Evening news 31st of January 2010 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. In an emergency, the Secretary of A.R.N.S.W can be contacted direct on mobile 0400 445 829. Silent Key.   It is with regret that we advise the passing of Les Smith, VK2FLOR of East Maitland in the Hunter Valley. Leslie passed away in Maitland Hospital on the 15th of January, 2010. Les was a member of the Hunter Radio Group. Please pause with us while we remember the passing of Les, VK2FLOR. (Pause for 10 seconds)   Vale Les VK2FLOR Advised by Rodney, VK2CN. Divisional Elections As already announced, the Annual General Meeting of the Wireless Institute of Australia New South Wales Division, trading as Amateur Radio New South Wales, will be held on Saturday the 17th of April 2010. At the AGM a new council is to be appointed. Nominations will shortly be open for those members who wish to be on the council for the year 2010 and 2011. Nomination forms will be available from the divisional office. The divisional office can be contacted by means given elsewhere in the news bulletin. Nomination forms will shortly be available for download from the website www.arnsw.org.au. Nominations close at midday on Saturday the 6th of March 2010. Advised by Peter O'Connell VK2EMU Divisional Returning Officer A.R.N.S.W Email Addresses. There are now several email addresses available for direct contact with the various sections of Amateur Radio New South Wales. All have a prefix for the department concerned followed by @arnsw.org.au. Recently added has been one for membership inquiries which is membership@arnsw.org.au   For general contact use office@arnsw.org.au. News submissions for these broadcasts should be sent to news@arnsw.org.au. If you have something for the VK2 column in Amateur radio magazine use vk2notes@arnsw.org.au. For Trash and Treasure matters use disposals@arnsw.org.au. For those who have not looked recently, the A.R.N.S.W web site has a new front page. Check that one out at www.arnsw.org.au Advised by Tim VK2ZTM. Wyong Field Day Dinner. Amateur Radio New South Wales in conjunction with the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club will be holding the 2010 Dinner at the Wyong Bowling Club on Saturday the 27th of February from 6 pm. The cost is 25 dollars per head. There will also be lucky door prizes up for grabs. For more information or to book please contact the Secretary of Amateur Radio NSW on 0400 445 829. If you are attending please send your money to A.R.N.S.W, PO Box 6044, Dural Delivery Centre NSW 2158. There will be an application form on the WEB Pages soon. It is most important that those wishing to attend make a booking, as we need the numbers to advise the club for catering purposes. Help Amateur Radio New South Wales start the 100 years off to good beginning. Advised by Brian Kelly VK2WBK Secretary A.R.N.S.W. Exams at the Wyong Field Day.   A reminder that various grades of exams for Amateur Radio licenses will be available during the Central Coast Club’s Wyong Field Day on Sunday the 28th of February. Those wishing to undertake an exam are requested to register with the Amateur Radio New South Wales exam personnel by calling the office and leaving a message on 02 9651 1490. Or call the Secretary Brian Kelly, direct on mobile 0400 445 829 or write to A.R.N.S.W P. O. Box 6044 Dural Delivery Centre N.S.W 2158. Pre-registration is essential so that the right number of the various exam papers are available on the day.   Advised by Brian Kelly VK2WBK. VK2 WICEN News, 31st January 2010 Remember, next week the 7th of February, is the WICEN New South Wales A.G.M to be held here at the A.R.N.S.W site at 63 Quarry Rd Dural. The starting time is 2pm. The 70 centimetre side of the VK2RWS repeater at Berowra has recently been upgraded. Part of the upgrade means that FM users must now send a 91.5 Hertz tone to access it. It is recommended that users also turn on tone squelch in their receivers. The repeater transmits on 438.275 MHz. It has a -5.4MHz offset, meaning users transmit on 432.875 MHz. WICEN is planning to provide a display and presentation at the "Centenary" Central Coast Field Day at Wyong on Sunday, February 28th. The Bushwalkers' Wilderness Rescue Service NavShield 2010 will be held on the weekend of July 3rd and 4th. 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 WICEN group on facebook. Submitted by Julian Sortland VK2YJS and Nick Fisher VK2ZNF for WICEN NSW Inc. VK2BWI Slow Morse broadcast. The VK2BWI slow morse practice broadcasts will resume from this Thursday the 4th of February. Are you interested in rising to the challenge of becoming a proficient morse code operator? Or perhaps just refreshing those rusty skills? If so then listen in on Thursday evenings on 3550 KHz, at 2000 hours local time. It starts off at 4 words per minute, increasing in easy increments to about 18 words per minute. Practice is given in plain text, figure groups, call signs and often a simulated QSO is included. Call backs follow the broadcast, so give it a go. Thursday evenings at 2000 hours local, on 3550 KHz, depending on QRN.   Submitted by Ross VK2ER IPS Weekly Solar and Geophysical Report for the 22nd to the 28th of January 2010. SUMMARY Dates across the columns are 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 10cm flux 82 85 85 81 80 78 76Fredericksburg Index (Afr) 2 4 2 3 1 0 1 estimatedAustralian Index (Aaus) 3 4 5 3 3 3 4 estimatedT index 8 6 16 12 20 7 10Solar flare activity was very low all week. Geomagnetic activity observed for the Australian region was quiet on the 22d and 23rd; quiet to unsettled on the 24th; and quiet from the 25th to the 28th except for high latitudes where activity was quiet to unsettled. Southern Australian ionospheric F2 critical frequencies were near predicted on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th and 28th; near predicted to 25 per cent depressed on the 25th; near predicted to 15 per cent enhanced, with scattered occasional depressions to 25 per cent on the 26th; and near predicted to 30 per cent enhanced on the 27th. Sporadic E was reported from the 25th to the 28th, with night-time Spread F reported from some sites on the 25th and 27th. Forecast for the 29th of January to the 4th of February Solar activity should be low. Geomagnetic activity should see quiet to unsettled conditions. Maximum usable frequencies should be near predicted monthly values, with possible occasional depressions. For an explanation of some of the terms in this report, go to www.ips.gov.au/1/2/1. Courtesy of IPS Radio and Space Services Summary by Pat Leeper VK2JPA ARRL DX news for the 28th of January. MALAWI, 7Q. Harry, G0JMU is QRV as 7Q7HB for the next three months. He is active on the HF bands using CW and digital modes. QSL direct via G0IAS. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Operators Luis, XQ5CIE, Carlos, CE6UFF, Didier, F6DXE and Dagoberto, CE5COX will be QRV as XR9JA from the Chilean naval base "Arturo Prat" on Greenwich Island, IOTA AN-010, from February 1 to 8. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and PSK31 and satellite activity on AO-51. QSL via CE5JA. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, E7. Mario, DJ2MX is QRV as E73DX until February 1. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. He will be active with a group of operators as E7DX in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL E73DX via DJ2MX and E7DX via E77E. SPAIN, EA. A group of operators will be QRV as ED5M from the Sant Antoni Cape Lighthouse in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. During their off-contest periods they will be active using SSB on 160 meters. QSL via EA5FL. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Klaus, DK1AX will be QRV as EA8/homecall from Tenerife, IOTA AF-004, from February 2 to 14. Activity will be holiday style on 40 to 15 meters using CW with QRP power near the usual QRP frequencies. QSL to home call. MARTINIQUE, FM. Michel, FM5CD has been QRV using RTTY on 160 meters around 0500z. QSL via FM5VU. AUSTRAL ISLANDS, FO. A group of operators are QRV as TX3D from Raivavae Island, IOTA OC-114, until February 4. Activity is mainly on 160 to 30 meters, and possibly the higher bands, using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via DL1AWI. SCOTLAND, GM. Look for MM0DGR/p to be QRV from the Clyde Valley Woodlands National Nature Reserve on January 30. Activity will be on 40, 30 and 20 meters using CW, SSB and PSK. QSL via MM0DFV. HUNGARY, HA. Special event station HG0WFF is QRV from the Hortobagy National Park until January 30. Activity is on 80 to 17 meters as propagation permits using mostly CW with some SSB. QSL via HA0HW. ST. LUCIA, J6. Operators Budd, W3FF, Chris, W6HFP, Scott, NE1RD, Dan, WZ1P, Guy, N7UN, Steve, WG0AT, Mike, KC4VG, Paul, KB9AVO and Wey, K8EAB will be QRV as J6/homecalls from February 2 to 11. Activity will be on 160 to 15 meters using CW, SSB and digital modes and 10 and 6 meters if conditions permit. QSL to home calls. MARIANA ISLAND, KH0. Mega, JA3EGZ will be QRV as KH0/homecall from Saipan, IOTA OC-086, from February 3 to 8. Activity will be mainly on 80 and 40 meters. QSL to home call. US VIRGIN ISLANDS, KP2. Art, KZ5D will be QRV as KP2/homecall from St. Croix, IOTA NA-106, from February 2 to 9. Activity will be on the HF bands. This includes an entry in the upcoming FOC Marathon. QSL to home call. BELGIUM, ON. Members of the European Union Amateur Radio Club will be QRV as OR5EU in the UBA SSB contest. QSL via bureau. ICELAND, TF. Yuri, K3BU will be QRV as TF4X from Otradalur in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest as a Single Op/High Power entry. QSL via G3SWH. BELIZE, V3. Robert, N7MSU will be QRV as V31SU from various locations here from February 4 to 23. Activity will be mainly on 40 and 20 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. Andrew, VK2ACC will be QRV as VK2ACC/9 from February 4 to 9. Activity will be holiday style on 40 to 6 meters using SSB and possibly PSK. QSL to home call. BERMUDA, VP9. Seppo, OH1VR is QRV as VP9/homecall until February 2. Activity is on the HF bands using mainly CW. This includes being a Single Op entry in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL to home call. INDIA, VU. Norbert, DJ9RB is QRV as VU2RBQ until February 2. Activity is on 160 to 15 meters using mainly CW. He will be a Single Op entry in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL to home call. ROMANIA, YO. Operators Ghita, YO2LDC, Orza, YO2DFA and Pisti, YO2LYN are QRV as YP1WFF until January 31. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and SSB. This includes an entry in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL via YO3JW. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ World Wide 160-Meter CW Contest, NCCC Sprint CW Ladder, REF CW Contest, UBA DX Contest, SPAR Winter Field Day and Classic CW Exchange are all on tap for this weekend. The RSGB 80-Meter Club SSB Championship is scheduled for February 1. The ARS Spartan CW Sprint is scheduled for February 2. Club news. The Mid South Coast Amateur Radio Club Inc. The next meeting of the Mid South Coast club will be held at the CWA hall, Wason Street Milton, on Saturday the 13th of February. Members, past members, guests and visitors are very welcome to attend. There will be a guest speaker who will present a talk on his wartime radar experiences. There will also be a different raffle prize up for grabs. Arrivals are from 10:30 onwards, please bring your picnic lunch, as usual the club provided tea and coffee etc. Hope to see you there from Stan VK2EL, Club Secretary The Central Coast Amateur Radio Club. The members of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club hope that every one had a great Australia Day. To all of the Club members this is the last call to order the new Club Polo shirts, please phone Ray on 4325 2182 now. The Field Day is looking good with many Traders and Exhibitors plus Flea Market stall holders coming. Please contact Ray regarding the Centenary Dinner on Saturday evening the 27th so we can inform the Club re: numbers. The erection of the H.F. mast is proceeding well and it should be in operation very soon, many thanks to those members involved. There will be ample car parking inside the grounds at the Field Day on the 28th of February. The best Sunday of the year for Amateurs. Kind Regards from the C.C.A.R.C. advised by Ray VK2HAY who can be contacted by phone on 02 4325 2182. The Hunter Radio Group. The first monthly meeting of the Hunter Radio Group will be held on Friday the 12th of February, 2010.   The location is NBN TV STUDIOS, Mosbri Crescent, Newcastle. The starting time is the usual 8 p.m. local.   After General Business, there will be a lecture on an interesting subject. Tea, Coffee and a Ragchew after the meeting.   The Hunter Radio Group VK2AWX Broadcast on Monday evenings will start on the 8th of February, 2010, at 7.30 p.m. Local on 3593 KHZ, 146.900 MHZ, 438.025 MHZ  and 1294 MHZ.   Call backs will be conducted after the broadcast.   Advised by Rodney, VK2CN, Secretary of the Hunter Radio Group. The Fisher’s Ghost Amateur Radio Club. The Fisher’s Ghost Amateur Radio Club wishes to advise all members that they will be conducting their Annual General Meeting on Wednesday the 24th of February at The Campbelltown Performing Arts High School, Building “M” Beverley Rd Campbelltown commencing at 7.30PM. All members are encouraged to attend. All enquiries/nominations to the club Secretary Chris Newton vk2jcn@wia.org.au Advised by Ian Hawkins VK2MCI On behalf of The Fishers Ghost Amateur Radio Club. The Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club Inc. The next meeting of the Oxley Region Amateur Radio Club. will be the February Monthly General meeting at 2pm this Saturday the 6th of February 2010 in the SES Building in Central Road, Port Macquarie. At the conclusion of the short business meeting Neil Sandford VK2EI will present an informal talk on the recent long distance VHF, UHF and microwave contacts made with the VK9NA Norfolk Island DXpedition, and with New Zealand and other stations during the summer tropo season. 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 contact the club via PO Box 712 Port Macquarie NSW 2444 if you are interested in attending Foundation Licence or Standard Licence training courses and assessments in Port Macquarie and Wauchope. The next courses and assessments will take place in Port Macquarie during late February or early March as there are already candidates booked for both grades of licence. 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 January 2010 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. The meetings of the Hornsby club will recommence in February. First is the informal mid-monthly on Tuesday the 9th. The main meeting will be on the 23rd, and this will include a talk and slide-show on the VK2MA Spring and Summer Field Day efforts. The club meets at the Mt Colah Community Centre in Pierre Close from 8:00pm. This is very close to the Mt Colah railway station. The hall features level access to the meeting areas and "accessible facilities", although it may be a good idea to make contact in advance to request a suitable parking space be kept in the driveway. The club runs three nets each week. These are Monday night on the Club's linked repeaters, Wednesday night's on 3608.5 kHz, both at 8:00pm, and Friday mornings from 9:00am on 7104kHz. Those wishing to gain or upgrade their licence, can contact the Training Team for more information. More information on the club, and contact forms, can be found at: www.hadarc.org.au Facebook users can find the HADARC group by searching for "VK2MA". The twitter page can be viewed at: twitter.com/VK2MA For those wondering what a QUA is, it is the Club's member magazine, published 11 times a year. The name is derived from the Q code meaning "Do you have news of", typically followed by the name of the ship being asked about. From Julian Sortland, VK2YJS, Publicity Officer, Hornsby and Districts Amateur Radio Club, Inc. Summary of coming events. January The Ross Hull Contest ends at 1059 tomorrow - at the end of the UTC day. February St George A.G.M on the 3rd. Orange & District meeting on the 5th. Oxley Region meeting on the 6th. WICEN New South Wales A.G.M on the 7th. Hornsby Mid-Monthly meeting on the 9th. Hunter Radio Group meeting on the 12th. Mid South Coast meeting on the 13th. Waverley training and exams on the 13th & 14th. Summerland AGM on the 14th. Eden Creek Horse Enduro on the 20th & 21st. Hornsby meeting on the 23rd. Fishers Ghost AGM on the 24th. Oxley Region gathering on the 26th. Central Coast Centenary dinner at Wyong on the 27th. Central Coast Centenary Field Day at Wyong on the 28th. March Nominations for Council close on the 6th. Horse Enduro at Copmanhurst on the 13th & 14th. Summerland Car boot sale on the 28th. April W.I.A New South Wales division A.G.M on the 17th. Summerland foundation course on the 17th & 18th. International Marconi day on the 24th. 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 7th of February, the announcer in the morning will be Eric VK2VE with Jeff VK2BYY as engineer. For the evening broadcast we will have Terry VK2UX as announcer and Peter VK2EMU 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.