The WIA Annual Conference will be held in Hobart Tasmania over the 8th to 10th May 2020 and registrations are open and selling fast.
On Saturday afternoon we have a fantastic range of presentations organised to showcase our conference theme which is “Antarctic Gateway”.
Following lunch we have two streams setup which can be loosely categorised as the “Antarctic” stream and the “Radio” stream.
Rex Moncur VK7MO who will talk about his period as Director of the Australian Antarctic Division between 1988 and 1999.
Dr Andrew Klekociuk from the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) will take the audience through some history and the past and present atmospheric studies being conducted in Antarctica by the AAD.
Dr Roland Watzl is Deputy Chief Medical Officer with the AAD and will outline what is involved with Polar Medicine in Antarctica.
Peter Yates VK7PY and Kim Briggs VK7KB will provide an Antarctic Communications Review entitled from Mawson to Satellites which will look at the different radio technologies used in Antarctica over the last 100 years.
Brian Rieusset formerly a radio amateur who will be providing recollections of Antarctic Amateurs in 1968.
In the “Radio” stream we have the following presentations confirmed:
Steve Adler VK5SFA will be presneting on his DXPedition 4 Square DX Antenna Systems and may even include some info about his amazing transmitting magnetic loop antennas.
David Minchin VK5KK, Tim Dixon VK5ZT and Iain Crawford VK5ZD will give a presentation on the second Epic VK Microwave Tour and the involvement of some European Amateurs who came along for the ride!
David Minchin VK5KK again will provide an update on the amazing 122GHz Transverter which uses the 122GHz radar chips.
Jamie Campbell VK2YCJ with his continuing experiments with the KiwiSDR and Noise and Interference Reduction and finishing off the radio stream will be Phil Tompson VK7SS who runs the very successful company – Novaris that makes Lightning Protection Systems and installs them all over the world.
A quick reminder of the fantastic deal from the Spirit of Tasmania with discounted fares and accommodation on the ship for the two weeks before and after the conference weekend. We have also been given permission to operate 6m, 2m and 70cm handhelds maritime mobile on the Spirit for this period. This is a unique opportunity to operate Maritime Mobile on your travels.
We finish off today with a reminder that we have negotiated a great deal from the Conference venue – Best Western Hobart with $149 per night rooms. Check out the WIA website to see what to do to take advantage of this discounted rate.
https://www.wia.org.au/joinwia/wia/2020agm/
73 and happy new year from Justin VK7TW on behalf of the WIA2020 Conference organising committee.
VK2 – WYONG FIELD DAY 23rd February 2020 (vk2ji)
Ed here and as promised, I now have the current list of talks that will be presented at this year’s Wyong field day.
Richard Collins will describe the collapse of the giants of the Australian electronics industry. The reasons for their failure and the way forward, with examples of current successes.
Ray Robinson, VK2NO, from Tube Radio, needs no introduction and will give another stimulating explanation and demonstration of historic and interesting equipment of days gone by.
Brian Clarke, VK2GCE, will explain transmission lines and terminations, (usually related to antennae) and may explode some myths showing us how to get those extra S points.
Rakesh Panwar from the Australian government’s Bureau of Meteorology – space weather Service will provide a practical guide to using their website. This is a must for all serious HF operators and DX chasers.
And last but not least, as every year, Roger Harrison, VK2ZRH, and the Weak Signal Group will convene to discuss their VHF & UHF and up activities along with associated topical and emerging issues in their area of the hobby.
For the most up-to-date information about the Field Day please visit fieldday.org.AU on the web and click on the Wyong Field Day button.
Until next week, this was Ed Durrant VK2JI for the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club, 73.
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(I)
DARLING DOWNS RADIO CLUB
http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk4/DarlingDownsRadioClub/ vk4wid@gmail.com
Have you worked someone on a mountaintop or in a conservation park?
What do you know of these activities?
Come along to the Community Meeting Rooms at the Toowoomba Library and hear John Kirk VK4TJ give “A Comparison of Summits on the Air and World Wildlife Flora and Fauna from a VK Perspective”.
See you there at 7:00 PM Monday (20th January).
Access to the carpark is from Victoria St.
This is Dougal VK4EKA for the Darling Downs Radio Club Inc.
Redcliffe and Districts radio club.
http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk4/RedcliffeAndDistrictRadioClub/
VK4 – REDFEST 2020 18th April. St. Michael’s College
Old Toorbul Point Rd from 8am (vk4tfn)
TOWNSVILLE
http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk4/TownsvilleAmateurRadioClub/ vk4wit@wia.org.au 4773 1196 or 0408 001142
po box 333 Garbutt East, QLD 4814
www.tarc.org.au
VK4 – TARC Australia Day Long Week Family Radio Camp Thursday afternoon 23rd to Monday afternoon 27th January 2020 at Girl Guides Association of Qld Campsite and Training Centre, Bluewater. (TARCinc)
VK4 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS — WICEN
http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk4/WICENBrisbane/
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Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking.
Isn’t it wonderful when things come back to normal. The great Christmas choke point has been cleared from the postal services and mail is being delivered surprisingly fast. I ordered a tool from a Chinese vendor on a notable auction site and 9 days later it was in my hands. I ordered a couple of capacitors from a Brisbane based supplier on Sunday and they arrived on Wednesday. Let us hope this is
the new future for mail deliveries in 2020.
During the week, I was trying to keep abreast of the amateur radio posts on a social media platform and I read some interesting comments following a news release from the WIA President, Greg, VK2GPK concerning the assistance being given by amateurs in the bush fire relief efforts. As you would expect the topic of WICEN was central to the posts and in some ways seemed to heighten my concern over the visibility of this body or bodies from public view.
One correspondent was maybe playing devil’s advocate in questioning the need for amateurs in the professionalised world of disaster management. The very point that the amateur service can rapidly deploy, and has apparently, to provide communications when all else fails, as it has during this fire season. This point was made by another person. However, in clarifying the situation about WICEN, as a body in NSW, it was pointed out that it was not part of the WIA and in an almost Masonic twist it was suggested that unless one was involved in the deployments you would be unaware.
I know that WICEN in Qld operates differently and seems to be a loose collection of bodies that operate under the banner of the WICEN name with some affiliation to the Wireless institute. Other states have different arrangements still.
The point that I tried to make in a recent segment was that as amateur radio involvement in public service is hardly ever featured in our news or publicity it is a bit like the past tourism slogan, “WICEN, where the bloody hell are you?”
It never ceases to amaze me that people have the time to explain and argue points on social media but are incapable of sending that same material for publication. There used to be a popular saying, don’t hide your light under a bushel. All it meant was, if you have something good to show the world, don’t hide it. Now I happen to believe that volunteers should be recognised for their services and the bodies that they represent should be publicised.
When it reflects well on part of the hobby, it reflects well on us all.
I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think….how about you?
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Hi, I’m Ed VK2JI
It’s great to hear QNEWS over the local repeater but what if you’re out of range on Sunday or you’re living abroad for a while? Yes, you might be able to connect into a repeater via Echolink or tune a remote receiver but in both cases, you have to be around at the same time as the broadcast is being sent.
Podcasts are a way of you getting the broadcast sent automatically to your smartphone or tablet or PC for free, so that it’s there when YOU are ready to listen to it, even when, later, you have no Internet connection!
Why am I telling you about Podcasts on QNEWS
Well as of last weekends show, QNEWS is now available as one of these podcasts.
If you have an Apple iPhone or iPad – you already have the program (or App as they are called on mobile devices) which you need as QNEWS is published to the Apple Podcasts site which you may know as iTunes, simply search for QNEWS. If you have an Android Smartphone or tablet there are lots of Apps that you can use. A very easy one, that even saves you having to search for Podcasts about Amateur radio, lists all of the major ones in the App – (including QNEWS) is called “Ham Radio Podcasts” and comes in both a free (with adverts) version and a paid version.
Another advantage of podcasts is that they tend to be published a couple of days before the content is broadcast over the repeaters so you can be “ahead of the curve” with your mates telling them the news before they hear it themselves!
Hey, it’s all good fun and just another way to listen to your QNEWS
(Ed VK2JI)
FINAL TEXT FINAL
Ladies and Gentlemen,
in August 2020 to the end of 2020 we are planning a motorhome tour of several months from Cairns along the coast of Australia via Brisbane – Sydney – Canberra – Melbourne to Adelaide (8-10 Weeks) and via Tasmania (1-2 Weeks) to New Zealand (6-8 Weeks) from Auckland via Wellington to Christ Church.
I am qrv with Short-wave and 2m/70cm FM and in D-Star.
As a radio amateur (my call is DF6FQ) I am interested in technical museums, especially radio-, radar-, short-wave radio museums, communication museums or special amateur radio museums. Are there amateur radio activities in the sense of amateur radio fairs / amateur radio events, also regional during my trip and in the area of my tour?
I am also interested in natural science museums.
If you have an overview of these museums, please send it to me with the addresses of the museums or dates for 2020.
I am particularly interested in military history topics on the 1st and 2nd World Wars, in military history museums and especially in exhibitions or museums dealing with the development of radio, communication, radar and rocket technology from the begin to 2000.
If you have an address list of such museums or historical sites, memorials, special exhibitions etc. which are on the route from Cairns to Melbourne or New Zealand in the second half of 2020, please send it to me. So far I only know that a German tank of the 1st World War is on display in Brisbane in the Museum of Natural History .
Thank you very much for your effort.
Yours sincerely
Vy 73 de
Jürgen, DF6FQ
Dr. Phil. Jürgen Nimbler
Mainstr. 4
Germany 63796 Kahl
(above in text only)
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