QRM
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Newsletter of the Tasmanian Division
of the
Wireless Institute of Australia
(Insertin ‘A.R.")
TASMANIAN DIRECTORY.
Postal Addresses:
Tasmanian Division: P.0.Box 1010, Launceston, 7250.
Northern Branch: P.0. Box 275, Launceston, 7250.
Northwest Branch: P.0. Box 194, Penguin, 7316.
Southern Branch: P.0.Box 123, Sandy Bay, 7005.
WIA Divisional Council 1987/88:
President: P. Frith VK7PF 181, Punchbowl Road, (W) 918288
Launceston, 7250. (H) 430152
Secretary: R. Harwood VK7RH 52, Connaught Cres. 319608
W. Launceston, 7250
Treasurer/ B. Dilworth VK7BD 4, Anson Street, (W) 321276
Membership Waverley, 7250 (H) 391505
Broadcast John Rogers VK7 JK 1, Darville Court 002 293402
Co-ordinator Blackman's Bay 7152
Federal Joe Gelston VK7 JG P.0.Box 1311, 003 272256
Councillor Launceston, 7250
Councillor John Webster VK7KDR 166 Bass Highway, (W)004 301667
’ : East Penguin (H)004 372112
Councillor Noel John VK7EG ~ 30 Spencer Street 004 318490
Burnie 7320
Councillor Bob Richards VK7NRR 14 Kinross Road, (W)003 319866
Invermay, 7248 (H)003 262401
Councillor M. Wilson VK7 ZWW 17, Pyrie Street, 002 281942
Newtown, 7008
Northern Branch Officers for 1987/88 are:
President: Graeme VK7ZGG. Vice-President: Mike VK7MA.
Secretary: Rick, VK7ZZ. Treasurer: Bob VK7NRR.
Broadcast co-ordinator:
WICEN co-ordinator: Phil, VK7JJ.
QSL co-ordinator: Col VK7LZ.
Education Officer: Peter, VK7ZPM.
Next two Northern Branch meetings: May 8th. and June 12th.
Northwestern Branch officers for 1987/88 are:
President: John, VK7KDR. Vice-Pres: Greg, VK7ZBT.
Secretary: Tony, VK7AH. Treasurer: Bruce, VK/MB.
QSL's: Steve, VK7EQ. Activities: Greg, VK7ZBT.
WICEN: John, VK7ZPT. Stores: Rob, VK7KAB.
Repecater: Andrew, VK7ZAP, Broadcast: John, VK7KDR.
Next two N.W. Branch meetings: May 12th. and June 9th.
Southern Branch Officers for 1987/88 are:
President: Keven, VK7KYV. Vice-Pres: Barry, VK7RS.
Secretary: Stewart, VK/NXA, Treasurer: Phil, VK7BZ.
Repeater co-ordinator: Anthony, VK7ZTA.
WICEN: Alan, VK7CI. Stores: Mike, VK7ZBW.
Next Southern Branch meeting: May 6th. and June 3rd.
Radiotorial.
So quickly TARC has come and gone, it seems no time at all since
we were in Penguin, enjoying the company of so many people
we usually know only as voices. Your Ed. picked up a few bargains
at the sale (and missed a few!), admired the ingenuity and hard
work that had gone into the displays in the home-brew section,
and listened avidly to all the technical discussions that went on
around him, refreshed at intervals by the drinks laid on so
efficiently by the ladies of the N.W.!
The A.G.M. went through with a well-oiled smoothness (knowing
what some A.G.M.'s can be like), and the dinner, though slow to
be served, gave ample opportunity for the social side, which must
be surely one of the main reasons for TARC in any case.
The came the southern W.I.C.E.N. exercise, a paragraph on which
appears "further down the log", followed by the preparation for the
Sunday broadcast. It becomes clear that something is going to
fall apart at the seams unless a fairish number of willing people
are prepared to "stand up and be counted" in the organisation of
such regular items as "QRM", broadcasts and activity centre
programmes.
A letter has arrived, via our Federal Councillor, Joe VK7JG,
giving a list of the deadline dates by which "QRM" must be in the
hands of Automail for insertion in "A.R.". Perhaps these dates
may be useful in planning ahead for articles, notices and other
copy which has a time value. So here they are:
June issuve: 20th. May. July issuve: 24th June.
August issve: 22nd. July. September issue: 20th. August.
October issue: 23rd. September. November issue: 21st. October.
December issue: 22nd. November.
Don't forget that we have to allow for the exigencies of Australia
Post in getting the parcel over to Melbourne and for the normal
production time schedule.
We havgqgeverol requests concerning articles for "QRM". The first
one said, "Please, NO more articles on Nicad Chargers"! And
another made a serious request for information and circuits for
a good quality antenna tuner for H.F. Keep it in mind, all you
boffins!
Fvgéjzb VK7 JK
\J
Broadcast Information.
Time of transmission: 09,00 local on Sundays.
Frequencies: 80m: 3.570 MHz. 40m: 7.13 MHz.
2m: (FM) Repeaters, 2,3 and 8 linked.
2m: (SSB) 144.1 MHz.
6m: (SSB) 52.1 MHz.
News items or other copy for broadcasts should be sent to:
N.W. B'cast Officer: John, VK7KDR, 004-372112.
North " : )
South " " : John, VK7JK, 002-293402.
ete ee ot et A ete ee
Sgecicl Council Meeting.
A special meeting was held at the conclusion of the Divisional
A.G.M. Penguin High School, April 4th. 1987.
Present were VK/PF Peter Frith, VK7RH Robin Harwood, VK7EG Noel
John, VK7KDR John Webster, VK7BD Byron Dilworth, VK7NRR Bob Richards
and VK7JK John Rogers (Broadcast Co-ordinator). Observing were
VK7RS Barry Riseley, and VK7JG Joe Gelston (Federal Councillor),
as well as VK7ZRP Russ Pitman representing the South.
VK7PF was elected President, VK7/RH became Secretary and VK7BD
Treasurer/Membership Officer. Council also decided that the
Northern Branch and Southern Branch Presidents should be appointed
Divisional Vice-Presidents. Hence VK7ZGG Graeme Reardon and VK7KV
Keven Davis are now elected to those posts.
The Broadcast Co-ordinator is to formulate guidelires for future
VK7WI broadcasts in writing.
Last year's auditor is to be approached to ascertain whethér he is
still available.
It was decided that Council Meetings will be held on the third
Saturdays of the month. The next scheduled meeting is to be on
on the 23rd May at 1 p.m. at the residence of VK/RH, 52, Connaught
Crescent, West Launceston, this being a tentative venue, to be
confirmed later.
VK7 QSL Bureau.
Annual Report for the year to 31st. Dec. 1986.
Total cards handled for the year shows a further decrease and
is the lowest since 1975 when the total was 4,362. On past
figures, this should start to increase from now on. A large number
are still being received for VK75A and as these have to be sent
on to VK3, the total is higher than would normally be expected.
Comparative totals for the last three years are:
Inward Outward Total
1986 7,907 5,950 13,857
1985 10,455 7,096 17,551
1984 11, 015 7,672 18,687
Despite the usual increase in postage rates, the deficiency has
been kept down to £37.84 which is considered satisfactory under
the circumstances.
Chas. Harrisson VK7CH
QSL Manager.
WANTED WANTED WANTED WANTED
VK7KBA Arthur is anxiously looking for a schematic for a Pioneer
KP2500A. Hos phones are (B) 002.717707 and (H) oco02. 685261.
Current Broadcast Comment.
Following a resolution of the Divisional A.G.M. held at Penguin
on April 4th., the VK7 Broadcast time will change to:
09.30 local time as from Sunday, 3rd. May 1987.
Relay operators on 40m have been finding that there is some
interference from commercial stations on 7.13 MHz. It is
therefore proposed to experiment with a move to 7.09 MHz from
the same date as above. Listening on this frequency for a
reasonalle period of time has indicated that it is unused by
any regular broadcast.
VK7JK whose contact details are shown elsewhere in this
versatile and brilliant publication, is looking for anyone
who would be able to join in relaying or originating on the
Sunday broadcasts. He hopes to build up a team of about six
originators in each area of the Division, and a parallel number
of those to help with relays on 40m, 80m and VHF. If a goodly
response is forthcoming, it would mean that each individual
may be involved only on about two or three Sundays in a year.
As you will have seen in a different page, the co-ordinator is
to compile in writing a scheme for the Division outlining the
future of the Sunday broadcasts. Already this has begun, but
if you have ideas to improve, or offers to join in (perhaps by
writing a paragraph or two for the news items) there is still
time to submit them.
Devil Net Award Report.
During 1986, only 15 awards were issued, with one each to ZL,
ZS, JH and W6. At the same time time, upgrade stickers were
also issued, with one to a ZL SWL and the rest to VK's. The
majority were for 100 VK7 contacts, with 4 for 150 contacts and
one for 300! Dvue to the continuing poor propagation on the
higher HF bands, the Tuesday night 80m net has been consistently
well supported during the year. Over 90 VK7's checked into the
net with one station being outstanding. I refer to VK/NNN Grace
who recorded no less than 49 Tuesdays and she took the trouble
to apologise for the other three! She certainly sets an example
to many OM's.
The TouristnInformation Service provided by Greg VK/NGH is still
appreciated by those with the intention of visiting Tasmania
and I have received many. expressions of gratitude for this - some
of them personally when visiting mainland amateurs have called
on me. It is a great public relations exercise both for tourism
and for amateur radio. It is also very well backed up by VK70L
Owen at Devonport, our official handshaker at the ferry terminal.
Owen and his wife have greeted dozens of visitors, taken them
home for a cuppa, given them advice on their tour and sent them
on their way rejoicing!
For obvious reasons, I would recommend that the cost of the award
be increased to £3.00 and thaot o charge of $1.00 be made for
each upgrade sticker. Remission of the extra dollar presents
no problem since two 50 cent stamps may be used as part postage
on the awards. I consider that the awards should be self-
supporting and one day we shall have to reprint the certificates.
We are looking forward to a happy and successful 1987.
Bob Jackson VK7NBF.
Letters to the Editor.
From Bill Perleberg, Fern Tree, 7101, who thinks that those who
are avid short wave listeners like himself, would be interested
in the following snippets of information:
Radio Beijing English Language Service: Daily, 18.30 - 19.30
and 19.30 - 20.30 E.S.T. on 9.700, 11.755 and 15.440 MHz.
Radio Japan English Schedule: 09.00 - 10.00 U.T.C. on 11.875 MHz
and 15.235 MHz, daily.
Radio Espana (from Toledo, Spain) English programme: Every Monday,
00.30, 01.30 and 05.30 U.T.C. on 6.125 MHz.
Radio Deutsche, Germany: Daily, from 09.00 - 09.50 U.T.C. on
6.160 MHz.
(Thanks for the schedules, Bill and for your letters and good
wishes. /- Ed.)
From John, VK7KDR, East Penguin.
(These are extracts from a much longer letter, for which many
thanks, John. - Ed.) -
The N.W. Branch worked very hard to make TARC a success and were
pleased to meet 72 VK calls who signed in on the Saturday. We think
about 200 people may have come through during the day. The "crew"
responded very well to the demands made upon them, especially
after the pressures of Camp Quality which immediately preceded
the TARC itself.
I am very interested in trying to ensure that the standard of our
news broadcasts is kept up, and perhaps improved, and use the
Amstrad CPC 464 computer with Amsword to help compile the scripts.
One of the problems of the broadcast seems to be that of keeping
levels right - o tape with poor or variable levels is a pain.
I believe the idea has been floated of o news broadcast of State
News followed by o drop off to the Branches for local news, but
I am not sure this would be a success as I cannot see three 80m
relays. In any case which one would pick up the 40m relay? We
have re-instated the 40m relay in the last few weeks and are
starting to get a good response. Last weekend, a group of listeners
in NSW through a common source rang VK7/WJ in Devonport and reported
their thanks for this re-instatement. The next job is to get the
News: from Federal reps., local reps., our satellite man, HF and
VHF enthusiasts, WICEN reps., and what about views from our Pres
once a month? Last Sunday, we had a total North North West call-
back of 50 stations, plus a NSW phone call. Callbacks in the South
would be extra to these, but we do not get to know about that.
Perhaps it would be possible to get together on 80m after
the callback?
73 from John, VK7KDR.
The Ed. replies: There are many points in your letter which
will be of great value in working out the future system for the
broadcasts. I agreewholeheartedly that if we do go to a
centralised broadcasting setup, we must be very careful to
ensure that Branch news doesn't get left out. As you say, we
are split enough as it is. Your callback total is very
encouraging - makes the broadcast more worthwhile and shows
that we can get news round the siite by this method. I also
agree that an exchange of information on 80m following each
broadcast would be of value - there's nothing worse than not
knowing if you've succeeded in getting out throughout the State!
From Arthur VK2AV:
Thanks for "QRM" in Deewhy. Had a great time in
Tassie but was sorry to miss TARC - we were booked on the "Abel
Tasman" on April 2nd. We enjoyed the rodeo at Gowrie Park and
the picnic races at "Blendair" near Brighton. On our return, had
a letter from G4KEM (ex VK6ARB) to say he'd left a temperature
of +40° in W.A. to find snow in Gerrard's Cross London and -15°
- he mentioned throwing logs on the fire not knowing we were
doing the same thing in Ringarooma! The Royal Signals A.R.S.
holds its AGM at Catterick (Yorkshie) on 27th June, but I shan't
be there - wait till next year, though! It's quite a thought to
have some international connections.
Tasmania is an unpredictable place for radio propagation. Last
year I had 2m and 70cm contacts with VK3 swmtions, and this year
with VK3KAV (both mobile) while between Scottsdale and Ringarooma.
Vk3KAV's signal just cut out as I come to the turn dof to Cuckoo!
Is there a moral in that, d'you think?? It may be worth
monitoring the F.M. b/c band for unusual propagation. On Saturday
21st March, 8.30 to 9.30 a.m. 4DDD(Darling Downs) on 102.7 MHz
and ABC FM Maryborough 92.5 MHz were booming in. No other F.M.
stations were heard from Queensland, so the sigs. must have been
coming only from that particular area. Tassie seems to be well
located for this sort of occurrence.
Would be interested to know how Barry Riseley is getting on with
the Max Loveless Museum. Hope the Carphone conversions are going
well. Will be back in VK7 next year. 73.
Arthur, VK2AV.
WANTED WANTED WANTED WANTED
Wanted to buy - an FRG7 communications receiver or similar.
Please phone Keith Brown on 002.727707.
N.B. Copy for the June edition of "QRM" must be in the Editor's
hands by, at the latest, May 14th. Please do it now!!
A.T.V. in the NORTH.
The Northern Tasmanian A.T.V. Group has recently been formed. All
enquiries should be sent, if you are interested in finding out
more about this topic, to Bob, VK/NRR (ex NAI).
Some of the aims and objects of the group are: To further promote
interest and activity in Amateur Radio; provide a forum for
discussion, instruction and training in amateur radio; conduct
educational and instructional broadcasts; encourage outdoor
activities for persons with video cameras; provide assistance to
organisations and individuals requiring video taping; conduct
broadcasts on a regular basis.
If you live in the Northern part of the State, and are into A.T.V.
whether slow-scan or fast-scan,or are merely interested in the
mode, perhaps you would like to be part of the group. If so,
please contact Bob for more information. Registration forms are
available. from Bob on request at the next monthly meeting of the
Northern Branch, or you can come along to our next meeting.
BOB RICHARDS.
W.I.C.E.N. Exercise.
A W.I.C.E.N. exercise was held over the weekend of April 11th and
12th. with a simulated emergency in the Arve Forest/Hartz Mountains
area. Fifteen members were scheduled to take part .in passing
information and requests for assistance back through from mobile
Units via satellite portable units to a simulated H.Q. in Lenah
Valley. A total of 130 messages were listed, mainly initiated by
the mobiles at the "fire front" and requiring reaction from the
"H.Q.Staff". The 24-hour exercise was designed to investigate
possible problems and a full report will be made available after
a de-briefing conference attended by all the participants.
Alan VK7CI (W.I.C.E.N. Co-ordinator)
X AW
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This diagram shows thet the GIBRD antenna
will fit into amost town or sulbarban gardens
It has four radwaton lobes Blee all full ware
| antennas but olf-centre feedmg has the effect g
' i of giving most gan 1o the (wo lobes off the “ Vibesermileney
short section of the top, roughly southuest . fonce
: 4 and southeast in the case of the aerwal ;
PhorL o tlustrated. No Balun s required buai i is vital !
garage .| 1 ! that the coax feeder drops down cortic allv:
from the feed poit
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« SOUTH
NORTH —
The 1987 Expedition of the "Dick Smith Explorer"
from Sydney to Port Davey and return.
The "Dick Smith Explorer" is owned and operated by the Oceanic
Research Foundation. Dick Smith financed the purchase of the vessel
and she was named in recognition of his help and continuing involve-
ment in the Foundation and its work.
The philosophy of the Foundation is "learning by adventure" in the
fields of botany, marine biology, charting and sounding, geology
and ecology. Many of their exploits have been recorded in the
Australian Geographic and National Geographic magazines.
The "D.S.E." is a three-masted steel sailing vessel, some 20 metres
in length, 4.6 metres beam and 2.8 metres draft, with bunks for 12
and she normally sails with a full crew. She has made three trips
to Antarctica, including twelve months down there from early winter
1983. Whales have been studied off the NSW coast, climbing
expeditions to "Ball's Pyramid" to the S.E. of Lord Howe Island
carried out and trips made to Torres Strait.
Her skipper on many of these trips has been Don Richards, VK2BXM.
Her radio equipment consists of a Kenwood TS430S H.F. transceiver,
a Kenwood TR7730 2m FM rig, two marine H.F. transceivers, marine
VHF, satnav and radar.
On this, her second trip to the south coast of Tasmania, she left
Sydney on Saturday, 31st January, her main means of communication
being through the medium of amateur radio. Throughout the trip,
skeds were maintadined on 80m with VK7FB, VK7BP and VK7EB at 20.00
local time and on at least two occasions it proved invaluable.
While well out to sea off the mainland coast, the port side
steering cable broke. After some six hours of rolling about, during
which time part of the internal lining had to be removed to gain
access to the cable, a very successful repair job was completed
and they were southward bound again. We were given the required
details of a replacement cable, and by the time the ship reached
Kettering, the cable was waiting for them.
The sked on the night of Wednesday 4th February took on a serious
note when medical assistance was sought for a female crew member.
The advantage of a telephone next to the gear was clearly shown,
ds I sat here with a local G.P. in one ear and the "D.S.E." in the
other! We arranged an extra sked for the next morning, just in
case, but by then the patient was very much improved. Our G.P.,
by the way, was quite intrigued to have been able to render advice
by means of amateur radio, and there was no thought of charging for
the consultations.
After some frustrations with fickle winds, the "D.S.E." arrived in
Kettering at 10.30 on Saturday, 7th. February. I went down to
satisfy myself that the cable had safely arrived. Don and the crew
sailed at 12.00 the next day and arrived in Port Davey at 17.00 on
the Monday. For the next 9 or 10 days, skeds were maintained each
evening, and later when VK7FB had to work for his living, in the
mornings. When food supplies ran a little low, a shopping list was
radio'd through and the goodies taken to Cambridge to be flown
down on one of the charter flights to Melaleuca Inlet.
(To be cont.)
The world’s first direct broadcast satellite now operational
NHK's experimental satellite service for individual viewers
Japan leads the world in the field of try to ensure that its broadcasts reach parabolic antenna are needed to pick
satellite broadcasting and since May all parts of the country. NHK has satis- up satellite broadcasts.
1984 NHK has been conducting trials fied this requirement, with the exception In Honshu island, where large cities
using the world’s first broadcasting of a few areas where reception is poor such as Tokyo and Osaka are located, a
satellite for practical use. Its main fea- because of unfavorable geographical dish antenna with a diameter of 75
ture is that anyone can enjoy clear TV conditions. Recently, however, it has centimeters will suffice. In the southern
images and sound via satellite using a been noted that, apart from remote island of Okinawa, far from the heart of
commercially available TV set. This districts, poor reception is presenting Japan, parabolic antennas 1.6 meters
type of telecasting is also planned by problems in some urban areas where (about 63 inches) in diameter are neces-
several other countries but has not yet signal propagation is obstructed by say. The approximate priceofa receiver
reached the practical stage. many high-rise buildings. Satellite and an antenna is about 200,000 yen
NHK embarked on research and de- broadcasting can cffectively climinate (about 1,300 U.S. dollars). This rather
velopment on satellite broadcasting in all these problems. facilitating the na- high cost is attributable to the fact that
1966 and launched the world's first tionwide transmission of sharp televi- production of the equipment is still
practical broadcasting satellite, the BS- sion images and high-quality sound. quite limited. According to manufac-
2a. in January 1984. Satellite broadcast- TV signals sent from the NHK Broad- turers, about 20,000 sets have so far
ing is aimed primarily at solving the casting Center in Tokyo to a satellite been marketed. They expect the price to
problem of poor reception on remote orbiting at 36000 kilometers (about come down as more sets become avail-
islands and in mountainous regions. 22370 miles) above the equator are re- able on the market.
Japan consists of some 4,000 islands transmitted to all parts of Japan. These A survey has revealed that the number
including the four major ones. and signals can be received individually or of households receiving NHK’s satellite
about two-thirds of its total land area is jointly by viewers anywhere in the broadcast service was 103,500 as of June
mountainous. These natural conditions country. It is also possible for regional 1986. Although satellite broadcasting is
pose difficulties for anyone who wants broadcasting stations to receive signals still in the experimental stage, it has
to broadcast nationwide. The Broadcast for re-transmission to local audiences. made it possible for people in the remo-
Lawof Japan, however. obliges NHK to A special receiver and a dish-shaped (Continued on page 3)
Satellite Broadcasting System
Programs sent to the BS-2 satellite Signals received on a remote island
are returned by means of high-quality signals are retransmitted to viewers
-
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4”‘
-
-
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Regional broadcasting
station
I
Casnng 4
services in times 7
of disaster
Transportable
Improvement of recep-
transmitter
Broadcasting Center, tion in urban arealé\/-\—(
Tokyo
transportable
transmission system
equipment carried deep into the moun- no direct satellite broadcasting, such as
test corners of the Japanese islands to tains played a vital role in live satellite NHK’s, is as yet available to a general
receive NHK's General TV Service telecasts direct from the scene of the audience, although several broadcasters
at an early date. disaster. have come up with plans.
At present NHK broadcasts 17 hours After midnight. when the day's broad- Japan’s second broadcast satellite, the
of TV programs via satellite daily. casting is over, the broadcast satellite BS-2b. was launched in February 1986.
Ninety percent of the programs are the can be used for various technical experi- This is expected to become operational
same as those on the General Service ments such as high definition television in November this year after the neces-
channel, the remaining 10% being exclu- (“Hi-Vision”). which is a revolutionary sary technical adjustments have been
sively for satellite broadcast audiences. system featuring extremely clear images. completed. Various technical experiments
TV images via satellite broadcasting The nocturnal experiments also include will then be conducted using this new
are extremely clear, without any of the the transmission of a new type of stereo satellite. Meanwhile, NHK has been
“ghosting™ that is associated with land- broadcasting characterized by superb doing its best to present attractive pro-
based transmitters. A remarkable im- sound quality even better than the state- grams on its satellite TV channel. Some
provement in sound quality is also of-the-art compact disc system. programs are broadcast via satellite be-
guaranteed. Several countries besides Japan have fore they are aired over the conventional
Besides being used for direct trans- also been engaged in research and de- “land-based” system. There are also
mission, the broadcast satellite has velopment on satellite broadcasting. plans to import popular programs from
various other applications. It is, for West Germany and France will prob- overseas for airing exclusively on the
example, possible to send signals from ably launch satellites in 1987. In the satellite channel. It will not be long
a transportable transmitter mounted on United States, many people have set up before the Japanese satellite TV audi-
a vehicle to a key station via satellite. their own parabolic antennas at home ence will be able to enjoy programs
This means that live satellite relays are to enjoy TV broadcasts via satellite. such as the popular American soap
possible from any site. When a JAL jet However, these people are intercepting opera “Dynasty” in both English and
crashed into a mountain north of Tokyo signals transmitted from a key station to Japanese.
in Aunouct 1985 mobhila transmitting local program distributors. In America,