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Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 2 February 2020
(Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using)
VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2020
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to the the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 2nd February 2020. This broadcast is brought to you by VK7WI, and read today
by Peter, VK7PD.
This broadcast utilises repeaters around VK7 and the following HF rebroadcast stations:
On 3.670 MHz by Any takers
On 7.140 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 14.130 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE
On 28.525 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD
On DMR Talk Group 5 and D-Star Reflector 091 by Clayton, VK7ZCR
This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in the North and VK7RTC in the South.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
RAOTC News
Monthly Broadcast for February 2020
That's right, tomorrow for those of you listening on Sunday. This month the trial DMR airings will continue at 11.00 AEST on ta
lk group 5 with an extra broadcast on Wednesday at 20.00 hours.
A report on Solar activity suggests that solar cycle should peak in 2025 and be similar in size to cycle 24.
The main feature is a historical article entitled A Tasmanian Pioneer in the Wonderful World of Wireless originally written by
the father of amateur radio in Tasmania Pop Medhurst VK7AH. He was born in England and led an amazing life in the military, tel
egraphy and wireless telegraphy both in the UK and then in Tasmania following his immigration in 1891; this included some prest
igious achievements with radio contacts to the Royal Navy.
He later founded the company ˜Medhurst and Sons", electrical wholesalers retailers and contractors which many of us can remembe
r.
There,s a humorous skit on the character ˜Bill BlitheringtwitÖ describing how not to smuggle home radio gear away from the XYL'
s gaze.
As usual this will all go to air in VK7 on the first Monday in the month at 7:30pm local time over the VK7RAA/RTC state-wide ne
twork and again at about 8:30pm as a telecast on VK7AX ˜Spectrum Tasmania" via the BATC members stream and in the Ulverstone ar
ea on 445.50MHz DATV.
The date this month happens to be February 3rd. Call backs will follow on both networks. Please call in if you are able.
(73, Peter, VK7PD)
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Records News
VK7 Microwave Records Tumble
On Friday the 31st of January, a large tropo opening was predicted to form between VK7 and ZL. Much discussion was had in the w
eek beforehand and several stations decided to try and participate.
Due to the high fire danger and subsequent closure, Mt Wellington was ruled out as a possible spot to operate. Murray VK7ZMS, R
ichard VK7ZBX and Hayden VK7HH set off to operate from One Tree Hill near Kingston whilst Rex VK7MO operated from home, hoping
to work Roger ZL3RC on 10 GHz.
We arrived on site shortly after 6am local time and commenced setting up and the first contact was made to Nick ZL1IU on 2m at
5/5 by Murray. Richard then worked Nick on 70cm at 5/1 both ways. Murray also worked Nick on 432. This is Murray's first contac
ts to ZL on 2m and 70cm. Congratulations Murray!
Then at 20:08 UTC, Rex worked Nick 5/6 on 1296 MHz, the first contact between VK7 and ZL on 23cm and a new state record at 2432
.6km settling a long held frustration having not worked back in 2006 when a similar opening occurred.
Then, 9 mins later at 20:17 UTC, Hayden worked Nick 4/1 both ways on 1296 from his remote site, the 2nd contact between VK7 and
ZL on 23cm and a new National and State record at 2458.9km. This breaks the current National Record which was set in 1988 betw
een VK3 and 6 by 3.8km.
Later contacts were made on 2m with varying signal strengths throughout the morning to ZL1SWW, ZL1TPH and ZL3RC. We thank all t
he stations who participated in giving it a real go on this opening. Unfortunately, despite Hepburn predictions, conditions wer
e not strong enough for any other bands above 1296, despite repeated attempts.
(73, Hayden VK7HH)
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Contest News
Summer VHF/UHF Field Day
The Summer VHF/UHF Field Day was last weekend and thanks to all who participated. There was some great contacts with the mainla
nd on 6m during the day along with local contacts.
This is a reminder to please put your log in to the contest manager before midnight EADST, Monday 3 February 2020. That's Tomor
row!
(73, Richard, VK7ZBX)
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QSL NEWS
Report from Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
As mentioned over several broadcasts, Herman VK7HW has last week delivered any long stored and unclaimed QSL Cards to the WIA H
ead Office for archiving.
The current list of Cards held is included in the email version of the broadcast.
Please contact Herman if you can assist in delivery of any of the cards in your area.
If you have any questions re QSL cards, please contact Herman by email vk7bureau(at)wia.org.au
(73, Herman, VK7HW, WIA Manager VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau)
------------------ --------------------------
AA, AAA, AB, ABY, AL, AM, AP, AV
BA, BM, BO, BP
CH, CJ, CV, CX
DD, DG, DK, DW, DX
EK
FALX, FAZZ, FG, FGGT, FJFJ, FLAR, FOTR, FTAS
GA, GH, GL, GM, GW, GZ
HCH, HCK, HRW, HVK, HZ
IK, IS
JB, JJ, JJJ, JON, JP, JW
KBA, KD, KJ, KK, KRJ, KX
LAZ, LCW, LDH, LF, LH, LM, LW
MAG, MBD, MBP, MD(dm), ME, MHZ, MI, ML
NA, NET, NMH, NRF, NSE, NTE, NWQ
OK, OR, OT
PAL, PSJ, PW
RG
SV
TCE, TED, TK, TR, TU, TX
VAC, VAZ, VIP, VKV, VR, VZ
WA, WC, WLH, WT
XDM
YAD
ZA, ZJJ, ZM, ZT, ZX, ZZ
-------------------------------------------------------------------
News from the North
SOTA and WWFF Parks and Reserves Group
Meeting times are from 10:30am on Monday and Friday At Glebe Gardens Cafe, 166 Henry St, Launceston.
For more details contact Al on Mobile: 0417 354 410.
(73, Al, VK7AN)
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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
www.ntarc.net
Here we are, the start of February and one month of 2020 is already down and out. The fires are still raging in numerous locati
ons not only across the mainland but also now in parts of Tasmania. Not only has the year gotten off to a horrendous start but
if you have paid any attention at all to your calendar, you will probably have noted that this is a leap year. That of course m
eans that we have 29 days in February. In turn that means that the 2020 fire season is one day longer. Yikes!
With that said I will start our weekly news segment with an open invitation to all amateurs around the State and any technicall
y inclined person that may listen to the weekly broadcast. NTARC is having a SHACK clearance auction on Saturday 29th February
at the NTARC Club rooms, Archer Street Rocherlea – we thought we might as well use that extra day for something more enjoyabl
e than more fire alerts. There are many items available and all have been stowed in our big hall for some time. Many members ha
ve had the opportunity over the last week to view them.
If you are interested but havenâ€Öt had occasion to visit the club rooms lately, the items can be viewed at each Monday and Fri
day coffee mornings and from 10.00 am on the day of the auction. The auction will commence at noon and I understand our auction
eer on the day will be Nic VK7BEE.
So why not pop into the club room on coffee mornings or just roll up on the day of the auction and have wander around. You neve
r know what might take your fancy.
As our Technical sessions are back in full swing for 2020 I will hand over to Idris VK7ZIR to provide a rundown of the Technica
l session held last Wednesday 29th January.
“On a warm Wednesday evening, there was almost standing room only for the Technical Session. Our first Show & Tell exhibit wa
s from Peter VK7KPC, who brought along a British PRC-350 Clansman man-pack radio. Worn on a soldier's back, the radio is in two
parts; the transceiver is the upper half, and the battery pack is the lower half, clipped together. Power is from either NiCad
or dry cells. Frequency range is from 30 to 70 MHz at 2W output, so good for 6 metres. The unit was complete with telephone ty
pe hand piece and mobile whip antenna. The providence of the radio is unknown, but it saw service in the time of the Falklands
conflict, or maybe Northern Ireland. Who knows! Thanks Peter.
Next up was an AWA FP-1 Forestphone from Idris VK7ZIR. These portable radios were from the mid-1960s when AWA was asked by the
then Forests Commission of Victoria to design a solid state replacement for the current valve radios it used in vehicles and in
portable situations. This set had to be of similar capabilities but more powerful, with an output power of about 10 to 12W, co
mpared with 1.5 to 2W in the previous units. A crystal controlled single frequency in the 2 to 5MHz range was required, togethe
r with provision for different antennas to be used. So there was a switchable SO239 type socket and a long wire terminal instal
led. Power was applied from any source through a Jones type connecter. An important feature of the set is that its DC supply ra
ils are isolated from the chassis, so that it can cope with both positive earth and negative earth vehicles, both types being p
roduced at the time. These HF sets were prevalent up until the 1970s, when VHF comms took over. A nice clean set with all parts
intact and a captive microphone contained in the lid. Thanks Idris.
We welcomed member James from the East coast, who has just completed his Standard licence exam and has chosen callsign VK7HJB.
Still waiting for the ACMA to do their bit, but he should be on the air soon on HF. Please make him welcome when you hear him c
alling. There was much discussion about antennas and setting up his station with Peter VK7PD and others.
The discussion table was well attended and many topics were covered, lubricated with coffee and treats. Thanks to Bernie VK7BR
for providing his delectable sandwiches. We always eat well on these nights! Mark VK7KMA and others were in conference catching
up about the local radio stations.
It was rather late when we pulled stumps but another enjoyable evening.
73, Idris VK7ZIR
2020 Membership renewals - a big thank you to all those members who have paid their 2020 subs. To those that as yet havenâ€Öt r
enewed just a further reminder that your 2019 membership expired on 31 December and you are now listed on the membership regist
er as an unfinancial member. Your status will stay that way until you have renewed your membership or until 30 June when your n
ame will be removed from the membership register. After that date you will need to apply to join to enjoy the benefits of NTARC
membership.
A reminder notice will be forwarded to those handful of members who have yet to renew in coming days. In case you have forgotte
n, NTARCâ€Ös 2020 membership fees are just $35.00 for a Full voting member and $5 additional for each Family member that the vo
ting member wishes to add to his or her primary membership.
As all listeners must be aware, the replacement of aging legacy equipment along with other ongoing care and maintenance of our
repeater systems does not come cheap. For you to be able to continue to enjoy this aspect of your hobby and for NTARC to contin
ue to provide this great network, we need your support now.
If you are not a member of NTARC please consider joining. If you have been a member in the past but have let that membership la
pse for any reason, please consider rejoining. In either case, an application form can be found at our Club room so why not pop
into the club on a Monday or Friday, during coffee hours and collect an application. You will be made most welcome.
If club membership is not your cup of tea, we fully understand. In those circumstances, perhaps you might care to make a direct
donation to our repeater fund, rather than pay a yearly subscription. If so, we would be happy to receive your contribution, e
ither in person at a club meeting or coffee morning, or by post to PO BOX 275 Launceston 7250. Any donation will gladly be acce
pted. All donations will be officially receipted and noted accordingly against the repeater project.
Coming events
Technical session The next session will be on Wednesday 5th February and will commence at the usual time of 7.30 pm, running t
hrough to 10.30 pm, at the Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea. Pop in catch up with fellow amateurs, bring along something that
you are currently building or just ask questions? You might also be able to answer some from other attendees. That is what the
evenings are all about, anything of a technical or near-technical nature, however defined, is fair game. Endless tea and coffe
e along with biscuits is available for a small gold coin donation.
For all you techo night attendees, early warning that you need to note your diaries that there will be no Technical session on
Wednesday 12th February, due to our AGM being held that evening, but we do hope to see you at the AGM..
February Annual General meeting the Annual General Meeting of NTARC will take place on Wednesday 12th February 2020 at the NTAR
C Club Rooms, Rocherlea Scout Hall, Archer Street Rocherlea commencing at 19:30 hours (7.30 pm).
Business at the AGM will consist of confirmation of the Minutes of the 2019 AGM, then reception and consideration of reports fr
om the Committee, including the Treasurer's report and reports from our various managers and coordinators. This will be followe
d by the election of officer bearers and committee person for 2020. The meeting will then consider any item of special business
for which the requisite notice has been received by the closing date of 6th February.
All current office holder and committee positions fall vacant at the AGM. Nominations for each office bearer and the Committee
member are invited and should be made in writing to the Secretary, along with the signatures of the Nominator, Seconder and tha
t of the member nominated. Appointments will also be required to the positions of Internal Auditor and Public Officer.
Please note that for your convenience a nomination form is now available from the NTARC club room. Please ensure that the compl
eted nomination form is returned to the Secretary by COB 6th February 2020 at the following address: The Secretary, NTARC Inc.
PO Box 275 Launceston Tas 7250 or it can be handed to the Secretary in a sealed envelope at either coffee mornings.
Members are reminded that they will need to have paid their 2020 renewal subscription before the meeting commences at 19:30 hou
rs (7.30 pm) to be able to vote at the Annual General meeting. Similarly, they will need to have paid their 2020 subscription b
efore they can be nominated or nominate or second someone for office, as only financial members can exercise those privileges.
A further reminder to all those that are required to write reports that time is marching on, so please start to think about it
and put pen to paper. It would be appreciated if a hard copy of your report could be sent to the following email; ntarc.emails@
gmail.com by Monday 10th February to assist in preparing the necessary paper work for the AGM.
The AGM will be followed by the February General meeting.
Shack clearance auction – Saturday 29th February. Viewing from 10.00 am. Auction to commence at noon.
Coffee mornings are normally held every Monday and Friday in the NTARC Club rooms and are now in full swing. Catch up time is f
rom 10.00 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all.
Please remember that aside from the good company, freely offered philosophical views, maybe less than expert political analysis
, tall tales and funny stories and genuinely good fare on offer, these coffee events are normally a good opportunity to collect
your QSL cards. Currently we have no cards awaiting collection but we are waiting on delivery, as soon as they arrive the rele
vant members will be notified.
As I remind all every week, please demonstrate your appreciation of all the effort that goes into operating the club and its fa
cilities and the other services we provide, by joining us at these sessions, enjoying the company, coffee and the cake and leav
ing a gold coin or two, or even a small bank note, in the jar to assist in our on-going operations. I donâ€Öt know of any other
venue in Launceston, or further afield for that matter, where you can get endless coffee, tea and eats for a donation of this
miniscule amount.
Finally
A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, then please email them
to the following
address ntarc.emails @ gmail.com
However, it would be appreciated if any news could be sent no later than 17:00 hours on the Friday prior to broadcast, to allow
its timely insertion into the NTARC segment.
That gives all a chance to get the NTARC segment together and off to Hobart in time for collation into the VK7 Broadcast. Your
continued cooperation in this regard will be gratefully appreciated.
As always I look forward to seeing you at Rocherlea.
(73, Yvonne VK7FYMX, Secretary NTARC Inc)
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
https://www.reast.asn.au/
REAST AGM
The REAST AGM is fast approaching and will be held at the club rooms on Sunday 16th Feb at 11:00AM, this will be followed by a
free BBQ for members.
As we no longer have a secure members section on the REAST website, any members wishing to have a copy of the previous AGM minu
tes or the financial report being presented at the upcoming AGM, simply need to contact the secretary to have a copy emailed ou
t to them.
Nominations for committee members and Ex Officio roles are still open. Please consider contributing to the running of the club
by nominating for a position. Ex Officio roles do not require a formal nomination as they are appointed at the AGM, just an ema
il to the secretary indicating your interest to participate is all that is required.
--------------------------------------
REAST memberships subscriptions.
Thank you to all who have already paid your renewals and returned renewal forms. 2020 membership cards for financial members wi
ll be available from the clubrooms at the AGM, or can be picked up from the clubrooms anytime thereafter. A reminder to those w
ho are yet to renew. Please try to do this prior to the AGM as unfinancial members are of course, ineligible to vote, or be con
sidered for a position within the club.
(Murray Southwell, VK7ZMS, REAST Secretary)
-------------------------------
DATV Experimenter's Night Wrap-Up
We started the night in the studio with Hayden VK7HH and his plans for Friday 31/01/20 and attempts to make VK7 - ZL contacts o
n 2.4 & 3.4GHz. Thanks Hayden.
Justin then showed his recent project of a Lloyd Butler VK5BR Noise Cancelling system. Justin ran through the circuit which was
built into a recent resource tip shop purchase of a ex-HEC current transducer.
Next was a look at a 55W 1296GHz amplifier that Justin is building into a box with exciter and 12 to 24VDC up convertor. Expect
some strong signals from VK7TW soon on 1296!
We then moved to Glen Aldis who showed us a recently restored 1930's AWA Signal Generator. This is a beautiful unit with large
bakelite rotary dial and controls. Glen came up to the club to measure the output with a digital frequency counter. It wasn't t
hat far off. Thanks Glen.
We did a promo for our DATV Night on 12 Feb when we will have Peter Parker VK3YE dropping into the studio to give a talk on som
e interesting QRP project he is working on.
We finished off in the studio with a promo for the REAST AGM and WIA Conference.
Glen then gave a guided tour of his new Hyundai electric car which was very impressive.
In the clubrooms, Ron was showing his very impressive videos of his automated flights with his Radio Controlled plan up at Math
inna, very impressive Ron!
We will have a DATV Experimenter's Night this week on Wednesday 5/2/20 and we go out on RF on 445.5MHz DVB-T 7MHz Standard Defi
nition. So, if you have a TV, Set-top box or USB DTV Dongle that you can tune and scan 445.5MHz and you can see the Queens Doma
in, then you have a good chance of receiving the DATV Experimenter's Night Signal. Look out for VK7OTC. We also stream the nigh
ts on the REAST YouTube channel and Facebook.
https://www.reast.asn.au/special-interest-groups/amateur-tv/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC64To_tq1E7PfK1pqtX_vRw/
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
We get underway with the DATV Experimenter's Night from 7:30pm. See you there.
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
SOTA Group - Monday and Friday Coffee Sessions from 10:30am at Glebe Gardens Cafe 166 Henry St, Launceston
NTARC - Monday and Friday Coffee Sessions from 10am, Technical Sessions on Wednesdays from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm in the clubrooms
Archer Street, Rocherlea, Launceston.
REAST - Afternoon group from Noon then Wednesday Night Experimenters Group from 1930 in the Queens Domain clubrooms.
REAST - MICROWAVE QSO Party - following after the Sunday broadcast on 1296.15 MHz FM.
Events:
NTARC - 12 February 2020 - NTARC AGM - Club Rooms, Archer Street Rocherlea commencing from 7.30 pm
REAST - 16 February - AGM from 11am followed by a free BBQ for members - Domain Clubrooms, Queen's Domain.
NTARC - 29 February - SHACK clearance auction at the NTARC Club rooms, Archer Street Rocherlea - Viewing from 10.00 am. Auction
to commence at noon.
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A reminder to those people rostered for next week's broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7RI
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG
80m: VK7ALH
40m: Any Takers
20m: Any Takers
10m: VK7TPE
DMR: Talk Group 5 and
D-Star: Reflector 091 VK7ZCR
-------------------------------------------------------------
This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in the North and VK7RTC in the South.
Thanks to all people and organisations that assisted with this broadcast.
-------------------------------------------------------------
That concludes our VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast for this week.
You have been listening to or have just missed VK7WI. Next week the National WIA news can be heard at 0900 followed by the VK7
Amateur Radio News at 0930 hours.
Items for the broadcast can be emailed to vk7arnews @ gmail.com
Further information about the broadcast can be found at the VK7 Amateur Radio News Groups.IO Group.
https://groups.io/g/vk7arnews
The deadline for items is 21:00 on Friday prior to the Sunday of the broadcast.
VK7WI is now closing but will reopen shortly for callbacks and relay reports. Callbacks will be taken on the frequency to which
you are listening. Relay stations will use their own callsigns during the callback.
>From the VK7 Amateur Radio News, it is 73 from Peter, VK7PD.
(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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