SB BCAST @ VKNET < VK7AX VK7 Amateur Radio News 17Nov19 Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 17th. November 2019 (Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using) VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 17th NOVEMBER 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 17th of November 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 Ross, VK7ALH On 7.140 MHz by Mike, VK7FB On 14.130 MHz by Any Takers 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Silent Key Frank Beech VK7BC On Wednesday November 14 Frank Beech VK7BC became a silent key. Listeners may remember the report of a working bee at Frank's QTH in September when it was stated that he was having mobility problems. That was just one symptom of a long line of health issues that Frank had been fighting, with determination, for many years. We are told the recent work to his antenna system was put to good use albeit for only a short time. Frank's career in radio communications goes back to his being an operator in the British Merchant Marine; this led to his membership of the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society (RNARS) which he maintained until his death. Little wonder Frank was an avid CW man; he was the recipient of many awards over many years, most of them bearing testimony to his CW skills. His key is silent in the most literal sense of the word. A more detailed obituary will be submitted to AR magazine in due course. I'm sure the amateur radio fraternity will join me in expressing sincere condolences to Frank's wife Paddy and their family. Vale Frank, (Peter VK7PD) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Contest News VHF/UHF/Microwave Spring Field Day Hope everybody is just about ready for the Spring Field Day NEXT weekend 23/11 01:00 UTC 24/11 01:00 UTC. There is still time to get you portable VHF / UHF station all polished and ready to make many contacts. Maybe it's time to do the final checkout of your portable spot, to do a final checklist of all the gear you need to take so as not to be remembering the field day badly. If you’re not going portable, then perhaps today or this week is the time to check all the bands and make sure everything is working. It’s been a long winter and our winters can be hard on coax and antennas so get those meters out and make sure everything is tip top. Frequencies are not set in stone but a good start 6M 50.150 USB or 52.525 FM, 2M 144.150 USB or 146.500 FM, 70cm 432.150 USB or 439.000 FM, 23cm 1296.150 USB or FM, 13cm 2403.150 USB, 9cm 3398.150 USB, 3cm 10,368.150 USB Hope to hear you on the bands! (73, Richard vk7zbx) ----------------------------------------------------------------- QSL News Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager ofthe WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau Herman advises that he will deliver cards 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 I am listing SK calls in the email version of the QSL Cards held list or if you have a new callsign please email me so I can update my records. If you have any questions about QSL Cards being held, Herman can be contacted by email vk7bureau(at)wia.org.au (73 from Herman VK7HW ) Cards held as at 14 November 2019 AB, ABY, ACN(FOR RT0C), AD, AG, AM, AP BH, BX CH DG, DX (for E7/VK4DX) EE, EFA FG, FLAR GM, GR, GZ HAH JB, JJ , JJJ KK, KRJ LC, LH, LLJ MAG, MBD, MHZ NC, NF, NRF, NSE, NWQ PRN, PSJ RN TCE, TS (for VK9LS), TU VIP, VR, VZ WC, WLH XDM ZA VI17AC, VI7COW, VI70HI, VI7JIS, VI7KCD, VI7LER,  VI70MI ----------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS FROM THE NORTH WEST FURTHER DATV TRANSMISSION UPDATE The DATV Transmission in Ulverstone is now 1280x720 HIGH DEFINITION using a new professional High Definition Encoder. The LCN is 100 with channel designation VK7AX Ulverstone The improvement in definition and clarity of the received signal is very impressive. Viewers need to ensure the TV used or Set Top Box receiving the ATV transmission is fully compliant with DVB-T MPEG2 High Definition format, and if using a set top box utilize the HDMI output connection for maximum results. A suitable set top box is the Strong SRT 5434 which has been tested and works well, noting that a patch to allow it to tune to the ATV freq. of 445.50 MHz. needs to be downloaded from strong. Some older set top boxes which have been tested during the week and ready to go, are the Strong SRT 5405E and the Telefunken TEL002. The main requirement for any device intended to be used to receive ATV is that the frequency (in this case 445.50MHz.) can be set prior to doing a manual scan. All transmissions including the regular weekly Amateur Radio Broadcasts including the 'VK7 Amateur Radio News' now employ the new HD encoder. Anyone interested in ATV in Ulverstone, or looking for a suitable set top box, feel free to contact Tony VK7AX. See you on DATV! (73, Tony VK7AX) ------------------------------------------------------------------ NWTR&TVG Notice Of Meeting Hello members, I would like to remind you of the next meeting of our club to be held at the Ulverstone Scout Hall, at 2pm on Saturday December 7th. This is the last for the year and the last of the decade - oh where has the time gone? I hope some of you can come and, as usual, your plate of afternoon tea is welcome and I will supply tea and coffee. The rooms will be open until 6pm if needed for conversation, socialising and afternoon tea, so, be prepared to stay for a chat and second cuppa, members and visitors alike. Please note that visitors are always welcome to come to our meeting. See you there says Shirl VK7HSC ------------------------------------------------------------------- You are listening to VK7WI aNd thIS is the VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated www.ntarc.net Our recent spell of very windy weather is continuing here in the North but it didn’t deter NTARC members from turning up in big mobs for coffee today, Friday. Mind you, it was rowdy at times. Our resident story teller Ebenezer VK7AT was in his usual good form but on this occasion, he was ably accompanied by Idris VK7ZIR and Trevor VK7TB. That trio had us all chuckling away at their many antidotes and tall stories but it was all good fun. Of course, the table was laden with lots of food, even if we can't be sure all of it was healthy. One regular stalwart of our morning coffee sessions was notably absent. Ros, who normally opens up the clubrooms for our events and ensures that the kitchen caters for us all, is presently having a little stint in hospital. We all wish you a speedy recovery Ros. November BBQ and General Meeting. As mentioned last week, we can now provide you with a rundown on the November BBQ meeting held last Saturday 9 November. Due to it being a somewhat cool day we had anticipated numbers being reduced and so had set up the lunch in the small meeting room, although naturally Skywarmer had also been called upon to do his bit and keep those who did attend nice and cosy. The BBQ commenced at noon and wow, what a great roll up. Far more than we had expected, throwing our seating calculations into some disarray and so another table had quickly to be set up. Luckily, we have something of a normal tendency to, shall we say, “generously” cater in the meat department and Saturday was no exception. With the large numbers of attendees came copious donations of salads and goodies for the subsequent afternoon tea, so our catering arrangements coped well, without any need to embrace any loaves and fishes technique. Chefs Idris VK7ZIR, Andre VK7ZAB and assistant chef Stefan VK7ZSB (must just about be the longest apprenticeship in history Stefan) cooked up a veritable feast of sausages, hamburgers, roo and bacon patties, bacon, lamb chops and or course onion. The meat was nicely done, neither underdone nor burnt but as at least one of the three bears might say, just right. All was accompanied by a great assortment of salads and hot dishes plus garlic bread, a true feast. With the BBQ over and washing up done the room was then converted to seat all attending the meeting. Again another good attendance with the meeting commencing on time. The agenda was worked through with discussions relating to some reports. One of the main areas of discussion in general business was setting the membership subscription rates for 2020. The Committee reported that ongoing costs in relation to the club room eg electricity and other associated expenses, were all increasing, along with our rates increasing on the Mt Arthur site. Unlike previous years, the sponsorship arrangement with the broker having expired, we have now to meet the cost of our insurance cover on the clubrooms, our repeater and beacon sites, together with that on the communications trailer. Coupled with those additional costs, donation receipts from equine endurance events, normally a major source of income, are likely to reduce as the number of events scheduled by the organisers for the year has declined. In the face of that outlook, the Committee recommended that we make an increase of $5.00 pa for the full membership fee, the first increase in 4 years. The meeting unanimously voted to accept that recommendation. What that means is that a full voting member will now be required to pay $35.00 for 2020, while family membership remains at an additional $5.00 pp that a member wishes to add to his or her membership. A renewal notice and covering letter will be sent out to all members before the end of the month. Afternoon tea was a great success with lots of goodies for all to enjoy, some of it weighed down with cream, so not sure how our waistlines will ever stay slim. A thank you to those members that donated salads and hot dishes to share at lunch and a thank you to those members who donated cakes, scones and other delights for afternoon tea. Another highlight of the afternoon was a gathering of the repeater team, which held something of a post-winter brainstorming session later in the afternoon, out of which we are told we can expect something of a 5-year plan to guide future repeater and beacon work. We now hand over to our President Idris VK7ZIR to give us a rundown of the technical session held last Wednesday 13 November - “Eager attendees were lined up at the door at opening time tonight. Ross VK7ALH showed us the little brother of the Drake MN-2000 Antenna Matcher from last week an MN-4. A very nice, almost identical but smaller chassis with double shielding like its sibling. Looking under the covers, the layout was also the same with scaled down components, as the rating is 400 watts, as opposed to big brother's 2kW. Everything was built to the same high standard. Thanks again Ross. Andre VK7ZAB was busy making up a programming cable for Norm VK7KTN's Anytone 778 mobile. André used a popular version of the wiring found on the internet but after looking at the rig's manual he thinks the wiring may need to be crossed over. We will wait for result from Norm's programming session. After getting the WSPR computer and radio working together last week, Peter VK7KPC has been plagued with reports of the computer shutting down at approximately 16:00 UTC, or 03:00 local time. The computer was reset on two occasions but the shutdowns were still happening. This evening, a UPS was installed powering both computer and radio. Some settings in the operating system were changed to stop the Power saving features from activating. Peter also checked for and deactivated any similar applications in other parts of the operating system. We have our fingers crossed for the next few days. Further report next week to see if Peter has any hair left (HiHi). Idris VK7ZIR was making some patch cables for use in the shack, with lots of helpers. Peter VK7PD was discussing all things valves with Ross, with some circuit diagrams being drawn on the white-board, and catalogues poured over. Kevin VK7HKN beavered away on his laptop and is expecting another QRP project kit soon. We hope to see the results of its construction. Colin VK7ZCF showed us a very nice digital LC meter obtained online for a very reasonable price. Much was being discussed around the centre table including the many uses of the old style rabbit traps, besides catching rabbits! Ebenezer VK7AT threw in a few hilarious one liners and we were treated to a very interesting short video clip of a campanologist in action playing a very nice set of bells. A bit of culture for the evening. That’s all folks. 73 Idris VK7ZIR” Membership notice as mentioned earlier the 2020 members fees were set at the November meeting. If you have forgotten your membership for 2019 expires on 31 December. Fees for 2020 are a Full voting member $35.00 pa, family member an additional $5.00 per person for the year. A renewal notice and covering letter will be sent out in coming days to the email address held on file. If you have changed your address in the past 12 months probably a good idea to let the Treasurer know. NTARC Yahoo site if you are wondering what is happening with this site well it is being closed down, a situation forced upon us by Yahoo's decision to essentially reduce its groups service to an email-only exchange, with no capability of members being able to either upload or download new files, photos etc. Moreover, the ability to access historic group content will be removed from a date in December. All of the NTARC yahoo group content is slowly being transferred across to our club web site. Yes, the web site is still progressing, somewhat slowly but I am told that it is the “members only” section that is causing a few issues. Once that has been sorted we will then provide financial members a password and access to that section. This area will store all our broadcast news, minutes of meetings, buy, sell and swap and other related matters. We ask for a bit more patience as we are slowly getting it there. Coming events Technical sessions The next session will be on Wednesday 20 November 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. Equine event final reminder that NTARC Safety Comms Team has been asked to provide safety comms at the State Championships being held at Sassafras from November 22-24. We will be providing Base Comms, 4 checkpoints and RFID tracking at this event for the 160k, 95k, 42k and the 20k ride. The 160k ride commences at 00.00 hours Saturday morning so yep it is a very early start and all-nighter for us. The 95k ride commences at 05.00 am Saturday morning, followed by the 42k ride at 08.00 hours and hotly on their heels the 20k at 09.00 hours. Both the 160k and 95k rides have been classified as elevated rides, this means riders can retire at any leg after 80k or continue on to finish. As mentioned last week the organisers of this event have recently brought it forward by one week, a decision which has had a spiral-on effect, with some of the Comms team who had planned their availability for the original weekend now not being available to assist. So if you can spare some time during the Saturday why not pop across to Smith & Others Road, Sassafras and relieve some of the weary team. Our Safety Comms Coordinator Norm would appreciate hearing from you. Norm can be contacted by email at safetycomms.ntarc @ gmail.com or catch up with him at coffee session. 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. 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 don’t 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, 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- You are listening to VK7WI aNd thIS is the VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast. ------------------------------------------------------------------ NEWS FROM THE SOUTH Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania www.reast.asn.au https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/ REAST 6m Repeater Replacement Two weeks ago saw the replacement of the VK7RAD 6m Domain repeater. The existing Philips 814 was removed from service by Damien VK7SD and replaced with a modified Unilab KL70. This was previously a mid-band unit that we converted down to 6m. Reports so far have shown a solid improvement. The repeater is accessible on 53.825MHz with a negative 1 MHz input. No input tone is required, however the repeater will output a 141.3Hz tone. Thanks to Alan VK7KAJ for the donation of the repeater and to Hayden VK7HH for his assistance with the transmitter modifications. 73, Damien, VK7SD REAST Repeater Coordinator ------------------------------------------------- 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 between the dates of November 21 and December 14, with a special opening broadcast at 6pm on the 21st November. 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/ ---------------------------------------------- DATV Experimenter's Night Firstly we apologise for the lack of sound on the streaming last last Wednesday night. We had a full program in the DATV Studio. We started with guest - Larry VK7WLH who took us through his recent learnings about the NanoVNA. Including the sweeping of a 70cm ground plane antenna in the studio. Larry also talked about the Ublox M8 module he has been experimenting with for locking his PC. Thanks Larry. We then had Kim VK7KB who talked us through the work that AA Radio was doing installing radio consoles in each Antarctic base and Kingston that enable them to effectely conect anything to anything. Thanks Kim. We showed a short video of the transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun as captured by one of NASA’s Helios satellites. Our videos included VK7HH review of the RigPi MFJ-1234, the TX Factor - Episode 24 and a couple of video by Joe Smith on the NanoVNA, a beginners guide to the Vector Network Analyzer, Using the NanoVNA to Measure Antenna SWR and Resonance and the NanoVNA, Viewer Questions and Answers. We get back underway this Wednesday night from 7:30pm. 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/ (73, Justin, VK7TW) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: WICEN (South) Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th November – Support for Scouts - Sir Ernest Clark Trophy - Oatlands NTARC - Equine event Sassafras from November 22 to 24 NWTRandTVG - Next meeting 2pm on Saturday December 7th NTARC - Christmas event on Wednesday 11 December ------------------------------------------------------------- A reminder to those people rostered for next week’s broadcast: Newsreader: VK7TW Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG 80m: VK7TW 40m: VK7ALH 20m: VK7TPE 10m: VK7JGD 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 Rick, VK7RI. (Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX) /EX SB BCAST @ WW < VK7AX VK7 Amateur Radio News 10Nov19 Text edition: VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 10th. November 2019 (Note.. please remove spaces in email addresses before using) VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST FOR SUNDAY 10th NOVEMBER 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to the VK7 Amateur Radio News for the 10th of November 2019. 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 not known at the time of writing On 7.140 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD On 14.130 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH 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. -------------------------------------------------------------- Contest News VHF/UHF/Microwave Spring Field Day The Spring VHF/UHF Field Day is coming up on the 23rd and 24th of November. It is getting closer so why not take some time and think about dusting off the VHF/UHF gear and see who you can contact? There will be quite a number of fellow VK7's out and about in a few locations and they would love to make a contact with you, but you don't have to go portable to participate. Logging is easy as many of the logging programs will be aware of this contest and do all the point calculations. There will be activity from 6M all the way up to 3cm. Why not look at building a new antenna for one of the VHF bands and see how far you can reach. There are sections for 8 Hours, for 24 Hours, Single or multiple operator stations so plenty of options. Hope to hear you on the bands! 73, Richard VK7ZBX ------------------------------------------------------------------ WIA Conference Weekend 2020 Billeting & Keynotes The organising committee of the WIA Conference Weekend 2020 is looking for expressions of interest from Southern amateurs and families who would be prepared to billet people during the weekend of 8-10 May 2020. This is a great way to show Tasmanian hospitality for Conference attendees and help reduce the cost of their visit. It is also a great way to meet people who you may only talk with on the radio. If you would like to express interest in billeting one or more people then please email wia2020conference @ gmail.com. The WIA Annual Conference 2020 is being held in Hobart at the Best Western Hotel and the theme is Antarctic Gateway. The weekend features many visits and tours of Antarctic related locations and museums. The presentations on the Saturday afternoon are coming together with a great focus on Antarctica and radio and can be viewed on the WIA website. https://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/2020agm/ The Saturday night conference dinner usually features a keynote speaker and we are interested if you have recently heard a speaker at an event or presentation who has talked about something related to Antarctica and or radio and you think they would be entertaining and interesting for the conference attendees. Please email through your ideas to wia2020conference @ gmail.com. 73, Justin, VK7TW on behalf of the Organising Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------ QSL NEWS Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager ofthe WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau Herman advises that he will deliver cards 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. If you have any questions about QSL Cards being held, Herman can be contacted by email vk7bureau @ wia.org.au 73, Herman, VK7HW ---------------------------------------------------------------- AB, ABY, AC, CAN (FOR RT0C), AD, AG, AM, AN(9N), AP BBB, BH, BO, BX CH DD, DG, DW, DX (for E7/VK4DX), DZ EE, EFA FG, FLAR GM, GR, GZ HAH JB, JJ, JJJ KK, KPB, KRJ LC, LH, LLJ MAG, MBD, MHZ NC, NF, NRF, NSE, NWQ PRN, PSJ RN, ROY TCE, TS (for VK9LS), TU VIP, VR, VZ WC, WLH XDM, XX YUM ZA VI17AC, VI7COW, VI70HI, VI7JIS, VI7KCD, VI7LER, VI70MI ----------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS FROM THE NORTH WEST NW Chat n Show Bi Monthly meeting VK7HSC Shirley's Bi Monthly NW Chat n Show was held on Saturday 2nd November at the Penguin Sports Centre. We had a great presentation by Peter VK7KPC who travelled from Launceston and brought along a Clansman RT320 HF Manpack, in working condition. Coverage was 2 to 30 Mhz AM, CW & SSB with an inbuilt tuner and 5w or 30 watts. The unit has a hand crank battery charger that can be connected between the battery and the radio to charge the battery. Peter was hoping we could do some QRP with the VK3s who were participating in the Vic QRP by the Bay Event being held on the day, but the rainy conditions kept us indoors. After a great insight in to the radio's functions and capabilities and various vertical and dipole antennas and mast that came with the Clansman, Peter also showed us, a QMac HF90 50W HF Radio, Australian made. The world's smallest, high performance HF SSB transceiver that delivers 50W, Peter explained its features and he had it set up with a tuner as a QRP Radio in a case. Terry VK7JAI gave us an insight into band frequency separation. A delicious afternoon tea was consumed while chatting about radio related activities. VK7BYL's handheld had an up to date frequency file uploaded to it, and Anne was giving away Radio magazines she no longer needed. Although a winters day outdoors, all who attended enjoyed the event. Thanks to Peter, VK7KPC for taking the time to come along, and bring his unique radios. Photos from the meeting, can be viewed on the VK7 Amateur Radio Face Book page. Eric, VK7EV ------------------------------------------------------------------ DATV TRANSMISSION UPDATE The DATV Transmission in Ulverstone is now 1280x720 HIGH DEFINITION using a new professional High Def Encoder. The LCN is 100 with channel designation VK7AX Ulverstone. The improvement in definition and clarity of the received signal is very impressive. Viewers need to ensure the TV used or Set Top Box receiving the ATV transmission is fully compliant with DVB-T High Definition format, and, if using a set top box, utilize the HDMI output connection for maximum results. A suitable set top box is the Strong SRT 5434 which has been tested and works well, noting that a patch to allow it to tune to the ATV frequency of 445.50 MHz needs to be downloaded from Strong. All transmissions including the regular weekly Amateur Radio Broadcasts and the 'VK7 Amateur Radio News' now employ the new HD encoder. See you on DATV! 73, Tony VK7AX. ------------------------------------------------------------------ NWTR&TVG NOTICE OF MEETING Hello members, I would like to remind you of the next meeting of our club to be held at the Ulverstone Scout Hall, at 2pm on Saturday December 7th. This is the last for the year and the last of the decade - oh where has the time gone? I hope some of you can come and, as usual, your plate of afternoon tea is welcome and I will supply tea and coffee. The rooms will be open until 6pm if needed for conversation, socialising and afternoon tea, so, be prepared to stay for a chat and second cuppa, members and visitors alike. Please note that visitors are always welcome to come to our meeting. See you there says Shirl VK7HSC ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated www.ntarc.net As mentioned last week, it is the month of November and that means we are into the wind-down period in terms of major developments and activities in the hobby, so news items start to dry up considerably. Added to that, this Broadcast goes to air a week too early to be able to give you a rundown on our November General meeting and BBQ, as that was held only yesterday and we needed to put this copy to bed on Friday evening. What that all means is that our humble reporters are forced to rely more heavily on repeat items, so apologies in advance if you have heard it all before. Some wheels do keep turning however, so it is time to hand over to our President, Idris VK7ZIR, to give us a rundown of the technical session held last Wednesday 6 November and he reports:- “A relatively short report, as the weather was not great, and numbers were down. Ross VK7ALH showed us his final piece of equipment in the Drake line-up. This was a Drake MN-2000 Antenna Matching Network which had double layer enclosure covers and silver plated air spaced coils. The air spaced variable capacitors were huge, and capable of handling 2kW. Again, a beautifully built piece of equipment from the 50s and 60s era. Trevor VK7TB wasn’t in attendance this evening, so Ross kindly left it at the Clubrooms for him to see on Friday. Peter VK7PD and James VK7JAM were discussing future contests. Peter VK7KPC was busy setting up an automated WSPR receive station in the radio room using our Kenwood TS590 under computer control. During the next few days, the computer suffered from the dreaded Blue Screen of Death and had to be reset. A newer computer will be installed, with a UPS powering both radio and PC. WSPR paths that were recorded showed good propagation on 40m to both sides of the planet, using the station vertical antenna. Future recordings will be set up using the G5RV horizontal. Colin VK7ZCF and Bernie VK7BK had quite an animated discussion on the safety aspects and procedures involved in the use of fall arrest systems when installing antennas on a roof. Idris VK7ZIR brought along an Ignitron for Show and Tell. An ignitron is a type of gas-filled tube used as a controlled rectifier and dating from the 1930s. Ignitrons are closely related to mercury-arc valves but differ in the way the arc is ignited. They function similarly to thyratrons; a triggering pulse to the igniter electrode turns the device "on", allowing a high current to flow between the cathode and anode electrodes. After it is turned on, the current through the anode must be reduced to zero to restore the device to its non-conducting state. They are used to switch high currents in heavy industrial applications such as aluminium smelters and high-power welding machines. No birthdays on the horizon, so the sausage rolls could be consumed in their entirety. See you next week. 73 says Idris, VK7ZIR” Thanks Idris, and a good session again. Hopefully the weather will be better next week. Membership notice – just a friendly reminder that your membership for 2019 expires on 31 December but it is too soon to pay your renewal just yet. One of the agenda topics discussed at the November general meeting was whether NTARC should review the yearly subscriptions. It has been 4 years since an increase took effect and as members are aware, costs relating to the running of our club room and repeaters increase all the time. Again, I will be able to provide you with further information on the decision reached at the November meeting. Please note that renewal notices will be sent out to all members soon. Until that happens though, sorry but you will not be able to jump the gun so to speak and pay early. Coming events Technical sessions – The next session will be on Wednesday 13 November 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. Equine event – NTARC Safety Comms Team has been asked to provide safety comms at the State Championships being held at Sassafras from November 22-24. We will be providing Base Comms, 4 checkpoints and RFID tracking at this event for the 160k, 95k, 42k and the 20k ride. The 160k ride commences at 00.00 hours Saturday morning so yep it is a very early start and all-nighter for us. The 95k ride commences at 05.00 am Saturday morning, followed by the 42k ride at 08.00 hours and hotly on their heels the 20k at 09.00 hours. Both the 160k and 95k rides have been classified as elevated rides, this means riders can retire at any leg after 80k or continue on to finish. The organisers of this event have recently brought it forward by one week, a decision which has had a spiral-on effect, with some of the Comms team who had planned their availability for the original weekend now not being available to assist. So if you can spare some time during the Saturday why not pop across to Smith & Others Road, Sassafras and relieve some of the weary team. Our Safety Comms Coordinator Norm would appreciate hearing from you. Norm can be contacted by email at safetycomms.ntarc@gmail.com or catch up with him at the coffee sessions. 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. 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. Please remember that these coffee events are normally a good opportunity to collect your QSL cards, but 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 don't 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, 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      ------------------------------------------------------------------ NEWS FROM THE SOUTH Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania www.reast.asn.au https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/ REAST 6m Repeater Replacement Last Sunday saw the replacement of the VK7RAD 6m Domain repeater. The existing Philips 814 was removed from service by Damien VK7SD and replaced with a modified Unilab KL70. This was previously a mid-band unit that we converted down to 6m. Reports so far have shown a solid improvement. The repeater is accessible on 53.825MHz with a negative 1 MHz input. No input tone is required, however the repeater will output a 141.3Hz tone. Thanks to Alan VK7KAJ for the donation of the repeater and to Hayden VK7HH for his assistance with the transmitter modifications. 73, Damien, VK7SD REAST Repeater Coordinator ------------------------------------------------- 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 between the dates of November 21 and December 14, with a special opening broadcast at 6pm on the 21st November. 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/ ---------------------------------------------- REAST Presentation Night Wrap-up Men's Health For our November REAST presentation we had the honour of GP Dr Con ONeill from General Practice Plus come and talk to us. In a very relaxed fashion Dr Con took us through many of the typical ailments we can expect in life as males, and some of the early signs to look out for. Many other health aspects were also talked about including general well-being and what young people experience growing up. And there was some good discussion surrounding the nutritional issues of foods we find today. Many Thanks to Dr Con for an excellent, enjoyable lengthy presentation taking many questions from the audience. The video of the talk is available on the REAST Youtube Channel. https://youtu.be/9FEJDZfwHVc 73, Warren, VK7WN ------------------------------------------- DATV Experimenter's Night   We get back underway with the DATV Experimenter's Nights this Wednesday night from 7:30pm in the Queen's Domain Clubrooms. We have many interesting items lined up for the show including Larry VK7WLH with NanoVNA updates, the 1296 Sunday QSO party going off and possibly a spot welder demo or three. Do you have a project you are working on? Why not bring it along and show us what you are getting up to.   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 ------------------------------------------------------------------- TECHNICAL ARTICLE AA Radio Services, Zetron to provide Antarctic consoles Zetron’s ACOM Command & Control system has been selected to provide communications solutions to and between Australia's research stations in Antarctica. The contract for integrated radio console systems, equipment and support services was awarded to AA Radio Services, a Melbourne-based Zetron partner and reseller, following a competitive bid process. Australia operates three stations on the Antarctic continent as well as a station on Macquarie Island, with responsibility for managing more than 3300 assets. Due to the formidable challenges of working in such an extreme environment, maintaining reliable communications between Hobart and the research stations, and between teams and facilities on the continent, is absolutely vital. “Needless to say, the geography and conditions make communications a challenge,” said Chris Reade, Senior Business Development Manager at AA Radio. “From dangerous climate and terrain to space limitations, pre-existing heterogeneous technologies and connection issues ranging from audible interference to service/coverage gaps and device malfunction due to severe conditions and treatment, this is one of the most difficult places in the world to maintain reliable communications. “So closely understanding the priorities and unique challenges was key to putting together a winning solution.” The Australian Antarctic Strategy, launched in 2016, committed Australia to implementing the results of a review of Antarctic research station infrastructure. Part of this was to begin a renewal program to create a station network that is efficient, flexible and suited to future needs, including replacing antiquated radio consoles. The AA Radio contract entails a 12-position ACOM Command & Control system, with consoles at the three Antarctic locations, the station on Macquarie Island and the head office base in Tasmania. In addition, Zetron and AA Radio will provide implementation, configuration, training and ongoing support services to ensure the system is maintained, upgraded and scaled as needed to meet current and future needs. “Quality and dependability, even in complex or extreme environments, and the ability to make disparate systems work together are all established hallmarks of Zetron,” said Ranjan Bhagat, Vice President and General Manager, Zetron Australasia. “Providing mission critical and life-saving centralised communications, now on all seven continents, is a responsibility Zetron takes very seriously. At temperatures close to -50°F there’s simply no margin for error.” Read more: http://criticalcomms.com.au/content/radio-systems/news/aa-radio-services-zetron-to-provide-antarctic-consoles-30866834#ixzz64g8tZmP6 CriticalComms ------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: WICEN (South) Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th November Support for Scouts - Sir Ernest Clark Trophy - Oatlands NTARC - Equine event Sassafras from November 22 to 24 NWTRandTVG - Next meeting 2pm on Saturday December 7th NTARC - Christmas event on Wednesday 11 December -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A reminder to those people rostered for next week's broadcast: Newsreader: VK7RI Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and NWTR&TVG 80m: VK7ALH 40m: VK7FB 20m: VK7JGD 10m: VK7VKT 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 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) /EX