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VK7AX > BCAST 26.02.19 01:49z 389 Lines 26304 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Amateur Radio News 24Feb19
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VK7AX
Sent: 190226/0146Z @:VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC #:5888 [Ulverstone] $:5888_VK7AX
From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : BCAST@WW
Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 24 February 2019
(Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using)
VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 24 February 2019
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Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 24th of February 2019. This broadcast is brought to you by VK7WI, and read today by Idris, VK7ZIR.
This broadcast utilises repeaters around VK7 and the following HF rebroadcast stations:
On 3.670 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD
On 7.140 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 14.130 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE
On 28.525 MHz by Tony, VK7VKT
Australia wide on Talk Group 3809, user activated, VK7 News only from 0930 - 1000 by Clayton, VK7ZCR
This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RTC in the South and VK7RAA in the North.
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VK7 QSL News
QSL Update
Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
The first major delivery of QSL Cards for 2019 was received from the WIA office earlier this month. Several cards (not listed) have already been delivered to NTARC, SOTA Group, mailed out or , on an opportunity basis, delivered to various QTHs as Herman happened to be in the vicinity.
More cards will be mailed out during the next week or so where prior arrangements have been made. Herman says that unless requested otherwise, If there are only 1 or 2 cards for a station, Herman intends to hold those cards until there are enough to make a mail out more cost effective.
If you have any questions about QSL Cards being held, Herman can be contacted by
email vk7bureau(at)wia.org.au
(73 de Herman WIA Manager VK7Inwards QSL Bureau)
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AAW, ABY, AD, AG, AHT, AM, AP
BB, BOI
CC, COW
DD, DG, DW, DZ
EE, EK
FGGT, FGVL, FLAR, FRJG
GG, GK, GM
HCK, HRS, HVK
JB, JDX, JGD, JJ , JJJ, JON
KO, KPC, KT
LAZ, LH, LLJ
MBD, MD, MHZ, MJ, MKZ, MO
NC, NET, NF, NRF, NSE, NWQ, NWT
OB
RN
TAZ, TCE, TS, TZ
VAZ, VH, VR, VZ
WC, WJ
ZE, ZGK, ZX
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Event NEWS
Meet The Voice 2019
http://meetthevoice.org/
REMINDER: Meet the Voice 2019 will be held on March 23rd and 24th at the Ross Recreation Grounds. Camping is allowed onsite for $10 per person for Saturday night, with access to the kitchen / bathroom facilities.
As usual, the main event will be on Sunday 24th, including the prestigious Sewing Circle Awards Presentation!
Attendees are encouraged to participate in a car boot sale, and expressions of interest for demonstrations / presentations are being requested. Email Dani at vk7freq @ gmail.com if you would like to share a demo/presentation. Please remember that we have the recreation grounds to ourselves, meaning we will have plenty of flat outdoors space to use!
Attendance on Sunday is $5 at the door, which helps cover the expenses of the event, and will get you a ticket into the raffle.
Enquiries can be made to Dani, vk7freq @ gmail.com.
(73, Dani, VK7FREQ)
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH WEST
NORTH WEST CHAT AND SHOW GROUP
The fist gathering of the group is going ahead on March 2nd starting at 2pm. Anyone that is radio minded is welcome to visit. Drop in is from 2 until 5 pm and you dont have to be a member of a club. It is a non-club thing for amateurs in general, from anywhere, and their partners, to meet and chat. It is hoped it is successful and will therefore continue. If you have anything to show in the way of a project or subject to discuss it will be welcome.
Location is the Penguin Sports Centre, Ironcliffe Road, Penguin.
It would be appreciated if you could supply a small plate of goodies for afternoon tea. I will supply Tea and Coffee.
It is planned for us to monitor channel 50 - 2mtrs to give directions to anyone requiring them.
My phone is 0417 392 583. If you have any questions.
Cheers from Shirley, VK7HSC
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North West Tas. Radio & TV Group (NWTR&TVG)
Sheffield Horse Endurance Ride
The Club has been invited to again provide comms for the 2019 Sheffield Horse Endurance Ride.
Initially the Ride was scheduled for 16th. March. 2019, however other events are also to take place on that day.
Organizers have decided to change the date to 11th. May 2019.
We have 6-8 personal offering their assistance for the comms for this event.
One or two extra would be good, so if anyone is interested in helping out on 11th. May, please let Roger VK7ARN or Dave VK7DC know.
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Club Web Page Update
The Club's Web Page has been recently updated to now include the status of many services and applications provided for the Members and all amateur radio operators.
It includes links to Ui-View Web page stats and stations utilizing packet, status of Allstar Nodes plus VKlink nodes & Echolink.
Shortly we will be including links and information on DMR and similar nodes.
Relay of WIA National and VK7 Amateur Radio News.
In addition to the relay of this broadcast and WIA National news on Voice Repeaters VK7RDR, VK7RTV and VK7RAC, the broadcasts can be heard on Digital ATV in Ulverstone on 446.50Mhz, and a video stream by VK7AX at the address given in the text edition of this broadcast. https://batc.org.uk/live/vk7ax
Whilst we can not bring you live video of the announcers, the accompanying video depicts documentaries of many places within VK7 and or JOTA activity within the N/West.
Sometimes you you can relive a visit to the Campbell Town Ham Fest in 1966 courtesy of Peter VK7PD.
The text edition of both broadcasts is also exported to the Packet Radio Network world wide via FBB BBS and a Jnos Gateway (or wormhole as they were known).
YES ! Packet is still alive and has a world wide resurgence.
So why not check out the club's web page and see what is available.
(73 until next time, Tony VK7AX - Club News Officer)
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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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BBQ at Lilydale Falls.
As most Amateurs in the North will be aware, it is traditional to have a BBQ in early Autumn at Lilydale Falls. This year it will be held a little earlier, on this Thursday 28th of February. Hopefully it will be a little warmer than in previous years. All interested Amateurs, radio enthusiasts, their families and friends are invited to attend. In recent years this has become a non-club event with attendees coming from all corners of the state and the occasional Main-lander. The event is timed to start about 4.00PM and cooking is generally underway by 5.00.
There are two free electric BBQs onsite sponsored by the council, but as the turn up is often well attended, it may be prudent to bring your own portable stove to prevent waiting or over-crowding. There are toilets and play equipment on site as well as a moderate amount of parking. The site is also frequented by tourists with their campers & motor-homes so early turn-up is suggested. Someone is usually about from 3.00PM, so come and have a chat or go for a walk to the falls before dinner. The area and surrounds are quite photogenic at this time of year. Bring your camera and capture the essence of rural Tassie while you are here. Please B.Y.O. everything, including chairs etc, and don't forget it can cool off rather quickly as the sun sets. Lilydale Falls Park is situated about 2 kilometres north of the town on the Lilydale main road "B81". Bring a few nibbles to share, a bottle of wine and enjoy the evening.
See you all there, Peter, VK7PL
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YOU ARE LISTENING TO VK7WI AND THIS IS THE VK7
AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
We had a good attendance at our coffee morning this Friday, with the star attraction again being Ebenezer, aka Allan VK7AT, keeping us all amused with his jokes. I really dont know where he finds such a prolific joke repertoire to keep us all so amused, not only on our twice weekly coffee mornings but also when he backs up to entertain the Wednesday night technical session. What is absolutely amazing is that he never seems to repeat any. Im sure he must sit up most nights devouring many joke books to find new material. If you havent seen and heard him in action, you really should get along to a club function to take in the performance. I guarantee that you will go home sore-ribbed from laughter and with a brighter outlook than that with which you arrived.
VK7JG Repeater Interference update – We hand over now to Tony VK7YBG, our Northern Repeater Officer, to bring you up to date on our recent interference problem;
“As most Amateurs would have noticed on VK7RJG 70 cms there has been interference for a couple of months, a VERY annoying 2 second burst of noise a whisker under every 2 minutes. Sometimes it would be VERY strong, sometimes it would vary in strength or disappear altogether.
Initially Peter Dowde VK7PD and I triangulated it to the Murphy St Invermay area, so I took the kids for a drive and we spent quite a bit of time trying to locate it there, unsuccessfully as the signal temporarily disappeared. Neil VK7NT subsequently found the signal was quite strong at Tailrace Park and with the beam we found the signal would sometimes be stronger with the receive antenna vertically polarised and sometimes Horizontal, very frustrating indeed.
We then got a beam heading on the surge tank atop Trevallyn but once up there we couldnt hear it so I decided to enlist the help of Jason VK7ZJA as he is well known for being an experienced signal hunter. With Jason on the job we retraced the search steps and ended up on an access road to the surge tank. We both found the signal was coming from one of a couple of houses but given they were on an internal driveway, we halted the hunt to get advice on property access.
Peter VK7PD and I then continued the hunt and found the signal was coming from a particular address but no-one was home, Peter returned later and made contact with the property owner and with his usual diplomacy, he gained permission for us to do a search.
When Peter and I returned we found the signal source was coming from a car parked in the garage but the owner was away so we would have to wait a week to finally get it sorted. Once the owner returned we met up with him, explained the situation and he was very helpful. He dismantled the dashboard so we could inspect the unit and it turned out to be a security alarm device meant for the Chinese domestic market. It was transmitting a status to the key fob with monotonous regularity.
The problematic part of the signal was that it was wide and on 431.545. This allowed it to get into VK7RJG 70 quite well so the alarm unit was removed. Fortunately I had a local stock unit of the same brand but operating within the Australian LIPD allocation. We fitted this to keep the car secure while I see if I can modify the original unit to work in the 433MHz Lipid band where it belongs.
Thanks go to Peter VK7PD, Jason VK7ZJA and Neil VK7NT for their field work, Tabitha and Sam for their patience while being dragged about the place hunting for it and to anyone else who helped out…
Tony VK7YBG.”
On behalf of the NTARC Committee and members, and indeed other amateurs who utilize this repeater, we extend a huge thank you to Tony, Jason and Peter for their ongoing dedication in resolving this problem. It hasnt been an easy task but they got there in the end. A job well done.
In case you are wondering and from an earlier interim report provided to the Committee, I can add a little to Tonys report. The mysterious disappearance of the offending signal from the Invermay area, just when the team were getting so close and then its reappearance at Trevallyn, coincided with the vehicles owner moving house between those suburbs. I also understand that a garage door may have been playing some role in reflecting the signal, depending upon its being open or closed, adding to the complexity of finding the transmitter. Nobody would normally expect all that to be happening but it certainly shows that dedication and perseverance is required when solving these interference issues.
Technical session round up – Once again, its over to Idris VK7ZIR to give you a rundown of last Wednesday nights activities;
“A nice cool evening brought a good attendance for this evenings session.
While it was still light, Peter VK7KPC set up a tripod on the lawn outside, and proceeded to tune a dual band Yagi with his very nice RigExpert analyser.
Ross VK7ALH brought in yet another piece of vintage equipment in his collection. This is a resistance and capacitance meter and installation tester, most likely used in an automotive workshop. It incorporated a “magic eye” indicator and a “nulling” globe. The interesting feature of this instrument was the method by which it was connected to the mains power supply. On the back panel was a bayonet socket, the type you would usually plug a light globe into! This was from the days when there were not many power points provided, because your power bill was based on how many you had. Power was therefore fed from the light sockets by many and varied means, including extension cords with a lighting plug on each end and no earth. Double adapters for light sockets were also available. Very dangerous, but there were very few regulations back then. Thanks for that Ross.
The “Computer Club” consisting of Kevin VK7KJL, Simon VK7FSRM and new friend Brandon were having fun installing Skywave Linux. This is a Linux distribution with Amateur Radio features. Things werent going too well, so it will have to wait until next Wednesday evening before we can report on the results and merit of this distribution. Keep persevering boys!
André VK7ZAB showed us a “DC mini UPS”, which is a very compact Uninterruptable Power Supply, not much bigger than a normal wall socket plug pack. This one from Power Shield was rated 12V at 1.5A and backed up by an internal Lithium-ion Battery. He will be using it in the house roof for a small router and to power an outdoor IP camera. It should operate for nearly an hour. Thanks André.
Peter VK7PD brought in his new 2.4 GHz Bulgarian transverter, and a 2.4GHz 30 watt linear amplifier. The linear amplifier was built on a magnificent gold plated substrate which was admired by all. Peter was also discussing the building of a 23cm Yagi antenna for the Club. Onya Peter.
Meanwhile Ross had moved into the Electronics Workshop to modify a power supply for our demonstration AM transmitter, the one acquired from the estate of our late and much missed member Steve Ferris VK7BI (SK). A new socket was fitted to the transmitter to match the power supply feeder. More modifications are needed on the transmitter itself. A work in progress, but coming along well.
To round off the evening, there was a viewing of at TX Factor episode on the big TV in the hall, much enjoyed by the audience.
Thats all folks, until next week.”
Thanks Idris for that update and great to see the good attendance continuing at these sessions. Actually, the OM is threatening to make the 80 kms round trip to attend this coming week.
Mug Order – a number of members have recently requested personalized coffee mugs. We have therefore to place another order. If you are interested in having your own personalized mug which shows the Club logo on one side and your name and call sign on the opposite side, then please contact our Treasurer André.
André can be contacted by email treasurer@ntarc.net or at coffee mornings on a Monday and Friday or at the weekly technical sessions. Cost of a personalized mug is $10.00 but we require a minimum total order of 5 to warrant placing the order. If you are not too sure what they look like we suggest you pop into the club on a coffee morning and you will be able to view one.
Coming events
Technical sessions – Wednesday 27 February from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea. As earlier mentioned, these nights are proving very popular so why not pop in catch up with amateurs, bring along something that you are currently building or just ask questions. Endless tea and coffee along with biscuits is available for a small gold coin donation.
March general meeting - Saturday 9th will be a BBQ meeting. We are aware that this a long weekend but have decided to continue with the BBQ and meeting as planned. BBQ to commence at noon, cost $10.00 pp and this covers your lunch and afternoon tea. The meeting will follow at 2.00pm. As always we ask for donations of salads etc to share with others to accompany the meat and donations of cakes, slices and other delights would also be appreciated to share at afternoon tea.
Coffee mornings – A reminder that our twice-weekly coffee sessions are normally held every Monday and Friday commencing at 10.00 am and running through till about noon or longer if members want to linger longer.
Please remember that aside from the good company, freely offered philosophical views, maybe less than expert political analysis, tall tales and genuinely good fare on offer, these coffee events are normally a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards. At the moment we have no cards awaiting collection.
Please demonstrate your appreciation of all the effort that goes into operating the club and its facilities and other services we provide by joining us at these sessions, enjoying the company, coffee and the cake and leaving a gold coin or two, or even a small bank note, in the jar to assist in our on-going operations.
Finally
A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to the weekly roundup, then please email the following address ntarc.emails @ gmail.com
As always I look forward to seeing you at Rocherlea.
(73, Yvonne VK7FYMX, Secretary NTARC Inc)
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YOU ARE LISTENING TO VK7WI AND THIS IS THE VK7
AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
REAST Car Boot Sale - TODAY
Its on Again! REAST is having a radio and electronic car boot sale today - Sunday February 24th from 10am (right after the broadcast) through until 2pm. Like the last car boot sale, there are no fees associated with having a stand, so if you are looking at making some money, or if you are in the market for any items, this will be a great time to come on up!
We have already heard that there will be a few sellers on the day, but there may be many more who are just turning up! Please let us know if you are planning on selling to make sure we have something in next week's broadcast! just email president@reast.asn.au to let us know.
This time around the BBQ will be a BYO affair, well supply the BBQ and you supply your lunch! We will have some sauce and soft drinks in the fridge though (soft drinks are a small fee).
We look forward to seeing you there!
(Sean, VK7FAZE, REAST President)
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REAST Annual General Meeting - Rumours Of Demise Greatly Exaggerated!
At the REAST AGM last Sunday, members were surprised about the silent key announcement of Brian Morgan VK7RR now in Queensland. Perhaps the most shocked was the still very much alive Brian Morgan who was promptly contacted by concerned members.
Unfortunately a bad copy and paste during the AGM note preparations was the cause of this accidental demise.
The REAST Committee unreservedly apologise to Brian VK7RR for this error and for the undue concern that it caused members.
(Ben VK7BEN, REAST Secretary)
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WIRES-X Available in Southern VK7
For those who live in the south would be aware that the link between VK7RAD & VK7RHT was cut some time ago and this has left VK7RHT rather silent. So in an attempt to bring some traffic back to the repeater a Wires-X node has been setup by VK7HSE.
What is Wires-X?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide-coverage_Internet_Repeater_Enhancement_System
Wide-coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System (WIRES) is a de facto standard created by Yaesu designed to link compatible amateur radio repeaters over Voice over IP, allowing any home stations using those repeaters to communicate with each other over VoIP.
WIRES uses DTMF signaling to make a connection over the Internet from a repeater or home station to another WIRES-equipped station that is accessible over the Internet. No proprietary tones or connection formats are used, so any manufacturer's radio (equipped with a DTMF encoding keypad) may be used to bring up the Internet link.
So you can get a list of all active rooms from...
https://www.yaesu.com/jp/en/wires-x/id/active_room.php
To access you'll need a dtmf microphone, all rooms start with a # followed by 5 numbers, and to disconnect just send an *. A voice prompt will tell you the status of the link every 10 minutes, identified as VK7HSE Wires-X.
Please report any issues to vk7hse @ gmail.com or maybe just call on VK7RHT!
(73, Scott, VK7HSE)
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Experimenter's Night Wrap-Up
Julia who is half of Sisters Akousmatica came along to the night with a very interesting French friend who we later found out ran a pirate television station in Paris – WOW! He was very interested in our DATV studio. Julia was very excited as she had just received a radio licence for a radio sound piece that the Sisters are doing in Castlemaine in a couple of weeks. This consists (I think!) of chapters from a recently published book being read as they do “blockies” around Castlemaine.
Sisters Akousmatica is a performative radio art project curated by Australian artist Pip Stafford and French/Australian artist Julia Drouhin, using radio frequencies to support, promote and cultivate womens voices in public space. Good luck Julia and Pip.
http://www.sistersakousmatica.org/
Hayden VK7HH bought along a very nice Agilent power meter and measured the output of Justin's 3.4GHz panel and had at least 200mW so good power to work with. We tried to peak the receive chain filters and didn't have much luck however Justin VK7TW is trying to peak at home ready for this week.
So I suppose you would say we had 3.4GHz panels at forty paces or at least 400km...HIHI.
Richard VK7ZBX bought along his ZLPLL so it could be used as a signal source for 3.4GHz. The signal initally was too strong and so Justin placed the ZLPP in the van and drive it down the road to attenuate the signal! We had some issues with the peaking and so the ZLPLL travelled home with Justin for the peaking and thats not peaking duck thats peaking receiver...HIHI.
Ron Cullen managed to get his automatically controlled azimuth and elevation head working. This device allows a 5.6GHz direction antenna to be mounted and the device follows the plane around the sky to maintain a good quality AV link. On ya Ron!
There were many other things going on so I apologise if I missed the action.
We get back underway this Wednesday 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 – Wednesday Afternoon Group meets from Noon and the Experimenters Nights from 1930 in the Queens Domain clubrooms.
REAST – MICROWAVE QSO Party – following after the Sunday broadcast on 1296.15 MHz FM.
Events:
REAST - February 24th - Car Boot Sale from 10am
VK7 – February 28th - Lilydale Falls BBQ
NORTH WEST - March 2nd - Chat and Show Group starting at 2pm
NTARC – March 9 – Noon - BBQ Meeting – Clubrooms Rocherlea
WIA – March 16 & 17th – John Moyle Memorial Field Day
VK7 - 23rd to 24th March - Meet The Voice at Ross
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weeks broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7FB
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG
80m: VK7TPE
40m: VK7JGD
20m: VK7ALH
10m: VK7VKT
DMR: Talk Group 3809 VK7ZCR
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This broadcast is repeated on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RTC in the South and VK7RAA in the North.
Thanks to all people and organisations that assisted with this broadcast.
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That concludes our VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast for this week.
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 Idris, VK7ZIR.
(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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