Silent key We wish to announce the passing of Brian VK2DHO on 20th January 1995, aged 70 years. Brian, of Glenwarrie Place Parkes, was a member of Parkes and Orange Districts Amateur Radio Club, and was the Treasurer for many years. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Grenfell 2 metre repeater. Brian was also a keen "home brewer" and was also a TV and radio technician. he is survived by his wife, and son David. He will be missed by many of his friends. Information from Ian McGovern VK2 DIV. President's Message This is Michael Corbin, VK2PFQ. This week we got one of those letters which demoralises hard workers in any organisation. It was a letter criticising my weekly addresses. The information contained in these addresses is designed to inform. This means by necessity that it might contain information which could be unpleasant or critical of people or organisations..... I can't help that! Would you prefer something filled with platitudinous rubbish or..... do you want the facts. All my information is factual, if anyone believes it isn't, then I invite them to take any action they might consider appropriate. I put a great deal of time into keeping you informed. I believe that my only opposition is by those who follow one of those old "teams" or by those who are ill informed. Under the olde guard EVERYONE was treated as just so many mushrooms. This is not the way I do things. I intend to keep you abreast of all the goings on in our hobby.... Pleasant or Unpleasant. If you don't like what I say, it's like watching T.V. the on/off switch is in YOUR control...... I'll be finished in about five minutes.... Turn back on then! By now all affiliated clubs have received their latest posting, which included a copy of the submission to the SMA. All members will receive one in the next issue of A.R. To this end, anyone who has time to spare should present themselves at the Parramatta Office tomorrow, Monday at about 10.30a.m. We need about four people to help fold and staple these pamphlets for distribution. If nobody comes, then I guess. I'll do it all myself, with help from CESAR MIRANDA, VK2TCM. CESAR and MAX VK2AFE photocopied 1,500 copies last Friday. All we need now is to staple them together. If you can come, give me a call. Don't just turn up, we may change the venue. Perhaps we could leave them 'till Thursday and get the Veterans to help us!.....Only kidding Franklin. Now concerning our electrical work. Tim Mills VK2ZTM did the job for us. I'm sure that will please all the knockers. My answer to them....I'll accept any help from anyone who offers in the true spirit. Speaking of help, the painting people are all asked to present themselves at Parramatta next Saturday morning. We have had some good offers and one in particular from none other than Clive Robertson, that's ROBERTSON -- not Robinson. Clive also expressed his appreciation of the tapes supplied by Tim Mills, and no Mr. Robertson they were not recorded in the bathtub under water on a wire tape recorder.... Although, you're probably not far wrong!! Now regarding your comments on our manner of Station Identification....could you please repeat your instructions, our secretary wiped the first part of your tape message, by mistake of course. Indeed, we would be both delighted and honoured to accept and appropriate replacement message. Robertson, as he prefers to be addressed, can be heard on Sydney Radio 2GB Monday to Friday 5.00 AM 'till 9.00 AM. I do not apologise for the free plug. If you can't make Breakfast with Robertson then attend our "celebrity paint in" next Saturday. However, you'll need a Ticket....Give me a call at home on 626 9288. Letters of reply are beginning to come in as a result of our writing to all the members of the ALP Communications Committee. I'll give you details of these on a future broadcast.....And I promise to criticise those who deserve criticism!!! Finally a word to those, who are concerned at our threatened pullout from the Federal W.I.A. For the benefit of those listeners who don't know anything about this, a short History lesson..... At a meeting of the Federal Executive in October, that's the organisation we are prevented from belonging to because Mr. Harrison steadfastly refuses to resign, i.e. we have NO representation, a motion was moved to change the Examination function, presently with the Federal Office, to the VK4 Division. This motion was then sent to the Federal Council to make a final decision. The motion was put with little or no debate. Our representatives, who were in attendance this time, Peter Kloppenburg VK2CPK and Peter Naish VK2BPN, viewed this as a move which could spell the end of Federal. The ultimate fragmentation of the various functions of Federal throughout the States. Accordingly, they voted against the matter....and rightly so! VK6, whose delegate had not had an opportunity to discuss it with his council, declined to vote. There is provision in the Federal M.& As. to cover this very situation, i.e. the motion "lays on the table" until a future meeting. VK2 decided, at a Council meeting, that this situation warranted stronger action....accordingly we threatened to resign from Federal ....and that's all it was, a threat. Such an action would only ever be as a result of a complete breakdown of relationships with our fellow amateurs throughout Australia. This will never happen whilst I'm the President. Quite apart from that, a notification of Intention to Withdraw MUST BEAR THE SEAL OF THE N.S.W. Division.... and all this cannot happen without an Extraordinary Special Meeting which must decide that this is the way to go. I believe that this Division acted quite properly. All States except VK4 have since written in support of NOT moving the examination function. Quite apart from that any change must be with the approval of the SMA. They do not approve. I hope that puts the matter to bed once and for all. My knockers on packet Radio will, I am sure, take due notice and react accordingly. This means of course a complete retraction... A nice start could be a message from none other than the Minister for Propaganda himself...Affectionately known to some as "THE FOOL ON THE HILL". This message was entitled "CORBIN IN DAMAGE CONTROL" from VK2XBR TO SPLIT @ VKNET MESSAGE NO. 24452..... on VK2XSO BBS Yeah, fat chance CORBIN!!!! All painters will be contacted during the week and advised of starting times Etc. I'll see the rest of you.....Next week. Someone tell those Blokes its safe to turn their Wireless back on again....Corbin's Finished for another week.... Hmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!! Radio Veterans' monthly meeting A reminder thet the next meeting of the Radio Veterans at Amateur Radio House 109 Wigram Street Parramatta will be on Thursday 16th February 1995 at 11.00 am. All welcome. WIA (NSW) Division services The NSW Division of the WIA runs amateur classes and examinations, a free QSL Bureau for members, slow Morse practice on the 80m band, a technical library and bookshop -- and also a Trash and Treasure sale on the last Sunday of every odd-number month. Please contact the Divisional office for details. WICEN News Hunter advise that their first meeting for the year will be on 20th February at the Emergency Operations Centre, on the corner of Elizabeth and Hannell Streets, Carrington, starting at 1900, and thereafter on the third Monday of each month. Do any other regions have regular meetings? The major event this month is the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club Field Day, at Wyong Racecourse, on Sunday 26th February. As usual there will be a WICEN stall next to the Caravan, and people, in uniform, are requested to help staff it for an hour or two from 1000 to about 1500; this is an important "PR" exercise, as we sign up many new members at this event. Please contact Alan VK2YYJ if you can help, during tbe day on (02) 839-1388, or via packet radio at VK2CZR; members will recall that Alan has run several such shows, and we hope he will receive all assistance this year. Events next month include the "RTA Big NSW Bike Ride" from the 4th to the 11th of March for which the current contact is John VK2AMH, and the annual Bungonia Cave Rescue on the weekend of 18th-19th March, and Mark VK2XGK is looking for volunteers who won't necessarily have to go underground; Mark can be contacted at work on (02) 936-8689. A major event in April is the Oberon Car Rally on 29th April, and about 20 people are required; please contact Alan VK2YYJ via packet radio at VK2CZR, or at work on (02) 839-1388. WICEN is always looking for members to provide the community with communications assistance. Write to WICEN (NSW) Inc, PO Box 123, St Leonards 2065 for further information, or come up on one of the WICEN nets: Blue Mountains on the first Monday of each month at 8.30pm on channel 7175 simplex, Hunter each Wednesday at 7.30pm on channel 6900, Northern Rivers each Wednesday at 8pm around 3610 kHz, Central Coast each Thursday at 8.30pm on channel 7125, and Sydney each Thursday at 9.30pm on channels 7150/8275. If there are any other regular nets then we'd like to hear about them. -- Dave VK2KFU, WICEN (NSW) Inc. Publicity Officer Dural Report Here agin is another report on activities at the Dural broadcast station. A tower-climbing-bee has been organised for Sunday afternoon, so that some of the antennae can be inspected and where necessary straightened; naturally it will be necessary to switch off the Dural beacons and repeaters at that time, so users of these services are hereby warned. Also on the agenda is some work to help make the station power-failure-proof. One member of the Dural team took a trip down South lately, and found all sorts of hitherto-unknown Broadcast outlets. Since very few records, if any, can be found about these relays, it would be appreciated if ALL relay stations contact the Office, with details of their relay frequency (input and output), period (morning, evening, both, or occasional etc), and technique (sub-audible tone, time-switch, manually, atc), plus anything else you believe may be relevant, such as average number of callbacks etc, so that we can get a better idea of our coverage, and whether any backup channels are necessary. Listeners may recall that following the vandalisation of Dural last year the Broadcast originated from Parramatta for some time, and many relay stations just disappeared. Please help us make the VK2 Broadcast to be once again the best Broadcast in the country. --Dave VK2KFU, Dural Engineer News Briefs MEDICAL DX? For the first time in Australia, Telecom's Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) has been used to transmit high-definition ultrasound images from Melbourne to medical specialists attending a conference in Sydney. Such uses of ISDN can be used in the future to pioneer the new field of "telemedicine", which allow specialist medical treatment to be given to patients at rural hospitals that are unable to afford their own specialists. ---------- As Robin VK2VN reported on last Sunday's broadcast, the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Russian space station Mir were flying in close formation, practising for a docking operation that will take place in June. Orbiting at a speed of 28,000 km/hour, Discovery closed to within 13 metres of Mir. The operation was made extra difficult by a fuel leak on the Shuttle: officials at the Russian Sace Agency were concerned that lumps of frozen fuel could damage Mir's optical sensors and solar panels. In June, the Space Shuttle Atlantis will perform a complete docking manoeuvre with Mir, the first of seven such manoeuvres to take place over the next two years. ---------- Australia is to have its own annual solar car race, from next January. Organised by Sustainable Energy Enterprise Developments, the "Great Southern International Sunrace will take place over three days. The first leg will be from Adelaide to Broken Hill, then on to Mildura, then back to Adelaide. The event's organiser, Mr. John Hoerner was involved in the 1993 World Solar Challenge, in which the Australian entry, Aurora, came fifth. Aurora also recently broke the solar car record for crossing Australia from Perth to Sydney. ---------- "News Briefs" looks at communications news items that appear in the mainstream media. Thanks this week go to "The Australian" and "The Sydney Morning Herald". If your local or regional paper runs an item of interest to Radio Amateurs, please send a clipping to the Divisional office. --Richard Murnane VK2SKY Central Coast Field Day Now's the time to put aside Sunday 26th February - that's just two weeks away - for a trip to the Central Coast to visit the Annual Central Coast Field Day. The Field Day has something for everyone. There are traders galore, selling new and second-hand equipment, interesting technical lectures and workshops, special interest groups and displays, fox hunts for those with a competitive spirit, bus trips for the family, and a chance to meet people who you may not have seen for years or have only ever worked on the radio. More than 2,000 people come from far and wide and this year as in past years there will be many international visitors. The Central Coast Field day is held at Wyong Racecourse, just five minutes from Wyong Railway Station. The Racecourse provides an excellent venue with under cover display area, Bistro and food facilities and ample car parking within the grounds. Two entry gates will be in operation this year to avoid the traffic congestion that has occurred in the past. Gates will not open until 8:30 a.m., and this includes entry for Flea Market traders. An information service will be provided on the Central Coast 2 Metre Repeater 146.725 MHz using the call sign VK2AFY on Saturday 25th and the morning of Sunday 26th February. Admission is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for pensioners and Seniors Card holders and children under 12 are admitted free. Further information can be obtained by writing to the Field Day Committee, Box 252, Gosford, NSW, 2250, or via Packet to VK2AFY @ VK2EHQ. Telephone enquiries can be made by phoning (043) 40 2500. See you at the Central Coast Field Day on 26th February. Bob Fitzgerald, VK2XRF CCARC Publicity Officer CASTLE HILL MILITARY RADIOS Castle Hill Military Radio Collection will once again be mounting a display at the Wyong Field Day this year. Items on display will include: a BC611 U.S. Infantry walkie-talkie the U.S. Navy TCS small ships transmitter a Bendix RA-1B Catalina aircraft receiver an Australian Wireless Set no 62, with no 10 Calibrator a late model No 19 Mark 3 tank transceiver and an Eddystone 730 receiver in military guise There will also be an associated display of the English Larkspur equipment. If you need any information on service type radio equipment, please contact me and I will endeavour to bring it to the Field Day. Donations of equipment, spares or manuals to the collection are always greatly appreciated. As usual, I will have an empty trailer with me. Please contact me on (02) 680 2112. Ian O'Toole, VK2ZIO, Curator, Castle Hill Military Radio Collection. CLUB NEWS: A.A.T.C Australian Amateur Television Club Inc. The next meeting of the A.A.T.C. Inc. will be on February 12th 1995 to be held Radio House - Wigram St Parramatta - 1.00 pm. Today!!! ---------- The meeting will outline the objectives for the Wyong Field Day and input from members is expected regarding the display. ---------- A technical overview will be given about the new CPU controlled repeater about to come on line plus other technical directions. Some new project conclusions will also be shown. ---------- Anyone interested in ATV is welcome to attend for general information about ATV and the needed requirements. ---------- For more information about ATV - contact the Publicity Officer on (02) 587-3491 between 4.00 pm and 10.00 pm Monday to Fridays. ---------- Remember the Wyong Field Day is only 2 weeks away - see us there !! ---------- AATC Inc. Publicity Officer Bob Barnes VJ2R CLUB NEWS: SUMMERLAND Summerland Amateur Radio Club The 36th Annhual General Meeting of our Radio Club will be held in the Clubrooms 412 Richmond Hill Road, Goonellabah, on Sunday 5th March 1995, commencing at 2 pm. Business to include - Presentation of reports - Confirmation of amendments to Club by-laws - Introduction of the new fees structures, plus Election of Office-bearers and Committee. Also up for discussion are proposed changes to our voice repeater and Packet digipeater systems. All members are specifically requested to come along and voice their opinions on these topics. Guests and visitors are very welcome. Remember - you must be a financial member of our club to make your vote count. Ragchew and refreshments to follow meeting. Don't forget our Computer EXPO in May. For more information please contact Steve, VK2JSM, Ric, VK2EJV, or Graeme , VK2GJ on H.F., V.H.F. or Packet via VK2RPL-2 668900' VK2GJ - Graeme - Publicity Officer CLUB NEWS: WAVERLEY Waverley Amateur Radio Society Tomorrow, Monday the 13th of February, marks 75 completed years since the formation of the Waverley Amateur Radio Society in 1919. The Society has had a chequered career but the one thing which has remained constant is that it has been continuously licenced since that time except for the years during the Second World War when all amateur licences were suspended. The Society invites all past and present members to come to the next meeting on Wednesday 15th February at 7:30 p.m. to celebrate the occasion. One amateur, Gordon Thompson, VK2AVT, whose connection with the Society dates right back to the 1920s, will be present, so come along and reminisce and also find out where the Society is going in future. The venue for the meeting is the Society's shack at the Rose Bay Scout Hall in Vickery Ave, Rose Bay, next door to the Rose Bay R.S.L. Club. Doors open at 7:00 p.m. We are planning some events for later in the year including a dinner and would like to hear from anyone who has been associated with the Society over the years. Please contact the Publicity Officer, Simon Buxton, VK2EII, if you would be interested in the dinner or any other events o that we can gauge interest and also if you have any tales you may be able to relate from the Society's past. Simon may be contacted either by phone on 328-7141 at home or 391- 9738 at work; or via the post to po Box 131, Watson's Bay, NSW 2030. Apart from the regular meeting on the 3rd Wednesday, the Society is to start a "project night" on the 1st Friday of every month. This is intended for technical discussion, problem solving and a social get- together, so mark it in your diary and come along. Having a permanent venue, we are now able to conduct classes for prospective amateurs and those wishing to upgrade their licences. The first Morse class aiming at the 10 wpm test is nearing a close and a new class will follow. In addition a theory class will be run every Tuesday night starting in mid-March. Would anyone interested please contact the Secretary, Grant Hinchcliff, VK2TU, on 957-7100 during working hours or 319-1913 after hours. Simon Buxton - VK2EII - Publicity Officer CLUB NEWS: LIVERPOOL Liverpool and Districts Amateur radio Club The Liverpool and Districts Amateur Radio Club welcomes members and interested parties to its first meeting for 1995. We will be displaying the prototype of our new kit for foxhunting. The kit is for a Doppler radio direction finder which will include a vehicle display unit and an antenna switching box. Paul VK2UPB wiill be giving a talk about the features and construction of the unit. The unit will be more than just a foxhunter with applications suitable for other bands such as 6m, aircraft and marine distress, and even 430 MegaHertz. Everyone is welcome to come along on Tuesday night for more information. The meeting commences at 8 pm at the Scout Hall Cam- bridge Avenue Glenfield. See you there --Brad VK2QQ Publicity Officer CLUB NEWS: GREAT LAKES Great Lakes Radio Club At its first meeting for 1995 the Great Lakes Radio Club considered a number of proposals concerning the establishment of a second 2- metre repeater linked to VK2RGL and located on a mountain top some 80 kilometres to the north-east. This repeater is required to cover sections of the Pacific Highway which, because of rugged terrain, do not receive a strong signal from the main repeater. Also to be located at this site will be a UHF CB repeater for use by the local Bushfire Brigades and the highway traffic. This repeater is at present being operated by the Great Lakes Club at a much lower elevation. Unitl recently VK2RGL had experienced considerable pager interfer- ence, although not co-sited with a pager transmitter. Thanks to outstanding investigative work on the part of the Regional SMA office, the sources of the interference were identified and eliminated by the insertion of isolating filters in the feedlines of multiple transmitters to common aerials. Stan Ellis VK2DDL COMING EVENTS Waverley ARC 75th Anniversary meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . Wednesday Radio Veterans meeting at Parramatta . . . . . . . . . . . . Thursday Hunter WICEN meeting (Pauline VK2GTB) . . . . . . . . . . . 20 February Central Coast ARC Field Day at Wyong . . . . . . . . . . . 26 February Proposed new Amateur licence fees come into effect . . . . . . 1 March RTA Big NSW Bike Ride (WICEN) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11 March Daylight Saving Time ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 March (check) Summerland ARC Annual General Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 March Signals Reunion at Wagga Wagga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11-12 March Bungonia Cave Rescue exercise (WICEN - Mark VK2XGK) . . . . 18-19 March Hunter WICEN meeting (Pauline VK2GTB) . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 March Divisional Trash and Treasure Sale . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 March Easter Monday public holiday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 April Hunter WICEN meeting (Pauline VK2GTB) . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 April International Marconi Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 April If you have an event you'd like publicised on the weekly broadcast, then please send details to the Divisional Broadcast Officer, Michael Corbin VK2PFQ, by phone on (02) 626-9288, or by fax on (02) 626-6066. Items can also be forwarded to the Divisional Office before close of business on the Friday before the broadcast. -------------------------------------------------------------------- VK2WI Broadcast, 12th February 1995. Copyright 1995 WIA (NSW) & contributors. Material may be used elsewhere if the source is acknowledged.