WESTLAKES BROADCAST NEWS FOR MAY 25TH 2014

Last week's lucky meat tray winner Maurice VK2FTLC was not at the club yesterday to draw this weeks lucky meat tray winner. In his absence Dennis VK2XDW drew out the ticket belonging to non other than his good friend Greg VK2CW. Congratulations Penny and Greg enjoy the meat tray. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday morning on Stone the Crows net ( 3588KHz ) we had the pleasure of Barry VK2BZ who was portable up in VK4. Enjoy your break Barry and it will be good to see your completed kit row boat when you return. Remember ANYONE CAN JOIN THE NET AND ITS COMMENCES AT 0600 AND RUNS FOR AN HOUR ON SATURDAY MORNINGS. -------------------------------------------------------------------- While talking about nets, our club WESTLAKES A.R.C. also has a net on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on the frequency of 7150KHz commencing at 0930. We don't charge a cent for joining and having a chat. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Foundation licence class was in full swing in the education room thanks to Steve VK2LW and Geoff VK2GL In fact the number in the group has now risen to six. Don't forget if you have a Foundation or Standard licence have you thought of upgrading? Just see Steve of Geoff at the club on Saturdays or leave a message on the clubs answering machine. Remember, we ONLY check for messages on a SATURDAY morning so if you ring on a Monday please be patient and we will get back to you OR your can snail mail to the club address which is Westlakes Amateur Radio Club P.O. Box 5 BOOLAROO NSW 2284. Yes the secretary does have an email which is secretary@westlakesarc.org.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New member. Joining Westlakes yesterday was Gerard Wheeler of Mount Hutton. He already holds a Foundation Licence from the UK but the ACMA requires him to re-sit and be assessed for the VK Foundation test. Strange, but true. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The monthly club magazine for June is completed - that's half the year gone already - and will be dispatched to members in its various forms next weekend. --------------------------------------------------------------------- A meeting of the committee formed to plan Westlakes attendance at the out town model show was held in the library yesterday. The modellers will gather at the Broadmeadow Racecourse over two days on 23rd and 24th August. At least this event is undercover unlike the washout we had at the Newcastle Regional show in February. --------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE WIA. Telstra has confirmed its plans to spend $100 million to get a public Wi-Fi network up and running by 2015. The plan will see up to 8000 new wireless installations to connect customers to two million Wi-Fi hot-spots while in the air across Australia.Telstra customers, who choose to join Telstra Wi-Fi, will be provided compatible modems to access their allowance at no extra charge via domestic hotspots and connect to more than 12 million Fon-enabled hotspots globally. Non Telstra customers and Telstra customers who have not joined the Wi-Fi community will be able to connect to Fon-enabled Telstra Wi-Fi hotspots for a small charge using 'day passes.' --------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget 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 egg rolls 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. Advised by Al HirschelVK2KAM Event commanderAR NSW. -------------------------------------------------------------------- The Oxley Region ARC 2014 Field Day will be an excellent weekend again this year. 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. That item comes from Henry VK2ZHE --------------------------------------------------------------------- The NSW government announced on Sunday that it will be spending $4 million over two years to roll-out the body worn video (BWV) cameras for frontline police. The cameras will be attached to the vest of the officers. Video captures events that can often defuse potentially violent situations without the need for force to be used. It will also show police dealing with difficult and dangerous situations every day and it will also provide clearer evidence when it's been alleged that police got things wrong. Officers attached to the Public Order and Riot Squad, Police Transport Command and other highly mobile frontline officers will be given priority for the cameras. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Transport for NSW is using the Illawarra to test a high-tech system that will allow truck drivers to "see" up to a kilometre ahead. The initiative uses Co-operative Intelligent Transport Systems (CITS) technology, which will allow trucks to transmit and receive warnings about road hazards and conditions ahead. It aims to increase safety and traffic flow because it will mean drivers can "see" over the crests of hills and around corners. The trial, due to start in the next few months, will involve several trucks fitted with CITS equipment travelling along a 42-kilometre route between Port Kembla and the Picton-Hume Highway interchange. A second phase of the project will include up to 120 heavy vehicles,will see up to three intersections "signalised" which will enable vehicles to be warned when approaching a red light even though the drivers can't see them. Whatever Next? ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 always welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

WESTLAKES BROADCAST NEWS FOR 18th MAY 2014

In the activity room yesterday Norm VK2KNC was re installing HDSDR on Lloyd's PC after Lloyd VK2XAA had spent days trying to get it to work. After the reinstallation of the program Norm showed Lloyd how it all worked. Now Lloyd will have many hours of listening. Thank you Norm for your assistance. ------------------------------------------------------- Michael VK2CCW was outside with his MAN PACK version 2. Michael was all set and ready to tune his antenna when there was a failure. The failure was in the tuner not powering up. Bad luck Michael, looks like you got to put the tuner out of the rack, open it up and see why it was not working. Oh and yes, a hammer won't fix the problem. ------------------------------------------------------- The draw for this weeks meat tray was made by a substitute in the absence of Richard VK2FRKO (he was there but had to go to a 21st birthday party). Substitute David VK2UDW reached in a grabbed a ticket.The callsign of this weeks ticket was Maurice VK2FTLC. Congratulations Maurice enjoy your meat tray and see you next week for the draw. ------------------------------------------------------- No sooner has the map and compass course concluded, Geoff VK2GL was busy in the class room with a new bunch of prospective Foundation Course candidates. One or two more Saturdays, and the Licence Assessments will be held in June. ------------------------------------------------------- Got something you would like to build as a possible PROJECT? Why not discuss it with the clubs project officer - Norm VK2KNC. -------------------------------------------------------- Lost and found department. Who left a pair of fold-up reading glasses at the club yesterday? They are in the possession of Greg VK2CW who will have them at the club next Saturday. -------------------------------------------------------- A new supply of Foundation Licence Manuals arrived at Westlakes yesterday. They are available from Aly at the club store. They cost $25. ------------------------------------------------------- From the WIA: WI-FLY. Telstra has begun trialling the use of mobiles on planes, including the ability to deliver a broadband signal to aircraft that allows phone users to use 4G to browse the web, send and receive emails, make video calls, watch movies and download music and photos. The testing of the network on mock flights between Melbourne and Sydney has so far delivered fast speeds of up to 15 megabits per second. Special antennas have been erected on four phone towers between the two capitals to deliver broadband signals to passengers en route. Trials were conducted on a twin-propeller aircraft and a Cessna mustang jet that flew at the height of a commercial flight at 30,000 feet. Testing has not yet extended to include sending and receiving text messages and making phone calls. --------------------------------------------------------- CANADIAN HAMS GRANTED ACCESS TO 472 TO 479 KHZ. Hams in Canada will soon have access to the 472 to 479 Kilohertz band. This with the release of the new Canadian Table of Frequency Allocations by telecommunications regulator Industry Canada. Radio Amateurs of Canada says that its Zero to Thirty Megahertz Band Planning Committee will be proposing a suitable band plan to enable best use of this new very narrow band. Canadian hams with comments and suggestions can send them to the committee via e-mail to rachq@rac.ca Canadian amateur operators have recently secured two new segments of spectrum thanks to the hard work of their national society. The 60 meter band channels were made official a few month ago as well. --------------------------------------------------------- The Mt Gambier Convention in South Australia has a special event callsign VI 50 CONV is to be on air throughout the month. The convention is over the Queens Birthday Weekend with Australian Fox Hunting Championships on June the 7 and 8 and Sniffer Hunt at 11am on the Saturday. The Scout Hall in Margaret Street, Mount Gambier is the event venue, with foxhunts, stalls, a homebrew competition and catering. ---------------------------------------------------------- Young hams seem to be missing these days. The latest Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) figures tend to indicate that Amateur Radio is currently not overly attractive to young people, despite the Foundation Licence showing some promise in earlier years. This entry level has been a welcome stepping-stone into the hobby with a healthy upgrading to a higher licence, or for some, having had a taste of the hobby then deciding it's not for them. The WIA annual figures show it has only 27 student members, and those aged 10 to 29 account for 3% of all members. Since 2009, when about 750 Foundation Licences assessment were held, there had been a steady decline with 414 new Foundation Licences issued in 2013. With the passage of 10 years the question is being asked whether the Foundation Licence has the right mix of privileges and its relativity to the Standard and Advanced Licences. The WIA plans to celebrate the first decade of the Foundation Licence in 2015. The Foundation Licence remains popular with 2,300 on issue or slightly more than the Standard or middle-level licence, with nearly 10,000 Advanced Licences. ------------------------------------------------------------- Reminders: A.R. NSW balun day on the 29th June commencing at 1000 hrs. Bookings are required for this day. Please send email to balun@arnsw.org.au and the address is Dural site, 63 Quarry Road. ------------------------------------------------------------- Jun 7- 9 VK2 Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club field day Port Macquarie. Its a great place to go. Diane VK2FDNE and Richard VK2FRKO will be attending. The address is Tacking Point Surf Lifesaving Club Hall, Mathew Flinders Drive, Port Macquarie. Registrations from 1000 Saturday morning - $5.00 this covers tea, coffee and biscuits- unlimited I have been told. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 an interesting selection of biscuits.

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.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR THE 4TH MAY 2014

Yesterday at the club was the clubs A.G.M. As there were no extra members being put up for Executive positions and for the Committee, there was no need for a ballot. President - VK2LW - Steve, Vice President- Geoff VK2GL, Treasurer- Greg VK2CW, Secretary - Barrie VK2QG. Committee. Barrie VK2VBF, Diane VK2FDNE, Warren VK2UWP, Allan VK2JED, Herb VK2ZVF, Leonie VK2FHRK, Barry VK2BZ, Michael VK2CCW. Steve VK2LW was renominated as the clubs Public Officer. Congratulations to everyone. The meat tray winner was drawn by Dennis VK2XDW and this weeks winner was Michael VK2CCW. Good on you Michael enjoy the meat tray. After the AGM a great spread was prepared by Penny in the kitchen. Thanks Penny very much from everyone that were there. Well the clubs special event callsign has expired. With some 1400 contacts made it was a grand effort from every member who took part and made advantage of the special event callsign - either from their QTH or from their home QTHs. Now Dave needs all the logs sent to him so that a final tally can be counted and the QSL cards ordered. Thanks very much for a job well done. Speaking of AGM meetings locally - from the Hunter Group- Their President is Len VK2ZFD, Vice President- Maurie- VK2CD, Secretary/Treasurer - Rodney -VK2CN. A number of other members were elected to various positions. In the Port Stephens A.R.C. Elected to the Presidents Position was Richard VK2FRKO, Treasurer- Allan VK2FLTP, Secretary - Leigh VK2KAL/VK2KY. Committee - Garry VK2PE and Diane VK2FDNE. Once again, Congratulations to all of you. Outside in the cold was the man pack shootout. In corner 1 was Max VK2TTI and in corner 2 was Michael with his version 1 and 2 of his man pack. Great work guys and thanks for bringing your packs in to show everybody. Also at the club yesterday was Tony who recently passed his regulations.Tony received his callsign this week - VK2ABM Congratulations Tony and welcome to the ranks of Amateur radio. From the WIA. Its only days away until the 2014 WIA Annual Conference up on the Sunshine coast. Dates-16,17and 18th May. There is still time for you to register your name and go along. Check the link to check accommodation details and register. http://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/2014agm/ The clubs Boot sale will be on next SATURDAY commencing at 10:00 hrs in the club grounds. Got something to sell, well now is your opportunity to sell your unwanted items. It can be anything. Bring your own table and chairs and yes, remember to take away all your rubbish. The famous WESTLAKES BBQ will be in action and tea and coffee will be available. A R NSW BALUN DAY SUNDAY 29 JUNE 2014 In response to requests from members, AR NSW is having a ‘Balun spectacular’ on Sunday 29 June. 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 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 secretary@arnsw.org.au Keep the date Sunday 29 June for balun and barbeque day. Admission free to AR NSW members. Further details in later bulletins. Richard VK2FRKO and Leigh VK2KAL both went to the antenna building day at ARNSW and both have said how good that day was. ALARA meet 2014: This year ALARA will be meeting at Nelson Bay for YLs and their OMs.The 4 day meet will include a cruise and dinner on a charter vessel, OMs to go to Fighter world - Williamtown, bus trip around Nelson Bay with local identity John “STINKER” Clarke, trip to Maitland Goal, and a scenic Hunter Valley bus trip. Remember YLs and OMs get your deposits in now and don't miss out on a great 4 days in the HOLIDAY WONDERLAND. The date of this event is 24-27 OCTOBER 2014. Check out details on the ALARA website. ANTENNAS - THE Fan Dipole. The Fan Dipole antenna is basically 3 or more dipoles using 1 feed line. Usually builders of this antenna have the 80 meter at the top, followed by 40 meter and then either 20 meter,15 meter or 10 meter. You can have any configuration that you wish. By using a 1:1 balun or an ugly balun you can generally tune these so that you don't require an ATU. This antenna is very easily built and by using a VSWR meter or antenna analyzer you can tune your antenna down to at least 1:5 to 1. Tune the top wire 1st and then work your way down until they are all tuned. There are some great sites on the web where they give you step by step instructions on making this proven antenna. I wonder how many of you managed to take part in the Harry Angel contest last night. It is 106 minutes of fun on 80 meters. If you missed out you will have to wait until 2015. 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 always welcome at the club. We have plenty of tea, coffee, long-life milk, a good Canteen and an interesting selection of biscuits.

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.

WESTLAKES NEWS FOR 13 APRIL 2014

This is VI2ATZ50 Portable, the Special Event callsign for Westlakes Amateur Radio Club. This call is being used for the month of APRIL, celebrating the 50th Anniversary since the founding of Westlakes . We start this broadcast with the news of two silent keys. The 1st is Paul Hammond VK2HMV who passed away in Gosford Hospital yesterday. Paul was a long time member of our club and served in various positions in his early association with Westlakes. Paul helped organise and run the daily Maritime net on 14.300 Mhz and was well regarded throughout the pacific area. The second SK is Frank Kentish VK2WH. Frank was also a long time member of the club and was involved in our club nets and was also a regular attendee on Saturdays. With his cheery smile he greeted everyone. Both will be missed. VALE Paul and Frank. The library was a hive of activity with Greg VK2CW selling tickets in the meat tray raffle. Last weeks winner Greg, VK2FGJS was waiting for the call so that he could pull this weeks lucky winner out of the ticket tumbler. When the time came, Greg reached in, selected a ticket and the callsign on the ticket was.... VK2QG. Congratulations Barrie and enjoy the meat tray. Lloyd VK2XAA and Dave VK2RD were busy conducting an Audit of the clubs books to ensure all is in order for the upcoming AGM next month, on Saturday the 3rd May. Keep this date handy and come along to cast your vote for the Committee to see the club through for the next 12 months. Saturday 3rd May is the day 13:30 (1:30 pm) in the Library. Norm VK2KNC was busy repairing a Yaesu SWR/Power meter that had stopped working and ended up on his bench. Some diligent work, and replacement of a couple of components and all was well again. A good bloke to have around is our Norm... Last Sunday, 50 Westlakes club members and visitors gathered at the Cardiff RSL for the clubs 50th birthday luncheon. The food was great and it was good catching up and talking to everyone again. Half way through the luncheon Dave VK2RD ( MC for the dinner ) called for a bit of shush as he had a few presentations to hand out. The following members received a certificate of appreciation for the work that they do in the background to make the club work. The members were... VK2LW, VK2FRKO,VK2CW and Penny, VK2QG,VK2VBF, VK2GL, VK2ZM and VK2KNC ( NOT PRESENT ). Norm was presented with his certificate yesterday. There will be some good photos in the next issue of the clubs magazine. NOTE: Next Sunday being Easter Sunday, there will NOT be a broadcast as the readers and News Team will be away. Our News Editor is heading to Urunga to cover the annual convention and no doubt be on the lookout for any bargains as well. The club will be open as usual for those who cannot stay away. Antenna Discussion: This weeks antenna is the dipole antenna.This is the easiest antenna that an amateur radio operator can build. One of the formulas on the web that is used to calculate the total length of the dipole antenna is 468 divided by the frequency (in MHZ) = length in feet. There are a number measurement converters also available on the web to change feet to meters. The lengths given are only a rough measurement, so by using your VSWR meter or analyzer and usually by shortening each end by the same amount each time you can usually get the VSWR down to 1:5 to 1 or less. The dipole antenna has a 70 Ohm feed point impedence so if you used TV coax you will get a perfect match. If there is enough interest perhaps we could have a dipole building day at the club. There are a few more tricks you can do with a dipole also. Let us know if you are interested. Contact Richard VK2FRKO at the club on Saturdays... VI2ATZ Award: Have you managed to contact VI2ATZ50 yet? VI2ATZ50 is being 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. 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 special QSL Card will be forwarded to all stations who make a contact with VI2ATZ50. We have already had half a dozen applications for the award. Please note... The award certificates will not be posted until the end of May as we will not be doing a print run till all applications are in. A cost of $5:00 should accompany the application to offset the cost of printing and postage. As a club member please promote this award in your general QSO’s. They only need to work 10 members to qualify as well. We would like to acknowledge the effort of Paul VK2HV for his promotion and activation of the special call. Paul has been active for an average of 10 hours a day on 10 and 15 metres on SSB & CW. He now has a helper in the form of Paul VK2BPL doing CW on most available bands. Thanks guy’s... Much appreciated. 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 . HARAOA Anzac Day - Bare Island – AX2CL: The Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia is manning a special event station using the callsign AX2CL at Bare Island NSW over the Anzac Day weekend 25th-26th April 2014. Keep an ear out or check the clusters for activity. Upcoming event: This is an upcoming day out in June submitted by Norm VK2KNC... ABC TOUR. Tour inside the Sydney home of the ABC. Your tour will include a visit to one of 2 digital television production studios, an on air radio station, a new studio and a control room. Rub shoulders with some of the countries most respected journalists, radio and television personalities. This is a fantastic trip for all ages. FRIDAY 13TH JUNE DEPARTS 06:30 AM COST $48.00 PER PERSON. More details in upcoming weeks. or see Norm at the club. 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. Please note... we only check the answering service on Saturdays, so, be patient if you want a return call. 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 THE 6th APRIL 2014 from VI2ATZ50

Once again in the library Greg VK2CW was busy selling tickets for the clubs meat raffle. Now Les VK2RJ was ready and just needed the nod from the chief spinner so that he could select this weeks winner. Remember everyone who buys a ticket has a chance to win the meat tray. The nod was given and Les reached in and in his hand was the ticket with the callsign VK2FGJS. Congratulations Greg and enjoy the meat tray. NEW MEMBERS THIS MONTH: Ron VK3MRH Dennis VK2HHA Brenton VK3CM. On behalf of the Committee and club members, welcome to Westlakes. Pleased to have you aboard. RICKETTY KATE RESULTS: Yesterday Herb (VK2ZVF) advised that all tickets in the Ricketty Kate Draw were sold and that meant that it would drawn at yesterdays meeting. This was done and the winners were. 3rd prize of $10 went to Ian McLaren, 2nd Prize $20 Dave to VK2RD and 1st Prize $50 to Russell VK2VK. Congratulations and don't spend all your money at once. Also happening in the library was the clubs General monthly meeting which was attended by some 28 members which was good to see. The next meeting will be the AGM on the 5th May and nominations have been called for from the floor. See Barrie VK2QG for a nomination form. VISITORS TO THE CLUB: Well yesterday Gloria and Keith VK2PKT arrived to pay us a visit. It was great to see you both and don't keep it so long until the next visit. Keith started a Facebook page called AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS. He posts Westlakes news there every week. Dave VK2RD also is an administrator and posts regular news there as well. In the activity room Norm (VK2KNC) was fixing Barrie's manual MFJ ATU. An hour later and the tuner was up and running. Thanks Norm for your assistance. Club Magazine: Have heard great feedback from various members and I am sure that if you passed a copy to a fellow club interstate the editor wouldn't object. This is a quality magazine. Now today is Westlakes 50th Birthday luncheon at the Cardiff R.S.L. Club. Those who are going will meet there at 11:00 for 12:00 all you can eat lunch. For those who cannot be there, those who are going will certainly eat your share. V12ATZ50 NEWS TO DATE FROM VK2RD. The special callsign to celebrate 50 years of the foundation of Westlakes was aired for the first time last Wednesday morning on our regular 40 metre net on 7.150 at 09:30. We logged 11 contacts during the net and a further number when Barrie VK2QG visited the Albury Wodonga 10:30 net on 7.055. Again on Friday and another 12 contacts plus some worked WARC Members for award points. Keith VK2PKT was first in with his award application, Hand delivering to Dave VK2RD at the club yesterday. Well done Keith. Richard VK2FRKO was on 80 & 40 metres last night and Michael VK2CCW will be on 80 and 40 this evening. So all in all a pleasing result so far. 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. 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. Please use UTC time if possible. The roster is almost done for operators wishing to either work from the club house or from their QTH. Can you help? I am sure Dave can find a spot for you on the roster. Naturally see Dave at the club or email him at vk2rd@exemail.com.au PLAY TIME: This week, A Multiband HF antenna for those of you that want to try something different is called the WFL - Wideband Folded Loop antenna. Features All band 1.8 - 30 MHz. Length 7.5 metres( good for confined spaces/small back yards), average VSWR is 1:7-1. Antenna will handle 200 watts PEP.USUALLY no ATU required. 50 Ohm impedence. This is NOT a DX antenna. The link to this is http://www.thiecom.de/ftp/rfsystems/wfl/wfl-info-e.pdf There is a lot of information on the web re this antenna. INTERFERENCE: Iranian radar invades the 10m band: The propagation on the higher bands begins to show the first signs of recovery, a bit ‘like the arrival of spring. There are some Interesting DX stations giving out QSO’S on the 10mtr band, even on 29 MHz FM. Unfortunately, on 10 mtrs there is a troublesome intruder signal. For several days there have been several reports from colleagues about a variable frequency carrier received on 10 mtrs in non-equal intervals of time and period. The signal in Southern Italy on the Adriatic coast, is arriving sometimes even more than 59 +20 db occupying almost the entire usable bandwidth for phone, from 28.400 to 28.600 MHz.The immediate evidence of this conjecture we had by referring to the latest bulletin of the IARU R1 Monitoring System, well managed by Wolfgang DK2OM and Peter HB9CET. The report (available for download in PDF) dated March 20 indicates precisely the intrusive presence of a radar by Iranian origin. So if you are getting interference on 10 metres this could well be the source. 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 . Station ID... VI2ATZ50/P 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.