Silent Key Keith Laws VK2BKL, of Lakemba It is with deep regret that I announce the passing of my friend Keith Laws Sunday morning 23rd October 1994. Keith passed away enjoying his new found hobby of flying his ultra light aircraft in the Oberon area, fortunately his flying instructor was with him at the time and was able to take over the controls and land the ultra light plane. Keith and I along with many others shared the common interest and hobby of amateur radio especially on the 6m band, he was a person who put 100% effort into any project he put his mind to and as such was always finding ways to improve his station as well as help others to improve theirs. After obtaining my AOLCP in 1966 in 1966 I was greatly influenced by Keith in the mysteries of 6m operation. During his period of operation on 6m. Keith made many thousands of contacts all over the world, his call sign being heard whenever the band opened to ZL or JA or local sporadic E. There are still fond memories of the 6m fox hunters all with full size 3el 6m beams attached to their vehicles proceeding at a great pace to find the hidden transmitter followed by the get together always attended by Keith and his good wife Val. Keith was an amateur in the true sense loyal to his hobby and always there to help others. Keith was born in Berlin on 27-5-1930 and lived in England as a young man he then moved to Australia and married Valerie, they had two daughters Kay and Debbie, who married and gave birth to Trent and Mitchell now living in USA, and Debbie's son Shane. Keith was first licensed on 2-12-1958 as VK2ZVL in the Botany area he then in true amateur style drove around Sydney in his Volkswagen complete with 3el 6m beam looking for the right location with the loudest signals and least noise on 6m to live ; he decided on Lakemba and stayed there till his end. Keith was a person who enjoyed his family and his hobbies which included Amateur radio, boating, flying, cars, motor bikes. He will be sadly missed Norman Deitch VK2ZXC VK2 Div. President's message This is Michael Corbin VK2PFQ Last Friday the 11th November was an open meeting of the Council of the W.I.A. N.S.W. Division. This meeting was well attended, many and various matters were discussed and the gallery was well behaved. As you know by now, Mrs. Morris is no longer with us. Peter Kloppenberg VK2CPK has been good enough to fill the vacancy on a temporary basis.... for at least the next three weeks anyhow. I wish to publicly thank Peter for his continued support. The hours he spends in the Office are invaluable. For instance, Peter started on Friday at about 10.00a.m.....he left at 1.00a.m. on Saturday morning. What a bloke! In order to balance the budget this year, Council has decided, for the moment, not to fill the position of Administration Secretary. It is expected that a new secretary will be appointed in the new year. The position will be advertised next month. The present condition of the filing system leave a lot to be desired and it is to this end that I am requesting anyone with time to spare to come in and give us a few hours free work. The main problem is, is that everything in the files is out of order/mixed up or together/in the wrong place/not stapled and/or fixed together/not cross referenced or not on any data base. I do not seek to level blame on anyone for this state of affairs...All we want to do is .... clean it up. If we are to run the Institute like a business, as should be the case...then our files need to be organised in a more professional manner. One cannot expect any new office person to operate effectively in the position of Secretary with the Office records being in the state that they are in presently....and knockers please note, nobody is blaming Mrs. Morris for this state of affairs. It's just years of neglect, with lots of well meaning folk each doing their well meaning bit .....nobody in particular is to blame, I think we probably just outgrew ourselves. Anyhow, after all, the place ran for years on voluntary labour. I feel it's now time to adopt a more professional and business like approach. Updating our files is part of this professional approach....so if you have a few hours to spare and wish to delve into the past history of the Institute as well, then come in and give Peter Kloppenberg a hand. On the correspondence side, by this I mean the unanswered letter department...enormous inroads have been made into a file, which was at least 4 inches thick...to give you an idea. There was a Lever Arch file of the normal size, filled, so full, you were unable to close it. The previous secretary, you will recall, when he resigned, "promised" to come in and liaise with Mrs. Morris and give some indication where he was up to with the correspondence...... to the best of our knowledge, this was NEVER done...Indeed, he claims to have left all relevant information in the office and....you guessed it....it disappeared. One wonders whether he left it in "the usual place"????? In the back room...... on the safe....there is definitely no truth in the rumour that it was stolen by the tooth fairy...Perhaps this time it was the "Scarlet Pumpernickel"....We didn't get his keys back either Hmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!! Anyhow once more, I digress. The reason I brought this matter up was to make you aware of the great job Pixie Chapple VK2KPC is doing answering all that OLD correspondence...Some of it dates back to August 1993!!! The file is now only 1 inch thick and diminishing rapidly. Pixie is answering all letters but she can only answer those which she knows exist. If you have outstanding correspondence which remains unanswered....Having been gobbled up by whatever sort of Monster lurks behind the safe in the back room....Then, please bring it to the attention of our efficient Secretary. Council guarantees answers...what we don't guarantee is that we will give you the answer you want!!! As today's Broadcast is rather long...more on the happenings at the Meeting next week. Now on with the final instalment of the IARU Region 3 Singapore Conference Courtesy David 9VIRH/VK3QV...AND I quote... "Working Group "A" considered operational requirements for the satellite service and recommended that member societies endorse the phase 3-D project and find ways and means to collect private and other donations to support it. The IARU Region 3 Awards Manager submitted his report and was amazed to find out that the majority of delegates in the working group had never heard of it. Anyway, a total of 1900 awards have been issued, 400 of these in the last two years. Details can be found in the latest NZART Call Book. And now, the Morse Code, a topic briefly touched upon a few weeks ago....the working group and, ultimately the Conference, endorsed the continuation of the requirement in the ITU Regulations for competency in Morse Code by hand. I P H A came next....now what is I P H A...it is an international organisation to assist handicapped people to obtain their amateur radio licence. It is located in Region 1, although in the USA the Handy Ham organisation operates along similar lines. Member societies are requested to inform the Region 3 secretariat and the IPHA Region 1 Co-ordinator of facilities available in their country for the support of disabled radio amateurs. Commonly accepted Amateur Licences...again briefly touched upon earlier but nevertheless, a repeat of the recommendation... that Region 3 societies obtain simplified reciprocal operating and licensing procedures by an international amateur radio permit and by TR61-02 and recognition of existing, informal, agreements. The emergency communications aspect of amateur radio created considerable interest, specially paper no 35, presented by the WIA in which WICEN was mentioned as an amateur representation with emergency authorities. Interesting to note that in Thailand the amateurs were finally allowed to operate on HF outside Bangkok after they organised an emergency network during a severe typhoon some years ago, while Malaysia came with the story that, after the control tower of an important airport was burnt out, amateurs provided initial around the clock air communications until the tower was partially restored. The Region 3 News Letter, which is published twice a year, was discussed and it was decided that the editor should establish a roster system of member societies to supply copy for publication. Unfortunately, this publication is hardly known in Australia. According to the rules, established at a Directors meeting in Bandung in 1990, copies can only be sent to a societies head office for distribution to interested parties. It is unknown how many copies the WIA receives at Head Office, one thing is for sure, your Queensland Council members haven't seen a copy for many years. ARDF was also discussed and, as you are aware, Townsville will host the Second Region 3 ARDF Championships, sometime in 1996 or 1997, depending on the outcome of talks Wally, VK4DO will have with Region 1 officials so that there will be no clashes in dates. Of importance is, that the Rules for the Region 3 ARDF Championships and the Appointment of IARU Region 3 International Class Referees is approved. Further, that the first IARU Region 3 International Referees, qualified at the 3rd meeting of the ARDF Committee, are also approved. This means that Wally's appointment as International Region 3 referee is now a reality. Still on ARDF, a problem exists with Mongolia. Being a former member of the USSR, Mongolia is in fact a member of Region 1 but, for the Mongolian Radio Sports Federation to become a member of Region 3, many hurdles will have to be overcome, not the least the ITU. The Conference adopted a proposal that the MRSF be treated as if it were a member of Region 3 for participation in ARDF activities and for PARDC......Now...What does PARDC stand for....it stands for Promotion of Amateur Radio in Developing Countries. As a result of a proposal from New Zealand the name is now changed into STARS 3, Support of the Amateur Radio Service in Region 3, describing all the promotional and support activities necessary in all the countries and societies in the Region, regardless of their state of development. Of vital importance is the acceptance of Amateur Radio by a country's administration and that's where a lot of education is necessary. The subgroup recommended the inclusion of youth and women in the growth of amateur radio. Further, that organisations like the Asia Pacific Tele-community be encouraged to hold future seminars on amateur radio with as wide participation from member societies as possible. The STARS-3 Task Force encourages assistance in negotiations with local administrations by supporting local amateurs, providing prototype documents, papers and regulations, prototype syllabus and examination material and provide explanatory material about amateur radio. Region 3 secretariat is encouraged to urge member societies to inform them of all positive news events relating to amateur radio, such as disaster assistance, rescue, medical emergencies etc, so that all administrations are aware of what radio amateurs can give to their country. Papers on deregulation, self regulation and amateur radio examinations were accepted as information only. My impressions of the Conference....well organised by the Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitting Society....fantastic company...good and frank discussions and definitely illustrating the need to know at least one or two other languages besides English. I found that by being able to converse in one way or the other in Indonesian, for instance, I gained more knowledge about Amateur Radio in that country than others who did not speak the language...Nevertheless, I think that future conferences will be much busier, probably equating those of Region 1, where sessions often go into the wee small hours, just to have certain propositions finalised....." ....and so end the final part of what was a most informative account of one persons views of the IARU Region Conference in Singapore. There is another account in the latest edition of AR on pages 4 to 9 inclusive. This was written by Kevin Olds VK1OK who lead the Australian Delegation See you next week. Federal news VK Ham Visits Russian Space City Steve Curtis VK3CAW, from Hamilton in Western Victoria, spent eight days in late September visiting Star City (Zvyezdny Gorodok) in Russia where the MIR space station and launch vehicles are made and where MIR astronauts are trained. "Only a handful of Westerners have ever seen the facilities and factories there," said Steve, who is a school teacher at Hamilton College, "It's still a closed area, one of the few remaining in Russia these days." It was an undreamt-of experience for Steve, and it arose from a chance encounter last June when he was one of the Australian educators selected to attend the Australian International Space School, held in Sydney that month. The Space School is concerned with introducing space technology to students, and looking at ways it can be incorporated into maths and physics lessons. In 1992 Steve had used amateur radio with his Year 11 maths stu- dents to make contact with the MIR orbiting space station as a classroom activity to demonstrate in a practical way the mathematics of satellites. In 1993 he again used amateur radio contact with MIR to introduce concepts of gravity and satellite orbital physics to his Year 12 physics students. Steve's students were able to speak to MIR astronaut and amateur, Anatoly Solovyev U6MIR. Subsequently, Steve's curriculum material and innovative teaching strategy was published for other teachers to use. Attending the International Space School was the Vice Rector of the Siberian Aerospace Academy, Victor Filatov, who was so enthusiastic about Steve's work he arranged for his trip to Star City, 45 km north east of Moscow. As it turned out, Steve was the only ham among the seven other people from various countries who toured the MIR facilities. All had deep involvement with the Russian space program, said Steve. Despite it being military-run and closed to the general population, Steve was permitted to take any photographs he wished. He spent an evening with Anatoly U6MIR, with whom he'd had his first MIR-school linkup back in 1992. During a tour of the MIR training facilities, where there's a full-size working mock-uo of the space station, Steve asked where the 2 m and 70 cm amateur antennas were located on the real spacecraft. The technicians there admitted they didn't know, but Anatoly U6MIR ventured that they had used magnetic-based antennas. True ham ingenuity -- in space! As a result of his Star City trip, Steve has been asked to inaugurate a summer space school which would take 20 high school students to Star City each year, where they would work with Russian scientists and get hands-on experience with space science and technology. "It's a unique idea; nothing like this is offered by the US space program," he said. The plan is to organise the first trip to Russia next August and Steve is seeking funding sources to support it. Meanwhile, he's still promoting the use of MIR and amateur radio in high school science and maths courses. WICEN News A summary of the recent Bathurst Co-ordinators Conference will appear on next week's Broadcast. In the meantime, we have been informed that JOTA next year will be on 21st-22nd October, so again there will be no conflict with the Hawkesbury Classic Paddle. This is supposed to be a quiet time for WICEN, but in the past we have had fire, flood, tempest, and earthquake around this time of the year; about all that is left is famine (unfortunately, we may already have this in the form of the drought) and plague (hopefully WICEN will not be involved in that one!), so do not be complacent; keep your equipment ready at all times for a sudden activation. Events this month include the Hunter meeting on the 21st November, and the closing date for the Newsletter on 30th November. For next month, WICEN has been requested to assist with the NSW Water Ski Association Ski Racing Division "Lion Island Classic", on Sunday 11th December 1994. Long distance communications are required from Croppy Point to Laughtondale, and this will probably involve 80m. Three stations are needed, from 0900 to 1430, and those interested are invited to contact David Ramsay VK2KLX. 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 again is another report on activities at the Dural broadcast station. We apologise for the somewhat-curtailed Broadcast last Sunday evening, but because of a general power failure we were literally operating under torch-light, and many facilities were not operational; we would like to thank the various relay stations who stepped in for us, notably Peter VK2XZP (and others whose names are lost to us), and the Announcer, Peter VK2EMU, for whom the task of reading the text was not easy. This particular matter was not lost upon the newly-formed Dural Committee, many of whom assisted in this "Broadcast under Torchlight"; plans for making the Dural facility independent of the power grid are already in motion. Possibly as a result of the various power outages that occured as a result of unusually high winds, the power supply for the Dural beacon controller VK2RSY decided to take a holiday; by now all beacons should be operational. Finally, the 10m SSB amplifier has failed, so we are back to running "barefoot" on 28.320 MHz, which being a converted CB set was not all that hot to start with, but nobody seemed to have noticed! This amplifier will be returned to service when a new "final" has been obtained. -- Dave VK2KFU, Dural Engineer Magazine Roundup Here again is a summary of the local magazines, which in the author's opinion could be of interest to Amateurs. This week we discuss the November issues of the various magazines. "Electronics Australia" discusses whether alleged out-of-band operations could merely be "images"; concludes their experiments with stepper motors; builds a simple cable checker; concludes a series on proportional radio control; turns an "XT boat-anchor" into a cheap programmable logic controller; and commences an intelligent solar battery charger. "Silicon Chip" builds a dry-cell battery rejuvenator; Novices may be interested in a simple DSB (Double Sideband) transceiver; mod- ifies a Nicad discharger for 2-cell packs; and shows how to produce PCB patterns on an X-Y plotter. "Amateur Radio" summarises the recent IARU Singapore conference; discusses NVIS (Near Vertical Incidence Skywave) antennas; the SMA introduces their new policy on interference; over-voltage protection from field generators receive another mention; a new publication from the RSGB, "The Radio Amateur's Guide to EMC", is reviewed; the redoubtable FM-828 is tuned up, complete with a simple S-Meter; and first-comers to Packet Radio can read how to connect a TNC to a computer and transceiver. "Amateur Radio Action" reviews a long-forgotten antenna -- the "Carolina Windom"; the Internet and its resources are discussed, along with vertical antennas; a series on Weather Satellites is continued; and a novel antenna-matcher, seemingly too good to be true, is discussed, although another magazine not unconnected with Amateur Radio described what appears to be its principle of operation not so long ago ... Finally, "CB Action" describes an interesting use of the "near field effect" in a scanner; and provides an index of INternet addresses for Short Wave stations. Be listening next month for another summary of the local magazines. -- Dave VK2KFU News briefs ABC-Digital, information technology branch of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, has launched its new "D-Radio" computer- based radio broadcasting system. The system includes the now- familiar "D-CART" digital audio storage and editing system, digital signal processing hardware, and computer-controlled signal routing, The "D-Radio" operator's console features a touch-sensitive screen, and performs messaging, audio track selection, and program scheduling. It even has a "virtual console" with an on-screen mixing and fading controls. The heart of the "D-Radio" controller is a Motorola 68040 microprocessor, running the OS9 operating system and 200,000 lines of assembly language code written by the ABC. The system is to be manufactured by AWA at Lane Cove in Sydney, and will be available for delivery early next year. * * * It was reported this week that the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" lost contact with NASA flight controllers last Sunday. The communications breakdown, which lasted for about eight minutes, was attributed to (quote) "crossed radio signals", whatever that means. Hopefully no SAREX (Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment) equipment was implicated! * * * The Sydney Morning Herald's television guide last week featured the so-called "other channel", Sydney's community television channel, which broadcasts from Artarmon on channel 31. Have any Amateurs into ATV told them about the other "other channel"? The article mentions that anyone with an idea for a program community television can contact the Station's programmers on (02) 649-9622. Your program could reach up to 200,000 viewers each week. * * * An article in the Seattle Times of 5 November reported that (quote) "Microwave interference has stalled crane operations on the $74 million Seattle Center Coliseum renovation project." Broadcast towers on nearby Queen Anne Hill and consumer microwave ovens (!) on the same hill are suspected, but "I don't know if we'll ever be able to pin that down," said Jack Donovan, construction manager for PCL Construction Services Inc." Continuing from the article: ... when the crane operator tried the [crane's] electronic controls, they didn't respond correctly and haven't worked since, Donovan said. He didn't think the problem would delay the project ... "Obviously, it's an inconvenience, but to this point we've been able to use alternate means to work around it, " he said. The crane operators are testing filters or shields aroubd the controls to ward off microwaves. Electronic specialists were called in to work on the problem yesterday. -- Steve Sumjmit on the Internet "comp.risks" forum (One has to wonder how much blame will be cast on those poor microwave ovens... if the cranes were so badly affected, one might expect some rather dramatic effects on humans living in the area as well!). * * * "News Briefs" looks at communications news items that appear in the mainstream media. Thabks this week go to "The Australian" and "The Sydney Morning Herald", and the Internet "comp.risks" forum. If your local or regional paper runs an item of interest to Radio Amateurs, why not send a clipping to the Divisional Office? Secrets of the sun The AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND SOLAR ENERGY SOCIETY is hosting the "Solar '94" Solar Energy Conference, fro, 30 November through 3 December. The theme of the conference will be issues of environment, population, sustainability, survival, and renewable energy. The conference will feature a trade exhibition and technology expo which will be open to the public. A number of workshops will address; * Advanced Materials * Passive Solar and Integrated Building Design * Photovoltaics * Solar Thermal and Energy Storage Applications, and * Solar Energy Economics On Tuesday, 29 November, pre-conference tours will be conducted to: * Photovoltaic and Solar Units at the University of New South Wales * the SOLARCH Photovoltaics and Devices Centre and Solar Thermal Research Groups at Little Bay * Malabar wind Turbine site Finally, on the conference's Public Day on 3 December, internationally famous environmentalists Paul Ehrlich and Dr. Davi Suzuki will speak on various issues of renewable energy and other environmental issues. The "Secrets of the Sun" solar enrgy conference takes place in the Clancy Auditorium of the University of New South Wales, Sydney. For more information about the conference, listeners may contact the conference organisers by phone on (02) 385-4868, or (02) 385- 4333. Thanks to Brad McMaster VK2KQH, who supplied us with details of the conference. HAM LOG a hit overseas Local Amateur Robin Gandevia VK2VN, who in the past has shown us how (and when) to make visual contact with satellites, has sent us a clipping from The Canadian Amateur Radio Magazine. They've been reviewing version 2.5 of his HAM LOG station logging program, and they seem to be quite taken by it. The program has all the usual logbook features one would expect, but (amongst other things) it also: * prints QSL labels * provides country details for the station being worked, including handy phrases so you can talk to the other station in his/her language * has a built-in notepad for recording tuner settings and other details * has bandplan details, beacon information, Q codes, CW abbreviations, and temperature conversion tables, all available at the press of a button. A demonstration version of the program can be downloaded from many computer bulletins, and Robin tells us that version 3.0 will soon be available. Intruders The ABC TV programme 'Foreign Correspondent' screened Tuesday 8th November 1994 ran an item about Cambodia and the hostages. Footage showed government forces in the rebel areas and one scene of the front line communications. The scene showed army personnel using HF communications, most likely back to headquarters, in both voice on sideband and CW. What was significant however was that the equipment was an Amateur band transceiver - an ICOM IC 75A with a displayed frequency of 7088.8 KHz, which is within OUR exclusive international 40 metre bnd. The close-up of the transceiver showed the frequency - 7088.8 - had been programmed into memory 22 and it was in the lower sideband mode. Unless there has been recent amendments or alternate use registered with the ITU, the use of this portion of the spectrum would appear to be an intruder. The ITU frequency table - Asutralian Table of Frequency Allocation October 82 - shows 7000-7100 kHz Exclusive Amateur and Amateur Satellite with footnote 510 for use in natural disasters, and footnote 526 of additional allocation and 527 alternative allocation for use of the "fixed service' in certain North African and Middle East countries. There is no reference that the portion 7050-7100 is other than EXCLUSIVE Amateur. If one studies television and press footage closely one will observe the apparent high usage of Amateur based equipment throughout the world - in service other than in the Amateur Radio Service - it no doubt keeps us supplied but at what cost? ... supplied by Tim Mills VK2ZTM IPS WEEKLY REPORT ----------------- 4 NOVEMBER - 10 NOVEMBER ISSUE No 45 DATE OF ISSUE: 11 NOVEMBER 1994 INDICES: DATE 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 10CM 84 83 81 82 80 79 80 A 15 12 27 8 4 12 (13 ESTIMATED) T 14 -10 71 27 -3 25 33 SOLAR ACTIVITY WAS VERY LOW ALL WEEK. THE GEOMAGNETIC FIELD AT LEARMONTH (WA) WAS MOSTLY QUIET, OR QUIET TO UNSETTLED. THERE WAS A BRIEF ACTIVE PERIOD ON 6TH, AND ON THE 9TH NOVEMBER THE FIELD WAS UNSETTLED TO ACTIVE THROUGHOUT THE DAY. IONOSPHERIC F2 CRITICAL FREQUENCIES WERE NEAR PREDICTED NOV- EMBER VALUES ON 4TH AND 8TH-9TH NOVEMBER, AND SLIGHTLY ABOVE ON 10TH. FREQUENCIES WERE DEPRESSED BY UP TO 20 PER CENT DURING LOCAL NIGHT ON 5TH, THEN NEAR NORMAL. ON 6TH AND 7TH FREQUENCIES WERE ENHANCED BY UP TO 50 PER CENT EARLY IN THE UT DAY, BECOMING DEPRESSED BY UP TO 40 PER CENT FROM 1600UT, AND AT OTHER TIMES, NEAR PREDICTED VALUES. FORECAST (11 - 17 NOVEMBER) SOLAR: VERY LOW. GEOMAGNETIC: QUIET. IONOSPHERIC: ABOUT 10 PER CENT ABOVE PREDICTED NOVEMBER VALUES. COURTESY OF IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES SUMMARY BY PAT VK2JPA ANARTS BROADCAST OFFICER CLUB NEWS Radio Veterans Group Next Thursday 17th November the Radio Veterans Group will be holding their usual monthly get-together. This get-together will be their last one for this year, so George, VK2BGU, has advised the office that this will be the Christmas Party meeting. Anyone with nothing to do next Thursday is invited to attend. You are requested to bring a plate. Franklin, VK2DYP, has requested that anyone intending to come should contact him on 452 5172. It is important that you bring a plate so that the day will be a complete success. So -- next Thursday -- Christmas get-together. Where ?? Amateur Radio House. Time?? 11 am and it finishes at 2 pm. See you there Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club Inc. Only two weeks to go to the Blue Mountains Computer and Communications Show Springwood High School, Grose Road Faulcon- bridge on Saturday 26 November 1994. * Exhibitor/Retailer stands * Flea Market * Refreshments (Sausage sizzle and hot/cold drinks) * Colour TV guessing competition * Demonstrations HF, VHF, ATV * W.I.A. Bookstall Have you got something to sell - computer or radio - then why not take a stall in our Flea Market. Space is likely to be quickly taken up so act quickly. To reserve space contact Alex VK2KAS Publicity Officer on (047) 57 3256. Hope to see you there - by the way - admission for visitors is free so why not come and browse around. Alex VK2KAS B.M.A.R.C.Publicity Officer INVITATION The Wireless Institute of Australia in conjunction with WAHRA, AAPRA, SPARC and other groups is pleased to announce that there will be a social function and get-together at the home QTH of Jo, VK2KAA, on Sunday 4 December 1994. All Amateur Radio Operators are welcome to attend the barbeque which will commence at 5.00 pm. The QTH is 59 Westbrook Avenue, Wahroonga. The function will cost $10 per head and in the interests of catering, would you please contact Jo at the above address by Sunday 27th of November to indicate your intention to attend. Pre- payment for the function would be appreiated. Spouses and friends are very welcome. A pool is available so bring your "Cossie". Please bring your own drinks. Jo's telephone number is 489 4393. She can also be contacted on Packet via VK2AAB or on the Hornsby repeater, on 147.250 MHz. We are looking forward to seeing you there to celebrate the passing of a turbulent but interesting year. From the VHF to SHF DX Interest Group A number of people have asked what's behind the group: So here it is: The aim of the group is to foster long distance communication in the VHF, UHF and SHF spectrum. The group gives talks, presentations on techniques, and ideas to be used to further the ideal of Amateur Radio in the area of long haul communication in the VHF abd above frequency range. The pool of talents that the group can, and has drawn on, are very keen to pass on their knowledge to assist in this pursuit. NOTE The Group's net has a new starting time of 11:00 Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time (AEDST) i.e. after the end of the morning broadcast. The net is held on 146.5 MHz FM. The SSB activity night on 2 metres is held every Tuesday evening 20:00 to whatever. This is well patronised and new stations are giving those repeaters a miss and joining in the fun. A SSB activity night on 70cms is held every Thursday evening 20:00 to 21:00 AEDST. This band needs better patronising (you know the saying use it or lose it!) and if you have 70 cms capability we would certainly like to see you there. The group's talk night on 22nd November 1994 will begin at 21:30 ADEST and be held at the WIA premises at Parramatta. We will be discussing the construction and what is required to build a two metre low noise preamplifier. (What device to use, techniques, selection of ccts, etc.) Richard Soulie VK2ARS Publicity Co-ordinator Club news: Central Coast The Central Coast Amateur Radio Club ATV Group will be holding a Video Production Workshop on Saturday 19th November at the Club Rooms. The aim of the Workshop will be to produce a programme of interesting newsand information which will be included in one of the regular Gladesville ATV Group broadcasts which are transmitted to air in Sydney an the Central Coast. Anyone interested in participating first hand in a video product- ion and learning the fundamentals of lighting, audio and video production techniques is welcome to attend. The workshop will be held on Saturday 19th November, commencing t 2.00 p.m. at the CCARC Club Rooms, Dandaloo Street, Kariong. -- Bob Fitzgerald, VLK2XRF CCARC Publicity Officer AATC The next general meeting of the Australian Amateur Television Club Inc. is on the 2nd Sunday of the month at 11.00 am at Black Muscat Park - Chipping Norton - today - now !!! now !!! now !!! - dress casual. This meeting is for AATC members and families only. The technical lecture on the day will be a demonstration of a new 8 channel audio callsign generator -- excellent for calling 8 of your fellow VK mates on radio/tv - an auto cue will follow in month or 2. Also in the number 8 ideas an 8 + 3 channel relay interface off your IBM will be shown minus the 240v - applications are endless. These new projects and more will be at the Wyong Field Day 1995. A CAD - PCB drawing assistance information day will be conducted one Sunday early in 1995 for any amateur wishing to know how to layout artworks for PCBs that can be used for their own club projects. Please contact Bob Barnes on (02) 587-3491 during business hours. For more information about the A.A.T.C. listen to the net on Tuesday nights from the Liverpool area on 146.625 MHz - approx 19.30 hrs - or watch us on 1250 MHz from our Oakdale repeater anytime. Also you can ring the Publicity Officer on (02) 587-3491 bus. hours. AATC Inc. Publicity Officer Bob Barnes VJ2R Waverley Amateur Radio Society The next monthly meeting of the Waverley Amateur Radio Society will be held on Wednesday, 16th November beginning at 7.00 pm at the club's new premises at Rose Bay Scout Hall Vickery Avenue Rose Bay The main purpose of the meeting will be to help construct and test the Society's packet modem kits, so bring along your kit together with all components and a soldering iron. Experienced advice and testing gear will be available which should enable your modem to be up and running by the end of the evening. There are still a few kits available at a very reasonable price. Don't forget that the meeting will be at our new premises at : Rose Bay Scout Hall, Vickery Avenue. Simon Buxton - VK2EII - Publicity Officer Club news: Liverpool The Liverpool and District Amateur Radio Club is holding its Mobile Foxhunt and BarBQ on November 27th commencing at 10am. The starting point is the carpark of the Liverpool Swimming Centre. We would like an indication of numbers interested in attending, so will you please call Paul VK2UPB or Brad VK2QQ on the Liverpool repeater which on 146.625 MHz. --submitted by Brad VK2QQ Club News: Manly Warringah The Manly-Warringah Radio Society's next lecture night is this coming Wednesday, the 16th of November. Phil VK2BDF will tell us everything we ever wanted to know about Operational Amplifiers but were afraid to ask. The doors open at 7:30pm for an 8pm start. The Society's club rooms are located at the Warringah Volunteer Services Centre, Kamber Road, Terrey Hills. Meetings are held every Wednesday night, with business meetings on the second Wednesday, and lectures on the third Wednesday of each month, and visitors are always welcome. Once again, this month's lecture on op-amps is on this Wednesday evening at 8pm, at the Warringah Volunteer Services Centre, Kamber Road, Terrey Hills. Give a call on the club's 2m repeater on 146.875 MHz if you need directions. Hope to see you there! -- Richard VK2SKY, Manly Warringah Radio Society Publicity Officer Coming events Now, a summary of upcoming events of interest to members and other Radio Amateurs ... Australian Amateur TV club meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . Today Manly-Warringah lecture night . . . . . . . . . . . . Wednesday Waverley Amateur Radio Society meeting. . . . . . . . Wednesday Veterans Amateur Radio Group Christmas party+meeting. .Thursday Central Coast ARC Video Production Workshop . . . . . .Saturday Chifley Amateur Radio Club picnic . . . . . . . . . Next Sunday Hunter WICEN meeting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 November VHF to SHF DX Group talk night. . . . . . . . . . . 22 November Great Lakes Amateur Radio Club meeting. . . . . . . 25 November Blue Mountains ARC Computer & Communications Show. .26 November Summerland Computer Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 November Divisional Trash & Treasure. . . . . . . . . . . . .27 November Solar '94 Conference & Exhibition. . . 30 November - 2 December Manly-Warringah Radio Society Christmas function . . 2 December Sydney progressive ARC meeting . . . . . . . . . . . 4 December WAHRA, AAPRA, & SPARC Christmas Party. . . . . . . . 4 December Do you have an event you'd like publicised on the weekly broad- cast? If so, 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- VK2WI Broadcast, 13th November 1994. Copyright 1994 WIA (NSW) & contributors. Material may be used elsewhere if the source is acknowledged.