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.