WESTLAKES AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Inc.
Weekly Broadcast 7t March 2010.
This is a summary of news and events for Amateur Radio Operators on behalf of Westlakes Amateur Radio Club Inc.
The Broadcast can be heard at 09.00 hrs Each Sunday on 146.775 MHz and is followed by the VK1WIA news. There is a replay on 80 metres Sunday morning and again at 19.00 hrs courtesy Warren VK2UWP. Tune to 3.565 +-.
Westlakes March meeting will be held next Saturday March 13 commencing at 13.30 hrs. Committee are asked to be in attendance at 11.30hrs.
This weeks meat tray was taken home…. AGAIN by Greg VK2CW
The badge prize from last weeks Wyong Field Day won by Greg VK2CW
Congratulations to Mark ex VK2TTJ who is now VK2CMS. Well done.

The March issue of Westlakes Magazine was assembled and made ready for posting yesterday. Thanks to those who assisted in this operation As advised nomination forms for Executive and Committee will be included. These positions will be filled during the May 8 AGM.
The electronic version of the magazine will go out as an attachment to this cast.

Mark your calendar for the following Westlakes events..
Lectures Library:-
March 20 Follow up lecture on Linux by Marcel VK2FMDB.

Project day Activity Room:-

March 27 Assembly of a Signal Injector probe Les Smith
Members are requested to suggest possible future projects that may be of interest.
Another event which it is hoped will gain a good response is the CQ repeater contest 1st to 7th May. Open to all VK’s, all you need is the ability to access UHF/VHF repeaters. The rules can be found on the club’s website.

International and National News..

Consumerism 'doomed',

Western governments may not realise it yet, but consumerism as we know it is doomed and a resource war with China inevitable, the world's biggest fund managers were told yesterday.
The unsettling message, was issued in Tokyo yesterday at the close of one of Asia's largest annual investment forums. which focused on the potentially destabilizing shortfall of rare technology metals used in everything from mobile phones to guided missiles.
At the moment, China dominates the global supply of rare earth metals, a group of 15 consecutive lanthanide elements whose properties make them critical to dozens of technologies on which the modern Western consumer is heavily dependent.
China made a decision more than two decades ago to be to rare earth metals what Saudi Arabia was to oil.
Beijing has reduced export quotas for rare earth metals every year for nearly a decade, and has become a ravenous consumer in its own right.

Big state-backed wind farm projects are expected to bring Chinese domestic demand to 100 per cent of supply.

Countries around the world are going to have to get used to the idea that, unlike other markets, it doesn't matter how much money they offer for the product, China may not sell.
The Japanese Government, in an effort to help to preserve the businesses of its electronics companies. Visibly panicked by the prospect of a supply crunch, the state-backed natural resources corporation has begun to survey rare earth mining rights in Vietnam.

The group has its eye on a source of dysprosium at a site north of Hanoi that would supply enough of the element to build one million hybrid cars.

That article supplied by Barry VK2BZ


International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
More than 100 registrations have been received so far at the website illw.net for this year's event on the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of August.
It will be the 11th annual weekend run by Scotland's Ayr Radio Group GM0AYR. The registrations to date are from 19 countries with nearly half of them from Germany and Australia who always strongly support this fun event.
Other countries include Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Honduras, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Sweden, USA and Wales.
It's only early days and organisers of the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, the Ayr Radio Group, is hopeful that with improved HF propagation the record of 442 registrations set last year could be beaten.
Westlakes ARC will be operating as VK2ATZ portable from Norah Head Lighthouse where we have booked accommodation for that weekend.



Online news has become more popular than reading newspapers in the US, according to a survey.
It is the third most popular form of news, behind local and national TV stations, the Pew Research Centre said.
"News awareness is becoming an anytime, anywhere, any device activity for those who want to stay informed," it said.
Newspapers in the US and UK have been going through financial difficulties, leading many to examine charging for their news online.
Newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic have been going through difficult times as advertising slows and more readers migrate to the internet.
Solar Cycle 24 update
Those closely following developments will know that two new sunspot groups, 1050 and 1051 appeared in the last week of February resulting in 38 days to date of continuous sunspots. Coupled with this are widespread reports of good propagation on the 10 and 12 metre bands, along with improvements on other HF bands.

Our access to the internet is being transformed by wireless devices.
The downside is that current and new services being proposed need lots and lots of spectrum. In the USA the Congress is examining the question of whether the rapid expansion on wireless technology will be stopped in its tracks due to a lack of spectrum.
The approach is to look for un-used or little used frequencies. The eyes will be on all allocations including those for the Amateur Service.
While HF is likely to be safe, the microwave bands are not. In fact the Amateur service does not have any exclusive bands in that part of the spectrum but shares them with other services.

Tiny ear listens to hidden worlds
A micro-ear could soon help scientists eavesdrop on tiny events just like microscopes make them visible.
It may allow researchers to listen to how a drug disrupts micro-organisms, in the same way as a mechanic might listen to a car's engine to find a fault.
A team from three UK institutions are building the device, which they hope will become standard lab equipment.
The micro-ear is based upon modifying an established technology that uses laser light to create so-called optical tweezers. These are already used to accurately measure tiny forces.
They work by suspending very small glass or plastic beads in a beam of laser light. Measuring the movement of these beads as they are jostled by tiny objects allows measurements of tiny forces that operate at molecular scales.
We are now using the sensitivity afforded by the optical tweezer as a very sensitive microphone," said Professor Jon Cooper from the University of Glasgow, who is heading the micro-ear project.
"The optical tweezer can measure or manipulate at piconewton forces," said Professor Cooper. A piconewton is a millionth of the force that a grain of salt exerts when resting on a tabletop.

Back to the local scene

Persons wishing to study for either Standard or Advanced class licence are asked
To contact the Secretary ASAP. Come on you Foundation calls here is your chance to study for your upgrade under expert tutoring. As advised classes will be held Saturday afternoons at Westlakes ARC’s classroom, date to be decided.
To date seven persons have signed up for the Standard Licence.
If you want to learn what is happening at your club in the coming week join the group each Saturday at 8am for the EZB net on 146.775 MHz
Early risers are reminded to tune to 3.588MHz each Saturday mornings at 6am for the Stone the Crows Net.

That concluded Westlakes segment of this week news.

To find out more about Westlakes Amateur Radio Club, or Amateur Radio in
general, leave a message on our 24 hour voice mail box on 02 49-581588. Please
wait for instructions before leaving your message. All correspondence should be
addressed to The Secretary, Box 3001, Teralba, NSW, 2284 or email: secretary@westlakesarc.org.au

Further information is available on our website at www.westlakesarc.org.au

Westlakes Amateur Radio Club is located in York Street, Teralba and is open for business on Saturday from 12:00 midday and from approximately 6.00pm Tuesdays Call in and say Hello.....Tea and Coffee are always on!
Amateur Radio is a great hobby become active and enjoy it.
De VK2FJL