XPost: aus.radio.amateur.misc, rec.radio.info

Weekly news from the WIA:
MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2025-01-26.mp3 Text edition:

2025 JANUARY 26 VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ------------------------------------------------------------*

THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK

THIS LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos

------------------------------------------------------------*

NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING JANUARY 26 2025
IN OUR 30th YEAR OF NON STOP NEWS

WIA AUSTRALIA DAY CONTEST JANUARY 26. -

WIA AX MEME. -

ARRL report DXCC application processing is back to typical processing
times. -

Michelle VK2AYL, President of the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio
Association, ALARA. -

All this and more in this once again "sans directors" edition of
WIA NATIONAL NEWS.

I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB

WIA

JOIN THE WIA
tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y

So our non-believers reckon the WIA are a stodgy old group of old codgers?

A great WIA meme did the rounds on social media through the week reminding
us , in a fun lounge in cheek way, of the use of AX for Australia Day,
yes TODAY 26th.

The memes image is a massive Yagi adorning Parliament House on Capital
Hill and then 6 rules for what you require for a successful Australia Day event.

A valid amateur radio "licence"

Radio

Antenna

Alcohol

A 'brawl' on 40 meters with an Old Timer

and number 6?

All of the above!
AUSTRALIANA

Carnarvons Decommissioned NASA Satellite Dish Back In Service After
40 Years.

The 29.8 meter parabolic antenna at the Australian OTC (overseas telecommunications commission) station has come back to life again
after nearly forty years spent in decommissioning limbo.

This parabolic dish antenna shares an illustrious history together with
the older 12.8 meter Casshorn antenna in that together they assisted with
many NASA missions over the decades. These not only include the Apollo 11
Moon landing with the small antenna, but joined by the larger parabolic
dish (in 1969) the station performed tracking duty for NASA, ESA and many other missions. Yet in 1987 the station was decommissioned, with scrapping mostly averted due to the site being designated a heritage site, with a
local VK6 museum.

In 2022 the 29.8 meter parabolic dish antenna was purchased by ThothX Australia, who together with the rest of ThothXs world-wide presence will
be integrating this latest addition into a satellite tracking system that
seems to have the interest of various military clients.

ThothX's mission statement reads" We aim at contributing to space safety
and sustainability while meeting the needs of industry, academia and
government departments and agencies.

Putting this decommissioned dish back into service wasnt simply a matter
of flipping a few switches. Having sat mostly neglected for decades it
requires extensive refurbishing, but this most recent milestone
demonstrates that the dish is capable of locking onto satellites.
This opens the way for a top-to-bottom refurbishment, the installation of
new equipment and also a lick of paint on the dish itself, a process that
will still take many years but beats watching such a historic landmark
rust away by many lightyears.

(hackaday)

ALARA
alara.org.au

This is Michelle VK2AYL, President of the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association, ALARA.

The program for the ALARA 50th Anniversary on 26th July has now been
finalised.

There will be a formal lunch at the Novotel in Glen Waverly as well as
tours of the Phillip Island Penguin Parade and Puffing Billy for those
who can stay longer. In addition we will have a casual pizza and trivia
night on the Saturday evening for those who would like to meet some of the ALARA members.

Details of all the Anniversary events and registration information can be
found on the ALARA website:-

alara.org.au

EDUCATION.

Well Australia has its fair share of FIFO workers, i.e. Fly in Fly out.

How about "flying in and out to get your ham radio certificate"?

The St George Amateur Radio Society is but a short uber ride from
Sydney airport and they are running ham courses shortly?

OK maybe a bit expensive BUT if you are in the St George area the
St George Amateur Radio Societys Education team have their next training
and assessment weekend scheduled for Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd
of March. The training venue is in Sutherland, a short walk from the
railway station and there is usually plenty of free 'on street' parking available.

Foundation, or entry-level training, is provided on the Saturday.
This covers basic radio theory, regulations and practical setup and
safe operation of an amateur radio station, and is followed by
qualification assessments on Sunday.

Standard and advanced level qualification assessments are available on
either Saturday or Sunday, BUT, by prior arrangement with the SGARS
education team.

All assessments are conducted by ACMA accredited assessors.

Bookings close on Thursday the 20th of February and you can contact them
email to education@sgars.org

sgars.org

(vk2news)

------------------------------------------------------------*

INTERNATIONAL NEWS is with thanks to ARRL, DX-WORLD, eHam, Hackaday,
IARU, ICQPodcast, IRTS, NEWSLINE, NZART, RAC, Radioworld.com, RSGB,
SARL and the World Wide sources of the WIA.

Amateur Radio has been a hobby for well over 100 years.

For as long as there has been an understanding of electricity and
radio waves, people have been experimenting with these technologies and advancing the state of the art. As a result, the world has moved from
wired telegraphy to tube radios to telephones -- forward a century -- to
GPS and high-speed digital communication devices that fit in your pocket.

Advances made by amateur radio experimenters have propelled the work of
NASA, satellites, television, the internet, and every communications
company in existence today. People fiddling with radios have pushed
forward technological advances the world around, time and time again. Yet
the people making these efforts, doing these feats, aren't always the best
at documenting and preserving their work for the future.

That's where Internet Archive comes in.

Digital Library of Amateur Radio and Communications.

DLARC is a project of the Internet Archive, and its job is to find and
preserve this rich history of radio and communications. DLARC collects resources related to amateur radio, satellite communications, television, shortwave radio, pirate radio, experimental communications, and related communications.

In the two years since the project launched, DLARC has preserved thousands
of magazines and journals, manuals, product catalogues, radio programs and conference proceedings. These materials were scattered worldwide, often inaccessible and in obsolete formats. DLARC have digitized material that
was on paper, cassette tape, reel-to-reel tape, CD-ROMs, DVDs, digitized
video from 16mm film, VHS, U-Matic, Betacam and even more obscure video formats.

Theyve built a collection of more than 140,000 items and made them
available to the world. Researchers, academics, and hobbyists use the
library to learn from the rich history of this 100-year-old hobby.

tinyurl.com/s5zeh7fk
Ofcom has announced a consultation which seeks to simplify the licensing
of amateur radio visitors to the UK from a specified list of countries.

The consultation also covers the proposed simplification of other wireless equipment usage. Ofcom says: We propose to introduce a new licence
exemption for short-term use of radio amateur equipment by radio amateurs visiting from countries that are not covered by the CEPT Recommendation
T/R 61-02, but with whom the UK has a bilateral reciprocal agreement.

The deadline for responses to the consultation is 5pm on the 28th of March 2025.

Heading to the USA soon? maybe to Dayton?

WELL THE VOICE OF AMERICA MUSEUM IS POISED TO REOPEN

The National VOA Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester, Ohio is QRV and
is about to reopen.

Six months of renovations have come to an end at the Voice of America
museum, which reopened its doors to the public at noon on Saturday the
25th of January. The work has created new exhibit space with room for more displays that showcase radio history in the US. The building formerly
housed the Voice of America's Bethany relay station.

The West Chester Amateur Radio Association, WC8VOA, has its headquarters
in the historic building and has had uninterrupted on-the-air activity
even as remodelling took place elsewhere in the interior. As visitors
return, hams will be on the air and, as always, ready to welcome them.

Theres a saying in theatre that even if you encounter hardship,
the show must go on.

Well, the theatre of radio is no exception to that rule.

We learn how an important amateur radio program weathered the storm -
literally - to fulfil a promised short-wave broadcast premiere.

Listeners had counted on hearing the first short-wave broadcast of the D.A.R.C.'s amateur news programme from Woofferton, England but no one
had counted on the severe storm that was bearing down on the west of
England. The damage rendered 7 of the stations 35 antennas unusable
leaving the 9670 kHz broadcast imperilled as the start of the programme
drew near.

The technical team scrambled and, on short notice, improvised:
They "Crash-Started" another transmitter and a different antenna so that
they were able to put the programme on the air, just as expected,
on-time and on-frequency.

In an announcement to listeners on Sunday, 12th January, Radio D.A.R.C.s
Rainer Englert, DF2NU, thanked the Woofferton team, saying
[quote] this incident shows once again that technicians help each other
and do everything humanly possible. [endquote].

Although reception reports varied unexpectedly because of the different equipment employed, over 1,000 listeners emails poured in, praising the programme. Rainer proclaimed the premiere a success.

The Woofferton station had saved Radio D.A.R.C. for its listeners after
the closure of its previous short-wave broadcaster in Moosbrun, Austria,
had been obliged to close down. Meanwhile, the station reports that the original antennas have since been repaired and their original
configuration restored.

The show will indeed go on.

Still in the UK, the RSGB has announced that it is an official partner
for this years British Science Week, run by the British Science
Association.

The RSGB Outreach Team worked with the RSGB Comms Team to offer an
amateur radio-related activity, and this will feature in the
British Science Week Community Pack. This links with the Societys
strategic priority of Growth and its desire to reach new audiences.
The Society is very excited that amateur radio will be featured for
the first time in this important national STEM campaign.

This years event runs from the 7th to the 16th of March with the themeChange and adapt.


It is not just for young people and the RSGB has a range of additional
activity ideas you could try with your community, friends and family too.
The RSGB hopes its ideas and resources will encourage many to get out
there and inspire others.

Reception Reports

WIA News rebroadcasters often give Short Wave Listeners a
welcome to the broadcast as they commence call-backs
straight after the Local News. Local news follows National
news in all states. It would be great if those SWL's would
email their reception reports and location to
callbacks@wia.org.au

Submitting news items

If you would like to submit news items for possible inclusion
in the VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au and don't JUST send url's links or
posters, but take the time to pen YOUR contribution.

To submit audio, email nationalnews@wia.org.au
and send BOTH the audio and the text

We would appreciate items certainly no longer than 1.5 mts in
length as we only have a half hour.

Remember the sooner you submit material the more the
likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition of
WIA National News.

Each recorded item will only be broadcast once, if you want a couple
of mentions, please submit different slants to keep your
event 'fresh' and always if the news room is to read your
item --- write it in the 3rd person. (First if YOU are
reading your own item). If you are mentioning your own name / call
in the story, say something like "and myself, Pat, vk11abc"

Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/

A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't
plug DEALS from commercial traders "on air", but we at the
WIA will put your supporters 'goods' in this text edition
"no worries."

We will not give blatant 'plugs' to raffles, be it raffles
at the event or "on-line".

Oh... and to contact us with your news because
If It Matters To You It Matters To Us!
Click the links below to download the most recent edition of
National News, BUT this is ONLY the backup site!

WIANEWS backup thanks to Brendan VK4BLP can be found on
wiaq.org.au

BACKUPS OF THE BACKUP!! thanks to Tony VK7AX
www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/

wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/ (This is the link
to the original text version and original audio on wia site)

WIANews -

TWITTER twitter.com/VK1WIA

Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed
prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail
nationalnews@wia.org.au

Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers
you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who
knows, you might even get a "cheerio call".

Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who
utilize their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly
broadcast.
Who and where are they?
wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/
Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/
The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of
interest to WIA affiliated clubs and active amateurs residing
in Australia and the globe.

We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of
Australia and participation in the activities of local clubs.
Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who
submit material and do not necessarily reflect those of the
rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but IF broadcast, are
done so in the spirit in which they were submitted."

If you would like to see the call-backs reported each
broadcast, OR have call-backs to contribute to the National
News call back tally then please send through your call-backs
to callbacks@wia.org.au

WHO LISTENS TO RADIO?

How do I join this REBROADCASTERS List?
(subscribe for an automatic feed.)
Email to vk1wia-broadcasters-join@lists.wia.org.au
from the email account that you wish the emails to go to.

How do I join this National News List?
(subscribe for an automatic weekly feed.)
Email to vk1wia-news-join@lists.wia.org.au
from the email account that you wish the emails to go to.
How do I leave this National News List? (unsubscribe your
weekly feed)
Open mail program which sends mail from the address you want
to unsubscribe from. Send unsubscribe to the list
unsubscribe address vk1wia-news-leave@lists.wia.org.au
You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the
instructions given in that mail to complete the
unsubscription.

Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will
probably receive a message confirming your unsubscription
from the list and at that point you should stop receiving
messages.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

OPERATIONAL NEWS - A FELIX VK4FUQ PRESENTATION
--------------
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NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2025

--------------
--------------

AUSTRALIA DAY CONTEST JANUARY 26. ON NOW

Start time was 22 hundred UTC 25th January to 10 hundred UTC 26th January.

Modes are SSB, CW FT8 & FT4

The Complete Rules are on the WIA.org.au website

wia.org.au/members/contests/australiaday/

-------

The CQ 160m DX Contest runs from 2200UTC on Friday the 24th until 2200UTC
on Sunday the 26th of January. Using CW on the 160m band, the exchange is signal report and CW Zone. USA stations also send their state and
Canadian stations send their province.

(rsgb)

-----------

The British Amateur Radio Teledata Group RTTY Sprint runs from 1200UTC on Saturday the 25th until 1200UTC on Sunday the 26th of January. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is your
serial number.


(rsgb)

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The IARU 100th Anniversary Centennial QSO Party.

The IARU CQP will be held for nine days, beginning Saturday 12 April and
ending Sunday 20 April. This event will celebrate 100 years of the IARU

(sarl)

------------------------

HARRY ANGEL MEMORIAL 80 Meter Sprint, Saturday May 3. (vk4uh)

wia.org.au/members/contests/harryangel/

-------------------------

VK Shires Contest 7th - 8th June 2025

wia.org.au/members/contests/wavks/

-----------------------

NZ Straight Key Night

Next New Zealand Straight Key Night will be held Sunday 8 June
from 9pm to 10pm NZDT (0800 to 0900 UTC) on 80 metres.

Polish and lubricate that old morse key and enjoy an evening of
old-time radio fun.

Straight Key Night is an informal event which honours the roots of
amateur radio: Morse Code sent with a straight key (no bugs,
sideswipers, keyers or keyboards).

When.
Winter SKN is the second Sunday in June, 8-9pm NZ time.
Summer SKN is always the first Sunday in December, 9-10pm NZ time.

SKN honours the original amateur radio mode in an easy-going style.
Operators send signal report, name, location, type of key, type of
transmitter and power output. Stations are limited to 100W output
power.

SKN is not a contest - but the operator who gets the most votes for the
quality of their sending will win the Bruce Scahill Best Fist Award.
This certificate honours Bruce ZL1BWG (SK), who was a dedicated
supporter of SKN. Please email your nomination to ZL1NZ within one week following the event.

(Neil ZL1NZ, SKN Manager)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

DX WINDOW TO THE WORLD.

DXCC application processing is back to typical processing times.

In October, we reported that the ARRL DXCC System had been returned to
service following work that was completed to ensure the security and
integrity of the system following the cyber-attack in May 2024.
Over 4,000 DXCC applications have been logged into the system for
processing since returning the system to service.

ARRL are currently processing applications submitted in December, and
continue to mail orders for paper DXCC certificates and endorsement
stickers. There were 315 certificates mailed between December 27, 2024,
and January 13, 2025.

DXCC, the DX Century Club, is ARRLs most popular award.

DXCC is achieved by confirming amateur radio contacts with a minimum of
100 entities on the ARRL DXCC List (entities are the distinct geographic
and political entities).

(ARRL)

---------

Be listening for the callsign 5 N 9 DTG being used by members of the
Rebel DX Group. They are on the air from Nigeria for up to three weeks, starting in the third week of January. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(newsline 2464)

----------

Team IG9/S51V have several members on the air between the 19th and the
29th of January operating with the prefix IG9 followed by their home
callsigns, including S56DX, S51V, S57UN and several others.

They will also be participating this weekend in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW
Contest as a Multi-Single entry using the team callsign IG9/S51V, all from Lampedusa Island, IOTA number AF-019.

QSL via the operators home calls.

(newsline 2464)

--------------

Listen for OF60AP being used by members of the Central Uusimaa
Radio Amateurs Association OH2AP in Finland.
The club is marking its 60th anniversary with this year-long special
event.

See QRZ.com for certificate and QSL details.

(newsline 2464)
----------------

y
Thierry, TK1CX is active in Cameroon until February.

In his spare time, he is QRV as TJ/TK1CX on the 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10m
bands mainly using FT8 with a solar power supply.

QSL via Logbook of the World, eQSL or via EA5ZD.

(rsgb)

----------------
y
Kenya:-

Scott, WA 5 A, is currently on the air as 5Z4/WA5A from Ruaka on 40 - 10
meters mostly on SSB.

The duration of his stay is not known at present.

QSL via home call which again is WA5A

(SARL)

----------

y
Don, KW7R is active as V73KW from the Marshall Islands in the north
western Pacific Ocean. He is there on a work assignment until September
and in his spare time, he operates CW and FT8 on various bands.

QSL V73KW via Logbook of the World.

(RSGB)
-----------
Y
The Czech DXpedition Group will be using the callsign C 8 K from
Mozambique the 17th of January through to the 2nd of February. Find them
on 160 through 6 metres and via the QO-100 satellite for our overseas
viewers. C8K will be using CW, SSB, FT8 and RTTY.
(newsline 2462)

--------------

Y
Rwanda 9 X 2 AW and be on the air from the 27th of January through to the
15th of February, holiday style on 10 through 160 metres.

(newsline 2462)

--------------

Y
PC 80 TT is the special callsign for members of VERON Leiden to celebrate
the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands during
World War II (5 May 1945).

Look for activity now until June One

QSL PC80TT via the bureau to PI4LDN.

The special call sign honours the memory of Rudolf Tappenbeck (PCTT),
a pioneer of Dutch amateur radio who died in Neuengamme concentration
camp 1944.

(425dxn)

--------------

y
Our I.A.R.U. celebrates its centenary this year (2025).

Since its founding in Paris, France, IARU has worked tirelessly to
promote innovation in amateur radio and to encourage the growth of
the service in communities throughout the world.

VI 100 IARU is a special event callsign transmitting from VK3 to help
celebrate the IARU Centennial.

qsl via MO 0 OXO

(qrz.com)

----------

y
During 2025 the SARL will be on the air with special event callsign
ZS 100 SARL, as well as the permanent callsigns ZS6SRL and ZS9HQ and
possibly other special event callsigns.

(sarl)

----------

y
8 R 1 TM from Georgetown, Guyana, now until the 8th of February.
CW, SSB and digital modes on all bands.
(newsline 2461)

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WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ASTRONOMY (and Wireless Weather)

HamSCI Announces Personal Space Weather Station Sessions via Zoom.

The Personal Space Weather Station (PSWS) network is a distributed series
of receivers designed to measure the space environment. These stations are built by professionals, citizen scientists, and ham radio operators.
HamSCI and its partners are constantly at work on expanding the network, improving the PSWS data collection hardware and software, growing the
network infrastructure for data storage and retrieval, as well as meeting HamSCI's ultimate goal, analysis of the collected data.

HamSCI has announced a recurring series of Zoom based sessions to help
those interested in the project. Sessions occur each Thursday at 10:00 AM Eastern USA time and more information is available on the HamSCI website.

HamSCI works with scientists and radio amateurs around the world to
collect data and half a dozen, from VK7, 5 3 and 2 right here in our own backyard.

hamsci.org/get-involved

(ard)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - BALLOONS

DP0GVN still spotting WB6RER Pico Balloon EARLY January.

WB6RER Pico Balloon (a 10 meter WSPR transmitter) position over Antarctica January 6 and still at 44,300ft. Looks like it will fly right over or very close to the Neumayer Station III DP0GVN within the next day or two.

The Neumayer Station is apparently the only 10 meter WSPR spotting station
in Antarctica AND it's appreciated the help keeping track of this world traveling balloon. It flew north of the Arctic Circle during its early
orbits so it has flown over almost every part of our world.

Distance Travelled 143,083+ miles
Flight duration: 597 days, 22 hours, 40 mins

(qrz)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- DEFENSE

Secret listeners -- Revealing the Life of Amateur Radio Heroes:

The story of the WW2 codebreakers at Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes,
the cracking of the German Enigma and Lorenz cypher machines and the role
of supreme mathematicians such as Alan Turing is increasingly well known.

However, the role of the Voluntary Interceptors is equally important but
more obscure.

Prior to the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, many of the techniques to be used in later years for radio communications had already been invented. During the interwar years amateur radio enthusiasts began to emerge in the UK and by
1922 there were 6,986 wireless licenses issued to receive transmissions
and 286 giving permission to transmit.

Upon the outbreak of WW2, the Radio Security Service (RSS) was
established. The service, which began as a branch of MI5, was formed to
listen to radio airwaves and detect illicit wireless communications within
the UK. Later the work included interception of Axis diplomatic and
military signals.

Again, much kudos to the Ham Fraternity.

(eHam)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA
iota-world.org/

And what better Island than Bouvet.

Bouvet 2026.

Team 3Y0K has announced the completion of a major milestone with the
signing of a contract with the company that will take them to Bouvet
Island in February 2026. They have also secured a contract with a company
that will provide a helicopter, two pilots and a mechanic for this
project.

We will depart from Cape Town on 1 February 2026, the team says,
and the DXpedition is scheduled for 36 days. We intend to stay around
the island for more than 21 days, which will provide us with enough time
to wait for good conditions to land the team and all the equipment.

Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) has discussed the planning with
their leadership team and believes that this plan will be successful.
There is risk associated with this DXpedition as we all know because of
weather and local conditions. The leadership has experienced these
challenges and has thoughtfully addressed them as best as they know".

There will be two grants from NCDXF, totally up to $200 000.

The first will be a down payment of $100 000. The second will be a dollar
for dollar match up to $100 000. The match will be a challenge to the
clubs and hams that donate prior to the DXpedition".

3y0k.com

(SARL)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO SCOUTING
VKJOTAJOTI.COM
scouts.com.au
scout.org/jota
international.scouts.com.au
jotajoti.info/

Brett Nicholas VK2BNN Scouts Australia National co-ordinator
for JOTA.
Lorraine OHare VK2FICQ is Girl Guides Australia National
JOTA-JOTI Co-ordinator.

Alec VK2MV reports:-

Well what a wonderful time I had in Maryborough for the 26th Australian Jamboree.


It was a plethora of activities, from stem to sea to craft and camping.

All other scouts I spoke to had a wonderful time, meeting each other and engaging in the activities.


Archery tag and Laser tag were highlights, which I would like to experience again.


We had a couple rainy days and night, so my gumboots and raincoat came in handy.


The mud run benefitted from the rain, which helped me get very dirty when I
did it!


I even brought home a couple pieces of muddy clothes, much to the disgust of
my mother.


As you know the AJ2025 station was on air using the callsign VI2025AJ during that time.


They had some contacts however I heard the bands were not that cooperative.

I am sure Chris Horne, VK2CGH, will be able to supply a report on the
activity of the station to the WIA news crew, so we may be able to share some YOTA news with you.

Happy Australia Day!

For WIA National News, I am Alec VK2MV in Sydney. Now back to you Bruce.

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIO

This story takes us to the US state of California where deadly wildfires consumed much of the Los Angeles area and beyond, destroying homes and
causing electrical and cellular outages. Even as SpaceX temporarily
activated the test version of its satellite-to-cellular service to help
deliver emergency alerts and texts, hams were relying on the region's
robust and resilient PAPA System of repeaters.

The analogue repeaters of California's wide-reaching PAPA System had their
nets and routine traffic communications cancelled for a number of days.
The repeaters were placed on standby for news and emergency traffic only
but by January 14th, all but three returned to net-hosting and normal use. Three repeaters remained off the main network to continue providing
emergency coverage in the greater Los Angeles area.

Cecil Casillas, WD6FZA, president of the PAPA System, told our US sister service, Newsline, that as of Tuesday 14th, none of the PAPA repeaters had suffered fire-related damages. He said that flames closely threatened
repeaters on Mount Wilson and at Saddle Peak, which overlooks Malibu, but
the fires stopped short of affecting the buildings, antennas or other equipment. He said the Saddle Peak repeater had been knocked out of
service by an unrelated battery failure but that the fires blocked access
for anyone to bring up a generator.

Meanwhile, SpaceX gave temporary access to its Starlink satellites to
T-Mobile customers, even without its direct-to-cell constellation being
fully completed. According to an article in PC Magazine, only T-Mobile customers with supported phones would have access to texting but emergency alerts and evacuation notices could be received by any cellular phone.

(newsline 2464)

------------------------------------------------------------*

BEACONS

VK2RSY Beacons at Dural in NSW.

The beacons identify in Morse with VK2RSY QF56MH (the Maidenhead locator
for the site) at approximately 40 second intervals.

Beacons serve a couple of major functions. One is as an indicator of propagation, to see if there is a path between an observer and the
location or region of the transmitter. The other major function is in the
local service area, where the constant signal of a beacon can be used as
a reference for antenna or equipment performance and comparison.

Band Frequency Power Antenna Notes

10m 28.262 MHz 25W
6 m 50.289 MHz 20W
2 m 144.420 MHz 20W
70 cm 432.420 MHz 20W
23 cm 1296.420 MHz 20W

There are no beacons at Dural currently operating on frequencies higher
than 23 cm. Amateur Radio NSW do have the licenses and would be interested
in hearing from YOU if you would like to work on a project for one or
more of these microwave bands.

arnsw.org.au/html/dural_facs.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------

IT'S A DATE

Clubs are welcome to email text with audio for this section

Details of all WIA affiliated clubs and societies can be found
on the WIA website, including email addresses and website links.

----------------------------

2025
VK3 - BARG HamFest the 2nd of February at Ballarat Polo-Crosse Pavilion
next door to the BARG clubrooms at Ballarat Airport. (wiacal)

VK6 - PARGFEST PEEL AMATEUR RADIO GROUP held February 15 9AM at
Mandurah Bowling Club 89 Allnutt Street ( parg.org.au/ )

VK3 - Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group HamFest March One at
Mooroolbark Community Centre. (wiacal)

VK4 - Redcliffe & Districts Radio Club REDFEST April 12 at
Deception Bay North State School. (wiacal)

VK - WIA AGM May 3 - 4. Hosted by Bendigo Amateur Radio & Electronics
Club and their Technology Expo (vk3gtv/wiacal)

VK5 - SERG Convention and Fox Hunting Championship June 7 and 8
At Scout Hall in Mt. Gambier (vk5dj)

VK - Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association 50th anniversary
Glen Waverly July 26 president@alara.org (vk2ayl)

VK4 - GOLD COAST AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY 2025 HAMFEST NOV 9 (vk4dmh)
Country Paradise Parklands 231 Beaudesert Nerang Road.

VK3- Rosebud RadioFest, Eastbourne Primary School, Rosebud (wiacal)
November Sixteen.

[continued in next message]

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