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......