CCARC NEWS 15-24
THE PERIODIC NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
ISSUE No 15-24 31st July 2015
In this Issue:
- Meetings This Saturday
- Saturday Morning Meetings
- All is not lost for the 9 cm band
- Men’s Shed talks about Amateur Radio
- Pirate broadcaster fined
- History This Week
- Broke & fixed
- Reminders
1. Meetings This Saturday
Saturday 1st August 2015, commencing at 1100 hours will be the 2016 Field Day Planning Meeting.
At 1200 hours tasty BBQ lunch.
Following at 1315 hours will be the CCARC Business Meeting.
2. Saturday Morning Meetings
It might only be that it is winter, but there has been a fall-off recently in attendance on Saturdays, there are no useful P&D projects at the moment. A few of us got talking and came up with the following possible answer.
Sam VK2ZZ
On the Saturdays when there is no meeting or Lecture, we ask that anyone having problems with their electronic equipment to bring it to the club.
There is usually enough expertise turning up on Saturdays to sort out a lot of the problems. The club has test equipment and tools for members use.
Anyone bringing in any gear is asked to also bring any manuals they have.
3. All is not lost for the 9 cm band
New conditions for the use of parts of the 3.3-3.6 GHz band have been set out in the re-make of the Amateur Licence Conditions Determination (LCD), published in the second week of July. News of the release of the 2015 LCD was announced at the GippsTech Conference on 11 July in Churchill, Victoria.
The changes have resulted from the ACMA’s 3.5 GHz band review, announced in June 2014, later usurped by the Minister for Communications in August 2014, when he issued a Draft Direction to use 3.5 GHz band spectrum for the so-called “NBN spectrum gap”. The eventual outcome was a proposal from the ACMA, in relation to the re-make of the Amateur LCD, to remove advanced amateur licensee access to 3400-3425 MHz and 3492.5-3542.5 MHz in the amateur allocation in proscribed geographic areas.
The foreshadowed geographic restrictions are set out in the re-made LCD. The two blocks of spectrum may be withdrawn from Amateur use in limited geographic areas if licences are issued to the NBN for fixed wireless services in metro fringe and hard to service areas of the major mainland cities. The geographic areas are specified in Schedule 4A of the 2015 LCD, covering the surrounds of Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
This does not mean that Advanced amateurs have “lost” the popular, most-used section of the 9 cm band, at 3400-3425 MHz.
Outside any areas where 3400 MHz licences are issued to the NBN, it’s “business as usual” for amateur radio on the 9 cm band.
Everyone needs to read the LCD
All licensees are encouraged to read and familiarize themselves with the new LCD. It’s part of the obligations of having an Amateur licence. Prospective amateurs are made aware of the LCD and asked questions about it by WIA assessors at the time of the practical assessment.
The re-made LCD can be downloaded from the Determinations page of the website, at this Link
Author : Roger Harrison – VK2ZRH
Source: WIA News
4. Men’s Shed talks about Amateur Radio
In the Men’s Shed Australia publication ‘The Shed Online‘, in an answer to a question, has discussed Amateur Radio as an activity that could socialise, network, make friends and share skills.
The lengthy article tells how to access and enjoy Amateur Radio, describing it as directly fitting the Men’s Shed target audience, involving senior members training and assisting the younger or newer ones, and building up mentor relationships.
The article begins with an explanation of the history, then the modern
activities, equipment both new and second hand, the DIY aspect, and the Wireless Institute of Australia role.
The WIA website has important information for those who wish to enter
Amateur Radio, with many beginners starting with a Foundation Licence,
with part of the training available from some local clubs.
The Shed Online article has received favourable responses, including a recent Foundation Licence holder who enjoys it as a past-time, and another wanting to know which Men’s Shed already have radio amateurs who could help.
The opportunity to promote Amateur Radio through the 1,000 Men’s Shed groups in Australia was discussed at the WIA annual general meeting on the Sunshine Coast Queensland in May 2014. The Shed Online article gives it further support.
Source: Southgate AR News
5. Pirate broadcaster fined
An illegal FM transmitter broadcasting in southwest Victoria resulted in a
court appearance with a 26-year old Portland man, charged under the
Radiocommunications Act.
The man pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court, was fined $600, and ordered to forfeit all radio equipment.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority laid the charges after it investigated interference complaints in March this year.
Outside the court, the ACMA said the man, who had worked in radio, was
transmitting from a vehicle playing Aussie pub-rock music. It was also claimed that the man was trying to sell advertising and sponsorship for his commercial-like broadcasts.
The conviction renewed some calls for a Class Licence fee-free frequency on the FM broadcast band for use by all who wanted to broadcast.
Although the ACMA has allowed access to the FM band for shop-front advertising and tour operators in the past, the idea of a free broadcast slot was not being considered.
Jim Linton VK3PC
Source: Southgate AR News
History This Week
A look back at events that made history this week – compiled by the Summerland Amateur Radio Club of Lismore, NSW
Monday, 27 July, 2015
1375 First roller skating rink opens (London)
1793 Metre defined as 1/10 millionth of North Paris half meridian.
1809 First practical US railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Phila
1866 Metric system becomes a legal measurement system in US
1866 Atlantic telegraph cable successfully laid (1,686 miles long)
1872 Mahlon Loomis patents wireless telegraphy
1899 First motorcycle race, Manhattan Beach, NY
1909 Orville Wright tests first US Army airplane, flying 1h12m
1914 Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. Precipitates WW I
1919 Treaty of Versailles ending WW I signed.
1944 First British jet fighter used in combat (Gloster Meteor)
1983 Official speed record for a piston-driven aircraft, 832 kph, Calif
BROKE & FIXED
The Kariong antennas have been damaged and are being repaired.
REMINDERS
This section lists important announcements and possibly items from previous CCARC NEWS editions that are still current and may need your input:
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 …
