Reply-To: nationalnews@wia.org.au

Weekly news from the WIA:
MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2024-12-22.mp3 Text edition:

2024 DECEMBER 22 VK NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ------------------------------------------------------------*

THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK

THIS LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos

------------------------------------------------------------*

NATIONAL NEWS FOR WEEK COMMENCING DECEMBER 22 2024
THE ALARA EDITION.

THIS WEEK YOU'LL HEAR FROM NOT ONLY WIA PRESIDENT AND THE WIA
RETURNING OFFICER BUT FROM ALARA :-

VK7QP LINDA
VK5YL SHIRLEY
VK4SWE LYN

NOW WAIT - THERE'S MUCH MUCH MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE
WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA.

FROM ALARA I'M PRESIDENT MICHELLE VK2AYL
WIA

JOIN THE WIA
tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y

Many thanks Michelle and thank you to everyone at ALARA for the work
you do to support Ladies in Amateur Radio. This is WIA President,
Scott Williams (VK3KJ) and welcome to all listeners to this ALARA
edition of the WIA National News Broadcast.

It has been another huge year for the WIA, and I just cannot believe the end
of the year is upon us so quickly. There are many highlights I could discuss for the year however, the thing that really stands out to me is how fortunate and privileged the WIA is to have so many active committed serving volunteers within the organisation.


There are too many names to list however, our member and volunteers is what makes the WIA what it is, an organisation focused on the betterment of
Amateur Radio in Australia.


There is no doubt one of the key messages in 2024 is we are under siege to maintain Amateur Radio spectrum. The drums are beating loud and maintaining spectrum will be a key focus in 2025 and beyond.

Our membership of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) will assist us as we take on this huge task of protecting spectrum, which is allocated to
us.

Without spectrum, we will have no bands and therefore no hobby, so when you
are a member of the WIA or you are thinking of joining, you are essentially contributing to a fighting fund, a fund which we take the fight up at all levels to advocate on our hobbys behalf.

There is no doubt we want to see new bands like 60m introduced however, sometimes just maintaining the status quo of what we currently have is seen
as a win. Many hours, weeks and months are put into advocacy work within the WIA and as I said, no change is sometime a great outcome.


With the recent introduction of Class Licensing, I would like to talk to you today about the WIA position on the use of VK9 & VK0 prefixes,

The WIA position is that we are seeking to have the regulator restore the original call area designations. For that to happen would take an update to
the Class Licence to correct this.

Discussions to achieve this so far have proved very positive and we are
hopeful that a resolution and restoration of the status quo prior to the
class licence can be achieved in the near future. We will update the members when a conclusion on these discussions is reached with ACMA. In the meantime, Lord Howe island operators will need to either use the VK2/ prefix or take
out a VK2 callsign. Likewise, any planned operations from Heard and Macquarie Islands will, for now,use the VK9/ prefix (should any expedition venture there).


We are also aware of concerns from international dx expedition teams seeking VK9 callsigns to come and activate Australian territories. We are intending
to discuss this further with ACMA to see if the previous status quo can also
be restored whereby they can apply for a VK9/ Vk0call on a temporary 12 month basis - along similar lines to special event callsigns. In the meantime, they will need to identify as VK9/[your homecall] until we can convince the regulator that they should restore the status quo for these arrangements as well.


Finally, the WIA has also raised the concerns about suitable identification documents being provided to radio amateurs that confirm their rights to use
the class licence and their qualification and associated callsigns. We have some way to go with our ACMA discussions on these points and will continue to work on these in the coming meetings with the ACMA."

The WIA continues to enjoy a strong productive relationship with the ACMA and we hope to progress these matters for a positive resolution.


I want to take this opportunity to thank all of our Members, Clubs,
Volunteers, the WIA Board and to the many stakeholders that the WIA engage
with all around the World, we wish you all and your families a very Merry Christmas, prosperous and safe 2025.


To Graham VK4BB, on behalf of everyone at the WIA, thank you for your
tireless work in bringing us this broadcast every week without fail.

I look forward to the year ahead and this has been Scott Williams, WIA President .


Merry Christmas to all.

I'm Pete Cherry VK2LP, the Returning Officer of the Wireless Institute of Australia.


Election of Directors for the WIA

In early November I announced that nominations to become a director of the
WIA were open.


There are 4 positions up for election this time around.

Nominations for position of WIA Director closed at 2.30pm on 16 December
2024.


At the conclusion of the period allowed for nomination there were 5 nominations.


Accordingly, an election will be held by Ballot.

Details of the nominees will be emailed to all members and published in the January/February edition of Amateur Radio magazine.


Members must be financial as at 31 December 2024 in order to vote in this election.


Election material will be sent by email to all members, so please check the membership portal to ensure that your correct email address is recorded.


This year the election will be held electronically with an option for a
postal vote.


Application for a postal vote was printed on the reverse side of the Amateur Radio Magazines November / December issues address label.


An application for a postal vote is also available for download from the WIA web site.


A link is in the text edition of this broadcast.

Registration for a Postal Vote have been open since November and will close
at 2.30pm on Tuesday 24 December 2024.


An Application for a postal vote may be posted to the WIA post office box or delivered to the National Office or sent by email to the returning officer.


Details of which are on the application for a postal vote form.

This announcement has been spoken and authorised by Pete Cherry VK2LP, the Returning Officer of the Wireless Institute of Australia.


Now back to the special ALARA edition of the WIA National News.

AUSTRALIANA

Researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) have
developed an innovative night-time navigation system for drones
by combining celestial navigation with vision-based technology.

Designed for environments where GPS is unreliable or unavailable,
the system identifies stars in images captured by the drone and
comparing them to a database, achieving positioning within 4 km
during tests on a fixed-wing drone.

Unlike traditional star-based navigation systems, UniSAs solution
is lightweight, cost-effective, and does not require stabilisation
hardware, making it suitable for smaller drones.

(vk7news)

Australia's competition watchdog said there was a need to revisit
efforts to ensure greater choice for internet users, citing Google's
dominant search engine market share and its competitors' failure to
capitalise on the artificial intelligence boom.

Australia has intensified the spotlight on the tech giants, which are
mostly domiciled in the US. It was the first country to make social
media platforms pay media outlets royalties for sharing their content
and last month, it passed a law that banned social media for children
aged under 16, and has proposed a law that could impose fines of up to
$50 million on tech giants if they suppress competition and prevent
consumers from switching between services.

These proposed measures have been agreed to in principle by the
government, ACCC said, and it will close its enquiry by next March.

(itnews.com.au)

EDUCATION.

North East Radio Group (NERG) Training Courses

NERG have 3 accredited assessors and conduct regular in person training
at their Briar Hill club rooms. In person training provides students a
more interactive environment to learn, ask questions and meet
likeminded people. Over the last year NERG has successfully trained
and guided 18 Foundation and 5 Advanced students to get their
certificates and gained 20 new members for the club.

NERG will continue in person training in 2025

Foundation Training and Exams: One day training and exam session
the 4th Saturday of the month starting February

Standard and Advanced Exams: From 2:00pm ALSO 4th Saturday of
the month.

Advanced Training sessions Tuesday nights from 7:30 over 12 to 14
week period commencing Tuesday 11th February.

Everyone interested in attending one of these sessions should contact
NERG via email at training@nerg.asn.au or visit the NERG
website

nerg.asn.au

(sourced to VK3BOY) ------------------------------------------------------------*
INTERNATIONAL NEWS is with thanks to ARRL, DX-WORLD, eHam, Hackaday,
IARU, ICQPodcast, IRTS, NEWSLINE, NZART, RAC, Radioworld.com, RSGB,
SARL and the World Wide sources of the WIA.

The IARU Monitoring System has released a log with accompanying video
of hundreds of examples of non-amateur transmissions taking place
across the amateur radio HF bands during 2024.

Examples include DRM broadcasts from Communications University of
China, SuperDARN radars from across the globe, CODAR, British, over-the-horizon-radar, as well as CBers and pirate radio operators.

All these hundreds of non-amateur transmissions - the majority of them, long-lasting - are a big annoyance for we amateur radio operators
that try to enjoy our hobby in the bands that are allocated to us for
that purpose, as they drastically reduce the usable spectrum in these
bands.

Click through to the PDF to see YouTube videos of SDR recordings of
many of these instances of non-amateur transmissions.

tinyurl.com/373b6hc2

Graduation day came early for a group of students at Staten Island
Technical High School in the USA, an ARRL Education Model School that
grew out of the league's Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology.

One hundred and fifty-nine students, that's correct 159, took and
PASSED their FCC licensing exams - 18 of them upgrading to General
and Amateur Extra.

The program is overseen at the school by teacher Everton Henriques
KD 2 ZZT.

The students received congratulations from the league's Education and
Learning Manager Steve Goodgame, K5ATA and ARRL Hudson Division
Director Ed Wilson N2XDD.

The world turned its attention to Kolkata as HamFest India 24 when it
opened its doors to hundreds from the international amateur radio
community.

Delegates representing the amateur radio community from Nepal, Oman,
Germany, Dubai, the US - and more than 16 states from around India
converged in Kolkata on the 14th and 15th of December for HamFest India
24. The national amateur radio convention took place at the
Sister Nivedita University and was hosted by OSCAR India.
OSCAR India is an organisation with an educational mission and its
name stands for Open Source Classes for Amateur Radio.

Participants included representatives from the Nagaland State Disaster Management Authority, the National Disaster Response Force, the
India Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management
Authority.

Still in Kolkata India:

A student from New Barrackpore, who was suffering from memory loss and
went missing a couple of years ago, was found in a Prayagraj asylum.

He had been arrested by UP police.

The student was reunited with his family thanks to the efforts of a
member of a group of Bengali tourists. During a charity event at the
asylum, they interacted with the boy and took the initiative to contact
Ham radio enthusiasts, whose efforts facilitated the reunion between
Sarkar and his family.

Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of West Bengal Ham Radio Club said
some of his member hams were able to trace the boys parents and
reunite them.

In South Africa, the SARL Centenary Technical Symposium will take place Saturday 22 March 2025.

To encourage as many as possible radio amateurs and technology
enthusiasts in South Africa and beyond to participate in the event,
it will be virtual and hosted on the Webex video platform.

The theme of the Symposium is "100 years of technology in
Amateur Radio - the foundation for continuous innovation."
The symposium will include a brief view of the exceptional
contributions South African Radio Amateurs have made to technology
and the opportunities for technology innovation taking amateur radio
forward.

During 2025 the SARL, with the aid of its members and associated clubs,
will be on the air with a special event callsign ZS100SARL.

SAQ Grimeton to Transmit CW Christmas Message December 24th.

On Christmas Eve morning, Tuesday December 24th 2024, SAQ Grimeton is
scheduled to be on the air, to send out their traditional Christmas
message to the whole World, using the 200kW Alexanderson alternator
(built in 1924), on 17.2 kHz CW.

Transmission & YouTube Live stream:

07:25 UTC: Live stream on YouTube begins

07:30 UTC: Start-up and tuning of the Alexanderson Alternator SAQ

08:00 UTC: Transmission of a Christmas message from SAQ
Test transmissions will occur on Friday December 20th at
12:00 - 15:00 UTC.

QSL reports may be submitted online.

The amateur radio station SK6SAQ will be on the air throughout the day. -------------------------------------------------------------------

OPERATIONAL NEWS
--------------
--------------
NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2024
--------------
--------------

In December each year the Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) sponsors the
Canda Winter Contest. (Name CANDA IS CORRECT)

Amateurs all over the world are invited to participate December 28.

If you ae entering check out the current rules on the RAC PDF which is available here on Australia's National News Service text edition, best
read at wia.org.au

rac.ca/mivahih/2024/10/Canada-Winter-Contest-Rules-2024.pdf

--------------
YOTA CONTEST

Youth on the air test 3 of 3 will be from 10:00 to 21:59 UTC on
29 December on the five classic bands CW and SSB.

(yota)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2025

-------------------

VHF UHF Field Day

Summer 2025 - 0100 UTC Saturday 18 January through 0059 UTC Sunday 19
January (0400 / 0359 in VK6).

wia.org.au/members/contests/vhfuhf/

---------------------

AUSTRALIA DAY CONTEST JANUARY 26.

Amateurs in VK will endeavour to contact other amateurs around the
world. Some VK operators will be using the AX prefix to celebrate
Australia day, as its wanted by many amateurs around the world.
Scoring is distance based and calculated using 4-character grid
squares.

Contest Manager Alan Shannon VK4SN

It is held on the Australia Day Public Holiday that being 26 of
January.

wia.org.au/members/contests/australiaday/
------------------------

HARRY ANGEL MEMORIAL 80 Meter Sprint, Saturday May 3. (vk4uh)

wia.org.au/members/contests/harryangel/
-------------------------

VK Shires Contest 7th - 8th June 2025

wia.org.au/members/contests/wavks/

-----------------------
Trans-Tasman Low Band Contest - 19 JUL 2025

The Trans-Tasman contest, held on the 3rd weekend in July, aims to encourage Low Band activity between VK and ZL


Only contest bands 160 80 and 40M are allowed with SSB, CW and Digital (RTTY
OR PSK)


wia.org.au/members/contests/transtasman/ -----------------------------------------------------------------
DX WINDOW TO THE WORLD.-------------------

Polish amateurs have activations planned to celebrate Christmas and
the New Year. Listen for HF CLAUS and SP CLAUS on the air now
through January 6th. See QRZ.com for QSL details.

(newsline 2459)
----------------
TEXT VERS ONLY
Joe, OZJ, will be using the callsign TO J from French Guiana until
the 31st of December. TO 0 J will operate FT8, CW and SSB on
80-6 metres.
See QRZ.com for QSL information

(newsline 2459)

---------------

Starting in January 2025, members of the British Railways Amateur Radio
Society will be operating Special Event Station GB 0 LMR to celebrate
200 years of the modern railway.

A year-long celebration of how the railway has shaped Britain:
its achievements, its future, its opportunities and its people.

2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the modern railway.
Britain and the world changed forever.
Railway 200 celebrates the past, present and future of rail.

QSL station GB 0 LMR via the Bureau or direct by sending a
Stamped Addressed Envelope to Mark, G1PIE.

(qrz.com)

-----------------------

During 2025 the SARL will be on the air with special event callsign
ZS 100 SARL, as well as the permanent callsigns ZS6SRL and ZS9HQ and
possibly other special event callsigns.

(sarl)

-------

Celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, the Israel Association
of Radio Communication (formerly known as Israel Amateur Radio
Club) will be running special event stations 4 X 8 NER and 4 Z 8 NER
from 25 December to 2 January.

QSL these 2 stations via LoTW, eQSL, or via 4Z5MU.

(425dxnews)

-----------------------
VI 2025 AJ

Australian Scout Jamboree 2025

From the 5th to the 16th Jan 2025, yes about 2 weeks away, Scouts

will be operating an onsite Radio Base from Maryborough QLD.

2 HF stations on SSB and FT8 on multiple HF bands.

Chris VK2CGH / VI 2025 AJ is on a QRZ page
(FBook)

-----------------------
y
The special event callsign PH 24 XMAS is on air to celebrate
Christmas and the New Year until the 28th of December.
Then callsign PH 25 HNY will follow from the 28th of December
through to the 5th of January.
See QRZ.com for details.

(newsline 2458)
--------------

y
ARCTIC

Oleg, RD 1 A is on board Severny Polyus / North Pole and will be
active when time permits as RI 42 SP as the ship travels through
various parts of the Arctic.

The vessel departed Murmansk on September 15 with a team of scientists
aboard, and is heading towards the Novosibirsk islands. This is where
the drifting polar station will begin its work as part of the
North Pole-42 expedition. For many months, polar explorers will
conduct research in the high latitudes of the Arctic Ocean,
encompassing over fifty scientific programs.

Ham station RD1A is primarily on CW & FT8 from October 5th for
approximately one year.

QSL RD1A via Club Log OQRS.

(dx-world)
------------
y
Celebrating the Christmas Holiday Season, the OH9A team is once
again active as OG1XMAS on all bands and modes until 24 December.

QSL OG 1 XMAS via LoTW, Club Log's OQRS, or direct to OH1NOA

(425DXN)

--------------

Y

Our I.A.R.U. celebrates its centenary in 2025.

Since its founding in Paris, France, IARU has worked tirelessly to
promote innovation in amateur radio and to encourage the growth of
the service in communities throughout the world.

VI 100 IARU is a special event callsign transmitting from VK3 to help
celebrate the IARU Centennial.

qsl via MO 0 OXO

(qrz.com)

----------

Y
XMAS IN ENGLAND

The Humber Fortress DX Amateur Radio Club are once running the
special callsign GB 0 MC until 26 of December.

The MC in the callsign stands for Merry Christmas.

The Club would like to invite you to call in and give them a
hearty HoHoHo and tell them what radio equipment you would like
from Santa this year.

The Club will also be livestreaming on its YouTube Channel

youtube.com/@humberfortressdxarc

(rsgb)
--------------
Y
Listen throughout the rest of the year for the special callsign
9 A 1 RKZ marking the 100th anniversary of the Radioklub Zagreb
which was founded the 24th of March 1924 in Croatia

QSL via 9A1ADE.
(ARNewsLine 2410)
-------------
Y
AUSTRIA

OE100RADIO [OSCAR-ECHO-ONE-HUNDRED-ROMEO-ALPHA-DELTA-INDIA-OSCAR] is
active until the 31st of December celebrating the 100th anniversary
of beginning of regular radio transmissions in Austria in 1924.
The station has heard recently on the 40m band using CW.

QSL via the Bureau.

(gb2rs)

----------
Y
The Radio Club des Ardennes, ON4RCA, will be on the air as
OO 8 BB now through to the 15th of December, commemorating the
80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.

QSLs can only be requested via Club Log's OQRS until the 31st of
January 2025.

(newsline 2455)

-------------

Y
In the World of DX, be listening for members of the Zurich City
Police Radio Amateur Club who have been operating as HB 2 SP
the club is marking its 20th anniversary. NO Bureau QSL's but you can
use Logbook Of The World, and HB20SP runs until months end,
December 31.

(sourced to ARNewsLine 2410)
---------------------------------
Y
Special callsign HB 50 VC is active until 31 December celebrating the
50th anniversary of the Swissair Amateur Radio Club, HB 9 VC.

A growing trend these days is that QSL cards will not be provided
but QSOs will be uploaded to Logbook of the World.

You can also download a certificate for working this special event
station from the link we like in the text editions of
WIA National News

tinyurl.com/HB50VC-24.

(rsgb)
------------------------------------------------------------* ------------------------------------------------------------*
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ASTRONOMY (and Wireless Weather)

SUPERFLARES ON SUN-LIKE STARS:

Now we have to worry about super flares.

A new study published in "Science" and reported in spaceweather dot
com, concludes that sun-like stars in the Milky Way produce
super flares approximately once every 100 years. Superflares are solar
flares more than 50 times stronger than the Carrington Event.

If one were to hit mother Earth, it could bring down power grids,
disable satellite networks, and more.

Led by Valeriy Vasilyev of the Max Planck Institute in Gttingen,
Germany, a team of 10 astronomers looked at brightness measurements of
over 56,000 sun-like stars--far more than any previous study.

The data were collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope between
2009 and 2018.

spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=14&month=12&year=2024

(spaceweather.com)

Eclipses can generate ripples in Earth's atmosphere called atmospheric
gravity waves. Similar to how water forms waves when disturbed, air in
the atmosphere reacts in the same way when influenced by a dramatic
event like a solar eclipse.

During the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse, scientists observed the ionosphere -- the charged layer in Earth's upper atmosphere -- rising
in altitude during the eclipse and descending back to its normal height afterward.

Meanwhile, ham radio operators participating in the HamSCI project
generated over 52 million data points by sending and receiving signals
before, during, and after the eclipse. We hams efforts revealed that ionospheric conditions improved for low-frequency signals (1-7 MHz)
but worsened at higher frequencies (10 MHz and above).

These variations provide insight into how solar eclipses affect radio communications and the behaviour of charged particles in the ionosphere.

(eHam)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- CW
www.morsecodeclassnet.com

As reported back in October here on WIA National News, a Romanian
teenager won an International High Speed Telegraphy World Championship
in Tunisia after setting a new world record for receiving callsigns
sent using CW.

Now Ianis [YONNIS] Scutaru, YO 8 YNS, is one of the many stars in a new
BBC Radio documentary about the power Morse Code has as a
communications protocol. The doco, "Ready to Transmit," is hosted by
Stephen Coates and was released early this month, December.

In addition to visiting the recent championship, the 28-minute program highlights the role CW plays in helping a disabled woman communicate
with her family and talks to a war veteran who still remembers her code
skills after more than 80 years.

Code is also seen as a source of joy as the documentary quotes Ianis
as saying it brought him "unbelievable happiness" upon receiving his hard-earned award.

To hear the documentary, visit the link in the text version of this
week's script BEST READ AT WIA.ORG.AU

bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3ct7hsy

(NEWSLINE 2459)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER
AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org
WOODEN IT

Experiment Module Kibo aboard the International Space Station
did deploy LignoSat that wooden satellite BUT Amateur radio
satellite enthusiasts who were ready to decode telemetry from the
satellite are reporting there has been no reception of either CW or
AX.25 packets on the satellite's coordinated frequency of 435.820 MHz.

LignoSat, a 1U solar-powered satellite with wood panels, will still
orbit earth for six months.

(ans)

At the time of its construction in the 1950s, the Dwingeloo Radio
Observatory in the Netherlands was the largest rotatable telescope
in the world with a dish diameter of 25 meters.

It was quickly overtaken in the rankings but was used by astronomers
for decades until it slowly fell into disuse in the early 2000s.
After a restoration project the telescope is now a national heritage
site in the Netherlands where it is also available for use by
radio amateurs. Recently this group was able to receive signals
from Voyager 1.

Famously, Voyager 1 is the furthest manmade object from Earth, having
been launched on a trajectory out of the solar system in 1977.

As a result of distance and age, the signals it sends out are
incredibly faint but a Ham Radio group was successfully able to
receive the Voyager 1 signal on this telescope. Only a few telescopes
have ever been able to accomplish this feat, making it all the more
impressive.

Normally Voyager 1 is received using the Deep Space Network, a series
of much larger dishes stationed around the world.

twiar.net/?p=26394

(twiar)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTA
iota-world.org/

OC-042

Listen for the callsign DU 1 OE from Luzon Island, IOTA Number OC-042,
in the Philippines until the 27th of December on 40-6 metres using all
modes.

See QRZ.com for QSL details, The operator is Hannes, home
call OE1SGU/OE3SGU

(newsline 2459)

------------------------

Does working these rarish islands interest you?

If you're passionate about amateur radio and love exploring unique
locations, the IOTA program is an exciting challenge!
IOTA, Islands On The Air, was founded way back in 1964, it connects
radio enthusiasts with islands worldwide, offering a blend of adventure
and friendly competition. Whether you're an Island Chaser or an
Island Activator, there's a world of islands to explore, with a rich
history of awards, rankings, and achievements.

Want to know more about how you can get involved in this thrilling
activity?

The link

iota-world.org

Is a good place to start but also may I suggest delving into a great
item shown this week at the link we like

unicomradio.com/iota

(dx ham radio)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS - YOTA
(Youngsters On The Air)
WIA committee:- Steve VK6SJ, Alec VK2MV and Pete VK2LP. ham-yota.com/category/yota-region-3/
facebook.com/groups/YOTAOC/
youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA
When the International Space Station passed over Loudoun County, in
Virginia USA a bunch of young students "couldn't believe their 'ears'"
they heard "lost in space" Astronaut Suni Williams and were able to
talk with her from their Hillsboro Charter Academy.

The call lasted about 10 minutes, and students and teachers were able
to ask her a variety of questions about life in space. The connection
was made through the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
program ARISS, a worldwide program that connects schools to the ISS.

They do about 100 schools a year.

Questions from the students ranged from how astronauts bathed in space
to the best innovation on the ISS.

If you could wish for one item right now, what would it be,

The answer given was her dog. She said that she really missed her
animals back down on Earth.

(eHam)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

IT'S A DATE

Clubs are welcome to email text with audio for this section

Details of all WIA affiliated clubs and societies can be found
on the WIA website, including email addresses and website links.

----------------------------

2025

VK7 - REAST CAR BOOT SALE January 19 @ 11 am (vk7news)

VK6 - PARGFEST PEEL AMATEUR RADIO GROUP held February 15 9AM at
Mandurah Bowling Club 89 Allnutt Street ( parg.org.au/ )

VK4 - GOLD COAST AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY 2025 HAMFEST NOV 9 (vk4dmh)
Country Paradise Parklands 231 Beaudesert Nerang Road.

AND OF COURSE

VK - Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association 50th anniversary
Glen Waverly July 26 president@alara.org (vk2ayl)
Reception Reports

WIA News rebroadcasters often give Short Wave Listeners a
welcome to the broadcast as they commence call-backs
straight after the Local News. Local news follows National
news in all states. It would be great if those SWL's would
email their reception reports and location to
callbacks@wia.org.au
Submitting news items

If you would like to submit news items for possible inclusion
in the VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au and don't JUST send url's links or
posters, but take the time to pen YOUR contribution.

To submit audio, email nationalnews@wia.org.au
and send BOTH the audio and the text

We would appreciate items certainly no longer than 1.5 mts in
length as we only have a half hour.

Remember the sooner you submit material the more the
likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition of
WIA National News.

Each recorded item will only be broadcast once, if you want a couple
of mentions, please submit different slants to keep your
event 'fresh' and always if the news room is to read your
item --- write it in the 3rd person. (First if YOU are
reading your own item). If you are mentioning your own name / call
in the story, say something like "and myself, Pat, vk11abc"

Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/

A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't
plug DEALS from commercial traders "on air", but we at the
WIA will put your supporters 'goods' in this text edition
"no worries."

We will not give blatant 'plugs' to raffles, be it raffles
at the event or "on-line".

------------------------------------------------------------*

Oh... and to contact us with your news because
If It Matters To You It Matters To Us!
Click the links below to download the most recent edition of
National News, BUT this is ONLY the backup site!

WIANEWS backup thanks to Brendan VK4BLP can be found on
wiaq.org.au

BACKUPS OF THE BACKUP!! thanks to Tony VK7AX
www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/

wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/ (This is the link
to the original text version and original audio on wia site) ------------------------------------------------------------*

WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide.

TWITTER twitter.com/VK1WIA

Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed
prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail
nationalnews@wia.org.au

Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers
you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who
knows, you might even get a "cheerio call".

Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who
utilize their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly
broadcast.
Who and where are they?
wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/
Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/
The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of
interest to WIA affiliated clubs and active amateurs residing
in Australia and the globe.

We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of
Australia and participation in the activities of local clubs.
Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who
submit material and do not necessarily reflect those of the
rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but IF broadcast, are
done so in the spirit in which they were submitted."

If you would like to see the call-backs reported each
broadcast, OR have call-backs to contribute to the National
News call back tally then please send through your call-backs
to callbacks@wia.org.au
How do I join this National News List?
(subscribe for an automatic weekly feed.)
Email to vk1wia-news-join@lists.wia.org.au
from the email account that you wish the emails to go to.
How do I leave this National News List? (unsubscribe your
weekly feed)
Open mail program which sends mail from the address you want
to unsubscribe from. Send unsubscribe to the list
unsubscribe address vk1wia-news-leave@lists.wia.org.au
You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the
instructions given in that mail to complete the
unsubscription.

Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will
probably receive a message confirming your unsubscription
from the list and at that point you should stop receiving
messages.

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Vk1wia-news@lists.wia.org.au http://lists.wia.org.au/mailman/listinfo/vk1wia-news


--- MBSE BBS v1.0.8.4 (Linux-x86_64)
* Origin: Wireless Institute of Australia (3:633/280.2@fidonet)