Date : 16 / 06 / 2016 
Author : Phil Wait – VK2ASD

The recording of the Wireless Institute of Australia annual general meeting held at the Paradise Hotel, Norfolk Island, is available for WIA members.  Access is available to WIA members who are registered with the Memnet membership service, and the video had almost 300 views in the first 24 hours after it went up on Sunday June 19.  View the video here.

A LiveStream server and dedicated Internet service were used to stream it in real time from the AGM, and 150 members from all parts of Australia were watching.

Some people have commented that they could not view the original LiveStream at the time, but have viewed the video later from the WIA website.  One member said: “well done, this is exactly what the WIA needs”.  Another described it as being a great idea, which showed the WIA as being professional and transparent.

The WIA Board has received favourable comments about this use of the technology and has resolved, where possible, to stream future Annual General Meetings.

However there is really no substitute for actually attending an AGM weekend.  The AGM is much more than just a corporate meeting.  Those attending get to be part of the Open Forum where ideas are raised, and during the Saturday afternoon there are speaker sessions on various topics.

This year speakers covered portable Amateur Radio, the future opportunities with STEM, chasing storms, history and DXpeditions.

The traditional WIA annual dinner on Saturday night is a must and there is also a lot of Amateur Radio, general tourism and social activity.

The WIA Board has decided that the 2017 AGM will be held in Adelaide. Don’t miss it. More details on it later this year.

From the WIA. original post here.

Date : 04 / 06 / 2016 
Author : Jim Linton – VK3PC

The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) held its annual general meeting and associated events on Norfolk Island May 27, 28, & 29 while many also enjoyed visiting the tourist attractions.

The first main activity was an informal evening at the Norfolk RSL.  It was reformed as a Sub-Branch in 1945 after the end of WWII – a part of the local heritage.  WIA President, Phil Wait VK2ASD, gave a short welcome speech while there was enthusiastic support for the traditional RSL raffle.  A few later ventured to the recently opened Jolly Roger live music venue that has become an attraction for locals and tourists alike featuring a guitarist dressed as a pirate complete with a parrot on his shoulder.

On Saturday 28, at 9am in the Paradise Hotel was the formal, statutory AGM, followed after morning tea by the Open Forum with some informative interactive exchanges between the audience and the WIA Board.  Lunch was followed by a two-stream speakers program over the afternoon.  During this time, the partners enjoyed a choice of two tours of the island – Craft and Food, or Island History.  All came together for the annual dinner at 7pm at the Paradise Hotel.  Keynote speaker for the dinner was the Honourable Gary Hardgrave, Administrator of Norfolk Island, who spoke about the island’s intriguing history and the challenging time of change ahead.

Guest speaker at dinner was Doug McVeigh VK0DMV, who gave an illustrated talk about his recent time at Casey Station in the Australian Antarctic, its abundance of wildlife, the science carried out, and how many nations shared their resources on the icy continent.

The WIA Board was pleased to play a video and announce plans to have the next AGM in Adelaide.  Earlier the Norfolk Island repeater VK9RNI was in action and believed to be the first UHF amateur repeater on the island.

From Tuesday May 24 it had a news broadcast each evening at 5.30pm local time with a rebroadcast on 7.105 MHz at 6pm.  This informative session was presented by Fred Swainston VK9DAC with many check-ins.

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From the WIA, original post here.

Date : 02 / 06 / 2016

The WIA held its annual general meeting (AGM) and Open forum was held last weekend on Norfolk Island.  The AGM is the formal part of proceedings where the Silent Keys are remembered, the new elected Board members are formally announced, and the Directors and Treasurers reports are discussed and voted on. Both reports were accepted by the meeting, with two minor items from the Treasurers report referred back to the Treasurer for clarification.

Following the Open Forum the WIA Service Awards were announced.

Life Membership was awarded to Ted Thrift VK2ARA, for his contribution to the WIA and Amateur Radio in Australia in his work in Affiliated Club coordination and managing the Affiliated Club Insurance Scheme since its inception.

The GA Taylor Medal, the WIA’s highest award, went to Dale Hughes VK1DSH for representing the Amateur Service internationally for many years, and for his leadership role in the official Australian delegation to WRC-15 in Geneva, which led to a new Amateur allocation at 5.3 MHz.

The Chris Jones Award was given to Jenny Wardrop VK3WQ VK5ANW for her consistent support of the WIA and ALARA over five decades, as well as her historical research work, particularly on women in Amateur Radio.

The Ron Wilkinson award went to David Scott VK2JDS for his activities in 1296 MHz moonbounce, helping to maintain a profile of Australian participation in this leading-edge amateur pursuit.

The WIA Technical Excellence awards were awarded to Andy Nguyen VK3YT for his work with Pico Balloons especially circumnavigating the Southern Hemisphere, together, David Learmonth VK3QM and Lou Blasco VK3ALB for the re-purposing of ex-commercial 3.5 GHz equipment which increased activity on the 9 cm amateur band.

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