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.