Dear Radio clubs,

It would be appreciated if you could please forward the below media release to your members.  This will be an exciting national event for radio amateurs to be involved with!  Calling CQ FunFlight!
An opportunity exists to promote your radio club and amateur radio through the national FunFlight day, to be held on Sunday November 8th.

FunFlight is volunteer-run, and established to provide children touched by adversity, with joy and inspiration through the exhilaration of flight.  Flying clubs and pilots nation wide donate their facilities and flight time, to help provide a memorable day for thousands of children.  The website is at www.funflight.org.

Bendigo Amateur Radio and Electronics Club will be once again setting up an amateur radio station at the Bendigo Flying club, to provide an extra activity for the children while they wait for their flights.  The FunFlight organisers are supportive of the concept, so perhaps your club may be interested in contacting your local Flying club, to see if they are interested in an amateur radio station on FunFlight day.

Radio clubs participating on the day will be liaising on forty metres, providing a link for the children to talk with each other and share their experiences.  This will be an exciting event, and we look forward to connecting with other flying clubs via amateur radio, as we call ‘CQ FunFlight’ on Sunday November 8th!

Kind regards,
Graeme Knight

Via ARVic, original post here.

A special effort is being made this weekend to activate the famed HV0A station at the Vatican, during a visit by DXers and includes a presentation dinner. Vatican City State is a landlocked territory internationally recognized independent territory by both area and population.

HV0A will be active both days on several bands, as conditions permit. A dinner party on October 10 organised by Francesco Valsecchi IK0FVC, Martti Laine OH2BH, and Giordano Giordani IK0XFD.

It will have a presentation by Martti Laine OH2BH unveiling of ‘a new Q Code’, and highlighting the challenges of making DXpeditions run smoothly. Also featured will be a paper from DX University on ‘How to Work Everything with No Pain – Even Europe’. QSL HV0A via IK0FVC and LoTW.

From NavyDaily via ARNSW on facebook, original story here.  Originally published on 06 October 2015, LEUT Gary McHugh (author), CPOIS David Connolly (photographer)

HMAS Stirling was recently the scene of a unique international HF radio event to commemorate the Anzac Centenary.

Event organiser and amateur radio enthusiast, Mr John McNamee, said the Wireless Institute of Australia had received Department of Veterans’ Affairs approval to use the callsign VK100ANZAC during the 48-hour event.

Mr McNamee said as well as commemorating 100 years since Australian troops landed at Gallipoli, the event also paid tribute to Operation JAYWICK, during which a group of Australian and British Z Special Unit members attacked Japanese shipping in occupied Singapore in 1943.

“Garden Island, where Stirling is located, was used as a training facility for Z Force, so we thought it was appropriate to locate the event here on the island on the 72nd anniversary of the operation,” he said.

“Many people who served and lost their lives in the various conflicts Australia has been involved in were amateur radio enthusiasts, and this is one way of honouring their sacrifices.”

During the 48-hour event, amateur radio operators made contact with operators all over the world and then logged those contacts in a commemorative radio log.

Stirling Commanding Officer Captain Angela Bond said she was honoured to host the event and paid tribute to those operators who went to war but never returned.

“Stirling has a significant history when it comes to communications, and we are proud to be part of this historic event,” she said.

Imagery is available on the Navy Image Library here.

From ARVic, original post here.

A story on the exploits by Andy VK3YT with his pico party type foil balloons has just been reported by HACKADAY magazine.

The article ‘Pico Space Balloon Circumnavigates the Globe, Twice’, written by Elliot Williams, talks about the smaller and lighter balloons with very low power ham radio payloads.

It looks the Andy VK3YT pico balloons fitted with GPS, radio, solar cell, and batteries, that stay afloat for weeks. The article shows the path taken by PS-46 in July from Australia, and around the Southern Hemisphere more than twice.

The report gives details of the two different encoding schemes WSPR and JT9, used to help trackers using the 20m and 30m bands. The pico balloon transmits on 20 mW power a few times an hour, allowing movement to be followed as receivers tease the low, slow signal out from the noise.

HACKADAY describes going twice around the world as ‘incredible’. But the author notes that Andy’s first called PS-2, only stayed up for 15 hours and made it under 800km away. As with many human endeavours – practice makes perfect.

*** Hackaday Pico Balloon post is here.  Visit Hackaday.com for fresh new hacks daily! ***

From the WIA, original post here.

Date : 10 / 10 / 2015 
Author : Jim Linton – VK3PC

The Wireless Institute of Australia has submitted a paper on its main activities to the IARU Region 3 Conference, held this month (October 12-16) in Bali Indonesia. The WIA conference delegate is Peter Young VK3MV, with Phil Wait VK2ASD the Observer. Both are funded through member subscriptions for international representation that includes this regional conference held every three years.

The WIA in its paper talks about major challenges faced that include future spectrum management arrangements proposed by a Department of Communications review. The WIA delivers some administrative functions on behalf of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in the assessment and licensing area, and is ready for further roles that may arise.

On the issue of growth, the WIA has noticed a small but steady decline in membership and it’s asking other IARU member societies comment on the factors behind the situation. Very recently, Maker groups have started to form in high schools. In all cases the catalyst appears to be a teacher who has a personal interest in technology, particularly hobbyist electronics.

Again, the WIA believes this creates a future opportunity, if it can be coupled with licence and regulation reform. The WIA also has a representative, Dale Hughes VK1DSH, at the World Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva (November 2-27) that will consider a possible new secondary allocation around 5300 kHz, while sharing is sought between 77.5 and 78 GHz with short range vehicle radar systems.