Weekly news from the WIA:
MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2015-12-20.mp3 Text edition:
Dec 20 - VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA


WIA ANZAC 100 closing address

Hello this is Phil Wait VK2ASD, President of the Wireless Institute of
Australia.

It is my honour to close what has been a most respectful commemoration of the
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps- or ANZAC - battle at Gallipoli 100 years
ago.

That costly fight, and defeat, is part of Australia's psyche that we
particularly remember on ANZAC Day, April 25. Historians tell us that
Gallipoli was the first major time that Australians fought in World War I,
and their exploits and bravery have struck a chord.

The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901, and it is the Gallipoli
battle in 1915 that has enduringly defined us as a nation.

Australia, tied to Britain, and just finding its feet as a nation having formed
a Commonwealth out of six former British colonies, entered World War I when the
mother country declared war on Imperial Germany and Austro-Hungary, on August 4
1914. Australia was quick to react, as shown by the commemoration and memorial
service that took place at Fort Queenscliff in Victoria on August 5 last year.
On the declaration of war, Australians fired a shot across the bows of a
fleeing German ship at the Port Phillip Heads - described as the 'first shot
fired in anger in World War I'. At the invitation of the First Shot Organising
Committee, the Geelong Amateur Radio Club had VI3ANZAC on air from
Fort Queenscliff - where 100 years ago the German merchant ship SS Pfalz, was
stopped.

In February this year the Darwin Amateur Radio Club as VI8ANZAC joined the
historical re-enactment of the epic journey by Albert Chalmers Borella to
enlist in World War 1.

Australia responded to the German threat in the Pacific, while under control
of the British Admiralty. A mixed military force, called the Australian Naval
and Military Expeditionary Force, was sent to seize German New Guinea. The
strategically placed part of the German colonial empire, fell in September 1914
The loss of life there included all 35 hands on the Australian E-class
submarine AE1, in the fledgling RAN , presumed that it hit an uncharted
reef. Its sister submarine AE2 was also involved in the recapture of German
New Guinea - and more about its momentous role in the Gallipoli conflict
shortly.

There were notable Australian firsts in World War I before Gallipoli. These
included a land operation, aircraft, combat casualties, the loss of an RAN
warship, enemy warship sinking, and the awarding of a bravery decoration.

The Royal Australian Navy tells us that in the last five months of 1914,
Australian forces were in a series of actions, including sweeping the Indian
and Pacific Oceans of enemy warships, and seizing all German colonies in the
South Pacific.

Back in Australia troops were being gathered and trained. The first convoy of
ships carrying ANZAC troops left West Australia from late in 1914, with the
major enemy naval threat now gone.

The Southern Electronics Group VI6ANZAC joined the many re-enactments,
including the origins of ANZAC Day that began in Albany

The RAN submarine, AE2, mentioned earlier in the German New Guinea capture, was
sent to Gallipoli, and ordered to penetrate the narrow opening at the
Dardanelles, in the Sea of Marmara. Under fire from the Dardanelles Strait the
AE2 made it possible for the troops to land at Gallipoli to do battle with the
Ottoman soldiers. It blocked the reinforcing and re-supplying of enemy troops
at Gallipoli. The Ottoman Empire was an ally of Germany. The story of the AE2,
and the Royal Australian Navy Bridge Train, has been commemorated firstly by
the callsign VI4AE2, and told by the current VI4ANZAC operation.

In the ANZAC 100 program the WIA has sought to concentrate on the eight month
battle at Gallipoli, from April 25, until December 20 - the ANZAC tradition.

The first ANZAC landing was about 1,000 strong, but on the first day more than
620 Australians died in battle. That was repeated at many locations with more
troops throughout the campaign for the Gallipoli Peninsula. The ANZAC troops
faced a fierce enemy in trench warfare, and despite diversions, attacks and
offensives made little headway, and the losses mounted up on both sides.

What had been planned as a bold strike to put the Ottomans out of the war,
became a stalemate. On May 19, 1915 the Ottomans attacked aiming to wipe out
the ANZAC beachhead - they failed with 3,000 dead - the ANZAC contingent lost
160.

The Gallipoli battle had cost ANZAC more than 11,400 lives, and heavy losses
from the United Kingdom, France, and British India.

The most highly decorated RAN unit in World War I was the Royal Australian Navy
Bridging Train - at first building pontoon piers for supplies to go ashore,
then the wharves for troops, and was among the last ANZACs to leave Gallipoli.
The sad news of Gallipoli had a profound impact on Australians and
New Zealanders at home, resulting in a surge of enlistments in the Australian
Imperial Force.

A total of nine Victoria Crosses were earned at Gallipoli. The ANZAC campaign
left a powerful legacy, the creation of the ANZAC legend, shared by Australia
and New Zealand. From it was born ANZAC Day. Every town was impacted by that
war, a heavy loss of life, returned wounded, monuments erected, and avenues of
honour installed to honour the ANZACs, in the war to end all wars.

Each year many travel to Gallipoli, or at home attend dawn services, marches,
commemorations, reunions and even two-up games with pennies.

Our friend, the Telsiz Radyo Amatorleri Cemiyeti or TRAC, was there to greet
us at Gallipoli this year, and had many commemorative callsign stations for
the occasion of the Centenary. The commemoration equally involved the Royal
Belgian Amateur Radio Union UBA, and the New Zealand Association of Radio
Transmitters NZART with ZL100ANZAC.

The WIA obtained the alternative AX prefix for all VK radio amateurs on
April 25 and 26.

The WIA acknowledges not only the bravery of the ANZACs, but those actions that
occurred before Gallipoli, and honours all Australians involved in wars and
conflicts. An illustrated publication of some of the radio amateurs involved
in war is to be produced by the WIA, for release on ANZAC Day 2016.

The ANZAC 100 program has been under the guidance of WIA Vice President
Fred Swainston VK3DAC, who has organised the enormous behind-the-scenes
action necessary. This has included liaison with the Australian Communications
and Media Authority on licence and rostering, and the Minister for Veterans'
Affairs on use of the protected word 'ANZAC'.

Publicity was by Jim Linton VK3PC, broadcast on VK1WIA through Graham Kemp
VK4BB, included on the website by Robert Broomhead VK3DN, run in Amateur Radio
magazine though its editor Peter Freeman VK3PF, put on qrz.com by Trent Sampson
VK4TS who also loaded electronic logs on the eQSL system, ClubLog and Logbook
of The World.

The ANZAC-suffixed callsigns have had 50 events held throughout Australia,
including VI0ANZAC twice from Casey Base in the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The outstanding and most fitting ANZAC 100 events, have attracted considerable
worldwide interest. In Australia the clubs and individuals involved helped make
it a success - there are far too many to mention individually - a sincere thank
you to all.

Many ANZAC-suffixed callsigns have been taking part in the ANZAC 100
'last hurrah' campaign December 12 to 20, timed with departure day from
Gallipoli in 1915.

From World War I to Afghanistan - Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Nurses. It is a
pleasure to be able to pay honour via Amateur Radio, to the ANZAC spirit, and
all who have served this country

Lest We Forget.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK

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------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING DEC 20 2015.
IN OUR 20TH YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS

WIA President Phil Wait VK2ASD has the honour in closing what has been a most
respectful commemoration of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps- or ANZAC
- battle at Gallipoli 100 years ago.

WIA News then continues for 20 minutes


THESE STORIES AND MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE WIRELESS INSTITUTE
OF AUSTRALIA 2015 AND FOR WEEK OF DECEMBER 20


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Another two Aussie balloons afloat

A pico balloon launched from Melbourne last weekend has been making good
progress, crossing the International Dateline on Tuesday and is now headed
for South America.

Andy VK3YT put up the latest in his series of foil type party balloons, PS-57,
with its progress being tracked by WSPR and JT9 signals.

He has also asked for a look out of an earlier balloon PS-56 that had a
GPS failure, resulting in it only sending data on CW at 15 words per minute on
10.1387 MHz.

(vk3pc)



Australian radio invention takes on the world

The world's fastest backhaul radio made in Australia is finding important
markets overseas.

Made in Brisbane the microwave links now interconnect the New York Stock
Exchange servers with the NASDAQ exchange.

Born out of the home of the now ubiquitous Wi-Fi, the CSIRO, comes a company
commercial realisation of technology that promises unprecedented speed and
latency.

To read more look at the Critical Comms online magazine article
'Faster than fibre' - the URL is radiocomms.com.au

(vk3pc)



News about VI90IARU

Felix will no doubt be bringing us uptodate with even more countries joining in
the IARU Celebrations, but the WIA has already seen, on a roster basis, a
number of members activating the VI 90 IARU callsign.

The Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia that had it on four days
last week and some 3,000 QSOs.

It had two stations scoring 2450 on CW, 500 SSB, and 150 digital mode contacts
including PSK31, PSK63 and RTTY.

Bill and Diane Main along with Lee Moyle operated VI90IARU Wednesday to
Friday last and will be on air December 22-24



WIA BOARD TALK

President Phil Wait VK2ASD
V President Fred Swainston VK3DAC
Secretary David Williams VK3RU
Treasurer (Position Vacant)

Your WIA in action:- Space Weather Services Review

The suggested withdrawal or reduction to a user-pays commercial operation of
the Ionospheric Prediction Service (IPS) has been found to be NOT in Australia's
interest.

The WIA submitted to a review of IPS that its information services, including
sunspot, geomagnetic and maximum usable frequency data, and other information,
is used by radio amateurs to best plan their communications activities.

The Bureau of Meteorology in a public statement said the review had
demonstrated that Australia needs a space weather services, and it will be
considerably enhanced.



This is WIA Director Roger Harrison VK2ZRH - and I've been busy.

Recently, the ACMA invited the Institute to update the submission on amateur
licence conditions we put to them last year.

As we know, the ACMA "rolled over" the old 2012 Licence Conditions with minor
administrative amendments to re-make the LCD for 2015 before it expired.

Kindly, the ACMA advised us that that's what they were doing because there was
no time for them to go through their statutory processes to re-make the
Licence Conditions along the lines the WIA was suggesting.

Lots of other regulations were also rolled over before they expired, so the
ACMA had on a lot of work during the past year. All of this, and having to
grapple with the Government's Spectrum Reform program, too.

Don't forget that the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan will be
necessarily updated following the outcomes of the World Radiocommunications
Conference concluded at the end of November.

So. We have another bite of the cherry for Amateur Licence Conditions.

Let me share some highlights with you of what we're advocating this time
around.

The bands are dear to every amateur's heart.

We're seeking new bands at 5 MHz, 70 MHz and 900 MHz.

WRC-15 agreed on a 15 kHz-wide band at 5 MHz for worldwide allocation.
Unfortunately, in Australia, that's heavily used by existing services.
We'll see what might be possible down the track.

Use of the spectrum around 70 MHz has declined markedly and few licensees
remain. The WIA is seeking a small band that aligns with allocations in other
regions.

There's a LIPD band at 900 MHz and our neighbours across the ditch in
New Zealand have an allocation in there. Some good things could be done
being able to experiment in this part of the spectrum.

Apart from that, the WIA is advocating for more spectrum at 160 metres and
80 metres, as usage and demand from other services continues to decline.

And then there's six metres. We're asking for continued use of 50 to 52 MHz,
preferably on a better basis than a secondary service.

For Foundation licensees, were seeking more bands - including some microwave
bands, more permitted modes and more power, plus permission to build kits.

We're not forgetting Standards. The WIA is asking for conditions that better
match similar licence grades in other countries - Canada and Japan, for
example.

To maximise opportunities for experimentation by Advanced licensees, we're
asking for the relaxation of permitted bandwidths on the amateur bands from
1.8 MHz to 430 MHz, with the aim of enabling the exploration and use of
emerging and newly developed technologies - including those not yet invented.

Another thing close to the hearts of many Advanced licensees is more power.
Yes, we're advocating permission for one kilowatt, with the least strings
attached. Most of our near neighbour nations allow 1000 or 1500 watts.

Advocacy. Education. Support. That's what we do.

Best wishes for the season to all our listeners.

This is WIA Director Roger Harrison VK2ZRH for VK1WIA News.

(text edtition Dec 20)


HAMS ACROSS AUSTRALIA.

VK3
web service:- http://www.amateurradio.com.au/news/

Feb 13 VK3 MERC HamFest 10am at Werribee Masonic Centre (from wia site)



VK4 - QNEWS
Send your stories for news. SCRIPT to
send audio to http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/upload/

get local audio news www.wiaq.org.au/ftp/vk4_qnews_64.mp3
get local news emailed

A nice touch from the Queensland Digital Group and their President
Alan Wills, it's an announcement about their Alan Simpson memorial
home brew competition.

Alan VK4AAE was one of the founding QDG members; he always strived to do his
best in any endeavour but became Silent Key this year, August Ten.

This competition is to be judged by members present at the August QDG general
meeting each year.

Those stations taking the VK4 area QNEWS will hear more of this in that
bulletin which always follows the WIA National News in VK4.



DISCUSSION POINT

What use is an F-call?

As an F-call, working DX, you'll spend many hours looking for that elusive
contact, or you'll turn on your radio, tune around, hear a station, call back
and bag a new country. It's all there for the taking, one contact at a time.

As you operate on HF, you'll notice a whole range of operating skills, from
amazing to atrocious and everything in between. You'll hear stations who keep
calling two letters of their callsign, or those who run a pile-up for
40 contacts without once uttering their own callsign. You'll hear people who
are not sure about their microphone and seem afraid it might bite, and those
who are seemingly completely deaf to the world.

As you listen around you'll begin to discern those operators who are doing an
amazing job, who, apparently without effort, pull your callsign out of the muck
and come back to your first call, and you'll hear those who say all the letters
of your callsign, but never in one sentence or in the correct order.

The difference between you and all those operators is that hopefully you have
no habits yet. You don't yet know how it's done and you're yet to learn about
the ins and outs of what's going on.

So, starting at the top. Listen. Then, listen some more.

Understand that if a station is giving out 5 and 9 for everyone, that unless
the bands are amazing, it's likely that all they're doing is collecting
callsigns and yours can be one in the mix. They don't want to hear about your
dog, or your antenna or your radio, and often they don't even care about your
name. So, jump in with your callsign, give them a 5 and 9 report and move on.

KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

While you're at it, don't get into the habit of calling part of your callsign.
You have no idea what part of it they recognized, since you're transmitting at
the same time as everyone else, you might find that your F-call ends later
than most and ends up being the last few letters they hear.

Finally, the prefix, the VK6 part of your callsign is just as important as the
suffix, the FLAB part. Arguably much more so, since it tells people roughly
where you are, so don't swallow the VK6 when you're giving it out.

I'm Onno VK6FLAB



SILENT KEY
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/about/
Silent Keys are best sent to AR Magazine and your local state or club news
rather than this WIA National News Service.



INTERNATIONAL NEWS With thanks to IARU, RSGB, SARL, Southgate AR Club, ARRL,
Amateur Radio Newsline, NZART and the WW sources of the WIA.

Radio ham killed in embassy attack

Radio amateur 'Gabi' EB1BT, full name "Isidro Gabino San Martín Hernández",
has been killed in an attack on the Spanish embassy in Kabul.


The attack on the Spanish embassy in Kabul (Afghanistan), the Spanish Home
Office said in a statement by a group of suicide bombers began attacking on
"a guest house" at 7 p.m. local time on Friday, in the Shirpur district of the
Afghan capital. The Afghan Interior Ministry statement said that: "One of the
suicide bombers detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the entrance gate at
first and opened way to other attackers."

It is still not completely clear what happened, in the area of the Spanish
embassy", however the counter-attack by security forces ended at 5:30 a.m.

The Home Office statement said the Home Secretary had offered the King's and
the Prime Minister's condolences to Mr. Gabino's widow and ordered Spanish
flags flown at half-mast for three days on police buildings and the Spanish
national amateur radio society, URE, has expressed its deepest condolences in
this tragic loss of EB1BT.



The IARU R1 Monitoring System newsletter reports a spurious emission from
IRIB Tehran on 7225 kHz has been causing interference to 7158 kHz.
The German BNetzA has filed an official complaint



Kosovo gets IARU membership

The Kosovo Amateur Radio Association (SHRAK) has been accepted into
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) membership and is soon to be heard
as Z60IARU.

The newest country, is land-locked in the Balkans region of Europe, the
Republic of Kosovo, hit the airwaves in 2012 under the Z60 callsign prefix.

It declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, but has since struggled
to gain international recognition and the status of an entity under the DXCC
rules. When the Kosovo Government gave the go ahead for Amateur Radio in 2012,
SHRAK set up a syllabus, training and a licensing program.

Through its telecommunication authority (TRA) permission was given to use the
Z60K callsign prefix and a special amateur radio launch event was held.

SHRAK had first sought IARU membership in 2014, but after that failed to
attract enough votes. Now the SHARK Facebook page and the IARU have both
announced that a re-vote this year has gained sufficient membership support.

It is moving ahead with technical education, especially among youth, in the
fields of electronics, telecommunications and information technology.



UK Online survey of amateur radio

Five years ago, the RSGB undertook a comprehensive online survey of amateur
radio in the UK. The data was used in the development of a Vision and Strategy
for the Society. A new survey was launched in September and all UK radio
amateurs are invited to complete the online questionnaire. The survey will
close at the end of the year to allow the data to be analysed.



German hams push for higher 5 MHz power

The DARC reports the RTA, a coalition of most of the German Amateur Radio Clubs
is pushing for 100 watts output in the new WRC-15 60m allocation

The General Assembly of the World Radio Conference in 2015 in Geneva (WRC-2015)
set a maximum effective radiated power in the region of 15 watts EIRP. However,
as some countries already deviate from this limitation the RTA hopes that
Germany can have a higher power of 100 W PEP, the same level Dutch radio
amateurs have had since 3 December.



Theremin's bug: How the Soviet Union spied on the US Embassy for 7 years

Theremin, yes the same Theremin who built the instrument that made the
Star Trek theme song famous, had a hand in espionage as well. Albeit not a
willing one. Turns out his life is actually quite tragic.

In addition to that story, Adam Fabio takes a trip through the details of
"The Thing", a bug installed in the US Embassy by the Soviet Union during the
cold war. It used no batteries, instead depending on a carrier frequency
transmitted by the "listener", causing the resonant cavity to transmit back
the audio from the room at a higher frequency. Pretty nifty, and so was the
hiding place: a hand-carved wooden seal of the United States.

Read the full story at
http://hackaday.com/2015/12/08/theremins-bug/


================================================== ===========================


ARNEWSLINE

CHRISTMAS IS IN THE AIR

We end this week's newscast with more on-air adventures of Santa Claus,
whose Yule Log has been looking more and more like an amateur radio log
these days. It seems 2015 has presented more than a sack full of
opportunities to QSO with the big guy, thanks to amateurs with spirit,
imagination and a little creativity.

For the first time this year, the Battleship Iowa Amateur Radio
Association, using the call sign NI6BB, is providing a round-the-clock
connection to Santa's Shack in the North Pole, on December 16 and 17.
Organizers, who will be spending the night aboard the battleship museum,
say that Santa's own XYL, Mrs. Claus, may also put in an appearance on
the HF bands.

In New Jersey, the Santa's Workshop Special Event station, W2S, is on
the air through Dec. 23, with support from the South Jersey DX
Association and the Old Barney Amateur Radio Club. Never mind Christmas
cards -- this Santa is sending personalized QSL cards and Chuck, W2CCW,
is serving as Santa's QSL QS-ELF.

And although the Barrow Amateur Radio Club in Bethlehem, Georgia,
already concluded their special holiday event earlier this month, Old
Father 9 Christmas, OF9X, has just begun the long journey through the
Land of Santa again, starting at the Arctic Circle, for the benefit of
the Finnish Red Cross disaster relief fund. That journey doesn't end
until Dec. 28. So that's not QRN you're hearing through your headphones
-- it's jingle bells. Turn on your rigs: It's beginning to sound a lot
like Christmas.


================================================== ===========================


WEIRD AND WONDERFUL

Video at your feet

The latest in wearables are footwear that have a customised digital display.

A start-up outfit in New York called ShiftWear, has come up with high-tech
sneakers with High Definition displays that show designs and animations.

These are wirelessly connected to an app on a smartphone where you can choose
the way shoes look, even showing your own design.

The shoes batteries last 30 days between re-charging by walking in them or by
a wireless-charging solution.

"These shoes are made for talkin'?"

Who will be the first radio amateur to call CQ stating a listening frequency,
while wearing the new shoes?

They claim to be waterproof, washable, and use very durable Kevlar for the
soles.

Want more information, then check out shiftwear.com

(Jim Linton VK3PC text edtion Dec 20)



Who and Where are our broadcast stations?
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/



OPERATIONAL NEWS


2016

Jan Fri 1st to Sun 31st WIA Ross Hull Memorial VHF-UHF Contest


Jan Sat 9th and Sun 10th WIA VHF/UHF Summer Field Day


"All aboard" the Sydney Ferries. VHF/UHF 'contest' Sunday March 13.


WIA John Moyle Field Day 19-20 March 2016


Harry Angel 80 mtr sprint (WIA) provisional date Saturday 7th May.



The Lee Jennings Activity Marathon 2016

Hot of the UK press comes word of a contest (of sorts) to be held down under.

The Lee Jennings (ZL2AL SK) Activity Marathon commences on 1 January 2016.

The object is to get ZL amateurs active on HF by seeing how many days they can
have four or more QSOs on any of the MF/HF bands, 630m to 6m during the year.

A minimum of 50 days will qualify you for a Bronze Certificate, 100 days
Silver, 200 days Gold and 300 days Platinum.

The only requirement for a QSO is to log a call sign and signal report.

All HF QSOs using any mode count including ZL to ZL QSOs.

If the challenge of four QSOs a day is not enough then there is the opportunity
to endorse your award by making your QSOs on a single band, or using a single
mode, operating QRP, or for working 100 or more DXCC entities. You could do a
combination of all of them e.g. 17m CW while operating QRP and aiming for
100 countries.

The full rules can be found on
zl3x.com/marathon



SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS, DX, BEACON REPEATER AND NET ADVICE

IARU callsigns galore

The latest to join the International Amateur Union 90 years celebration is the
Chinese Radio Amateur Club, with its distinctive B 90 IARU callsign.

It has joined many others heard on the bands from IARU member societies,
including VI 90 IARU by the Wireless Institute of Australia.



Magnus SM 6 WET is visiting the South Cook Islands between 14th December
and 8th January. He is mainly active from Aitutaki Island (IOTA OC-083)
but will also be on Rarotonga Island (IOTA OC-013).

His callsign will be E 51 WET.



Aaron VA 1 AXC is back on Sable Island until the end of January signing
CY0/VA1AXC. He will be on the air during his spare time and his QSL Manager
is JE 1 LET.



For those interested in working stations located in the Antarctic there is a
new operator at the Bharati Research Station. He is from India
(home call VU 3 BPZ) and his Antarctic callsign is 8 T 2 BH.
He will be there for one year and his QSLs will be handled by I 1 HYW.



WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ATV (Every pixel tells a story) - Video
arvideonews.com
hamradiotube.com
youtube.com
qdg.org.au

ATVQ Magazine Documents Mir SSTV History

December 12 marked the 17th anniversary of the beginning of the MIR SSTV
Station which was active in sending pictures over a period of about 2 years and
4 months.

For those interested in this historical event and would like more background
information, the Spring, 2015 issue of the Amateur Television Quarterly
Magazine (ATVQ), has an article, "How Did Mir SSTV come into Existence?"

Back issue copies of ATVQ and cyber copies of the article are available
on-line at atvquarterly.com

[ANS thanks Farrell Winder, W8ZCF, for the above information]



WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ILLW

ILLW scores 100 registrations

The interesting Avery Point Lighthouse in the grounds of University of
Connecticut has been named as the 100th registration for the annual
International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, to be held in August.

Dan Fegley W1QK joined by others from the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service
will activate the octagonal brown coloured concrete block tower. It has eight
200-watt bulbs on a lantern desk that provided navigation for ships entering a
cove east of Avery Point, and those passing through the Pine Island Channel.

Although built by March 1943, it was not lit until May 1944 because of concerns
of possible enemy invasion.

The United States Coast Guard used the site for training including radio
communications and navigation.

Dan Fegley W1QK and the group will enjoy making contacts and explaining Amateur
Radio to the visitors to the lighthouse. Avery Point W1QK joins 15 other US
lighthouses. This fun-event has Germany and Australia with about 60
registrations each, then comes England among 22 countries so far.

If you would like to read the simple event guidelines, or make a registration
on the weekend of August 20-21, then visit the dedicated website

illw.net

(Jim Linton VK3PC)



WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP NEWS - LOWDOWN

SAQ on Christmas Eve

The Alexanderson alternator, a survivor of when signals were generated before
the invention of valves, will be on VLF 17.2 kHz.

Grimeton Radio Station at a World Heritage Site in Sweden first transmitted
its Christmas Eve message 10 years ago.

The tune up is from 0730 UTC with the message at 0800 UTC.

More information is on a website, with the URL in the text edition of the
broadcast.

www.alexander.n.se.

(vk3pc)



WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO
IARU REGION 3
Emergency Centre of Activity (CoA) frequencies
3.600, 7.110, 14.300, 18.160 and 21.360 MHz

RAYNET active in flooding

RAYNET groups in the north of England and Scotland were active during
recent flooding incidents.

In Lancashire, Central Lancs group were called out and the other two groups
put on standby, Ribble Valley RAYNET having already been called out.

Operators were on the ground and sent to attend Control, the CCTV
centre, the Environment Agency Incident Room and Clitheroe Control.


In Scotland, Lothians RAYNET were placed on standby, 2 Lothians 4×4 response
vehicles were at Hawick and Newcastleton.

Cumbria RAYNET was called out, but deployment was difficult as most roads
were already completely flooded. Patterdale suffered a loss of communications.
The group were stood down when communications began to be restored.



SOCIAL SCENE 2015


2016

Jan 22-26 VK4 TARC Australia Day Long Week Family Radio Camp
Girl Guides Campsite, Bluewater (vk4zz)

Feb 13 VK3 MERC HamFest 10am at Werribee Masonic Centre (wia)
Feb 28 VK2 Central Coast Field Day (vk2ztm)
Feb 28 VK3 EMDRC HamFest Great Ryrie Primary School Heathmont. (wia)

Ap-May 29- 2 VK4 Clairview Gathering check Mackay ARS website. (theTARCinc)

June 3- 5 VK4 Central Highlands Social Gathering Theresa Creek dam (wia)
June 11-13 VK5 VK Foxhunting Championship & SERG convention Mt Gambier(VK5HCF)

July 19 VK3 GippsTech 2016 Churchill )

Sep 23-25 VK4 Central Highlands Amateur Radio Club AGM weekend at
Lake Maraboon Holiday Village, near Emerald. (theTARCinc)

Nov 6 VK5 Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society HamFest 8am! (VK5KC)




FINAL FINAL

Reminder - WIA closed for the holidays

The WIA office will reopen Monday January 11, 2016.

As earlier advised, no assessment packs can now be processed by the WIA Exam
Service until it returns on January 11 - along with all normal WIA office
functions.

However the WIA website does contain a lot of useful information that can be
accessed 24/7. Try the Frequently Asked Questions section, or if you can't
easily find what you're looking for, then use the friendly 'Search' website
function.

Yes, "The Search Box IS Your Friend."









Submitting news items


A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't plug commercial
traders "on air", but we at the WIA will put your supporters in this text
edition "no worries."

If you would like to submit news items for inclusion in the
VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to
and don't JUST send url's links but take the time to pen YOUR contribution.

To submit audio read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on
http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/

Remember the sooner you submit material the more the likelihood of it being
broadcast in the very next edition of WIA National News. Each item will only
be broadcast once, if you want a couple of mentions, please submit different
slants to keep your event 'fresh 'and always if the news room is to read your
item write in the 3rd person.

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WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide.

TWITTER http://twitter.com/VK1WIA

Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed prior to
the actual broadcast date, e-mail

Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers you may
lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who knows, you might
even get a "cheerio call".

Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who utilize their time
and equipment in bringing you this weekly broadcast.
Who and where are they? http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/

The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of interest to
active amateurs residing in Australia and the globe.

We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of Australia
and participation in the activities of local clubs. Opinions expressed in
"WIANews" are those of the writers who submit material and do not necessarily
reflect those of the rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but are broadcast
in the spirit in which they were submitted."

Material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, a credit to
WIANews wouldn't go astray...

Who listens to radio? A weekly 'tally sheet' is sent to all rebroadcasters
and interested listeners, to get your free copy send a blank email to:-

Put the word subscribe in the title or subject field

How do I join this National News List? (subscribe for an automatic weekly feed.)
Email to
from the email account that you wish the emails to go to.


How do I leave this National News List? (unsubscribe your weekly feed)
Open mail program which sends mail from the address you want to unsubscribe.
Send mail to the list unsubscribe address
You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the instructions given
in that mail to complete the unsubscription.

Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will probably
receive another message confirming your unsubscription from the list,
and at that point you should stop receiving messages.

National News compiled by VK4BB on behalf of the National WIA.


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