VK5 SOTA & Parks Symposium

On Sunday 9th March, 2014, a VK5 SOTA & Parks Symposium will be held at the Guides Hall, Hannaford Road, Blackwood. This is the location of the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society shack.

The purpose of the symposium is to allow like-minded amateurs to get together for the day, who have an interest in the Summits on the Air program, the VK5 National and Conservation Parks Award, the World Wide Flora and Fauna program, the Keith Roget Parks Award, and portable operation in general.

Doors will open at 8.30 a.m. with the symposium commencing at 9.00 a.m. sharp with a welcome by the President of the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society.

Four guest speakers will then talk on topics including SOTA’s progress in VK, tips for activators & hunters of the VK5 Parks Award, an overview of the World Wide Flora & Fauna program, and using lithium phosphate chemistry batteries.

Morning tea including coffee, tea, cake & biscuits will be held at 10.30 a.m.

Following morning tea, there will be a further 5 presentations by guest speakers, on topics including home brew antennas, SOTA for the beginner, the parksnpeaks spotting site, prominence as related to SOTA, and a comparison between some portable HF equipment.

This will be followed by a short round table, general questions session and the closure of the symposium.

The presentations will conclude at 12.40 p.m. and this will be followed by a BBQ.

A charge of $4.00 is asked to cover for the cost of the BBQ and morning tea.

For more information, visit the AHARS website - http://www.ahars.com.au

New Medium Wave Beacon

A radio propagation beacon on the new 630 Metre band has begun in Australia and it encourages reports of its reception.

The band 472 to 479 kHz was granted to VK radio amateurs on January 1 2013 after the World Radiocommunication Conference approved the 7 kHz wide secondary allocation.

It sits just below the AM broadcast band and is now available to radio amateurs in a number of countries.

The 473 kHz beacon is at Mildura in northwest VK3 on the cross-roads of Australian capital cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. Strategically located it also aims to further stimulate activity on the band.

The project is the work of Noel Ferguson VK3FI who built it based on a circuit designed by fellow homebrewer Drew Diamond VK3XU, with changes made mainly for available components.

It identifies as VK3FI Mildura followed by 20 seconds of carrier, radiating from an L-antenna against a mast, plus seven radials and some 27 earth stakes.

The beacon is currently turned on at 1100 UTC part-time when VK3FI is present.

Reception reports are most welcome to vk3fi@wia.org.au

Bristol's Cabot Tower sends out Morse code

The word “Bristol” is once again being spelt out in morse code from Bristol’s Cabot Tower, marking the full refurbishment of the historic monument

The old Morse code transmitter was switched off in 2001 after developing a fault and removed when Cabot Tower was closed to the public following the discovery of cracks in the structure six years later.

The tower on Brandon Hill was reopened in 2011 and the transmitter was reinstated in February, 2014.

A £420,000 refurbishment programme was undertaken to repair the cracks in the tower, built in 1897 to mark Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee year and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s voyage of discovery to Newfoundland from Bristol in 1497.

On Signal Hill in Newfoundland overlooking St Johns is another Cabot Tower also built to commemorate Cabot’s achievement and to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Read the full story - http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Bristol-s-Cabot-Tower-send-Morse-code-message/story-20558003-detail/story.html

Cabot Tower - http://www.bristol-link.co.uk/history/cabot-tower.htm