WESTLAKES NEWS FOR 8TH December 2013

IN the library yesterday was the clubs December meeting and some of the items included discussion of planned activities for our 50th anniversary next year. The main discussion centred around the club participation at Newcastle Show involving quite a few club members at various levels. If you would like to be involved in this and other planned activities then contact Geoff VK2GL or a Committee member. After the meeting was the drawing of this weeks meat tray. Penny Smith reached into the ticket tumbler and and wrestled with the gremlins inside the barrel to get a winning ticket out. Congratulations to Kate Warner VK2FKAT, a new licence holder and also a new club member. Enjoy the meat tray Kate. Don’t forget... Only 1 week to the Westlakes Christmas Party to be held next Saturday 14th December commencing around 11:00 am. All supplied, Just bring your own drinks, table and chairs and nibbles and of course your XYL too. See you there. IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM THE WIA: AUSTRALIANS are risking identity theft by offloading old memory cards on eBay and the like without properly deleting their personal data, experts warn. Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper says of 140 second-hand memory cards on the online auction site over an 11-month period, a study group managed to recover photos, videos, text messages, sensitive documents and home-made pornography. Twenty cards showed no attempt to delete data, and some senders merely requested the buyer ignore or delete the contents. In a further 82 cases, researchers managed to retrieve poorly-deleted files using forensic software. Two of the memory cards were suspected to contain illegal content and were handed to police, while another held governmental information plus a handful of SMS messages. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AO-7: Did you Know: The AO-7 Amateur Radio satellite turned 39 years old on November 15. Launched in 1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as the second AMSAT Phase 2 ham satellite, AO-7 continues to amaze. After its batteries succumbed to old age, AO-7 went silent in 1981, only to spring back to life in 2002, although some believe it may have resurrected itself as much as a year earlier. AMSAT describes the Mode A/B bird as “semi-operational” and “almost certainly” running solely from its solar panels. The ham satellite organization theorizes that AO- 7’s batteries shorted when they failed, but the short circuit subsequently opened, allowing the satellite to return to life. This means AO-7 only works when it receives direct sunlight, and it shuts down when in eclipse. Since the satellite became undead, terrestrial users have enjoyed numerous contacts via AO-7. AMSAT-NA this week offered its congratulations to all involved in the designing, building, launching, and operating the satellite, adding, “It's an amazing achievement that, other than the batteries, most of the circuitry continues to function normally 39 years after launch.” News From ZL: Radio microphones changes in NZ. New Zealand's Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has recently concluded its work on the changes to the frequency ranges available for radio microphone use. The outcomes of the recent UHF Radio microphones: Opportunities for future use consultation have been implemented permitting new frequency ranges and digitally modulated radio microphones. From 11 March 2015, radio microphones (and other wireless audio devices, such as in-earpieces) will no longer be permitted to operate in the 698-806 MHz frequency range. This aligns with the deadline that was set in 2010. A deadline of 1 January 2014 has also been set where the sale and supply of radio microphones in the 698 – 806 MHz frequency range will no longer permitted. The MBIE has begun a communications campaign to ensure radio microphone users and suppliers are aware of, and prepared for, the changes and their deadlines. A brochure and fact sheets on the changes are being distributed to users and suppliers of radio microphones with further information available on www.retune.co.nz NEW PRODUCT UPDATE AND FIRMWARE: Icom America releases firmware upgrade for IC-7800 HF/50MHz transceiver. Icom America announces a new firmware upgrade to its celebrated IC-7800 HF/6M transceiver. This update provides an enhanced user interface, refined operational controls, improved audio and voice functionality and more. The firmware and user manual are free to download online. Icom’s latest IC-7800 upgrade reflects forward-thinking technology and provides a greater user experience for the serious amateur radio operator. New and improved features include: Spectrum Waterfall Display: Review RF and AF characteristics on the IC-7800’s impressive 7-inch color LCD. Includes a wide screen setting. PC Mouse Operation: Connect a mouse via USB to select operating frequency and control the spectrum scope. Audio Scope Function: Review the FFT scope with waterfall and oscilloscope. In CW mode, observe microphone compressor level and other attributes. Direct Remote Control Operation: Connect directly to an IP network using Icom’s optional RS-BA1 software and the IC-7800’s internal base station function. (A user operation PC is still required; a base station PC is not.) Digital Voice Recorder: Automatically capture incoming/outgoing calls onto an external memory card or flash drive. Other updates include an APF function to increase volume up to 6dB (adjustable by 1dB step), transmit delay function to control a connected external linear amplifier, USB flash drive compatibility, and added RIT and Delta TX commands for CI-V remote control. The firmware upgrade is available now. For more information, visit the IC-7800 product page on Icom America’s website. The Radio Store closes down: The Radio Store, one of the landmarks that gave Akihabara its 'Electric Town' nickname, closed its doors for the last time on Saturday evening after 64 years in business Computer World report Tokyo's world-famous Akihabara district lost one of its signature stores on Saturday, November 30, 2013, and with it a piece of the area's rich electronics history faded away. On hearing about the closure, Mr. Mae, a 76 year old retired engineer and amateur radio operator traveled 500 kilometers from Fukui Prefecture in western Japan to reminisce. When he was 16, he used what savings he had to go to Tokyo he built his first radio receiver from components he bought at the Radio Store. He has been an enthusiast ever since. "When I came to Tokyo for university I was here every day," he said. "We could talk to the clerks and other radio fans about the latest technology developments and we would all always be saving for next new component. I moved on from receivers to amateur radio operation, so naturally I built my own transmitter. It opened me up to the world." He remembered how the Radio Store's success led to the building of the nearby "Radio Centre" and from there, more buildings started to pop up housing similar component vendors. "It was always busy," he said. "It would take a few hours to move around and wait in line to shop at the popular vendors. Often the best components would get sold out very quickly." Read the full Computer World story with 15 photos at http://www.computerworld.co.nz/ Well that's all the news we have this week. do we have any late news items? Do you have a news items that you would like read out on a future broadcast? Then Contact Richard VK2FRKO on email address vk2frko@tpg.com.au or give the item to Richard at the club. Westlakes Amateur Radio Club Inc. is located in York Street, TERALBA - and is open on Saturday from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00 pm. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR SUNDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2013

Well last week the broadcast almost didn't happen, but thanks to the Hunter Branch we were able use VK2RNC 146.900 MHz repeater. I have been told that VK2RTZ took a direct lightening strike which took a few components out in the repeater. The club thanks Peter VK2ZTV and Graham VK2FA who took time to go up and do the necessary work to fix the repeater. Thanks guys- job well done. Also with the numerous lightning and power outages during the week, the IRLP Node would not come up on the repeater. Dave VK2RD along with assistance of John VK2JJW tried a few things to get it going but no go.. A decision was made to throw the big switch and hope the system would reset itself and... Bingo... away she went, so IRLP Node 6040 is again operational. Thanks John. . At your club yesterday was Barry VK2BZ, back from his baby sitting duties in QLD. Hope your all relaxed now Barry. Happy Birthday to Bill VK2XT who celebrated his 101st yesterday with around 30 friends having lunch at Wests Cardiff. Quite an interesting afternoon and a chance to put a face to the name of a few attendee’s. Good on you Bill... In the library at around 2 pm were a great number of members waiting for the draw of the meat tray. Nigel VK2FNT who was chief ticket cruncher and also called to the library was Ally VK2AFZ who reached in and choose a ticket which took Greg VK2CW a good minute to un crunch. On the ticket was was written STELLA. I wonder who that ticket belongs to? Yes its another meat tray to the Smith Family again. Congratulations Stella enjoy the meat tray. Please be careful when you come to the club as the grounds are very wet due to rainfall that we have had over the last few days. Don’t forget... Only 2 weeks to the Westlakes Christmas Party to be held on Saturday 14th December commencing around 11:00 am. All supplied, Just bring your own drinks and nibbles and of course your XYL too. Vandalism at Radio Club. Around the weekend of November 17 considerable damage was done to the club rooms of the Summerland A R C at Lismore. Club President Ross Dowse on VK2WI News reported much equipment was stolen and a major inspection and clean-up has been held during the past days. Club activities were put on hold until the next general meeting planned for today, Sunday the 1st of December. You should be on the lookout for strange offers or possible unusual activity with the radio equipment. You should inform the Summerland club executives or the authorities of any information you may become aware of. It is only a few weeks since Summerland club member John VK2JWA was attacked by intruders in his home which they subsequently set on fire causing considerable damage. ILLW reaches 100 on its list. The honour of being the 100th registration in the annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend goes to South Australia's Point Lowly Lighthouse, to be activated by the Whyalla Amateur Radio Club VK5BWR. Club President Alex Glinski VK5ALX says the activation will be within the heritage listed caretaker's cottage. Previously club members put VK5BWR on air from an emergency generator room, and some spent the night rugged up in sleeping bags or on the back seat of their cars. Alex VK5ALX claims that with the more comfortable overnight accommodation available for members it will be the best weekend ever. Whyalla's annual show which attracts 20,000 people is also on the same weekend and some of the visitors will also come to the Point Lowly Peninsula and lighthouse. This means that VK5BWR set-up in a courtyard has a great opportunity to promote Amateur Radio activity and a bit of lighthouse history. Built in 1883 the lighthouse is Whyalla's oldest structure standing 15 metres tall, made of local sandstone, and on a point jutting into the northern end of the Spencer Gulf. Powered these days by electricity and a powerful tungsten halogen lamp, it started with a wick burner fuelled by mineral oil and then a kerosene vaporising light unit. Made redundant by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in 1993, it was bought by the Whyalla City Council in 1995 with help of the South Australian Government. Under local control the light was reactivated after it and two cottages had been beautifully restored. If you want join 22 countries which have already registered a lighthouse, lightship or marine beacon, or to see the event guidelines for August the 16th and 17th, visit the website www.illw.net That item from Jim Linton VK3PC For those of you that like chasing a bit of DX try making contact with Indian special event station AU2JCB. Look for the Indian special event station AU2JCB, which will be active until December 10th. Activity will be on 80-6 meters SSB, SSTV, PSK and FM. Suggested frequencies are (depending on the propagation): 3710, 7040, 7150, 14220, 14250, 14310, 21280, 21310, 28490, 28510 and 28545 kHz. FM mode: 50800, 51500 and 29700 kHz. If higher bands are open, operations will be on those bands. The operator will be Surabhi, VU2DSI. QSL direct (with 2 IRCs) to VU2DSI. Operations are to celebrate the 155th anniversary of the birth (November 30th) of Sir Jagadeesh Chandra Bose, India's great scientist and inventor who they consider the "Father of Wireless Communication". Also try listening out for Kiritimati (Christmas) Island Tim, NL8F reports that he plans to be active as T32TM from the Captain Cook Hotel, located on Kiritimati [Christmas] Island (OC-024), Republic of Kiribati, between 27th November and 4th December, 2013. QRV on 160-10 metre SSB or RTTY. Tim plans to operate part of the day and spend the rest of his time seeing the island or trying out the world class Bone fishing in between QRV periods. QSL via K8NA. Website: www.t32-2013.com/ Lissenung Island P29VNX. IOTA frequencies 30/10m CW, RTTY & PSK31. Further information: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~yy7a-ysd/P29VNX-2013 Event date: Sunday, December 1, 2013 (Starts today). Event end: Friday, December 6, 2013 Infant airlifted after swallowing "button" battery: Parents are being warned of the dangers of button batteries ahead of Christmas after RACQ CareFlight Rescue airlifted a baby boy who swallowed one on the Sunshine Coast recently. It's prompted a warning on the dangers of the tiny toxic objects. "Button batteries can lodge in the oesophagus of infants and cause serious injury or even death if they go undetected," CareFlight's Chief Medical Officer Doctor Allan MacKillop said. A four year old Sunshine Coast girl died in July after swallowing one of the small batteries which are used in toys, games and many household items such as torches, car keys, TV remotes, watches and calculators. "If they become stuck in the oesophagus they can immediately begin to burn,doing serious damage," Dr MacKillop said. Each week four children are taken to emergency departments across Australia after swallowing the tiny batteries. The elderly are also urged not to store the batteries in pill containers as the small objects can easily be mistaken for medication. AUSTRALIA TO SAVE WINAMP: The fate of the veteran media player app Winamp remain in limbo after AOL's announcement last week that it would shut down Nullsoft and end support of these products called winamp AND shoutcast. Although there have been reports that Microsoft is in talks to buy both Winamp and Shoutcast, neither company has commented publicly. So a Melbourne, VK3 based web developer and the owner of a web hosting company Peter Zawacki, has started a Change.org petition urging AOL to either keep Winamp alive or release its code as open source. Zawacki and a group of like-minded developers have created a website to simply explain their cause, writing, "The history of digital music started with Winamp. Winamp is still one of the best music players out there. It's SIMPLE TO USE And lots of people still use it." Well that's all the news we have this week. Do you have a news items that you would like read out on a future broadcast? Then 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00 pm. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits. Thank you for listening. Good morning...

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR 17TH NOVEMBER 2013

Today we begin the the broadcast with the sad news of two silent keys. Terry Ryeland VK2UX. It is with great sadness that Terry Ryland VK2UX, a doyen of amateur radio education and very active in Institute and club affairs, passed away on Sunday 10 November, 2013. He built his first crystal broadcast receiver at the age of 12, and then progresses to a two-valve shortwave receiver. He was inspired by his father who listened to the US baseball games on shortwave. In 1954, after listening to a pair chatting on air he gained the courage to ride his bicycle to a radio amateur nearby and they formed a long friendship. That led to more home-brewing and sourcing bits and pieces through war surplus. It was about 1974 that Terry joined a class of prospective radio amateurs under the famed Rex Black VK2YA (SK), gained the callsign VK2ZMR, then with Morse code became VK2NER and VK2BRQ. Joining the Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club (BMARC) in about 1975-76, just after it ceased as a branch of the WIA. He served with distinction, including being its President and Education Officer. If anything drove him it was his belief that encouraging newcomers to become radio amateurs was a way to make the hobby grow. The BMARC made him a Life Member in 1992. In the honour, mention was made of his education work that helped many to be qualified, and his commitment to building antennas and the like. Terry had a long commitment to the WIA NSW, where he was President at the time and also the Education Officer. In June this year, Amateur Radio New South Wales (formerly the WIA NSW Division) at its annual general meeting bestowed Life Membership on him for his many years of service. At a subsequent ARNSW committee meeting Terry VK2UX was again elected as President. Over the years he was a tutor and class organiser. At one time he wrote and had approved exam papers, using them at both BMARC and WIA NSW Division. In fact he closely influenced the running of examinations. Terry continued this work with renewed endeavour when the Foundation Licence was introduced, and had been trainer and assessor for the Standard and Advanced licences too. He had plenty of work ahead of him as a Nominated Assessor of the WIA Exam Service, at which he excelled. Terry Ryeland VK2UX will be sorely missed by clubs and organisations, the many new radio amateurs he helped, and all who knew him. His Funeral took place last Friday at Leura in the Blue Mountains. Also news that John Cannon VK2JRC of Blackalls Park passed away earlier this month. He was an active member of Westlakes many years ago and worked in the VK2 QSL Bureau. He was an active member of Hunter WICEN, promoting the organisation to the various Rescue units.. Vale’ Terry Ryeland VK2UX and John Cannon VK2JRC. Quite a good roll up yesterday with many varied discussions taking place.Chef Mikes Super Size Burgers were again popular. while Herb VK2ZVF was in the activity room playing with an Eprom Programmer. Michael VK2CCW again brought his now almost complete ‘Man Pak’ comms system. Norm VK2KNC tried it on for size and reports that it sat well on the back. Steve VK2LW arrived with some very impressive Li-on High capacity batteries and charger for the back pack. To be continued.. A full report soon in an upcoming article in the Club Magazine. Yesterday's meat tray raffle saw another first time winner. The Draw was made by Alex VK2ZM and the winner was the holder of the last ticket sold, Nigel VK2FNT. Enjoy the meat tray Nigel. Speaking of Alex VK2ZM, he had on display in the club shack his newly-completed MST400 40 metre QRP transceiver with an addition. Alex has installed the optional LED S meter/ RF meter as doesn't it look good. Coloured lights green, yellow, orange, and red certainly make a difference to this radio. Sounds good on air too. Stop Press News!! The 2014 Call Books have arrived and are ready for pick up at the club. If you ordered a book see Greg VK2CW next Saturday. A Reminder that the Club will not be open on Tuesday nights for the next 4 weeks as Warren VK2UWP is away on Holidays. Now to some better news. Further to the amateur examinations held at Westlakes last month, the following members have received their new call signs: Barry Finlay VK2VBF, Barry Gilbert VK2MHA, Michael George VK2FMRG, Marcel Post VK2HAQ, Paul Vidler VK2FBUZ, Peter Waeger VK2FAEH and Tony O’Donnel VK2NTD will now be VK2QW. Congratulations to all. While on the subject of new callsigns, do you know who VK2PE is? It is none other than Gary VK2DBI who has finally received his 2 letter call. Congratulations to everyone. The clubs annual Christmas party for this year will be held on Saturday the 14th December commencing at around 11:00 am. The club will be supplying the soft drinks, BBQ and Salads and you supply your nibbles and whatever you wish to drink. There may well be one or two surprises for your entertainment. Be there... Saturday 14th December. That’s only three weeks away! Grab the XYL and (Grand) Harmonics or a friend and have a day out. Plans are still being put together for the 50 year celebration of the founding of the club. A special Call Sign VK2ATZ50 has been approved by WIA/ACMA to be used throughout the month of April next year. Other events are planned and will be advised as we get closer to next year. Keep tuned... WESTLAKES 40 METER NET: Our new net is up and running with a reasonable daily attendance. Last Monday and Wednesday was quite good with 8 stations calling in each day, with good propagation and signals but Friday did not fare well at all. Conditions on 40 metres were bad to say the least. Dave VK2RD took control in Barries absense, Get well soon Baz. With only 4 stations calling in. Alex was using his home brew 40 metre kit transceiver and it performed very well Norm VK2KNC tried calling in but was barely audible as he was running QRP with his 817. So... EVERY Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 0:930 hrs local on 7.150 Mhz our net will run, with Barrie VK2ABD as net control and Dave VK2RD as Backup. Please call in and have a chat. Nothing formal, discuss the weather or whatever or just let your mates know you are still around and ok. Look forward to hearing you on 7.150. WORLD NEWS: A prototype garment incorporating an embroidered antenna has been produced by researchers from Nottingham Trent and Loughborough Universities. The antenna is said to be fully flexible, lightweight and water resistant. “In a bid to transform how wearable radio communications are sent and received, the two universities and several industry partners have developed the technology to design an efficient antenna that can be applied directly onto clothing using a mass production process,” said the scientists, who have been working on it for three years. - See more at: http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/design/communications/antenna-embroidered-in-the-midlands-2013-11/#sthash.k8dP0iGQ.dpuf Microwave signals turned into electrical power: The BBC report that an electrical current capable of charging a mobile phone has been created from microwave signals. They say a team from Duke University said the technology they had used had been as efficient as using solar panels. The device they created used metamaterials, which capture various forms of wave energy and convert them for other applications. Read the BBC story at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24897584 NEW TINY PACEMAKER DEVELOPED THAT REQUIRES NO WIRING: A miniaturized wireless pacemaker that can be inserted into the body without invasive surgery has been given approval for use in the European Union. Amateur Radio Newsline's Heather Embee, KB3TZD, says it was developed in the United States by the company Nanostim, and that the tiny device is less than 10% of the size of a conventional pacemaker, uses a built-in battery and is designed to be implanted intravenously directly in the heart. Currently more than four million people around the world have some sort of cardiac rhythm device with an additional 700,000 people getting one each year. Well that's all the news we have this week. Do you have a news items that you would like read out on a future broadcast? Then 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00 pm. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits. Thank you for listening. Good morning...

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR NOVEMBER 10TH 2013

Yesterday at the club was our 3rd car boot sale. There were about 8 or 9 sellers all up and a lot of bargains were on show. The Westlakes Committee would like to thank all those who attended to make this another successful event. Greg VK2CW was walking around selling tickets in the meat tray raffle. Penny was at the club to draw this weeks lucky meat tray winner. The winner this week was Alex VK2ZM. Congratulations Alex. Enjoy the meat tray. Penny and Michael were busy in the kitchen cooking and giving away free sausage sandwiches. Thanks Penny and Michael for a job well done. Michael VK2CCW had his new back pack for his FT 817. This I think is model 6 and it is almost complete. He may be taking orders when he gets it right. CHRISTMAS PARTY: The clubs annual Christmas party for this year will be held on Saturday the 14th December. Please note the date in your Diary. Geoff VK2GL and Penny Smith have been seen in deep conversation and a little bird tells me that they are organising one of the events for the day. Come along and bring the Family or even a friend. The club will be supplying the soft drinks, BBQ and Salads and you supply your nibbles and whatever you wish to drink. There may well be one or two other surprises for you entertainment. Be there... Saturday 14th December. That’s only four weeks away! C.C.A.R.C. Have you marked your calendar for the CENTRAL COAST A.R.C. BIG DAY OUT. The Wyong Field day will be held on February 23rd 2014! Clean your shack or shed out and turn the ‘Gunna use it one day’ items into cash with a Flea Market stall. Call books 2014. To those members who have ordered call books! They should here at the club next weekend so see Greg in the library next Saturday. WESTLAKES 40 METER NET: Our new net is up and running with a reasonable daily attendance. Last Monday was the first airing and we had about 8 stations call in. Wednesday was much the same but Friday did not fare well at all. Conditions on 40 metres were bad to say the least. Dave VK2RD took control with only 4 stations being heard. We were informed that there were 2 other stations trying to call in but were not audible at control. Thanks to Ron VK3MRH who has called in every day to help us establish the net. Ron is the net controller for the Albury Wodonga net held on 40 metres (7.055 10:30 am) EVERY DAY. Thanks Ron for the support and promotion within your groups net. So... EVERY Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 0:930 hrs local on 7.150 Mhz our net will run, with Barrie VK2ABD as net control and Dave VK2RD as Backup. Please call in and have a chat. Nothing formal, discuss the weather or whatever or just let your mates know you are still around and ok. Look forward to hearing you on 7.150. NEW ANTENNA DESIGNS: New AOWA Yagis. Derek G4CQM continues with his AOWA yagi development project releasing new designs that raise the bar even higher. Derek says that he is more than ever convinced that the perfect 50-Ohm yagi does exist and these new designs are getting really close to that goal!. If you are a keen 2M DXer you can see the new designs here... http://g4cqm.www.idnet.com/NEW%20DESIGNS/index.html SDR TRANSCEIVERS UPDATE: Standard for an SDR to External Programs Interface. Recently I've had the pleasure of collaborating with Jonathan Naylor, G4KLX on adding functionality for the CCW SDR-4+ receiver and the Sentry SDR transceiver to his SDR program, UWSDR. During the email discussions and software testing I raised the possibility of using a TCP/IP connection to transfer the PTT information between a data mode program and a SDR program. Jonathan then suggested the use of UDP/IP and also suggested that the audio connection between the two programs could also go over UDP/IP. After a lot of thought he has come up with a proposed standard that would allow authors of SDR and data mode programs to add a simple to use audio and PTT interface. I've posted his document "A Standard for an SDR to External Programs Interface" on the CCW website: http://www.crosscountrywireless.net/A%20Standard%20for%20an%20SDR%20to%20External%20Programs%20Interface.pdf We want to contact as many software authors as we can to give them information on the standard so that it can be implemented on as many ham radio programs as possible. I've also suggested the CCW forum as a possible area for authors to discuss the standard: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/cross_country_wireless/ Regards, Chris, G4HYG Well that's all the news we have this week. do we have any late news items? Do you have a news item that you would like read out on a future broadcast? Then 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00 pm. To make contact at other times, try dialling (02) 49 581588 where an answering service operates. Visitors are always welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR THE 20TH OCTOBER 2013

Yesterday at the club were a large gathering of SDR radio fanatics to listen to Norm VK2KNC give a lecture on various types of SDR software and how it is used. The library was almost filled to capacity which is good to see. Towards the end of lecture Marcel VK2FMDB gave demonstration via the internet of WEB SDR receivers. To finish up on this lecture - job well done Norm and Marcel. The meat tray raffle was conducted and Greg VK2CW reached in selected this weeks lucky meat tray winner. In the right hand of VK2CW was the ticket of Herb VK2ZVF ( another of the clubs regular winners ). Enjoy the meat tray Herb. Also at the club yesterday was a very tired Richard VK2FRKO who just finished doing a 12 hr stint fighting the Cabbage Tree Road fires. Richard had some interesting stories to tell us. Richard said that he needed a holiday. Michael told of the wildfire that destroyed the service station near Doyalson. Michael complained that they sold cheap fuel and that was where he bought it from. Now I have to pay top dollar and buy it elsewhere. The IRLP Node has been very quiet this last few days, The reason was found yesterday morning... Someone had turned the radio off. It is situated in the Computer room with it’s own computer. PLEASE... DO NOT TURN IT OFF!!! I know that you feel you are doing the right thing but please do not touch. Some will notice a length of coax running down the hallway and into the shack. This is also for the IRLP to connect to an outside antenna using the Patch Panel in the shack. Again...please do not touch the coax going into the panel. This is only a temporary measure and will be corrected soon. That plea is from Dave VK2RD and Geoff VK2EO There are still a number of next years call books which the club is taking orders for. Please see or ring Greg VK2CW to order you book. Candidates doing the Foundation licence were busily being instructed by Geoff and Steve and Geoff had a group in the radio shack. Great work guys. PR4AmateurRadio Expo will take place on April 13-15, 2014 The WIA is strongly behind this Expo which harnesses its many affiliates as they showcase the benefits of modern amateur radio and engage the community. A commitment of up to 12 hours is being sought on a day by them. Like other promoted activities people do better understand, appreciate and may join them. The promotion of amateur radio relies on having the right messages and trained radio amateurs to effectively give them. Apart from having knowledgeable radio amateurs on hand, please also consider that they should reflect the community by their different age groups, both sexes, and that they are trained in what to say on the day.At all times act and look professional. For the best image a display must be neat, tidy, and always safe. This is an excellent opportunity to expose the public to the many diverse positive elements of amateur radio and how it fits into the community. Part of the effort should be designed to get people interested in and taking up amateur radio. It helps to have Foundation Licence training and assessments ready to go after Easter giving those attending the Expo or reading about it in the local newspaper a chance to give us a try. The choice of a location is important to give amateur radio good exposure to the public. The opportunities exist, however it does require advance planning including site owner approvals. The guidelines and other details about how to join for the PR4AmateurRadio Expo will be issued later. AIM: To publicise modern and diverse amateur radio that is easily accessible to people from all walks of life. Through exhibitions, showcase the very diverse hobby enjoyed by those of all ages, gender and ability. On air support may be given by WIA Directors, Office-bearers and members. WHEN: The weekend of April 11, 12 & 13 April 2014 gives the choice of using any time on the Friday, Saturday or Sunday. A public event on one of those days should provide good exposure for the hobby. REGISTRATION: Now invited on the form on the webpage. After the Expo send a report of the event to the WIA to receive a Certificate of Appreciation. Each Foundation Licence holder having contributed to the Expo, and proven media coverage, will be recognise. PLEASE READ THE FULL STORY ON THE WIA WEBSITE. JOTA: 19th - 20th October 2013. JOTA is the annual event in which about 500,000 Scouts and Guides around the world speak to each other by way of amateur radio. News from VK3. TV switch-off to catch some: When Australia’s final analogue TV transmitters now serving Melbourne, Geelong and surrounds are closed on December 10, at least 5 per cent of people will get caught with no television.The old transmissions are to disappear in favour of new TV with its multitude of channels. The former analogue frequencies are up for sale in the so-called digital dividend. Being found frequently in Melbourne-Geelong are those who use to watch Community Television Broadcaster Channel 31, but are unaware it earlier shut-down and moved to 44 digital. The experience elsewhere in Australia found at 5-10 per cent of people still watched analogue TV, but get caught by the switch-over which requires a desk-top device or a new receiver. On YouTube of course there will be news reports of people ignoring the warnings or leaving their purchase late after analogue TV ends. Have you got any friends in VK3 you had better send them a reminder. There have been some members asking of a net that Westlakes was going run on 40 meters. As far as I know we are still waiting from ideas from members e.g. time date and frequency. Got some ideas please contact the club secretary at the clubs postal address or see Barrie in person at the club. It is on again - a Car Boot Sale at Westlakes. Free to sellers and to all who attend. Not only that, there is a free sausage sizzle for all. It will be held in the club grounds, York Street Teralba on Saturday 9th November starting at 9 am. Full details will be in our November Magazine. WORLD NEWS: SSTV Handbook Martin Bruchanov, OK2MNM, has written a Free e-book for ham radio operators and radio listeners interested in special communication modes for image transmission – SSTV, radio facsimile (WEFAX) and digital SSTV (HamDRM).You can download the entire book or view on line... http://www.sstv-handbook.com/ Thanks to US shutdown, pirate radio activity reaches an all-time high. As frustrated as many are over the US government shutdown, it nonetheless offers one unique benefit to the shortwave radio community, and to pirate radio in particular - no FCC enforcement: Read the full story at: http://swling.com/blog/2013/10/thanks-to-us-shutdown-pirate-radio-activity-reaches-an-all-time-high/ 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00pm. To make contact at other times, try dialling (02) 49 581588 where an answering service operates. Visitors are always welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR THE 13TH OCTOBER 2013

We start todays news broadcast with news of a SILENT KEY. STAN LLOYD, VK2AYL passed away last Tuesday 7th October. The funeral notice will be in Tuesdays Newcastle herald and the funeral will be held at RYHOPE Lawn cemetary. Vale Stan VK2AYL Yesterday was the clubs October meeting. Dave VK2RD took the chair in the absence of Steve VK2WL who had a prior commitment. Welcomed back to the club as a member, was Paul VK2BPL. The other new members were Nigel VK2FNT, Bruce VK2FSAD and Barry Gilbert - still waiting his callsign. Its ok Barry, you should have it by Christmas.The Committee and Members would like to welcome you to the club. Greg VK2CW advises that there are 13 Call books left to be sold. If you require one get in quick or you will miss out. The meat tray raffle took place after the meeting and last weeks winner, Penny reached in to the ticket tumbler and drew the ticket out belonging to 1st time meat tray winner Peter Waeger. Congratulations Peter. Make sure you are the club next weekend to draw our next winner. Enjoy. After the meeting a feast was put on by Penny who slaved away in the kitchen cooking mini pies, sausage rolls,cakes and other goodies. Thanks Penny - will have to see about getting you a pay rise. Next Saturday in the Westlakes Library is a lecture on SDR transceivers/receivers. This lecture will be presented by Norm VK2KNC who is a master at lecturing. This is must see and listen to lecture. Be early so that you don't miss out on a seat. Lecture to commence at 1300 hrs. Also at the club were most of the crew from STONE THE CROWS net. Ted was handing out cake to all the crows who were celebrating 25 years of the net. Sorry there were only enough pieces of cake for the crows. The YL of Peter VK2GFE cooked the cakes. The STONE THE CROWS net is on EVERY SATURDAY mornings at 0600 and usually goes for about an hour on the frequency of 3588KHz. So why not join in. ALL WELCOME. Also at the club yesterday was Peter VK2GFE who was showing everyone his homebrew DISCONE antenna made out of stainless steel. What a magnificent piece of home brewing. Great to see again members doing home brewing. The current Foundation class led by leading instructor Geoff VK2GL were busy outside and Geoff was showing them how to erect dipole antennas and set up a station outside. Not sure how many contacts were made but maybe you can come up and tell us more of what happened during call backs. Heard a rumour that Ken VK2KJ was leaving us for a better feeding paddock up North. In about 1 months time I believe. It is on again - a Car Boot Sale at Westlakes. Free to sellers and to all who attend. Not only that, there is a free sausage sizzle for all. It will be held in the club grounds, York Street Teralba on Saturday 9 November starting at 9 am. Full details will be in our November Magazine. Remember... What you bring and do not sell you MUST take it home with you. AMATEUR RADIO NSW BARBEQUE: ARNSW is having a barbeque on Sunday 10 November at 63 Quarry Road Dural. Gates open at 9.30 and entry is free to AR NSW members, others pay $10. Registration is required prior to entry and there will be a membership list at the gate Some traders will be in attendance and food will consist of a continuous sausage sizzle, hot dogs, tea, coffee, soft drinks and ice cream all free to AR NSW members. There will be 4 lecture presentations each of about 45 minutes on:- 1 HF antennas 2 P25 3 Microwave 4 Software defined radio. All done by hams who have specialist knowledge in their fields. Due to space restrictions, each presentation is limited to 30 pentodes.Registrations for these lecture presentations are filling fast so book early to confirm a seat lf you would like to register for the event including a particular presentation on your preferred topic, you might email fieldday@arnsw.org.au as we need to know numbers for seating and catering purposes. Leave your name, callsign and a contact number The address again, fieldday@arnsw.orq.au Entry to the lecture presentations is sequential receipt of registration, that is, first in best dressed As a special bonus to our members, in the afternoon, we will be raffling a beautiful pair of strippers... Wire that is... lf any member has recording equipment and is prepared to organise a recording of the lecture presentations for some of our country members, would they please contact the office on 9651 1489 and leave contact details Submitted by Al Hirschel VK2KAM AR NSW event commander Up Up and Away. WIA News reminds radio amateurs who launch small balloons and Quad Copters of the need to keep away from structures such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In this day and age of we hams launching small balloons and using ATV on board easily purchased quad copters and the like, comes this story with a message in its tail. A mystery drone crashed into the Sydney Harbour Bridge causing counter terrorism officers to be alerted and an investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. The incident occurred Wednesday week, just a day before the start of the International Navy Fleet Review. However police believe the two were not linked. A spokesman for CASA confirmed it was investigating the incident. He said those operating remotely piloted aircraft must keep them at least 30m away from any people, buildings or structures and to check with local council where they can be used. He said airspace around the Harbour Bridge was restricted, even for small aircraft such as drones. Australians not malware wise. Nearly half of all adults or more than seven million living in Australia who regularly use the Internet for personal purposes don’t believe they will suffer from malicious software, or malware for short. Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has also found that ten per cent who use home-based computers or laptops on the Internet fail to have virus protection while another eight per cent don’t regularly update it. Malware allows others to steal personal identities including login details a worrying possibility in this increasing digital society. The Australian Internet Security Initiative program reports that 35,500 Australian IP addresses a day are infected by malware. Well that's all the news we have this week.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR OCTOBER 6TH 2013.

Well the club was a hive of activity yesterday. More people than ever turned up. In the activity room Norm VK2KNC was trying to repair Barrie's Icom 725 that sustained some serious damage after travelling to VK3. The VK3 could not get the radio to work at all and after contacting Barrie he returned the radio. Anyway, Norm had found that the circuit board on the front panel had split. After fixing that up and getting the display to work, it was found that the transmit button was broken as well as the 3 light globes on the display. Norm had a full crew helping him. Working behind Norm was Maurie VK2CD who was also getting Norm to assist him get his SDR software to work on his laptop. Norm was very busy and said he will be back in a months time. Also on the same bench was Marcel VK2FMDB and his laptop showing Richard VK2FRKO some finer points on the CHIRP software for programming handhelds. Maurie was also out at his car testing one of his HF Vehicle antennas that one of his customers had bought off him and it worked very well. Another happy customer. Not sure what Dave VK2RD was doing in the radio shack BUT it could of been in preparation for the Oceania DX contest. In the kitchen Michael VK2CCW was busy cooking hamburgers and steak sandwiches with salad. Pies and sausage rolls were also on the menu. Absolutely filling Michael. Please support the club by buying your lunch there as it helps supports the club. Richard VK2FRKO was seen purchasing coaxial cable - looks like he has work ahead of him. Yes the club does have various items and coaxial cable to sell so why not ask before visiting elsewhere and by doing this you support the club. Greg VK2CW was seen wandering around selling tickets for the meat tray raffle and trying to fill the money bag up with money. A ticket was drawn and and you wouldn’t want to know it, Penny’s name came out. Enjoy the meat tray Penny and Greg and see you at the club next week. It is on again - a Car Boot Sale at Westlakes. Free to sellers and to all who attend. Not only that, there is a free sausage sizzle for all. It will be held in the club grounds, York Street Teralba on Saturday 9 November starting at 9 am. Full details will be in our November Magazine. Peter Sturt VK2ZTV has been carrying out Amateur Digital Television Tests on 446.50 MHz. We believe this is the first Amateur Television digital transmissions in Newcastle. These transmissions can be watched with a 70 Cm beam pointed at Cardiff Heights or a vertical colinear antenna. Grahame VK2FA & Charlie VK2CLH have both been watching Peter's state of the art transmissions. Grahame has a 16 element phased array antenna and Charlie has a vertical colinear antenna on his roof In Warners Bay. If people are interested in observing the trials and tribulations of this experimentation, most set top boxes and TV's will tune to the 446.5 MHz frequency if you do a manual scan by entering the frequency before you press ok. Reception reports can be sent to newcastleatv@gmail.com. I am sure if any one would like further information Peter, Grahame or Charlie would be happy to give you anymore information you might require. Submitted by Grahame VK2FA. UP AND COMMING EVENTS: SDR Radio demonstration Saturday 19 October Amateur Radio Exams at Westlakes Saturday 26 October Inaugural Michael J. Owen VK3KI Award announced. The Administrative Council of the International Amateur Radio Union held its annual meeting on 2 & 4 November 2012 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Due to the passing of Michael J. Owen VK3KI, who had been a member of the Administrative Council for most of its existence and had been a long time contributor to the efforts of IARU to promote and preserve amateur radio, the AC decided to establish an award in recognition of this. The Michael J. Owen VK3KI Award was established to recognize an individual or individuals that best exemplify the dedication and hard work of IARU volunteers. Following an IARU request for submission by member Societies of possible recipients, the AC at its meeting in Cancun Mexico on Sunday 22 September 2013, considered submissions and agreed to jointly award the first Michael J. Owen VK3KI Award to Dr David Wardlaw VK3ADW and Wojciech Nietyksza SP5FM. David Wardlaw became involved with the IARU in 1968 as a part of the Secretariat provided by WIA for the inaugural conference of IARU Region 3 in Sydney. While serving as WIA President he attended the 1976 IARU world meeting in Miami, held in conjunction with the Region 2 Conference, at which the global objectives and strategy for WARC-79 were developed. Wojciech Nietyksza, SP5FM began his long and intensive IARU involvement as a member of the IARU team attending the 1974 Maritime Mobile WARC in Geneva. From that time through WRC-03 he was the most consistent face of the IARU at ITU meetings and conferences. He was elected Vice Chairman of Region 1 in 1975 and was re-elected to that position every three years until 1999 when he relinquished it for Tafa Diop, 6W1KI. Wojciech remained a member of the Region 1 EC and chairman of its External Relations Committee through 2002. Summits on the Air continues to grow in VK. The Summits on the Air (SOTA) programme is now operational in vk2 and vk4, with over 1000 summits in vk2 and over 500 registered so far in vk4 with some large regions still to go. All regions of VK2 are registered so there are summits all over the state. In VK4, the two southeast regions and the Capricornia and Wide Bay & Burnett regions are registered at this point. I can also pass on the news that VK6 is being surveyed at present and I will leave detailed announcements to those doing the work. To mark the launch of SOTA in vk2 you are invited to join in a SOTA QSO party on Sunday 13th October. If you can, activate a nearby or distant summit yourself. If you prefer to operate from your home or other portable location as a chaser, do join in. The activators need to make at least 4 contacts to qualify their activation. SOTA is not a contest but is an operating award programme. You can record your contacts in an online log and claim points for your contacts. A major benefit of participating in the SOTA programme is that to activate a summit you must do at least some walking (the last 25m of altitude). As many mountains have no vehicle access anywhere near the top, this sometimes means you and your fellow activators need to walk 1, 2 or more km, carrying your radio station, food and water, navigation and safety equipment. Many radio amateurs around the world are now enjoying this combination of amateur radio with some level of bushwalking. It is good for the health. For more details about the award, the summits already registered, activators' guides and online maps and spotting websites, start your search at SOTA.org.uk. 73 from Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH association manager for SOTA in VK2. WORLD NEWS: Former P.O.W. Dorothy Susie Davis Thompson KF5IX - SK at 95 Dorothy Susie Davis Thompson’s path to a lifetime of service to her fellow man began with her birth. Born in Shanghai, China on October 26, 1917, where her grandparents toiled as missionaries. Her father, Alfred Davis, was an importer of electrical equipment. In 1937, at age 19 she left her home town of Shanghai and came stateside to New York City, where she entered the Columbia University Nursing School. While at Columbia, the Japanese invaded China and her family managed to flea China for safety in the Philippines. Despite a bout of rheumatic fever Dorothy graduated in 1940 from Columbia University - Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing. She then travelled to Manila, reunited with her parents and Eva, and began working at Steinberg General Hospital . On September 2nd, 2013 Captain Dorothy Susie Davis Thompson-KF5XI United States Army Nurse Corps, Ex-Prisoner Of War, Hero of the United States and of the Philippines, healer of the sick, and Amateur Radio Operator passed away at the age of 95. Did you remember to put your clocks forward 1 hour this morning. If not, you have missed the news. Daylight saving started this morning at 2:00 am... Remember if you are on the roads that Double Demerit points and fines apply till midnight Monday. This being a long weekend.. Well that's all the news I have this week. Anyone have any late breaking news? Do you have a news item 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00 pm. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits. Thank you for listening. Good morning all.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR SETPTEMBER 29TH 2013

Yesterday's meat tray. Who won? None other than Ted VK2UI... AGAIN... Enjoy Ted. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Next weekend is the Oceania DX contest and the Club is mounting an entry. Op’s are needed for a spot shift during the weekend. This is a 48 hour event so if you can help out please contact Alan VK2JED. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Maurie VK2CD was busy at the club finishing off the installation of the emergency exit doors. Only problem was that during the Field day weekend clean up, all the weatherboard pieces that Maurie had hidden for use on the wall were tossed out. A full clean up HI... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barry VK2BZ and Dave VK2RD were busy installing the paper towel dispenser above the wash basin. Thanks to Jamie VK2YCJ for the donation of the unit. The fire extinguisher that was near the store has been relocated to the entry to the Toilets / was room area. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Echolink error. The Westlakes Echolink number shown in our monthly magazine has been wrong. In fact it's been wrong for years.If you have tried to access Echolink on the club's 146.775 repeater without success, now you know why. The correct number is 356838. A correction has been made in the October Monthly Magazine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Speaking of the October Magazine, The paper black and white version has been posted early this morning at my local Post Office and should appear in letter boxes tomorrow morning. The electric, all-colour version of the magazine which most members receive, will be sent via the magic of the Internet later today. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking a little further ahead, there will be another Boot Sale held at Westlakes on Saturday 9 November. This is a free event to the sellers and also a free "sausage sizzle" will be provided for all who attend. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Please remember to check the "for sale" board when visiting Westlakes. It is in the common room. There are always bargains listed there which are often snapped up before they can be advertised in our magazine. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Coming events. October is going to be a busy month. The Monthly Meeting will be held on Saturday 12th which is a week later than usual because of the long weekend. Then on 19th October we have a demonstration and lecture by Norm VK2KNC. It is all about Software Defined Radios and it starts at 1pm in the library. Aso over that weekend, 19th and 20th October is JOTA and JOTI. It will be the 56th year for JOTA and the 17th year for JOTI. Finally on Saturday 26th October, Foundation and licence upgrade examinations will be be held at Westlakes and that will be an all-day affair. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Antenna matters. Did you know that your 40 meter dipole will work very well on 15 meters. By using the 3rd harmonic e.g. 21.250MHz divided by 3 = 7.083 MHz. So if your 40 meter dipole is resonant at 7.080 MHz then your antenna will work on 15 meters. Some of the other antennas on other bands also work in that manner. Try it out sometime. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Richard VK2FRKO advises that on the APRS.FI ( http://aprs.fi ) program you can see MARINE RESCUE vessels. So why not check it and follow the white vessels around. -------------------------------------------------------------------- A little news from VK6. VI6WA100 a special event callsign will be used to celebrate the centenary of organised Amateur Radio in Western Australia. In October 1913, the Perth Radio Club (name changed to WIA VK6 Division a few years later) held its first meeting. The call VI6WA100 will be on air from next Wednesday October 1st untill the end of the year. Yes, there is a Special Event QSL card on offer to all who make a contact. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ACMA proposes regulations changes. The Australian Communications and Media Authority has announced a set of changes to the Amateur Licence Condition Determinations (Regulations). Each are important but relatively minor in nature. As anticipated holders of the Advanced Licence have added to their available bands, 135.7 kHz to 137.8 kHz. That low frequency band was allocated by the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2007 but is not yet included in the LCD. Currently those wanting to use the band must apply for a licence variation and pay a fee. The amendment will enable Advanced category stations, under their amateur callsign, access to the LF band with a power of up to 1 watt pX EIRP and any emission mode with a bandwidth of no greater than 2.1 kHz. This will be on a Secondary basis that amateur stations do not cause interference to other radio services that have Primary status on that spectrum. The amendments also concern changes to the station identification arrangements for overseas radio amateurs in Australia for short-term holidays or business visits. Visiting radio amateurs will need to identify by putting VK in front of their home callsign, which is more consistent with the practice used overseas for visitor licensing arrangements.The use of an alternative repeater access control is proposed to better manage situations that may result in an amateur station accessing a repeater for which they are not authorised to transmit on the repeater output frequency.The ACMA is also to provide through the amendments some clarity on third part traffic messages. It will receive written comments on the changes up until 1 November 2010. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Componets: Taiyo Yuden Co., Ltd. has released the 330 µF-capacitance EIA 1210 size as another addition to the company's high-end product group of high-capacity multilayer ceramic capacitors. The company has improved the capacitance by more than 50% in the same size capacitor. The large capacitance 330 µF super high-end product claims to be the first of its kind in the world. The product is used to smooth the output and ensure the stable operation in power supplies. The applications for these power supplies include industrial equipment such as surveillance cameras and broadcast equipment, as well as PCs and servers, and all-in-one printers. Production will commence from September 2013 onward at a production rate of one million units per month. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well that's all the news I have this week. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now to wind up. Westlakes Amateur Radio Club Inc. is located in York Street, TERALBA - and is open on Saturday from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00pm. To make contact at other times, try dialling (02) 49 581588 where an answering service operates. Visitors are always welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and a dwindling, but interesting selection of biscuits. Thank you for listening. We hope that you can all join us again next Sunday.

WESTLAKES BROADCAST NEWS FOR SEPTEMBER 8TH 2013

Last weeks meat tray raffle winner Herb VK2ZVF was at the club yesterday to draw this weeks meat tray winner. Herb reached in and drew out the ticket belonging to Warren VK2UWP. Congratulations Warren and enjoy the meat tray. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Westlakes club is finally in the business of conducting amateur radio licence exams following the appointment of Geoff VK2GL and Steve VK2LW as approved WIA assessors. A list has been placed on the notice board in the common room for anyone who wishes to register for a Foundation, Standard, or Advanced Licence. For more details contact Steve VK2LW at the club. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Sunday is the clubs major field day at the club. EVERYONE is invited. The famous Westlakes BBQ will once again be lit and steak and sausage sandwiches along with fresh salad will be served. Tea and coffee as well as cold drinks will also be available. The field day will open at 0900 so don't be late. It is still not too late to register your boot sale spot so if you are interested please contact a club committee member. The long range forecaster has advised that its going to be a great day. See you there. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOTA now active in VK2 Sunday 1st. September 10am local (UTC 00:00) saw the start of summits being activated in the Summits on the Air scheme in Australia's VK2 (New South Wales) area. This start coincided with Fathers Day in Australia and so there were less activators and chasers present than may have been but there were still enough stations active for several hours of interesting communication. The SOTA "activators" and "chasers" only got to know the previous week that VK2 may be accepted into the award scheme on September 1st. (having had its summits verified and accepted)and the final "green light" only came on Saturday evening at 23:30 local. Despite this those who have been preparing for some time for this day managed to get passes from their families to be away for a few hours and were rewarded with a beautiful first day of spring for their efforts. Activators in VK3 (Victoria) and VK5 (South Australia) also came on air either on mountain tops or at least out portable to take part in the party as well. The third already authorised state (VK1 - Australian Capital Territory) was almost empty of SOTA operators as they took the short trip over the border into VK2 to activate some of the new summits. The VK2 "association" adds 1100 new Summits to those available in this world wide award scheme. As well as VK2 (New South Wales, Australia), VK4 (Queensland, Australia), KH6 (Hawaii, USA), W5A (Alabama, USA) and K8O (Ohio, USA) also went "live" on September 1st. This could be the most new associations to join the scheme in one day, so far. Thanks to the UK based Management Team for making this happen so quickly. The data for New South Wales (VK2) association was only submitted one month ago. 73 Ed VK2JI Hunter region of VK2 SOTA regional manager. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE N CONNECTOR PLUG: The N connector was invented by and named for Paul Neill of Bell Labs. It was the first connector capable of true microwave performance. N connectors have threaded coupling interfaces and are 50 ohms in impedance. There are also 75 ohm versions available, but they will not mate with the more common 50 ohm version. N connectors operate up to 11 GHz in the common 50 ohm impedance design. Although less common, there are also precision versions of the N connector available which operate up to 18 GHz. Applications for the N connector include Local Area Networks (LANs); test equipment; broadcast, satellite and military communication equipment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Would you like to see regular Presentations and Demonstrations on various topics through-out the year at the club? These can take the format of Antenna design, various Digital modes, the inside details of Contesting, APRS and many other topics. If so, please contact a committee member to show your interest. The next lecture scheduled is on Saturday 19 October in the club library and it is a "show and tell" on SDR (Sotware Defined Radios" which will be conducted by Norm VK2KNC. Full details will be included in our October Magazine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ WORLD NEWS: Summer 2013 edition of The 5 MHz Newsletter now available. Hi all, I'm pleased to announce the latest - Summer 2013 - edition of The 5MHz Newsletter is now available to freely download in pdf format. This is Edition No.7. This edition includes the latest news about 5 MHz Amateur Allocations, the latest update of the Worldwide Amateur 5 MHz Allocations Chart, stories on 5 MHz usage in South Africa, plus items on UK and German changes. Beacon Spot features the last in the UK chain, GB3ORK, in Orkney and G3ENI investigates the ground beneath him. It can be found at httpp://tinyurl.com/q87jbuj (Dropbox) or http://tinyurl.com/pt4nbry (Google Docs/Drive) and in the 5 MHz Section of The Southgate Ham Forum. Cheers, Paul Gaskell G4MWO Editor, The 5 MHz Newsletter. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Faraday transformed. The first electrical transformer was shown to the world by Michael Faraday on August 26, 1831, contributing greatly to our knowledge of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Although Michael Faraday had little formal education he was one of the most influential scientists in history. His research on the magnetic field around a conductor carrying a direct current established the basis for the concept of the electromagnetic field in physics. Faraday found that magnetism could affect rays of light and the link between the two. He similarly discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction, diamagnetism, and the laws of electrolysis. Faraday’s inventions of electromagnetic rotary devices formed the foundation of electric motor technology, and it was largely due to his efforts that electricity became practical for use in technology. The unit of capacitance, the farad, is named in his honour. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NZ Ham Radio Licence update The New Zealand regulator, MED, has recently updated the GURL for Amateur Radio Operators This specifies the terms, conditions and restrictions that amateur radio operators must comply with when operating their radio stations to reflect changes to visiting amateur callsign requirements. General User Radio Licence (GURL) for Radio Amateur Operators http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms/licensees/types-of-licence/general-user-licences/amateur-radio-operators --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOICE OF RUSSIA TO CEASE SHORTWAVE RADIO SERVICE TO GO QRT. It appears the Voice of Russia will cease shortwave radio service January 1st, 2014. The shortwave service is closing due to government mandated funding cuts. The Voice of Russia was known as Radio Moscow in the Cold War era but actually first took to the shortwave bands back in 1922 with a single transmitter located in Moscow. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft will buy Nokia's mobile phone business for 5.44 billion euros ($8 billion AU), and the Finnish firm's CEO, Stephen Elop, will join Microsoft when the transaction is closed. Finland's Nokia, once the undisputed leader in mobile phones, has been struggling to respond to the challenge from smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 from around 11:00 am. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

WARC NEWS BROADCAST FOR SEPTEMBER 1ST 2013.

Last week VK2RTZ went off the air unexpectedly and the Westlakes Club would like to thank WICEN for the use of their repeater to do our broadcast on. Peter VK2ZTV was notified and by the middle of the WIA news VK2RTZ was back on the air. I guess a little gremlin had crept into the system somewhere. At the club yesterday it was all antennas full steam ahead. Richard VK2FRKO was outside showing a few operators the Multiband Tilted Folded dipole. On hand to see how it performed was Norm VK2KNC, Dave VK2RD ( already knows how well this antenna performs ) along with a number of other members. Norm had his FT-817 and using the battery from my car we checked all the bands and VSWR and on every band the VSWR was less than 1:5 to 1 . The 80 meter Morse Beacon on 3.699khz was an S9 at 11:30 am. When we pulled the antenna down out came the measuring tape and all measurements were taken, checked and then photo copied. I'd say this antenna will be a club project very soon. Listen out on these broadcasts for further information on this up and coming project. In the library Morrie VK2CD gave an excellent talk on his screwdriver antenna and showed everyone how it went together. Morrie is no longer producing this antenna and was going to sell off his stock to anyone that wanted a screwdriver antenna. The talk went for an hour with about 26 people listening and asking questions. Thanks Morrie for the great lecture. The club is always looking for members or even non members to give lectures on various topics. Know someone? please contact a committee member or write to the club address with details. Last weeks meat tray winner Alan, was at the club to select this weeks lucky winner. Alan reached in and selected a home made ticket ( made by Greg VK2CW ) and the winner was Herb VK2ZVF ( another regular winner of the meat tray ). Enjoy Herb. A club SHOW and Tell Day at the club is in the planning and the show and tell topic and demonstrations will be SDR radios whether on the PC on a Flex Radio etc. The date has not been set yet so if you are using a SDR transmitter/receiver we would like to see you at the club. Once again listen here for the date of this event. Michael was once again cooking hamburgers in the kitchen as well as serving pies and sausage rolls. From Richard - absolutely delicious. Ice creams were once again selling pretty fast too. The Westlakes bikers were once again ( Greg VK2CW and Robert VK2MF ) at the club showing each other there fancy features etc. There was only one thing missing from the bikes and that was that they had no antennas on them. Is this going to be a future project for the club to design and produce efficient antenna for them? Two weeks tomorrow will be our clubs Field Day which will be held on the 15th September ( this is a Sunday ) and the club is looking for donations of equipment for the auction table. Remember no TVs, computer monitors, VCRs. Why not come and have your stall. If you are interested please contact Barrie VK2ABD to book your spot and remember to bring your own table for your goods. The famous Westlakes BBQ will be cooking steak and sausages and serving fresh salad for sandwiches. The guessing competition for the number of jelly beans in the jar will once again be there as a fund raising venture. Andrews Communications WILL NOT BE HERE THIS YEAR, THIS IS DUE TO OTHER COMMITTMENTS. Do we know of another vendor who would like to attend the club and sell there products? Please let a committee member know. kEN VK2KJ advisers that the store still has a quantity of power supplies/battery chargers,they are ex-government supply using quality transformers & rugged construction. They cover 0 - 16 volt & have been marked down from $15 to $10. These power supplies will be available on the day. WORLD NEWS: A Ham Radio AX.25 Open Source Soundcard Modem. Alejandro Santos LU4EXT is developing extmodem an open source APRS compatible AX.25 amateur radio packet modem. It is currently capable of both sending and receive packets. The main feature of the software is that it is currently running three different demodulators in parallel, increasing the quality of reception. The first modem is Thomas Sailer HB9JNX / AE4WA's multimon, the other two are described by Sivan Toledo 4X6IZ in an article in the July/August 2012 issue of QEX. Download extmodem for Windows from http://extradio.sourceforge.net/extmodem.html Electronic News. Wireless nodes take power from ambient TV broadcast signals 04 September: 13 Ambient Researchers at the University of Washington have communicated wirelessly using only ambient energy harvested from broadcast TV transmissions. The technology demonstrators communicated over around 50cm at 1kbit/s using a packet protocol. Communication is bi-directional and includes reception acknowledge as well as a simple anti-collision technique which allows point-to-point communication in an environment where multiple nodes operating. Like passive RFID, the nodes ‘transmit’ by changing the reflectance of their antenna – in this case by briefly shorting (making it reflect) the two electrodes of a 258mm dipole tuned to a 50MHz band of UHF TV signals around 539MHz. Changing reflectance effectively amplitude-modulates the field around the dipole, radiating an AM signal. The dipole is busy as it is not only the transmit antenna, it is also the receive antenna and the source of power for the on-board microcontroller and receiver. UHF power it extracted straight from the dipole through a four-stage passive diode-capacitor charge pump, the result of a previous University of Washington research project that was done on conjunction with Intel. In the original case, connected to a TV-top log-periodic antenna, the circuit delivered 60µW of dc 4km from the TV transmitter. The receiver relies on the huge difference in modulation frequency between the ambient TV signal (6MHz) and the bit rates of the nodes (1kbit/s). It is simply a crystal set – a diode and capacitor connected across the antenna (see diagram) followed by a self-adjusting comparator (a TS881) acting as a detector. The resistors of the comparator act to load the demodulator capacitor, and the various time constants are set to reject any AM from the TV modulation while allowing through AM at the desired data rate. In practice the circuit can extract a signal that is invisibly buried in the TV signal. The squared comparator sends its output to a MSP430 microcontroller for preamble correlation, header decode, data decode, and packet cyclic redundancy checking (CRC). The modulation scheme chosen – at least one transition per bit and two transitions if the bit is a ’1' – gives a fairly even stream of 1s and 0s during transmission. The anti-collision scheme involves listening before transmission until the comparator output is largely 1s, or largely 0s, which means no nearby node is transmitting. This is not computationally intensive and needs little power. Sending the message involves transmitting a 10101010 sequence before the traditional pre-amble to give receivers a good chance of synchronising. Then the 64bit pre-amble, address, and 96bit data are sent. A range of 45cm was demonstrated indoors and 65cm outdoors, and at up to 10km from the TV transmitter. Power consumption of the comparator and microcontroller is under 1µW most of the time. The scheme is described in a paper: “Ambient backscatter: Wireless communication out of thin air“. The prototype nodes also include three touch pads and an LED (flashing only briefly) for interactivity, and were limited by the microcontrollers need for 1.8V. In a proposed smartcard application, the team suggest power would be shared: transmit modulator <1%, demodulator 1%, power management 8%, LEDs and touch sensors 26%. HackRF is a radio for all frequencies. Michael Ossmann, co-founder of Great Scott Gadgets, is developing HackRF, a software-defined radio (SDR) that lets you switch between radio frequencies on the fly. Most wireless gadgets, like the 3G antenna in a phone, operate using a fixed radio frequency band. But HackRF could potentially receive and transmit any radio frequency from 100 megahertz to 6 gigahertz – a range that includes broadcast and amateur radio, GSM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and remote garage-door openers. Ossmann presented the device at ToorCon in San Diego, California, last weekend. There are other SDRs out there, but HackRF is intended to hit the sweet spot between versatility and cost – around the size of a USB hard drive and with a $300 price tag, the device could sit squarely in the consumer electronics bracket. Ossmann suggests SDR technology will bring about a revolution in the radio communications industry similar to the one that digital audio brought to the music industry. For now, HackRF remains a work-in-progress and isn’t yet being pitched at the mainstream market. “HackRF is designed to meet the needs of wireless communication security professionals, researchers and hobbyists,” says Ossmann. “It is for hackers, in the widest sense of the term.” Early applications range from identifying vulnerabilities in proprietary wireless control systems to listening in on police radio. Indeed, wireless security protocols that rely on obscure frequencies could be in danger. US military research instituation DARPA was interested enough to invest $200,000 in Ossmann’s use of HackRF for research into wireless communication security. But since the project is open source, hackers and researchers are free to take the device where they like. Ossmann thinks people will come up with uses he hasn’t yet thought of. 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00pm. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

NEWS BROADCAST FOR AUGUST 25TH 2013.

At your club yesterday were members painting and doing the final touches to the e-gress doors. Greg VK2CW must of been painting as he had more paint on him than the door. Many thanks must go to everyone involved in getting these doors finished to lock up stage. Well yesterday was the start of many Foundation Licence examinations and in attendance were Graham O'Brien VK2FA and Kim Piper VK2ZW who were putting the clubs new assessors and trainers through their 1st paces so that they know what is required for future examinations. Am not sure of the results but hopefully ALL candidates passed. Thanks Graham and Kim for taking the time to assist the Westlakes Club. Dave VK2RD was seen in a car in the car park trying to chase up some rare DX. Dave was in fact talking to the Foundation candidates on HF. Thanks Dave for your help yesterday. Last week the cry went out for more ice creams to be purchased and yesterday Diane delivered 4 boxes to the club. Remember if you run out of anything please let a Committee person know. In the canteen Michael was cooking up a feast, not sure what was cooked but as a guess I would say hamburgers. Les Smith was also at the club to show everyone one of our next projects - a receiver on 80 meters. Soon this will be made available to everyone as a kit so listen out for in these future broadcasts for the release date of this kits. In the library Ted VK2UI reached into the ticket tumbler and drew a ticket out. How could this person win as this person was not at the club. Leonie VK2FHRK was the lucky winner but Alan VK2JED bought the ticket. As Alan said I always like to get in for my chop. Enjoy the meat tray Leonie. In last weeks broadcast call backs Col, VK2YP reported that Norm VK2ZG was taken to the Royal North Shore hospital. Michael VK2CCW is pleased to advise that he spoke to Norm yesterday and Norm is back at home. We wish you a speedy recovery Norm from everyone at the club. International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend (ILLW) organisers express thanks to the record number registered for the fun-event, and many thousands who contacted them. Held last weekend the annual event saw 526 registrations, more than 50 above the 2012 record, or a 10 per cent jump. At Alice Springs a novelty lighthouse was built for the dry river boat race, the Henley-on-Todd Regatta. It contacted other lighthouses in the Canary Islands, Spain, Portugal, Europe, the Pacific and right around Australia. A total of 54 countries were listed. The Green Cape Lighthouse in the Ben Boyd National Park south of Eden in New South Wales Australia saw a two-day celebration to mark its 130th anniversary. Australia's first cast concrete lighthouse tower has been in the ILLW since it began in 1998. On its birthday it was lit up using a million candela beams that swept the Pacific Ocean. Some 150 people present on Saturday included the Mayor Ken Taylor, the local Member of Parliament Andrew Constance and ILLW Organiser Kevin Mulcahy VK2CE - who was quoted in the local media. Many others gained very positive news media stories throughout the world. They included King Island's Currie Lighthouse by Tony Hambling VK3VTH/7, who worked other lighthouses in Europe and elsewhere in 447 contacts. ABC Radio Hobart looked at Tasmanian lighthouses. Among them were Ray Smith VK7VKV from Low Head Lighthouse VK7LH and Andrew Boon VK7AW at the Iron Pot. On the weekend Malaysia had 16 registrations returning in force. Also back after an absence were the Canary Islands, Estonia, Malta, The Philippines, Sardinia, Slovenia and Taiwan. New countries were Algeria 7T9A at Cape Falcon and Serbia YU/IZ1VUC activating the Tamis River West lighthouses. Those and others registered for their debuts and hopefully most will again. Germany led on 72, followed by Australia 69, USA 66 and England 38. About 20 each were listed for Argentina, Canada, Netherlands, Scotland, South Africa and Sweden. On the air there was a greater awareness and participation. Despite poor weather at some locations, most likened them to the lifestyle of yesteryear lighthouse keepers. Reports from participants are being accepted and uploaded to the website. Photos and comments are most welcome to vk2ce@illw.net Already 35 have registered for 2014 - will we achieve another 500 - only time will tell. Westlakes Club have already rebooked Norah Head Lighthouse for next year and already all the beds have been taken with club members. NEWS FROM THE ACMA: ACMA guards the spectrum. All radio amateurs have knowledge of the spectrum, that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) issues licences and is responsible for its orderly use. The ACMA monitors spectrum use according to the planning guidelines of the International Telecommunications Union, and it aims to avoid harmful interference between the myriad of users. Each January it publishes the Australian Radio Frequency Spectrum Plan for general information showing the uses and further direction of its management. Because of the potential for interference, spectrum is described in economic terms as being a finite, instantly renewable, natural resource. It has significant value and must be managed to maximise its overall benefit, including the sale of the so-called ‘digital dividend’. The other reason for managing the spectrum is the harmonisation between countries. Generally speaking, Australia's various industry sectors, and ultimately consumers, benefit from international agreements for spectrum arrangements and standards. Now the ACMA has a plain language video to explain this complex area which it calls Spectrum 101, giving a good overview and highly recommended viewing by all. www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Consumer-info/All-about-spectrum/What-is-it-and REMEMBER EVERYONE IF YOU DON'T USE IT WE WILL LOOSE IT New Comms for Victorian fire fighters: New GPS radios for Victorian fire fighters. The installation has begun of 6,000 new radios in fire fighting vehicles, aircraft, incident control centres, fire towers and work centres.The project, led by the Department of Primary Industries and Environment, is to be compatible with CFA systems, the SES and other neighbouring states to simplify communications between the fire fighting agencies. It manages the Network Emergency Organisations radio terminal fleet which includes Parks Victoria, VicForests and Melbourne Water. The $24.6 million project sees the current 19 year-old radio fleet replaced with a digital-capable system in vehicles and handheld radios for operational staff. Each radio fitted with GPS will enable their tracking in real time to improve operations, logistics and safety. The program calls for 2,000 radios to be fitted in the next six months, with the rest in 2014/15. Richard VK2FRKO would like to report that a installer of this equipment has told him that if smoke gets between the tower and the FIRE TANKER ALL comms ARE LOST. Also when the trucks are driving around the scrub, unless they have line of sight of the radio tower, comms are also lost. They call this modern technology. REMINDERS: Not forgetting our club Field Day which will be held on the 15th September ( this is a Sunday ) and the club is looking for donations of equipment for the auction table. Remember no TVs, computer monitors, VCRs. Why not come and have your stall. If you are interested please contact Barrie VK2ABD to book your spot and remember to bring your own table for your goods. The famous Westlakes BBQ will be cooking steak and sausages and serving fresh salad for sandwiches. The guessing competition for the number of jelly beans in the jar will once again be there as a fund raising venture. Andrews Communications WILL NOT BE HERE THIS YEAR AND THIS IS DUE TO OTHER COMMITMENTS. PRODUCT REVIEW: Designed, manufactured and assembled entirely the UK, the GEMINI linear amplifier is an all new solid state linear amplifier with 300 Watt output available in 6, 4 and 2 mtr versions. Designed to fill a market gap between the low power outputs of transverters and smaller rigs and the 1kW plus amplifiers that not all users want or can afford, the Gemini range combines low drive requirements with instant on solid state performance. Furthermore GEMINI is a complete turnkey solution incorporating a complete integral 50V linear power supply so no external PSU is required. First production will be a 4m (70MHz) version to be followed with 6m (50MHz) and 2m (144MHz) versions. Key features: Solid state instant-on design Integral 50V linear power supply Advanced cooling design ensures high duty cycle operation for MGM modes with low fan noise In-built sequencer Full protection against overdrive, high SWR and over-temperature Ultra compact all aluminium chassis measuring just 270w x 300d x 120h mm Input drive levels from 3W – 25W can be specified Pricing has yet to be confirmed. Full details are available at www.linearamp.co.uk Want something to read? Go to this site and download this article- CQ-DATV issue 5 now available. CQ-DATV issue 5 is now available as a free eBook download from www.cq-datv.mobi This time it's bigger than ever 20Mb + please download your copy now. 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 from around 11:00 am. Also on a Tuesday evening from around 6:00 pm. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

NEWS BROADCAST FOR AUGUST 11TH 2013

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM THE WIA. Phil Waite announced that the ACMA have told the WIA that the High Power Trial will *NOT*_ be extended past the end of August. The reason given, was that the ACMA believe that some of the respondents in the test did not understand EMR and the regulations related thereto. It was added that this lack of knowledge was not just related to Amateur Radio but other areas as well. The WIA will be allowed to re-apply for the KW permit next year - presumably by proving education around EMR has taken place.Naturally this will be a disappointment to many Advanced licensees, not the least for those who participated in the trial over the past year. The WIA is also disappointed. The ACMA revealed that its decision was reached after reviewing data it obtained during an assessment process that began back in March this year. According to the ACMA, the trial demonstrated a lack of awareness by some Advanced Licensees of their licence conditions. Of particular concern to the ACMA were issues related to compliance with electromagnetic energy requirements and that this lack of awareness is not confined to the use of higher power than the 400 watts already permitted. The ACMA said that the results of the trial demonstrate there is a need to raise awareness among licensees of their licence conditions, and that this should not be confined to Advanced Licensees, adding that the ACMA looks forward to working with the WIA to achieve that objective. It is important to realize that radio amateurs are not being singled out here. Compliance with electromagnetic energy requirements applies to all apparatus licensees, including broadcasting, maritime services and others. The ACMA also remarked on the lack of awareness of electromagnetic energy compliance generally among other licensees. To address this issue, and to prepare for another approach to the ACMA next year, the Institute has begun implementing plans to promote widespread awareness of the necessary compliance with electromagnetic energy requirements for amateur stations. Electromagnetic radiation is not just a technical issue, it also a political issue among sectors of the community, as you may be aware, and we as licensed amateurs need to be mindful of that. Maybe a ACMA rep can attend the club to tell and show us exactly what they want. Now back to Club news. Yesterday at your club the lighthouse crew were getting items ready for the track down to Norah Head next weekend. Also the working bee team were discussing cutting of the new doors that will hopefully be done this Tuesday all going well. Lasts weeks meat tray winner Ted VK2UI was at the club to draw a lucky number out of the ticket tumbler. This weeks meat tray winner was Aly VK2AFZ. Enjoy the meat tray Aly and remember who your friends are next week if there is a raffle. From the canteen manageress. Diane has asked that if supplies have run out in the kitchen i.e. ICE CREAMS would you please let her know. If Diane doesn't know what’s needed she cannot get the goods. Diane's email address is worley51@tpg.com.au Geoff VK2EO has got a better deal from our current internet provider Exetel so watch out for the faster speeds when surfing the web. Thanks Geoff job well done. Remembrance Day Contest is on next weekend as is the Lighthouse and Lightships weekend. Westlakes A.R.C. will be taking part in both the RD Contest and Lightships weekend next weekend from Norah Head Lighthouse. A small number of members from the club will be at the Lighthouse from Friday arvo through to mid Sunday morning and working as many lighthouses as they possibly can as well as other stations that may call in. So listen out for VK2ATZ portable from Norah Head Lighthouse. There will be a broadcast from Norah Head next Sunday at 09:00 hrs. RD - Final Reminder from VK4SN. This is the last reminder for the Remembrance Day Contest next weekend, the 17th and 18th of August. Six points to note are. 1. Read the rules and info on the website. 2. Remember the start and finish times are 03:00Z. (1:00 pm local) 3. Please try and use the supplied computer loggers and not Excel spread sheets. 4. Nominate your team members to me prior to the start of the contest. 5. Remember that the exchange is the number of years as a ham - not a serial number. and above all, 6. Please remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Because the ILLW is on the same weekend, May I suggest calling cq Remembrance Day, or CQ lighthouse depending on your choice of activity. I wish you a great time in the RD and PLEASE, send me your log after the contest. 73's and hope to exchange numbers with you soon. This from Alan, VK4SN Remembrance Day Contest Manager. Your Wireless Gear Soon to be Obsolete and AudioTechnology Magazine has a plan! The Governments spectrum selloff will see an estimated 150,000 wireless devices around the country being made obsolete, clearly this isn't just an 'industry' problem. Around 150,000 wireless audio devices currently in use (4 in every 5) will need to be scrapped. Cost to replace? Up to $220m. To continue to use radio mics beyond December 31st 2014 users will need to: Ensure your devices operate between 520 and 694MHz, or Buy new equipment that will operate within the new approved spectrum. If you operate illegally, then under the 1992 Radiocommunications Act it could mean a hefty fine. If you replace your equipment, you'll be doing so without any compensation whatsoever. But how to express your outrage? Google AWAG. AWAG has an online petition which will allow us to collectively get the government's attention. www.wirelessaudioaustralia.org/ New (and fun) Contest Recently, the Manly-Warringah Radio Society made a bulk purchase of portable flagpoles for use as antenna masts. This inspired the club to create a new radio contest, specifically aimed at encouraging fun, portable operations, preferably using a flagpole as part of your antenna system. Full details of the contest are on the club web site at www.mwrs.org.au, but a few key points are: - that this is a FUN contest, and not to be taken too seriously - any mode and frequency is permitted - extra points will be awarded for contacts with flagpole stations - more extra points for contacts with F-calls (Flagpole-calls? HI) - even more extra points will be awarded for submitting (by email, SSTV, or any other means) a photo of your station showing your station's flagpole. There will be calling frequencies on 40 and 80 metres, as well as the club 2m repeater for those of you in Sydney with only VHF access. The first MWRS Flagpole Contest will take place on 21 September. Because this date is close to International Talk-like-a-Pirate Day (on the 19th), extra points may also be awarded if your station photo includes a Jolly Roger or other humorous flag of your choice. Details again are at www.mwrs.org.au. Just enter 'flagpole' in the search box. (Richard Murnane VK2SKY) (Direct link: http://www.mwrs.org.au/2013/08/04/mwrs-flagpole-contest/) REMINDERS: Not forgetting our club Field Day which will be held on the 15th September ( this is a Sunday ) and the club is looking for donations of equipment for the auction table. Remember no TVs, computer monitors, VCRs. Why not come and have your stall. If you are interested please contact Barrie VK2ABD to book your spot and remember to bring your own table for your goods. The famous Westlakes BBQ will be cooking steak and sausages and serving fresh salad for sandwiches. The guessing competition for the number of jelly beans in the jar will once again be there as a fund raising venture. Andrews Communications WILL NOT BE HERE THIS YEAR AND THIS IS DUE TO OTHER COMMITMENTS. Well that's all the news we 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 from around 11:00 am. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits. We hope that you can all join us again next Sunday. Remember- Keep your radios signals above the clouds.

WESTLAKES NEWS BROADCAST FOR 4TH AUGUST 2013.

Yesterday at the club was the monthly meeting and some of the topics up for discussion were. The egress doors were discussed and hopefully by our September meeting we will have them completed thanks to Dave VK2RD and Maurie VK2CD who will put their wood working skills to task. The coming weekend at the Norah Head was discussed, rates for Lake Macquarie Council were discussed, the 160 meter tower in the swamp was discussed as the club pays rent on the ground in the swamp,the ride on mower is now usable buts needs a little more work done on it and thanks to Herb VK2ZVF, there was some talk THE IRLP computer which is now completed and operating. The move to the club will give access so maintenance can be done more easly. Geoff VK2EO made a request that he chase up a better deal for internet and that the club moves towards a internet phone and this was granted.Also discussed was Westlakes A.R.C. 50th Anniversary so if anyone has any ideas please contact a committee member with your ideas. Some ideas put forward so far are that the club applies for the a special callsign to be used for 1 year or for a period and let the members use the callsign at their own QTH using the clubs special callsign. At the end of the meeting the draw for the meat tray went ahead. Diane VK2FDNE spun the ticket tumbler and the winner of the clubs last 2 meat trays reached in and selected a ticket. It just happened to be the oldest person at the meeting yesterday... Ted VK2UI... congratulations and enjoy the meat. Just to add a foot note to this, Ted left the club without the meat tray and Diane VK2FDNE kindly dropped off the tray to Ted's QTH. After the drawing of the meat tray a grand feast was then presented to everyone to eat. Thanks Penny for a job well done. During the afternoon Geoff VK2EO connected back up the clubs internet with a brand new modem. Geoff with the help of VK2JJW and VK2RD were seen carrying in a pc - most probably the IRLP pc and soon afterwards Geoff was seen walking around with a yagi's folded dipole section to be used as the antenna as temporary measure. In the activity room Marcel VK2FMDB was demonstrating to Richard VK2FRKO and Geoff VK2YFA his voice recorder that he had constructed to be used in contesting. With a press of a button Marcel's CQ message came to life. The recorder has a delay in which his message could be repeated at certain intervals. If someone answers him, just by pressing the PTT button stops the recorder and then you can pass on each details. If anyone is interested in Marcel's voice recorder please contact Marcel or see someone on the committee. Marcel also had a signal generator which can be used to work a relay on another transmitter. Good to see some great ideas been developed by club members. MORSE CODE CLASSES TO COMMENCE: Anyone wishing to learn morse code or pick up their pace a bit John Trinnie will be holding classes shortly so if you are intersted please pass on your details to our club secretary. Who invented the mobile phone? Nathan Stubblefield was granted a patent May 12, 1908 for a wireless telephone able to transmit calls using radio giving him the recognition he deserves. The large transmitter used is the first proper long-distance phone network. It made possible to broadcast and receive voice and music without wires from home, a car, ships and trains. Stubblefield, a Kentucky melon farmer also invented devices that worked through audio frequency induction. Lighthouse in the middle of Australia. Known as a very big island nation, at the geographic centre of Australia and 1,500 kilometres from the coast is Alice Springs, which hosts the famous Henley-On-Todd Regatta each August - albeit on a usually dry river bed. The Northern Territorians and many visitors take the annual iconic event very seriously with up to 3,000 witnessing the regatta, which began in 1962. There is an interesting story of how this location, in one of the driest parts of Australia, deserves a registration this year in the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. Greg Mair VK8GM explains that with the help of the Henley-On-Todd team, a lighthouse has been built to promote the spirit of amateur radio and lighthouses. The Alice Springs lighthouse joining nearly 500 others around the world this year and is certain to attract the attention of local, national and international news media. Australia on 62 and Germany 61 remain the leaders, followed by the USA (46), England (34), Argentina (24), Malaysia, Sweden and Netherlands (15), Scotland and South Africa (14), Canada (13) and Ireland (10). Organisers expect many more registrations in the annual fun event that publicises both the old sea-going navigation methods and portable amateur radio. If you want to register a lighthouse, lightship or marine beacon in this year's event on August the 17th and 18th then visit the website www.illw.net New AOWA yagis for 2m band. Following on from G4CQM's R&D work during 2013, five new AOWA designs for the 2M Band are revealed on Derek's website. These latest designs offer extraordinary performance by any standard. With straight elements, construction is uncomplicated and repeatable. If you are a keen 144MHz Dxer looking for an advantage, you can check out the new beams here...http://g4cqm.www.idnet.com/144NX14X/index.html FOR THE AVID SPACE WATCHER: Curiosity first anniversary event NASA officials and crew members aboard the International Space Station will observe the first anniversary of the Curiosity rover's landing on Mars at a public event in Washington from noon-1:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday, August 6. The event will be broadcast on NASA Television and streamed live on the agency's website. Media and the public are welcome to attend to hear highlights from the Mars Science Laboratory's first year of investigations, learn about upcoming NASA robotic missions to the red planet, and speak with astronauts conducting experiments in space that will enable human exploration of Mars in the 2030s. Those interested in attending should plan to arrive at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW, by 11:30 a.m. Seating is limited. Participating will be: • Charles Bolden, NASA administrator • Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR and Karen Nyberg, NASA astronauts, live from the space station • Jim Green, director, Planetary Division, NASA's Science Mission Directorate • Sam Scimemi, director, NASA's International Space Station Program • Prasun Desai, acting director, Strategic Integration, NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate The Mars Science Laboratory mission successfully placed the one-ton Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars on Aug. 6, 2012, UTC and EDT (evening of Aug. 5, 2012, PDT), about 1 mile from the center of its 12-mile-long target area. Within the first eight months of a planned 23-months primary mission, Curiosity met its major science objective of finding evidence of a past environment well-suited to support microbial life. With much more science to come, Curiosity's wheels continue to blaze a trail for human footprints on Mars. To follow the conversation online about Curiosity's first year on Mars, use hashtag #1YearOnMars or follow @NASA and @MarsCuriosity on Twitter. For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv HERES AN IDEA FOR YOU. The G8VHI tower cam. Reg, G8VHI has installed a video camera on the top of his tower.This video shows the 360 degree view and take off seen from the top of Reg's 23cms beam. The beam is on top of his 40ft tower and 20ft pole out the top at 145 meters asl from his QTH in IO92FM Blue Mountains rescue efforts continue As many readers in Australia's VK2 area are aware, there has been an ongoing and prolonged search in the Blue Mountains, West of Sydney, for a missing person from the Fairmont resort near Leura. The search has been reported as one of the largest searches undertaken by NSW Police rescue. WICEN has been providing communications support for the BWRS who are being tasked into the difficult to access areas within the search area. These include canyons and cliffs which are being searched by repetitive abseiling. WICEN has contributed well over 250 hours so far of operational time. Steven Heimann, VK2BOS is the WICEN commander. 5-6 WICEN operators are involved each day and set up radio points that can look into the areas the BWRS are operating in so that comms with BWRS and the command post at the Fairmont resort are maintained. WICEN has a radio point at Sublime Point which is logging the radio traffic between the search teams and the command post utilising relays as needed from the 3-4 WICEN radio points in use. There are many news items on this search in the media. The following is a typical one. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-22/still-hope-for-man-missing-in-blue-mountains/4834468?section=nsw WHO STARTED YOUTUBE: YouTube was invented by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim out of a garage in Menlo Park. The inventors became millionaires when they sold their invention for 1.65 billion dollars to the search engine Google. According to their fact sheet, YouTube was founded in February 2005, as a destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through the Web. Users can upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and YouTube enables video embedding that allows YouTube videos to be placed on non-YouTube pages. REMINDERS: Not forgetting our club Field Day which will be held on the 15th September ( this is a Sunday ) and the club is looking for donations of equipment for the auction table. Remember no TVs, computer monitors, VCRs. Why not come and have your stall. If you are interested please contact Barrie VK2ABD to book your spot and remember to bring your own table for your goods. The famous Westlakes BBQ will be cooking steak and sausages and serving fresh salad for sandwiches. The guessing competition for the number of jelly beans in the jar will once again be there as a fund raising venture. Andrews Communications WILL NOT BE HERE THIS YEAR AND THIS IS DUE TO OTHER COMMITTMENTS. 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 from around 11:00 am. 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, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits. Have a safe week and we hope that you can all join us again next Sunday......