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VK7AX > BCAST 08.04.23 13:12l 439 Lines 21610 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: VK7 Amateur Radio News 09Apr23
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VK7 Amateur Radio News 09Apr23
Text edition:
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VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 9th April 2023
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Welcome to the Easter edition of the VK7 Amateur Radio News and this was first broadcast on Sunday the 9th April 2023. At the mike of VK7WI this week is Peter, VK7PD.
On Sunday this broadcast goes out on repeaters all over VK7 and on digital radio - DMR Talk Group 5 and D-Star Reflector 91C by VK7WP and VK3PG.
We go out on medium and high frequency courtesy of the following rebroadcast stations:
On 1.862 MHz by Any Takers
On 3.670 MHz by Ross, VK7ALH
On 7.140 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE,
On 14.130 MHz by Justin, VK7TW and
On 28.525 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD.
We also go out on UHF CB Channel 15 thanks to Mark VK7FMAC in the Hobart area.
You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RHT in Southern VK7.
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Statewide News
Thursday Night SSTV Nets
Another great net night that saw the following participants, VK7s – KT, FGGT, EKA, ZIR, ZBX ,ZSB, ZAB and PD all sharing over thirty photos.
There were various subjects like:
All creatures great and small including rabbits discussing the latest RF technology
Radio transceivers, HF quad beams and a hill top radio office
This weeks transport theme featured vintage and sports cars along with a motor bike.
Aerial views of Launcestons Tamar river, Hobarts Prince of Wales Bay and Technology Park
An alignment of planets
The York Creek Observatory at George Town and for those interested in astronomy there is a link in the broadcast text https://www.astro.yorkcreek.net/index.html
A red sunset and night shot of the Tasman Bridge
Scenery at Towers Hill lookout in Queensland
Remember Ken VK7KRJs and Steve VK7OOs fully automatic 24/7 monitoring site that allows anyone who has sent an SSTV picture the ability to check them on their pages almost immediately, any time, both South and North Tasmania.
Also if you missed the net there are archives of all SSTV nights. These photos can be seen on Kens 2m SSTV website as an infinitely-scrolling web page or on NTARCs website under blogs and arranged as weekly nets.
https://vk7oo.tasme.com/vhfsstv
https://sstv.vk7krj.com/scrolling%20web%20gallery.html
https://www.ntarc.net/blogs
73 from Andre VK7ZAB
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QSL NEWS
Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
The updated list of QSL Cards held as at 7 April 2023 is in the email version of the broadcast.
If you have any questions re QSL cards, please contact Herman by email vk7bureau(at)wia.org.au
If you do not wish to receive QSL Cards please let me know as well as the stations you work.
73, Herman, VK7HW, WIA Manager VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
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A, AAA, AAD, AAE, AAH, AAP, AAR, AB, AC, AD, ACE, ACG, ACN, ADE, AED, AG(2014), AGC, AHT, AIR, AJC, AKK, AL, ALZ, AM, ANC, AO, AP, APZ, AR, AS, AT, ATH, AXZ, AY, AZ
BA, BB, BO, BPV, BT, BYE
CH/T, CJ, CL, CMV, CV, CW, CX
DD, DG, DM, DN, DO, DQ, DX, DW, DZ
EA, EE, EG, ER
FALX (alx), FAZZ, FCIA, FLAR, FLYN, FF, FG, FGGT, FPRN, FRJG(RG), FTAS
GA, GC, GGZ, GM, GN, GR, GS, GZ
HBR, HCH, HCK, HDM, HOB, HL, HPD, HRS, HSA, HSD/MRS, HSJ, HVK, HWW, HXT, HZ
IAN, IK, IS
JA, JAZ, JB, JCR, JGD, JJ, JOK, JON (VK6,2014 to 2016), JP, JW
KAC, KBA, KD, KDO, KI, KJ, KKR, KL, KO
LAW, LDH, LJ, LLL, LM, LT, LVH, LW
MAG, MAT, MBD, MBP, MC, MD, MEL, MET, MHZ, MR, MRS, MS
NA, NC, NET, NFI, NIK, NRF, NRT, NSE, NTE, NVH,NWQ
OB,OR
PAF, PBD, PM, PRN, PSJ, PSZ, PW
QK, QP
RG(FRJG), ROY
SM, SN, STO, SV
T/ch, TCE, TED, TK, TL, TO, TS, TX
VA, VAC, VAZ, VDC, VEK, VR, VTM, VZ
WA, WC, WIA, WL, WN (VK0), WO, WT, WX
XDM, XTC, XV, XX
YN, YUM
ZBX, ZGK, ZJJ, ZK, ZM, ZR, ZT, ZTA
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH
SOTA/WWFF PARKS GROUP
The Summits On The Air/World Wide Flora and Fauna parks group meets twice weekly – Mondays and Fridays 10.30AM till 12.00 at the Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry Street, Launceston.
For more information contact Al on 0417 354 410.
73, Al, VK7AN
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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
www.ntarc.net
We begin this week by wishing everyone a happy Easter. If you are traveling please take it easy on the roads and through the many road construction sites. Just take your time and make sure you arrive safely at your destination.
Last Saturday saw a “low key” get-together, to celebrate ten years in the present NTARC Club Rooms, the celebrations were in the form of a BBQ. Thank you to all who registered as this allowed us to more than adequately cater in the cooked food side of things and to all who brought along side dishes.
What an amazing turn out of members, some of whom had to travel for a number of hours, read that as travel through continuing road works. Some of the faces we hadnt seen since the last BBQ back in pre Covid times. It was an excellent afternoon of catching up and was only interrupted by the fact we also had a General Meeting scheduled after. The meeting agenda was worked through and completed just on an hour, everybody stayed on for drinks, a bite to eat and the continuations of previous discussions started during the anniversary get together.
Wednesday saw the club Technical Night roll around and Peter VK7KPC was once again in the radio room, on air and participating in the slow CW Morse code course run by Nic VK7WW.
Ross VK7ALH came in with a faulty CigWeld multi-process inverter welder. It was discarded as uneconomical to repair, but Ross suspected a problem with some relay operation, so theres a good chance he may be able to resurrect it. The circuit boards in these machines are usually covered with a white mastic on high voltage joints which can present problems with servicing, and can become conductive with age.
Next, also from Ross was an MFJ Versa Tuner 3 1.5 kW roller inductor antenna matcher. The moving contact for the variable inductance settings was not operating and switching correctly, and was unable to be correctly adjusted using the end stop spring, the spring had no provision for slot adjustment. This was really a design fault, but with judicious use of a jig saw on the case to allow an adjusting tool to enter and a file on the so called adjuster an alignment within fractions of a millimetre was obtainable. Well done Ross.
Finally, from his seemingly inexhaustive collection, a curio in the form of a Mizuho HF/VHF frequency counter, obtained surplus from a Radio Inspectorate somewhere! A very nice example of a Japanese made instrument from a company many had never heard of, but apparently well known for their inventory of RF accessories. An examination of the back panel revealed an antenna socket, and a switch which had been labeled VHF – HF, but the front panel controls only related to HF. A bit of research revealed that the counter was capable of measuring up to 200MHz. Quite confusing really, but thanks Ross.
Idris VK7ZIR brought in a Marconi VHF signal generator TF1064B circa. 1962. It was in relatively good condition but had been sitting in the cupboard for a few years. Once the covers were off, you could see main reason for displaying the unit, it featured a cylinder piston attenuator with a beautifully made brass gear train actuator. One nice piece of history Idris.
Colin VK7ZCF had a replacement LED tube assembly suitable for the older 4 foot florescent light bases. It was quickly disassembled revealing the internal construction of the LED strip, power supply and drivers. Collin then gave us a technical rundown of the different modifications to the base units that are required depending on the replacement LED tube type. This particular model had a very nice outer tubular light diffuser, that when a light was shone down it from one end and all the room lighting was turned off, it gave an excellent impersonation of a Star Wars light sabre, yes I know, but it was just one of those things that had to be tried in the name of science. HiHi
Stuart VK7FEAT brought in his recently constructed “ready to go” portable transceiver set up. Consisting of a padded Pelican lookalike case that featured a Yaesu FT857 transceiver, antenna matching unit, sundry patching cables plus power equipment and still space for a coiled up field antenna. Very neat and functional construction Stuart.
The highlight of the evening came from Justin VK7TW in the form of a live stream from the REAST club rooms in Hobart. Justin covered, and I must say very well, basic design parameter variations and their effect on the final performance characteristics of a Magnetic Loop Antenna. The demo certainly clarified quite a few questions including some we had not even considered.
You could hear the metaphorical pin drop, I dont think I have ever heard club members that quiet and intent on a Wednesday night. Thank you Justin for the highly informative visual interlude.
Equipment pictures are available on the NTARC website under “Blogs” for this broadcast.
Mug Order - Those members who ordered a personalised club mug, they have arrived and are available for collection at Friday coffee mornings or at the Wednesday bi-weekly club Technical Nights. Special deliveries can be arranged for our far-flung members.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The TestNet and TechNet session - Wednesday the 12th of April. TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7pm till 7.30pm…. and a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. Why not pop in and join us for a cuppa there is endless tea and coffee along with biscuits available for a donation.
The Club Technical night - The next session will be on Wednesday 19th of April and will commence at the usual time of 7.30 pm, running through to about 10.30 pm, at the Club room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
FINALLY - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news(at)ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
Thats all folks,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC.
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
Scout Centenary - Cygnet - VK7HSD
On Sunday the 30 th of April, Huon Districts Scout Station, VK7HSD will be operating portable from Cygnets Burtons Reserve to celebrate 100 years of Scouting.
Both Cygnet and Huonville Scout groups boast a large group of youth who currently hold their Foundation licenses; will no doubt be looking forward to sharing their journey in Amateur Radio to
the wider community.
Both voice and digital on H.F, along with DMR; Echolink will be utilized from 10 am till 4 pm on the day.
There will also be lots of “electronical” hands on displays to experiment with too.
On air contacts will receive a commemorative QSL card to mark the occasion.
We look forward to hopefully making the contact on air, or even in person!
For more information, please email Michael, vk7mrs(at)gmail.com.
73, Michael, VK7MRS
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Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
https://www.reast.asn.au/
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
https://www.youtube.com/reasthobart/
VK7RHT 2m back on Mt.Wellington!
Reminder that the 2m repeater on 146.700 MHz (formerly known as VK7RAD) has been moved to the top of Mt Wellington.
The system is currently in the following configuration: TX/RX on Mt.Wellington with a 141.3 Hz tone on both transmit and receive.
The receiver on Mt Wellington is experiencing about 10dB of desensitization when transmitting which is out of our control to fix. Therefore, we have a backup receiver which is a 2nd voted RX at the Domain on 146.100 MHz.
The 3rd site on Grey Mt will come online shortly once we have locked in a day to head up there. This will be a TX/RX site on 146.700/146.100, so there will be only one channel you'll need to program for VK7RHT in your radios.
The Snug Tiers repeater on 146.850 has been decommissioned and we are planning the movement of the beacons to Snug Tiers.
There is currently no link to the north yet as we work through getting the local portions of the repeater right.
If you'd like to see what strength your signal is like, please use the tool available here which shows live RSSI data from each receiver:
http://hh.vk7.com.au:83/voter.php?node=1727
A few more reminders:
VK7RDS on 439.750 MHz is still permanently linked to VK7RHT.
All remaining services operating as VK7RAD remain unchanged at this time (including 6M)
Repeater tail will be 10 seconds long. Once you hear the courtesy beep, the timeout timer has been reset and you can key up. No need to wait the full 10 seconds for the tail to drop.
There is an approx 1 second audio delay due to the digital audio routing in duplex mode. If you hear the end of your own transmission when you unkey, this is normal operation. If you are listening to yourself on another radio through the repeater, you will hear this delay.
Signal reports are welcome. Please send these through to president@reast.asn.au or post in the Discord server under the channel: #repeaters-and-beacons
73, Hayden, VK7HH
on behalf of the REAST Repeater Committee
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Club Postal Address Change
Reminder that the Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania Inc has changed its Postal Address.
It is now Post Office Box 253, South Hobart TAS 7004.
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Presentation Nights
Magnetic Loops - Myth-Busting Demo
https://fb.me/e/2lMJiTddt
Last Wednesday night was a presentation and demonstration of Magnetic Loop antennas with Justin VK7TW.
A magnetic loop antenna is a type of radio antenna that uses a loop of wire to receive or transmit electromagnetic radiation. It is designed to be highly selective and directional, with a narrow bandwidth and high Q factor.
Justin went through the key characteristics of a magnetic loops using elements highlighted in the excellent paper written by Leigh Turner VK5KLT (SK) paper.
https://www.ahars.com.au/uploads/1/3/9/8/13982788/article-antenna-mag-loop-2.pdf
These key characteristics include reducing the ohmic resistances in both the loop and the capacitor to maintain high Q. However high Q means narrow bandwidth along with high voltages and currents.
This is a classic engineering compromise situation where you need to balance a number of factors to result in the antenna coverage you are wanting.
Justin went through the different coupling methods and showed the wonderful web application from Miguel VK3CPU that allows you to model the different parameters.
https://miguelvaca.github.io/vk3cpu/magloop.html
Justin then went through the construction of his loop covering 15-40m using LDF-7/50 for the main loop and LDF-4/50 for the coupling loop. There is a vacuum capacitor covering 4-200pF and up to 6 kilovolts and yes the top of a loop get up to these types of voltages.
The loop is supported by a 100mm PVC pipe that houses the vacuum capacitor and drive mechanism. Justin went through the testing he undertook for the ohmic resistance and NanoVNA plots to show the coverage and SWR on the amateur bands from 15 to 40m.
Justin then showed the performance of the loop on 20m using a fortnight of WSPR traffic and Phil VK7JJ wonderful WSPR analysis website called wspr.rocks.
There was a demonstration of the narrow bandwidth at 20m on the IC-705 waterfall.
Thanks to Trevor VK7TB who allowed some photos of his very impressive loop antenna to demonstrate the different elements outlined in this presentation.
Justin finished with the advantages and challenges of magnetic loops and then took questions.
The presentation was recorded and is available on the REAST and Ham Radio DX YouTube channels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mwV-2urdF0
73, Justin VK7TW
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DATV Experimenter's Night
https://fb.me/e/2JoFedbKt
This Wednesday night we get back underway with the DATV experimenters nights.
We will be taking a look at an interesting opensource project that uses a 18650 LiFePo battery pack and inverter hat for a RaspberryPi.
We will also be taking a look at the latest DUBUS and AR Magazines along with much more.
We stream the nights on the REAST YouTube channel.
https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/live-stream/
https://www.reast.asn.au/special-interest-groups/amateur-tv/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ReastHobart/
We also go out on RF - DVB-T 7MHz Standard Definition on 445.5MHz. So, if you have a TV, Set-top box or USB DTV Dongle that you can tune and scan 445.5MHz 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.
73, Justin, VK7TW
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Training and Assessments
The next REAST Foundation Licence training and all licence assessment day is Saturday May 13th.
If you are thinking of coming along then please let Reg Emmett VK7KK REAST Learning Organiser know by phoning 0417 391 607 or via the REAST Website Contact Form.
https://www.reast.asn.au/contact/online-contact-form/
Check out the REAST Foundation Licence Training Videos that can be found on the REAST YouTube Training and Assessment playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsnsP_zjw831mdC6sY4XqavRUY-53ZWUn
And checkout the REAST Facebook page events for further details.
https://fb.me/e/2lrgEJgfd
73, Reg, VK7KK
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Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
Sewing Circle Net – Daily on 3.640 MHz commences at 6:00pm AEDST.
Statewide SSTV Net - held every Thursday night via the North/South Link on VK7RAF/VK7RJG from 7:30pm. In the North and North West - VK7RJG on 438.55 -7MHz and in the South - VK7RAF (146.650 -600kHz) CTCSS tone 141.3Hz to link RAF North-South.
State-wide – MICROWAVE QSO Party – following the Sunday broadcast call-back on 1296.15 MHz FM. One group in the greater Hobart area and another in the greater Launceston area.
Then North-south digital contacts on 1296.2MHz using Q65-60B.
Stations in the Launceston area transmitting on the odd minute. Southern stations on the even minute.
SOTA/WWFF Group – Meeting Mondays and Fridays 10.30-12.00 midday at Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry St, Launceston.
NTARC - Fridays - Coffee mornings in the NTARC Club rooms from 10am to noon.
NTARC - Wednesday 19th April - Club Technical night - from 7.30 to 10.30 pm in the club room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
NTARC - Wednesday 12th April - TestNet and TechNet - TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7pm till 7.30pm and a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30pm till about 8.30pm.
NW VK7 – Wednesday from 8:00pm local – NW Tassie Amateur Repeater Group Net on VK7RMD
NW VK7 - Thursday commencing at 8:30pm local) - N.W. Tassie 2m DX Net 144.190 USB
REAST – WAGS – Wednesday Afternoon Group meet in the Queens Domain Clubrooms from 12 noon.
REAST – DATV Experimenters Nights from 7:30pm live in the club rooms also on DVBT RF and YouTube Streaming
CCARC - 24 April 2023 - SSTV nights from 7:30pm using VK7RMD 2m repeater on Mt Duncan on the 4th Monday in the Month.
Events:
VK7 - June 2023 - VK7 Amateur Radio Centenary
ALARA - November 2023 - ALARAMeet 2023 - Hobart Tasmania
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weeks broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7RI
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and in the NW thanks to N W T A R C, West Coast Radio Group, Cradle Coast Radio Amateur Radio Club, VK7AX, and VK7DC
160m: VK7GS
80m: VK7TPE
40m: VK7ALH
20m: VK7JGD
10m: VK7DG
UHFCB15: VK7FMAC
DMR: Talk Group 5 and D-Star: Reflector 91C VK7ZCR
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You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RHT in the South.
A huge thank you to all people and organisations that assisted with this broadcast.
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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 around 0930 hours.
Items for the broadcast can be emailed to vk7arnews(at)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. PLEASE NOTE: given the number of potential statewide callbacks we will be taking and acknowledging callsign only. Once the callbacks are over, there will be plenty of time to chat statewide about other matters.
Callbacks will be taken on the frequency to which you are listening. Relay stations will use their own callsigns during the callback.
On behalf of the VK7 Amateur Radio News Team, 73, stay safe from Peter, VK7PD.
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(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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