Club News
CONTENTS
The Riverland
The Club is at present fitting out the new clubrooms
with a radio console being built and installed by members. The clubrooms will
be used as a base station for operation on all amateur HF, VHF and UHF
frequencies. It will also have a radio to operate on the UHF citizen band as
well.
Another project is the building of a mobile
radio station in a two-wheel trailer, which will be used for Emergency and
Field Day exercises with other utilities. This mobile radio station will be
used anywhere and it will have the capability to operate amateur HF, VHF and
UHF frequencies, citizen band UHF and emergency services HF and UHF bands when
requested. This station will also operate several parrot repeaters if required
which will be very beneficial in remote areas.
The club is also developing a tracking device,
which uses the technology of the GPS system, computers, mapping programs and
small radio transmitters. With these combinations any moving device can be
tracked on local maps, which are displayed on a desktop or laptop computer. In
an emergency situation people and vehicles can be tracked which is a safety and
coordination advantage for Emergency Services Managers and Coordinators.
The New Foundation Licence
Your Entry into Amateur Radio
What is the foundation Licence all about?
The hobby of Amateur Radio has a
long and proud tradition. The very first radio amateurs were true
pioneers of radio technology.
Amateurs ‘invented’ and refined much of the early radio technology and
were the first to transmit
music, radio plays, and information to the handful of people who had the new
fangled radio receivers.
During the war years amateur radio
communication was silenced, but radio amateurs enlisted as
highly trained and technically
competent radio operators in all theatres of war.
After World War II the hobby of
amateur radio flourished. Radio clubs sprang up in schools all over the
world and kids went home each
night to build some new contraption, or have a chat with someone
over the wireless. These
young people became the mainstay of the technical professions and
developed much of the modern
technology we use today.
Times change, and
country needs more bright young
people to become technicians, scientists and engineers, instead of
lawyers, money managers and
mobile phone salesmen – we already have plenty of them!
The new entry level Foundation
Licence provides a great opportunity for young people to foster an
interest in communications
technology and perhaps lead on to a rewarding career in science,
electronics, and communications.
But most importantly amateur radio
provides an opportunity to communicate with people. Outback
travellers, sailors, retirees, or
anyone with a little time to spare and a curious mind will find amateur
radio very rewarding. The new
Foundation Licence makes an amateur radio Licence very achievable
with a just few hours study.
What do I need to know to get a licence?
The emphasis is on candidates
having the knowledge of skills to demonstrate a practical ability to put
together an amateur radio
station from commercial equipment and operate it without causing
interference to other users and have
the knowledge to be a competent radio operator.
You will also need to be aware of
how amateur radio relates to other users of the radio spectrum, your
licence conditions, technical
basics of electricity and electronics, transmitters, receivers, feed-lines and
antennas, propagation,
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), and electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
What bands can I operate on and what are the modes can I use?
The foundation licence operator can
operate in the bands listed below using the modes listed in the
right hand column. The
foundation licence operator can only use commercially manufactured
equipment.
Item Frequency band Permitted emission modes all bands
1 3.500 MHz–3.700 MHz Amplitude
Modulation (AM)
7.000 MHz–7.300
MHz Single Side Band (SSB)
21.000 MHz–21.450 MHz Hand Keyed
Morse Code
Item Frequency band Permitted emission modes all bands
2 28.000 MHz–29.700 MHz Amplitude
Modulation (AM)
144.000 MHz–148.000
MHz Single Side Band (SSB)
430.000 MHz–450.000 MHz Frequency
Modulation (FM)
Hand Keyed Morse Code
What distance will I be able to work on these bands?
3.5MHz (80 metres) up to 150KM
during the day and up to 3000KM at night.
7MHz (40 metres) up to
1000KM during the day and during good conditions world wide at night.
21 MHz (15 metres) World
wide mostly during the day.
28 MHz (10 metres) World
wide during periods of high sunspot activity and up to 3000km in summer.
144MHz (2 metres) local
coverage and world wide via IPLP and Echo Link.
432MHz (70cm) local
coverage and world wide via IPLP and Echo Link.
Is there a book with all the information I need to know to get a
licence?
The WIA has produced a book called
the Foundation Licence Manual. It is a full colour manual
consisting of 95 pages of relevant
information for those studying, or those who would just like a
reference book for Foundation
Licence Operators.
The manual contains the all
relevant information you will need to know to successfully complete a
training course to obtain a
foundation licence. It also contains a wealth of information a Foundation
Licence operator will need. Items
like Band Plans, Electrical Safety information, operating procedures
such as the Q code, how to
contact you local radio club, the WIA and much more.
Were do I get this book and what does it cost?
Budding candidates can obtain the
Foundation Licence Handbook from several sources. It can be
purchased via the WIA website,
from the WIA office in
The recommended retail price for
the manual is $16.50 plus postage.
The booklet will not be available
till mid November, 2005
What study do I
need to do to be ready to sit for an assessment?
The new licence structure
introduces a practical assessment that is common to the three grades of
licence. This means that once
you have been declared competent by an assessor for the practical
assessment as part of the
qualification in receiving an amateur licence, that competency is
transferable should you upgrade your
licence. An exemption is provided for Novice and Novice-
Limited licensees who exist prior
to the implementation date of the new structure.
Were can I go to attend a course?
The radio clubs will run the
foundation Licence training courses. The clubs are the ideal place to learn
all about amateur radio.
You can meet other hams, attend interesting lectures, and find out lots of
information. If you decide to take
up amateur radio as a hobby you will soon learn there are hundreds
of different facets to the
hobby.
The WIA foundation licence
web-pages will list all the clubs that are offering training and assessment. If
you have trouble finding a
club then send us an email to foundation@wia.org.au
and we will assist
you.
How long does a training course and assessment take?
The standard time for training is
around 12 hours. Some clubs will conduct training over several nights
and some over a weekend.
The practical and 25 question multiple choice written assessment takes
around 1 hour.
How do I find my nearest club?
A full list of all the radio clubs
and their contact details can be found on the WIA webpage, click on the
clubs tab on the top right
hand side.
How much will it cost me to attend a training course?
Any charges associated with
foundation licence training are up to the radio clubs conducting the
training. You will need to check
with your local club to find out what their charges are.
How much does an assessment cost?
The WIA charge for a foundation
licence assessment is $25.00
How much does the foundation licence cost?
The foundation licence is issued by
ACMA and the licence cost is currently $58.00 per year.
What if the club is a long way from my location?
The WIA has made provision to
conduct remote assessments for those people who live a long
distance from a radio club or an
assessor. A specially trained assessor will be able to conduct the
assessment (via the phone) the candidate
will need to be in the presence of a person, such as a local
policeman or school headmaster.
If you are one of these people and you would like more information
you should contact the WIA
What service does the WIA provide?
The WIA is the peak body
representing amateur radio to ACMA, the government instrumentality who
administers the radio spectrum, it
also represents Australian amateurs internationally. The WIA also
produces a monthly magazine set
to members, weekly broadcasts, provides a bookshop with a
discount for members, works
closely with the 100 affiliated radio clubs, provides the amateur
examination service and helps
members with the many questions and information they need to make
the hobby more enjoyable.
Were can I find more information?
The Internet is a great source of
information on amateur radio, the WIA website has a
lot of
information including links to club
websites and a link to the WIA broadcast pages. You can down load
last weeks or up to two year
of broadcast and listen to the on MP3 files. The WIA website is
www.wia.org.au Other
sites are the New Zealand Society of Radio Transmitters or NZART at
http://www.nzart.org.nz, The
American Radio Relay League at http://www.arrl.org the Radio Society
of
If you search the web you will find
thousands of site world wide that have been set up by
radio clubs
and individual amateurs,
after all there are around three million of us.
If I have other questions whom can I ask?
The WIA does not have the resources
to answer a large number of telephone enquiries All
questions
should be directed to you nearest
club as listed in the club section of the WIA website or e-mail us with
you question at foundation@wia.org.au
It is many different things to
the individual two million people throughout the world who enjoy this
multi-faceted communications hobby. Below is a summary of how it began and has
kept with the times to remain an enjoyable leisure time activity.
Who are radio amateurs?
They are ordinary citizens,
including some of your neighbours or work colleagues, and people in more than
100 countries. They are radio amateurs - also known as ham operators, or
amateur radio operators. Many years ago it was common to hear the description
"From newspaper boys to Kings" in reference to Amateur Radio - and it
simply meant that radio amateurs range from newspaper boys (street sellers of
daily newspapers) to Kings, with royalty being among the ranks of ham
operators. In today's terms we can say that Amateur Radio is enjoyed by people
from all walks of life, the young and not so young, and the able and disabled, who meet on the airwaves for a chat or engage in other
interesting activities.
International friendships!
One of the marvellous things
about the hobby is that because radio signals don't stop at country borders -
being a radio amateur is like having an international passport. You can visit
the world on the airwaves; make casual acquaintances or life-long friendships,
without even leaving home. Many long-time radio amateurs will tell you that
some of their best friends are people they have never met in person.
Around the world radio amateurs have set
up their own transmitting and receiving stations at home, in their cars, and
even use hand-held radios to keep in touch while on foot. The friends they make
could be someone across town, in a far-flung exotic country, or even a
cosmonaut on the orbiting Russian space station MIR. Yes, they and their US
astronaut counterparts on the Space Shuttle missions are radio amateurs too!
How do radio amateurs contact each other?
When the hobby began 100 years
ago the only form of communication radio amateurs (they were then known as
amateur wireless experimenters) was Morse code, the same method used by the telegraph.
This form of communication has survived to still be in use today - and has
become an international language enabling people, who can't speak the same
language, to communicate.
Up until the 1920's wireless telegraphy
was the only way to transmit and receive information on the airwaves. But radio
amateurs pioneered voice communications in the mid-1920s at the time when
broadcast stations began.
Although the transmission and reception
techniques have changed over the years with technical developments, voice
communication remains the major method of communicating on the amateur bands.
Emergency Communications
In times of natural disasters,
radio amateurs throughout the world provide support communications, and
sometimes the only communications immediately after a disaster.
When cyclone Tracey hit Darwin in 1974 the
only communication out of the area was by a radio amateur who hooked his
transceiver up to a car battery, and let the world know that Darwin needed
help.
Also in Australia, emergency communications
have been provided after numerous bush fires including Black Friday 1939, and
Ash Wednesday 1983. Another occasion was after the Newcastle Earthquake in
1989.
Often after a disaster normal telephone
systems are damaged or jammed as anxious relatives try and call an area.
The radio systems of emergency services
are also extremely busy, and radio amateurs using their own equipment, and
skills can readily provide additional or supplementary communication.
The role of the Wireless Institute Civil
Emergency Network (WICEN) to supply communications in times of emergency is
recognised in the State Disaster Plan.
WICEN is an organised group of radio
amateurs who regularly engage in training exercises, and provide communication
for public events such as car rallies, the great Victorian Bike Ride, and the
Red Cross Murray River Canoe Marathon.
Packet Radio
In more recent times radio
amateurs experimented and pioneered the use of computer signals on the radio
frequencies spectrum. Long before the Internet was born, they used a special
modem between their radio transceivers (combination transmitter/receiver) and
computer. This type of signal is called Packet Radio, and enables users to
contact other stations, locally or overseas, and even access special bulletin
boards. Packet Radio is extremely popular.
Television
Radio amateurs did the sending
of pictures via radio long before television began in Australia in 1956. This
interesting aspect of Amateur Radio has several variations, from single-frame
pictures through to full-colour real-time video that can be received on a
domestic television receiver with UHF capabilities. There is also software
available that permits fax to be sent over the radio.
Satellites
Soon after the launch by the
former Soviet Union of Sputnik 1, the world's first man-made orbiting
satellite, radio amateurs entered the space age with the OSCAR (Orbiting
Spacecraft Carrying Amateur Radio) series of satellites.
The tradition of designing and building
amateur satellites continues today. They are being launched as a piggyback load
when major communications satellites are put into orbit. International contacts
are possible by sending a signal to a satellite and having it relayed back to
earth providing communications over many thousands of kilometres.
The Fox, the Hounds, and Amateur Radio
The methods used to determine,
at a distance, the source of a transmitted signal, are broadly as direction
finding (DF), and have application in navigation systems.
But radio amateurs also effectively use DF
when they take part in a popular activity called Foxhunting. This involves
locating within a time limit a small hidden transmitter.
In some countries DFing
is called Radio Sport, and involves a lot of footwork over reasonably lengthy
courses, and is likened to a mix of DFing and another
sport - orienteering.
However Foxhunting in Australia often
includes travel in a car, and DFing a hidden
transmitter while on the move. Then the Foxhunters, or Hounds as they're known,
become pedestrians to discover the hiding spot of the transmitter, and you
guessed it is called the Fox.
Foxhunts
can also be held over relatively short courses requiring Hounds to do all of
their DFing while on foot.
How
is it done?
Foxhunting basically uses a directional
beam antenna, both vehicle mounted or out-the-window, and receiver to DF the
general hiding spot of the Fox.
Then most Hounds use a special receiver
called a "Sniffer" with variably sensitivity, to virtually sniff out the
Fox. Those hiding a Fox as they seek to elude the Hounds play numerous cunning
tricks.
QRP
is a real personal challenge
Would you expect the light
from a small torch (equal to the energy radiated by five candles, or about 50
with the use of a reflector), which is switched on in Adelaide, to be seen in
Sydney, Brisbane, or America?
Of course not! Yet in radio terms such a
thing is possible and happens as one of the many facets of Amateur Radio.
This is the world of "QRP" or
Low Power Operation, where the goal is to reach as far as you can with as
little transmitter power as possible.
Why? Yes, it seems strange when 100 watts
is the norm, to want to transmit with five watts or much less – milli-watts. But it is the challenge of making your antenna
as efficient a radiator as possible.
You may also like the challenge of making
your own radios. QRP is a challenge to succeed with limited resources, and for
many of its devotees it satisfies their desire to experiment, learn, and have
fun.
Amateur Radio now and in the future
With the computer and
electronics improving and changing every day Amateur Radio is also changing.
Amateur Radio Operators through out the world are continually developing new
systems, programs and interfaces, which is in line with the new electronic age.
It is becoming much easier and very cost effective for any Amateur Radio
Operator to get on the air. One of these systems is called “Echo Link” which
only requires a computer and the basic Amateur Radio Licence.
For more information on how to become an
Amateur Radio Operator
Contact your local Amateur
The contact for the Riverland Area in South Australia is:
mailto:douglastamlyn@bigpond.com.au
Attend an Amateur
The Riverland
Area meeting details are on this Web Site called “Club Meetings” under the page
called “Web Page”.
Contact the
Wireless Institute of
Other web sites, which may assist
http://www.radioelectronicschool.com/about_course.html
Thanks to the WIA – NSW Div