The Presidents Notes For October 2003.

Melbourne's ACA consultation has been and gone. Somewhere between 250 and 300 people crammed into a room that would have comfortably seated 200. 9 club members were present.

The ACA's Mr Mark Loney presented the ACA's preferred position in accordance with the discussion paper released in August. He then opened the evening up to questions from the floor taking each point strictly in the order he had prepared. There was lengthy discussion on the subject of type of licenses to be issued in future to the amateur service. Of the three possible Spectrum, Apparatus or Class. Mr Loney did his best to persuade those present that there was nothing to fear in a change to a class licensing system. Most were not convinced, although could accept that a class license system was necessary for visitors only if Australia is to offer temporary visitors permission to operate their amateur equipment here within the CEPT concept. On the issue of whether we have a 2 or 3 tier licensing system on a show of hands it was a close thing, I think from where I was sitting the vote for 3 was just ahead. The ACA will wait for all submissions to be collated before making a decision.

The "No interference policy" was the last subject on the agenda and with little time left (10pm finish) there was a push by the ACA to stifle discussion. But thankfully a person with a roving mike forced a vote on the feelings of those present on this policy, the result was an almost 100% rejection of the proposal. It remains to be seen what the ACA make of this. With Michael Owen VK3KI coming to talk to us on things ITU on Friday 17^th we will make time also for a general question time so that others who attended this function can give their views also.

Keep up to date with coming events via the Event Queue.

I will be away at Ascot farm sitting from Thur 23^rd Oct until Nov 8^th. I will keep the same sked times and frequencies as Helmut listed in our September Magazine.

Please find time to send in your submissions in response to the ACA document, the continuation of amateur radio as we know it could be at stake. 73's Peter VK3VB

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FLINDERS RANGES TRIP

By Dianne Jackson

On the first part of the journey, my skin began to turn red

On the next part of the journey, we were looking at a river bed

There were plants and birds and rocks and things

There was sand and hills and ….

Well, almost

It was a beautiful sunny day for the drive to Mildura.

The Jackson family (towing a newly renovated camper) started early and met the Campbells (towing their rented camper) in Berwick. We drove together through the city and as we went along we chatted to each other on the radio. Later, when we stopped for lunch, we caught up with the Brown family (towing a small trailer ). The Bensons, (towing their caravan) joined the convoy shortly before we reached Mildura. We set up camp, got some fish and chips for dinner and went to bed early.

Next day we headed for Lake Mungo National Park. The weather was very hot and we were all trying to find the shorts that had been packed near the bottom of our cases. We did a sunset tour of Lake Mungo, and for those of you who are unaware, there hasn’t been any water in Lake Mungo for twenty thousand years or more. The lake bed has been used extensively over the years, first by aboriginal people and later by white settlers, who were sheep farmers. There is still evidence in the lake bed of ancient aboriginal camp fires, giant wombat bones and fish skeletons, all being eroded away by wind, sand and time. The vertical rocks at the edge of the lake are called "lunettes" because of their resemblance to the shape of the crescent moon. Seeing the sunset from the top of the sand dunes was breathtaking, clear blue sky from horizon to horizon, a brilliant orange sun making the whole lake bed glow. In startling contrast to this ancient lunar landscape, is the shearing shed, which has been carefully restored for the benefit of the tourists, to highlight the impact that white man has had on the lake.

Broken Hill was our next stop after a hot windy drive from Mungo.

Broken Hill is a great place to spend a few days. Even though I have been to Broken hill before, there is always something new and interesting to see or do. We revisited the railway museum which has a very good collection of every thing connected to railway life, including six entire trains that you can walk through. Locomotives, carriages, baggage cars, dining cars, first class, even the kitchen car where they would prepare the meals for the dining car.

Silverton is an interesting little place. An easy 20km drive from Broken Hill, Silverton is almost exploding with art galleries. We bought a print that will look fantastic in my bedroom. We stuck our noses in a tin shed that had a small sign on the outside saying "coin carvery". There was a man inside with a small saw in his hand and he was making hand carved coins into pendants and broaches. He takes a one dollar coin and removes all the background from around the kangaroos. It’s a bit hard to describe but the results were brilliant. He also caves old pennies as well. The man, Andy Jenkins, had to have special permission from the government to be allowed to deface legal tender. It only took him two years of legal red tape, but now, finally, he is the only person in Australia that is legally entitled to pursue his craft. After marvelling at his crafty coins, he showed us a six month old joey kangaroo that he has been looking after until it is old enough to be released back into the bush. We all had a pat of the joey as Andy was holding him in his arms and I ran my fingers along the joeys tail, it was very muscular. There must be an incredible amount of strength in those tails.

If you have ever been to Broken Hill before, then you will know that it is a mining town, and you will be aware that there is a huge tailings heap dominating the city skyline. On top of the tailings they have built a terrific new restaurant, gift shop, and memorial. The memorial is dedicated to all the people who have lost their lives working in the mines, and dominates the skyline.

Hanging in the foyer of the Peterborough town hall was a fantastic quilt, that is worth stopping to have a look at. It must have taken a long time to make because it was very large and expertly stitched together. All of the prominent buildings in the town were stitched on, as well as other points of interest in the community such as, trains, planes, an ambulance, police car, tractors, sheds, an outback dunny with loo paper, cows, sheep, ducks, people working and playing, flying kites and kicking a footy. There were also lots of trees , flowers, hills, clouds and even Santa Clause was there in a sled with two reindeer. I was very impressed.

The 80 metre sked was well attended while we were in Peterborough. We all sat around the HF rig listening to and chatting with: Kerry Clayton VK3KFC, Richard Everett VK2KIT, Helmut Inhoven VK3DHI, Jan (Yarn) VK3NOV, Peter Woodland VK3KCG and Phil Pavey VK3YB coming and going with antenna problems.

Rawson Station, and Caravan Park, are just a few kilometres away from Wilpena Pound and the Flinders Ranges, and an excellent spot for a four day stopover. Large camp sites, camp fires every night and there was a very well appointed camp kitchen with an electric jug, toasters, television and even a microwave oven.

Not far form camp was a track that said it was leading to a waterfall. The track wasn’t marked very clearly, so we walked up to the top of a rocky outcrop and got our bearings. We walked across some paddocks and eventually found the track leading to the falls, however as there hasn’t been any rain for some time, there wasn’t any water falling at all, just a lot of big dry rocks. I suppose the rocks had their own certain charm, in a way, but a waterfall without any water, just doesn’t seem to have the same appeal.

Wilpena Pound was the starting point for our next walk. We set off after lunch and walked through Pound Gap, along Wilpena creek, which still had water in it, to the homestead that was used buy early settlers, who were using the Pound as a sheep station. The homestead was rather small, it appeared to only have two rooms, yet it was said to have housed thirteen children and their parents. Just past the homestead, and up over some rocks was Wangara lookout. From the lookout there were spectacular views of Wilpena Pound.

Driving through the Flinders Ranges is another good way to see lovely views. We drove through Brachina Gorge, where we pulled over to inspect a river bed full of colourful rocks, stones, and pebbles. Parachilna Gorge was following along beside a river, with the occasional river crossing. Not far out of Blinmam, is a place called "the Great Wall of China". It’s amazing to think that this is a natural formation that really does look like the Great Wall, even though there is only a small section here.

Burra was the next town on our itinerary. We didn’t have very much time to have a good look around, but we did have a great Pub meal the night before we left. It would have been nice to spend a little bit more time in Burra because it looks like a very interesting old copper mining town. However events were conspiring against us and we had to cut our holiday short.

We drove all day from Burra back to Drouin and arrived home safely but very tired.

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Standard Power Connectors

In last months magazine the picture of how the power pole connectors are assembled - as in their polarity, was a but hard to understand, being almost pure black!

Anyway a few club members have shown interest, so hopefully this picture will come out a bit clearer. - No attempts to colour/shade the image this time.

Currently the only suppliers are Farnell & R.S. components.

Part Farnell components RS components
Red housing 397-3840 534-985
Black housing 397-3864 534-979
15A contact 397-3890 not stocked
30A contact 397-3906 534-963

Part Farnell components RS components
Housings 5+ $0.75 10+ $1.10
Contacts 5+ $0.45 10+ $0.61
(ie, min purchase 5) (ie, min purchase 10)

Ian and I are planning to keep a fair quantity on hand, and will on-sell them to club members for cost, let us know what you want.

After JOTA has finished, the club’s radio cabinet/shack will be converted over to power pole connectors.

If you want to use more amps, of just heavier cable for lower loss over longer runs, 75A (and 120A) connectors are also available. (ie for the serious RF-burn expert)

Paul. VK3TGX

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JOTA PREPARATIONS

Peter, John, Bruno, Albert and I went down to the club last Saturday to do a spot of repairs to the club’s antenna’s before JOTA. (where were you?)

	Albert had noticed water dripping from the end of the 2M coax, so we knew things were not as they should be. Things didn’t start out all that good on the day as we didn’t have the keys to remove the chains from the tower - eventually Albert cut them off with an angle grinder.
After lowering the tower (and removing a birds nest), the reason for the poor performance from the antenna’s became obvious. Birds had made a real mess of things chewing holes in the 2M coax and chewing the 6M feed of from the J-pole.
The TH-3 HF beam was also showing bird damage, however we didn’t have enough time or people to pull it apart and rebuild it, hopefully it will be ok on the day - failing that we will have to be happy with the dipole - that was also fixed up on the day.
	I had taken the club’s power supply home with the idea of fitting some Anderson power pole connectors to it, however after opening it, the idea was postponed due to the amount of work required. The regulator board and driver stages will have to be removed to allow access to the bottom of the case where the pack panel sockets live.
As JOTA is only a week away, a few quick repairs were all that was done. I am hoping to make up some power pole distribution boards & DC extension leads for future JOTA’s etc.
	The stainless steel 70cm beam that was pointed at the police paddocks from years past was re-positioned to point to Frankston so that our VK3RLP repeater and IRLP box will be available for JOTA, early tests with Alberts handheld into the beam gave good results. (apart from Req winging about the audio)
Hopefully all will go well - I will keep an eye open for IRLP related info on the vkirlp users group (internet) for information about what IRLP nodes to call on the day. Unfortunately, I have been pre-booked by Marianna to attend a family wedding, so will have to pass on the fun of the day. If I get some time, I will give you all a call.
	Anyway, don’t just sit there, Head on down to the guide hall and lend a hand. On the few years I have done it, it has been fun, and an excuse to play radio. (or just to have a good yak to fellow club members & enjoy a free feed) Paul VK3TGX

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ACA meeting in Melbourne
8 October, 2003

By Jim Linton VK3PC

The ACA public meeting on its review of Amateur Service Regulation held in Melbourne was attended by 160 radio amateurs from throughout Victoria.

During the meeting a show of hands resulted in the following votes:

• Unanimous opposition to the ACA’s proposed "no interference" policy for amateur stations.
• Only half a dozen of those in attendance supported the retention of Morse code as an amateur licence test requirement. The meeting also gave its general support for 1 January 2004 being the operative date for an end to code tests.
• The issue of there being a two-tier (Entry Level and Unrestricted) or three-tier licence (Entry level, Novice and Unrestricted) system saw the meeting fairly evenly divided. The ACA’s Mark Loney said, "...about 50/50 or maybe a few more for a two-tier structure". Mr Loney said generally there had been more support for three-tiers at the earlier ACA meetings. Hobart also had a 50/50 split. .

The ACA’s Mr Loney described the meeting as the biggest held so far. It began at 7.30pm and concluded at 10pm.

It stuck to the now well-established ACA format for these meeting of 30 minutes of a powerpoint presentation that covers the philosophy of the ACA’s review which is to:

• Seek comment on proposed changes arising out of the World Radiocommunications Conference held earlier this year.
• Restructure the licence system due mainly to the end of the Morse code requirement, plus the WIA’s proposed Entry Level licence.
• Make amateur regulations and the administration procedures for certificates of proficiency, callsigns and licensing, more effective and efficient.

After running through the topics in the discussion paper, the next phase of the meeting was question time, with a series of questions being discussed.

The hottest issue of the night was the ACA’s proposed "no interference" policy for amateur stations. It was unfortunate that the ACA kept discussion on that most contentious issue to the very last question in its public meetings so far.

Soon after the release in late August of its discussion paper the ACA came out very defensively on the "no interference" policy in response to email it received.

As it tried to stick to its guns, the level of opposition to the proposal got stronger. It is interesting to track to the ACA on this issue as its road-show travels around the country.

At each city the ACA has slightly modified or qualified its rationale for the "no interference" policy, and observers feel it is now backing off or taking a "softer" approach to the issue.

On the other hand the ACA claims that radio amateurs are reading much more into the outlined policy in the discussion paper.

At the Melbourne meeting the ACA said there were only a few such alleged interference cases a year, but expressed concern that some are drawn out affairs lasting for years and involving legal action.

The "intractable" cases are often caused when both the radio amateur and his complaining neighbour are uncooperative.

The lack of immunity standards for domestic radio and television receivers in Australia is also continuing to cause problems.

Although the ACA has given reassurances at its public meetings, we must maintain the "rage" against the totally unacceptable "no interference" proposal as it is spelt out in the discussion paper.

The radio amateurs at the Melbourne meeting were not in support of the suggestion that radio amateurs move from Apparatus Licensing from Class Licensing. They were skeptical of the implications, and not convinced it would be cheaper.

Mr Loney explained that Class Licences include CB Radio, LIPDs, marine radio, aviation, and satellite systems. The ACA website lists 13 Class Licences.

He stated that a Class Licence need not be limited to type approved equipment. If introduced for the amateur service, it would include the amateur qualification requirements.

The Class Licence would facilitate the ACA outsourcing as a package to an outside body, amateur examination, issuing of certificates of proficiency, maintaining a record of station locations, and issuing callsigns.

If the Apparatus Licence is kept for the amateur service, the ACA could still outsource some of the administrative activities associated with amateur qualifications and callsigns.

It was made clear on several occasions by Mr Loney that the ACA desires to achieve changes to amateur service regulations that are only possible without amendments to the Radiocommunciations Act.

For example the ACA wants to introduce a Class Licence for visiting foreign radio amateurs. However similar provisions for visiting ships and aircraft permitting them to operate without taking out an Australian licence exist under the Act.

The reluctance to change the Act is also partly behind the ACA putting on the table that the amateur service could be covered by a Class Licence. The WIA policy is for a new Amateur Operators Licence to be established, and recognised under the Radiocommunications Act.

The amateur fraternity needs to seek what it believes are the best possible changes, rather than take what might be second-best or compromise because the ACA is reluctant to amendment the Act.

Admittedly changes to legislation can take two years, but that should not be a real issue if we are to achieve quality long-term changes and improvements for amateur radio in Australia.

The issue of the proposed lifting of prohibitions on Third Party Traffic (messages handled by radio amateurs for non-amateurs) emerged at the Melbourne meeting as one of topics that had so far not received adequate attention.

Mr Loney was unable to answer all questions put on this topic. For example, the controls if any there would be on the handling of private email or private video.

The issue of phone patch, and connection of an amateur station to the public telephone network were issues "we have not thought about" he said, and encouraged them to be raised in submissions.

The amateur fraternity should be aware that the ACA is continuing on the path it began years ago of increasingly relying on self-regulation of the amateur service in Australia.

Probably not fully appreciated is the fact that the ACA will not look at any new changes for the amateur service after it has completed this current review and implemented its changes.

If we get it wrong through the review process, then we’re stuck with it for five or ten years.

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