WESTLAKES BROADCAST NEWS FOR 11 MAY 2014

This weeks lucky meat tray was a double draw. The first ticket drawn by Winstone VK2BS belonged to Russell VK2VK but he had already left. A re-draw resulted in the winner finally being Richard VK2FRKO. Enjoy the meat tray Richard. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday the club held its 3rd boot sale day. 6 boot sale operators were there. Around 30 people attended in perfect weather. The BBQ went well and everyone went home happy.Thank you Diane VK2FDNE for stepping up to the hot-plate and proving that women can cook after all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While all this was going on, assessments for licence upgrades were being held in the Westlakes classrom under Steve VK2LW and Geoff VK2GL. There were two candidates, Peter VK2FMOO and Michael VK2FMRG. Needless to say the both were successful. Look for two new call signs coming up. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two new members. Applications for club membership were received yesterday from Tim O'Connell of Morisset and Luke Groeneveld of Holmesville. Both are keen to get their Foundation Licence. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And Just to prove yesterday was a busy day, the new Foundation Licence course started in the classroom at 1pm with a room full of prospective amateurs, so many that the store ran out of Foundation Manuals. An urgent order for more will be placed with the WIA tomorrow morning. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last night was the 80 meter Trans Tasman 80 meter phone contest. I wonder how many of you are stayed up til midnight or gave numbers out. Once upon a time Westlakes use to enter all these contests so come on everyone lets get back to doing it again. Do you have an interest in operating in a contest then see a committee member. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From the W.I.A.NEWS DESK. How many of you that are members filled in the survey either online of from AR magazine? Here are some of the results. A total of 834 completing it by the closing date – some 18.4% of the membership, a significant sample. 654 completed it online, while 180 returned the paper-based option published in Amateur Radio magazine. Seven of the most important issues were - 1. Protecting our Spectrum 2. ACMA Liaison / Lobbying3. Publicising the Hobby 4. AR Magazine 5. WIA Website 6. International Representation 7. Promoting the WIA . Full WIA members accounted for 76% of survey respondents, 19.8% were concessional members, with the balance made up of student, family and overseas memberships. Approximately 30% of respondents had been WIA members for less than five years; the next largest group had been members for over 30 years in total. A surprising result was the response to Question 19, about how much money respondents spent in 2013 – on books, magazines, parts, equipment, subscriptions and attending events. More than 30% spent $1000-$4999; the next largest group, 28.9% of respondents, spent $100-$499. While those with a modest spend of $500-$999 amounted to 18.82% of respondents, 12.23% spent less than $100, while 6.35% spent more than $5000. So much for amateurs having deep pockets and short arms! It should be no surprise that, as amateurs, we have embraced the computer world. The bulk of respondents own one or more computers; only 11 respondents – 1.32% – did not own any sort of computing device. Over 80% own a desktop PC and a similar number a laptop/notebook. Ownership of a tablet was just over 30%, an iPad just under 29%. Of operating systems, almost 94% run Windows, followed by Android (38%), IOS (26%), Linux or variant (24%), followed by Apple at 20%. Full WIA members accounted for 76% of survey respondents, 19.8% were concessional members, with the balance made up of student, family and overseas memberships. Approximately 30% of respondents had been WIA members for less than five years; the next largest group had been members for over 30 years in total A surprising result was the response to Question 19, about how much money respondents spent in 2013 – on books, magazines, parts, equipment, subscriptions and attending events. More than 30% spent $1000-$4999; the next largest group, 28.9% of respondents, spent $100-$499. While those with a modest spend of $500-$999 amounted to 18.82% of respondents, 12.23% spent less than $100, while 6.35% spent more than $5000. It should be no surprise that, as amateurs, we have embraced the computer world. The bulk of respondents own one or more computers; only 11 respondents – 1.32% – did not own any sort of computing device. Over 80% own a desktop PC and a similar number a laptop/notebook. Ownership of a tablet was just over 30%, an iPad just under 29%. Of operating systems, almost 94% run Windows, followed by Android (38%), IOS (26%), Linux or variant (24%), followed by Apple at 20%. The Internet is ubiquitous, with 90% of respondents using it every day, the bulk of whom have ADSL speeds or better. Almost all respondents use the Internet at home, with 40-50% also using it at work and on the move. The most commonly-used amateur radio related websites are the WIA Website, with 90% of respondents accessing it regularly over each month, followed by VK Ham (70%), VK Classifieds (69%), VK Logger (42%) and VK Logger Forums (32%). The vast majority of respondents (over 80%) hold Advanced licenses, followed by Standard (12%), and Foundation (6%). The Internet is ubiquitous, with 90% of respondents using it every day, the bulk of whom have ADSL speeds or better. Almost all respondents use the Internet at home. Over 70% of respondents prefer to pay their WIA membership subscription annually, with 24% taking the 5-year option, and 7% using the recently introduced quarterly automatic payment option. Surprisingly, 30% of respondents are not members of a radio club, and 25% who said they were a member of a club were not aware if their club was WIA affiliated. And finally, More than a third of respondents (37%) are aged between 61-70, with the next peak (25%) between 51-60. About 6% are under 40, while 3.5% are over 80. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A R NSW BALUN DAY SUNDAY 29 JUNE 2014 Hi Pentodes. In response to requests from members, AR NSW is having a ‘Balun spectacular’ on Sunday 29 June Held at the Dural site, 63 Quarry Road starting at 10 am. Gates open at 9 am. Not only will you learn everything you need to know about the care and feeding of a balun, you will also have the opportunity to make your own 1:1 one kilowatt rated balun, at a subsidised price. As usual, AR NSW have sourced the best presenters from around the world. As usual, they are all from Sydney. Bookings are essential. You can indicate your interest by email to balun@arnsw.org.au Please include your callsign and a contact number. Keep the date, Sunday 29 June for the ‘Balun and barbeque day’ Admission free to AR NSW members. In accordance with requests from some members, there may be strippers on the day. And there will be ice cream, both chocolate and vanilla. If you have any other choice of ice cream…Keep it to yourself. That item came from by Al Hirschel, Event commander AR NSW --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 always welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee,long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.