End of Year Presidents Views November/December 2004.
This has been a great year for our club if for no other reason than to see so many members working together to make our dream of our own workshop/shack become a reality. Looking back through the magazines to May the articles and photos tell their own tale. There is still work to do, the electrical supply situation has been sorted and the electrician is confident that "switch on" will be before Christmas. The plumber should have started work by the time you read this. Reg/ Jenny and Albert are pressing on with the painting, when all this is complete we can begin to look at installing our radio equipment. At this stage I am not going to single any one person out for thanks, but offer a THANK YOU to all who have made this project possible.

On the wider Amateur Radio scene we have witnessed the formation of a national WIA with an interim board and national president. We have seen a section of our 70 cm band withdrawn from our use and know that the 40 mtr allocation won as a world wide primary allocation (7.00 to 7.20) is under threat by some of the worlds broadcasters. The WIA urgently needs your support not so much for its finances but for weight of numbers when in negotiation with the ACA.
So those of you presently not WIA members Please think again about the privileges you enjoy "on air" that have been won because others have given their "spare time" in the WIA to win and retain them.

October 23rd saw a forum of representatives of 14 Victorian radio clubs. This was called by Amateur Radio Victoria WIA Vic by another Name. Mike Ide and myself attended for GGREC. We were addressed by Jim Linton and received reports from clubs not able to attend. Each club was then given time to speak on it's activities. This was followed by a Talk fest by Michael Owen VK3KI and ample time given for a question and answer session. Some agenda items though were not covered due to limited time. The fact that 14 clubs came together to talk about the future of amateur radio was a plus in itself. All our committee members have copies of the agenda and a short report of proceedings from my viewpoint, for more details see Mike or myself.

We have just held the last exams scheduled for this year. We able to hold an exam in January 2005 on the 15th for those wanting to sit before the school year commences. To make this available we must have the applications into the WIA by 6th December at the latest.

The Christmas hamper is slowly filling but still needs some father donations, Bruno is keen to sell the tickets he is holding. This is usually a prize worth having.

Don’t forget the end of year celebrations. December 3rd Prac night proceeded by a BYO meal, fish and chips, pizza, pasty and ??? This will be in the guide hall doors open at 7pm sharp, tea and coffee provided as usual.

Our breakup will also be held at the hall on Saturday December 11th. Start time 12 midday. Details at next Meeting.

Australia Day next year is on a Wednesday we are intending to open the club room and operate with the usually granted AX prefix.This will be combined with a BBQ.

Those who indicated their intention of coming to Beechworth should book their sites now to avoid missing out on a great weekend.
The caravan park we are using is; Lake Sambell Caravan Park, Jarvis Road Beechworth Vic 3747. Ph 5728 1421.

That’s all from for this issue except to hope you all have a happy safe holiday season. Would'nt it be great to have consideration and patience on our roads with no statistics to quote.

From Pat and I a happy and peaceful Christmas
Peter VK3VB.
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All-modes for Foundation Licence not important: WIA President
The Wireless Institute of Australia continues to publicly accept the ACA decision to restrict the proposed Australian Foundation Licence to hand-keyed Morse code and voice. WIA National President Michael Owen VK3KI in addressing the recent Victoria Clubs Forum in Melbourne briefly mentioned the issue while talking about the enormous positive progress being made by the WIA to introduce the new licence next year.
The WIA National Board of Directors does not necessarily agree that digital modes should be excluded from the new licence, but is not pursuing the matter. Michael Owen VK3KI said "…you don't want to die for an issue" - an indication that for some undisclosed reason the WIA is not making strong representations to the ACA.

This is indeed puzzling. The majority of submissions made to the ACA inquiry into Amateur Service Regulation strongly supported all-modes. The restrictive Foundation Licence as proposed by the ACA is a disappointment to many. The WIA National Board of Directors has overturned core WIA policy on the Foundation Licence. That policy for all-modes was set under the former WIA Federal restructure after many hours of conference debate and consultation with WIA members.

The WIA President at the Victoria Clubs Forum suggested that the modes of transmission is perhaps something that could be reviewed once the licence has existed for several years.

The opposing view in the amateur fraternity is that the Foundation Licence must be immediately highly attractive to the widest range of people to maximise its impact on increasing participation in amateur radio.

While Europe through the CEPT common licence system is moving towards an all-mode Foundation Licence to provide a new entry level to the hobby of amateur radio, Australia will be out of step.
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Victorian Technical Advisory Committee - meeting 13 November 2004
The WIA VK3 Advisory Committee has held a very productive VTAC meeting of repeater owners and custodians that includes some important decision making. The meeting began with VTAC Chairman, Peter Mill VK3APO outlining the WIA restructure as it applies to Victoria and reassurance that the intention is to continue providing support for repeaters, for the benefit of the amateur fraternity.
The 28 who attended came from Ballarat, Bendigo, East Gippsland, Geelong, Horsham and Mildura as well as metropolitan Melbourne. They represented a range of interests - voice repeaters, IRLP, WICEN, Automatic Position Reporting System, Broadcasts, Beacons and Amateur Television.

A key decision taken was to adopt, in Victoria, the CTCSS sub-audible tone of 91.5 Hz to replace the problematic 123 Hz. Incidence of what is known as 'phantom 123' is making that tone unreliable. VK4 has already adopted 91.5 Hz for the same reason. In Victoria it was decided under "Note 6, Repeater Linking" that 91.5 Hz will replace 123 Hz for use by repeaters fitted with CTCSS for interference protection. The transition to 91.5 Hz will occur in Victoria over the next two years, it has already been adopted in VK4 and is being considered as a new national CTCSS tone under the WIA Band Plan. There will be no change however to the 141.1 Hz tone that enables linked repeater users to activate frequencies in accordance with the conditions of their grade of licence.

On 70cm, it was decided, due to continuing interference from LIPDs, that a number of severely affected repeaters within the Melbourne metropolitan area may conduct experiments using dual receivers. One receiver will have the standard 5 MHz off-set with 91.5 Hz CTCSS protection and the other using 5.4 MHz alternative split with carrier squelch, as outlined in the current WIA Australian Band Plan.

A new 149 MHz Victoria-wide government sponsored alpha-numerical paging system for the Country Fire Authority, State Emergency Service and Rural Ambulance is now being tested and is expected to be fully operational by August 2005. It will have high-powered transmitters at 190 sites, including 18 that are co-located with amateur two-metre repeaters. VTAC has been consulted in advance of the roll-out of this new paging system. Interference to amateur repeaters will be minimized through a consultative process that has been initiated by the ACA in conjunction with the WIA.

Among other topics discussed were proposed repeater linking, an expansion of transmission outlets for the WIA National and Vic-Link broadcasts, and occupational health and safety requirements of repeater sites.
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The future of electronics in danger
The latest supporting argument to "re-think" Australia's proposed Foundation Licence comes from the Australian Council of Deans of Science (ACDS) which has expressed serious concern about the future of the electronics industry. The Academics warn that the decline in maths, physics and chemistry is a threat to the electronics industry, and other directly related sectors such as the nanotechnology, telematics and bioinformatics.
An article by Steven Keeping in Electronics News (Australia) said the ACDS believes that the newly-elected Federal Government has failed to address the declines in the study of these vital "enabling" subjects in Australian Universities and Schools. While welcoming parts of the Government's plans and funding, the academics claim they "don't in themselves tackle the central issue of falling enrolments in the enabling sciences."

This is further support for the argument to "open up" the operating privileges for Australia's proposed Foundation Licence.An interest in amateur radio encourages and supports an interest in the "enabling" school subjects - maths, physics and chemistry - components of all three are in the syllabus of each existing amateur licence and in the practice of amateur radio.

Severely restricting Foundation Licensees, as currently proposed, to hand-keyed Morse code and voice modes will not maximise the benefits that can flow from this new entry level licence. Australia's electronics and electrical trade association (AEEMA) recognises the vital importance of education in its "Action Agenda" which has been presented to politicians for consideration.
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Mystery surrounds Opera
A contemporary opera called "Cosmonaut" has a striking similarity to the amateur radio activities of Melbourne school teacher, Maggie Iaquinto, who was befriended by a number of crews on the Russian MIR space station.
In 1991 Maggie made world history by having the first computer-to-computer radio communication with the Space Station MIR. She actually taught Cosmonaut Musa Manarov U2MIR over the amateur radio airwaves how to communicate using packet radio. Prior to that she had regular voice contact with MIR. Her activities were recognised by the prestigious Wireless Institute of Australia's Ron Wilkinson Achievement Award.

Cosmonaut, the opera, that has played at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, is about a communication between a Russian cosmonaut and a woman in Australia. An unusual relationship develops between a cosmonaut as he floats through space and a woman on earth who dreams of a better life.

She had the pleasure meeting the cast of the opera. As a result of Maggie's insight, the staging of the Opera, which is a full multimedia event, has now been slightly changed to include the true-life reality of contacting MIR. Was the opera based on the Maggie experience? Well its librettist Tony MacGragor claims this is not the case and that it was a work of fiction.

The obsolete MIR Space Station met a fiery end when it was deliberately plunged into earth's atmosphere in March 2001.

From WIA
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Bunyip State Forrest Trip Postponed
The one-day four-wheel-drive adventure in the Bunyip State Forest area scheduled for Saturday the 13th of November has been delayed for at least a week due to an unrequisitioned mud excess. After all this rain we have had, the tracks are as slippery as a greased ice cube on a hot bowling ball!

We need at least four consecutive dry days before entering the forest, otherwise we just get really, really dirty and damage the tracks in the process.

It is likely that we will have a go-ahead on Saturday the 20th of November – but please confirm this at the General Meeting night on the 19th.

The plan is to rendezvous out the front of Gumbuya Park at 9:30am, and explore the forest area to the North for a few hours. There will be a scheduled lunch at a picnic area at the half-way mark. (open-fire barbecues, picnic tables and toilets are present at this site)

A path has been selected that would be regarded as light-to-medium difficulty, so any four wheel drive vehicles should be ok. A trail map will be provided to each vehicle group.

Call Ian VK3BUF on 5625 2545 if more details are needed.
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Club Shack Report
The project is coming along well with the interior being painted out - almost as you read this article. The work benches will be mounted and covered before the end of the month.
We have had some difficulty in organising the electrical connections because of the poor condition of the wiring available at the adjacent Guide Hall, but this appears to have been resolved and we should have power around the first week in December.
Water connections have also been organised for the same period, so we should be flushed with success before Christmas.
Reg VK3UK and Jenny have spent some time preparing and re-painting a collection of chairs to be permanently left in the Shack. These were kindly donated from the Warneet Boat Club via Mike VK3 KTO.

The RFID electronic tag access system is still being developed, but it is slowly taking shape. This will eventually allow members to call in and operate from the shack at their own convenience.

KEEP WATCHING AND LISTENING FOR DEVELOPMENTS
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Lithium Ion Batteries – Tasty But Deadly
By Ian Jackson VK3BUF

There are lots of new electronic products out there which include Lithium-ion batteries as a power supply. But for all of that, not a great deal is known about them. They have become popular because of their high energy density. That is to say that you can jam a lot of energy within a very compact area, for very little weight. This makes them ideal for portable transceivers, cell phones and digital cameras. Almost twice the energy for half the weight/volume as traditional nicad cells. They also have really low self-discharge rates. (about half the rate of nicads) which makes them great for ‘emergency standby’ equipment.
However, if you are thinking of getting some to stuff into an old radio or appliance, then think again. They are a bit of a bugger to charge. They don’t behave the same way as any of the regular rechargeables, so put your old charger away.
* For a start, you can’t charge them until a certain terminal voltage is reached, like most other cells. A nominal 3.7V cell should be charged to a 4.2V rail, but it will reach that voltage level and still only be half charged!
* If you apply too high a terminal voltage you will permanently blow an integral over-voltage fuse inside the cell.
* If you charge at the right voltage, but for too long (such as with trickle chargers) the internal chemistry moves around and Lithium finishes up re-plating itself on anode, followed by internal gassing and (ultimately) fire.
* You can’t fast-charge them. Chargers that say they can, usually only achieve a 70% charge at best. (Typical charge times are 3 hours)
* They should not be charged in sub-zero temperatures, or beyond 45º. (at 100º they will blow an internal safety fuse)
* If you over discharge them, they will have a very short life. (never take the cell voltage below approx. 2.3V )
* You can’t measure state-of-charge by measuring terminal voltage. The voltage varies too much with ambient temperature and individual brands of cells.
(rule of thumb ~ 3.7V is roughly a half-charge, but don’t put money on it!

So, after that list of ‘don’t’s’ you may well be wondering how they are charged.
The trick is to manage them with a microprocessor so that the average punter can do their worst, without exposing the cells to harsh conditions. A cell should have 4.2 volts applied, then take a snapshot of the incoming current level. Keep on charging until the current demand has fallen to about 10% of the originally applied level, then halt the charge. The micro should be monitoring output current and voltage and temperature to prevent excessive charging & flattening of the cell.
Most modern appliances designed for use with Lithium ion cells have an integral microprocessor to manage all of this for you. Just be warned that if you try to replace them with nicad/NmHi/lead-acid or dry cells, or conversely, if you put a Lithium ion cell into an old appliance, be prepared for a dishonourable discharge.
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Milestone in global communications
The first direct two-way radio communication from Australia to the United States occurred 80-years ago on the third of November, 1924. Walter Francis Maxwell (Max) Howden, A3BQ, contacted a William L. Williams U6AHP of Pomona, California, using Morse code wireless telegraphy. A3BQ used a wavelength of about 83 metres running 130 watts into a single Z4 valve transmitter at his home in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Box Hill. The antenna consisted of six wires, 65 feet long and 80 feet above ground.
The first trans-Pacific QSO was a very significant achievement at a time when radio amateurs were seeking to prove that long distance communication was possible on short wavelengths that governments had considered to be useless.

Nine days later on the 12th of November 1924, Max Howden achieved the first Australia to Great Britain two-way wireless telegraphy contact with E. J. Simmonds, G2OD, in Buckingham, England.

The testing continued and another breakthrough came on the 10th of February 1925 when A3BQ made the first two-way radio telephony or voice communication with G2OD in England. Another world first.

The efforts of the late Max Howden VK3BQ and many other pioneering radio amateurs of that era, both the southern and northern hemispheres, significantly added to the knowledge of communications. At the same time they heralded the arrival of international Amateur Radio. It led to the rapid development of radio in terms of inter-continental and global communications and opened up the shortwaves for broadcasting, international wireless telegraph and many other uses over long distances.
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No eagerness to roll out BPL
The Boston Globe newspaper in the US has run an article on industry analysts' and power utilities' views of broadband over powerline - and it identifies a current lack of enthusiasm for the enabling technology. An article headlined "Utilities take pass on offering broadband" reports on the recent FCC announcement that it is convinced that electric-power lines can become a revolutionary new way to deliver high-speed Internet access, and unleash competition for cable and phone giants.
However an industry analyst with The Yankee Group in Boston, Matt Davis is quoted saying "You also need to talk about whether there's a business model for coming in late with what is basically a me-too broadband service."

The Boston Globe article points out that the nearly 160 power companies remain overwhelmingly skeptical. Dozens have tried out "broadband over power line" systems. Only one, Cinergy Corp in Cincinnati has moved ahead with a significant commercial rollout, so far attracting barely 1,500 subscribers.
- Spectrum Digest, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH

From WIA
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JOTA 2004
From the first time I heard that JOTA 2004 was going to go back to its roots I felt happy. Dave Campbell 's conversations with the Guides resulted in an "Amateur Radio" only JOTA. Why did that make me happy?? It's simple. I don't like computers! Or should I say, the software that is written for them sometimes doesn't make my life easy. Radios are in a class of their own. For starters they don't have a Control –Alt-Delete to press, and they don't have a 17" screen to tell you that you have an "ERROR 404". Radios have been with us from before I was born and are still here.

The reduced operating time for JOTA gave me a second reason for being happy.
I was in Cranbourne at approx 8:00 AM with my camera in hand (35mm NOT digital), snapping away at motorcycles of every size and shape and colour imaginable. A small display of street machines was on display. I would have liked to see more there but it is a day for motorcycles I suppose… I bumped into some friends who were taking their new BMW touring bike for a run to Philip Island. They posed for the mandatory happy snaps before saddling up for the ride. When the flag dropped, it was a visual, audible feast! Even a blind person could identify the origin of the bikes from the distinctive sounds they make. One and a half rolls of film later, it was back to the hall.

Mike, Peter, Max, Helmut & Dave were there starting to set up and in no time, we were in the trenches battling with Guides that over the years, new that there were boys on the other side of the airways.
Some of the re-offenders have become quite proficient at radio operation and after spending some time with Jan VK3NOV on the morse key, could easily be on their way to getting a foundation licence!!!

This year, I encouraged parents and Guide leaders to have a go with the microphone and it was a success. Not surprisingly, as the ambient noise in the hall was very kind to working the waves. Nice long QSOs were taking place and at last, the transceivers were showing what amateur radio is all about.

Signals were up and down all afternoon, but between the three transceivers that we were operating, and the Morse key, there was something on the go to keep everyone occupied. It was good to have members on standby to take over operations when a break was required. Derek VK3MLQ was on hand to pass on his vast experience to the young operators, one of which was showing sign of sleep deprivation.

Once again we were well looked after by the Guides and their culinary delights, and when it came to 4:00 PM, the plug was pulled and we left the Guides to carry on with their weekend.

Many thanks to all the members that turned up on the day to make JOTA 2004 a success.

Bruno Tonizzo VK3BFT

Error 404………
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Strays
Gutter Immunity, or How To Desensitise Your Kid.
As a very young child – a long time ago, I could always remember travelling down Warrigal Road, somewhere near Heatherton and seeing Dales knackery and being told by my grandmother “that was where they sent the old horses for the glue factory” and I feeling rather disturbed at the thought. Dales incidentally has now long gone and the land swallowed up by suburbia and horses are not sent to knackeries to be turned into glue.
Nevertheless during my working life I found myself by accident rather than design doing my fare share of inspectorial work at knackeries and abattoirs. One thing I did learn very quickly that although an abattoir or knackery was the end of the road for a beast it was certainly a great crossroad of humanity. They were all there from the astute businessman to the drugged up impoverished alcoholic, from the University graduate to the High School drop-out. Anything can happen, and usually does.
As I grew older and wiser whilst training new prospective inspectorial staff always requested that they come with me as an introduction into how the other half live; or perhaps it was the entertainment I got from their reactions.
Jane was new to the job, it was quite a hot day and I had to make an unscheduled quick stop at the local knackery to collect some paper work. We made our way through the carcasses and carnage that littered the floor all complimented with the odour and flies; I mean the restaurant scene from Monty Python’s “Meaning of Life” had nothing on the sight that greeted us. There, in the middle of the floor was the proprietor’s young son – a boy of about three years old, grubby little face, lovely little smile and sucking on a “chock-wedge”. The ice-cream from it was melting, running down his arm and dripping off his elbow into the blood on the floor.
As we drove away all Jane could say was “that poor little boy, that poor little boy”. That poor little boy? He was as happy as a pig in a poke, I mean what more could a little boy want on a hot day than a “chock-wedge”? Nothing else mattered at all.

The last time I saw that little boy was a school holiday time only a month or so before I finished up with Primary Industries. Of course by now he is much older but nothing had changed.
There he was again in the middle of the works floe, sitting on a dead cow this time, squirting one of her teats towards himself and trying to catch the milk in his mouth. His father looked up, “get out of it you dirty little devil” he yelled. “But it’s fresh” was the lad’s reply, “you shot her”!

I returned to the office. “I have just come from the knackery” I said “and I have just seen something that has turned me off milk for life” I chuckled. “We don’t want to know, we don’t want to know” was the response.

Graeme VK3BXG

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