Presidents Bit's and Pieces March 2004.
Welcome to our March edition of Gateway. It is encouraging
to hear that some of you do read the Mag. Although there are still
some questions asked "on air" that prove that others
are having difficulty with the printed word.
Well labour day weekend has been and gone, it was good to
spend relaxed time with those who attended. One activity was a
visit to the site of the Toora wind farm. 12 towers 67Mtrs high
set in 600 tonne of concrete and steel, and only 2 metres deep.
Compare that to a 14 metre Nally tower that is set in concrete
to a depth of a little over 3metres.
When
up close and personal with the system it seemed a clean and quiet
method of obtaining electrical energy. The nearby transformer
station emitting more audible noise than the nearest wind generator.
The latest A.R. magazine has just dropped into my PO box, it
contains discussion papers on the formation of the WIA into a
national body as opposed to the existing state/federal system.
There are 15 pages to work through and as yet I have only had
a quick scan through. It begins with a short piece by our Federal
President VK1LK, headed Looking Ahead . This is followed by three
papers, namely Constitution Of the Wireless Institute of Australia.
An Explanatory Memorandum, and a Corporate Ethics Policy. While
the length of the article may seem daunting I would encourage
all club members to make themselves aware of its contents. Incidentally
I could not find any web page indicated info.
In accordance with our club rule 11b I remind all members that
our AGM will take place on Friday 16th April 2004.
All positions on the committee fall vacant on that day and nomination
forms need to be in the secretaries possession 7 days prior to
the AGM. I encourage all members to seriously consider standing
for the various positions. With our plans to locate an educational/workshop
unit behind the Guide hall and various ideas floated for small
kit assembly plus our usual social calendar we will have an interesting
and busy year ahead. So don’t be shy! put your name forward. (nomination
forms in this and the April issue of mag.)
That’s enough from me for this month I look forward to working
You on air or seeing you at the next club meeting.
73s
Peter VK3VB.
Vintage
Vehicle Presentation
At
the March General Meeting on Friday the 19th.
John Franklin is a professional restorer of Vintage and Veteran vehicles.
On this night John will be giving a presentation of his work.
The
restoration of vehicles is more than just paint and body filler.
The restorer must engineer and recreate lost or
damaged
components made 60-70-80 years ago.
Learn
about the process and see images of John’s handiwork.
_______________________
Club
Shack Project
Ian
Jackson VK3BUF
The time has come for our Club Shack project to move to the next
phase. We have received approval in principle from both the Guides
and the Recreation Reserve committee to locate a 10 metre building
at the rear of the Guide Hall for our use. It is likely that
we shall also require a planning permit and a building permit
from the shire. This too is being investigated.
At this stage we are in a position to finance a good
portion of the project and an application has been made to the
Casey Shire (via the reserve committee) for a ‘Minor Capital Works
Grant’ to make up the difference.
It is important now to gather input from Club Members
on how this building should be laid out. A project sub-committee
is being formed within the Club to administer the preparation
of this building . Its task is to finalise a plan of how the
building is intended to be, and then pursue this plan until the
building is installed, secure and ready for use. At that point
the building will be ‘handed over’ to the regular committee and
this sub-committee will cease to be.
The 3-D sketch below is a starting point. More details of this
plan are on the following pages. Note the ‘bulkhead’ above the
benches that runs the length of the building. It would contain
down lights and provide coax cable access to all bench positions.
The partition is important to give acoustic isolation between
operating areas.
A
Weekend At Foster
Ian
Jackson VK3BUF
Camping is a wonderful thing. How can one truly appreciate the
serenity of a caravan park holiday unless punctuated by the yappy
three a.m. terrier in the site next door. The doppler-shifted
crunch of gravel as towel laden campers shuffle past your canvas
walls. Or the sight of rotund ladies in the adjacent cabin who
have stretched their elastic sided pants into new dimensions never
envisaged by their makers.
Camping is not about fun, it’s about contrasts. If we simply
stay at home watching the next increment of an American sitcom,
we would not have experienced the infinite variety that our land
has to offer. To travel to such places with friends is to top
up the fuel tank of events and places so that they may be talked
and laughed about in exact detail in the quiet months to come.
The GGREC trip to the South Gippsland region was one such journey.
On the Labor
day weekend a whole bunch of our members (they know who they are)
descended on the Foster Caravan Park as a base for exploring the
nooks and crannies of South Gippsland. The weather was overcast,
mild and pleasant for wondering around. The local fish and chip
shop proved that the preparation of deep fried Blue Grenadier
is not a dying art, even if the potato cakes were a little small.
A round trip through the hills above Toora gave us a close up
look at the wind generated power station. Seeing the blades of
these huge assemblies scribing wonderfully lazy arcs through the
air provided a spectacle of modern engineering that looked good
and felt right. This too was contrasted by the even louder whining
of many South Gippsland residents who felt that anything that
marred the pristine skyline where all trees had already been chopped
into oblivion was an abomination against ‘nature’.
A trip to Yaram revealed a wide array of shops which were sadly
closed for the public holiday. This was with the exception of
a fine coffee shop at the end of the street. The chief entertainment
proved to be the spectacle of the local constabulary shaking down
a motorist for conveying motorcycles on an unregistered trailer.
(all one can do is to hope that it provides sufficient distraction
from them making inspection of my own vehicle) 
There were eighteen of us that boosted the coffers of the hotel
at Port Welshpool on Sunday night. This was a sumptuous meal,
as promised, where the steaks were like phone books and the ice
creams resembled Mt. Fuji with a spoon. A brief game of doubles
on the pool table proved to be a good time to remember that winning
isn’t everything as my team was substantially hosed by the opposition.
A slow promenade around the Port Albert jetty was a pleasant way
to pass the Sunday afternoon. Looking into the water one could
see how the jellyfish have evolved to resemble white plastic shopping
bags as they pulsed their way around the boats and under the jetty.
Colourful fishing craft of many kinds came and went in the short
time we ere there, filling in the gaps between the seagulls and
the sun tarnished anglers sitting on their stools and fiddling
with their bait. It painted a pretty picture of a sea-side town
– like a giant jigsaw puzzle, but without the annoying wriggly
lines.
A short drive and walk from
Foster took us to the Mt Nichol lookout, which at 304 metres ASL
was to give us a fine panorama of the region. Unfortunately the
cloud hovering over the hill reduced the view to match the interior
of a flour bag. Still, a large brass obelisk pointed out which
white swirling mass of vapour was obscuring which particular landmark,
and let our imagination’s fill in the gaps.
Another colorful spectacle was the annual craft market
around the footy oval at Foster. This was a huge market with
a hundred stalls and a thousand visitors. There were buskers,
balloon twisters and Emu Oil sellers in abundance. Get your buttocks
massaged or your spring rolls rolled – while you wait! The back
door to the caravan park opened directly into the footy oval grounds
so we were able to participate without running the gauntlet of
the ticket sellers at the gate.
This small taste of the weekend was told in no particular order.
It is good that a weekend away from the home life routine can
make no large promises, no exquisite demands, and yet permit the
recharging of the soul in the company of friends. I feel no hesitation
to seize a felt tipped pen and to put a circle on the calendar
for next years adventure.
The Year's Best [Actual] News Headlines Of 2003
Something Went Wrong in Jet Crash, Expert
Says
Police
Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Iraqi
Head Seeks Arms
Is
There a Ring of Debris around Uranus?
Panda
Mating Fails; Veterinarian Takes Over
Teacher
Strikes Idle Kids
Miners
Refuse to Work after Death
Juvenile
Court to Try Shooting Defendant
War
Dims Hope for Peace
If
Strike Isn't Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile
Cold
Wave Linked to Temperatures
Enfield
(London) Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
Red
Tape Holds Up New Bridges
Man
Struck By Lightning Faces Battery Charge
New
Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Astronaut
Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
Kids
Make Nutritious Snacks
Chef
Throws His Heart into Helping Feed Needy
Local
High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Hospitals
are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
And
the winner is.... Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Useful Web Sites
Assuming
you have a internet access, try these sites
http://www.ultimatecharger.com/Dish_Feed.html
to
find all about this crazy looking device
Or
to find out what club member Peter VK3KCG is up to try looking
at
http://www.802antennas.com/
Peter’s
2.4 GHz antenna’s and spectrum analizer plot
Peter
has been hard at work designing and building all sorts of antenna’s
and his site is well worth looking at.
If
anyone has any good web links, send them in and we will print
them
Paul
VK3TGX
GGREC Photo Album
After
many sessions of putting photo’s up on the web, then having to
delete them as new one’s arrive (and before everyone has seen
them) due to the 10MB limit imposed by my Internet service provider,
the use of a much bigger site has been donated to the club - with
a request to keep it under 3 Gig - almost 300 times the previous
size!
Currently,
I have uploaded pictures from 4 club events, as time allows and
requests are received, I will increase this somewhat.
As
I don’t get to all club events, like the recent long weekend /Labor
day trip away, so if you have photo’s from any of these events,
give us a copy, and I will put them up on the site for all to
view. - in full colour.
To
access the pictures, point your web browser at WWW.paulstubbs.pozzie.net/
and
hopefully you will have no problems.
Paul
VK3TGX
New
Repeaters Coming Soon:
Several new 70cm repeaters have been recently been licensed for
the outer Melbourne suburbs. Details are sketchy, but all seem
to intend running IRLP and Echolink for linking to other repeaters
and computers via the Internet, as well as operating as regular
voice repeaters. It is also likely that all will require a 123Hz
CTCSS tone for access as a precaution against LIPD interference.
Some of these may be on air by the time you read this. The repeaters
are:
·
VK3RFY, Hillside, N/W of Melbourne, 438.400 MHz, Echolink #3037,
IRLP # TBA. 147.425MHz Simplex (cross-band linked)
· VK3RTL, Niddrie, N/W of Melbourne , 438.600 MHz
· VK3RMC, Berwick/NarreWarren , 439.375 MHz
CTCSS
Required On Local Repeaters
Increasing interference problems from LIPDs on Melbourne 70cm
repeaters are forcing some to move to CTCSS access. You will need
to transmit a continuous 123 Hz sub-tone to access these repeaters
from now on. The WIA Vic repeater VK3ROU in Olinda is one such
repeater to suffer almost continual interference during business
hours. This repeater also hosts the EMDRC IRLP node. From now
on, a 123 Hz CTCSS tone is required to use this repeater. Most
modern UHF radios have CTCSS capability built in – its just a
matter of finding the menu that enables tone sending (dont enable
tone squelch though!). A new EPROM enabling the tone on AWA RT85
will be available from me shortly through the NERG, or you can
download it from www.qsl.net/vk3byy
(soon!). Really old radios may require the addition of a tone
board to the transmitter circuitry. Whilst the tone access method
stops false keying of the repeater by interference, its not an
ideal solution. For starters, many older radios aren’t fitted
with CTCSS tone generators. Also tone access reduces the sensitivity
of the repeater receiver, which can be a nuisance for mobile users.
It also doesn’t protect the repeater from interference if it is
stronger than the wanted signal, possibly resulting in signals
from weaker stations to go on and off unexpectedly - as if they
have an intermittent fault in their TX (or in your RX!).
Several types of Low Interference Potential Devices are causing
trouble on Melbourne’s repeaters, including short but frequent
bursts of buzzing musical sounds coming from industrial remote
controls as well as continuous white noiselike interference coming
from computer data links. Movie soundtracks and TV shows can also
be heard coming from LIPD wireless headphones that are used with
TVs and VCRs. Melbourne foxhunters have been accused of being
slack in finding the LIPDs. However these devices are very difficult
to track down. For starters their signal level is often marginal
at the top of the repeaters tower and non-existent from a foxhunting
vehicle closer to the ground. Since the LIPD may be 20 km or more
away, finding them is going to be difficult unless you want to
drive around the repeater in forever expanding circles until you
happen to hear the LIPD. Intermittent transmissions and seasonal
bursts of heightened UHF propagation add a few orders on magnitude
to the
difficulty factor. Nevertheless, many LIPDs have been located,
and asked to switch frequencies, only to reappear weeks later
when the owner finds they are suffering interference themselves
(a scary thought when they use these things to control cranes
moving 10 ton plates of steel!). With changes in legislation,
the ACA can’t and won’t protect us from LIPDs.
.......Hence the need for CTCSS.... 73, Mark VK3BYY
from
NERG NEWS.
Call
to support 'New WIA'
Information
supplied by Peter Parker, VK3YE
Senior
Wireless Institute of Australia people around the country met
recently to plan a restructured national WIA organisation.
The meeting was convened by Chris Jones VK2ZDD and included
Federal President Ernie Hocking VK1LK, the presidents of four
state Divisions and several other office bearers. Also present
was Michael Owen VK3KI, who drafted the original WIA Federal constitution
in 1972.
All
participants believed that a single national WIA is essential
if amateur radio in Australia is to move forward. Though the
amateur population is currently declining, it is important that
a better WIA exist to meet new challenges including entry-level
licensing and the possible outsourcing of further administrative
tasks to it from the ACA.
A
reformed WIA was also seen as reducing some of the difficulties
with the current divisional-federal structure. These include
the needless duplication of voluntary positions, high organisational
running costs, accountability breakdowns in some divisions, interstate
squabbling and a widespread perception the Institute is a closed
organisation or 'secret society'.
Key
elements of the 'New WIA' proposals include:
- A
vision and mission statement that requires the organisation
to provide leadership to make amateur radio exciting and relevant,
represent radio amateurs, always act for the benefit of amateur
radio, maintain member services and act in an open, fair, open
and transparent manner
- Members
Australia-wide to belong to a single national WIA that will
replace the current division/federal structure
- Governance
by a member-elected board, with directors serving 2-year terms
- A
professionally-staffed national office
- A
code of ethics to ensure accountability and proper conduct by
directors, employees and volunteers.
Progress
so far has included the drafting of a proposed constitution and
a code of ethics that will guide the behaviour of all officials,
employees and volunteers. These can be viewed on the WIA Federal
website at http://www.wia.org.au
There have been many unsuccessful WIA reform attempts in the past,
dating from at least the Arnold Report of 1978. However this
one appears to be winning broad support from both inside and outside
the organisation.
If you think this plan for a one
national WIA is a good idea and you are in general agreement with
what is proposed, you can assist by:
·
Letting
all of your friends who are interested in amateur radio know about
the plan.
·
If
you are not a WIA member, join now so you can vote to effect all
the needed changes.
·
Contact
your Divisional councillors, urging their support for a New WIA.
·
Make
sure you attend any relevant divisional meeting which may be held
to approve the changes. If you can’t attend then give a proxy
vote to someone who is and direct the proxy holder on how you
wish to vote.
·
Keep
abreast of what is happening as the plan evolves – see http://www.wia.org.au
If you have any questions or comments
you can contact one of those involved (contact details are provided
in the 'WIA Overview Paper' from the above website)
It is hoped that we can move forward
together and use this opportunity to build a more open and accountable
WIA that puts amateur radio first!
