[continued from previous message]   
      
   Radio and Electronics Club. The problem was finding a way to utilise the   
   Amateur resources.   
      
   The first step was to establish a reliable radio repeater able to provide   
   communications throughout the area and to amateur operators in Cairns to   
   the East, Mareeba to the West. Given the nature of the geography and   
   vegetation, UHF CB was not considered suitable and mid band VHF operating   
   around 70MHz was chosen, emulating the way the Army uses radio in similar   
   environments. With the support of the Royal Flying Doctor Service a   
   repeater was installed in their radio hut at Mt Haren, just out of Kuranda   
   and the highest point in the area.   
      
   A bulk buy of second hand Simoco SRM900 E0 radio was made and these were   
   then resold, at cost, to volunteers in the area and amateurs in the radio   
   clubs. Amateur purchasers had the capability to make suitable antennas and   
   the Kuranda Mens Club voluntarily manufactured flower pot antennas for the   
   radios purchased by locals.   
      
   The volunteers, who then became the go-to points for locals needing   
   assistance, could pass requests to amateurs who had facilities to   
   communicate outside the area and thus ensure the messages reached the   
   appropriate authorities. Additionally, the Mareeba Shire Council, which   
   supports the project and has given some hardware for the antenna mounting,   
   added a radio to the network allowing messages to be passed to their   
   Disaster Management group and for condition reports to be requested from   
   the volunteers.   
      
   The final part of the network was to set up a means for locals to pass   
   their requests to the radio volunteers: for these short-range   
   communications UHF CB was ideal and this was backed up by publishing the   
   address of volunteers who could be contacted directly.   
   Information about the network was then disseminated by social media and an   
   article in the Kuranda Paper.   
      
   Fortunately, although we have had heavy monsoon rain, the perfect storm   
   has not arisen so far this year but we are now prepared for the next time   
   it hits the area.   
      
   As an aside, the Kuranda Range Road (part of Highway 1), which provides   
   access to Cairns and further North/South for Kuranda, Mareeba and beyond   
   was so severely damaged by Cyclone Jasper and the rains that it is still,   
   14 months later, limited to one lane in many parts, subjected to frequent   
   closures for repair work and expected to take at least another 24 months   
   for it to be fully operational again.   
      
   Although Amateur Radio is the key to success for this network, it is   
   probably unique in the integration of UHF CB, VHF Land Mobile and Amateur   
   radio to achieve the overall goal.   
      
   A final note.   
      
   The equipment used at the repeater site comprises a Motorola MX800   
   (rebadged Spectra) VHF Mid Band Repeater with an alternative of two   
   SRM9000 radios connected back-to-back on site ready to be operational if   
   the Motorola fails. Power is supplied by a GME 30 Amp Power Supply with   
   battery fall-back to a 138 Amp Hour AGM battery. The antenna, a flower pot   
   at about six metres giving omni-directional coverage, is fed via a   
   Telewave TPRD-0754 Pass/Reject Duplexer.   
      
   Im Howard, VK4BS for WIA NATIONAL NEWS.   
   ------------------------------------------------------------*   
   INTERNATIONAL NEWS is with thanks to ARRL, DX-WORLD, eHam, Hackaday,   
   IARU, ICQPodcast, IRTS, NEWSLINE, NZART, RAC, Radioworld.com, RSGB,   
   SARL and the World Wide sources of the WIA.   
   World Radio Day, February 13th, was adopted in 2012 by the United Nations to   
   acknowledge radio's role in people's lives everywhere. Although the focus is   
   usually on broadcast radio services, amateur radio will be involved in some   
   events around the world. This year's theme is "Radio and Climate Change." One   
   of the many international events involved the Shanghai   
      
   Coast Radio Station XSG, which maintains a Global Maritime Distress and   
   Safety System as well as Morse code telegraph services.   
      
   The station hosted a two-day Cross band Event in which the radio station   
   communicated via CW with amateur radio operators, with each side   
   transmitting on their authorized frequencies while monitoring the other   
   party's frequencies. The event ran from 00:00 UTC on the 12th of February   
   to 00:00 UTC the next day, World Radio Day.   
   3521.3-3526.3kHz   
   7021.3-7026.3kHz   
   10121.3-10126.3kHz   
   14021.3-14026.3kHz   
   21021.3-21026.3kHz   
      
   Amateur Ham Radio operators have picked up suspicious late-night radio   
   signals in coded Bengali, Urdu and Arabic along the Indo-Bangladesh border   
   in South Bengal over the last two months, raising concerns about possible   
   extremist activities, officials said.   
      
   The development comes amidst ongoing unrest in Bangladesh and growing   
   anti-India rhetoric in the neighbouring country. The incident first came   
   to light in December last when Ham radio operators detected unauthorized   
   communications in code from Basirhat and Bongaon as well as from the   
   Sunderbanss.   
      
   Ham radio operators alerted the Ministry of Communications, which   
   forwarded the matter to the International Monitoring Station in Kolkata   
   for further investigation.   
      
   According to Ambarish Nag Biswas, secretary of the West Bengal Radio Club,   
   the transmissions follow an unusual pattern. "The global norm among   
   Ham radio users is that if a third party enters an ongoing communication,   
   they must identify themselves using a radio identification code or   
   call sign. But in these cases, whenever we asked for identification,   
   the signals went silent.   
      
   AUSTRIAN SHORTWAVE SITE DISMANTLED   
      
   What was once radio history in Austria is now, as expected, reduced to   
   rubble.   
      
   The historic short-wave radio transmitting site at Moosbrunn, Austria,   
   has been dismantled. The Austrian newspaper, Der Standard, reports that   
   the demolition in late January marks the end of a long episode in   
   broadcast history. The destruction was described in the newspaper as   
   [quote] "a precise, targeted explosion." [endquote]   
      
   The facility, built during the Cold War Era, had once been home to   
   Radio Austria International. After Radio Austria went off the air in 2003,   
   the transmitter was used by international broadcasters such as   
   Radio D.A.R.C. a programme produced by the German national amateur radio   
   society. After the closure of the Moosbrunn site at the end of December   
   2024, Radio D.A.R.C. moved to the short-wave station in England, which has   
   been carrying it since January.   
   (text version only)   
   A 10,000-dollar grant from the Frankford Radio Club will support the   
   development of a contest dashboard by University of Scranton students   
   and physics faculty members that will be used by students and amateur   
   radio operators including some who have served as citizen scientists   
   for  space research projects led by Scranton physics professor   
   Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D.   
      
   Through the project, Dr. Frissell hopes the University's W3USR Amateur   
   Radio Club members, present and future, will become active radio   
   contesters. "The amateur radio contesters are one of the most enthusiastic   
   subset of ham radio operators, and participants span a range of ages from   
   teenagers to over 90," said Ray Sokola, past president of the 100 plus   
   year old Frankford Radio Club.   
      
   In addition to expanding interest in ham radio and radio contesting,   
   Ray hopes the grant will continue the tradition of scientific   
   contributions made by amateur radio operators over the past century.   
      
   The Argentine Radio Club is hosting its first international gathering of   
   female radio amateurs. The meeting is taking place from March 6th through   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)