WESTLAKES NEWS FOR THE 29TH JUNE 2014.

In next months magazine will be details of our annual major raffle, to be drawn at the field day in September. All will be revealed and tickets for a grand prize worth winning will go on sale. Stay tuned... In the library, last weeks meat tray winner Ally ( won under Suspicious circumstances - drew his own ticket out ). Lillian ( visitor ) reached into the ticket tumbler and selected the ticket of Ted VK2UI. Enjoy the meat Ted. In the absence of Chef Michael, pies and sausage rolls were once again on the menu. A sorting day will be conducted in the QSL buro on Wednesday 2nd July at 10:00 am after the 0930 net. If anyone is available to assist please we would love to see you. Lunch will be provided. Lighthouse weekend at Norah Head of the weekend of 15th, 16th and 17th August is fast approaching and the menu was drawn up today. For all of those who are attending Diane VK2FDNE will email you the menu. If you have any extra needs or are allergic to any food please let Diane know. New Foundation licence. Firstly, on Saturday Mark Payne was successful in the final component for his Foundation licence. The paperwork is on it's way to the WIA and from all reports, Mark is a happy man That makes 6 new Foundation calls in the past 3 weeks. It's been a busy 3 weeks. Thinking of Upgrading? We will be doing upgrades on Saturday 26 July, with a starting of 1100 hrs. If you are interested, please email Steve at VK2LW@wia.org.au Upgrades can be done in stages. Next Foundation course. We currently have 2 vacancies in the next Foundation course, commencing on Saturday 30 August. The course will be run by Geoff VK2GL over a four week period, with assessment on Saturday 27 September. If you are interested or would like more information, please email Steve at VK2LW@wia.org.au. One of last weeks successful candidates is all ready to go. John Noack arrived at the club with a 40 metre dipole set up off a squid pole and coupled to a brand new FT817. It is tuned spot on and received great reports from VK3 with the 5 watts. Well done John. Richard VK2FRKO would like to advise that picking up a soldering iron by the hot end is not recommended and now has two hot spots on his thumb and fore finger. One day he will learn that when you play with fire you get burnt. WIA NEWS. 1st edition of AR digital has been released. Delivered as promised to ALL MEMBERS of the WIA. NEW AMATEUR RADIO CLUB North East Victoria Amateur Radio Club – NEVARC. A new radio club was formed on 15/06/14. It has been decided that there is the need for a pro-active club in the North East Victoria area. And here it is. the Formation of The North East Victoria Amateur Radio Club. The Club was formed officially on the 15th June, 2014. It was talked about 6 months before that. We Currently have 20 members which is growing all the time. If you like to know more about this club just log onto : www.nevarc.net.au NEVARC 80m Net. NEVARC will begin holding their weekly net on 3.560 from the 2nd July. The net will be hosted by Ron VK3MRH at 8.00pm. Regards Keith VK2PKT The Ionospheric Prediction Service is being reviewed A discussion paper has been released by the Ionospheric Prediction Service as the first step in what could be a wide-ranging review of the service. The Ionospheric Prediction Service - or, I-P-S as it is more commonly referred to - is a division of Australia's Bureau of Meteorology - the weather bureau. Being part of the Bureau makes sense, because much of the work of IPS has to do with "space weather" - the activity of the Sun, the solar wind and its interactions with the Earth's magnetic field and the ionosphere. The Terms of Reference for the review include the following # A review the policy basis for the Bureau's space weather services. # An analysis and international benchmarking comparison of the Bureau's Space Weather services, and use of observations and infrastructure, including: - their current status; - performance and impact; - scope; - manner of delivery; and - adequacy of capabilities and resourcing to deliver the service. Evaluation of the extent to which the Bureau's Space Weather services meet user needs - especially those of significant user groups and high-impact users. # Assessment of the strategic outlook - over 5 to10 years - for space weather services in Australian, regional and global settings - and, in light of the first three items - provide advice on the capabilities required to meet the future challenges; # Comment on the potential for cost-recovery of space weather services; AND Provide recommendations based on the above analyses, assessments and evaluations. The WIA encourages radio amateurs to lodge a submission to the review, especially if you use IPS services, explaining how the free IPS service provided to public radio users aids your communications activities. You can download a copy of the discussion paper from the home page of www.ips.gov.au, or via the news item on http://www.wia.org.au the WIA website home page. Get cracking ! Responses are required by the fourth of July ! Auckland Unitary Plan Submission Auckland Council's 'Plan' basically stipulates all amateur radio aerials would be subjected to a Restricted Discretionary resource consent. This is upwards of $5000 every time an antenna change is contemplated! But check this fact out, For instance, if I am a Kiwi yachty and want to mount a VHF marine whip on the barge board of my house, I can do it as of right, but if as a radio amateur I want to put an almost identical 2m whip on my bargeboard, I have to get a resource consent. NZART has consequently put in a rather comprehensive submission to try to achieve "Permitted Status" for a range of "amateur configurations". Auckland, with nearly a third of all amateurs in NZ, if it wins this case, it is probable that it will become the template for most other districts as they review their district plans in the future. Good luck NZART. DX stations note:- The phrase "Spending a Penny" is not to be used after 31 December 2014. From this date onwards, the correct term will be: "Euronating". Reminder to ALL MEMBERS: Westlakes annual field day will be held on the 14th September 2014 in the club grounds. Have a look through your equipment and see what you are not using or better still look in you gargage and see what is taking up valuable space. Perhaps you would like to donate it to the club. What the club does NOT ACCEPT - CRT computer monitors, video players, old TVs of the CRT type. Remember to bring your own tables and a chair to sit on and you must take away ALL your own rubbish as the club WILL NOT be getting a skip. If your are interested in a stall please contact the club secretary for further details. Don’t forget the club 40 metre nets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays commencing at 0930 hrs, on 7.150 Mhz. Please call in and discuss any topic that you wish to bring up. We have many experts on any discussion. Also, the EZBEE net at 0800 am every Saturday morning on 146.775 where we discuss what is happening at the club that day. And for the early risers we can’t forget the Stone the Crows net on 80 metres, 3.588 Mhz at 0600 am Well that's all the news I have this week. Does anyone have any late breaking news? 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.

Westlakes News for 22nd June 2014.

The meat tray raffle. It was another controversial result. In the absence of last week's winner, Barrie VK2QG, Aly VK2AFZ was asked to make the draw. Closely observed by those in the library,he reached into the ticket tumbler and SELECTED.........yes, his own ticket! Enjoy the meat tray Aly. As well, two new members joined the club yesterday. They were John Saunders of Kotara South and Luke Beston of Cameron Park. Welcome to you both. In the absence of Michael VK2CCW the Canteen dispensed Pies And Sausage Rolls. These went down well, judging by the amount of used plates in the sink. They are good tucker from Thompsons Bakery at Gateshead. Five candidates sat for their Foundation Assessments at Westlakes yesterday. It was a busy day day for the assessors, Geoff VK2GL, Steve VK2LW and Dave VK2RD (on the Radio) who were still on the job at 4.00 pm. The good news is that “almost” all candidates were successful. The club lawns had a much needed mowing yesterday. Our junior mowing contractor,Sam, was on the job and has most of the job done. Only a bit more left to mow plus the whipper snipping and it should all be completed today. The July Magazines will be dispatched next weekend. In it is an article on the ZS6BKW antenna which can be supplied by Maple Leaf Communications in Canada. A copy of the magazine was forwarded to the owner of Maple Leaf, Bob VE3WY who was impressed with the content and asked if he could distribute our magazine to other Canadian amateurs. Fame at last! WIA NEWS: Good morning all ACMA have advised that the Amateur Radio Licence fee has been increased to $74.00. Variation to licence fee remains at $49.00. Regards Fred. As foreshadowed a few months ago, AR magazine will be available in digital format from the July issue. From the 26th of June - that's next week - you will be able to view or download the July 2014 edition of AR Magazine in PDF format from the WIA website, http://www.wia.org.au Here's how you collect your digital edition. First, you need to be registered for Memnet. Haven't done that yet? Never mind. It's easy. On the WIA website, under the "For Members" menu, you will see - right at the top - "Log into Memnet". This opens a page where you can register by clicking on the "Register" link. Obvious, isn't it? This will get you a Memnet password once you have entered your WIA Member Number, name and callsign. You will find your member number on the address flysheet that came with your previous print editions of AR magazine. Armed with your Memnet password - on or after the 26th of June, go to the WIA website. Look under the "For Members" menu and select "AR Magazine". Look just below the page headline for "Digital Edition" and click the link there. Once you have downloaded your July AR digital edition, you will see that it has been personalized with your Name, WIA member number and date you downloaded it. That will happen for each digital edition of AR you download in future. The WIA Board decided to synchronise the release date for the digital edition with the expected date that the print edition will be available in member's letterboxes in the eastern states. AR digital edition - another of the many growing benefits of WIA membership. Increased EMR knowledge in our syllabus The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has amended the Amateur Radio regulations syllabus, to expand the demonstrated knowledge of Electromagnetic Radiation or EMR.Safety has been on ACMA's agenda for a considerable time, and it is seeking to minimise risk and promote safety across all its operations, including Amateur Radio. The process to include EMR in the existing Amateur Radio Syllabus at all three licence levels, commenced about 18 months ago. One of the outcomes of the high-power trial for Advance Licence holders, the ACMA in consultation with the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), found that EMR knowledge could be increased. The teaching of prospective radio amateurs already includes the importance to keep all persons (and animals) a safe distance from antennas, their orientation, the role of Effective Radiated Power, and radio wave danger with higher frequencies and power levels. The ACMA has gone further with its amended syllabus to spell out that knowledge of EMR is a condition for all classes of amateur licence, and recall where to locate the ACMA document titled "EMR Assessment Guide for Amateur Radio". It also wants known that the "Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency" ARPANSA sets the standard for Maximum Exposure Levels, 100 kHz to 300 GHz, its principles and methods of measurement. New licence assessment papers from the WIA Exam Service issued to assessors from June 2014 will reflect the new EMR provisions. The additional teaching time should be minor, but it will reflect knowledge of the licence requirements and community concern about radiation from transmitters. Reminder to ALL MEMBERS: Westlakes annual field day will be held on the 14th September 2014 in the club grounds. Have a look through your equipment and see what you are not using or better still look in you garage and see what is taking up valuable space. Perhaps you would like to donate it to the club. What the club does NOT ACCEPT - CRT computer monitors, video players,old TVs of the CRT type. Remember to bring your own tables and a chair to sit on and you must take away ALL your own rubbish as the club WILL NOT be getting a skip. If your are interested in a stall, please contact the club secretary for further details. ARNSW Balun Construction Day June 29 (Sunday) A technical day provided by ARNSW at the Dural site with lectures on the operation of baluns and practical construction of a balun from a kit. Bookings needed for the course and to reserve a kit. Send email to balun@arnsw.org.au to register. Lunch provided. Don’t forget the club 40 metre nets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays commencing at 0930 hrs, on 7.150 Mhz. Please call in and discuss any topic that you wish to bring up. We have many experts on any discussion. Also, the EZBEE net at 0800 am every Saturday morning on 146.775 where we discuss what is happening at the club that day. And for the early risers we can’t forget the Stone the Crows net on 80 metres, 3.588 Mhz at 0600 am 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 alway welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

WARC NEWS FOR THE 15TH JUNE 2014

At the club yesterday there were quite a number of members. VK2FRKO was there showing his 1st place winning cup which he won at last weekends Oxley Region Field day. The entry was in the homebrew section. Also Richard was showing his latest medal which was presented to him by the Mayor of Port Stephens for his help in last years bush fires around Port Stephens. In the activity room Norm VK2KNC was trying to fix Michaels Ato tuner. Michael decided to modify his tuner so that it would fit nicely into his man pack BUT the drill bit went straight through a diode and the tuner stopped working. Anyway, this time they were unsuccessful in repairing the Auto Tuner. See Michael as he has a cheap auto tuner for sale. Also in the activity Norm again (a busy person) was trying to fix up Max's SDR program that was on his laptop. Not sure if it was sorted out or not - maybe Norm if you are listening today can tell us in the call back section. Chef Michael was cooking in the kitchen again - hamburgers of cause along with pies and sausage rolls. Remember if you would like a hamburger see Michael early as sometimes a small number of patties are made. In the classroom the next group of Foundation licence candidates were put through paces by Steve VK2LW and Geoff VK2GL. Last I heard Steve was looking for a hand held radio for the candidates to practice their calling procedures. Hope everything went well Steve? Remember if you want to upgrade to either a Standard or Advanced licence please see Steve or Geoff so that you can be booked into the next class. In the absence of Greg (VK2CW ) the other Greg Smith VK2FGJS was put in charge of selling tickets for the meat tray. Joanne, Diane's friend was asked to draw a ticket out of the ticket tumbler. This weeks winner was Barrie - VK2QG. Congratulations Barrie enjoy the meat tray. ARNSW Balun Construction Day June 29 (Sunday) A technical day provided by ARNSW at the Dural site with lectures on the operation of baluns and practical construction of a balun from a kit. Bookings needed for the course and to reserve a kit. Send email to balun@arnsw.org.au to register. Lunch provided. Reminder to ALL MEMBERS: Westlakes annual field day will be held on the 14th September 2014 in the club grounds. Have a look through your equipment and see what you are not using or better still, look in you garage and see what is taking up valuable space. Perhaps you would like to donate it to the club. What the club does NOT EXCEPT - CRT computer monitors, video players,old TVs of the CRT type. Remember to bring your own tables and a chair to sit on and you must take away ALL your own rubbish as the club WILL NOT be getting a skip. If your are interested in a stall please contact the club secretary for further details. INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL, Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA. NASA has successfully beamed a high-definition video 260 miles from the International Space Station to Earth using a new laser communications instrument. Transmission of "Hello, World!" as a video message was the first 175-megabit communication for the Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), a technology demonstration that allows NASA to test methods for communication with future spacecraft using higher bandwidth than radio waves. Optical communication tools like OPALS use focused laser energy to reach data rates between 10 and 1,000 times higher than current space communications which rely on radio portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Because the space station orbits Earth at 17,500 mph, transmitting data from the space station to Earth requires extremely precise targeting. The process can be equated to a person aiming a laser pointer at the end of a human hair 30 feet away and keeping it there while walking. CQ Ohm is reporting that production of the popular Yaesu FT-897D/DM/DS transceivers is to cease. They say there no immediate plans for a successor model. QRZ.COM ANNOUNCES RIGHT CLICK CHROME BROWSER EXTENSION If you' are a user of Google's Chrome browser, then QRZ.com publisher. Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ has something that will make using this website a lot more efficient and enjoyable. Lloyd announced that he has published a free browser extension that will let you highlight and right click on any callsign, on any web page from any web site, and instantly perform a QRZ lookup. No copying and pasting or typing in the call on a separate page is required. The new app is now available now in the Chrome Web Store. Showing children our wonderful hobby. The ARRL Kids Day operating event sponsored by the Boring Oregon Amateur Radio Club was yesterday Saturday 21st June. Kids Day is not a contest but rather a twice yearly way for licensed amateurs to share the fun and excitement of our hobby with those who could be the next generation of licensees. What with time zones etc., if you hear "CQ Kids Day", please answer! Up in the Philippine's Amateur Radio Association, PARA, a member of the IARU, holds its 2014 PARA Kids Day in July to expose youngsters to the world of modern Ham Radio. I wonder if the WIA are taking note of whats happening overseas and try this in Australia. The ILLW increases in numbers: With just ten weeks to go, the number of International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend registrations is nearly 280 coming from 36 countries, putting the premier fun-event ahead of this time last year. The first ever registration from Barbados in the Caribbean, is South Point Lighthouse activated by the Amateur Radio Club of Barbados 8P6AW. The country's oldest lighthouse began life at London's Great Exhibition, before being reassembled in 1832. This landmark and tourist attraction features on the Barbados 5-cent coin. Four lighthouses in Barbados are endangered by neglect and in need of restoration. Activating lighthouses during the ILLW event helps raise public awareness of these historic maritime navigation structures and the need for their preservation. Germany remains in the lead with 51 registrations, closely followed by the US 48, Australia 46, England 20, Argentina 15, plus at double figures for Scotland, The Netherlands and Sweden. To learn more about this fun-event that began two decades ago, or to register for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend on August the 16th and 17th, visit the website illw.net That item from Jim Linton VK3PC Australian radio ham's vintage radio collection: Radio Amateur Kevin Dickson has donated his extensive collection of radio equipment to the Tweed Regional Museum Kevin's interest in amateur radio was nurtured at school by his teacher Norm Smith in 1937 and he later went on to get his amateur license. Kevin Dickson's life story can be read at .. http://www.murwillumbahhistoricalsociety.org.au 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.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR JUNE 1ST 2014

At the club yesterday was almost a record number of members and visitors for a normal Saturday. One would have thought that it was the club general meeting day. Adam (VK2YK) was visiting the club with his son Josh and Adam was showing his version of his man pack but in Adam's case it was a man bag. Also out for display was Adams LINK COUPLED MULTIBAND ANTENNA made out of light weight materials, LIPO batteries and Match Maker manual tuner for his SOTA work. Michael VK2FMRG ( who has advanced forward to the advanced licence) was also talking to Adam about working the birds. For those who don't know what this means - it is working the HAM SATELLITES. Michael (VK2CCW) was in the kitchen cooking his famous hamburgers( which are ONLY available from Westlakes A.R.C. Club) along with Thompsons sausage rolls and pies. All are very delicious. In the activity room Norm (VK2KNC - the clubs PROJECT OFFICER ) was demonstrating a couple of new SDR receiving programmes that run off your PC. In the middle of that Dave (VK2RD) gave Norm a file which Barry ( VK2BZ) did for Baofeng UV-5R hand helds radios. We did try the program on Dave's radio but the programming lead FAILED so it looks like Dave has to buy a new programming lead. Most of you by the time the news has been read should have received your electronic version of the WESTLAKES MAGAZINE. It has some very good reading in it. If you have a good article that you think is worth sharing please send it along to the club mag editor so that it can be included in a future edition. FROM THE WIA NEWS DESK: The countdown is on for users of wireless microphones, with only seven months to go until new arrangements take effect on 1 January 2015. >From this date, it will be illegal to use spectrum in the 694-820 MHz frequency range. ACMA have a handy info graphic which explains what you need to do to get ready and still be heard. So if you or an organisation you belong to use a wireless microphone, be warned. From THE CENTRAL COAST ARC. Central Coast Repeaters to be Switched Off. Starting from Late May the following changes will be made to VK2RAG repeaters. These measures are being introduced to reduce overall power consumption at the installation, whilst minimising inconvenience to users. We are also investigating Solar Power for the site to further improve consumption and costs. Between Midnight and 0600, all the un-used low usage repeaters will be turned off. To be switched off in frequency order will be 53.725 (6M), 145.600 B’Cast RX’s (FM-814 and FM-92), 439.725 (6M link), 439.950 (APCO 25), 441.00 (Rylstone link) and 1273.4 (23 cm.) This will leave on only 146.725, 438.075 repeaters, 145.175 APRS, 439.150 Packet regenerator,146.6375 (D- Star port C), 438.325 (D- Star Port B), D – Star Gateway. REMINDERS: The ORARC 2014 Field Day will be an excellent weekend again this year - 7TH -8TH JUNE. The venue is the same as last year, the Tacking Point Surf Life Saving Club hall on Matthew Flinders Drive, Lighthouse Beach, Port Macquarie. The Field Day dinner will be on Saturday night the 7th of June from 6pm at the Port Macquarie Golf Club with the same arrangements as last year. Sunday is the trading day with both VK4ICE and Radio Supply bringing extra stock this year. There will be all the other usual Field Day attractions with fox hunts both days. We are expecting a good field of Home Brew projects so everyone is encouraged to bring their latest projects along for the display. There will be a sausage sizzle lunch on the Saturday. On Sunday there will be bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast and sausage and steak sandwiches with fruit salad and ice cream for lunch. There is no charge or commission for disposals. Looking forward to seeing a good contingent from Westlakes at our Field Day again. Everyone is welcome. 73 Henry VK2ZHE ARNSW BALUN DAY. AR NSW is having a ‘Balun spectacular’ on Sunday 29 June at the Dural site, 63 Quarry Road starting at 10 am. Gates open at 0845 hrs for breakfast Yes, bacon and eggrolls are on the breakfast menu with a variety of sauces. 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. Register by email to balun@arnsw.org.au Please include your callsign and a contact number. Admission free to AR NSW members. In accordance with numerous requests from mbers, we have organised a beautiful pair of Asian strippers to be raffled on the day. And there will be both chocolate and vanilla ice cream, but not for breakfast. Further details in later bulletins. Keep the date, Sunday 29 June for the ‘Balun spectacular’ That’s balun@arnsw.org.au NEW PRODUCT REVIEW. RIG EXPERT WTI-1 wireless transceiver interface. Connect your transceiver to the internet via WI-FI. Use your laptop to operate phone, CW, or digital modes from anywhere in the world. Analog audio interface is a connection to transceiver audio output (external speaker connector or line output) and transceiver audio input ( microphone connector or line input. Audio interface enables operating digital modes, recording and playing voice, as well as other useful functions ( such as measuring levels of a signalfrom the air) by using a computer. You may use a conventional headset on your computer to operate voice modes. A virtual soundcard drives is provided to support operating digital modes.CAT interface for various transceiver models. CAT (Computer Aided Transceiver) system provides control of transceiver frequency, operating mode and other functions by computer software. Normally, modern transceivers have serial (with various signal levels) link providing CAT interface. In RigExpert WTI-1, CAT interface port is seen as a COM port by computer software. FSK output FSK (Frequency Shift Keying) is a popular method of transmitting digital messages over radio primarily used in radioteletype (RTTY) mode. Most transceivers provide FSK modulator feature to make the RTTY signal stable and clear. A separate COM port is assigned for the FSK output when using RigExpert WTI-1. PTT and CW output functions. Transceivers provide PTT (Push To Talk) and CW (Continuous Wave) keyer inputs to allow setting the transmitter on or off and operating CW using external device (PTT pedal, CW bug or paddle, terminal node controller, or personal computer). In RigExpert WTI-1, PTT and CW outputs are assigned to the RTS and DTR lines of a separate COM port. In addition, the user may press the PTT button on the screen to activate transmission. WinKey emulation. To operate CW, you may use software which either directly manipulates the DTR line, or uses the WinKey protocol. A separate COM port is created in the system to support the WinKey data exchange. 9A5N Solid state CW paddle is a completely new product in the world of telegraphy keys. Innovative idea of detection finger pressing to paddle lever(s) eliminates moving parts typical for mechanical keys. Solid State CW Paddle advantages: - standstill lever(s) has no travel time and moving inertia - fingers movement is diminished - keying is absolutely silent, without clicking sound produced by moving parts - keying pressure on the lever(s) is adjustable in range from 10 to 50 grams by software algorithm - no maintenance and periodical readjustments typical for mechanical keys Keying technique with Solid State CW Paddle is equivalent to the mechanical paddle technique. User will easily and quickly correct keying style according to the Solid State CW Paddle advantages and increase possible maximum keying speed. Keying with lower finger pressure on lever(s) and diminished fingers movement will make keying less fatigue and more enjoyable. The paddle “brain” based on microcontroller technology is situated in a head made of aluminium to protect sensitive electronic from influence of RF signals. Paddle base is made of stainless steel/coated steel. Total paddle weight of 1.8kg gives outstanding paddle stability on surface during keying. Solid State CW Paddle, available in single and twin lever version, will provide you many hours of CW keying pleasure for years to come. In order to generate CW code with Solid State CW Paddle, external electronic keyer must be in use. Dimensions: 90 x 90 x 60 mm Weight: 1,8 kg Supply: 2 x AAA (LR03) batteries built in paddle base There you are Greg, a new toy to play with. Well that's all the news I have this week. 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.