CCARC NEWS 14-33
THE PERIODIC NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
ISSUE No 14-33 26th September 2014
In this Issue:
- Upcoming Meetings
- ARNSW Trash & Treasure
- Working Bee at Somersby
- October AR Magazine Now Online For Download
- International Air Ambulance Week
- Oceania DX Contest
- Railways on the Air – ROTA
- History This Week
- Broke & fixed
- Reminders
1. Upcoming Meetings
The next Lecture will be on this Saturday the 27th September starting at 1330 hrs. This will be “Safety with Electrics” by Bruce VK2ZAD.
The next monthly Business Meeting will be on Saturday the 4th October starting at 1300 hrs.
2. ARNSW Trash & Treasure
The ARNSW Trash & Treasure sale is on at Dural 0930 hrs on Sunday 28th September.
http://www.arnsw.org.au/html/page_tt.htm
3. Working Bee at Somersby
There was a working bee at the Somersby Repeater site on Saturday 13th September. Much clearing of scrub and trees was carried out with chainsaws and mowers, etc and the site is much improved. Many thanks to the 15 who worked so hard on this day.
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4. October AR Magazine Now Online For Download
Amateur Radio is the monthly magazine produced by the Wireless Institute of Australia in both print and in an online downloadable format for the benefit of WIA members. The October edition is now online and available for members to download and read. Simply click the following Link to go directly to the October AR magazine web page.
The October edition of AR includes :
GENERAL ARTICLES
SOTA sidelines in the Mother Country
VHF UHF band plans – are they working?
Cruise ship radio – A case study
Gil Miles’ letter – Gilbert Thomas Miles, RAAF Service No. 369, A3II, VK2KI
TECHNICAL
A modelling approach to antenna construction – Part 1
Making printed circuit boards
http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2014/20140924-20/index.php
5. International Air Ambulance Week
Southgate Amateur Radio Club in England, creators of the International Museums Weekends event that promotes Museums Worldwide through Amateur Radio, is launching International Air Ambulance Week. The intent is to support and draw attention to donation-funded aerial medical services around the World.
The event runs over nine days, from Saturday September 27th to Sunday October 5th. Individual and Club stations can register at the website: www.radio-amateur-events.org/IAW/
Two VK2 stations have already registered, so let’s get other VK’s on the roll too. Regular or Special Event calls are welcome to participate.
The organisers advise against setting up stations at airfields citing possible interference with operations, so participate from the comfort of your QTH or your club’s QTH.
Donations are made from QSO’d Amateurs directly to the nominated service – Amateurs themselves do not collect or process donations. For this reason registrations are mandatory. SWL’s can also participate – and donate!
The Royal Flying Doctor Service and Flight Angel, both at Jandakot, are two services that rely in part on donations for service provision.
Let us as Amateurs make a difference. Contact a prospective beneficiary and register soon. Award certificates for participation and contact with five and 20 IAW stations will be presented.
The website again is: www.radio-amateur-events.org/IAW/
6. Oceania DX Contest
The Oceania DX contest is Oceania’s only international style contest where contacts with stations all over the globe are able to participate.
Oceania stations may contact any station for QSO points whilst non-oceania stations are required to contact any station in Oceania for QSO points.
The contest runs over two weekends in October and has SSB, CW and SWL categories. Checkout the rules and find one to enjoy.
Aim Of The Contest
Oceania Stations
The aim of the contest is for stations within the Oceania Region is to contact as many other amateur radio stations as possible within the 24 hours of the contest on any of the 160/80/40/20/15/10m amateur bands. Each prefix worked on each band is counted as a multiplier.
DX Stations outside Oceania
The aim of the contest for stations outside the Oceania Region is to contact as many amateur radio stations within Oceania as possible within the 24 hours of the contest on any of the 160/80/40/20/15/10m amateur bands. Each prefix worked on each band is counted as a multiplier.
There is a separate contest for both CW and phone, each running for 24 hours. On both weekends there is Single operator and Multi Operator as well as Short Wave Listener (SWL) categories.
Upcoming Contest Date & Time
Contest Dates/Times:
PH – The first full weekend in October each year from 0800 UTC Saturday to 0800 UTC Sunday
CW – The second full weekend in October each year from 0800 UTC Saturday to 0800 UTC Sunday
Log deadline for PH and CW logs – 28 days after the end of the CW contest.
Contest History
The Oceania DX Contest is one of the oldest running DX contests in the amateur radio calender. This contest was previously known as the VK/ZL Contest until the contest was renamed in 2000 to reflect a desire to increase participation and focus on the entire Oceania Region.
As far as can be gathered the first VK DX Contest was held in the mid 1920s and the contest has existed in one form or another since this time. Up until 2000, the VK/ZL contest was managed in alternate years by the WIA and the NZART with some rule changes and log submittal address changes each year. Once management was associated with a single committee made up of both VK and ZL contesters, the rules and structure of the contest have permitted a steady and consistent growth in participation from both international and Oceania contestors alike.
Home Page: http://www.oceaniadxcontest.com/
7. Railways on the Air – ROTA
Railways on the air (ROTA) weekend usually takes place every year on the weekend closest to the 27th September. This date celebrates the anniversary of the first steam powered passenger railway which took place on 27th September 1825 – the first passenger train ran on a line in the North East of England from Darlington to Stockton. Bishop Auckland Amateur Radio Club coordinates this event.
Dates for 2014
Dates for ROTA 2014 – this year’s calendar is extremely packed and it is impossible to set dates for ROTA that do not clash with other ham activities. We have set the date for ROTA 2014 to the weekend of 27th – 28th September. We do hope you will be able to take part in this growing event.
The following are suggested frequencies for the event: 3.65, 7.12, 14.12.
This celebration is not a contest. We organise this so that radio amateurs have a good time and promote Amateur Radio while helping to celebrate the unique position railways hold in our national heritage.
More about this event:
http://rota.barac.org.uk/about
8. History This Week
A look back at events that made history this week – compiled by the Summerland Amateur Radio Club of Lismore, NSW
Monday, 22 September, 2014
1825 Railroad transportation is born with first track in England
1851 The first time train dispatching by telegraph in the U.S. took place
1852 A new invention, the dirigible, is demonstrated
1879 Baldwin steam motors tram first tried in Sydney Australia
1879 Sydney Australia inaugurates steam motor tram route.
1955 Commercial TV begins in England
1956 First transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation
1983 Australia II wins America’s Cup yacht race (first non-US winner)
BROKE & FIXED
No items for Broke & Fixed this week – all CCARC infrastructure is operational.
REMINDERS
This section lists important announcements and possibly items from previous CCARC NEWS editions that are still current and may need your input:
If you experience any problems with any of the repeaters not working, please report to Repeater Chairman, Don VK2ZCZ. Do not assume that he already knows about it. As soon as problems are brought to Don’s attention, they will be fixed ASAP.
Jaycar Tuggerah & Erina will give CCARC members a trade discount – approx 10% on purchases over $25. Make sure you ask for it. Thanks Rod VK2LAX and Col VK2ZCO.
Anyone reading this on the website who is not yet a member of the CCARC, please consider joining by emailing ccarc at ccarc dot org dot au for full details.
For submissions to this newsletter from CCARC club members please email the editor news-editor at ccarc dot org dot au
For what’s coming up in the next few months at the CCARC, please check the club calendar, accessible from the header on any page on the website.
Dave VK2DLS … News & Publicity Officer …
