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VK7AX > BCAST 11.12.19 12:43z 434 Lines 27399 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Amateur Radio News 08Dec19
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Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 8 December 2019
(Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using)
VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 8th DECEMBER 2019
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Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 1st December 2019. This broadcast is brought to you by VK7WI, and read today by Justin, VK7TW.
This broadcast utilises repeaters around VK7 and the following HF rebroadcast stations:
On 3.670 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 7.140 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD
On 14.130 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE
On 28.525 MHz by Tony, VK7VKT
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.
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Silent Key
Barry Fraser VK7FR
Amateurs and friends were saddened to hear of the passing of Barry Fraser VK7FR. on 30th. November 2019.
Tony VK7AX became associated with Barry when they teamed up to produce a program called "Spectrum Tasmania" which was a news broadcast, based on happenings in Amateur Radio within VK7 and small snippets from other world wide amateur radio news. It aired once a week on the voice repeaters in the North of VK7 and HF on 80M.
Each broadcast would consist of 2-3 minute segment titled "Nostalgia with VK7FR" which was entirely Barry's production.
Barry of cause was the announcer, while Tony handled the technical side, transmissions etc. and he was known from his days with the ABC as the News Reader with the "Golden Voice.".
Unfortunately Barry suffered a Stroke in 2009, which affected his voice for several weeks. Not to be deterred, he worked hard to get his voice back to almost normal so he could continue with Spectrum broadcasts as well as programs for community FM Stations Statewide. which he produced from his Studio in Ulverstone.
Tony is very grateful to Barry for passing on his knowledge particularly the art of proof reading dialogue to remove unnecessary wording and phrases.
Unfortunately as a result of his stroke Barryâ€Ös health deteriorated, spending the last 18 months in the Mt. St.Vincent Nursing home at Ulverstone where he passed away peacefully with wife Mary (VK7NBL) by his side.
Barry your friendship was very much appreciated, Tony and many others will certainly miss the tones of your Golden Voice.
Condolences to Mary and family.
<audio of Barry>
Vale Barry Fraser VK7FR, Final 73
Tony VK7AX.
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Contest News
VHF/UHF/Microwave Spring Field Day
A huge thank you to all amateurs who participated in the Spring VHF/UHF Field Day.
Many went portable and provided some good scores especially on the microwave frequencies.
Reminder that logs are due in by midnight AEDST tomorrow Monday 9 December 2019. Logs can be uploaded to web address that can be found on the email edition of this broadcast.
http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/upload/
73, Richard VK7ZBX and Hayden, VK7HH
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WIA News
WIA Future of Amateur Radio Program
Over the past few weeks the WIA has been in discussions with the ACMA regarding resolving the foundation callsign issues that that have been brought to the attention of the ACMA in the WIA LCD submissions earlier this year.
The ACMA has asked, and the WIA has agreed, to put in place a mechanism for seeking credible feedback from all amateur users in Australia.Â
As a result of this agreement, the WIA is pleased to announce the "Future of Amateur Radio" program.
The WIA encourages all licenced operators, regardless of whether or not they are a member of the WIA to join the program and have their say on issues that are of importance to the Amateur Service.Â
The program will consist of a series of information papers on issues important to Amateur Radio, each of which will be followed by a poll.  This process will allow every amateur radio operator, armed with the facts and recommendations around each matter to consider, debate and ultimately vote on the course of action to be taken.
Members of your club who are existing WIA members will automatically be included in this program, however, should they wish to opt-out for any reason, please ask them to email nationaloffice @ wia.org.au.
The objectives of this program are best met by having the largest percentage of the amateur operators participate.
We would like to enlist your assistance in achieving this outcome by asking your fellow club members and friends to register for the program and have their say.
Registration in the Future of Amateur Radio program is free, and can be accessed by following the link on the email version of this broadcast:
http://poll.wia.org.au.
Kind regards,
Aidan Mountford VK4APM, Vice-President, Wireless Institute of Australia
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QSL NEWS
Report - from Herman VK7HW  Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
Herman advises that a packet of cards arrived last Friday 29 November. These are now sorted and they will be delivered to Clubs and or QTH's on an opportunity basis. Feedback from Clubs as to which cards they can receive on behalf of members would be appreciated. Also, unless requested otherwise by those who have mail out arrangements, 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 any of you can confirm he is listing Silent Key calls or if you have a new callsign, please email him so that he can update his records. Herman says Thank you to those Amateurs who have recently taken the time to email him with knowledge of SK's and change of Callsigns.
If you have any questions about QSL Cards being held, Herman can be contacted by email vk7bureau @ wia.org.au
73, Herman, VK7HW
AAG, AB, ABY, AC, CAN (FOR RT0C), AD, AG, AM, AN(9N), AP
BBB, BH, BO, BX
CH, CW
DD, DG, DW, DX (for E7/VK4DX), DZ
EE, EFA
FG, FLAR
GM, GN, GR, GZ
HAH, HCK, HVK
JB, JJ, JJJ, JON
KK, KPB, KRJ
LC, LCW, LH, LLJ
MAG, MBD, MHZ
NC, NET, NF, NRF, NSE, NWQ
PRN, PSJ
QP
ROY
SM, SW
TCE, TS (for VK9LS), TU
VIP, VR, VZ
WC, WLH, WX
XDM, XX
YUM
ZA, ZX
VI17AC, VI7COW, VI70HI, VI7JIS, VI7KCD, VI7LER, VI70MI
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH WEST
CHAT AND SHOW GROUP
Our next gathering is on January 4th at the Sports Centre Ironcliffe Road Penguin at 2pm with drop in until 5pm and rooms open until 6pm if necessary. Being holiday time and people travelling around feel free to drop in if you are in Penguin on that day, a good place to unwind after a hectic festive season. Amateurs from anywhere and partener if in town on the day are welcome. I hope to be monitoring channel 50
We willingly accept a small plate for afternoon tea and I supply tea and coffee.
We are having a talk and display this time and I have been told it should be of special interest to F calls so come and have a listen.
Projects in progress or completed are welcome to be shown and talked about so bring them along.
I have been able to secure our location for another 12 months so hope to continue in the same happy style for at least that long.
Thanks for all support during 2019 and seasons greeting to all.
73, Shirl VK7HSC, Group organiser
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North West Tasmania Radio & TV Group
Our Club held its Christmas function on Saturday 30th November 2019 at the Lighthouse Hotel in Ulverstone
Members attending, enjoyed a scrumptious meal and desserts, and plenty of banter during the luncheon, the lame jokes in the Bon Bonâ€Ös supplied by Kirsty were read out, party hats worn and a great time was had by those attending, Thanks to Kirsty for organizing the luncheon, no one went home hungry.
73, Eric, VK7EV, News Officer
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6M Repeater
We wish to advise, the 6M repeater VK7RTV, originally at Gawler, has finally received its licence variation, and can now operate from Dazzler Range, its callsign is now VK7RDR.
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Relay of VK7 Amateur Radio News Is Truly World Wide
As mentioned previously, The VK7 Amateur Radio News & WIA National News Broadcasts are made available World Wide by various mediums.
One of these is via the ATV transmissions & Video Stream by VK7AX.
As of last week, the Video Stream is automatically switched into the input of the DATV Repeater of Mario KD6ILO located in San Diego, California.
For the technically minded, the Repeater runs an output on 1268 MHz, 6 MHZ Bandwith HD employing DVB-S2.
Mario has informed me that the relay will be automatically switched each week to relay our broadcasts.
The time is 19 hours behind our time which means it is aired at 2.00pm on Saturday.
Further reports as we get more feedback etc.
A reminder that the broadcasts are streamed on the VK7AX Video Stream ( the link is available on the text edition of the Broadcast).
https://batc.org.uk/live/vk7ax
See you on DATV!
73, Tony VK7AX.
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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
After last week's mammoth input we are back to normal in terms of our news segment, having to rely largely on reruns. What I can tell you though is that with the Americans having now completed their Thanksgiving celebrations, there are now only 17 sleeps to that visit by the man in red. If you havenâ€Öt yet started your Christmas shopping it might be timely to get out and tend to that tomorrow.
Actually, the Thanksgiving celebrations I can understand, given their historic significance, although I must admit this year the TV spectacle of President Trump pardoning the turkey exercised the mind more than a tad. What I really donâ€Öt understand though are the follow-on American Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales which also appear to have successfully now invaded our shores, aided largely by the web and email. At this rate, we seem set to have some sort of US inspired ”sale” most days of the year. The cynic in me wonders whether this might not in future be another unique marketing opportunity – a one-day-of-the-year “Normal Prices Day”, when prices are not on special and buyers pay a premium for the opportunity to buy things at recommended retail. Whatâ€Ös more, it would undoubtedly be wrapped in the PR mantle of progress.
Enough of the editorial, let's turn to the news, such as it is.
2020 Membership fees and the membership renewals have started to roll in. We say a big thank you to those members who have paid their 2020 membership fees.
Renewal membership notices have now all been sent to members who have listed their email address with us, along with those members who have only a postal address listed with us. So, if you haven't received your notice yet then there is every chance that we donâ€Öt have your correct information on record. If you find yourself in this position, please contact the Treasurer on treasurer@ntarc.net or the Secretary on ntarc.emails@gmail.com
In the interim, a reminder that NTARC's 2020 membership fees are $35.00 for a Full voting member and $5 additional for each Family member that the voting member wishes to add to his or her primary membership.
Now over to Idris VK7ZIR to give you a run down on the Tech session held last Wednesday 4 December 2019:
Standing room only this evening as we were treated to a feast of AR technology.
Nic VK7BEE has been quietly working on some home brewing in the form of projects suitable for building by club members. He has designed and built two such units using different construction techniques. One has been built using the “Paddy Board” method, and the other uses the “dead bug” approach, this being fixing an IC to the base material upside down with legs in the air, using them as attachment points for the rest of the components. The “paddy board” method involves gluing small squares of printed circuit board onto a substrate of a copper coated PCB as an earth plane. What he brought along this evening was his progress so far, which amazed us all. He has attempted to use components which are readily available from our local electronics shop. Also involved in the process is our resident RF Professor Trevor VK7TB, offering sage advice where needed. The main project is a one watt double sideband eighty meter transceiver he has named “Nicâ€Ös Transmitter and Receiver Communicator” or NTARC. Very clever Nic. The other unit is an eighty meter crystal AM transmitter called Number One. As these projects are a work in progress, we will no doubt see more of them as they come to fruition. Ideal projects for F calls. Thanks Nic.
Peter VK7KPC was beavering away with his NanoVNA interfaced to a laptop, checking the frequency response of a VHF/UHF diplexer. He also checked the loss of a Russian HF antenna splitter, and investigated the operation of a RF selector switch from a VHF Clansman military radio. Over the past months, Peter has been operating a WSPR station out of our radio shack with great success. Not one to rest on his laurels, he has now set up a SSTV station. This is now running unattended and we will be able to check the history buffer next Tech Session to see what has been received. Well done Peter.
Ross VK7ALH showed us a WW2 frequency meter from the recent SK estate of G3PVL. For those who are interested it is a Frequency Meter Model BC-221-AE with a range of 125 to 20,000 kilocycles. Made by the Philco Corporation for the US Army Signal Corps. We understand many thousands of these meters had been made by different manufacturers. In excellent condition, the construction and tuning mechanism was admired by all. It also carried its own calibration book, instruction book, circuit diagram and could operate on battery or mains power. Thanks Ross for another interesting exhibit.
Ross also brought in another antenna coupler from the same manufacturer as the one we saw last week. This one was rated at 300 watts and had a very nice roller inductor. Opinions were divided, as at the previous session, as to the capability of this unit to handle the rated power.
It must have been the night for antenna couplers as David VK7YY had a very neat Diawa coupler to show us. He had acquired it some time ago and wanted to check it before using it. So off came the covers and it was pronounce very suitable for use.
There was so much happening this evening that I am running out of room, so I will keep it short and apologise to anyone I have left out.
We will have to wait until the 18th for the next session as next Wednesday 11th is our Club Christmas Dinner.
73, Idris VK7ZIRť
Thanks Idris and just a reminder note for the calendar the final Technical night for 2019 will be held on Wednesday18 December.
Coming events
End of year Christmas break up function - This year we will be having our Christmas event on Wednesday 11 December. This would be our normal meeting night but as usual for this time of the year we forego a meeting and party instead. This year we will be partying-away, so to speak, as a venue has been booked. It will be held at the Commercial Hotel, George Street, Launceston. Meet time 6.30 for 7.00 pm but for those workers you can always arrive earlier and get comfortable before the happy crowd arrives. This is the venue at which we held our mid-year dinner and those that attended really enjoyed it. So please note that diary. A list of attendees has already commenced and that register can be found next the club sign in book. So if you have decided you will be attending please note your name or names on that list by tomorrow Monday the 9th as we need to confirm numbers.
Technical sessions The next session will be on Wednesday 18 December and will commence at the usual time of 7.30 pm, running through 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 coffee along with biscuits is available for a small gold coin donation.
As mentioned earlier in this broadcast, there will be no technical session next Wednesday 11 December due to end of year Christmas break up function that evening but hopefully you will join us on Wednesday 18 December for the final technical session for 2019.
January meeting –to be held on Saturday 11 January. We will not be having a BBQ on this day due to many members still being away on holidays. Meeting will commence at 14:00 Hours (2.00pm) and will be followed by afternoon tea. Donations of cakes, slices etc to share would be greatly appreciated.
February Annual General meeting – the Annual General Meeting of NTARC will take place on Wednesday 12 February 2020 at the NTARC 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 from the Committee, including the Treasurerâ€Ös report and reports from our various managers and coordinators. This will be followed 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.
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 that 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 will be available from the NTARC club room from Monday 6 January 2020, our first day of opening for the coming year.
Members are reminded that they will need to have paid their 2020 renewal subscription before the meeting commences at 19:30 hours (7.30 pm) to be able to vote at the Annual General meeting. Similarly, they will need to have paid their 2020 subscription before they can be nominated or nominate or second someone for office, as only financial members can exercise those privileges.
The AGM will be followed by the February 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. Currently we have no cards awaiting collection. As I remind all every week, please demonstrate your appreciation of all the effort that goes into operating the club and its facilities and the 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. 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.
Christmas and New Year closure – yes giving plenty of warning that the last day the club will be open in 2019 for coffee mornings will be Friday 20 December. We re-open on Monday 6 January 2020. This gives all members and especially the team that set up each week some down time to celebrate with family and friends.
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, including frantically arranging other connections when our NBN fails, which is quite often. Your continued cooperation in this regard will be gratefully appreciated and do much to lower my blood pressure.
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
www.reast.asn.au
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
Sound Artists On The Air
REAST sound artists in residence, Sisters Akousmatica, are excited to let everyone know that they have been successful in receiving a Narrowband FM broadcast license and will be on air on 97.1MHz FM from the Moonah Community Centre each Thursday to Saturday from 10am to 3pm until December 14th.
Phillipa and Julia are very keen to hear from anyone who may be interested in being interviewed on-air and this can be on any subject. If you think you are able to be interviewed, email them at the highly appropriate email address of
radioqueens @ sistersakousmatica.org
More information can be found in the text edition of the broadcast
Ben, VK7BEN
http://www.sistersakousmatica.org/moonah-community-radio/
http://mixlr.com/sistersakousmatica/
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DATV Experimenter's Night
Last Wednesday night saw our end of year BBQ with many hardy souls turning up at lunchtime and for the DATV night even though the weather was very windy and wet on top of the Queenâ€Ös Domain.
Following the BBQ we had an impromptu DATV Night which turned out to be fascinating. Rex VK7MO has done an analysis of the first 3.4GHz VK-ZL contact over 2197km from Brisbane to Auckland.
The contact was between Kevin VK4UH and ZL1TPH. The analysis included the radiosonde data from both ends which clearly showed a deep duct on the day of the contact at different levels at each end…..interesting!
Absorption level was about 11.7dB from radiosonde data for 3.4GHz.
Contacts were made on both 144MHz and 3.4GHz and the calculated difference taking into account all the losses for each component and it varied between 13 and 17dB.
This lead to an analysis of duct entry and exit angles and there is a optimum angle that Rex represented with a chart indicating the optimum angle.
There is much more to this picture than meets the eye and Rex's recommendations are that anyone undertaking these tropospheric duct contacts take note of all the characteristics to add to the library of data. This includes using QRA64 single tone and record the tone and then use spectrum lab to process and provide an accurate signal to noise measurements.
Thanks Rex.
Alan VK7KAJ then showed his Leo Bodner GPS locked DDS – this unit is capable of delivering a stable 400Hz-810MHz. Alan showed the screen grabs of how to to program it and also a frequency counter with 10MHz to 1/100th of hertz. Alan then showed the frequency injection PCB for an IC-9700 even though Alan does not have one of these units yet! Thanks Alan.
Thanks to Richard Rogers VK7RO who bought into the clubrooms three calculators – the first is HP 37E finance calculator that is still working. The second was a Novus Mathematician scientific calculator and the third was a Chinese abacus. Thanks Richard.
For a Christmas treat setup in the clubrooms a VideoBrain Pong game connected to an analogue TV Antenna Analyser tuned to channel 0. Everyone had a go of the pong game for some entertainment.
Our video was Ham Nation #386 which focused on solving your RFI problems.
We go out on RF on 445.5MHz DVB-T 7MHz Standard Definition. So, if you have a TV, Set-top box or USB DTV Dongle that you can tune to 445.5MHz, and do a scan for a DVB-T signal, and, you can see the Queens Domain, then you have a good chance of receiving the DATV Experimenter's Night Signal. Look out for VK7OTC. We also stream the nights 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/
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:
NTARC 11 December - Christmas event from 6:30pm
NW Coast - 4 January 2020 Chat and Show at the Sports Centre Ironcliffe Road Penguin from 2pm.
NTARC - 11 January - BBQ from Noon then Meeting from 2:00pm Rocherlea Clubrooms.
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weekâ€Ös broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7PD
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and Spectrum Tasmania
80m: VK7JGD
40m: VK7ALH
20m: Volunteer Required
10m: VK7VKT
DMR: Talk Group 5 and
D-Star: Reflector 091 VK7ZCR
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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.
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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 Justin, VK7TW.
(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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