Good Morning and wecome to another local news broadcast for 2011. This is VK2ATZ, The official callsign of
Westlakes Amateur Radio Club founded at Booragul in 1964 and now located at Teralba, Lake Macquarie.
There is no HF simulcast being transmitted today because of the absence of Warren VK2UWP.
Callbacks follow at the conclusion of this news and it's all repeated again at 7 pm this evening. Westlakes local
news can be heard each Sunday on this repeater, VK2RTZ, at 9am local. Following at 9.30am is a relay of the
Australia-wide amateur radio news from the VK1WIA.
The February edition of Westlakes monthly magazine is in the mail after a working bee in the club library yesterday.
The electonic version will appear, as if by magic, in email inboxes tomorrow for those members who choose to receive
the magazine in that format. The front page features a dramatic photo of "Dare-Devil Ted", VK2UI, plummeting to earth
after leaping from a plane at 14,000 feet last Saturday. Ted was at the club yesterday, looking none the worse for wear
and displaying a collection of amazing colour photos of his leap.
Beware of fake Icom IC-V8 hand held radios. Icom is out to stop whoever is supplying counterfeit copies of its popular
IC-V8 2 meter hand-held radios. Amateur Radio Newsline's Norm Seeley, KI7UP, reports that fake transceivers, battery packs
and chargers began being reported in 2010. Icom says that the difference between a real model IC-V8 handheld and the
knock-off phoney radios are so small that a blind user might not know they are using a fake radio. For example, the number
2 key on the real IC-V8 is for the " Beep" function. On the fake radio number 2 is "VOX". Also, on the back of the real Icom
product the serial number tag is black while it is white on the fake radio. Even accessories are being cloned. The F21 Battery
Pack looks like an Icom but there are two differences. The fake does not have the ICOM logo, and carries the Part Number
BP-208 instead of BP209N as found on the real Icom battery. Lastly, the optional factory remote microphone is designated by
Icom as the HM-133 while the counterfeit is HM-133V. Icom says that a real HM-133V is for other radios in their product line.
Icom asks that if you find a product that you may suspect is counterfeit, report it to the company's support centre.
Why would anyone buy a fake Icom .... probably because they are half price.
The first monthly meeting for 2011 will be held in the Westlakes Club Library next Saturday afternoon. Afternoon tea a-la-
Gloria follows. Among the matters to be decided are two applications for membership. As the club's financial year ends
tomorrow, the treasurer will detail the financial results of the years activities. Although the books have yet to be audited,
The annual turnover for the year was approximately $25,000 - another record.
Rember the "woodpecker", that horrible interference from "OVER THE HORIZON RADAR" both ours and theirs that could be heard on
HF 20 years agO? It looks like it's back. The latest issue of the free IARU Monitoring System newsletter reports on Russian
radar noise on 7 MHz. The newsletter says that the Over the Horizon Radar from Russia was active between 7000 and 7200 kHz
with burst transmissions on 5 different frequencies on December 30th of 2010. The pulse rate was, as always 66.66 pulses per
second. Meantime, another Over the Horizon Radar that is based in Cyprus has been destroying communications on the 10 MHz band
every afternoon. It seems like the price of eternal vigilence must be amateur radio interference.
Did you know that one third of "snow spotters" (not snow droppers) in the USA are radio amateurs? There are 6,000 snow spotters
across north America whose job it is to predict approaching snowfalls. Spotters must be at least 16 years old and undergo a free
training course. They then log onto the National Weather Service site and report their observations. Of the 6,000 spotters, 2,000
are ham radio operators. The number of "snow droppers" who are amateurs remains unknown.
A total of 81 tickets were sold in Yesterday's meat tray raffle - a near record. The winner was drawn by Dave VK2RD who plucked
the ticket of Diane VK2FDNE from the ticket tumble barrel. Congratulations Diane.
Nanosail-D is a NASA nanosatellite that ejected unexpectedly on January 17 from a larger NASA satellite. Nasa has asked Amateur
Radio operators world-wide to try to hear the baby signal. The NanoSail-D beacon sends an AX.25 packet every 10 seconds. So far,
NASA received almost 470 reports from amateurs in 11 countries. This tiny satellite is 650km above earth and the beacon should
transmit up to 120 days before the battery dies. The frequency to monitor - if you have nothing better to do is 437.20 MHz.
Well that's all the news I have this week.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
WESTLAKES NEWS SUNDAY 23 January 2011
Good Morning and wecome to another local news broadcast for 2011. This is VK2ATZ, The official callsign of
Westlakes Amateur Radio Club,located at Teralba, Lake Macquarie. .There is also a simulcast being transmitted
on 3.565 MHz courtesy of Warren VK2UWP. Callbacks will be taken on both VHF and HF.
It's all repeated again at 7 pm this evening. Westlakes local news can be heard each Sunday on this repeater,
VK2RTZ, at 9am local. Following at 9.30am is a relay of the Australia-wide amateur radio news from the VK1WIA.
The first item today is about "Dare-Devil Ted." While most of us were sitting down to breakfast yesterday, Ted VK2UI
celebrated his 86th birthday by leaping leaping from an aeroplane at a height of 14,000 feet, somewhere over Rutherford.
It's Ted's second experience at this activity but not from this height. His flight (or is it fall) lasted five seconds longer than his
previous attempt.
Now two items from overseas. D-Star repeaters in Italy have been accused of causing interference to Amateur Radio satellites.
Both FM and D-Star repeaters in Italy are showing up in the Amateur Satellite segment 145.8 from 146.0 MHz. Although the
repeaters are said to be government approved by Italy's Communications Regulatory Authority, they are causing considerable
interference to amateur radio satellites and the International Space Station contacts. Italy's telecommunications regulator
permits repeaters anywhere within the 2 meter band on a provisional basis for 60 days. Authorization may become permanent if
no complaints are received. Amateur satellite users worldwide are asked to make sure that the Italian telecommunications
regulatory body is made aware of any interference problems they experience.
And on the subject of of satellites, Turkey plans to send its first ham radio communications satellite into orbit in September.
It is to be called 3USAT. A flying turkey - whatever next?
The first Westlakes Magazine for 2011 will be assembled and enveloped in the club library next Saturday from around midday.
Helpers would be appreciated. Included with this edition will be receipts for membership renewals for all who have paid by mail.
All memberships fall due on 1st February which is only about a week away. And remember, next saturday it will be pies and mushy
peas for lunch as Gloria takes her one day off a month.
In December 1941, the USS California was sunk after being struck by a torpedo and a 500lb bomb during the Japanese surprise
attack on Pearl Harbour.The man who alerted the world that Pearl Harbour was being bombed by the Japanese, has died at 88.
Former Navy radio man Ed Chlapowski died last Sunday at his home a few weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. In 2009,
Chlapowski recounted the December 7, 1941 attack that propelled the United States into World War II. He said he had worked
an early watch at the submarine base, had breakfast and had just sat down on his bunk when he looked out the window and saw
a hangar roof blown away. Then he saw the Japanese planes. Chlapowski says he ran to the radio room. A supervisor handed him
a message, and in Morse code, tapped out news that Pearl Harbour was under attack - perhaps that was the most significant
Morse message ever sent.
Yesterday's meat tray raffle was drawn by David VK2UDW in his inimitable style. The winner was Greg VK2CW.
It has just been announced that Commercial radio stations in VK2 will be recognised for emergency services information.
The Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, has welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding
with the NSW Government, making commercial radio stations official providers of emergency services information. The industry has
argued for some time for commercial radio to be included and promoted as an official provider of information in emergencies,
along with the ABC. Some of the advantages could be ads for boats in time of floods or extinguishers in the bushfire season - but
that's being cynical.
On 22nd December last year the WIA advised that the ACMA had made amendments to the Amateur Licence Conditions Determination
and the Visiting Overseas Amateur Class Licence. The WIA has now placed the consolidated versions of these amendments, for easier
reading. Follow wia.org.au to Members/Legislation The WIA advises that All amateurs must make themselves aware of their licence
conditions to avoid that "knock" on the door from ACMA Inspectors. Are there any ACMA Inspectors left? There must be.
Here is a special Event Station for collectors of unusal QSL cards - the call sign is N6R and it will be on air from Saturday
5th February to Sunday 7th Febuary. The bizzare reason for activating N6R is to celebrate former President Reagan's 100th
birthday. And just in case anyone is remotely interested, N6R is a multi-club Field Day operation from the grounds of the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum which is located in Simi Valley, California.
And finally, another piece of useless information. A Japanese businessman using a home-built computer has taken calculations
of the mathematical concept of pi to the trillions of digits and won a world record for his labours. Shigeru Kondo, a systems
engineer, calculated pi - the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter - to five trillion digits, almost doubling the
accuracy of the previous world record. Last week the calculation was recognised by Guinness World Records. Using 20 external
hard drives and after 90 days of non-stop processing, he obtained a string of five trillion numbers that defined pi. The previous
record, set by a French software consultant only a month ago, was around 2.7 trillion digits. You think that would be enough,
but no - Mr Kondo is now trying to calculate pi to 10 trillion digits.
Well that's all the news I have this week.
Westlakes Amateur Radio Club,located at Teralba, Lake Macquarie. .There is also a simulcast being transmitted
on 3.565 MHz courtesy of Warren VK2UWP. Callbacks will be taken on both VHF and HF.
It's all repeated again at 7 pm this evening. Westlakes local news can be heard each Sunday on this repeater,
VK2RTZ, at 9am local. Following at 9.30am is a relay of the Australia-wide amateur radio news from the VK1WIA.
The first item today is about "Dare-Devil Ted." While most of us were sitting down to breakfast yesterday, Ted VK2UI
celebrated his 86th birthday by leaping leaping from an aeroplane at a height of 14,000 feet, somewhere over Rutherford.
It's Ted's second experience at this activity but not from this height. His flight (or is it fall) lasted five seconds longer than his
previous attempt.
Now two items from overseas. D-Star repeaters in Italy have been accused of causing interference to Amateur Radio satellites.
Both FM and D-Star repeaters in Italy are showing up in the Amateur Satellite segment 145.8 from 146.0 MHz. Although the
repeaters are said to be government approved by Italy's Communications Regulatory Authority, they are causing considerable
interference to amateur radio satellites and the International Space Station contacts. Italy's telecommunications regulator
permits repeaters anywhere within the 2 meter band on a provisional basis for 60 days. Authorization may become permanent if
no complaints are received. Amateur satellite users worldwide are asked to make sure that the Italian telecommunications
regulatory body is made aware of any interference problems they experience.
And on the subject of of satellites, Turkey plans to send its first ham radio communications satellite into orbit in September.
It is to be called 3USAT. A flying turkey - whatever next?
The first Westlakes Magazine for 2011 will be assembled and enveloped in the club library next Saturday from around midday.
Helpers would be appreciated. Included with this edition will be receipts for membership renewals for all who have paid by mail.
All memberships fall due on 1st February which is only about a week away. And remember, next saturday it will be pies and mushy
peas for lunch as Gloria takes her one day off a month.
In December 1941, the USS California was sunk after being struck by a torpedo and a 500lb bomb during the Japanese surprise
attack on Pearl Harbour.The man who alerted the world that Pearl Harbour was being bombed by the Japanese, has died at 88.
Former Navy radio man Ed Chlapowski died last Sunday at his home a few weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. In 2009,
Chlapowski recounted the December 7, 1941 attack that propelled the United States into World War II. He said he had worked
an early watch at the submarine base, had breakfast and had just sat down on his bunk when he looked out the window and saw
a hangar roof blown away. Then he saw the Japanese planes. Chlapowski says he ran to the radio room. A supervisor handed him
a message, and in Morse code, tapped out news that Pearl Harbour was under attack - perhaps that was the most significant
Morse message ever sent.
Yesterday's meat tray raffle was drawn by David VK2UDW in his inimitable style. The winner was Greg VK2CW.
It has just been announced that Commercial radio stations in VK2 will be recognised for emergency services information.
The Chief executive officer of Commercial Radio Australia, Joan Warner, has welcomed the signing of a memorandum of understanding
with the NSW Government, making commercial radio stations official providers of emergency services information. The industry has
argued for some time for commercial radio to be included and promoted as an official provider of information in emergencies,
along with the ABC. Some of the advantages could be ads for boats in time of floods or extinguishers in the bushfire season - but
that's being cynical.
On 22nd December last year the WIA advised that the ACMA had made amendments to the Amateur Licence Conditions Determination
and the Visiting Overseas Amateur Class Licence. The WIA has now placed the consolidated versions of these amendments, for easier
reading. Follow wia.org.au to Members/Legislation The WIA advises that All amateurs must make themselves aware of their licence
conditions to avoid that "knock" on the door from ACMA Inspectors. Are there any ACMA Inspectors left? There must be.
Here is a special Event Station for collectors of unusal QSL cards - the call sign is N6R and it will be on air from Saturday
5th February to Sunday 7th Febuary. The bizzare reason for activating N6R is to celebrate former President Reagan's 100th
birthday. And just in case anyone is remotely interested, N6R is a multi-club Field Day operation from the grounds of the
Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum which is located in Simi Valley, California.
And finally, another piece of useless information. A Japanese businessman using a home-built computer has taken calculations
of the mathematical concept of pi to the trillions of digits and won a world record for his labours. Shigeru Kondo, a systems
engineer, calculated pi - the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter - to five trillion digits, almost doubling the
accuracy of the previous world record. Last week the calculation was recognised by Guinness World Records. Using 20 external
hard drives and after 90 days of non-stop processing, he obtained a string of five trillion numbers that defined pi. The previous
record, set by a French software consultant only a month ago, was around 2.7 trillion digits. You think that would be enough,
but no - Mr Kondo is now trying to calculate pi to 10 trillion digits.
Well that's all the news I have this week.
Monday, January 17, 2011
WESTLAKES NEWS SUNDAY 16 January 2011
There are only five left - those 20 watt Solar Panels. The price is $85 picked up from the club. As well, there is a
small number of charge controllers - 5 amp at $39, 10 amp at $55, and 20 amp at $85.Contact Aly VK2AFZ in the store for
more details.The question has been asked if Westlakes can get larger ones. The answer is, we don't know - it's still a
mystery where this lot came from.
Visitors to the club yesterday were able to inspect the new concrete work. The job was completed last Friday and barrier
erected to prevent vehicle access on the drive. A bit of barrow and spade work was needed to spead fill to smooth the exit
approach and that's the end of a good job. A close inspecion could not detect any "tags" of the locals, or call signs of
members, scratched in the work before it hardened. Wonders never cease.
More strange sounds were heard coming from the radio room at Westlakes yesterday. Morse code again. Derek VK2MLA was on his
own paddle - this time a vibroplex iambic model.He was given a small test by Greg VK2CW and passed easily. At 20 words a minute
Derek even read puntuation, full stops, commas, question marks, dollar signs, pound signs - the lot. You don't come across
pound signs in Morse very often these days.
They just keep getting younger - newcomers to amateur radio, that is. Seven year old Noah Reginald in Arkansas,found a website
with a practice test that contained 396 possible questions and he decided to sit the official exam and obtain an amateur radio
licence.He passed and is beleived to be the world's youngest amateur. When asked what she thought of her son's acheivement,
his mother, Hillary Reginald said, "He has always been advanced for his age." Well he is not that smart. Although he was
seven when he passed the test, Noah has had a birthday so he will be eight when he first comes on air.
Did you know the WIA has a new membership brochure? Produced for the WIA by Roger Harrison VK2ZRH and Robert Broomhead VK3DN
with Illustrations by Ivan Smith, the new DL size brochure carefully sets out the many valuable benefits of WIA membership
in an easy to read, easy to understand format. The brochure is intended for those who are yet to become a WIA member, or members
who are considering renewal. The full colour brochure with it's eye catching cover is ideal for display and distribution at
hamfests, field days etc. Easily obtainable clear plastic DL brochure stands are perfect for displaying the new membership
brochure, whilst it's small size format makes it ideal for keeping a copy in the car glovebox or door pocket along side the
Calling CQ brochure. Copies of the brochure can be easily obtained from the WIA National office, simply send an email to
nationaloffice@wia.org.au
Another meat tray raffle has been and gone and yesterday's winner was Frank VK2FJW. It was a good trick because he was not in
attendance. But he had a nice surprise when the tray was personally delivered to his door. What service! (luckily he lives in Teralba.)
As reported by the WIA, it seems the Australian Naval Amateur Radio Society (A.N.A.R.S.) is no more. John Garvey VK5OJ who was
President of the Society said, " How sad it has been to see the demise of the A.N.A.R.S. Perhaps one day it will rise again in
a better shape with more enthusiasm for the hobby." Westlakes member, and long time enthusiast of the society is Kevin VK2CE who
added, " It is very sad indeed to see the society cross the bar. I always believed it had the potential to become quite a significant
group in the ham radio world but unfortunately this was not to be."
The countdown is on for the 2011 Wyong Field Day. From today it is only five weeks to go. Westakes will be taking the VK2 Bureau
cards and club stand to Wyong which will be located in its usual spot.
Gloria Brown notched up five years-and-a-day as manageress of the canteen yesterday and no one remembered to give her a cake.
Shame on us.
The last item this week is a bad luck story. Barry VK2BZ headed for Gladstone, Queensland a few weeks ago. It was just before the
rain and floods arrived. Bad timing indeed. Barry has sent a photo of his experience and text to go with it which will appear in
a coming Westlakes Magazine article. All we can say at the moment is that he will be returning in a different 4-wheel drive vehicle
to the one he left in.
Well that's all the news I have this week.
small number of charge controllers - 5 amp at $39, 10 amp at $55, and 20 amp at $85.Contact Aly VK2AFZ in the store for
more details.The question has been asked if Westlakes can get larger ones. The answer is, we don't know - it's still a
mystery where this lot came from.
Visitors to the club yesterday were able to inspect the new concrete work. The job was completed last Friday and barrier
erected to prevent vehicle access on the drive. A bit of barrow and spade work was needed to spead fill to smooth the exit
approach and that's the end of a good job. A close inspecion could not detect any "tags" of the locals, or call signs of
members, scratched in the work before it hardened. Wonders never cease.
More strange sounds were heard coming from the radio room at Westlakes yesterday. Morse code again. Derek VK2MLA was on his
own paddle - this time a vibroplex iambic model.He was given a small test by Greg VK2CW and passed easily. At 20 words a minute
Derek even read puntuation, full stops, commas, question marks, dollar signs, pound signs - the lot. You don't come across
pound signs in Morse very often these days.
They just keep getting younger - newcomers to amateur radio, that is. Seven year old Noah Reginald in Arkansas,found a website
with a practice test that contained 396 possible questions and he decided to sit the official exam and obtain an amateur radio
licence.He passed and is beleived to be the world's youngest amateur. When asked what she thought of her son's acheivement,
his mother, Hillary Reginald said, "He has always been advanced for his age." Well he is not that smart. Although he was
seven when he passed the test, Noah has had a birthday so he will be eight when he first comes on air.
Did you know the WIA has a new membership brochure? Produced for the WIA by Roger Harrison VK2ZRH and Robert Broomhead VK3DN
with Illustrations by Ivan Smith, the new DL size brochure carefully sets out the many valuable benefits of WIA membership
in an easy to read, easy to understand format. The brochure is intended for those who are yet to become a WIA member, or members
who are considering renewal. The full colour brochure with it's eye catching cover is ideal for display and distribution at
hamfests, field days etc. Easily obtainable clear plastic DL brochure stands are perfect for displaying the new membership
brochure, whilst it's small size format makes it ideal for keeping a copy in the car glovebox or door pocket along side the
Calling CQ brochure. Copies of the brochure can be easily obtained from the WIA National office, simply send an email to
nationaloffice@wia.org.au
Another meat tray raffle has been and gone and yesterday's winner was Frank VK2FJW. It was a good trick because he was not in
attendance. But he had a nice surprise when the tray was personally delivered to his door. What service! (luckily he lives in Teralba.)
As reported by the WIA, it seems the Australian Naval Amateur Radio Society (A.N.A.R.S.) is no more. John Garvey VK5OJ who was
President of the Society said, " How sad it has been to see the demise of the A.N.A.R.S. Perhaps one day it will rise again in
a better shape with more enthusiasm for the hobby." Westlakes member, and long time enthusiast of the society is Kevin VK2CE who
added, " It is very sad indeed to see the society cross the bar. I always believed it had the potential to become quite a significant
group in the ham radio world but unfortunately this was not to be."
The countdown is on for the 2011 Wyong Field Day. From today it is only five weeks to go. Westakes will be taking the VK2 Bureau
cards and club stand to Wyong which will be located in its usual spot.
Gloria Brown notched up five years-and-a-day as manageress of the canteen yesterday and no one remembered to give her a cake.
Shame on us.
The last item this week is a bad luck story. Barry VK2BZ headed for Gladstone, Queensland a few weeks ago. It was just before the
rain and floods arrived. Bad timing indeed. Barry has sent a photo of his experience and text to go with it which will appear in
a coming Westlakes Magazine article. All we can say at the moment is that he will be returning in a different 4-wheel drive vehicle
to the one he left in.
Well that's all the news I have this week.
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