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Quick Links:
Regular Broadcasts/Groups
Training
Courses
Future Events
Meetings/Gatherings
Membership
Membership
Renewal
Family Members
Junior Members
Past Events
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Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmanian
Inc.
Events
and Meetings
Regular
Broadcasts/Groups:
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Time
& Day
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Event
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9:00 every Sunday morning
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WIA National Broadcast for
details on frequencies this can be heard on take a look at
the VK7 Regional News Page.
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9:30 every Sunday morning
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VK7 Regional News Broadcast
for details on frequencies this can be heard on take a look
at the VK7 Regional News Page.
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20:00 the first Wednesday of
the month (except January)
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REAST
Monthly Presentation/ Visits
The first Wednesday
night of each month (except January) is a presentation or
visit night. Check out the future event
below for details.
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12:00 - 16:00 every Wednesday
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REAST
Wednesday Afternoon Group
Social meeting of
amateurs and interested people. Bring lunch and share your
thoughts on the latest amateur radio development or discuss
some interesting aspect of the hobby or just come along to
listen!
(Photos
courtesy of Dave VK7DM)

Xmas
Eve
2008
REAST
Treasures - John VK7JK & Baden VK7BRY - Xmas Eve
2008
Everyone is welcome, especially interstate and overseas amateurs. Come on in and tell us
your favourite stories.
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19:30 every Wednesday night
(except REAST meeting night)
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REAST
ATV Experimenters Group
Amateur
TeleVision Experimenter's Group.
Meets
every Wednesday night except the first Wednesday night of
the month from around 7:30pm. We
go out on both analogue and digital TV standards. For
more information take a look at the ATV
Experimenter's Pages.
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Date
& Time
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Event
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Courses run when required.
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REAST
Foundation Licence Training Course Foundation
licence training courses and Assessment sessions are run when
required The
Foundation course runs for a weekend and usually Saturday is
the training day and Sunday is the assessment day. So,
if you are interested in future courses please contact our
Examination Officer, Reg
Emmett at VK7KK
for more details.
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Courses run when required.
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REAST
Standard Licence Training Course Standard
licence training courses and Assessment sessions are run when
required The
course will run for approximately 12 weeks on a Friday night
from 7 to 10pm. There
will be a variety of presenters from REAST.

So,
if you are interested in future courses please contact our
Examination Officer, Reg Emmett at VK7KK
for more details.
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Date
& Time
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Event
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29 September 2010 - 8:00pm
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A Trip
to Macca (Macquarie Island) Warren
VK7FEET has agreed to give a presentation with pictures on
the big screen about his recent trip to Macquarie Island and
back as part of the Pest Eradication program.
This should be a fascinating
insight in to Tasmania's most Southern island. See
you there. PLEASE
NOTE: The first Wednesday night of September will be an
ATV night and this presentation will be given on the fifth
Wednesday night.
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Saturday 16 October 2010 -
1:00pm
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Grote
Reber Museum and 3D Virtual Reality Cinema -
Invitation
to all amateurs state-wide...
For
the October REAST presentation we are going on a
visit to the Grote Reber Museum at the Mt Pleasant Radio
Observatory at Cambridge.
The
museum has many wonderful artefacts and information about
Grote Reber and his experiments mapping the Milky Way using
HF from his square kilometre array at Bothwell.
We
have booked Saturday the 16th October 2010
starting at 1:00pm to allow interested people to time to
travel down to Cambridge and travel back afterwards.
The
cost will be $5 per person as we need to cover the opening
of the museum after normal weekday business hours. The more
we get may mean the cost will be less per person.
We
can also organise vehicle pick-ups for those amateurs who
cannot drive and would like to come along.
Please
let me know if you are interested in attending the visit
over the next couple of weeks so we can get an idea of the
numbers.
I
can be contacted on email:
or phone: 0439 016 622.
http://www.groterebermuseum.com.au/
(73,
Justin, VK7TW)
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3 November 2010 - 8:00pm
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ACMA
Presentation David
Hay & David Long from the ACMA Quoin Ridge Facility will
be coming along to give us a presentation on what the ACMA
does and take questions on their activities. More
information closer to the event. See
you there. Justin,
VK7TW, REAST Presentations Officer
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1 December 2010
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REAST End of Year
Celebrations
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4 December 2010
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Miena
Hamfest
Sponsored by CHARCT in the
thriving Central Highlands town of Miena will be the
Biennial VK7 Central Highlands Hamfest.
Held in the great facilities
of the Miena Community Hall, this is an event not to be
missed.
More information closer to
the event.
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Meetings/Gatherings:
Meetings are held on the
first Wednesday of every month (except January) at 8pm in the Queen’s
Domain clubrooms. The clubrooms are the former OTC Marine Radio station at
the very top of the Queen’s Domain in Hobart.
There is also a social
afternoon every Wednesday from approx 12:00 until 16:00 at the same
venue.
Everyone is welcome to
visit, especially interstate and overseas amateurs.
Come on in and tell us
your favourite stories, hear ours, and we sincerely hope that you will
leave Tasmania further enriched.
Membership:
We currently have over 150
members from all walks of life. Current
membership fee is $25 per year and you get the following things for
your money:
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Full
representation at Annual and Special General Meetings.
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Access
to club facilities including clubrooms, club station, notice
boards, magazines and library.
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Free
use of the internet at the Clubrooms via the PCs or via your own
wireless connection at the clubrooms.
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Access
to the members-only area of the REAST website and mailing list.
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Club
update emails for forthcoming events and activities.
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Club
Newsletter
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Public
Liability Insurance coverage for official REAST events.
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Special
rates for club projects, events and call-books.
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Through
REAST’s affiliation with the National WIA – representation
at National and International Levels through the ITU, WRC, etc
To join REAST Inc. you will need to
complete a Membership Form
and include the membership fee.
Membership
Renewal REAST
membership renewals are due from the 1st. January.
Please include a renewal form with your payment to ensure our
database is up to date. Existing members will need to complete a Renewal
Form
and include the membership fee. If
paying by direct deposit please email a copy of your renewal form to
or phone Richard on 62
27 89 74 with your details.
Family
Members: If there is already a
member of REAST in your household then you can join for only $10 and
get all the benefits a full-fee paying member gets. All
we ask is that the family member lives in the same household as a
REAST member. To join REAST Inc. you will need to
complete a Membership Form
and include the membership fee. Existing members will need to complete a Renewal
Form
and include the membership fee.
Junior
Members:
REAST encourages young people (less than 18
years old) to participate in REAST activities and events. REAST
acknowledges and takes its responsibility seriously where young people are
involved in our activities/events.
All
members, especially those organising activities, have a responsibility to
consider and provide a safe environment and consider safeguards dedicated
to the well being of young people involved in our activities/events. 
The
REAST Committee encourages all members and prospective members
to become familiar with our Child
Protection Policy and Parental
Consent Form.
If
you have any questions then please contact one of the REAST
Committee Members.
Past
Events:
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Date
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Event
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27 August 2010 4:43-4:53pm
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International
Space Station Contact with South Hobart Primary School
Friday afternoon (27 August) at about 4:43pm
local was a contact with the International
Space Station.
Ten
students from South Hobart Primary School asked
questions of Colonel Doug Wheelock KF5BOC on the ISS for the
9.5 minutes of the pass.
This
telebridge contact was made with the amateur radio
tracking station at the Goddard Space Flight Centre in
Maryland USA by Dave Taylor who is K6DUE.
Media
Release
Mercury
Article - 28 August 2010 P.17
Audio
Recording of Contact thanks to Graham Lawton G7EVY
(5.6Mb)
VK7TW
Interview with Michael Veitch on ABC Local radio (3.1Mb)
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14-15 August 2010
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Remembrance Day Contest
VK7OTC
operated for the 24 hours of the RD and a big thank you to
all amateurs who helped out especially Thomas VK7NML who
operated with Justin VK7TW for the full 24 hours plus setup
and tear-down and Warren VK7FEET who operated for the best
part of the 24 hours fitting in family duties throughout the
time....on ya Warren. Thanks also to the many amateurs who
dropped in throughout the night and day and operated.
And
a great big thank you to all those amateurs we contacted
especially Danny VK7HDM who operated for the 24 hours and
gave VK7OTC many of the over 250 VHF/UHF contacts.
We
made a good number of contacts on HF and VHF and above and
had much fun doing it.
We
even used a VK7BW portable 12m mast that supported the
6m/2m/70cm/23cm antennas and this proved very handy with
good contacts being made from Bothwell to Woodbridge and
everywhere in between.
VK7OTC
has not been on the air as a club contest station from the
Domain so, we have blown out the cobwebs ready for the
National Field Day on 23rd October...HIHI.
(73,
Justin, VK7TW)
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4 August 2010 - 8:00pm
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Show
and Tell Night The
format of the night is a show and tell of
homebrewed or home
constructed/ assembled equipment.
We
had a great roll-up to night.
Many
interesting items made their way into the clubrooms and
sparked much discussion and interest.
We
started with Bob VK7ZL who demonstrated his regenerative and
TRF valve receivers that he built. Bob also showed his
homebrew attenuators that he has been using with his QRSS
experiments and a HF receiving splitter using a toroid for
two receivers on the same antenna.
This
lead to a discussion about front panel lettering that
sparked Martin VK7GN into action. Martin presented a
technique for making professional looking front panel
designs and techniques for mounting them on the box. Martin
showed tow he had made and advantages of the techniques,
this sparked much discussion.
Then
we went onto Graham VK7ZGK’s two metre three stage class c
power amplifier using PT4167B RF transistors that he build
back in the UK in the 1970s.
Tom
VK7TL then showed the group his experiments with Peltier
devices to cool a instrument under test. Tom took the group
through the issue that confront you when playing with these
devices, including the need for substantial cooling to
remove the heat. Tom achieved -8 degreesC in the
demonstration.
Rex
VK7MO then took the group through his portable 10GHz offset
feed dish Az/El mounting issues and the issues he had on his
recent trip around Australia making contacts and how he was
aligning the dish using Sun noise, a GPS or peaking on
available signals.
Justin
VK7TW then took the group through his recently constructed
portable Az/El mount that he has constructed from many
recycled items. This leads to a demo of an simple device for
helping solder SMT devices. Justin also showed an optical
encoder and a 1250MHz PA created from Minikits kits.
Mike
VK7MJ then took the group through his
recently
re-constructed Candlestick Microphone complete with new
insert and two transistor preamp. Mike then showed the many
optical test instruments both transmitters and receivers
that he has built over many year to assist with his optical
experiments.
We
finished up with Warren VK7FEET who demonstrated his
impressive four 115VAC fan bank with them all in series that
he uses to draw the solder fumes away from the work bench.
It is nice and quiet and provides a gentle breeze. The feet
were provided by threaded rod and corks.
Following
a final discussion about LED lighting the night finished off
with the obligatory cup of tea and much more discussion!
A
great night of sharing and ingenuity and thanks to all
involved. I suspect we will be having another one of these
nights in the future!
(73,
Justin, VK7TW)
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7 July 2010 - 8:00pm
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Home
Brew Construction Night
As
a result of last Wednesday evenings event there are now 20
more optical transceivers in Southern Tasmania and even two
on their way to VK5 for a science fair!

It
was fantastic night with a full house of constructors all
eager to get into building their transceivers. We even had a
few guests along in young Sam who is Patrick VK7FPJB’s
cousin and dare I say it ….. young Sean who came along
with Ben VK7BEN.

All
the kits that were started on the night were finished and we
got them all working and tested. Mike VK7MJ brought along
his test transmitter and Justin VK7TW brought along his big
optical transceiver to send and receive a signal along with
a range of lenses both traditional and fresnel and
reflectors to demonstrate how the lens or reflector provides
gain and increases the distance that can be worked.
From
the feedback it was wonderful night and we will certainly be
planning another for next year.
We
will be putting all the details on the REAST website for
anyone who would like to build and experiment with one of
these optical transceivers.
A
great big thank you to all the others who came along and
brought their soldering irons and tools for others to use
and helped many of the constructors and especially Mike
VK7MJ who came along with his test transmitter.
Thanks
again to all who came along and made the night a great
success.
At
the August show and tell night I would like to see these
transceivers mounted in boxes with lenses and long distances
worked….HIHI.
The
Kit Instructions can be found here.
The
PCB design can be found here.
These
have also been posted to the files section of the OpticalDX
mailing list.
(73
Justin VK7TW)
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22-24 June 2010
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REAST Hosts VK100WIA
Over
the UTC days of 22nd to 24th June 2010
REAST activated the Centenary callsign VK100WIA from the
historic REAST clubrooms.
Over
the three days the operators made 415 contacts from all
around the world using CW, PSK31, SSB, ATV and FM modes.
We
setup three stations connected to three different HF
antennas each with logging computers to log to the WIA
website.
Some
of the contact highlights were Antarctica on the Palmer
Base, Russia, Costa Rica, Durban/South Africa, Japan, Spain
and many others along with every state around VK.
Early
on the Thursday morning Justin VK7TW was interviewed by Michael
Veitch on 936 local Breakfast program and we have a
recording of the interview (see below)
We
had a good half dozen people turned up at the Domain who
were interested in what they heard that morning.
There
was also going to be a segment on ABC Stateline however
given the changes in Canberra on Thursday this didn’t
happen…HIHI.
Next
week Justin will be interviewed by Chris Wisby on ABC local
radio – Tasmania – see below.
A
great big thank you to all those amateurs who helped with
the station including: VK7TW, VK7TBM, VK7RO, VK7FEET,
VK7JGD, VK7ZGK, VK7FRRT, VK7FPJB and VK7HGO.
This
was a great activation of the Centenary Station and a credit
to the REAST Club.
Audio
File of 936 Local Radio Interview with Chris Wisbey and VK7TW
Audio
File of 936 Local Radio Interview with Michael Veitch and VK7TW
Amateur
Radio Turns 100 - MEDIA RELEASE
Amateur
Radio Background Info
WIA
Background Info
Amateur
Radio History Fact Sheet
More
Info available on the WIA
website
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2 June 2010 - 8:00pm
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Amateur
Radio & Telemedicine in Antarctica
Dr
Graham Denyer VK7JN gave a great talk last Wednesday night
about his experiences as a medical doctor based in
Antarctica and his experiences operating an amateur radio
station in the frozen continent.
Graham
has been an amateur for about 20 years although he joke he
has been active for only about 2 of those years. He wintered
at Davis base in 2006 and is now based in Kingston
supporting the Doctors that are down at the three Australian
bases.
Graham
gave a short history of communications and medicine within
Antarctica and the support models that are being employed by
the Division. Telemedicine is developing and Graham used the
example of the ultrasound machines and soon to be purchased
updated xray machines that will make it much easier to get
digital images for review back in Kingston.
This
was a fascinating presentation and a big thank you to Graham
for his time and thanks to Paul VK7PAH for organising.
The
presentation was videoed for the ATV Library and will be
available within the next few weeks.
(Justin,
VK7TW)
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28-30 May 2010
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WIA
Centenary Annual General Meeting in Canberra
A
Quick Précis
Firstly
it was great to also see Reg VK7KK, XYL Annette and Rex
VK7MO at the AGM weekend as the VK7 contingent.
The
Friday night saw a great tour of the Black Mountain
communications facility and then dinner in the revolving
restaurant.
Black
Mountain is a fantastic facility and a great demonstration
of what you can do when you build a very impressive purpose
built communications building.
Black
Mountain is a 195.2m high tower consisting of five layers
starting with TV and Radio layer, then the Mobile Phones,
microwave, fibre and telecommunications layer. At the 58.5m
level is the revolving restaurant which affords a commanding
view over Canberra and revolves at a rate of once every 83
minutes. Above the restaurant are the observation decks then
the tower.
The
tour started in the television and radio transmitter halls.
In both areas you are confronted by large copper and
aluminium coaxial cables of at least 100mm in diametre that
run from large powerful transmitters into combiners,
filters, dummy loads and eventually head up the tower to the
antenna. This is major plumbing!
We
then ventured upstairs to the mobile phones area and the
microwave links, optic fibre equipment and the trunked radio
services on 160 and 80MHz.
It
was then up to the observation decks and down to the restaurant
for a delicious meal whilst you slowly moved past Canberra.
The
Saturday morning saw the official parts of the weekend with
the WIA Centenary AGM and Open Forum. There were over 150
people at the AGM and it flowed smoothly under the guidance
of President Michael Owen VK3KI.
Lunch
was served and it was in to the afternoon of historically
oriented talks which included early WIA records, formation
of ALARA, early pioneers, experimental methods over the
ages, ARISS history, broadcasting, and finishing with a talk
by Justin VK7TW on modern communications technologies and
the future.
Then
about 200 people attended the Centenary Dinner. This was a
highlight with 10 students from Trinity Christian School
asking questions of Astronaut Tracy Caldwell-Dyson KF5DBF.
This was a fantastic public demonstration of the nature of
our hobby. The keynote speaker at the dinner was given by
the Patron of the Centenary – Dick Smith VK2DIK and this
was very entertaining. There were many guests who came from
all over the world including the IARU President,
representatives from the ARRL, President of the Indian
Amateur Radio, IARU regions 1, 2 & 3, NZART, Bugaria,
Korea, JARL and many others who presented gifts and
congratulated the WIA on reaching 100. It was a great night.
Justin
VK7TW was up early Sunday morning to place a Geocoin in a
nearby geocache and then attended the live broadcast by the
WIA Directors on the VK100WIA weekend broadcast.
Unfortunately the encoding and uploading took longer than
anticipated however the broadcast was uploaded and available
only 10 minutes late. It was great to get so much material
from each WIA director on our National broadcast.
Later
in the morning it was then off to Dick Smith’s property
called the Bowylie Flying Club at Gundaroo which was about a
30 minute drive North from Canberra for the WIA Centenary
BBQ.
Dick
Smith has created a great “oldie worldy” feel to the
flying club and the detail is phenomenal with even a past
presidents board that includes the likes of Bert Hinkler,
Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Nancy Bird, Major Bigglesworth
and Lester Brain. There are restored aircraft, engines, the
flying club lounge and a replica of his Uncle’s amateur
radio shack. There is a narrow gauge railway that runs
around the property and a large hanger with the sign
“Dick’s Toy Shed” proudly displayed on it.
As
the Yaesu sponsored BBQ started four army helicopters flew
in low and landed next to the air strip. These guys were
flying from Sydney to Adelaide and were forced down due to
bad weather and could not get into Canberra. There guys were
invited to lunch and I don’t think could believe their
luck. Not sure what they told their CO….HIHI. We talked
with these guys whilst eating our delicious lunch.
After
the BBQ Dick Smith then told the story of his solo round the
world helicopter trip in 1983 and the dangerous trip from
Japan to Alaska. He had to land on a container ship to
refuel. It was a fantastic story and Dick is a great story
teller. The Army Helicopter pilots were riveted to his every
word.
A
great big thank you was given to Dick Smith for opening up
his property from all who attended and the day wound up
around 4pm with people heading back home.
All
in all this was a very successful and well attended weekend
and great big thanks you to all who were involved with
organising it.
Justin
VK7TW has put together a photo montage of the weekend from
all the photos he has take and this will be shown at the
next REAST ATV Experimenter’s group night on Wednesday.
For
further details take a look at the WIA
website.
(73,
Justin, VK7TW)
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5 May 2010 - 1:00pm & 8:00pm
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VK0IR
Heard Island DXpedition Presentation
Our
May presentation saw two presentations of the professional
video presentation created by James Brookes, 9V1YC of the
1997 DXpedition to Heard Island. The presentations were
projected on to the big screen and we had a great roll-up.
The video had many references and some great archival film
of the original Antarctic Division expeditions to Heard
Island in the 1940 and 50s.
Called
“Outpost at the Edge” it covered the whole DXpedition
starting in the Reunion Islands and transporting using the
French Antarctic vessel, setting up the operating tents and
keeping antennas in the air, the operating, with over 80,000
contacts logged in 3 weeks and then the tear-down.
It
was interesting during the afternoon screening as Ian
Fletcher VK7IF came along and brought the book of the
DXpedition and added a postscript to the film about his
involvement when he was in the Spectrum Management Agency at
the time and undertook an investigation of a complaint about
the DXpedition operating out of band on 80m.
Harvey
VK7HK added some great information about the earlier
DXPeditions to Heard that both himself and Ron VK7RM were
involved with and Harvey is digging out some archival film
that may form the basis of a presentation at a future ATV
night.
We
also had Alan VK7KAJ along in the afternoon session and Alan
told the group of his many trips to Heard Island and his
impressions of the Island both positive and negative…HIHI.
It
was great to see Tony VK7FGMH and Winston Henry VK7WH along
to the evening session, it was great to see you along.
(Justin,
VK7TW, REAST Presentations Office
r)
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25 April 2010
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REAST
Hosts ANZAC Day WIA Broadcast
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10 April 2010 from 10:00am
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WICEN
Capability Display and BBQ
Last
Saturday WICEN Tasmania (South) members put on a great show
and tell session of their capability in the Queen’s Domain
compound.
Items
included a 12m winch up trailer mounted tower, Roger
VK7ARN’s fully equipped trailer with an array of radios,
computers displaying APRS and position data and the trailer
has it’s own tower.
Gary
VK7JGD displayed his impressive portable HF and VHF
operating position and car stabilised tower.
The
WICEN tent housed a impressive display of many of the
portable radio equipment cases that WICEN use that contain a
complete radio set.
An
of course not forgetting Chris VK7FCDW’s contribution to
the day as the WICEN chef for our great BBQ lunch, thanks
Chris.
If
you are considering becoming involved in WICEN activities
then I suggest you take a look at their very informative
website and the link can be found on the email and internet
editions.
http://tas.wicen.org.au/
There
is a great presentation on the day on the WICEN website and
the link can be found on the email and internet editions.
WICEN
Website
There
was steady interest shown during the day and thanks to the
WICEN crew who came along and displayed their impressive
equipment display.
(73,
Justin, VK7TW)
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7 April 2010 - 7:30pm
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Tour
of ABC TV & Radio Studios Wrap-Up
A
great big thank you to Jim Parish and Damien Styles (VK7HDS)
who showed a large group through the ABC from top to bottom.

The
current building started life in 1987 where it was built as
a replacement radio studio. In the early 1990s television
joined the building from Sandy Bay Rd with a focus on News
and Current Affairs and TV was squeezed in to one of the
large radio recording studios and is still there today.
The
tour started in one of four radio studios and Jim described
what was around us in the way of acoustically isolated
studio complete with an acoustically tuned elements in the
walls, multi-angled multiple glass windows which all provide
an even acoustic environment through the studio.

There
is very little “audio” actually in the studio. Even the
microphone audio is digitised and fed into the digital audio
stream along with control signals and it is not controlled
by traditional audio controls but by digital control
surfaces with all the audio switching, mixing, etc done in
the control room.
One
of the key features that is obvio us from the start to end of
the radio and TV chain is redundancy. Ever piece of
equipment is at least duplicated and there are controls that
seamlessly swap to the other one if one fails.
Jim
described a day in the life of the “talent” radio or TV
presenter and what they and their producers do to prepare
their program and then put it to air. Annie Warburton was
doing her evening program in a radio studio just down the
hall and we could watch her through the window. It was
fascinating.
Jim
described the fancy new portable digital codecs that enable
radio presenters like Peter Cundell to sit at home for his
gardening program with a pair of headphones and microphone
connected to the plain old telephone line and be speaking as
if he was in the studio in Lonnie!
The
music used is chosen by a National Music director and he
chooses from a digital library of 1200 tracks and these are
offered to the local presenters to maintain a similar feel
to the radio no matter where you are listening to ABC radio
throughout Australia. These music tracks are encoded and
stored using BWF (Broadcast Wave File) which in Jim’s
words has “gentle” compression and it can better survive
its travel through many digital links, etc.
Jim
also described the talk-back 7 second delay antics that
presenters have to remember and go through when leading up
to news segments, etc.

We
then went into Radio Master Control where all radio signals,
links and broadcasts are monitored with an impressive array
of equipment. Any part of the control chain can be monitored
to ensure a high q uality signal is always ending up at the
transmitter. An interesting device that features in the
middle of the vast array of LCD screen was the phase monitor
for FM stereo signals to ensure that the phase difference is
sufficient to ensure that mono FM receivers actually receive
a signal.

We
then ventured into the TV studio which houses the ABC News
and Stateline sets. This studio has acoustically adjustable
walls, an array of lighting rigs and three remotely
controlled cameras. During the News there are only three
people in the studio – the newsreader, the autocue
operator and the weather presenter. In the control room
there are two people – the news director and the producer.
Much of the program can be controlled remotely with the news
program digitally stored and embedded coding controlling the
vision mixers, cameras and audio mixing automatically.
Jim
and Damien demonstrated the cameras that are being used by
camera operators that store the video to memory cards which
are handed to the Journalists who edit the video using
special software using the time coded low resolution version
then once it is a complete story the software applies the
changes to the high resolution version that is uploaded into
the news system for the News Director to sequence.

Damien
then demonstrated how it is all sequenced together and ran a
small portion of that evening news file to demonstrate how
everything is automatically sequenced and happens in the
studio, very impressive!
Jim
described how the ABC uses the 23M/bit/second channel it has
for all it’s services and how statistical multiplexing is
used to ensure that there is relatively even demand from
each service/channel wanting bandwidth. Jim also described
the suitcase device that can be used by remote journalists
to post video stories via NextG or satellite.
We
then moved to the satellite room and Jim described the
facilities that many of us see in the large dishes on the
top of the ABC building and how the ABC uses these
facilities.

Then
it was out to the very impressive outside broadcast
semi-trailer and the Newseye vehicle with impressive
hoist-able microwave dish demonstrated by Damien.

It
was off to the fibre room which contains the racks of
multiplexers, modulators and fibre drivers to Mt Wellington
and Mt Barrow.
We
finished off in the UPS battery room which can continue to
run critical pieces equipment whilst the generator is
started and stabilised.
A
great big thank you to Jim and Damien for their time and
expertise in showing the group the ABC facility.
A
DVD presentation of the pictures taken throughout the
facility is being created for a future ATV night.
(Justin,
VK7TW, REAST Presentations Officer)
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|
21 March 2010 - Ross Caravan
Park
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Meet
The Voice BBQ – Wrap-Up.
Many
campers started the Meet the Voice weekend early by staying at
the Ross Caravan Park. There were a few issues with the new
Caravan Park owner but these were smooth out after some
discussion and by the end of the weekend he was very
enthusiastic and asked Don VK7AY when the group was coming
back!

Sunday
morning it was drizzling but fined up to a nice cloudy autumn
day. Thanks to Rod VK7TRF for what can best be described as a
pavilion that he brought along for attendees to stay dry
under.

Brian
VK7KBE commented that 76 people registered which is 6 up on
last year.
We
even had one very special guest from Switzerland in Hans
HB9CNM and Steve aka Dr Dag or VK3DAG was the special guest of
Ray VK7VKV.
And
of course there was Dave VK3JKY and Claureen VK3KMB from TTS
Systems who are great supporters of the MTV event and donated
the ATU for the raffle. Thanks Dave and Claureen.
http://www.ttssystems.com.au/
There
were a few pre-loved equipment sellers who appeared to be
doing brisk trade.
The
Sewing Machine Award which is awarded to the most loquacious
amateur on the Sewing Circle Net and this year it was awarded
to Cedric VK7CL.

A
special award was presented to Don VK7AY by Claureen that
recognised Don's constant support for the Sewing Circle Net
and being the driving force behind the Meet the Voice Event.
Cedric then made a presentation to Don's wife, Beth of a
beautiful polished opal for her great support of Don and
allowing him to participate in this great hobby.
 
An
Outstanding Service Award was presented to Justin VK7TW by
Warren VK7FEET for his years of service to amateur radio in
VK7 and in particular in relation to raising awareness of BPL.
(Photo
courtesy of VK7ARN)
The
raffle was drawn and the Antenna Tuner (donated by TTSSystems)
was won by Lin VK7AJ and the Handheld was won by Warren
VK7FEET.
A
group photo was taken to capture the attendees along with many
photos of the event that are available on the REAST website. A
DVD photo montage along with music has been put together of
the last four years of the Meet the Voice event and is
available from Justin VK7TW.
The
BBQ was then fired up and lunch and a relaxing afternoon was
enjoyed by all.
We
packed up and left just as the rain started again.
A
fantastic day was had by all.
Thanks
to all who were involved in organising the day especially Don
VK7AY.
The
only tragedy of the day involved Frank, VK7CK who
unfortunately was sitting in the wrong place when the wind
emptied an awning of water all over him. Beth and others came
to his rescue, and he finished up with wet pants only.
And
a reminder that the Sewing Circle Net happens every day at 5pm
on 3.59MHz.
(Don,
VK7AY for the Tasmanian Sewing Circle Net)
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|
3 March 2010 - 8:00pm
|
Wednesday
the 3rd March 2010 saw a fascinating talk by Richard, VK7RO,
who is our mad keen CW operator and who has undertaken many
experiments to optimise antennas for his favourite band –
40m.
These
trials were conducted at the Queen’s Domain clubrooms and
included creating a vertical on the original Marine Radio
concrete pad that held the large biconical vertical as the
reference antenna. This arrangement also used the extensive
ground plane that is just under the ground around the pad.
Richard
and the Wednesday afternoon group first tried a Beverage of
two wavelengths down through the bush using trees to hold the
wire up for a distance of 80m. This proved to be effective
however, some other ideas were tried from Brian Beasley K6STI
which included quarter wave stubs at each end with matching
resistors.
Richard
simulated these antennas with EasyNEC to predict the
performance and radiation patterns.
Richard
then tried some terminated loop ideas from Beverage as well.
These loops come in all designs like EWE, Flags or Pennants
and Richard tried Gary Breed K9AY’s ideas. Richard settled
on a diamond shape with a single pole in the middle with so
great results on 40m.
Richard
then moved to test another K6STI design called a receiving
loop which rejects vertically polarised signals and only
receives horizontally polarised signals.
Richard
presented a great mix of theory and practical experience with
these HF antennas.
Judging
by the amount of discussion after the presentation from the
many people who came along they found it enlightening.
The
presentation was recorded and has been added to the ATV
library for playing at a future ATV night.
Thanks
to Richard.
(73
Justin, VK7TW)
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21 Feb 2010 - 11:00am
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BYO BBQ after AGM
(REAST Committee)
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2009
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Events/Meetings/Gatherings
in 2009
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2008
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Events/Meetings/Gatherings
in 2008
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2007
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Events/Meetings/Gatherings
in 2007
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2006
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Events/Meetings/Gatherings
in 2006
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2005
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Events/Meetings/Gatherings
in 2005
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Nov & Dec 2004
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Events & Meetings in Nov
& Dec 2004
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