WESTLAKES NEWS FOR THE 9TH FEBRUARY 2014.

At the club yesterday Michael VK2FMAG who was asked by Barry VK2BZ to have a look at at our telephone line in our alarm system and see if he could find a fault. Michael did indeed find a fault- a broken wire plus it was wired opposite to what it should of been. After a couple of tests, all connections were tested. Telephone works, alarm works and the internet is back up and running again. Hopefully the club will have no more trouble for awhile. Bad luck the Telstra man located a fault in the building. Bet the club gets a bill from Telstra. Thanks Michael from the Committee and the club members. last weeks meat tray winner Les was at the club to draw the this week lucky meat tray winner. The ticket tumbler spun, and Les reached in and selected a ticket. The callsign on the ticket was VK2YFA Geoff. What time is the barbie Geoff? Enjoy the meat tray. NEWCASTLE SHOW UPDATE: This is what is happening at the moment. The club needs members to assist with the setup which will happen on Thursday at 1300 hrs. Dave VK2RD has kindly lent us his campervan for the night crew to sleep in. I believe that it is 5 star accommodation ( you look out the window at night and should be able to count 5 stars at least). Thursday night watch keeper is Greg VK2CW, Friday nights watch keeper is Diane VK2FDNE ( and possibly Richard VK2FRKO ), Saturday still requires a VOLUNTEER. Can anyone assist please.You don't have to be there until around 8 pm. If you can help please contact Geoff URGENTLY at leage@optusnet.com.au Show start times are Friday 9:00 am till 8:30 pm, Saturday 9:00 am till 8:30 pm and Sunday 9:00 am till 5:00 pm. 3 Personnel are required for each shift which will go for 4 hrs but 4 persons would be better. Next Saturday at the club will be a rehearsal and this will start at 12:30 pm. The club will be selling digital multimeters for $15.00 during the show. This is a BARGAIN price. MAP READING COURSE: This map reading course requires two more people and you will be given a full set of notes. The date for this is March 15th. The first 2 people will get in. Please contact Geoff VK2GL at leage@optusnet.com.au During the afternoon yesterday, outside was Michael VK2CCW testing Michael VK2FMAG HF vertical antenna which was strapped to the tree and with Michael using his man pack managed to tune the antenna which had a 9:1 UNUN at the bottom of the antenna. Not sure if any contacts were made but Richard advises a lot of stations were heard while he was standing nearby. BIGGEST FIELD DAY IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE: Yes, in 2 weeks from today the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club will once again be hosting their field day at the Wyong Race Track on the 23rd of this month. Traders and Commercial traders plus heaps of boot sales ( we hope ). Its the place where you can catch up with your old mates, check out the new equipment and perhaps go home with something new. The CCARC welcomes everyone. Apr 13-15 VK PR4 AmateurRadio Expo. What extra can the club do to promote amateur radio? Any ideas? ILLW TALLY BUILDS UP. So far 25 countries have registered for the 17th annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend in August. In the lead of this 48 hour fun-event is Germany on 38 followed by Australia with 33, United States of America 14, England 11 and Argentina 7. The aims are to increase public awareness, preservation and restoration, plus promotion of Amateur Radio and to foster goodwill. It's not a contest activity - although contesting as an activity does have a major role in gaining skills and measuring individual station performance. With 6 months to go start planning now to set up portable at a marine beacon under guidelines, and register on-line for August the 16th and 17th by visiting the website www.illw.net WORLD NEWS: The Mellish Reef DXpedition is scheduled for March 28, 2014 to April 9, 2014. The team are on schedule and will soon be on autopilot. Listen out here for frequencies used in this DXPEDITION. NEW CALEDONIA IN LATE FEBRUARY FK/K1HP between February 18th and the 26th. Operations will be on all the HF bands plus 6 meters, using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his home callsign which is JE2EHP either direct or electronically via ClubLog or Logbook of the World. Russian special event R 0000 O R (4 zero's) and letter O symbolising the Olympic rings is on the air in the context of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and 2014 Paralympic Games. QRV until March 31 in 2014. QSL via UA1OJL, LoTW, eQSL. http://ok2014.ru/ ANTARCTICA. RI 1 ANR from Novo Runway until March 2014. Activity is on the HF bands with a focus on the low bands. QSL via RK 1 PWA. HAVE HEARD ABOUT THIS OR SEEN THIS FLYING UP IN SPACE. A US Air Force secret X-37B space plane has been in space for more than 400 days. Why? T'S the US Air Force's most "hush-hush" project: A space-plane that has been quietly orbiting the Earth for more than 400 days. It's still up there. Just what is it, and what is it up to? The unmanned X-37B is reminiscent of NASA's retired space shuttle. It has the familiar black tiles on its undersides. The upper surface is white - and there's a set of large doors set in its back. There the similarities end. This secretive craft is only the size of a bus at 8.8m long. And it carries no crew. And its purpose is unknown - although theories range from surveillance to weapons delivery. The US Air Force has two of the Boeing-built robotic vehicles. One of them was launched into space on top of an Atlas 5 rocket on December 11, 2012. It's been up there ever since - but exactly where or why is unknown. The space plane is able to sustain itself on such a long flight through the solar cells built into its wings which charge internal banks of lithium-ion batteries. It's only the second time such a craft has been sent into space. You can say that you heard this first on WESTLAKES. Well that's all the news we have this week. 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 alway welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.