APC News service already has a fair amount of history behind it. Below is an account of some of the highlights (and lowlights) of our attempt to establish a weekly news service for Melbourne radio amateurs.
It was late 1998. The Moorabbin and District Radio Club would turn 50 the next year. The Committee was abuzz with ideas on things we could do to celebrate our half-century.
Following wide-ranging discussions about how the club could improve communication with members, boost its profile amongst Melbourne hamdom, encourage amateur activity and foster fellowship between members, a few people hit on the idea of a regular on-air news bulletin from the Club to supplement the weekly Monday night net. As the weeks rolled on, a plan to run a weekly news session on a two metre simplex frequency took shape. The news was to be for both MDRC members and as a service rendered by the Club for the broader amateur radio community in Melbourne. At its December 1998 meeting, the MDRC Committee agreed that this news session would be a good club project and that it should start in January 1999. A small group was appointed to produce the bulletin.
The first transmission of VK3APC Amateur Radio News went to air on Wednesday, January 13. Keith VK3JNB and Peter VK3YE read the news live from the MDRC Clubroom. The bulletin ran for about 30 minutes and included more than 20 news items of local, interstate and international interest. Over 20 stations joined our on-air callback session after the bulletin. Our furthest callback station was in Ballarat - an indication that the signal from VK3APC was reaching far and wide. Also held was a 'phoneback callback' - aspiring amateurs could telephone the news crew to let them know that they were listening and be acknowledged on air.
Interest in APC News grew in the following two weeks. Callback numbers grew as the word got around that we were on. We started to become more well-known around the country as more interstate WIA broadcasts made use of items that were first transmitted on APC News. The Internet site, which had been there since the very beginning, was upgraded and became more popular. All seemed to be going smoothly, and the risk that we wouldn't have sufficient material to maintain a weekly service receded as more people contributed news items.
The good times were not to last. The MDRC received a letter from the Australian Communications Authority stating that it had been monitoring APC News bulletins and that they were contrary to amateur regulations. The Club was told to cease the transmissions immediately. However, the letter did not specify the regulations that the Club had allegedly breached. For many years, other clubs had been running transmissions similar to the VK3APC News sessions without incident. So why did the ACA choose to write to us? We understand that the ACA acted because it had received a complaint from an individual or individuals as yet unknown.
The MDRC Committee decided that given the letter from the ACA, the APC News transmissions should be suspended for the time being. However, the Committee resolved to find out from the ACA the grounds for APC News being declared contrary to the amateur regulations. If we had knowledge of this, we could return to the air in a format that continued to meet the needs of listeners while complying with all amateur regulations.
In the weeks that followed, there was speculation as to what we might have done wrong. Some people thought that we should not have transmitted material on the activities of clubs besides ourselves. Others thought that the word 'broadcast' was the sticking point. We referred to APC News as a 'news bulletin' or 'news net' after our first transmission, but many of our listeners still referred to it as a 'broadcast'.
Those who hoped APC News would die with the suspension of on-air news bulletins would have been disappointed - weekly news bulletins continued to be promulgated through the Internet and sent to interstate broadcast officers via e-mail. Though only three bulletins were produced before the suspension, the memory of it remained strong amongst those who listened and the Club was continually asked when the bulletins would return. We were also encouraged by an editorial in the newsletter of the Eastern and Mountain District Radio Club which strongly supported the existence of APC News. However, because the news was confined to the Internet, many MDRC members (without Internet access) could no longer easily avail themselves of its contents, and we examined means to make written copies of the news available to members.
Almost three months drifted by with little apparent progress. The Committee had written to the ACA, but had received no word on why the news session was against the amateur regulations. However our spirits were lifted when we saw the VK5/8 Notes in March 1999 Amateur Radio magazine. In South Australia, the local ACA office had given its written approval for the continuation of the weekly VK5WI Sunday morning news broadcast when an individual made a complaint against it. Given that the content of VK5WI bulletins is similar to APC News there should be no reason why APC News transmissions should also not be allowed.
In April 1999 the MDRC Committee agreed that on-air news sessions be resumed with several provisos. The first of the new series of transmissions took place on Wednesday April 28, 1999 at 8:00pm on 146.550 MHz. The session took the form of a conversation between several MDRC members intended for members and friends of the Club. Items discussed just happened to be similar to the content of that day's APC News! A callback session was held after the conversation.
On May 12 the Club received the reply from the ACA that it had been seeking. The ACA's Victorian office claimed that January's news transmissions were not directed at a specific station or group of stations. The ACA also alleged that the transmissions did not relate to 'self training and technical investigations'.
The ACA's letter was puzzling to say the least. Apart from news bulletins, there are other transmissions that amateurs make that are not directed to specific stations. These include CQ calls, distress calls and test transmissions. Also other transmissions apart from APC News bulletins go to air almost on a daily basis without being directed to specific stations. These are allowed to continue and the sky doesn't fall in!
The second point can be contested on two grounds. The first is that January's news bulletins did contain significant amounts of material of a technical nature. Many other news items referred to activities that would have given participants technical training. Contrary to the ACA's assertions, we consider that the content of January's APC News bulletins was fully consistent with the aims and objectives of the Amateur Service. The ACA in South Australia would probably agree - in a letter to the South Australian Division of the WIA, they said that they were happy for the VK5WI broadcast (which is broadly similar to APC News) to continue as it supported the aims and objectives of the Amateur Service.
Secondly, we must ask if all amateur conversations are to relate to 'self-training or technical investigations'. According to the ACA letter, the answer is yes. According to the Amateur Licence Determination No 1 of 1997, the answer is no. Part 2, Clause 6 (a) says that licensees 'must use an amateur station for the purpose of self-training, intercommunication or technical investigations into radiocommunications'. Thus amateurs can use their stations to discuss matters that are not technical in nature providing they do not do so for pecuniary gain or to benefit religious, political or commercial organisations. By omitting the word 'intercommunication' in its letter, the Melbourne office of the ACA tried to apply a much more restrictive rule to January's APC News transmissions than it does to all other amateur stations in Australia. This extra restriction appears to be without legislative or regulatory foundation, and could be considered discriminatory against the Club.
It is important to stress that the ACA letter mentioned above referred solely to the transmissions back in January that went out under the Club callsign VK3APC. Though we consider that the ACA's response is flawed for reasons outlined above, we have tried to accommodate the ACA's wishes in the current series of news sessions. For this reason we have call-ins before the main programme starts and may encourage listeners to participate in technical tests during the evening. Though it may make the presentation of news sound somewhat stilted and artificial, we considered it much better than having no news at all. Also, no correspondence had been received from the ACA in almost twelve months of continuous weekly transmissions since April 28, 1999. As is mentioned later, subsequent changes to the amateur regulations confirmed the legal status of amateur news services such as APC News and extended the privilege to run news services to all licensed amateurs.
With our troubles now behind us, we can now focus on the future.
The on-air news sessions have continued unbroken for over eighteen months. Nothing further has been heard from our unknown complainant(s) or those who said it wouldn't last. APC News is now recognised as an integral part of the Melbourne amateur radio scene. On-air callback numbers have stabilised around the 20 - 30 mark. Most are on two metres, but we also get some callbacks to our six metre service (via VK3GRL and VK3RDD) that was introduced in early 2000. However, the new 160, 10 and 70 centimetre services are attracting some new listeners. These numbers are not much for a city with over 2000 amateurs. We look forward to further growth to justify the effort that goes into producing the news each week.
In other areas expansion continues. In July 1999 we established a new mailing list service whereby readers can choose to receive APC News via e-mail. We became the third Australian news service to offer this facility after QNEWS and VK2WI. Nearly 70 people now subscribe to this list. In July 1999 APC News also became available on the Australian packet radio network, thanks to Gordon VK3XX. A live ‘webcast’ service commenced in May 2000 via Tony VK3JED. Eighty metres was added in July 2000 – the relay station is Chris VK3JEG. These extra services makes the news available to MDRC members and friends beyond the reach of our VHF transmissions and those without radio receiving equipment.
Some welcome news was received in July, 2000. ACA amendments to the Radiocommunications Licence Conditions (Amateur License) Determination No 1 of 1997 were gazetted on July 12. One of these was formal recognition of the legitimacy of amateur news and information transmissions. This formal permission is contained in Part 2, which states that an amateur licensee may use an amateur station for 'transmitting news and information services related to the operation of amateur stations, as a means of facilitating intercommunication'. This gives news services such as APC News a firm legal footing in what was previously considered to be a ‘grey’ area by some.
In August 2000, an additional frequency was added. Listeners in metropolitan Melbourne can now also hear the bulletin on 1.843 MHz AM. The relay, by Peter VK3YE and Roscoe VK3TPJ, allows the news to be received on a slightly modified AM broadcast receiver. We hope that this service will make the news more accessible to those who don’t yet have HF or VHF amateur receiving equipment. The audio quality of this service is excellent and has to be heard to be believed.
September 2000 saw service extended to the VK3RHF crossband repeater on 29.640 and 438.750 MHz. This repeater provides strong signals throughout Melbourne, but particularly in northern and western suburbs where the two metre simplex signal is weakest. Automated voice announcements on the repeater include reminders to tune in to the APC News bulletin each Wednesday.
January 2001 saw improvements to the Internet webcast and the storage of audio news in MP3 format. This means that listeners can hear (as well as read) APC News bulletins on-line at any time. The new service extends the number of ways APC News can be received to six. The APC News website was revamped in the new year, with the theme 'Getting APC News each week is as easy as 123456!'.
January 2001 all so saw APC News go live on VK3RTV Melbournes amateur TV repeater. The signal from the studio was relayed via David VK3JDA to VK3RTV where it could be watch on most UHF TV sets (about ch. 16).
We hope that APC News will continue to meet the needs of readers and listeners and strengthen amateur radio activity in Melbourne. It has also being gratifying to hear items that first appeared on APC News being repeated on WIA broadcasts and in club newsletters across Australia. We also gain through this exchange with more and varied news items ourselves and a higher profile for Melbourne amateurs and clubs on the national scene. We look forward to your support to make APC News a continued success.
Written by Peter Parker VK3YE
From APCNews June 4, 2003
APC Amateur Radio News says farewell.
And so, to start with the last bit first, which is often our strange want, we announce tonight that this will be the last - APC Amateur Radio News.
And, I could say that we had planned it his way, but then, we have never ever told you any "Porkies" and so it’s just rather good luck that my Co-Editor and fellow partner in APC News crime, Peter 3YE is here to see us out, the way we both came in, way back in 1999 when we first tried out something for VK3 Amateurs which we hoped might work.
So, here we are finally, back at the lonely mikes at the MDRC Radio shack in Highett Ponds, right back where we started some 200 sessions ago.
By anyone’s standards, that’s not a bad effort for two ‘amateur" journalistic "Amateurs" , but after all that time APC News has reached something of a crossroads, and we think it only fair that we share some of the stats. with our listeners.
Each APC News bulletin contains some 3,600 words, so together, your producers have written, edited and presented over 720,000 words since we started.
Our news has always gone out on time without fail each week for the last four and a bit years (barring power failures etc) , with only short rest spells over the Christmas & New Year period.
With the help of our relay stations, individual repeater owners and operators, our regular listeners and contributors, APC Amateur Radio News has became one of the biggest success stories in Australian Amateur radio.
Because it was principally set up for everyone, we have enjoyed the support of everyone, for which we sincerely thank you, no matter how minor your contribution might seem.
However regretfully, that’s now to be all in the past, and we are finally, coming to the end of our play. So, what of the present, and what of the future? We have both decided through sheer necessity to retire from involvement in APC News as from tonight. Thus, if you want a news bulletin next week, one, two or more of you will have to work for it! If nobody steps forward in the next few days, this week's APC News will be the last.
One can almost hear Old man Ham Sandwich tuning up to fire off a stinging retort along the lines of
" Ah, spat the Dummy, knew it would happen sooner or later"
But no, it’s not that, we are both very tired of the weekly grind of producing the news, and it’s time for a rest, it’s really simple as that.
Peter and I both have other responsibilities and other interests that have remained unfulfilled for years due to the need to produce APC News each week.
So, tonight, we leave APC News at the MDRC on the best of terms, we are active club members, and we both hope to continue as such, yet we’ll carry away many memories of the good times, and the host of people who have helped us to make APC news happen.
Both of us have learned a great deal about writing, editing and producing programmes for radio broadcasting which may be of benefit for the future, one thing’s for certain though, we won’t make the same APC News mistakes again !.
So, if we could have our time over again, would we have started APC News?
The answer is of course, an emphatic Yes!
So now, we throw down the gauntlet to those who might be in a similar situation to us in 1999 to take over APC News, something like it, or something even better.
Unlike 1999, the legal situation is rather more certain. We also have an established profile and format that we know is successful, and, most importantly, a keen, loyal and established audience.
Therefore, any successor won't be starting with a blank white sheet like we did over four years ago.
And really, it's not often that a personal development opportunity like this comes along, and, it's certainly been great fun!
So, if someone would like to continue what we've started, please contact either Peter or myself, we will help wherever we can.
As we've said before, the foundations are sound, and there are many untapped opportunities for expansion, including UHF CB, ATV, better coverage on more bands, etc. that have yet to be fully exploited.
So, please, let us know if you're interested, we'll even give you leads on news sources and stories so you've got something to go on to make it all a success.
| APC News
Home Page |
| How APC News
was put to gether | Links
|
Moorabbin and District Radio Club
| Material may be copied for personal or non-profit use only. |