Evening news 6th of December 2009 Good evening listeners, thank you for tuning in. For emergencies the phone number here at the Dural transmitting site is 02 9651 1489. Our office number is 02 9651 1490. This goes to a message bank when the office is unattended. Silent Key. It is with deep regret that we advise the sudden passing of VK2SSS, Brett Sinclair of Sydney. Brett passed away on Wednesday the 25th of November in Melbourne after a fall from a roof while working on antennas. His funeral was held on Friday the 4th of December in Melbourne. He is survived by his wife and son. He will be greatly missed and was a valuable contributor to the ham radio hobby. A moments silence for Brett VK2SSS (10 second pause) Vale Brett VK2SSS This was advised by Jason VK2LAW. VK2 WICEN News, 6th December 2009 While summer sees few scheduled events on the WICEN calendar, it is typically the time of year during which south-eastern Australia sees its most severe weather events, and as such, members need to remain prepared for activation. WICEN is planning to provide a display and presentation at the "Centenary" Central Coast Field Day at Wyong on Sunday, February 28. You can contact WICEN by sending an email to operations@nsw.wicen.org.au or by calling the Duty Officer on 0408 397 217. The WICEN NSW website can be found at: www.nsw.wicen.org.au There is also a Facebook group for anyone interested in WICEN across Australia. Submitted by Julian Sortland VK2YJS for WICEN NSW Inc. IPS Weekly Solar and Geophysical Report for the 27th of November to the 3rd of December. Section 1.01 SUMMARY Dates across the columns are 27th 28th 29th 30th 1st 2nd 3rd 10cm flux 74 73 72 72 72 71 72Fredericksburg Index (Afr) 0 2 1 1 0 0 (1 estimated)Australian Index (Aaus) 4 5 3 3 1 2 (2 estimated)T index -5 -13 -20 -3 -12 -14 -22Solar flare activity was very low all week. Geomagnetic activity observed for the Australian region was quiet throughout. Southern Australian ionospheric F2 critical frequencies were depressed 15 per cent to 20 per cent enhanced on the 27th; near predicted on the 28th, 30th and 3rd; depressed 15 per cent to near predicted on the 29th and 1st; and near predicted to 15 per cent enhanced on the 2nd. Forecast for the 4th to the 10th of December Solar activity should be low. Geomagnetic activity should see quiet to unsettled conditions. Maximum usable frequencies should be near or 5 to 20 per cent below predicted monthly values. Courtesy of the IPS Radio and Space Services Summary by Pat Leeper VK2JPA Live operator morse broadcast. The VK2BWI morse practice broadcast will shortly be taking a break, until the 4th of February 2010. The last session for the year will be on Thursday the 17th of December. Ross, VK2ER, would like to thank listeners for their support and interest throughout the year. Callbacks were always much appreciated. Seasons Greetings to all from Ross VK2ER. Help needed. Tom VK2OE requires some assistance from an owner of an Icom IC-92AD radio located in Sydney. Tom requires help in setting it up for D-Star operation. If anyone can help, Tom’s email address can be found on QRZ.com or they can contact ARNSW and details can be forwarded. Advised by Tom, VK2OE ARRL DX news for the 3rd of December. TANZANIA, 5H. Igor, UA3DJY plans to be QRV from the 5I3A club station until December 15. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL via RK3AOL. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Lee, DS4NMJ will be QRV as DT8A from the Antarctic King Sejong Station on King George Island, IOTA AN-010, from December 5 to January 31, 2011. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using mostly CW with some SSB and RTTY as well. QSL via HL2FDW. PHILIPPINES, DU. Alex, DV1UBY is QRV as 4D1N from Quezon City on Luzon Island, IOTA OC-042, until the end of the year. Activity is on 40, 20 and 15 meters using QRP power. QSL to home call. MARTINIQUE, FM. Fernando, EA1BT will be QRV as TO1BT from December 8 to 15. Activity will be on all bands. QSL to home call. HUNGARY, HA. A group of operators will be QRV as HG0WFF/p from a number of Hungarian National Parks during December. QSL via HA0HW. HAITI, HH. Steve, VE2TKH is QRV as HH2/homecall from Petionville until December 15. Activity is generally on 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters in his spare time. QSL via M0URX. SARDINIA, IS0. Members of the Sardinia QRP Club will be QRV as IQ0QP from the Capo Sant' Elia Lighthouse on December 12 and 13. Activity will be on 80 to 20 meters using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL direct. ANTARCTICA. Karel, ON5TN is QRV as OR4TN from the Belgian Princess Elisabeth Station until the end of January 2010. Activity is generally on 80, 40 and 30 meters using CW and SSB around 2100 to 2300z. QSL to home call. DENMARK, OZ. Special event station 5P15COP will be QRV from Zealand Island, IOTA EU-029, from December 7 to 18 during the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via OZ5BAL. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Annas, MM0GQA is QRV as P29VAA from Port Moresby for the next three to six months while working for a humanitarian aid organization. Activity is in his spare time. QSL via operator's instructions. SUDAN, ST. Robert is QRV as ST2AR and is generally active on 20 to 10 meters mostly during the weekends. QSL via S53R. EGYPT, SU. Mohammed, SU1KM has been active on 30 meters using RTTY around 1740z and then using CW around 1800 to 1900z. QSL direct. BELIZE, V3. Will, EA7HEJ is QRV as V31WV from Sarteneja until December 20. QSL this operation via EA7HEJ. CHRISTMAS ISLANDS, VK9X. Station VK9XX is QRV until December 5. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via DL1RTL. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, VP2V. Curt, W3HQ is QRV as VP2V/homecall from Virgin Gorda, IOTA NA-023, until December 16. Activity is generally on 160 and 10 meters during the weekends and the newer bands the rest of the week. QSL to home call. CAMBODIA, XU. Wim, ON6TZ and Peter, NO2R plan to be QRV as XU7KOH from Koh Island, IOTA AS-133, from December 11 to 14. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and PSK near the usual IOTA and PSK frequencies. QSL via ON7PP. INDONESIA, YB. Adhi, YB3MM/p is QRV from Bawean Island, IOTA OC-197, until December 9. Activity is limited to 15 meters using CW. QSL via IZ8CCW. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL 160-Meter CW Contest, ARRL EME Contest, NCCC Sprint, TARA RTTY Melee, Wake-Up! QRP Sprint and the TOPS Activity CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. The ARS Spartan CW Sprint is scheduled for December 8. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug CW Sprint is scheduled for December 9. Club news. Waverley Amateur Radio Society. A reminder that this month there is no regular meeting on December the 16th but instead the club Christmas dinner will be held at Cellini’s Restaurant in Randwick on that day. Anyone attending who has not already advised Eric VK2VE of numbers should do so as soon as possible. As the club's 90th anniversary draws to a close, listeners are reminded that the "WARS 90" award for on air contacts with the club or its members will finish at the end of the month. Details of the award can be found via the "90th Anniversary" page of the club's website. Club members are again planning to operate portable from Centennial Park on Australia Day January 26th in the same location as this year. Full details will be supplied next month. Training weekends provide the opportunity for those new to amateur radio to obtain a foundation licence over a single weekend and for others to be examined for higher grades. The next course is planned for February 13th and 14th next year. Anyone interested in attending, whether a member or not, should email the club at “exams@vk2bv.org". The Waverley clubhouse has a harbour side location in the Scout Hall at Vickery Avenue, Rose Bay with easy parking and is always open on the first Saturday afternoon of each month for a variety of activities or just a ragchew with all welcome to drop in. The next occasion will be on January the 2nd. Visitors are welcome at all club functions and much information, including details of the club's location and a calendar of events, can be found on its regularly updated website at vk2bv.org or call Simon, VK2UA, on 02 9328 7141. Advised by Simon Buxton, VK2UA Publicity Officer The Hunter Radio Group. In place of a December Monthly Meeting, Hunter Radio Group held their Ladies Xmas Dinner last Thursday evening, the 3rd of December. The location was, The Silver Dolphin Restaurant at Cardiff Panthers, Newcastle.   They had a good roll up of members and visitors. Everybody had a good time with many winning prizes in the raffle.   The next monthly meeting of the Hunter Radio Group will be held on the second Friday in February, February 12th, 2010.   The members of the Hunter Radio Group would like to wish all Amateurs a Merry Christmas.   Regards, Rodney Prout. VK2CN. Secretary. The Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Inc. The next meeting of the Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club. will be the January monthly general meeting at 2pm on Saturday, the 2nd of January 2010, in the SES Building in Central Road, Port Macquarie. This is an excellent opportunity for those who are holidaying in Port Macquarie and surrounds at this time to meet the local amateurs. The club has received its order of 2010 Call Books. Most copies have been distributed but any spare copies will be available at the January monthly general meeting. This is a special WIA 100th Anniversary Issue so is a popular collectors item. Also, the club’s 2010 calendar is now available and additional copies will be available at the January monthly general meeting. The VK2RPM UHF repeater is back in service on its original frequency of 438.525 MHz. Access to this repeater requires a 123 Hertz CTCSS sub audible tone. It has been necessary to implement the CTCSS facility because the site still suffers intermittent interference on the UHF repeater input frequency. This repeater is co-sited with the VK2RPM 146.7 MHz 2 metre repeater. Visitors are always made very welcome at the club’s monthly general meetings at 2pm on the first Saturday of each month, and at the Friday night gathering at 7pm on the evening of the fourth Friday of each month. The venue for all these meetings is the SES Building in Central Road, Port Macquarie. Please note that there will not be the usual Friday night gathering at the SES Building in December this year as the 4th Friday in December is Christmas Day. Please contact the club via PO Box 712 Port Macquarie NSW 2444 if you are interested in attending Foundation Licence or Standard Licence training courses in Port Macquarie and Wauchope. For more information about the Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club, please visit the club’s website at www.orarc.org The website contains a photo gallery and the club information including the November 2009 issue of the bimonthly newsletter, “Oxtales”. Submitted by Henry Lundell, VK2ZHE on behalf of the Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Inc. The Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Please note that there will be no Tuesday night meetings of the Hornsby club until February. The 40 metre netters are hoping to have another of their famous pie restaurant lunches during January. The date is yet to be determined, but stay tuned to the broadcasts, or check out the club's twitter account. All of Hornsby’s Nets will continue throughout the holiday season. More information on the club can be found at: www.hadarc.org.au Increasing numbers of Clubs and individual Amateurs are using Web 2.0 technologies to spread the word about their activities. HADARC can be located on facebook, and twitter by searching for "VK2MA". Further, anyone is free to view the Club's updates at: twitter.com/vk2ma From Julian Sortland, VK2YJS, Publicity Officer, Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Summary of coming events. December Summerland Christmas party on today the 6th. Waverley Christmas Dinner on the 16th. January Oxley Region meeting on the 2nd. Summer VHF-UHF Field Day on the 16th and 17th. Coffs Harbour Radio Expo on the 24th. February Orange & District meeting on the 5th. Hornsby Mid-Monthly meeting on the 9th. Waverley training and exams on the 13th & 14th. Hornsby meeting on the 23rd. Central Coast Centenary dinner at Wyong on the 27th. Central Coast Centenary Field Day at Wyong on the 28th. March Summerland Car boot sale on the 28th. Submitting news items Please get your news submissions in by the Friday night preceding the broadcast. Please specify if you want the item to run for more than one week. It may not be necessary for items to run continuously as all events will be included in the summary of coming events. Submission of news items should be sent to news@arnsw.org.au Broadcast roster Next week the 13th of December, the announcer in the morning will be Beth VK2AO with Eric VK2VE as engineer. For the evening broadcast we will have Peter VK2EMU as announcer and Erik VK2MAN as engineering support. That concludes our evening news. All the best from the broadcast team at VK2WI. Have a great week. Thank you for listening.