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VK7AX > BCAST 23.12.23 06:17l 485 Lines 25655 Bytes #160 (0) @ WW
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VK7 Amateur Radio News 24Dec23
Text edition:
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VK7 AMATEUR RADIO NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 24th December 2023
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Welcome and Seasons Greeting from the VK7 Amateur Radio News Team for the Christmas Eve edition of the VK7 Amateur Radio News and this was first broadcast on Sunday the 24th December 2023. At the mike of VK7WI this week is Justin, VK7TW.
On Sunday this broadcast goes out on repeaters all over VK7 and on digital radio - DMR Talk Group 5 and D-Star Reflector 91C by Clayton, VK7ZCR.
We go out on medium and high frequency courtesy of the following rebroadcast stations:
On 1.862 MHz by Graham, VK7GS,
On 3.670 MHz by Dale, VK7DG
On 7.140 MHz by Peter, VK7TPE,
On 14.130 MHz by Garry, VK7JGD,
On 28.525 MHz by Dale, VK7DG.
UHF CB Channel 24 in the Hobart area - Any Takers.
You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RHT in Southern VK7.
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Silent Key
Nicholas James Kley formerly VK7NIK
NIk was born into a large family of 6 sisters and one brother in 1969. He was always interested in listening to shortwave radio since a very young age of about 8 years old. He would sit and tune into amateurs on the HF bands at night before bed. He had a play around with CB radio at the age of 8 onwards to about the age of 15. He still listened to the amateurs on the HF bands until one day in 1995 he said to me “Con its about time we both got our amateur radio license”.
NIk and Con then enquired up at the domain club rooms and a very young Reg Emmett suggested both of us attend the class. Little did we know then that others who become friends were in the same class at the same time. VK7HSE Scott Evans, VK7CR Clayton Reading just to name a few. NIk sat the novice license with a pass in 5 words per minute send and receive and qualified for his novice certificate. NIk with his new license used to DX into Europe on 15m with brother con VK7HCK sitting next to him listening. NIk being trained in sales management was offered a job at Dick smith electronics in late 1996. He became well known to to local amateurs being an amateur with knowledge of radios and antennas while working at Dick smith. NIk was also involved in narrowcast radio on Energy FM 88 Hobart, with silent key Mathew Whayman VK7MAT and brother Con VK7HCK. NIk was at Dick Smith until the closure of the business, and spent his past years working in Launceston at Brierley Hose and Handling. A totally different environment for NIk but he was an excellent branch manager and great at sales. NIk hadnt been on air for about 10 years or so, being to busy with family life and work. But still listened to the HF bands and to emergency services on his SDR receivers via his laptop.
From brother Con VK7HCK
Like most people my interaction with NIk was as a customer at the Dick Smith store in Collins Street and the last thing I remember buying was a REVEX power meter and I remember NIk being interested in what I was going to use it for. He would always show his interest in anything radio and amateur radio. A service was held for NIk on Saturday 16th December and thanks to Scott VK7HSE who let us know about the Service and the streaming link.
Vale NIk
Justin, VK7TW
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VK7 Amateur Radio News
Seasons Greetings from the VK7 Amateur Radio News Team and we hope you have a happy holiday season and a safe entry into 2024.
A huge thank you to all involved in putting the broadcast on each week, the readers, the rebroadcasters and the callback operators.
Please note the new 2024 VK7 AR News Broadcast Roster is available on the VK7ARNews Groups.IO files area or the broadcast audio file download area.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17a0OYFPnfEdqtYprjnqIPbOvEVsggFMH/view?usp=drive_link
73, Justin, VK7TW
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QSL News
Report - from Herman VK7HW Manager of the WIA VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
The current list of cards held as at 15 December is in the email version of the broadcast.
If Herman is holding card(s) for you and you would like them mailed rather then being delivered on an opportunity basis please send Herman some stamps.
Herman has delivered a number of cards on drive by's to QTH's, to REAST and mailed to various Amateurs who have sent stamps, and last, but not least, to distribution helpers in Burnie care of VK7KT, Launceston NTARC care of VK7DW and SOTA VK7AN. Their help is very much appreciated.
Herman has a copy of the Log File for VK7WIA and is now getting cards ready to distribute in the next week and will be sending VK cards to the various States Inwards QSL Bureau. If you want your card direct please send Herman a stamp. As usual Herman is happy to send cards for VK7 amateurs to the regular distribution teams or distribute them on an opportunity basis. Thank you to those who have been in touch requesting a VK7WIA QSL Card
If you have any questions re QSL cards, please contact Herman by email. Apparently there is a hitch in forwarding emails at moment so if you want to contact me by email direct please send to herman(at)ozemail.com.au
73, Herman, VK7HW, WIA Manager VK7 Inwards QSL Bureau
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Cards held at 15 December 2023 ( Any errors in the listing are mine, I sometimes miss culling a call sign)
AAA, AAD, AAH, AAP, AAR, AB, ACE, ACG, ACN, AD, ADE, AED, AG(2014), AGC, AHT, AIR, AJC, AKK, ALZ, AM, ANC, AO, AP, APZ, AR, AS, ATH, AXZ, AY, AZ
BA, BB, BPV, BT, BYE
CA, CBK, CBR, CEJ, CJ, CL, CV, CX
DD, DM, DN, DO, DQ, DY, DZ
EA, EG, EI, EK, ER
FADZ, FALX (alx), FAZZ, FCDW, FCIA, FF, FG, FGGT, FLAR, FPRN, FRJG(RG), FTAS
GA, GEL, GGZ, GM, GOP, GR, GW, GZ
HCH, HCK, HDM, HDX, HOB, HL, HRS, HSA, HSD, HSJ, HZ
IAN, IK, IS
JA, JAZ, JCR, JJ, JOK, JP, JW
KA, KAC, KBA, KD, KDO, KI, KJ, KKR, KL, KO, KRJ
LDH, LL, LLL, LM, LT, LVH
MAG, MBD, MEL, MET, MHZ, MJ, MRS, MS
NA, NC, ND, NEC, NFI, NIK, NRF, NRT, NSE, NTE, NVH, NWQ
OB
PAF, PBD, PM, PRN, PSH, PSJ, PSZ, PW
QK
RG/FRJG, RJ
SN, STO, SV, SZ
TCE, TED, TK, TO, TUX, TX, TZ
UJ
VA, VAC, VAO,VAZ, VDC, VEK, VH, VR, VTM
WA, WC, WH, WIA, WL, WO, WT, WUU
XDM, XV
YN
ZA, ZJJ, ZK, ZM, ZT
VI70MI [2018], VI70HI(op DIANE[2018]), VI75G [2023], VK75FAA
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Contest news
Spring VHF/UHF Field day.
Thanks to all who operated in the Spring VHF and Above Field Day. Logs must be received by midnight EDST, Monday 30 January 2024.
Upload your log files to the Field Day web site via this Link available on the email edition of this broadcast.
https://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/upload/
73, Richard, VK7ZBX
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Statewide News
Thursday Night SSTV Nets
Another busy net night that saw the following participants, VK7s – ZGK, EKA, ZAB, TW, DMH, ZSB, FGGT, ZIR and KT all sharing over thirty photos.
The various subjects were:
Santas sleigh with antennas
Christmas cacti
An Emperor Gum Moth
This day marking the Summer Solstice
Stone Henge, the ancient Solar Calendar with its entrance facing the sun on the day of the Summer Solstice
An antenna tower illuminated to look like a Christmas tree
A local observatorys photos of various Nebula including one with the “Pillars of Creation”
The principality of Saint Nickolas at Tasmazia, thats near Sheffield
A sarcastic T-shirt
A tattooed cross
Murals in Hobart
A Ham shack setup
An unusual helmet
The Challenger Rescue 440 plane from JRCC Australia and the Thunderbirds No 2 vehicle
A nice pair of Love Birds
And many seasons greetings
Please remember to display your call-sign and set it in the receiver and transmit ID section.
Remember Ken VK7KRJs and Steve VK7OOs fully automatic 24/7 monitoring sites that allows anyone who has sent an SSTV picture the ability to check them on their pages almost immediately, any time, both South and North Tasmania.
Also if you missed the net there are archives of all SSTV nights. These photos can be seen on Kens and Steves SSTV websites or on NTARCs website under blogs and arranged as weekly nets.
An idea for a theme for next weeks net is “The Big Things”
https://vk7oo.tasme.com/vhfsstv
https://sstv.vk7krj.com/scrolling%20web%20gallery.html
https://www.ntarc.net/blogs
73 from Andre VK7ZAB
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NEWS FROM THE NORTH
SOTA/WWFF PARKS GROUP
The Summits On The Air/World Wide Flora and Fauna parks group meets twice weekly – Mondays and Fridays 10.30AM till 12.00 at the Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry Street, Launceston.
For more information contact Al on 0417 354 410.
73, Al, VK7AN
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VK7RUN Repeater Running
An update for users in the North of the State, VK7RUN-3 will be operating on extended hours over the Christmas and New Years period, from 22nd December to 3rd January.
An ideal opportunity to put the range of cover to the test, keep others informed of much sought after parking spots and look out for each other on New Years Eve.
Frequencies for those not programmed, 433.850MHz in and 438.850MHz out, no tones required.
Regards and best wishes to all Greg VK7YAD.
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Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club Incorporated
www.ntarc.net
NTARC News for Sunday Broadcast – 24th December 2023
As this weekly news is the last till that man in red arrives in just one more sleep, this is our final opportunity, to wish everyone a Merry and Safe Christmas. For those of us travelling over this period please take it easy. Enjoy your Christmas feast with family and friends, see you all next year.
And now for something completely different.
In the Examiner newspaper for the 3rd of December this year there was an article by Stephanie Dalton on a Launceston legend, Harry Lewis, or more commonly known by the moniker of “Harry the Jew”. His name was certainly recognised by many as he had a reputation of being a showman with a good heart. Harry certainly would have been known about by many local amateurs from Launceston.
If you had ever heard of him I am sure the mention of his name will bring back memories.
According to Stephanie and I quote he was a “Heavy weight boxer, demolition man, real-estate tycoon, entrepreneur, and notable businessman about Launceston” and that “Mr Lewis revolutionised the taxi industry after introducing the two-way radio in Australia in 1949” End quote.
My memory, from his name, is being told by many people over time that he always walked around carrying all his money in fat rolls of notes in his pockets. You remember strange things like that as a kid. HiHi It came as a surprise to me as I had never heard of the fact that he was the first to introduce two-way radios to his Taxi business in Launceston. I found no reference to him being an Amateur Radio operator which seemed a logical possibility to me. This warranted further investigation so “Trove, the place to explore all things Australian”, seemed like a good starting point. I managed to find a few relevant articles and I must admit I found them interesting reading.
On the 27th October 1948, thats just on 75 years ago the Examiner newspaper in Tasmania had an article on Launcestons “First to have Taxi Radio Phone.” Here is a short extract from the article and I quote:
“Launceston by the end of the year will have the first radio telephone communication system for taxis in Australia. A Frequency Modulation service with a range of between 20 and 30 miles is to be installed in the office and cars of one of the taxi-cab companies. This will make it possible for the office to contact any of the company's cars in or near Launceston and vice versa. There will also be communication between cars. The company's Launceston manager (Mr. A. J. Rushby) said yesterday that the service would be the first in Australia for taxis. A similar service would be used later in Melbourne.” “Mr. B. J. H Lutwyche (owner of Lutwyche Radio, George St. Launceston) said yesterday that the South Australian police had recently installed an identical system.” End quote.
Well they didnt quite make the end of year deadline but they were very close by the date of the next article.
On the 27th April, 1949 the Mercury news paper reported:
“The first two-way radio system to be used by a taxi company in Australia is to be installed in a few weeks by the Plaza Taxi Service in Launceston.
The installation of a transmitting tower and station has just been completed on Bald Hill, and other equipment for the office control board and the cars is expected in about a fortnight from Adelaide, where it is being tested. The service manager (Mr. A. J. Rushby) said yesterday he had received inquiries from several Australian States about the system. He believed Launceston would be the first "place outside America where the service would operate. In England, two-way radio operated in police cars, but he believed it had not been installed in taxis. Mr. Rushby will also have the two-way radio installed in his private car, and in his motor launch. The installation will cost between £4,000 and £5,000.” End quote.
To give the amount of money some context, 4 to 5 thousand pound equates to about $278,000 today after inflation, according to the Examiner newspaper. I continued digging into Trove and also found:
On the 5th August, 1949 the Examiner reported that:
“First taxi service in Australia installed with two-way radio was inaugurated in Launceston yesterday. Plaza taxi service has fitted nine taxis and a control car with two-way frequency modulation sets which enable cars to be constantly on call from the company's office.
The radio hook-up will enable more efficient service to be given and will save a tremendous amount of running. Transmission station for the service is at Bald Hill. Spectators attending the inaugural ceremony outside the Town Hall yesterday saw a demonstration of how the taxis can be controlled either from the
control car or company's office. The Mayor (Ald. Henty) congratulated the company on its initiative in providing Launceston with the first radio controlled taxi service in Australia. The company's general man-ager (Mr. S Burke) and Mr. A. Rushby (Launceston manager) on behalf of the proprietor (Mr. H. Lewis) thanked those who had co-operated to make the service possible. The plant was made by Phillips Radio and installed by Lutwyche Radio. (of 69 George Street Launceston.)
Guests were entertained at the Brisbane Hotel after the ceremony.” End quote.
It certainly must have been a different type of first for Launceston considering prior to the introduction of the two-way radio, taxis used to line up on the street and answer the taxi phone that was mounted on a pole on the footpath. It would ring and give them where their next fare was to be. Remember this is a long time back in a technological progress time frame and there were only land lines and in this case you only had to dial a three digit phone number to contact Plaza Taxis which was 333 to book a taxi!
The statement: “it was believed in England, two-way radio operated in police cars, but he believed it had not been installed in taxis.” did however seem unlikely. Further Trove digging turned this article up dated the:
7th December 1949, the Herald Mercury reported that:
“London's first radio-taxi, recognisable by its roof aerial, is now on the streets after official passing by the police authorities. The idea is that anyone wanting a taxi telephones the owner's office, whence the driver is contacted by radio and directed to the fare. The police welcome the development because it may help to defeat crime, especially attacks upon taxi-men, of which there, has been a number recently. The radio-taxi driver could immediately call for help. The set has a range of 7 to 10 miles in Central London, and a much greater range in the suburbs. The owner is installing radios in his other taxis.” End quote.
So it looks like Launceston did indeed have the first Taxi two-way radio in Australia and indeed by the end of that year there was only one officially approved taxi testing the new technology in London.
The implementation was started just on 75 years ago and will celebrate it 75 birthday of commissioning in August next year.
So thank you Launceston legend, Harry Lewis, for your contribution to technological inroads into Australia. Harry Lewis 26th January 1912 to 5th November 1994.
P.S. Does anyone out there know if Lutwyche of Lutwyche Radio was an Amateur Radio Operator? I believe his first name was Bree. Please let me know.
Links to the Trove articles are included in the text edition of this broadcast.
27 Oct 1948 - Launceston to Have First Taxi Radio Phone - Trove (nla.gov.au)
27 Apr 1949 - RADIO TAXI SERVICE FOR LAUNCESTON - Trove (nla.gov.au)
05 Aug 1949 - Taxi Radio - Trove (nla.gov.au)
07 Dec 1949 - TAXI CALLS BY RADIO - Trove (nla.gov.au)
17 Jun 1952 - Phone Call Foils Shop-breaker - Trove (nla.gov.au)
Now back to the house keeping.
Club membership renewal - Its that time of the year again - All club members should have received an e-mail with instructions on renewing their membership for 2024. For those that have not received a renewal please e-mail the secretary(at)ntarc.net This will allow us to update your e-mail address as there has been a large number of changes this year due to some internet providers divesting themselves of the bother of hosting e-mail.
UPCOMING EVENTS
The TestNet and TechNet session – is officially in recess. However, have a listen as there may still be ongoing activities on a Wednesday night on 3.567MHz.
The Club Technical night session - is in recess until January.
The Friday Coffee Morning – is in recess until January.
FINALLY - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news(at)ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
Thats all folks,
73 from Stefan, VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC Inc.
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NEWS FROM THE SOUTH
APRS News
Tell-tale APRS Beacons
The last few DATV Experimenter's nights we have been featuring APRS and it is amazing what you see.
Frans PE1RXJ-5 was seen on APRS touring around Hobart and up Mt Wellington and beaconing out using a smart phone. QRZ.com is your friend and Justin emailed Frans and invited him up to the Club.
Also seen on APRS beaconing out in Southern Tasmania was:
G4RWI at Deep Bay, VK3DMC-9 driving around Hobart and further afield - Ron W8CNM is waiting for SANTA in Grand Rapids on Lake Michigan
The world-wide hobby of amateur radio through APRS is alive and well in VK7!
73, Justin, VK7TW
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Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
https://www.reast.asn.au/
https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/
https://www.youtube.com/reasthobart/
DATV Experimenter's Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LVvgQamEWg&t
Our REAST DATV Experimenter's Christmas edition was huge!
We started with the ACMA release of many documents and we focused on the Amateur Radio Assessors Rules and Guidelines. We went through the change expressed in the documents and the Assessor webinar held about a week ago. Next week we focus on the Class Licence documents.
https://acma.cmail20.com/t/d-e-vkttuld-l-r/
Justin the outlined the explosion of 3D Printing and the many projects that are available both for the amateur radio operator, and everyone and showed Reuben VK7FREU's 3D printed COSPLay space helmet from the character Viper from Titanfall 2. Justin showed the Titanfall wiki and the character and then showed the features on the helmet. This was printed in 18 part and took over 50 hours of printing time. Reuben then painted the helmet and weathered the helmet.
https://titanfall.fandom.com/wiki/Viper
We then went through the latest AR Magazine and took a look at the many articles within the magazine.
https://www.wia.org.au/members/armag/about/
Justin went through his next Magnetic Loop project and showed the 4-100 pF vacuum variable capacitor from Kazakhstan. This being used for a 500mm diameter loop using 25.4mm heliax to cover 6m to 15m.
When looking at the APRS maps there are many bits of interesting information you can find including SANTA!
https://aprs.fi/
Justin finished off the Christmas edition with the NORAD Santa Tracker.
https://www.noradsanta.org/en/
This week's show is our 2024 Happy New Year show and will be focusing on antennas, projects, propagation and much more. See you there or on the stream.
We are holding the DATV Experimenters nights through the holiday period and therefore we will be streaming the nights on the REAST YouTube channel.
https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/live-stream/
https://www.reast.asn.au/special-interest-groups/amateur-tv/
https://www.youtube.com/c/ReastHobart/
We also go out on RF - DVB-T 7MHz Standard Definition on 445.5MHz. So, if you have a TV, Set-top box or USB DTV Dongle that you can tune and scan 445.5MHz and you can see the Queens Domain, then you have a good chance of receiving the DATV Experimenter's Night Signal. Look out for VK7OTC.
73, Justin, VK7TW
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Training and Assessments
Our next REAST training and assessment day will be on the 24th February 2024.
If you are thinking of booking for training or assessment next year please let Reg Emmett VK7KK REAST Learning Organiser know ASAP by phoning 0417 391 607 or via the REAST Website Contact Form.
https://www.reast.asn.au/contact/online-contact-form/
Check out the REAST Foundation Licence Training Videos that can be found on the REAST YouTube Training and Assessment playlist.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsnsP_zjw831mdC6sY4XqavRUY-53ZWUn
73, Reg, VK7KK
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Regular VK7 gatherings and events over the coming months:
Regular gatherings:
Sewing Circle Net – Daily on 3.640MHz commences at 5:00pm ADST.
Statewide SSTV Net - held every Thursday night via the North/South Link on VK7RAF/VK7RJG from 7:30pm. In the North and North West - VK7RJG on 438.55 -7MHz and in the South - VK7RAF (146.650 -600kHz) CTCSS tone 141.3Hz to link RAF North-South.
State-wide – MICROWAVE QSO Party – following the Sunday broadcast call-back on 1296.15 MHz FM. One group in the greater Hobart area and another in the greater Launceston area.
Then North-south digital contacts on 1296.2MHz using Q65-60B.
Stations in the Launceston area transmitting on the odd minute. Southern stations on the even minute.
SOTA/WWFF Group – Meeting Mondays and Fridays 10.30-12.00 midday at Glebe Gardens Cafe, Henry St, Launceston.
NTARC - TestNet and TechNet session in recess until January 2024.
NTARC Coffee Morning - in recess until January 2024.
NTARC - Club Technical nights - in recess until January 2024.
NW VK7 – Wednesday from 8:00pm local – NW Tassie Amateur Repeater Group Net on VK7RMD
NW VK7 - Thursday commencing at 8:30pm local - N.W. Tassie 2m DX Net 144.190 USB
NW SSTV Nights - Monday 22nd of January 2024 - hosted by Eric VK7EV from 7:30pm using VK7RMD 70cm repeater on Mt Duncan on the 4th Monday in the Month.
Events:
WorldWide - Tomorrow - December 25 - The rig and antenna of your dreams is sitting under the Christmas Tree - DX propagation is perfect and you have endless time and space to play amateur radio! Dream on and happy holidays!
REAST - February 7, 2024 - Presentation on the Surf Life Saving Tasmania Radio Network with Greg Bird - 7:30pm Queens Domain Clubrooms
REAST - February 18, 2024 - Annual General and Special General Meeting followed by a free sausage sizzle - Starts 11am at Queens Domain Clubrooms
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A reminder to those people rostered for next weeks broadcast:
Newsreader: VK7FB
Repeaters: REAST, NTARC and in the NW thanks to N W T A R C, West Coast Radio Group, Cradle Coast Radio Amateur Radio Club, VK7AX, VK7JH and VK7DC
160m: Any takers
80m: VK7TPE
40m: VK7ALH
20m: VK7JGD
10m: VK7DG
UHFCB24: Any takers
DMR: Talk Group 5 and D-Star: Reflector 91C VK7ZCR
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You can hear this broadcast again on Tuesday night at 8:00pm on repeaters VK7RAA in Northern VK7 and VK7RHT in the South.
A huge thank you to all people and organisations that assisted with this broadcast.
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That concludes our VK7 Amateur Radio News Broadcast for this week.
You have been listening to or have just missed VK7WI. Next week the National WIA news can be heard at 0900 followed by the VK7 Amateur Radio News around 0930 hours.
Items for the broadcast can be emailed to vk7arnews(at)gmail.com
Further information about the broadcast can be found at the VK7 Amateur Radio News Groups.IO Group.
https://groups.io/g/vk7arnews
The deadline for items is 21:00 on Friday prior to the Sunday of the broadcast.
Callbacks will be taken on the frequency to which you are listening. Relay stations will use their own callsigns during the callback.
On behalf of the VK7 Amateur Radio News Team, 73, seasons greetings and stay safe from Justin, VK7TW.
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(Posted to the packet network courtesy Tony VK7AX)
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