BROADCAST NEWS FOR THE 8th JULY 2012.

The July meeting of the club took place yesterday and some of the topics discussed at the Committee meeting were passed via those in attendance at the General meeting. An Emergency exit for the Library and radio room discussed and passed and now costing of these doorways will be sort. Australia Day 2013 discussed and once again Westlakes ARC will be in attendance. Volunteers required. Two new members were accepted into the club - Welcome Rob and Peter. They both want to do their Foundation licence when the next course comes around. After the meeting Barrie, ( last weeks meat tray winner ) reached into the ticket tumbler and drew the ticket belonging to June Webb. Congratulations June and enjoy the meat tray. The clubs new project officer has submitted his 1st new project to the club. Norm has chosen to build a broadcast receiver with 1 of the components being a 12AT7 or 12AU7 valve. This project was in the May Edition of Amateur Radio. The valve is available from the Westlakes store but the same valve is available from Jaycar for $30 if you wish to pay that price. Some of the other components will also be available from the store. At the end of the year and at the clubs xmas party Geoff VK2GL has donated a prize for the best receiver. So get going on this great project and bring it along to the club. The club will once again be taking part in this years RD CONTEST. This is a 24 hrs contest and the club is looking for members to assist work the radios and computers. Please see Allan ( VK2JED ) if you can assist in this contest. While on contesting Westlakes A R C came 2nd in the John Moyle Field Day contest and equal 8th place in the 80 meter Trans Tasman contest. Congratulations to all members who assisted us in these two contests. The Westlakes Cup will once again be run and the date set down is the Saturday 15th September. Rules of the contest will appear in AR and the club magazine shortly. Rules are also on the Westlakes webpage. This contest runs for 1 hour only so why not get involved and have some fun. WINDOWS 7 lecture: Les VK2RJ has offered to run a lecture and demonstration on a date to be set. Les has asked that interested persons make contact with him either by email or see Les down at the club. The weekend at Norah Head light house is fast approaching and operators for the radios are needed. All accomodation has been filled but I am sure that in a pinch we could find you some space on the floor somewhere. Please contact Barrie or see Diane if you can assist. A new power point has been installed in the radio room thanks to Dennis VK2XDW. A possible Trash and Treasure day for members will be held after our Main Field day in September. Remember, whatever you bring and don't sell you must take all items home with you. There will be no skip bin available on the day. A discussion was held on a new multiband loop antenna for the club and will be installed in the next month or so. SAFETY RECALL: An electrical safety recall has been issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for a selection of HPM white extension cords. According to NT WorkSafe, the extension leads were sold nationally between 1 March and 14 June 2012 in the following retail outlets: Mitre-10, Officeworks, Dick Smith Electronics and Big W.NT WorkSafe executive director Laurene Hull said the wires in the leads had been accidentally transposed during manufacture, meaning the pins on the plug may not be wired to the correct aperture on the socket, leading to a risk of an electric shock. The recall recommends consumers who have purchased the extension leads should immediately unplug the item and discontinue use. Identifying features are... R2702 - 2 metre white extension lead R2703 - 3 metre white extension lead R2705 - 5 metre white extension lead R2707 - 7 metre white extension lead R2710 - 10 metre white extension lead R2715 - 15 metre white extension lead R2601 - 1 metre white extension lead with piggy back plug R2602 - 2 metre white extension lead with piggy back plug R2604 - 4 metre white extension lead with piggy back plug R2606 - 6 metre white extension lead with piggy back plug R2610 - 10 metre white extension lead with piggy back plug Affected products have the date code 02/12, 03/12, and 04/12. What are the hazards? If the Active and Earth wires are swapped, there is a risk of electric shock if the extension lead is used with a Class 1 (earthed) appliance. What are the defects? The wires have been accidentally transposed during manufacture, meaning the pins on the plug may not be wired to the correct appature on the socket. 420-430 MHz in Australia: WIA President Michael Owen VK3KI has released an update on the 70 cm amateur radio band. Internationally, the 420 - 430 MHz part of the 70 cm band exists by a footnote allocating the band on a secondary basis to amateur only in the USA, Jamaica, the Philippines and Australia. In fact, use of the part of the 70 cm band 420 to 430 MHz in Australia has been restricted to Advanced licensees and further restricted by various exclusion zones in NSW, the ACT, and the Jervis Bay area, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne. In April 2008 the WIA reported on the public consultation by the ACMA in respect of its review of the band 403 – 520 MHz. From the outset it was obvious that the amateur band 420 – 450 MHz would be affected. Fairly early on, the bands 430 – 450 MHz was announced to be “out of scope” for the review. However, the ACMA has indicated that segment from 440-450 MHz may be used on a temporary basis by displaced land mobile services until they are relocated during the transition phase. In September 2008 the WIA reported on the release of the submissions received by the ACMA, and in June 2010 the WIA further reported on the ACMA’s announcements. An examination of the WIA 70 Cm Band Plan shows that the band 420 – 430 MHz is largely “Restricted”. The band is allocated in Australia to radiolocation and mobile as primary, and that primary mobile use is by government networks supporting essential and emergency networks supporting police, fire and ambulance. That use commenced in 1999, and since 2009 the Council of Australian Governments has supported interoperability and harmonisation of those services. The only real problem that the withdrawal of this segment creates is that there are a number of repeater link assignments that will need to be moved by 1st January 2013. There are some 34 licensees affected, mainly clubs. In addition, there are other amateur repeater links that may be able to operate beyond that date, and the WIA is currently negotiating with the appropriate parties. When the matter is clarified, the WIA will also be in contact with the relevant licensees. While the ACMA will be formally writing to the affected licensees, the WIA has undertaken to contact each licensee as soon as it is able to do so, to ascertain whether there are any special difficulties in moving and to ensure that the WIA repeater frequency coordination is available to assist as required. Despite the issues yet to be resolved, the ACMA has advised the WIA that the band 420 to 430 MHz will be withdrawn as a secondary allocation at least for general amateur use from 1st January 2013. WORLD NEWS: Computer Virus Could Leave Thousands Unable to Use Internet. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world could be in for an unwelcome surprise Monday, unless they check their computers now for malware that infected their machines a year ago. The virus caused by Eastern European computer hackers will make it impossible to access the Internet. • DNS is Domain Name System, an Internet service that translates user friendly domain names into numerical IP addresses • DNS and DNS servers are necessary to access websites and send e-mail. • Criminals who control a user's DNS server can control the sites that user connects to on the Internet. • The DNSChanger malware lets criminals infect computers. • The malware replaces user's DNS server settings with servers operated by the criminal. Facebook and Google, websites used by billions of people every day, are alerting users who they suspect may have infected computers. They also provide information on what people can do to fix the problem.The hackers used an online advertising scam to take control of nearly 600,000 computers last year, harvesting information about users and directing them to fraudulent websites. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation smashed the computer ring and temporarily set up two Internet servers so that users can remain on line. But that temporary fix will be closed down at 0401 UTC Monday. Well that's all the news I have this week. Do you have a news items that you would like read out on a broadcast? Contact Richard VK2FRKO on email address vk2frko@tpg.com.au or give the item to Richard at the club. Now to wind up. Westlakes Amateur Radio Club Inc. is located in York Street, TERALBA - and is open on Saturday Afternoons from around 12 noon. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6pm. To make contact at other times, try dialling (02) 49 581588 where an answering service operates. Visitors are alway welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, and an interesting selection of biscuits.