EDITORIAL:
It’s (almost) that time of year again!
I apologise for no October Newsletter, but my Time Machine has broken down again.
Best wishes to all members and families for Christmas and the year to come.

Jim Mac, VK5NB, SK.
By now you would have heard of the passing of our elected Club President, Jim McLachlan, VK5NB, after a short illness.
We’ll remember Jim as the man who quickly and capably took the reins after our previous President, Geoff Taylor unexpectedly passed away in 2005. Jim also spent many years involved in the WIA, both at local and national level.

Our condolences to his wife Heather, and all of the McLachlan family.
John, VK5EMI, Editor and Acting President, AHARS.

Please Note:  Members who have queries or messages relating to Jim or his family are requested to make contact via a committee member, or Lyle Whyatt (ph. 8295 1637), rather than directly contacting the family.
Obituaries to Jim

 *$25 per head, plus corkage. Money must be paid in advance to AHARS' Treasurer (Hans Smit.).

 2008 PROGRAM:
Speakers:  We have had offers from speakers for the following topics:
The Superhet, Radiation Hazards, Electronic medical equipment in a hospital Heart Health unit, and Antenna Construction.

Projects will include: 2m Antenna: talk and construction; SWR bridges, and other (to be finalised).

Construction Evenings/Workshops: Proper soldering techniques, reading circuits, bending sheet metal, use of tools, making panels, accurate measurements.
 

2. ODDS AND SODS

RALLY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA (ROSA), 2007:
This was held on Saturday 11 to Sunday 12^th of August.  

 REPORT: : Fine weather made life easy for operators and contestants alike.
A few AHARS’ WICEN people also enjoyed a fine dinner at the Chateau Barossa on the Saturday evening, sleeping there overnight, in preference to returning to Adelaide then driving back to be at their meeting point at 6:30 am! Note that some operators sleep in tents in and around the Mount Crawford forest. That particular activity is entirely voluntary, and not policy!

Note To New Licencees:  ROSA is a great way to learn how to operate out in the field. You don’t have to be a petrol-head to enjoy the atmosphere and excitement of the rally, either.We amateurs are there primarily to provide a public service (part of our conditions of licence); to make Amateur Radio noticed; and to learn new skills.

Rally of SA, 2008. Why not consider joining the event next year? You don’t have to do it by yourself – you’ll be trained, and put with an experienced fellow amateur, to work as a team.
Dates for 2008 are:  26^th & 27^th July. See Back Page, WICEN for more details.

What is WICEN? It’s the Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network. Our SA WICEN group hasn’t been called out to do its thing (assist the authorities) for some years, but our interstate counterparts gave invaluable assistance in last summers’ bushfires in Victoria. In the case of a major emergency, conventional communications may fail, (including mobile phone networks), and WICEN operators, with their own network of repeater stations, and by use of HF, can step in to relay official messages.

For more information on WICEN, see our Back Page.

JOHN HAMPEL, VK5SJ, SK.
John Hampel passed away on the 25th of August, aged 76. John had lived in the Kapara Nursing Home for the last 10 years or so but until about three years ago held the callsign of VK5SJ. A few years ago, he continued to be sometimes heard on the 2m callback after the Sunday morning broadcast using a handheld radio.
John was an active member of both the WIA and the AHARS. He was one of the people who helped organise the end of year social functions which the WIA used to stage in the days when it held monthly meetings and he was primarily responsible for introducing the AHARS annual Electronics Sales back in the 1980s.
From 73, David Box VK5OV.   

ASSESSOR TRAINING
The second Assessor Training Session for VK5 was run by Fred Swainston at the St John Hall, Unley over the weekend of August 4 to 5.
Participants came from far and wide; from Cowell on Eyre Peninsular; from Port Augusta, and the Riverland, plus, of course, from the wider Adelaide metropolitan area.
Fred led them through the many complex issues that assessors will face in their work.
“This was not what I expected”, stated one participant, “but in fact better and more useful to me”.
Best wishes to the new assessors – may you find plenty of exams to assess!
Thanks to the WIA, Fred and Peter Reichelt (VK5APR) for their essential part in the running of this important event.

WIA VK5 ASSESSOR TRAINING GROUP, 2007

Left to right:
Standing: Fred Swainston VK3DAC, Jim Walford VK5AJW, Malcolm Gardner VK5MJ, Kevin Zietz VK5AKZ, Tony Hughes VK5KAT, Leigh Turner VK5KLT, Steve Baker VK5UQ, Norm Lee VK5JNL, Robin Devore VK5ATT.
Sitting: Graham Holman VK5GH, Peter Horgan VK5BWH, Steve Mahony VK5AIM, Barry Williams (VK5ZBQ).

John Elliott, VK5EMI, Convenor.

 LICENCE MATTERS
FOUNDATION LICENCE TRAINING AND EXAMS TIMETABLE

The Foundation Course scheduled for the weekend of 3-4th of November was cancelled, as there were no applicants at the closing date.
The Training Convenor, Sasi (VK5SN), has suggested the following dates for 2008:
22-23 March 2008;  5-6 July 2008;  and 25-26 October 2008.
Thanks for your efforts, Sasi. Let’s see a few new people at next year’s training.
AREK, VK5DAD:  Arek Dadej (VK5DAD) stormed through the Foundation, Standard and Advanced Licence studies in short-time this year, leaving the committee (and Treasurer)  puffing in his wake. Congratulations Arek.
CLUB CONDITIONS RE LICENCE STUDY: AHARS has set a $100 limit on study reimbursement in any one year.  Blame Arek!!

W.I.A. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
David Box (VK5OV) is the chairperson. He sees the role of the committee as that of “a conduit” for two-way communications between our state and the National management.  Also on the committee are: Peter Reichelt VK5APR, Paul Hoffmann VK5PH, and Graham Holman VK5GH.

NEW COMMITTEE MEMBER.
The committee is pleased to welcome Leigh Turner (VK5KLT) on board to fill the space left by the passing of Jim Mac..
Leigh is involved in the industry, and certainly seems to know his way around the block.
We look forward to his input to the discussions and decisions of our governing body.

 RECENT CLUB TALK:
October. Malcolm Williams (VK5MH) spoke on the Radio Communication for the Outback section of the Indian Pacific Railway from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta. That section of track covers about 2,000 kms, with about 12 fast and heavy freight trains per day. The radio network that ensures the safe and efficient use of the track has 43 sites, linked by fibre optic cable to the base (in Adelaide), and each site linked locally to the next by UHF. Most of the sites are powered by solar panels, with some unwanted contributions by local wedge-tailed eagles……

It’s good to see that “conventional” terrestrial radio still finds use in this day and age.

HAM RADIO, AND HAVING A BACK UP.
In October, with my wife, Deidre, we headed up to central NSW.
I took my trusty Icom 706 II along (for "comfort", of course), making a few contacts via local 2 metre repeaters along the way. At Coonabarabran, we caught up with Hilary and Chris Mills ("Hils and Mills"), and spent the next 10 days in the Warrumbungles National Park, the quaint village of Nundle, and the town of Walcha.
Our two cars communicated by 2 metres, of course (Chris is VK4ZC).
Unfortunately, the "trusty" aspect of my radio departed along the way, so we had to go to 40 metres HF. Well, at least we had a backup.
After bidding farewell, to Hils and Mills, we headed south to Nowra, staying in bushland near the Shoalhaven River. With my 706 comatose on 2 metres, I dug out my hand-held radio and spare antenna, and had a good chat or two on the local repeater. To my surprise and delight, up popped Brett, VK2CBD, via the Dubbo repeater. (Brett works at the Parkes Radio Telescope. I filed a report on meeting him in our Christmas 2005 Newsletter).
The repeaters from Dubbo down to Nowra are now linked. Very handy!
As soon as Brett said "73", up popped Bob, VK2WRJ. I hadn't seen or spoken to Bob since about 1998, when Deidre and I met him briefly at the Belair Railway Station. How briefly? Just time for him, with wife Joan and two friends to step out of the Belair train, shake hands, say "hello", and hop back on the train to return to the city!
Without the backup of 2 metres on my handheld, I would have missed out on these two great "reunions".
If you don't have a backup to your gear, why not invest in some good, second-hand gear, just in case!

MID-YEAR DINNER:
A goodly number of goodly AHARS people turned up to the Blackwood RSL for our mid-year Dinner in July.
As usual, there was much hilarity with good friends, and a great time was had by all.
Perhaps, too, when propagation conditions return to normal, we’ll also be able to talk about the ones that didn’t get away.

Photos supplied by David Banner. Thanks David.

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3. TECHNICAL ARTICLES

Condensed from the talks by Rob Gurr and Lyle Whyatt at our September meeting:

The “G5RV”, presented by Rob Gurr, VK5RG.
The “G5RV”, is a very popular - if slightly controversial - antenna. Amongst the many diagrams and texts that Rob presented, two texts in particular bear noting:
1. (A G5RV is) ”A multiband, multidirectional, High Frequency antenna.
It’s derived from a centrefed wire antenna initially used on 14 MHz as a 3 half wave dipole.
It possesses multiangle radiation lobes depending on ground conductivity, height above ground, proximity to nearby objects.
Its performance suffers from technically controversial and incorrect methods of feed, length of alleged matching stub, and types of feedline.”

2. “In the classic G5RV, the feedline is 34 feet (10.4 metres) of open wire line and in your situation may not be an exact quarter wave on 14 MHz. This length has little relation to the length needed on other bands.
Overcome these uncertainties and use a “G5RV” wire length, and open wire feedline to an Antenna Tuning Unit, and then coaxial cable to your transceiver.
Adjust the tuning unit from band to band as appropriate to obtain a match to the 50 Ohm output impedance of the transceiver.
If your ATU will only match an unbalanced line to a 50 Ohm load (eg, an Automatic Tuning Unit) use a separate 4:1 balun.”
Further information on Rob’s talk will be on the AHARS website by this Christmas.
 

POWERLINE  INTERFERENCE.  Lyle Whyatt, VK5ZNB.
Lyle explained the construction of the various types of powerline insulators in use in our state.
Two good points he made (in this time of “minimum value for money”) were:

1. “In all these interference issues it is good to know that ETSA over the years has become quite aware of TVI (and radio) interference and has developed many fixes for the issues involved. However retrofitting now to eliminate the problems may be quite expensive in this ‘pay for service’ world we live in, and you may have to live with your allotted powerline interference.”
2. “ If there are any disc insulator pole top constructions nearby, and your (RF) noise increases significantly when there is some wind blowing then it is possible that the noise is metal fitting generated, installing the stainless steel wire brushes may fix the problem. This can be done with the line energized. Talk nice to your local EU (ETSA Utilities) people and see if they will co-operate.”
   Lyle’s article on this subject appeared in the September AR magazine.

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4. FEATURE ARTICLE

KAHIBA – PART 5 (final article )

Email: Oct 11, 2005. (FRANCE)
“… imagine that we are only a fortnight away from Holland!! Eva is getting very excited and I'm also looking forward to meeting her rellies and then hopping on a plane to Stockholm to see my mother who turned 90 a month ago.

20 October, 2005. (HOLLAND)
We made it! after exactly 18 months and 13800 nautical miles we are safely tucked away in a little boat club in Weesp, a small town about 10 km SE of Amsterdam. So happy to find this place; it's the most wonderful little old town on a small canal.
After the peaceful and slow-moving Moselle the Rhein was a bit of a shock with 4 knots of current and an incredible lot of barge traffic. Like a busy motorway but without traffic rules.
After the Rhein we entered the Amsterdam-Rhein canal which goes through a lot of the places where Eva grew up so she was very excited and emotional, a bit like going down memory lane for her. Had a lovely evening with one of her brothers, Gerard with wife Yvonne, 40 km south of here in their beautiful home.

“20 April 2006.
Subject: Greetings from Weesp
Hello John and Deidre,
Nice to see you are still following our voyage, not much action lately but that's about to change very soon. …………… Of course you can write about our trip in your club magazine, maybe you can send us a copy when it's published. Great to have the radio working again with the backstay/aerial up. For winlink I have a pmbo in Bulgaria that works very well on 10 meg. All the best and we'll keep in touch.

3 May 2006
Left Weesp this morning on a beautiful spring day, clear skies and 18 degrees! Best day since arriving in Holland. And the best thing is the forecast is for even warmer weather for the rest of the week.
A fantastic feeling to finally set our sails again when we headed out into the IJselmeer after the long winter in Weesp. Two major bridges, one railway bridge and the other the main motorway north from Amsterdam, had to be opened; made us feel very important with many hundreds of cars having to wait while we went through.
Arrived at the pretty little town of Volendam on the western shores of the IJselmeer this afternoon and tied up right in the middle of town. Will spend a day tomorrow exploring the neighborhood on our bikes before heading north towards Friesland on Thursday. Not too much time for sightseeing if we are going to make it to Stockholm by midsummer.
We are now reporting our position on the winlink position reporter again so you will see our position steadily moving north until we reach latitude 59 degrees 20 minutes north in Stockholm.
A quick reminder: www.winlink.org,  click on 'position reporter', click on 'shiptrak', enter our callsign vk4zeg and press 'go'.

20 May 2006
After a fabulous last week in Holland cruising north on the canals through Friesland in beautiful spring weather we finally entered the North Sea at Lauwersoog. It was great to meet Eva's relatives and old friends during our 6 months stay in Holland and thanks to (them) all for making us feel so welcome. Eva's middle brother Peter with wife Annie came along for a couple of days through Friesland and we had a great time together. 
One last lock at Lauwersoog (after over 200 from the Mediterranean) took us up!! to sea level and there we were, exposed to tides and swell again. It's amazing that most of Holland is actually a couple of meters under sea level and it's only hundreds of kilometers of dykes that stops the country getting flooded. Left on the ebbing tide the next morning and force 6 SW wind; perfect for heading towards Germany and the Kiel canal. Kahiba loved it and was roaring along at 7 knots and ended up at the entrance to the Elbe river far too early. A making tide is needed to head up the river to Brunsbuttel as the Elbe ebbs at up to 5 knots. So changed course towards the German island of Helgoland 25 miles NE and arrived there at 2 am after 21 hours sailing. Very happy to drop the pick in the protected little harbour in light drizzle and a very strong tide, couldn't have done it without our trusty radar.
The weather has been pretty awful since arriving here with a series of depressions heading our way. Only about 14 degrees max and gale force winds with showers. We want to be in Stockholm before the 16/6 so can't afford too many unscheduled stops. But it's an interesting little island so we are not complaining. No vehicles allowed, we can't even use our bikes so looks like we'll be doing some walking.
MAP

1 June 2006 (SWEDEN)
After 14298 nautical miles we have made it to Sweden and a life-long dream of mine has been fulfilled. Tied up last night at the small harbour of Gislovs Lage near Trelleborg and the most southern point in Sweden and today we continued 32 miles east to Kaseberga, another small harbour. At this pace it looks like we'll make it to Stockholm well before the midsummer celebrations.
We had a nice sail from Holland along the Friesian coast but the timing was not right to enter the Elbe river to get to Brunsbuttel and the start of the Kiel canal so headed to the German island of Helgoland to wait for the right tide. Ended up having some really bad weather for five days so were happy to be in a safe harbour. Finally found a window between the lows and raced up the Elbe with a 4-5 knot current doing nearly 10 knots at times!
After a leisurely 2-day ride through the Kiel canal we were in the Baltic, away from tides and currents and the big ocean swells. Had a boisterous ride from Kiel and up through the southern Danish islands in 25-30 kn westerlies, often charging along at 7 knots with only a metre of water under us. Stopped at the islands of Langeland, Lolland, Femo and southern Sjaelland before the 50-mile hop across to Gislovs Lage in Sweden.
So now we are just leisurely day-hopping our way up the east coast of Sweden, enjoying the beautiful scenery and eating lots of sill and knakkebrod! The weather is still rather cool, around 15 during the days, but hopefully summer will arrive soon.
The crew is still performing extremely well so I think I'll keep her on for ever! 

Skol everyone! and we'll write to you again and send some photos when we get to Stockholm.

Gunnar and Eva have been “off air” since arriving in Sweden. No doubt we’ll hear from them when they begin their return passage.
Many thanks to Gunnar (VK4ZEG) and Eva for making us feel part of their odyssey.

==  WINLINK == 

 Enlargement of computer screen showing the positions of vessels using the Winlink system
on October 28, 2007. 

The list on the right of the map shows some of the callsigns of the stations (vessels) logged in.
On July 1^st, 2007, there were 427 vessels using the system throughout the World.
The enlargement  shows details of the vessel with VK5APV on board. At October 28, his vessel is returning from 8 weeks in Vanuatu, and heading for Brisbane. 

ENDNOTES

1. For those with Internet, the link to this page is:  http://www.winlink.org/positions/PosReports.aspx
2. pmbo = Private “Mail Box” :
3. Gunnar uses Pactor, (an early Ham Radio digital system) to send/receive text messages.
His radio is an Icom 706, and his antenna a “sloper” – that is, a mast stay.

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5.   BACK   PAGE 

== GENERAL INFORMATION == 

CLUB PROJECTS: Plenty happening here!
2 – tone oscillator. 25 kits sold. Thanks to Jim, VK5JST, for the design, and Lyle Whyatt (VK5ZNB) for his assistance in the making up of the kits. Project complete.
For 2008 - 2 metre Yagi, SWR Bridge, workshops, and more..

WEBSITE:
Newsletter On-Line:  Log into http://www.qsl.net/vk5bar/      and navigate to Newsletters.
The on-line Newsletter is much more comprehensive than the hard copy version.
Note also our Resources pages, History, and Club Program, and new Software Downloads sections. 

VK5RAD:
The Repeater Controller is Barry Williams. All enquiries, including requests for access, etc, are to be made through him. Phone 8339 5683 or email vk5zbq@bigpond.com
Club weekly Net on VK5RAD. Listen in or join in on Monday nights, from 8 pm to about 9:30 pm. Receive frequency is 147.00 MHz, with -600 KHz offset. Master of Ceremonies is Jim, VK5JST.

CLUB  CONTACTS:

  AHARS CLUB  MEETINGS: Third Thursday of the month, starting at 7:30 pm.
  Venue: Belair Community Centre, corner of Sheoak Road and Belair Road, Belair.

 WICEN :                  ( http://www.sa.wicen.org.au  )
Secretary, John Dawes. Email  bravo521004@yahoo.com   Phone 8388 2297.
President, Ian Clayton. Email   Iclayton@chariot.com.au    Phone 8524 5029. 

ARTICLES FOR THE AHARS NEWSLETTER: 
Projects, anecdotes, experiences, ideas, advice, etc, all make interesting and useful reading, and will be much appreciated.  Please forward to the Editor, John Elliott, VK5EMI, phone 8278 1269, or by email (best) to dellio2@bigpond.net.au  

DISCLAIMER: Neither AHARS, the Editor, nor the committee takes responsibility for any errors, omissions, or comments made in poor taste in this publication.

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