VK
Australian Radio news
Getting plenty of action is occurring on the VK8NSB Slow Scan Television repeater in Darwin on a frequency of 28.700MHz.
The repeater is running 30 watts upper sideband into a half wave vertical antenna.
Stuie Birkin VK8NSB advises there?s currently eight pictures on the system with a different image being used in beacon mode every 30 minutes.
To activate the repeater require an audio 1750kHz tone for 2 seconds. Comments or inquiries to Stuie at vk8nsb@hotmail.com
The biggest but most friendly amateur radio contest is the 24-hour Remembrance Day Contest conducted in the memory of those radio amateurs who lost their lives during World War II.
It begins at 6pm on Saturday 14 August. Preceding it is a traditional broadcast with a guest speaker and an honour call of amateurs who died during WWII.
This year that session will last half an hour and be aired immediately before the contest opens.
Amateur Radio Victoria will be transmitting the RD Contest through its broadcast facility.
More information and the contest purpose and rules can be read at: http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/
This most popular amateur radio contest in Australia commemorates those radio amateurs who lost their lives during World War II. It's always held on the weekend closest the ceasation of hostilities in the South Pacific, and this year that is 14 & 15 August.
The 24 hour contest begins at 6pm (AEST) on the Saturday and is preceded with a special broadcast, the reading of an honour role and a period of radio silence.
A perpetual trophy is inscribed with the winning Australian state or territory, and certificates are issued to top scoring radio amateurs in various categories.
The aim of the contest is for amateurs in each VK call area to endeavour to contact amateurs in other VK call areas, ZL and P29 on all bands except WARC bands.
For more details and the rules: http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is proposing to allow land mobile service radio users access to the edges of the 440-450 MHz band for up to three years.
In the latest development on the re-arrangements for the 403-520 MHz band the ACMA said that in order to make long-term changes, the bottom and top 500 kHz of the Amateur Radio Service 70cm band could be used by land mobile services in some areas.
The ACMA held a briefing on 19 July in Sydney attended by radio industry, emergency services, government users and the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) as a follow up to its paper ‘The Way Ahead – Decisions and Implementation Options for the 400 MHz band’ that was released in April.
Within the information presented by ACMA Executive Manager, Spectrum Infrastructure Branch, Andrew Kerans confirmed the need for the ad-hoc use of the spectrum segment, 440 to 450 MHz by affected landmobile radio licensees.
The temporary use of the 70cm band will be contained to the bottom and top 500 kHz on this band and most likely only in the heavily spectrum congested areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
The Amateur Radio Service 70cm band is a secondary allocation and temporary use of it has occurred in the past mainly for major sporting events and has not resulted in any reported interference issues.
The WIA is now working with the ACMA on arrangements for this to occur again, to enable identified spectrum use changes for the land mobile service in the broadly termed 400MHz band.
The bottom end of the AM broadcast band is ear-marked to become a new amateur radio allocation that already has been given the moniker of the ‘Historical Band’, with Australian radio amateurs being the latest to gain experimental access to that spectrum.
This initiative is part of a worldwide effort to see that the band is favorably considered at the World Radio Conference in 2012, the Wireless Institute of Australia has taken out Scientific Licences in the 505 – 515 kHz band.
The WIA is the latest International Amateur Radio Union member society acting in support of the case being presented as WRC12 Agenda item 1.23 that asks delegates: To consider an allocation of about 15 kHz in parts of the band 415-526.5 kHz to the amateur service on a secondary basis, taking into account the need to protect existing services.
The first use of the WIA obtained Scientific Licences is a CW beacon callsign AX2VKW that is on air from east suburban Melbourne, Australia on Saturday’s and Sundays (0200-2100 UTC).
Being operated under by Drew Diamond VK3XU it has been heard 599 in the Greater Melbourne area.
Similar tests or experiments using a variety of modes or emissions are occurring in Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA.
The tests are investigating propagation on that band and whether there’s any reason for concern about interference to other radio communications services.
The WIA-obtained licenses will authorised for use by suitably equipped and interested radio amateurs throughout Australia.
It follows an announcement in March that New Zealand radio amateurs can use the band.
Great speculation now exists of the potential for 600m band signals crossing the Tasman Sea which separate these southern hemisphere nations.
The future looks good for the once maritime emergency frequency band that was overtaken by technology, it will be conserved as heritage spectrum by the amateur radio service.
The Sherbrooke Community Radio Club is going on a school holiday trip and taking with it HF, VHF and CB radio.
During the trip 19 June until 4 July the group will visit three Aboriginal schools and will introduce amateur radio to them, and a DVD of the VK3KID ARISS contact of last year is sure to be shown.
At each campsite a photograph will be taken to create a unique QSL card. The trip will include Orroroo, Hawker, Wilpena Pound, Marree, Coward Springs, Cooper Pedy and Mannum in South Australia.
Listen out on 14.180 MHz and 7.080MHz. A running sheet appears at: http://vk3kid.cloud.prohosting.com
The special callsign for the Centenary of Organised Amateur Radio in Australia, VK100WIA, continues to log contacts at a steady pace.
The Midland Amateur Radio Club (MARC)in Central Victoria last Monday logged QSO number 2,000 with Laurie Davidson VK7ZE at Spalford in Northern Tasmania on the 80m band. Reports for the SSB contact exchanged were five by nine both ways.
Laurie VK7ZE has also worked the WIA Centenary callsign on at least the 40m and 160m bands.
MARC also delighted CW operators during its three-day roster slot for the callsign with numerous contacts on that mode.
The first batch of VK100WIA QSL cards will be submitted to the QSL bureau at the end of this month.
If you're looking for contacts with VK100WIA then check out the online logging on the WIA website www.wia.org.au
The 90th anniversary of a broadcast to the world by Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba is being celebrated with special event callsign GB90MZX 12-15 June.
The Marconi New Street factory was built in 1912 and used to manufacture high power transmitters, had the callsign MZX for test transmissions.
Many hundreds of people who had wireless sets left over from WWI and enthusiasts who had built their own crystal sets would tune in to the transmissions that consisted of readings from the newspapers and railway timetables.
Dame Nellie was approached and agreed to perform on the broadcasts for a fee of 1,000.
She sang for 15 minutes or so initially. Then after more transmitter was adjust sang another series of songs.
This event was advertised in advance it is duly referred to as the "First live public entertainment broadcast in the world by a celebrity".
The Chelmsford Amateur Radio Society (CARS) will be commemorating this with special callsign GB90MZX
There are some 15,000 amateur radio licences on issue in Australia. How many regularly submit observations of intrusions on the HF amateur bands?
Well the WIA Coordinator of the International Amateur Radio Union – Monitoring System (IARU-MS), Peter Young VK3MV has only two Australian radio amateurs sending him regular reports of well over 100 intruders.
While the bands are allocated internationally to the amateur service, other radio users are able to use them and in the absence of reports that they are causing interference may continue to do so.
It has never been easier to report un-authorised (non-amateur) transmissions in our primarily allocated frequency bands. Full details can be found at: www.wia.org.au/members/intruder/about/
It is understood that Peter VK3MV will be approaching the HF DXing community soon seeking its support by way of increased regular observation reports.
But if you want to help protect the amateur bands for radio amateurs, then why not regularly report intruders – it can take only a few minutes of your time and contribute to the global effort of the IARU-MS.
Radio Kuwait QSYd from amateur 40m band after IARU-MS reports
The latest appraisal of Broadband over Powerlines has it cautiously described as appearing to have "all but vanished from the Australian telecommunications landscape”.
That’s the view of Wireless Institute of Australia BPL Working Group Chairman, Phil Wait VK2DKN also observes that the use of Access-BPL in the United States is diminishing rapidly, with the latest Access-BPL shut-down occurring in the City of Manassas.
There has been eight Access-BPL trials in Australia since 2004 but they appear to have stopped in 2007.
In his annual report to the WIA he said that Smart Metering trials in Australia appear to have bypassed Access-BPL in favour of other technologies.
Phil VK2DKN said, “In short, Access-BPL did not achieve the critical mass required to guarantee its commercial future in Western nations. “However Access-BPL has found markets in developing nations, where the existing wired infrastructure is poor or non-existent.”
While BPL using power lines as an internet enabling technology (Access-BPL) has failed, In-House BPL using the internal wiring or a home or building is now the major market for BPL equipment manufacturers.
“In the UK more than 800,000 pairs of in-home BPL modems have been installed by British Telecom, with continuing interference complains to the UK regulator (Office of Communications) Ofcom ... (which) appears to be unable, or at least very reluctant to act,” said Phil VK2DKN.
To make matters worse for UK radio amateurs, it appears that a type of In-house BPL adaptor can emit a radio frequency signal up to 370MHz.
There has not been one complaint in Australia about interference from In-House BPL, but vigilance is being maintained in case products that cause interference come on to the market downunder.
