It would appear that there could be a chance of VK5 to SE VK4 tropo path on Thursday morning, 6th Oct. Might pay to keep an eye on this.

   

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_aus.html">http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo_aus.html</a><!-- m -->

Had a Yaesu FT857 come in for repair with very sick receive sensitivity on FM mode mainly VHF was reported.
I found it actually still worked but RX sens was about -62dBm and the squelch could not be opened from the squelch control.
Also on SSB HF seemed at a first listen to be still ok but both sidebands hearable at the same tune by. i.e. like a double sideband receiver. (Never checked TX)

Did a search on Google and found many hits. It seems this is caused by breakdown of one or more of the ceramic 455 filters.
Usual configuration is an AM, a wideband FM and a narrow FM. (i.e three filters)(main SSB filters and CW filters not affected) and the FM one is the most likely culprit because it is most often selected (i.e. for the longest periods) and the manufacturers did not isolate the filter with caps so that the diode switching selection voltage is applied to the filter input and output as a byproduct after passing through the switching diode. This causes electron migration and a crystal buildup occurs across the tiny ceramic slices inside, shorting them out. Theres a heap on Google about dismantling and cleaning then out. I tried it and it was about 90% successful but very fiddly and still lost about 3dB more than it should.
Do a google search on ft857 filter problem or ft897 filter problems, and the iceberg starts to take shape, and this only the tip.

Also affected that I know about is the FT897, Ft817, Kenwood TS2000 and there will be others, not sure about Icom but someone said one of their marine radios is affected.
The radios all built between late 90s and 2009. Now reaching the crucial age.

I contacted Coms Centre in ZL and requested replacements. Well that was a waste of time and an argument into the bargain, seems they may not have them, might not want to supply them to anyone anyway because they are so hard to get.

I saw on line someone had found them available on ebay so thought "wonder what Aliexpress has to offer". There they were at very reasonable prices.
So if you have that trouble either go to Ali or contact me as I bought lots of 20 of all three types. So far two types have arrived and running the sig gen over them they are indeed filters and not what i feared, tiny bits of cleverly painted
wood.

Thought I would post it here as there will be quite a few of these rigs among us.

Ken
ZL3OZ

Quote:Rules Released for New ARRL 222 MHz and Up Distance Contest

09/27/2016

The official rules for the new ARRL 222 MHz and Up Contest have been released. The contest will debut in August 2017. Participants will attempt to work as many stations as possible on the 222 MHz through 241 GHz bands, “using any allowable mode.” Competing stations will exchange six-character grid locators (“sub-grid”). Rovers report their grid locator at the time of each contact.

Contact point values will be computed on the basis of both the center-to-center distance in kilometers between the sub-grid square of each station and an arbitrary “band factor,” a multiplier ranging from 1 to 20. For example, contacts made on 222 MHz will have a band factor of 2, contacts on 432 MHz will have a band factor of 1, and QSOs made on 24 GHz and higher will have a band factor of 20.

To encourage participation, the new contest encourages the formation of operator teams. These may be made up of Single-Operator, Fixed; Multi-Operator, Fixed and / or Rover category participants operating within a single Contest Region as defined in the contest rules. Participants may only be on one team, and the scores of all team members are combined.

A statewide power outage is a pretty unusual occurrence and given the circumstances I think most people would be thinking about things other than radio. I wonder if noise levels changed significantly when almost every electrical gadget in the state was offline. Did any VK5's have time to jump on the radio during the outage? Was there a noticeable difference in your local noise level?

Its over Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 November.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/vhfuhf/">http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/vhfuhf/</a><!-- m -->

73, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH

Good to see stations on 2m WSPR testing the propagation and their stations.
I have no horizontal yagi's up for 2m now for well over a year, so its a bit restrictive being the wrong polarity with severe attenuation of signals.
At present I have set up a way I can monitor 2m WSPR with my vertical yagi array at times, this will be beaming Melbourne. Its tricky on horizontal signals but if you have anything in vertical thats in a good spot its fairly easy for me to hear most areas in VK3 east of the Divide and some other areas.
Hope to have horizontal up soon, all depends on the weather at present as its been very wet.
Im still also running 70cm WSPR horizontal at the same time, usually beaming west.

Map attached of activity from 26th of Sept 2016.

   

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has opened consultation on its proposed update of the Australian Radiofrequency Spectrum Plan. The ACMA announced it on its website on 22 September 2016.

The Authority has issued a discussion paper and related documents, referring directly to possible changes, and invites submissions before 24 October 2016.

As the peak representative body for the Australian radio amateur community, the WIA is preparing a submission.

Get the skinny here: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/20.../index.php

73, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has reset the qualification equivalency of the US Technician Licence for new applications to that of the entry level Australian Foundation Licence. The majority of submissions to the ACMA inquiry fully agreed that the Foundation Licence was the most appropriate for reciprocal licensing purposes. Before the review it was set at the highest Advance Licence.

Full story here: http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/20.../index.php

73, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH

Date : 24 / 09 / 2016
Author : WIA Board

On Friday evening, 23 September, at a WIA Board meeting, two directors proposed a motion calling for a financial audit and review of operations of the Institute by a registered auditor for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016.

That proposed motion was amended during the meeting to require at least two fixed quotations that would identify the significant costs involved and that the motion be put to members.

The amended motion was passed unanimously, and a general meeting of members will be called to vote on whether the proposed review and audit should proceed.

The formal notice of meeting will be issued shortly.

http://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/20.../index.php

73, Roger Harrison VK2ZRH
NB: I am a director of the WIA

Hello,
if you go hunting for the VK5RSE beacons, you will now find they are MULTIMODE, in that they transmit a sequence of CW for one min, then JT4D for one minute and then JT65B for one minute.

144.450 and 1296.550 are on air, 433.550 is not back yet due to an antenna fault.

Regards,
Peter, vk5pj