About ARNSW
                - and how to Contact us

Updated 2010-02-03  

Amateur Radio New South Wales    BN98112045

        Originally formed in 1910 as "The Wireless Institute of NSW" our organisation is one of the oldest radio societies in the world. The name "Wireless Institute of Australia (NSW Division)" was adopted in 1922. There followed separate state "divisions" which essentially took care of the members at a state and local level, there was also a Federal Division (based in Victoria), which amongst other things represented us all at a National and International level. It also printed the "Amateur Radio" magazine.
       Over a period of time there were various "arrangements" between the state divisions and the Federal division, especially to cover the cost of the magazine. In general membership of a state division meant that you were also a member of the Federal division and the membership fees were apportioned accordingly.

       In 2004 the organisation of what was generally called the "WIA" changed with the re-structure of the Federal Division into a National organisation which still represented it's own members and other Hams at a National and International level, also retaining the publication of Amateur Radio magazine and absorbing various services previously provided by the state divisions (QSL Bureau etc). In general the state divisions reformed into large "clubs" located in their particular state.
     The WIA (NSW Division) signed an Implementation Agreement with the "National" Wireless Institute of Australia on December 10 , 2004. As a result, we have agreed to generally identify ourselves as "Amateur Radio New South Wales".

      The major difference for Australia's amateur radio operators (and others interested in allied hobbies) was that to support and be involved in the activities of the National and the state based organizations they now needed to be financial members of the separate organizations. In general the new state based "clubs" continued to support the Ham Radio community at  a local level. In fact most of "our" members are also members of WIA (National) and local clubs. The "Amateur Radio" magazine is also now available at your local newsagents as well as posted to "National" members.

     In the case of "Amateur Radio New South Wales" we provide regular broadcasts, repeaters and signal beacons on most Ham frequencies. We also provide technical advice on frequency allocations, Licence training and assessments. Field Days, Trash and Treasure events and Deceased Estate disposals sales are amongst the services we provide our members and also the general amateur radio community. We are currently expanding our services with a large shed on our Dural property. In fact I think our transmitting facility at Dural may now be unique in Australia as most other Ham broadcast are studio generated and re-broadcast on a local basis, whereas Dural covers most of the east coast of Australia and out into the Pacific region. We do re-broadcast a recording of the "National" WIA news and in turn our own broadcasts are re-transmitted by local clubs into areas or at times unavailable to Dural.

    Currently the WIA (National) are, on a commercial basis, Australian amateur radio operators "interface" to the ACMA on matters of licenses, training and frequency allocation.

    All of this means that now each organisation levies it own membership fees :
WIA (National) - annual fees to cover services provided to it's members and the Ham radio community, at a
                            members option they can also pay for and receive the Amateur Radio magazine (or buy it at
                            their local newsagents).
Amateur Radio New South Wales (ARNSW) - by-annual (or five yearly) fees to cover services provided to it's
                            members and the Ham radio community, which (as mentioned above) include broadcast, repeater
                            and beacon facilities from our property at Dural. ARNSW (in general) supports Hams in NSW.
Local Clubs -  annual fees (usually) to cover costs of Club premises or meeting venue and (often) a Club repeater
                         and workshop facilities. These Clubs usually provide provide support to members in a particular area or
                         even a particular aspect of Ham radio (QRP, Satellite etc)

NOTE: The above lists are by no means exhaustive and an operator or a person interested in Ham radio or electronics should check the individual organizations to see what level of support they provide for their particular interests.

Contact Details ( NSW Office)
         The ARNSW office and member services are now established at our VK2WI site at Dural NSW.
        

Office : ARNSW,
63 Quarry Road, Dural  NSW  2158  Australia

Postal:  ARNSW, PO Box 6044, Dural Delivery Centre, NSW  2158

Email: Our new email address is office@arnsw.org.au , we retained the original vk2wi@ozemail.com.au for a transition period, however it will close down on 28th February 2010. The new email address acknowledges your message and passes it along to the appropriate person

Telephone: 02 9651 1490  (normally goes to a message bank which is checked regularly)   
Fax: 02 9651 1661   
Free Call: Disconnected due to lack of use (25/10/09)
For Business matters -
The Secretary - if needed - can be contacted direct on mobile 0400 445 829 or by email 
office@arnsw.org.au  .

NOTE:
Please MAIL completed application forms (Membership and Exams) to our Post Box address. Forms emailed or Faxed often do not transmit clearly and also "sit" in the PC or FAX until someone actually attends to the machine. It is also more secure and private when cheques or credit card details are submitted by mail.

Office Hours: As our office is currently not attended on a regular basis during the week, FL Manuals and CallBooks can be picked up on Sunday morning, but only by prior arrangement.

           Our entries in the phone books have changed, you will now find us under our trading name of  "Amateur Radio NSW" (as we are now known), for a time we supported pointers in the phone book from the headings "ARNSW" and "WIA (NSW Division)" to our entries under Amateur Radio NSW, but this does not seem to be needed any more, it is also quite expensive. This information is also available from the "White Pages" on the Internet.

News and Information for the VK2WI Broadcast
             Although our office is not staffed through the week, the mail, phones and FAX are checked regularly, however could you get the items in as early in the week as you can so that we get a chance to process them for the weekend.              Items for inclusion in the VK2WI Broadcasts are best emailed to our news team at news@arnsw.org.au however our old one at arnews@tpg.com.au  will be retained for a transition period to give plenty of time for our news contributors to adjust their address books. The new address will acknowledge your message and pass it along to the News Editor.

Membership and Renewals
           Please go HERE for information on Membership and Renewals. If at any time you simply wish to check the expiry date of your membership or advise us of a change in your personal particulars please either send a letter to our P.O Box address or email our Membership Officer at membership@arnsw.org.au

Trash and Treasure or Disposals Sales
When we have a Disposals Sale running information can be found HERE at other times please contact our Disposals Officer at disposals@arnsw.org.au if you have equipment for disposal.

Contact Details (Dural VK2WI Transmitter Site)
   
ARNSW are in the progress of upgrading the facilities on our Dural site, with new buildings and facilities, to provide enhanced services to members and visitors. We make the weekly VK2WI news broadcasts, hold our regular Trash and Treasure events and have the Homebrew Technical Meetings at this facility. Our various beacons and repeaters also run from here.

Address : ARNSW (VK2WI), 63 Quarry Road, Dural  NSW  2158
      
The site is just north of the round-about at Dural, turn right at the lights into Quarry Rd, about 2Km along on your left look for the white fence and the transmitting tower .

Telephone : 02 9651 1489  (VK2WI voice line)
             The phone line into the transmitter building is there mainly for the safety of the broadcast crew. However on Sundays mornings listeners may phone on this line to advise of errors or omissions in the broadcast, VK2WI transmission faults or genuine emergencies. On Trash and Treasure or Special Event days use this number to request transport from the local bus stop.
          Please note that only on Sundays during holiday breaks can news items be submitted on the VK2WI voice line. These items are only broadcast if authorized by a Senior Broadcast staffer or an ARNSW Councilor, all items must be authenticated before going to air. At other times all News and Reports are to be submitted through our office
using mail, FAX or phone contact and the news team email address of news@arnsw.org.au  As mentioned above there is an answering machine on our office phone line and a toll free line for NSW country callers.

     Access to this site on non-event days is severely restricted, any arrangements for deliveries or pick-ups MUST be made through our office or with one of the ARNSW Councillors.

     During event days there is plenty of parking on site, usually a BBQ (friend of the family prices) and a friendly cup of tea/coffee in the shack with our Broadcast staff. At other times the facilities are open only whilst making broadcasts or carrying out maintenance on the equipment or grounds.

     If you need to get here by public transport to our Sunday events, check  HERE  for details.