WESTLAKES BROADCAST NEWS FOR 27th APRIL 2014

At the club yesterday there was no meat tray but be assured there will be a meat tray next week. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Saturday is the clubs ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING and everyone is welcome. The meeting commences at 1330 hrs in the library and will be followed by a feast in the common room. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The club will be holding a boot sale on the 10th of MAY commencing at 9am and everyone is invited so please contact the club secretary either by visiting the club or leaving a message on the clubs answering machine. Please remember to bring your own tables and chairs and please take your rubbish home with you. As per the norm, the FAMOUS Westlakes BBQ will be working overtime cooking steaks and sausages for sandwiches, salad will be available, bread and brad rolls, cold and hot drinks. ALL WELCOME. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the WIA. Scanning veins in the human hand could become the biometric measure of choice for authentication when we pay for things or want to unlock devices such as smartphones, an Australian professor says. Thanks to the iPhone 5s and Galaxy S5 smartphones, fingerprint scanners are going mainstream quickly. But how will they fare against vein scanning? According to computer science Professor Willy Susilo of the University of Wollongong, fingerprint scanners are a "gimmick" and iris and vein scanners are likely to trump them. One of the main benefits of vein and iris scanning is that you don't tend to leave behind iris or vein prints, he said. As most vein scanner sensors coming out this year require no physical contact, it means there are no residual biometric patterns that could be copied, preventing fraudulent use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hard to swallow. 40% of 11 to 16 year olds has suffered some kind of back or neck pain, chiropractors in the UK have found. The use of laptops and tablets is behind a major rise in neck and back pain sufferers amongst young people, a new report has said. Research from the British Chiropractic Association found that being slumped in front electronic devices could be contributing to a rise in muscle and joint problems, especially in teenagers. People working on such devices often sat in a 'hunched' position, leading to strain being put on their backs, the BCA said. In order to ameliorate this, the association has released a number of tips for parents, including encouraging their children to be more active and only to sit for short periods, and teaching them how to sit properly. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OH OH OH Telecommunications company TPG has been fined $400,000 for failing to provide customers with the ability to call triple-zero in an emergency. The Federal Court found TPG contravened the telecommunication laws by failing to ensure its controlled network and facilities gave thousands of home telephone service users access to emergency call services. The court found on 193 occasions between March 15, 2011 and September 21, 2011, TPG failed to give end users access to the emergency call services. It also failed to ensure its networks gave end users 5979 standard telephone calls to emergency services This is the first time that the ACMA has instituted proceedings against a telecommunications provider for contraventions of the termination. This decision is a reminder for all providers that the obligation to give Triple Zero access is of paramount importance,' said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Have you managed to contact VI2ATZ50 yet? VI2ATZ50 will be aired during April at various times from the club shack and also in a portable capacity by allocated club members to give the most exposure to the Amateur population. This call will ONLY be on air for 3 more days. Yes the callsign expires at the end of APRIL.Richard will be using the callsign on 3581 MHz Monday nite from 2000 hrs. Richard will once again be using the callsign this Tuesday night at the club from about 1830 hrs local time on frequency 7150 MHz. Then on Wednesday either Barrie or Dave at 0930 hrs on 7150 MHz will be the last chance to contact the club using the VI2ATZ50 callsign. Requirements to qualify for the Award will be... 1) 5 contacts with VI2ATZ50 2) 3 contacts with VI2ATZ50 and 3 club members 3) 10 contacts with WARC members A station could easily qualify on one of our morning club nets... eg: 10 members on air or VI2ATZ50 controlling a net and required members etc... VI2ATZ50 could visit another club’s net and allow points toward the award. A special QSL Card will forwarded to all stations who make a contact with VI2ATZ50. All operations of the special call MUST keep an accurate log of all contacts so that contacts can be entered in a Master log for award scoring. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANTENNA ROUNDUP: This weeks antenna is the G7FEK MULTIBAND ANTENNA. Advantages of this antenna are - small size 14.100 meters long and 7.4 meters in height. 50 ohm antenna. Multiband operation. An ATU MUST BE USED. Has a low angel of radiation and is easy to construct and set up. This antenna looks like a small version of the Off Centrefed antenna. Using a tree or a 9 meter squid pole or higher the center is fed with openline with spacing greater than 20 mm. ( 450 ohm ladderline ). A counterpoise wire is needed of 9 meters placed under the longer section is all that is needed. The full article is available at www.g7fek.co.uk A great limited space anteena. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And speaking of antennas, John Noack was seen in the club grounds yesterday tuning a stubborn 40 metre dipole, held aloft with a squid pole. There were plenty of helpers including the mosquitoes. As observed from a distance, the antenna and mosquitoes were winning. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the ILLW website for 2015. ILLW stands for International Lightship and lighthouse Weekend.There is only one entrant so far and that is Norah Head Lighthouse registered to VK2ATZ - that's us. Talk about quick of the mark! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keep an eye on your letterbox or e-mail inbox this coming week. Westlakes May 2014 Magazine will arrive as if by magic. It is a 28-page edition. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REMINDERS: WIA VK Harry Angel Memorial Sprint May 3 Saturday May 2014 - 10:00 -11:46 UTC The Harry Angel Sprint is an annual 80m contest event, first established in 1999, to commemorate the life of Harry Angel VK4HA who at the time of his becoming a Silent Key was the oldest licensed amateur in Australia. The duration of the contest is 106 minutes one minute for each year of Harry's life. The "HA" is open to all grades of licence holder and is particularly suited to operators new to contesting. OPerating frequencies - CW 3500 - 3535 kHz. Phone 3535 - 3665 kHz . ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 the biscuit barrel has just been topped up.