NZART Headquarters Infoline Issue 219
21-NOVEMBER-2010
NZART Website: http://www.nzart.org.nz/home/

In This Issue

*From The Business Manager ZL2TDM
*Internet Connected Amateur Radio
*FMTAG Notes For 21 November(2) 2010
*From November 2010 Business Update - Updating Your Client Record
*Radio Amateurs of Canada Vision Statement 2010-11-14
*The Doctor is in: Pacemakers and RF
*Fries With That?
*RSGB to Investigate Mystery Signal
*Metal-Insulator-Metal Diode
*Web Update
*Wellington EXPO-11
*Upcoming Events
*Contest News
==VHF/UHF/SHF Contest Notes
==HF Contests
*Housekeeping
*Attachment(s) for Branches: NZART Headquarters Infoline 219.doc

*******

Please think of the environment before printing this e-mail

From The Business Manager ZL2TDM 

Debby says...

Repeater Licensing Fees

Doug ZL2TAR will have sent all those branches who are due to renew their annual repeater and beacon licenses a reminder to do so. For those who have received and paid this fee, I have sent an invoice back to the branch, stamped as having been paid. If your branch is unsure if a payment has been made, please check to see if you have received this stamped invoice from me. The addresses used to forward these receipted invoices are all taken from Call Book 2010/2011.

Failure to pay the fee will result in your license lapsing.

Many branches choose to pay by direct credit to the NZART bank account, which I do appreciate, however as I am also receiving a considerable number of subscription payments directly into the account, a payment may be overlooked, therefore where possible, please send me an e-mail confirming the date and amount you have submitted for payment for your licenses.

Remits and Elections

Only one month to go before the cut off, for nominations to Council and remit submissions. If your branch is considering submitting a remit, please ensure it reaches this office before 31 December and I have acknowledged receipt in writing either by e-mail or snail mail.

Nominations to Council will also receive an acknowledgement from the Returning Officer Evan Sayer. As Evan does not call into the office on a regular basis, please allow a couple of weeks before you receive this acknowledgement.

Subscriptions Eligible For The Rebate

Only a few more days left for you to be eligible for the $15 rebate on your 2011 subscriptions. If you are paying by regular automatic payment into our bank account, the rebate does not apply.

Talk soon...Debby ZL2TDM

Internet Connected Amateur Radio

Members may recall that the ALO asked in Infoline 210 for input to a paper he was putting together, at Radio Spectrum Management’s request, on the topic of Internet Connected Amateur Radio.

RSM have now completed their review of this topic and have concluded that no changes are required to the current Amateur General User Radio Licence conditions to accommodate Internet-connected amateur radio modes such as APRS, IRLP, D-Link, etc. provided:

1. the transmissions are taking place from an Amateur operator's property; and
2. frequency coordination with non-amateur services is not required.

Normal repeater licensing procedures will continue to apply to those circumstances where frequency coordination is required and/or the internet-connected device is located at a site belonging to a non-amateur third party such as Kordia, Telecom, etc.

Also, in operating Internet-connected systems, Amateurs need to be aware of the provisions of section 5.3 of the Amateur General User Licence (GURL), as well as Regulation 25.2 of the International Radio Regulations:

“Transmission between amateur stations of different countries shall be limited to communications incidental to the purposes of the amateur service, as defined in 1.56 and to remarks of a personal character.”

Don Wallace ZL2TLL NZART Administration Liaison Officer (ALO)

20101117

FMTAG Notes For 21 November(2) 2010 

Correction

There was an error in the map reference for the Branch 33 application, published in HQ InfoLine 218. The corrected version is:
Branch 33 Rotorua has applied for a 2 metre APRS Digipeater at Makatiti Dome, Topo50 map reference BE38 038.75 730.97. An engineering evaluation confirms that there will be no interference to other stations and that the transmit and receive frequency will be 144.575 MHz.

MED Licence Renewals - A Reminder

The majority of Beacon, Link, and Repeater Licences are due for renewal before the end of November. At the beginning of November, FMTAG advised all of the Branches involved and advised that payment needed to be made to NZART HQ before the licences would be renewed.

Our thanks go to all Branches who renewed early, to avoid the last minute rush.

There is now one week remaining before the MED SMART system starts cancelling licences due to non-payment. The MED fee for re-instating licences, lost through non-payment, is $408.89.

Some payments may be in transit, such as bank transfers made on Friday the 19th of November, or cheques posted on Wednesday the 17th or Thursday the 18th, or later.

As at close-of-business on Friday the 19th of November, Licence Fee payments had not been received at NZART HQ from the following Branches:

08 Eastern Southland
11 Gisborne
12 Hamilton
26 Nelson
29 North Shore
30 Otago
33 Rotorua
34 South Canterbury
35 South Otago
42 Titahi Bay
49 Westland
51 Eastern Bay of Plenty
56 Christchurch West
60 Taupo
61 Central Otago
62 Reefton-Buller
64 North Otago
66 Auckland VHF
75 Queenstown
78 Far North
87 South Taranaki
CARDS

Proposals

Branch 74 Wellington VHF Group has applied for a Spectrum Licence on TV Channel 39 for its Belmont ATV repeater, to replace its previous Radio Licence, cancelled by the MED as part of the Digital Switch-Over process. The location is Belmont, Topo50 map reference BQ32 568.79 398.86. All of the engineering parameters are unchanged from those of the cancelled licence.

Final Recommendations to NZART Council

None this time

Comments and Applications

Please send your comments and suggestions on the above matters, and on any other FMTAG matters, by e-mail to:
fmtag@nzart.org.nz?subject=FMTAG_INFOLINE
Applications for repeaters, beacons, digipeaters, point-to-point links, and so on, should be made on the latest version of FMTAG Form 10. The latest versions of FMTAG Form 10, and the explanatory Form 10A, are available at:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/fmtag/
Completed forms should be sent by e-mail to: fmtag@nzart.org.nz?subject=FMTAG_INFOLINE
END

From November 2010 Business Update: Updating Your Client Record

While updating your client record in SMART is as easy as a phone call to 0508 RSM INFO (0508 776463), we realise that it is easy to forget to do this when your contact details or addresses change.

For radio licence and spectrum licence holders the annual fee payment serves as a reminder. However, there are a range of other clients (notably maritime and amateur call sign holders) that do not receive this memory jog.

We are presently exploring options for a more proactive approach to checking client records on a regular basis - perhaps on a 3-5 year cycle.

In the meantime, if you haven't checked your client details in SMART recently, you are encouraged to log on and do so. If you don't know your log-in, call RSM INFO for assistance.

ZL1DK

Radio Amateurs of Canada Vision Statement 2010-11-14

Vision for RAC as unanimously agreed upon by the Board of Directors and Executive of the Radio Amateurs of Canada:

"The Board and Executive of the Radio Amateurs of Canada, committed to the future of Amateur Radio in Canada and to the future of RAC, held a planning meeting in Ottawa from October 29th to October 31st as part of a process to map the future of RAC in the 21st Century. The Board and Executive have unanimously agreed upon a draft Vision for RAC."

See the complete statement at:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/news/2010-news/nov-2010-news/#nov08

The Doctor is in: Pacemakers and RF

Schley Cox, W4AMW, of Owensboro, Kentucky, told the Doctor that he's headed to see the cardiologist next week about a pacemaker. He's already started researching their use around RF and says he is happy to go all low power (QRP), if that's what's called for. Schley mentioned that he might also be able to operate his rig remotely -- perhaps 20 feet away, but he needs to know how to measure stray RF in the shack itself.

Here's what the Doctor had to say:

I haven't received actual reports of any pacemaker problems and that seems to go along with the info on the ARRL Web site
http://www.arrl.org/pacemaker.
Note that there are no power levels (or field strength) limits noted there, nor have I found any on manufacturers' Web sites. Thus knowing the actual field strength level in the station may not help. If it were me, I would start by talking to my physician. She won't be able to give you power limits, but perhaps could indicate symptoms to watch for while on the air so you could take appropriate action quickly if called for.

I would start with a careful RF safety evaluation, as required by the FCC anyway. While the FCC guidelines were not based on pacemaker interference, they should result in a reasonably safe environment. If your station is properly set up -- without common mode feed line current, for example -- most radiation should surround the antenna and there should not be much RF within the shack.

Calibrated RF field strength meters are available, but are quite expensive. Relative measurement is pretty easy -- look at any recent ARRL Handbook. If you had a simple field strength meter running at all times in the station (I'm thinking the diode and microampmeter type that doesn't require power), you could see if anything changed, and diagnose and repair as needed.

Thanks Doctor! Do you have a question or a problem? Send your questions via e-mail doctor@arrl.org or to "The Doctor," ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 (no phone calls, please). Look for "The Doctor Is IN" every month in QST
http://www.arrl.org/qst,
the official journal of the ARRL.

Fries With That?

McDonald's Australia is launching contactless credit card technology in its stores that will allow customers to pay without swiping, signing or using a PIN.

The technology, to be rolled out later this month, follows a number of other merchants moving into the contactless payment space, including convenient store chain 7-Eleven.

"With Visa payWave, customers see speedier transactions and they can pick up their food with just a wave of their card," McDonald's chief information officer Henry Shiner said in a statement.

A number of banks and financial institutions are already beginning to distribute contactless-payment cards, which operate via radio frequencies. Both the banks and merchants are emphasising the use of up-to-date security measures.

RSGB to Investigate Mystery Signal

Many UK amateurs who operate on 501-504 kHz have reported over the past month reception of an wideband signal between 498 and 502kHz.

The RSGB is investigating the matter, but it is possible that it is an early trial of a so called e-Navigation MFSK system that the maritime service is proposing for this part of the spectrum at WRC-12 preparation meetings.

http://www.rsgb.org.uk/

Metal-Insulator-Metal Diode

Creation of a high-performance 'metal-insulator-metal' diode could change modern electronics.

Researchers at Oregon State University have solved a quest in fundamental material science that has eluded scientists since the 1960s, and could form the basis of a new approach to electronics.

The discovery, just reported online in the professional journal Advanced Materials, outlines the creation for the first time of a high-performance "metal-insulator-metal" diode.

Diodes made previously with other approaches always had poor yield and performance".

Read more at:
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=18741.php

Web Update

It is planned to change the NZART Web to a SilverStripe Contents Management System (CMS) during the weekend of 27/28-November-2010. There will be a minimum interuption as the change to the new web system will be transparent to users. Below is some information on the SilverStripe CMS.

SilverStripe CMS

A website editor is a busy person. The editor must be able update the site easily and be confident that changes come out the way the editor intended. Editors may also manage other staff with various technical skills contributing content to they site, and editors don't have a lot of time to train all the contributors.

With the SilverStripe CMS, website editors don't need be familiar with complex web applications—or even know HTML. You can get started in very little time—a typical training session with one of our clients takes no more than an hour or two. You and your staff can quickly start taking advantage of powerful features. For example, you can:

1. Create new pages and drag and drop them where you want them to be in the sitemap.
2. Edit and style content in an editor that uses a formatting toolbar that is familiar to anyone who uses word processing software.
3. Easily insert links, images, Flash animations, and video into your content.
4. Copy and paste content directly from Microsoft Word.
5. View a draft of your content changes before publishing them on the live site.
6. Publish multiple changes to your site with one click.
7. Assign different user roles and permissions for each section or page of your site.
8. View older versions of a page, and roll back to a previous version, if needed.

In addition to these editing features, the SilverStripe CMS generates search-engine friendly and accessible websites. Your website will be easily found by search engines and used by visitors with different abilities and technical setups. All these features are included in the SilverStripe CMS out of the box.

SilverStripe 2.4 Site Editing Overview from SilverStripe on Vimeo.

To see SilverStripe CMS in action, watch the above video for content editors, or try SilverStripe CMS for yourself in our online demo.

Places you may also like to visit:

1. Silverstripe.org - This is the home for our open source CMS and Sapphire application framework. If you you want to learn about or get involved in our developer community, or learn more about how to develop with our tools then this is the place for you.
2. Understanding the BSD License - Here you'll find more information about our chosen open source license, Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), and what it means for you.
3. Philosophy - What we believe in and why we do what we do.

Jamie Pye ZL2NN

 

Some items in this issue, with thanks, from Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA), The Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) and American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Newsletters

From The Radio Amateurs of Canada Web Site

"Amateur Radio exists as a frequency spectrum user because it qualifies as a service. Its continued existence depends to a great degree not on the service it has performed in the past, or on its simple potential for service, but on what service it is performing now and will continue to perform in the future."

Upcoming Events

1. New Zealand Amateur Radio Day
   http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/events/nz-amateur-radio-day/
2. Te Puke Amateur Radio Club Inc. Sale 5-March-2011
   http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/events/te-puke-arc-sale/
3. Wellington EXPO-11 & VHF Convention 23-April-2011
   http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/events/expo-2011/
4. UPPER HUTT NZART Conference 2011 -
   Pre-registration Prize Draw and Update
   http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/events/2010-upper-hutt-conf/

Contest News

VHF/UHF/SHF Contest

The next contest is the FIELD DAY CONTEST, 4/5-DECEMBER-2010
The rules are at:  http://www.vhf.org.nz/VHF-UHF-SHF-ContestRules

Contest Calendar 2010

VHF/UHF/SHF Field Day (1st SAT DEC) 04/05-Dec-2010
Kiwi Digital Modes Group Twin Sprint Contest 04/05-Dec-2010

Contest Calendar 2011

VHF++ DX Weekend Contest (1st SAT FEB)	05/06-FEB-2011
***Boat Anchor Sprint (2nd SAT FEB)	12-FEB-2011
2011 PACC (Dutch) DX Contest	12/13-FEB-2011
ARRL CW	19/20-FEB-2011
Jock White Field Day (last full WE FEB)	26/27-FEB-2011

 

***Future Contests

In the results, received from ZL2KH, for the Nostalgia Night Contest, held on Saturday, 11 September 2010 there was a footnote that said:
"Because of a lack of participation, Mike ZL1MDS and Barrie ZL2LA have decided that Boat Anchor Sprints and Nostalgia Night contests will be cancelled in the meantime."

Housekeeping

Next NZART Official Broadcast is on SUNDAY 28-NOVEMBER-2010

Next HQ-Infoline e-mailed on SUNDAY 05-DECEMBER-2010

Headquarters-Infoline is a twice-monthly bulletin of news from NZART Headquarters. News and items of a general or technical interest are also included that are obtained from various amateur sources. The bulletins are e-mailed directly to Branches, the amateur radio packet Bulletin Board Service and to others that subscribe through the NZART Website at:  http://www.nzart.org.nz/join/e-mail-lists/join-infoline-list/

Past and present Infolines can be found at: 
http://www.nzart.org.nz/h-quarter/infoline/
Where HTML, PDF and DOC formats can be found for the 2010 e-mailed Issues of Infoline.

A yearly timetable of when to expect the Official Broadcast and Infoline can be found at:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/h-quarter/infoline/2011-timetable/

Regards, Jamie Pye ZL2NN, Editor zl2nn@nzart.org.nz