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Text File | 1994-10-30 | 31KB | 679 lines

VK2 DIV. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE This is Michael Corbin VK2PFQ. Ah! JOTA weekend....The weekend All Hams look forward to....Now before anyone gets excited and accuses me of having a shot at people, a check of the Records of the 1st, or was it the 2nd Quakers Hill Scouts or even perhaps a glance at an old Callbook under VK2SAQ will reveal that I too was once.... a JOTA person...Yeah!..other things seem to take up my time these days. The point is, that, this weekend would not be possible were it not for the efforts of truely devoted people....and usually, the same devoted people. It's the weekend that all your mates, when you tell them that you desperately need help with JOTA .....ALL seem to have something on, that they arranged ...ages ago. It's the weekend that you don't seem to have friends anymore. The weekend that, no matter how often you call .... "CHUCKIE" ...Chuckie, doesn't seem to be in.... On behalf of your fellow Amateurs....THANK YOU! I for one, and I know that I have many, many supporters, appreciate the time that all of you spend with these Scouts and Guides...Again.... THANK YOU! There is not a great deal to report this week, apart from the usual dose of bad news. Last weekend it was discovered that certain things had been stolen from the property here at Dural. Amongst these were several lengths of FHJ-4 Hard line Co-ax cable, one 180 foot long, a couple were 39 and 68 feet long respectively and one 42 feet length complete with connectors; a couple of copper clad earth stakes and some ni-cad battery packs. The disturbing thing about this is, that whoever or is it WHATever, stole this equipment... had a key! Some of the gear was lifted from the shed and some from inside the building. What sort of a worm would be responsible for such an act. What sort of an individual steals from his friends, and to think... this person is, or is it was, in a position of trust.... I hope you are as incensed about this as I am....Dear oh Dear. The shame of it all is that this sort of behaviour puts everyone under a cloud who has a key. I'm sure that the people who come up here these days to read the Broadcast are not to blame....but what of those who still have keys...What of those who still have keys and no longer work for the Division and HAVE NOT returned their Keys....What of them.... Hmmmmmmmmm!!!!....Whoever you are ....Shame on you! But wouldn't it be nice if this person had second thoughts and returned the goods...NO questions asked. I'll even acknowledge it on the Broadcast. Now on to more pleasant matters. The Institute is in need of a property valuer. It is time to renew our insurance policies and your Council feels that the existing valuations are in need of updating. No, we don't expect anyone to work for nothing.... mates rates would be good enough. Hi! Hi! Anyone fitting this description, would they please contact me on 626 9288 or leave a message with Margaret at the Parramatta Office. Last Friday night there was a Council meeting at Parramatta, amongst the matters discussed was a report from the NTAC Committee. This committee is the first of many the Council hopes to set upset up to consider various facets of our hobby. The reasoning behind the creation of committees is that, Council believes that decisions are best made by people, who have an expertise/ interest in a particular area. Hopefully, this will mean that "correct" decisions are made. Didn't someone say something about not being able to please all the people all the time. Ian Rosser prepared a report from this Committee, I'll read an edited version of it for you. NTAC COMMITTEE REPORT. A meeting was held last Thursday the 13th October at Parramatta to consider link frequencies. Present were Peter Kloppenburg, Barry Sullivan, Bob Meyer, Tony Farrow, Barry White and myself, Ian Rosser as Chairman. We were fortunate that Col Christiansen had made himself available, in his own time, to assist with technical advice. The meeting commenced at 7.30p.m.. Lively and sometimes heated discussions followed. All aspects of linking were considered, such as cost of installation, limited spectrum space, desirable implementation, and practical applications. A great deal of time was devoted to packet links as these seem to be the area of greatest contention. Put simply, in the LONG TERM, if Packet links remain as they are, future developments of other aspects of linking on the same sites may be difficult. Against this, the subcommittee have considered throughput and cost, against poor frequency management. In theory (in practice in the Commercial World), all transmitters on a site would be grouped on one segment of a band whilst all receivers would be at another segment, Thus avoiding desensing problems. Currently, packet sites are SINGLE frequency transmit and receive. If two or more such links are required on the same site, they almost, by necessity, HAVE to be at either end, thus limiting future TWO frequency links (eg voice links). The committee took on board cost considerations, particularly for smaller country clubs, and came up with what is believed to be, an achievable compromise. Much work has still to be done in this area, but this sub-committee has come up with a BROAD policy statement. Which is... "To provide for future development of the LINK spectrum, the WIA will allocate a FREQUENCY PAIR with either TX on one and RX on the other OR...BOTH. However, clubs are strongly advised to opt for TX on one and RX on the other frequency of the pair as the long term costs, in both dollars and wasted spectrum space, would be FAR GREATER if there was TX and RX at both ends. The Committee wishes to encourage two frequency link operation. REMEMBER that costs (both long term and immediate) and practical considerations have to be taken on board and balanced against what we would ideally like to have. It is our belief that ULTIMATELY, ALL link frequencies will have to be two channel pairs to provide for future expansion. Ian Rosser. NTAC Co-Ordinator. My thanks to Ian and the Committee. This "solution" might just please some of the people, some of the time!! Finally I had a phone call last Friday from a Howard Leake W6AXX.... a lovely bloke. He has a request to make. He sent me a Fax to confirm our conversation....I'll read it to you in his words. "Hello Mike, Per our telcon this date in Parramatta. My name is Howard Leake and my amateur radio call is W6AXX Licensed in the U.S. since 1940. I had my 75th Birthday in August and my wife, Carol, gave me (us) a Tauck Tour of Australia and New Zealand. The 21 day tour begins in Sydney on Sunday 30th October, 1994. I am an avid HF/VHF Contester and we have arranged to arrive Sydney, Thursday evening, 27th October, so that I can apply for a VK2 call on Friday AM at the Victoria Cross Bldg., 60 Miller St., Nth Sydney. We will be staying at the Inter-Continental Hotel. May I please have your help to locate a Sydney Area ham who would be willing for me to use his station for the first 24 hours of the CQ WW SSB Contest, which begins at 1000 hours, that's Australian local time Saturday, 29th October. We will depart Maryland for San Diego on Tuesday, 25th October and leave Los Angeles, Wednesday 26th October.........." _______________________________ This chap has without a doubt the perfect wife... ....Holidays...Ham Radio, on the other side of the world. What a life....Gosh! Isn't retirement hard for some...If anyone is prepared to help make Howard's Holiday a complete success please contact me on (02) 626 9288 or Howard direct on 410-465-7008...Don't forget to dial 0011 1 before the number of course Or fax, the same instructions apply on 301 470 4455. What a fine gesture it would be if we could accommodate Howard's request. Next week I will include in my address the first of a four part series provided by John Aarsse (Pronounced Ar-say) VK4QA on the 9th IARU Conference in Singapore.... See you then Silent key ---------- We regret to announce the passing last week of John Geoffrey Myers VK2UA. First licensed in 1938 as 2IY, Geoff was a founding member of the Manly-Warringah Club (now the Manly-Warringah Radio Society, of which he was a life member). Born at Neutral Bay, Sydney, in 1913, Geoff was the first President of the Zero Beat Club, and a member of Harrington's Radio Club. He served with the Australian Armed Forces from 1939 to 1945, as Captain and later Company Commander with the 4th Division Signal in New Guinea. After a break of some years, Geoff was re-licensed as VK2UA in 1978, and maintained a keen interest in Amateur Radio until his passing at age 81. His funeral took place last Thursday. Geoff will be greatly missed by his family and many friends in Amateur Radio; please pause with us now in memory of John Geoffrey Myers VK2UA. Vale Geoff Myers VK2UA -- Richard Murnane VK2SKY, on behalf of the Manly-Warringah Radio Society Divisional News --------------- The next examinations at the W.I.A. (NSW) Division will be held on the 30th October at 109 Wigram Street Parramatta commencing at 12 midday. Applications will close 4pm on Thursday 20th October. Contact the office on 689 2417 for application forms. Jim Walker VK2XJW Education and Examinations Officer Magazine Roundup ---------------- Here again is a summary of the local magazines, which in the author's opinion could be of interest to Amateurs. This week we discuss the October issues of the various magazines. "Electronics Australia" discusses amateur efforts in observing the comet impacts on Jupiter; Tom Moffat discusses passive repeaters in his usual style; the debate about the future of Amateur radio and the WIA continues; and proportional radio control systems are introduced, as are stepper motors. "Silicon Chip" builds a simple dual rail power supply; and Amateurs who love "gadgets" can construct a talking headlight reminder, an electronic fluorescent ballast, and a temperature- controlled soldering iron. "Amateur Radio" discusses technical aspects of HF receiver design; some more information on the ubiquitous single-coil "Z match" is given; the TH3-JR antenna is tuned up; and the series on the FM- 828 circuits is completed. "Amateur Radio Action" discusses Amateur and weather satellites; and shows how to calibrate the MFJ-1270 series TNCs for better performance. Be listening next month for another summary of the local magazines. -- Dave VK2KFU WICEN News The next major exercise is the annual "Hawkesbury Classic Paddle", a 111km paddle down the Hawkesbury River, to be held next weekend. As this takes place under moonlight for the most part, the safety of the paddlers is of paramount concern, and WICEN provides an important communications net. If you would like to help out in this worthwhile event, then please contact Kevin VK2CKD. If you have portable packet equipment, then so much the better. Following this event is the WICEN Co-ordinators conference at Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, on the weekend of 29-30th October. The conference will commence at 0930 Saturday, and the programme will comprise lectures on the role of various positions in the organisation together with various guest speakers. This will be followed by dinner in a local restaurant, and since Daylight Saving is scheduled to start the morning after, this will be an interesting test of WICEN's adaptability to losing an hour's sleep under strenuous circumstances... There will be a discussion period after the dinner, followed by a short business session on Sunday. Due to the late posting of the newsletter, the deadline for registration has been extended to Thursday 20th October i.e. this coming Thursday; full details will be found within the newsletter, and please note that a pre-registration fee of $10 should accompany your application. WICEN is always looking for members to provide the community with communications assistance. Write to WICEN (NSW) Inc, PO Box 123, St Leonards 2065 for further information, or come up on one of the WICEN nets: Blue Mountains on the first Monday of each month at 8.30pm on channel 7175 simplex, Hunter each Wednesday at 7.30pm on channel 6900, Northern Rivers each Wednesday at 8pm around 3610 kHz, Central Coast each Thursday at 8.30pm on channel 7125, and Sydney each Thursday at 9.30pm on channels 7150/8275. If there are any other regular nets then we'd like to hear about them. WICEN (NSW) Inc. operates a telephone BBS, and it is accessible at speeds from 300 to 14,400 bps on (02) 888-2763. Brett VK2XMU is the "Sysop", and all listeners are invited to use it. Many programs, such as "virus scanners" and "PGP", are available for downloading. -- Dave VK2KFU, WICEN (NSW) Inc. Publicity Officer News briefs ----------- Tom Christian VR6TC was in the news recently. The great-great- great grandson of Fletcher Christian of "Mutiny on the Bounty" fame, was until recently the only direct communications link to the outside world for the 55 people living on Pitcairn Island. Now satellite technology has arrived on the island, Tom is thinking of leaving the airways. It was also reported that Tom had to be flown to New Zealand last month to have a tumour removed from his stomach and pancreas, and that a friendly Amateur helped keep him in conatct with his wife, Betty. We wish Tom a speedy recovery, and hope that he won't abandon HF completely. *********************************** The bush lawyers ought to have a ball with this one, as will packet BBS sysops and those preoccupied with defamation laws: this week, the High Court ruled that Australia's Constitution guaranteed a right to free political speech. This effectively removes state laws that require that the media or citizens prove the truth of their statements when they are being sued over political discussion. In the future, defendants need only prove that they did not knowingly publish false material, did not publish the material recklessly (that is, not caring whether it was true or false), and took reasonable steps to substantiate their claims. How widely this ruling will be applied (and how it will affect Amateurs, given that Amateur bands may not be used for political purposes) remains to be seen. ***************************************** "News briefs" looks at communications news items that appear in the mainstream media. Thanks as always go to "The Australian" and "The Sydney Morning Herald". Are these the only newspapers in Australia that publish items of interest to us radio enthusiasts? Surely not! Send us a press clipping from local paper - fame and fortune could be yours (well, fame at least - you'll get name mentioned on the broadcast!). -- Richard Murnane VK2SKY IPS WEEKLY REPORT ----------------- 07 OCTOBER - 13 OCTOBER ISSUE No 41 DATE OF ISSUE: 14 OCTOBER 1994 INDICES: DATE 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 10CM 84 86 87 87 88 88 93 A 28 15 11 14 21 12 ( 10 ESTIMATED) T -30 01 22 16 -14 -20 06 SOLAR ACTIVITY WAS LOW 7TH AND 9TH OCTOBER AND VERY LOW FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD. THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD AT LEARMONTH (WA) WAS UNSETTLED TO ACTIVE, WITH A SHORT MINOR STORM PERIOD, ON 7TH, AND QUIET TO UNSETTLED GENERALLY AFTER THAT. THERE WERE BRIEF ACTIVE PERIODS ON 10TH-12TH DURING LOCAL NIGHT. IONOSPHERIC F2 CRITICAL FREQUENCIES WERE MOSTLY DEPRESSED BY UP TO 30 PER CENT, EXCEPT FOR 9TH OCTOBER WHEN FREQUENCIES WERE NEAR PREDICTED MONTHLY VALUES. STRONG SPREAD F WAS OBSERVED DURING LOCAL NIGHT 12TH-13TH OCTOBER. FORECAST (14 OCTOBER - 20 OCTOBER) SOLAR: LOW GEOMAGNETIC: QUIET TO UNSETTLED, WITH POSSIBLE ACTIVE PERIODS ON 14 OCTOBER. IONOSPHERIC: NEAR PREDICTED MONTHLY VALUES. COURTESY OF IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES SUMMARY BY PAT VK2JPA ANARTS BROADCAST OFICER ------------------ CLUB NEWS Tamworth The Tamworth Radio Club wishes to advise that the next meeting of the Club will be held on Friday 21st October 1994 in the Soccer Federation Rooms Jewry Street Tamworth at 7.30 pm. All members of the club are requested to attend this meeting. Supplied by Doug Diss VK2TDD A.N.A.R.T.S. ------------ The Australian National Amateur Radio Teleprinter Society advises that after the 40 metre RTTY broadcast has been transmitted each Sunday an edited CW version is transmitted by VK2CTD. This is due to poor propagation as we approach the Sun spot cycle minima. The CW cast lasts just over one hour, it is transmitted at 20 words per minute using a PK232 modem making it very stable CW for anyone wanting to improve their CW skills. Copy it on your own modem or copy it yourself for fun. The frequency and time of transmission is 7025 kHz plus or minus QRM AT 0215 UTC. -- Col Davies VK2CTD, President From the VHF to SHF DX Interest Group ------------------------------------- Special note. The Group's net has a new start time of 15 minutes after the end of the morning broadcast -- not the evening broad- cast. The net uses 146.5 MHz FM, this FM portion runs for approximately 30 minutes and then; Transfers to 144.150 MHz Upper Sideband. - The SSB activity night which is still been held every Tuesday evening 20:00 to 21:00 AEST it is well patronised but certainly would like to see some new stations so let see you there and join in the fun. Stations call on a frequency of 144.100 USB to establish initial contact and then move to a clear frequency on the SSB segment to continue. - The group's next talk night in November will be to start a preamplifier building and testing program. Richard Soulie VK2ARS Publicity Co-ordinator AATC The next general meeting of the A.A.T.C. Inc. is on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 1.00 pm at Chipping Norton -- more details later. The technical lecture on the day will be announced closer to date as it will be a Christmas AATC members bar-b-que end of year function. The printed circuit board workshop open day for A.A.T.C. members only will be held at Bexley on October 30th - the object will be to make a PCB of your choice from a club project or from any magazine. For more information about the A.A.T.C. listen to the net on Tuesday nights from the Liverpool area on 146.625 MHz - approx 19.30 hrs - or watch us on 1250 MHz from our Oakdale repeater any- time. --AATC Publicity Officer Bob Barnes VJ2R HADARC Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club (Inc.) We are inviting people who are interested in ELECTRONICS - AMATEUR RADIO - COMMUNICATIONS and related fields to join our club. Enjoy friendship and gain a very useful knowledge about the electronic age. Meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Mt. Colah Community Centre, Pierre Close Mt. Colah commencing at 8.00 pm. At these meetings, a talk is given on radio, communications or a related subject. In addition to the monthly meeting, a workshop is held on the second Tuesday of each month (currently at the Asquith Church of Christ Hall, Wattle Street, Asquith at 8.00 p.m.). Visitors are most welcome. The club holds a "Net" each Monday evening (8.00 - 9.00 pm) on the Club's repeater, VK2RNS, on 147.250MHz. All amateurs are welcome to join this net. The Club conducts training classes and holds examinations for the Amateur Operator's Certificate of Proficiency (a prerequisite for holding an amateur station licence). These classes enjoy a very good success rate for training operators for their certificate. For further information, contact the Club Publicity Officer: Raymond Tooby (02) 489 3357 or write to the Club at: PO Box 362, Hornsby, NSW 2077 Waverley Amateur Radio Society ------------------------------ The next meeting of the Waverley Amateur Radio Society will be held on Wednesday, 19th October at 7.00 pm. The venue is the club's new premises at Rose Bay Scout Hall Vickery Avenue Rose Bay Vickery Avenue is off New South Head Road near the Rose Bay RSL Club. The main purpose of the meeting will be to plan developments for the new premises. Existing members and all interested in Amateur Radio are invited to attend. Don't forget that the meeting will be at the new shack at:- Rose Bay Scout Hall, Vickery Avenue, Rose Bay. Simon Buxton, VK2EII, Publicity Officer Chifley The Chifley A.R.C. will be holding a general meeting for all club members and visitors. The meeting will commence at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday 29th of October 1994. Also Saturday 29th of October 1994 is the final day to inform the committee of your intention to attend the club picnic at NURRANGINGY reserve Doonside on Sunday 20th of November 1994. The club rooms are located at the Good Shepherd School, Hyatts Road Plumpton. Brett Hazell VK2CBH Publicity Officer Summerland Amateur Radio Club News ---------------------------------- (1) Four candidates sat for the amateur radio examination last Sunday - and four candidates passed - congratulations to all concerned. (2) JOTA is upon us this weekend and we have 14 members operating 8 scout radio stations. (3) November 6th, at 2pm, we have a special general meeting to consider changes to club by-laws, re associate membership, and to rationalise the club membership fee structure. All members are urged to attend and to voice their opinion. (4) The Summerland Computer Expo is organised for Saturday 26th November at the Lismore City Hall. Many commercial displays and demonstrations of the latest in computers and electronics, bring and buy tables, heaps of bargains, plenty of eye-openers and wallet-openers, amateur stations operating, refreshments. Admission $2 or $4 per family, 9-30 am to 4-30 pm. Be there. Graeme VK2GJ Publicity Officer Central Coast Members and visitors are invited to attend the next meeting of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club to be held next Friday, the 21st October. The meeting will be a workshop and the topic will be "Producing an ATV news segment". Victor Barker VK2TV will conduct the workshop where he will explain and demonstrate the procedures and techniques for television production. Attendees will participate in recording an actual news segment to be televised in Sydney and surrounding areas including the Central Coast. The workshop will commence at 8.00 pm next Friday, the 21st October, in the Clubrooms, Dandaloo St., Kariong. The next business meeting of the club will be held on Friday 4th November also to be held at 8.00 pm in the Clubrooms, Dandaloo St., Kariong. John Pogson VK2DBC Lecture Organiser Manly Warringah The Manly-Warringah Radio Society has been providing communication facilities for the Jamboree on the Air from Narrabeen Lakeside Park on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The club's lecture night this week will feature a talk on sharks by John West (no, not that John West!). Doors open at 7:30pm for an 8pm start. The club meets every Wednesday night at the Warringah Volunteer Services Centre, Terrey Hills. Business meetings are on the second Wednesday, and lectures on the third Wednesday of the month, with informal get-togethers on other meeting nights. Visitors are always welcome. Call in on the club's two metre repeater on 146.875 MHz, or phone the club any Wednesday evening on 450-1746. --Richard Murnane VK2SKY, Publicity Officer Westlakes Westlakes Amateur Radio Club will hold a Field Day at the club grounds at Teralba on Sunday 30th October. Highlights of the day include: -- Auction of club equipment -- fun contests for adults and kids -- commercial and trade displays -- private radio sales -- trading by tailgaters -- free tea and coffee all day Dine from the Westlakes barbecue at bargain prices. The gates open at 10am. The date again: Sunday 30th October at Westlakes Amateur Radio Club, York Street Teralba. Great Lakes The Great Lakes Amateur Radio Club at its September meeting agreed to a request from the newly formed Kempsey Amateur Radio Club to modify the VK2RGL relay of the WIA Sunday broadcast so as to ex- tend automatic relay through that club's repeaters for the benefit of local and visiting amateurs. This extension of the relay system is seen as desirable and offering a better quality service than would be obtained from the interception of the HF transmission. Consideration was also given to a proposal for an increase in the packet user baud rate to 4,800 bauds to cope with the ever- increasing demand for access to the packet system. However, it is recognised that this would require a changeover synchronised with all other BBS and repeater operations in the region, or else a duplication of facilities to permit both 1200 and 4800 baud operation with the consequent costs involved. As far as this club is concerned the restriction of user access to its digipeater is aggravated by the number of BBS services which use it for forwarding purposes, couples with the volume of messages of questionable value forwarded, many of them originating from and intended for overseas addresses and of no local relevance. There appears to be a need for a rationalisation of the forwarding process on the daily change principle, if digipeaters in key posi- tions, that's VK2RGL, are not to be overwhelmed. --Stan Ellis VK2DDL Coming events Now, a summary of upcoming events of interest to members and other Radio Amateurs ... VHF to SHF Group net on 146.5 MHz FM. . .after the morning cast 2nd Annual South Australia Technical Symposium. . . . . .Monday Hunter WICEN meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Monday Sydney South WICEN meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuesday VHF to SHF DX Group activity night on 144.1 MHz USB . . Tuesday Waverley ARC meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wednesday Manly-Warringah Radio Society lecture night . . . . . Wednesday Tamworth ARC Annual General Meeting . . . . . . . . . . .Friday Central Coast ARC meeting and ATV Workshop. . . . . . . .Friday Hawkesbury Classic Paddle (WICEN) . . . . . . . Saturday-Sunday Hornsby and District ARC meeting . . . . . . . . . .25 October Chifley ARC meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 October CQ WW DX phone contest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29-30 October WICEN Coordinators Conference at Bathurst . . . . 29-30 October Australian ATV Club PCB Open Day. . . . . . . . . . .30 October Westlakes Field Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 October Do you have an event you'd like publicised on the weekly broad- cast? If so, then please send details to the Divisional Broadcast Officer, Michael Corbin VK2PFQ, by phone on (02) 626- 9288, or by fax on (02) 626-6066. Items can also be forwarded to the Divisional Office. ----------------------------------------------------------------- VK2WI Broadcast, 16th October 1994. Copyright 1994 WIA (NSW) & contributors. Material may be used elsewhere if the source is acknowledged.