB-T 7MHz Standard Definition on 445.5MHz. 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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Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
Sewing Circle Net – Daily on 3.640 MHz commences at 5:00pm AEST.
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 - TestNet and TECHNET – Wednesday 31st August - TestNet/CW course on 3580 from 7pm till 7.30pm and a TECHNET on 3567 from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm.
NTARC Technical Night - Wednesday 24th August from 7:30pm in NTARC clubrooms
NW VK7 – Wednesday from 8:00pm local – NW Tassie Amateur Repeater Group Net on VK7RMD
NW VK7 - Thursday commencing at 8:30pm 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 Experimenter’s Nights from 7:30pm live in the club rooms also on DVBT RF and YouTube Streaming
VK7 - SSTV Net - held every Thursday night via the North/South Link on VK7RAF/VK7RJG from 7:30pm. In the North and North West - VK7RJG on 438.55 -7MHz and in the South - VK7RAF (146.650 -600kHz) CTCSS tone 141.3Hz to link RAF North-South and on VK7RJG a 141.3Hz CTCSS tone to link with VK7RAF.
CCARC - 22 August - SSTV nights from 7:30pm using VK7RMD 2m repeater on Mt Duncan on the 4th Monday in the Month.
Events:
REAST - 7 September - Interview with Warren VK0WN from Casey Station from 7:30pm in Queens Domain clubrooms
NTARC - 14 September - Social Night will be held at the family friendly Mowbray Hotel.
VK7 - 5-6 November - Tassie Ham Radio Conference and Expo - Sir Stanley Burbury Theatre - UTAS Sandy Bay Campus
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A reminder to those people rostered for next week’s 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: VK7DG
40m: VK7TPE
20m: VK7ALH
10m: VK7JGD
UHFCB15: VK7FMAC
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 VK7RAD 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 we hope you have a great day, 73 and stay safe from Mike, VK7FB.
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(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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