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29-December-2006

Special Events to Mark Jamboree and Scouting Centenary

Special event station VI3JAM will take to the air 2–13 January 2007 from the 21st Scouts Australia Jamboree. Part of the World Scouting centenary activities, VI3JAM is aimed at stimulating interest in Amateur Radio among attending scouts. One Jamboree highlight is a planned Amateur Radio contact with astronaut Suni Williams, KD5PLB, on the International Space Station. The Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), Amateur Radio Victoria (ARV) and Icom Australia are the sponsors. Icom Australia has supplied a two–building ham radio shack with HF, VHF and UHF equipment. Held every three years, the Jamboree is expected to attract 13,000 attendees. Throughout 2007, the Scout Radio and Electronics Service Unit will activate special event VI3SAA to mark the 100th anniversary of World Scouting. Commemorative QSL cards will be available for both operations.

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29-December-2006

New 2-meter EME World Record Claimed

VHF and Above Records

Moonbounce enthusiasts in New Zealand and Portugal are claiming a new EME (Earth–Moon–Earth) world distance record on 2 meters. The 6 December contact, using digital JT65B mode, was between Nick Wallace, ZL1IU, in New Zealand (RF64vr) and Joe Kraft, CT1HZE/DL8HCZ, (IM57nh) in Portugal. Wallace was running 500 W to 4–by–12 Yagis, while Kraft was putting 1.5 kW into 4–by–11 Yagis. The common moon window for both stations is only about 10 minutes long, and the moon is just setting in Portugal when rising in New Zealand, Kraft reports. The EME contact spanned a terrestrial distance of 19,685 km (12,204 mi). This will beat the previous record also held by a ZL, on 2M, with the same mode, EA2AGZ–ZL3TY 13 October 2005 with a terrestrial distance of 19434 km(12,075 mi). Difference of 251 km (156.9 mi).

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22-December-2006

List of Procedures to Follow

Exam

Examiners NZART Headquarters update from the General Secretary, Debby Morgan ZL2TDM, for Examiners. The Examiner information pages have been updated along with a new page explaining the procedures for Examiners to follow. Click on this link to see the new page. Also available, is the same page or information as a PDF for downloading and keeping as a reference –.

Information on these pages are suitable for anyone interested in the exam process or for those sitting the exams as well.

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18-December-2006

\New Zealand VHF/UHF/SHF Records Update

VHF and Above Records

Paul Smith ZL2UGR Acting VHF/UHF/SHF Records Coordinator advises of updates to the records page – new 6 Metre EME digital record. Click on the above link to the VHF/UHF/SHF Information page, then the NEW ZEALAND VHF/UHF/SHF RECORDS 2006 – as at December 2006 to view all the updates.

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17-December-2006

Info–Line No 129

Info–Line No: 129 NZART's Headquarters Info–Line Issue Number 128 – General Secretary, Debby Morgan ZL2TDM says:

SMART Callsign/Certificate Fees

Branch Circulars

Don Ewen ZL1DTE – New ZL1 Councilor

NZART Stolen Equipment Register

Break–In Closing Date Reminder

Contest News

Out and About:

ZL DXList Reflector KiwiDxlist

No Morse

VK BPL Report

Waikato District Proposed Plan

And much more... click on the above link to download the PDF (approx. 85kb)

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16-December-2006

End of an Era: FCC to Drop Morse Testing for All Amateur License Classe

In an historic move, the FCC has acted to drop the Morse code requirement for all Amateur Radio license classes. The Commission today adopted a Report and Order (R&O) in WT Docket 05–235. In a break from typical practice, the FCC only issued a public notice at or about the close of business and not the actual Report & Order, so some details –– including the effective date of the R&O –– remain uncertain. Also today, the FCC also adopted an Order on Reconsideration, in WT Docket 04–140 –– the "omnibus" proceeding –– agreeing to modify the Amateur Radio rules in response to an ARRL request to accommodate automatically controlled narrowband digital stations on 80 meters in the wake of rule changes that became effective today at 12:01 AM Eastern Time. The Commission said it will carve out the 3585 to 3600 kHz frequency segment for such operations. Prior to the long–awaited action on the Morse code issue, Amateur Radio applicants for General and higher class licenses had to pass a 5 WPM Morse code test to operate on HF. The Commission said today's R&O eliminates that requirement for General and Amateur Extra applicants.

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15-December-2006

Angus Tait, ZL3NL, is 2006 Fred M. Link Award Winner

The Radio Club of America RCA has honored Sir Angus Tait, ZL3NL, as the recipient of its 2006 Fred M. Link (W2ALU) Award. The RCA recognized Tait "for his substantial contributions to the advancement and development of land mobile radio and communications." The managing director of Tait Electronics in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tait said he was "amazed and delighted" at the honor. "I was quite overwhelmed that this prestigious organization in the States had even known about me," he said in an interview with Don Bishop, W0WO. Tait was unable to attend RCA's awards banquet in mid–November, and Tait Communications President Bill Fredrickson accepted the award in his stead. Now 87, Tait says he got into the land mobile business more than a half–century ago because of his early interest in short wave listening. In 1999, Queen Elizabeth II designated Tait as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit "for services to technology, manufacturing and export. He's also an Officer of the British Empire. Tait remains active in ham radio on VoIP modes.

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14-December-2006

Amateur Radio Examination Information: Forms & Fees

Exam

As part of the upgrade to the New Rules Explained below, a new page of Forms And Fees has been produced. It includes information on three main areas of interest, namely Applications for a New Callsign; Existing Callsign Holders and Fees payable.

It is recommended that you view this page – to be sure that you are familiar with the Callsigns, Certificates and SMART processes.

Questions should be directed to NZART HQ.

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10-December-2006

Amateur Radio in New Zealand - The new rules explained

To: Students, Exam Candidates, Exam Supervisors, and to All Radio Amateurs:

There have been regulatory and procedural changes involving the General User Radio Licence (GURL) for Amateur Radio Operators, the General Amateur Operators Certificate of Competency and to the Amateur Radio Callsign arrangements.

The new arrangements concern all radio amateurs.

It is recommended that you download a copy of the “Amateur Radio New Rules Explained” booklet and study it – to be sure that you are familiar with our new operating circumstances.

>Amateur Radio New Rules Explained PDF (691KB)

The consequential detailed revisions of the Amateur Radio Examination Question–Bank and the many training documents have been completed and updated.

December ‘06 QSL Bureau (9 December 2006) December ‘06 QSL Bureau by Barry Stewart ZL2RR. Check out the link to Barry's report, which was not published in the latest Break–In, but is available here.

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9-December-2006

Jock White Field Day 2007

Saturday February 24, 1500–2400 NZT and Sunday February 25, 0600–1500 NZDT, 2007.

Has your branch got a team organised yet? This is a great event for having fun and blowing the cobwebs out of your branch. How about a few local on air CW practice sessions prior to field day? Why not organise a BBQ for the Saturday evening?

There are many sections for your team to choose from to enter and for those not able to join a field station you may enter the home station section.

Rules: See the 2005 November/December Break–In for a summary and the contest page of the NZART web page for the complete version. Note that the address for posting logs and summary sheets has changed to 33 Brooklyn drive, Blenheim. Please be aware that the web page will always have the most up to date rules, do not use older e–versions.

Home stations: must use the branch number 0. Do not use your local branch number, if you use a number other than 0, field stations will claim you as a multiplier, which will require a later readjustment by the manager.

Minimum contacts: 25 CW and 50 Phone for a field station to be a valid multiplier for that band and mode. Do not ‘flick over’ to 80 or 40 phone or cw to ‘just give out a few contacts’ unless you are prepared to meet the minimum numbers above! You are not doing anyone any favours if numbers are too low, as that band/mode will not be valid as a multiplier and the manager will have to readjust scores.

Finally, get out there among the mozzies, tinnies, gennies, snorers, barbies, and snarlers and have some fun!

Stuart Watchman, ZL2TW Jock White Field Day Manager 2007

Jock White 2006 Certificates (9 December 2006) I would like to apologise for the delay in getting these out. I was able to score the contest and announce results within a month of the closing date however a significant illness in the immediate family around mid year has put things on hold. I anticipate getting the certificates out by the end of the year.

Stuart Watchman ZL2TW – Contest Manager (Jock White 2006).

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3-December-2006

InfoLine No: 128 (3 December 2006)

NZART's Headquarters InfoLine Issue Number 128 – General Secretary, Debby Morgan ZL2TDM says:

  Very Important Information for EXAMINATIONS

  Subscription rebates & reminders

  For payment of membership fees by bank direct debit

  Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR)

  Contest News

  Forthcoming NZART Contests

  Other Forthcoming Contests

  Revised Results Of The 2006 Doug Gorman Frequency Measurement Contest

  Radio Amateurs to provide Emergency Comms. In Malaysian

  Auto–Subscription and Un–Subscribe

  Dates to Remember

And much more... click on the above link to download the PDF (approx. 100kb)

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1-December-2006

100 Years Of Voice Over Radio

December 2006 marks the 100th anniversary of what is generally regarded as the first transmission of voice over radio, achieved by Canadian experimenter Reginald A. Fessenden. The Fessenden station, located at Brant Rock, Massachusetts, USA, is said to have operated on a frequency of about 88 kHz using an alternator with a maximum power output of about 300 watts.

A century ago, radio – then called wireless – was amazing the world. A century later, radio – once again being called wireless – is still amazing the world in new ways. Surely Fessenden, who later in life was an active radio amateur from his station VP9F in Bermuda, would marvel at the progress that continues to be made in digital voice and other technologies that could hardly have been imagined in 1906.

Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (6 October 1866 – 22 July 1932) was a Canadian–born inventor, best known for his work in early radio. Three of his most notable achievements include: the first audio transmission by radio (1900), the first two–way transatlantic radio transmission (1906), and the first radio broadcast of entertainment and music (1906).

What new breakthroughs will 2007 bring?

David Sumner, K1ZZ
Secretary, IARU