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VK7AX > BCAST 18.03.19 07:03z 293 Lines 19322 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Amateur Radio News 17Mar19
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Sent: 190318/0648Z @:VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC #:7265 [Ulverstone] $:7265_VK7AX
From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : BCAST@WW
Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 17 March 2019
(Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using)
VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 17 March 2019
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Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 17th of March 2019. This broadcast is brought to you by VK7WI, and read today by Rick, VK7RI.
This broadcast utilises repeaters around VK7 and the following HF rebroadcast stations:
On 3.670 MHz by Justin, VK7TW
On 7.140 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 14.130 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE
On 28.525 MHz by Gary, VK7JGD
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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Event NEWS
Meet The Voice 2019
http://meetthevoice.org/
Meet the Voice 2019 in Ross, Tasmania is next week! Occurring over the weekend 23rd and 24th March, this is a great opportunity to catch up with your fellow hams face to face, share a yarn and the latest info, be present for the annual Sewing Circle award, and all around have a good time with friends.
Held at a new location this year, Meet the Voice will be at the Ross Community Sports Club, 4-10 Park Street. We have access to the clubrooms, complete with flushing toilets, a kitchen, electricity, maybe even a heater! Such luxuries! Camping on site is available, and will be charged at $10 per person.
The main event is held on Sunday, kicking off around 10:30am. Entry is $5, and will grant you a ticket to the raffle. Due to the large amount of level, outdoor space we will have at the venue, you're invited to bring along your latest project to demonstrate, perhaps our EME guys will have good conditions to demonstrate this time! A space will be set aside for a car boot sale, please be aware that each individual is responsible for their own space and sales, and for leaving the area clear of any debris.
Barbecue facilities will be available, bring your own meat style. BYO alcoholic beverages are permitted as well, please drink responsibly!
Further information can be obtained from Dani VK7FREQ via
email vk7freq @ gmail.com or the Meet the Voice Facebook page.
We look forward to seeing you all there!
(73, Dani, VK7FREQ)
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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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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
www.ntarc.net
A report on the working bee held yesterday will be provided in next weekâ€Ös news. In the meantime, we now bring you a brief round-up of the March BBQ meeting, held on Saturday 9th March.
Although it was a long weekend and many regulars had earlier recorded their apologies, we still managed a good rollup for both the BBQ lunch and the following meeting. We were pleased to welcome visitors Dennis Brogan and Maree Miller from Clarence Point, who are keen to obtain their amateur licences. Dennis tells us he was a keen boater in the past and had long wanted to become an amateur radio operator. Maree is the daughter of a ZL amateur, so is no stranger to the hobby. They appeared to enjoy themselves and indeed, backed up by attending the technical session on Wednesday evening and have now joined NTARC. We bid them a warm welcome.
As usual, our chefs Idris and André cooked up their usual fare of sausages, roo and bacon patties, lamb chops, bacon and onion. These were accompanied by a variety of salads and it was all much enjoyed by those present, most of whom readily admitted to having eaten far too much! Much laughter and chatting over lunch had us all primed for the meeting, which commenced on time at 14:00 hours. Once again, the agenda was quickly worked through and stumps declared at 14:29 hours. One of the matters discussed at the general meeting was the desirability of calling a Special General Meeting to consider some amendments to the Club rules to cover electronic banking, as recommended by our auditor in his report for 2017 and 2018. I can now advise that following that discussion, the Committee agreed on Tuesday and determined that a Special General Meeting for that purpose will be held on Wednesday 10 April commencing at 7.30 pm. All financial Members have been notified of the proposed changes this week, along with the required explanation of their effect. The notifications have been sent to the email address held on the membership register. For the two members for whom we do not have an email address, the notice will be in the post this week.
Other matters discussed included the on-going concern about the future of the amateur licence examination service, in view of the very steep increases in the service fees that have been announced by the new contractor, the Australian Maritime College, and their likely impact on future recruitment to the hobby. The absence of any other operational detail from AMC at that time also figured prominently in that discussion. Suffice it to say that the mood of the meeting was that this is an unsatisfactory state of affairs that we can only hope is remedied quickly, so that the examination service can continue without prolonged interruption.
Silent Key
Â
Reverend George Dobbs G3RJV
We were saddened to learn of the passing of George Dobbs G3RJV on 11 March 2019.
George was an absolute legend in the world of low-power operating, or QRP as it is known to most of us. He was a prolific designer and builder of diminutive rigs and fortunately for us, he was also a prolific author and lecturer on the subject, frequently entertaining and educating amateurs on both sides of the Atlantic and indeed internationally, including frequent lectures at the major ham get-togethers Four Days in May or FDIM as it is more commonly known, and of course, the undoubtedly largest such event in the world, the famous Dayton Hamvention.
Back in the UK, George was also the leading light in the G-QRP club, as both its founder and Secretary General. He remained active in its operation until recent times. He was a major contributor to the SPRAT magazine, as well as writing regular columns for Practical Wireless and other periodicals, hanging up his Practical Wireless pen only within the past 2-3 years. In fact so vast was his output that internationally his name became synonymous with QRP, with him frequently being cited as an authority in amateur discussions on the internet.
It would be fair to say that probably nobody has made a greater contribution to maintaining the homebrew aspect and low power operation than George in recent decades. So well had he become known, that it seemed that he must always have been the leading guru in this field, so it came as something of a surprise that he was aged just 75 at his passing.
Somehow George managed to maintain all that effort while simultaneously performing his role as an Anglican vicar, perhaps in the best tradition of the slightly eccentric English cleric.
George had been suffering from dementia in recent times but succumbed in hospital to an infection, which did not respond to antibiotics, and pneumonia. He is survived by his XYL Jo Anne and sons Ben and Stephen. He was an inspiration to all who knew him or had heard him speak or read his writings. He will be sorely missed. Vale George G3RJV.
Technical session round-up
 And itâ€Ös over to Idris VK7ZIR to give you a rundown of last Wednesday nightâ€Ös activities, and he says;
“As they say, a packed program tonight, so I hope I have managed to cover everything.
John VK7FJFD brought in two mobile antennas. A HF helical he made and a multiband with variable taps. The multiband had no information about the tapping, so Peter VK7KPC took John and his antennae out to his vehicle, and tested the multiband with his analyser to give John some idea of where to plug what. Johnâ€Ös helical needs some fine tuning and then heat shrink tubing applied.
Ross VK7ALH had found another item of interest in his grotto, an Ionisation Tester type GIB, model 52C, made by Ericsson-Trimax. It is capable of testing for insulation breakdowns up to 10kV and measuring leakage current up to 20 micro amps. A very sturdy piece of equipment which caused much interest.
Simon VK7FSRM finished off his work on the Linux computer and then joined a discussion group talking about video storage formats and VCR servicing of all things! Ebenezer VK7AT was a service person in a previous life and is very knowledgeable on this subject. He was also on his best behaviour as one of our two visitors that night, Maree, was sitting in on his discussion group. All the jokes were reasonably clean! Maree is also aspiring to get her F call in the near future.
Her partner Dennis, another F call aspirant, was being given instruction on the finer points of radio operation by Kevin VK7KJL in the shack. Dennis had even brought along his own communications receiver, a Yaesu FRG7700. Very nice.
Peter VK7KPC had brought along various lengths of low loss coax, one of which was just the right length to replace the temporary antenna feed to our IC22A monitor set in the meeting room. It will be another job to secure the cable to the wall and make it tidy. Thanks Peter.
Peter VK7PD arrived and joined the Ebenezer discussion group along with Colin VK7ZCF, Stefan VK7ZSB and Peter VK7ZPE. Stefan later joined Bernie VK7BR in the workshop. Bernie had a very successful evening, getting his stepper motor controller working correctly, so he was extremely pleased.
Peter VK7ZPE also brought along his latest acquisition to show us. A very neat 35 Watt dummy load rated to 3GHz with an N connector. Lots of interest there.
So, there we have it for another week. Oh, and thanks for the biscuits Bernie!!”
Thanks for that report Idris…
Coming events
Technical sessions
Wednesday 20 March from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea. Why not pop in and 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 is fair game. Endless tea and coffee along with biscuits is available for a small gold coin donation.
Special General meeting
To be held on Wednesday 10 April 2019 at the club rooms. Meeting to commence 19:30 hours. This meeting will then be followed by the April general meeting.
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 please email the following address
ntarc.emails @ gmail.com
As always, I look forward to seeing you at Rocherlea.
73, Yvonne VK7FYMX, Secretary NTARC Incorporated    Â
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
www.reast.asn.au
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
Experimenter's Night Wrap-up
Another productive night of radio experimenting on the Queen's Domain!
Hayden VK7HH, Richard VK7ZBX, Murray VK7ZMS and Justin VK7TW were all deep in 3.4GHz panel transverters. Hayden bought along a nice PC controlled VNA microwave generator that he was using for a 3.4GHz signal generator.
This unit was being used to peak up the cavity filters on Murray's panel. After some frustration with the filters the generator was setup in VNA mode and the filter were swept which allowed Hayden to ensure the peak was where it should be. A final test was then done with an FT-818 and signal meter and all panels now read the same signal level. These panels are to be pressed into service for the John Moyle Memorial Field Day this weekend.
Justin and Rod VK7TRF were beavering away in the DATV studio mounting pressure zone microphones control packs under the presenter's desk and tidying up microphone cabling. Justin spent some time re-acquainting himself with the operation of the video mixer in the studio.
Kim VK7KB bought along some interesting gadgets involved with antenna switching and coaxial cabling. These included RG213 phasing lines with professional splicing. These very quickly disappeared. Thanks Kim.
Ben VK7BEN was seen in the shack tuning the bands on the FT-991 and using digital modes. On ya Ben!
There were many other conversations going on around the room including about last week's presentation by Brian Coleman G4NNS on Radio Astronomy. This was a fascinating talk and will soon be available on the REAST YouTube channel.
We get back underway next week with another Experimenter's Night from 7:30pm in the Queen's Domain Clubrooms. So, if you have a project in planning, build, implementation, completion or any other state, bring it along and show the thronging masses!
Look forward to seeing you there.
73, Justin, VK7TW
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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
From Winston, VK7WH
My wife and I are leaving on Thursday 28th of this month to spend 2 weeks with our daughter and her family in Hawaii. While we are there, I have made arrangement to tour the Radio Room on the Battleship Missouri, which is anchored in Pearl Harbour next to the Arizona Memorial. As part of the tour, I have been offered the opportunity to operate the station, using the KH6BB call sign.
I donâ€Öt know the exact day, time or frequencies at this stage but I will know shortly after I arrive, on Friday the 29th our time. If anyone is interested in working KH6BB, could you ask them to email me at
winston.henry @ bigpond.com
with KH6BB in the Subject heading and I will advise them by return email as soon as I have the full details as to when the visit will take place. I will make sure that the details are also spotted on the cluster, as well as particularly looking out for VK7 stations.
Many VK7sâ€Ö have no doubt already worked KH6BB, as I have, but if not, I can assure you it is a very nice QSL card to have on the wall.
The Missouri has visited Hobart on at least two occasions, as well as the previous Missouri, which visited in 1925, so there is a historic connection between Hobart and this great Warship, on which the Japanese Surrender was signed in Tokyo Harbour on September 2nd 1945.
For further information see:
www.KH6BB.org or lookup the KH6BB webpage on QRZ.com
Winston, VK7WH
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TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Interesting Item
Justin, VK7TW has passed on this item, and I have abbreviated the information. His email says in part "LOON Project HBAL494 -
I assumed it was going offshore, then later realised it was heading NE so has come in from further West...maybe Africa?? Is now moving generally NE towards Kalgoorlie.
(it)Would be interesting if (it) moved to the SE & headed over us. Could take a couple of weeks to clear VK and then onto New Zealand. I'll have a look to see if there is any info about telemetry beacons etc on board."
To make sense of this, bring up Flight Radar 24 on the net and search on HBAL. In many places on the world map you will see balloon symbols. There is one over West Australia at the moment.
These balloons belong to Project Loon, designed to bring Internet access to remote regions not served by traditional infrastructure. The helium balloons contain equipment that connects the balloons to each other, ground relay stations, and the Internet. They are also equipped with an ADS-B receiver, which makes them visible on Flightradar24. The balloons float in the stratosphere gaining and losing altitude to find the right wind patterns to carry them where they need to be. They float above weather systems and commercial air traffic, generally between 55,000 and 70,000 feet.
To learn more about the balloons, try a search on Google re Project Loon
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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:
VK7 - 23rd to 24th March - Meet The Voice at Ross
NTARC - Special General Meeting, Wednesday 10 April 1930 hrs
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weekâ€Ös broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7TW
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG
80m: VK7JGD
40m: Operator required
20m: VK7ALH
10m: VK7TPE
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 Rick, VK7RI.
(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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