Weekly news from the WIA:
MP3 edition of news available at: http://www.wia-files.com/podcast/wianews-2026-07-12.mp3 Text edition:

2026 JULY 12 WIA NATIONAL NEWS BROADCAST ON VK1WIA ------------------------------------------------------------*

THE BEST NEWS YOU'LL GET ALL WEEK

THIS LINK IS A VIDEO VERSION OF NEWS COMPILED BY VK5BD BEVAN tinyurl.com/WIA-News-Videos

------------------------------------------------------------*

JOINING US IN WIA NATIONAL NEWS THIS WEEK:-

Angelo VK2NWT WIA Affiliated Clubs Coordinator. -

Peter VK4EA with the weekly WIA board comment. -

Alan VK4SN Manager for the Trans-Tasman Contest. -

Nick VK7WW, Ham Radio and Mens Sheds.

BUT WAIT - THERE'S MUCH MUCH MORE IN THIS EDITION OF NEWS FROM THE
WIRELESS INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA AND IT'S FOR WEEK COMMENCINGSUNDAY JULY 12
2026


I'M EDITOR GRAHAM VK4BB
AUSTRALIANA

Last Wednesday evening, members of the Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania enjoyed an inspiring presentation exploring how amateur
radio can play a valuable role in Men's Sheds across Australia.


Presented by Bob, VK7BS, the session highlighted how amateur radio offers
an intellectual and social pathway for men who are interested in science, technology, electronics and communications, but may not be drawn to the traditional woodworking and metalworking activities often associated with
Men's Sheds. Drawing on his own experiences, Bob outlined how through
trying to provide a structured electronics activity failed and it actually
lead to introducing amateur radio to the Shed. Amateur radio training,
hands-on projects and varied activities can foster lifelong learning, build confidence and create meaningful social connections.


The presentation also examined the practical requirements for establishing
an amateur radio program within a Men's Shed, including management support, dedicated shack space, antennas, equipment and regular activities to keep members engaged. With more than 1,200 Men's Sheds across Australia, Bob demonstrated how combining the social benefits of Men's Sheds with the "hobby of hobbies" creates a powerful opportunity to improve wellbeing, reduce
social isolation and introduce more people to amateur radio.


The presentation received an enthusiastic response from those attending.

A huge thank you to Bob VK7BS and the Channel Mens Shed team for sharingtheir story.


https://www.youtube.com/live/a4k_-NxQaDc?si=C3xkujzDgGrkWY55
(VK7WW)

WIA
JOIN THE WIA
tinyurl.com/yyj87b9y

Gidday, this is Peter - VK4EA - Vice-president - with this week's very short
- WIA board comment.


The affiliated clubs briefing session will be held this Sunday afternoon
where we are planning on covering a number of important topics.


Thanks to Angelo - VK2NWT - the WIA Clubs Coordinator - for pulling this together.


Some of the topics to be discussed are;

inter club discussion - what medium to use?
latest update from the ACMA
Radio Electronics School update
Emcomm/WICEN 5 MHz usage policy
Club support mechanisms - for example - grants and many others

And the board have decided to meet more regularly - now every fortnight -
as we seem to have a lot to get through each month.

Cheers for now from Brisbane, this has been Peter - VK4EA - on behalf of
the WIA board.
------------------------------------------------------------*
INTERNATIONAL NEWS is with thanks to Amateur Radio Daily, ARRL,
DX-WORLD, eHam, Hackaday, IARU, IRTS, NEWSLINE, NZART, RAC,
Radioworld.com, RSGB, SARL and the World Wide sources of WIA.

We bring you news, almost weekly, of space related projects usually during
our world-wide special interest group segment here on WIA NATIONAL NEWS.


No a lot hoes on, behind the scenes, to ensure comms with spacecraft is kept 'QRM FREE"


Every amateur satellite that expects to transmit in the amateur-satellite service bands is asked to obtain a frequency coordination from the International Amateur Radio Union before launch. The IARU Satellite
Frequency Coordination Panel reviews each request, checks the proposed frequencies against existing band plans and other coordinated missions, and where the mission fits the definition of the amateur-satellite service and names a licensed amateur as the responsible operator recommends frequencies intended to minimize mutual interference.


The running status of applications is maintained on the AMSAT-UK-hosted
status pages and it is worth a periodic look for operators who like to know what may be arriving on the bands.


iaru.amsat-uk.org/index.php
Still with a 'space them', a June 24 report has highlighted that NASAs aging infrastructure at Kennedy Space Centre and other facilities will require more than $1 BILLION US in upgrades to safely support the cadence of Artemis lunar missions.


The watchdog emphasized risks to launch schedules and safety if investments
are not made.

MAUI'S FIELD DAY COMBINES RADIO WITH RECRUITMENT

Like so many radio amateurs around the US and Canada, hams taking part in
ARRL Field Day at the University of Hawaii's Maui College were demonstrating off-the-grid emergency preparedness and showing the public what ham radio is all about. In Maui, however, the hams added something more to the agenda for about eight hours on Saturday. John Williams VK4JJW reported the following
for NewsLine report 2540..


"ARRL Field Day wasn't the only thing in the air on the weekend of June 27th and 28th in the Pacific region. Hurricane season was also on its way. So the customary demonstrations of ham radio operations that licensed operators provide to the public during the annual ARRL Field Day took on a new purpose
- recruitment - as the Maui hams worked hard to build a more robust emergency communications network to serve the region in the months ahead.


While amateurs made an extra effort to connect with other hams so they could fill their logs and have a respectable score at the end of the 24-hour event, hams like Bill Heyde, KH6UU, coordinator of Maui County Amateur Radio
Emergency Services, were also busy making contacts with visitors who were not yet hams - but showed an interest in getting a license. Bill told the Hawaii News that he's been licensed since 1982 and so when hurricane Iwa [PRON: EE-VAH] struck later that year, he understood well the value of emergency communications.


That's a lesson he hopes will have been passed on by Field Day 2026 on Maui.

This is John Williams VK4JJW.

The FCC has now held its first spectrum auction in four years.

With an estimated 800 MHz of spectrum earmarked for auction by 2034 by the Federal Communications Commission, the agency recently completed its first auction in four years. According to news reports, the total value of the bids exceeded $3.5 billion.


The offering was for four licenses in three major US cities - two in Chicago and one each in Boston and New York.


The competitive bidding that has concluded was designed to ensure commercial use for these parts of the spectrum. The frequencies are part of the Advanced Wireless Services, or AWS-3, bands used by the major mobile carriers.


The agency is now preparing to accept bids next year for at least 100 MHz in the Upper C-Band, from 3.98 GHz to 4.2 GHz.


Two unauthorized climbers who scaled to the top of the spire above the Empire State Building caused the New York City FM and TV stations broadcasting from antennas there to shift to backup antennas, on the same building but
positioned lower on the structure, for about an hour.


The shift followed building protocols as soon as the daredevils were
reported, heavily driven by the extreme RF present on the live tower, two people familiar with the inner workings of the broadcast configuration at Empire told publication "Radio World."


Many NYC FMs also maintain backup antennas atop a Building at 4 Times Square.

The couple were seen holding a pro-peace banner atop the spire, 1,454 feet above the ground. Radio and TV occupants returned to normal operations once
the pair was off the spire.


After more than 90 years, BBC Radio 4 went silent on its longwave frequency
of 198 kHz on the 27th of June.


Although listeners in the UK and parts of Europe are surely missing such broadcasts as the test match specials and the shipping forecasts, amateur
radio operators' fondness goes deeper than that, as we hear from Jeremy Boot G4NJH, in this story sourced to NewsLine.

"You can still hear BBC Radio 4 programs on FM radio, DAB digital platforms, where the sounds are clearer and do not suffer from any of long waves
notorious noise. To amateur radio operators, however, the scratchy sound emanating around the Droitwich transmitting station's signal was part of the long wave station's charm.


Preparing for the loss, hams at the Radio Society of Great Britain and the
BBC Amateur Radio Group activated special event stations during the week leading up to the final shutdown.


Appearing on BBC One's morning TV show, BBC Breakfast, the RSGB's Nick Totterdell, G4FAL, told the programme hosts that it was the older
technology's ability to function reliably that appealed to so many radio amateurs. Nick said that many hams would, for example, use the longwave transmissions' precise frequency as a frequency reference when they were building test equipment.


This is Jeremy Boot G4NJH."

To hams, BBC Radio 4 was less about progress in the modern world than
endurance through the decades. The only thing that endures - for now - on 198 kHz is silence.

From Socrates To AI: The Human Craft Always Wins.

Technologys critics have always predicted disaster Socrates thought writing would ruin human memory.

AI is no different.

But for radio professionals, the question isnt whether artificial
intelligence can write copy or generate content. Its knowing when the exclusively human instincts built behind a microphone matter most and understanding that what moves the audience still starts and ends withthe listener.


Now A Study Finds AI Voices Equal Humans On Sound, Not Trust.

Radio listeners generally cant distinguish AI-generated voices from human
voice actors in blind tests, according to a new study from Crowd React Media.


However, perceptions shift once listeners learn a voice was AI-generated.

The analysis finds AI matches human performance on nearly every measure,
while trust, disclosure and humour not sound quality remain the technologys biggest challenges for broadcasters


-------------------------------------------------------------------

OPERATIONAL NEWS -
----------------------------

NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2026
WIA contest page :- wia.org.au/members/contests/about/-----------------

WRTC 2026 Competition in the United Kingdom is percolating right now.

July 8 - 13 this is the 10th WRTC, which relocates to a new host nation every four years and is often referred to as the Olympics of amateur radio contesting.


The WRTC event is designed to provide a platform for high-achieving ham radio contesters to compete on a level playing field in the same geographic region using identical antennas, output power and other operating conditions. The
goal is demonstrate international goodwill and friendship in the true ham spirit. It also allows youth operators to demonstrate their skills within
this highly competitive event.


There are 50 teams of two, each with an assigned referee. Each team is allocated an HF operating site in south-eastern England, where they are
also taking part in the 24-hourIARU HF Championship, making this WRTC a
contest within a contest.

(arrl letter)
---------------

JULY 18 VK TRANS TASMAN CONTEST

HI, This is Alan VK4SN, Manager for the Trans-Tasman Contest.

The VK Trans-Tasman Low Band Contest is on Saturday evening on the 18th July.

This Six hour contest starts at 0800z and goes to 1400z. That's 6pm till Midnight AEST.


Categories include SOHP, SOLP SOQRP, M1 and M2. A special Youth Overlay Category is available for those 25 years and under.


Bands only include 160 80 40m while working VK & ZL on SSB CW RTTY/PSK.
Voice operators please keep out of the digital section on 80m from 3570 to 3600KHz otherwise zero points may be allocated to QSO's worked in that area
or be disqualified if running continuously.


Please exchange RS(T) and a serial number

The contest is divided into 3 x 2 hour blocks. Work a station once per band
and mode in every block. Remember that each new prefix is a multiplier to the score.


For detailed information please visit the WIA contest pages and remember to
add the contest to your diary. Have Fun & GL

73 de Alan VK4SN.
---------------

JULY 25-26 RSGB IOTA CONTEST

Yes to close off July, there is the Islands on the Air Contest which runs
from 12:00 UTC on Saturday 25 July to 12:00 UTC on Sunday 26 July with CW and phone activity on 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 m.


The exchange is an RS or RST report and a serial number, with stations on islands sending their IOTA reference number.


Get your easy to understand rules tinyurl.com/bp5sbhen
(sarl)
----------------

AUGUST 15-16 RD CONTEST
----------------

AUGUST 29 - 30 ALARA CONTEST
------------

SEPTEMBER 19-20 VHF UHF FIELD DAY
-----------

OCTOBER 3-4 OCEANA SSB CONTEST
-----------------

OCEANA CW CONTEST is OCTOBER 10 - 11
-------------

OCTOBER 24-25 CQWW SSB
-----------------

NOVEMBER 28-29 CQWW CW CONTEST
-------------

DECEMBER 1-31 VK YOTA contest.
-------------

DECEMBER 12-13 ARRL 10 METER CONTEST

-----------------------------------------------------------------
NOW LET'S OPEN THE DX WINDOW TO THE WORLD ------------

A special event organized by Rseau des metteurs Franais will celebrate the
Tour de France. Each stage of the tour will feature its own callsign. Both men's and women's tours will be represented July 4th through August 9th.


For over a century, the Tour de France cycling race has embodied excellence, self-improvement, and the connection between regions. Through this
initiative, we aimed to spread the radio amateur spirit throughout France, mobilizing operators, radio clubs, and local associations. The promotion of know-how, team spirit, and friendly competition reminds us of our commitment
to service, knowledge transmission, and innovation.


See the TM00TFR QRZ page for more information about operating modes and
awards.

(ARD)
TM 113 TDF (4-18 July) and
TM 113 TDFH (19-26 July) are two special callsigns being used during this year's 113th edition of the Tour de France. Look for activity on various bands SSB, CW and digital modes.

QSL for both of these callsigns via eQSL.
(425dxnews)
------------------
-------------

AUGUST 8 WILL BE ONE "PURRFECT DAY"

Cat Pix on the Air (CPOTA) 2026 will celebrate International Cat Day by transmitting images of cats via SSTV.


The internet was made for sharing funny cat pictures and movies. On August
8th, International cat day, so will the radio waves! Ham radio amateurs will celebrate this day with a special SSTV event using cat pictures only.


This contest will score the number of QSOs made by each operator. Special callsigns PD6MEOW (Netherlands) and N1C (US) are already registered.
Additional special callsigns may be registered with the event.

cpota.app/
(ARD)
------------

ZL 100 C is the callsign celebrating the centenary of NZART
the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters which was formed
on 16 August 1926.

The callsign is valid until 6 August NEXT MONTH AUGUST 6 ONLY.

QSL via the bureau and LoTW.

(425dxnews)
-------------

SOTA Croatia is marking 10 years. Listen for the special callsign
9 A 10 SOTA. The callsign is on the air through to 2026, the 30th of
September 2026 to be precise.

A certificate will be available for contacts made between the 1st of October and the 31st of December THIS YEAR.. QSL via LoTW.

(newsline2501)
-------------
Tom VK2TBC will be active as VK 0 TBC from Casey Station, Antarctica
until December. He will operate SSB and FT8.
vk2tbc.com
(425dxnews)
-------------
-----------

To mark the 90th anniversary of All India Radio, India's state-owned public radio broadcaster, AT 90 VANI is active until August 16.


SSB and FT8 on 20, 15, 12 and 10 metres.
QSL via the bureau.
(425dxnews)
--------------
--------------------------------------------------------------

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- ASTRONOMY (and Wireless Weather)

Astronomers have released one of the largest and most detailed images of the Milky Way yet, containing over 60 million stars and revealing dozens of exoplanet systems.


The image provides unprecedented data for studying galactic structure and stellar populations.


The link is in the text edition of this, your WIA NATIONAL NEWS. tinyurl.com/mvxte5wt
(ANS)
NASA is facing a repair bill of between $4.1 and $4.6 million US for Deep
Space Station 14, its 70-meter RF antenna in California - all because of what it has found to be inadequate procedures and inadequate training of workers


A report by the agency said that its investigation found a number of primary causes, including human error, weaknesses in software and an undetected
failure in the antenna's hydraulic limit system, which is its final
mechanical safeguard.


The incident that took the antenna out of service occurred last September as
it was tracking the Juno mission for deep-space exploration focused on
Jupiter. The antenna over-rotated, adding stress to structural supports and cables and damaging water lines feeding the antenna's fire-suppression
system.


The antenna, a key part of the Deep Space Network, is expected to be out of service until October of 2028.

(newsline2539)
Imagine, for a moment, if we could actually repel those severe solar storms that knock out our ability to communicate? Researchers at Boston University have already simulated that scenario - with success!


These researchers believe they have developed an effective line of defence against geomagnetic storms that would protect radio communications, GPS systems, electrical grids and satellites from disruption. It's not quite a vaccination against storms, but it provides what the scientists are calling a bold line of defence. The system, known as StormWall, has emerged from
research and computer simulations by a Boston University team led by
associate engineering professor Brian Walsh.


Using computer modelling, the researchers said they have found a way to
fortify earth's natural magnetic defences against geomagnetic storms by deploying a half-dozen spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. The six spacecraft would be used to release sodium, calcium, lithium, barium and other materials into space for ionization by the sun, creating an artificial cloud of electrically charged plasma. Writing in the journal Space Weather, the team said that process would slow the storm's rate of penetration into our
planet's magnetic shield, reducing its power by more than 50 percent.


StormWall, of course, resides only in theory at the moment but the
researchers believe it shows promise globally. They said the risk of contamination from the released chemicals would be insignificant because
solar wind would disperse the material within several hours, preventing any entry into the Earth's atmosphere.

(NewsLine2540)
WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - CW

Holding a tall pole and lightweight antenna wires which eventually connect to Morse keys, a group of amateur radio fans attempt to call strangers on the other side of the world.


They send a short message from a hill on the outskirts of Bristol, asking,
"Is anyone out there?" They wait, and silence. Suddenly, they hear a series
of dits and dahs.


Someone has picked up this message from Shirehampton Amateur Radio Club.

A person thousands of miles away has heard them, and a conversation begins.
It is this human contact, after transmitting into the unknown, that creates
the "absolute magic" of using the code, said the chair for the European
Network of Morse Clubs. He explained that younger people are "coming with
sheer curiosity and then falling in love with it". as clubs are expanding and changing all the time.


bbc.com/news/articles/cwye0dlzgejo
(eHam)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - DIGITAL.

GLOBAL REGISTRY BEGINS VERIFICATION OF DMR IDS

As DMR radio grows more popular each year, the registry in charge of users'
ID numbers has launched a verification process that it hopes will ultimately avoid a shortage of available numbers.


Faced with managing a finite universe of digital radio ID numbers, the global registry RadioID dot net (RadioID.net) has begun contacting users to verify their assigned IDs. An announcement on the registry's website said that the verification process, which began on the 1st of July, is expected to lead to the deactivation of ID numbers for account holders who do not respond to
emails sent to them annually on the anniversary of an account's creation.


Ultimately, deactivated IDs will be marked for removal from the database and will then become available for reassignment to new users.


For more details about the process, read the community notice posted at
RadioID dot net (RadioID.net)

(Newsline2540)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - FINAL FRONTIER
AMSAT-VK Secretary - secretary@amsat-vk.org

The University of Victoria's MARMOTSat has successfully launched into orbit, marking an important milestone for one of the projects funded through the Canadian Space Agency's CubeSats Initiative in Canada for STEM (CUBICS).


MARMOTSat was launched aboard SpaceX's Transporter-17 rideshare mission and deployed into a special orbit for consistent Earth observations, where it
will soon begin its scientific mission. The CubeSat, made up of three cube-shaped units, was designed and built by a team of 57 students and researchers between the University of Victoria's Centre for Aerospace
Research and the UVic Satellite Design engineering team.


Using an innovative approach to atmospheric radio measurements, the mission will study the ionosphere to better understand how its composition and structure are influenced by human activities associated with climate change.


MARMOTSat is one of nine CubeSat projects supported through the CUBICS initiative, which provides hands-on experience in space science and
technology to the next generation of Canadian space professionals. Through
this initiative, post-secondary students are involved in every stage of the project, from designing and testing the CubeSat to preparing for mission operations. Now that MARMOTSat has launched, the team will begin operating
the satellite and collecting data from orbit, building on years of work by students, researchers and industry partners.


The amateur payload supports four distinct experiments, and the team
stresses that it is available to all properly licensed operators worldwide.

Because several functions share the same frequencies, the experiments are mutually exclusive and never run simultaneously. The published frequencies
are a VHF digipeater uplink and downlink on 145.875 MHz; a CW telemetry
beacon on both 145.875 MHz and 29.410 MHz; and a DVB-S2 digital video
beacon and a linear-frequency-modulation sounding downlink, both on 29.410
MHz in the 10-meter amateur satellite allocation.
(AMSAT NA)

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS - IOTAiota-world.org/
-------------
Ellesmere Island, NA-008

Pierre, VK3KTB is active as VY0ERC from the Eureka Amateur Radio Club station on Ellesmere Island, NA-008, until Wednesday the 22nd of July.


Now in this case I DON'T THINK SO.

VK3KTB is the official amateur radio callsign for Tim Broomhead, well-known
in the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) community for helping build the
IT systems for WIA awards and online logs.


The callsign is sometimes mistakenly confused with or linked to Pierre (often using VY0ERC), an operator who is famous for broadcasting from the Eureka Weather Station on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, Canada.


So it's PIERRE operating as VE3KTB, CW, FT8 and SSB on various bands.

QSL VE 3 ktb via Logbook of the World and OQRS.

(rsgb but call corrected by vk4bb)

------------------

OC REMINDERS

Team KH8A will be active from Pago Pago (OC-045), American Samoa from
29 October to 13 November. Plans are CW, SSB, FT8 (MSHV) and RTTY on
160-6 metres with four stations 24/7.

QSL via Club Log's OQRS, or via DL4SVA; BUT full LoTW upload will be after
six months.

kh8a.mydx.de/updates.
(425dxnews)

---------------

WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RADIO AMATEUR YOUNG TIMERS - YOTA
(Youngsters On The Air)
ham-yota.com/category/yota-region-3/
facebook.com/groups/YOTAOC/
youtube.com/channel/UClAapljf0VQ751sOgu2IzaA
YOTA AMERICAS CAMPERS WRAP UP HUNTSVILLE ADVENTURES

NEIL/ANCHOR: The YOTA Americas Regional camp in Huntsville, Alabama blasted
off on Sunday, June 14th, immediately launching campers into ham radio and space-related adventures. Andy Morrison K9AWM tells us more.


ANDY: Thirty-five campers arrived in Huntsville, Alabama from 17 states and 3 countries - the US, Mexico, and Argentina - but their focus quickly turned to matters high above the earth. They enjoyed an ARISS contact with astronaut Chris Williams, KJ5GEW, and a surprise visit from Penny Pettigrew, payload communications manager and others from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre Payload Operations team. Closer to Planet Earth, campers sent up a balloon to near-space, topping out at 93,500 feet as it signalled as W4Y-11 on APRS. The balloon carried a successful biological experiment from Xavier University and
a radiation experiment using Polaroid film. Two pico balloons - W9EAR-12 and KM4ZIA-1 - were also launched.


In between sharpening their kit-building skills and getting acquainted with
how to work DXpeditions and use the DX clusters, they operated special event station W4Y, visited the US Space & Rocket Centre and the SIGNALS museum. The week ended with an intercultural evening which brought everyone back down to earth.


Want to sample some of the fun vicariously? Visit the Youth on the Air
channel on YouTube. Bring your own refreshments.


This is Andy Morrison K9AWM.


WW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS --- RESCUE RADIOwicen.org.au facebook.com/WICENNSWx.com/wicennsw
groups.io/g/vk4-emcomms

Hi - this is John, VK4JPM - wearing my hat as broadcast engineer and communications watcher.


Last weekend, largely because I was listening to community radio stations, I picked up a promo for Ausalert, the emerging system that will be able to send an emergency alert to every mobile phone in Australia... watch for the big
test around 1400 on 27 July.


And as I write this on Wednesday 8 July, we awoke to a news report that Telstra's mobile phone network was suffering a glitch that impacted
reportedly thousands of mobile phones. The actual effect of the impact
might have been a bit understated, given that a few hours later reports
emerged that some regional and intercity train services in Victoria and New South Wales had been stopped with a disruption to be measured in hours.
Police have publicly stated that 000 was not impacted, but simultaneously advised that emergency services might not be accessible from a Telstra phone, and that you might have to use a landline... assuming that anyone actually
has one.


I don't know right now what could possibly have gone wrong with the phone network, and anyone who works with communications will know that the
technology involved would be redundant to the hilt with failure potential assessed as beyond one in 100 million. Powerball has way better odds than that. And yet failures occur, and when they do the failures are big.


These two mentions - Ausalert, and the Telstra network - have something in common. The expectation of everyone involved, as provider or participant, is that the services are guaranteed to be available and operational when needed.


Whenever I ask our local council or events organisers how much help they
would like from our amateur radio club, the answer these days is "we're OK.
We have our own handhelds. We have access to the Government Radio Network. We have services that are well provisioned". And that's hard to argue with, but the trust might be misplaced. What's the plan B? What happens when regular networks and communications fails. If a phone network failure can take out trains, then can it disrupt an event and is the official infrastructure truly guaranteed to be available in an emergency?


And that's where we come in as informed, experienced and suitably equipped amateur radio operators. It's still possible for an emergency to occur that will partially or massively disrupt official communication, and we're one of the available backstops.


So here's the message:
* check your gear to ensure that it's working and able to be deployed without reliance on mains power. Even better if you have enough power to run a day
or so.

* always have charged batteries for all of those handhelds that are
multiplying in your drawer

* be involved with a local emergency communications group - get on the nets, join video meetings, and do an event occasionally

* support our hobby by being ready to be involved in a real emergency
situation should one occur.

* and check out ausalert.com.au to understand what's being rolled out, and be one of the first in your area to check out and build an understanding of Ausalert so that you can answer all those tricky techy questions and look really smart.


It's a PR opportunity for those of us involved in emergency comms to show
that Amateur Radio is far from dead, and just the right community resource
when Plan A and Plan B haven't worked.


I'm John VK4JPM and you can reach me via the Darling Downs Radio Club. Drop
a line to secretary@ddrci.org.au I'd love to know what you think.

Rescue and recovery efforts are still underway in Venezuela following twin earthquakes that struck the country at the end of last month. Amateur radio operators around the world are helping with emergency communications.


All amateurs are still being asked to keep 7135 kHz in the 40-meter band
clear for emergency communications in the wake of those earthquakes.


Death tolls are still rising to more than 1,450. Over 3,100 were injured and almost 13,000 people have been displaced. The U.S. Geological Survey now estimates more than 10,000 casualties are possible.

(arrl)

------------------------------------------------------------*
IT'S A DATE

Clubs are welcome to email text with audio for this section, nationalnews@wia.org.au

Details of all WIA affiliated clubs and societies can be found
on the WIA website, including email addresses and website links.

--------------------- SOCIAL SCENE 2026 ------------------

VK - WIA CLUB PRESIDENTS WEBINAR 4pm JULY 14 (vk2nwt)

Hi. This is Angelo Giuffre, VK2NWT WIA Affiliated Clubs Coordinator.

The WIA Affiliated Clubs Presidents Webinar will go ahead this afternoon at 4:00 PM AEST. An email was sent to all Club presidents on Thursday which included the Teams meeting link and the final agenda for the meeting.


If for some reason any club president has not received the invitation, please contact me promptly via email using the following email address: clubs@nationaloffice.wia.org.au


All WIA Affiliated Club Presidents are encouraged to join the meeting and as mentioned previously, can delegate another Club committee member to attend in their place if they are unable to.


As a reminder, these meetings are an excellent opportunity to engage with the Board of the WIA and other Club Presidents to both view and discuss some of
the items the WIA is working on for the benefit of all Amateur Radio
operators in Australia. I strongly encourage all club presidents to attend
the meeting for the benefit of their respective clubs and look forward to seeing you at the meeting.


This is Angelo, VK2NWT for WIA National News.
VK4 - Sunshine Coasts SUNFEST 2026 25 Peachester Rd Beerwah
on Saturday September 19 (vk4vp)

VK3 - Bendigo Amateur Radio & Electronics Club RadioFest.
Sunday 11 October, Bendigo East Hall, Lansell Street (vk3gtv)
VK - VKFF National Get Together 30th October - Sunday 1st November
Albury, New South Wales. (vk7tw)
VK7 - Tassie Ham-E-Con Radio Conference Nov 7 and 8 UTAS Sandy Bay
Campus. reast.asn.au/news-events/tassie-ham-radio-conference/

VK3 - Southern Peninsula Amateur Radio Club Giant Car Boot Sale
November 15 Dromana 3 Drive-In Theatre Nepean Hwy 10am (wiacal)
VK5 - Adelaide Amateur Radio & Electronics Car Boot Sale Dogs SA
Showground, Cromwell Road, Kilburn 10.00am. November 21. (wiacal)

The final final

Submitting news items

If you would like to submit news items for possible inclusion
in the VK1WIA broadcasts, please email your item in text to nationalnews@wia.org.au and don't JUST send url's links or
posters, but take the time to pen YOUR contribution.

To submit audio, email nationalnews@wia.org.au
and send BOTH the audio and the text

We would appreciate items certainly no longer than 1.5 mts in
length as we only have a half hour.

Remember the sooner you submit material the more the
likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition of
WIA National News.

Each recorded item will only be broadcast once, if you want a couple
of mentions, please submit different slants to keep your
event 'fresh' and always if the news room is to read your
item --- write it in the 3rd person. (First if YOU are
reading your own item). If you are mentioning your own name / call
in the story, say something like "and myself, Pat, vk11abc"

Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/

A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't
plug DEALS from commercial traders "on air", but we at the
WIA will put your supporters 'goods' in this text edition
"no worries."

We will not give blatant 'plugs' to raffles, be it raffles
at the event or "on-line".

------------------------------------------------------------*

Oh... and to contact us with your news because
If It Matters To You It Matters To Us!
Click the links below to download the most recent edition of
National News, BUT this is ONLY the backup site!

WIANEWS backup thanks to Brendan VK4BLP can be found on
wiaq.org.au

BACKUPS OF THE BACKUP!! thanks to Tony VK7AX
www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/

wia.org.au/members/broadcast/wianews/ (This is the link
to the original text version and original audio on wia site) ------------------------------------------------------------*

WIANews - we've reported...YOU decide.

TWITTER twitter.com/VK1WIA

Societies and Club News Letter Editors can EXCHANGE a feed
prior to the actual broadcast date, e-mail
nationalnews@wia.org.au

Call-backs follow the RF editions, but also for text readers
you may lodge a quick reply to let us know you read it, who
knows, you might even get a "cheerio call".

Thanks to our dedicated band of broadcast volunteers who
utilize their time and equipment in bringing you this weekly
broadcast.
Who and where are they?
wia.org.au/members/broadcast/where/
Promote your local rebroadcast; details on wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/
The purpose of "WIANews" is to rapidly provide news of
interest to WIA affiliated clubs and active amateurs residing
in Australia and the globe.

We strongly encourage membership in the Wireless Institute of
Australia and participation in the activities of local clubs.
Opinions expressed in "WIANews" are those of the writers who
submit material and do not necessarily reflect those of the
rebroadcasters, nor the National WIA, but IF broadcast, are
done so in the spirit in which they were submitted."

If you would like to see the call-backs reported each
broadcast, OR have call-backs to contribute to the National
News call back tally then please send through your call-backs
to callbacks@wia.org.au

How do I join this REBROADCASTERS List?
(subscribe for an automatic feed.)
Email to vk1wia-broadcasters-join@lists.wia.org.au
from the email account that you wish the emails to go to.

How do I join this National News List?
(subscribe for an automatic weekly feed.)
Email to vk1wia-news-join@lists.wia.org.au
from the email account that you wish the emails to go to.
How do I leave this National News List? (unsubscribe your
weekly feed)
Open mail program which sends mail from the address you want
to unsubscribe from. Send unsubscribe to the list
unsubscribe address vk1wia-news-leave@lists.wia.org.au
You will be sent a confirmation mail and must follow the
instructions given in that mail to complete the
unsubscription.

Once your unsubscription has been processed, you will
probably receive a message confirming your unsubscription
from the list and at that point you should stop receiving
messages.

------------------------------------------------------------* _______________________________________________
Vk1wia-news mailing list
Vk1wia-news@lists.wia.org.au http://lists.wia.org.au/mailman/listinfo/vk1wia-news


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.18
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)