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WA Amateur Radio Newshome of NewsWest · VK6ARN

About

History since 1931

Amateur radio news has been broadcast in Western Australia since the early 1930s, almost without a break. For most of that time it was made by whoever was willing to do it next. That was its weakness, and also its strength: the news was always made by people who wanted to make it. Somewhere along the way the broadcast took the name NewsWest, and the name has stuck.

Milestones

  • Early 1930s: amateur radio news broadcasts begin in WA. The club’s records put the start in 1930 or 1931.
  • Before 2014: Bob VK6POP takes over NewsWest from Dennis VK6KAD (SK), first as a few months’ help while Dennis recovered from illness. Dennis didn’t recover, and Bob carried on. A call for helpers to produce an episode of the National News draws in more people, and the idea of a club begins to form.
  • 2014: a group of amateurs meets to form an association whose main purpose is a news service for amateur radio in WA, with education and activities written into its constitution.
  • 20 January 2015: WA Amateur Radio News Inc is incorporated. It becomes a WIA affiliated club.
  • 2015: WAARN activates VI6ANZAC around ANZAC Day and VK100ANZAC during August, as part of the WIA’s ANZAC centenary campaign. A team takes part in the John Moyle Field Day and Remembrance Day contests. In November, NewsHound 101, our first course, teaches amateurs to write, record and edit news items.
  • 2016: the first PerthTech, a one-day technical seminar in Perth, is held in April. It becomes a regular event.
  • 2018: a second NewsHound course, in Bassendean.
  • 2019: NewsWest episodes are kept online; the archive on this website starts here.
  • 2022–2024: PerthTech moves to the Gidgegannup Recreation Club, with caravan and camper parking and a sundowner.
  • April 2023: WAARN supports VI6CRO at the Carnarvon Space and Technology Museum for the total solar eclipse. Read more.
  • Late 2025: after more than a decade producing NewsWest, Bob calls on WA’s amateurs to keep the news going. A new team forms to share the work, taking turns as producer.
  • 2026: NewsWest becomes a podcast, the archive moves to new hosting, and vk6.net is rebuilt.

Thank you

Some of the people who made NewsWest’s history are still making it. Special thanks to Roy VK6XV, whose Disposals Helpline has run for 40 years or more, and to Wally VK6YS.

From the archive

Help us fill in the story

Do you have recordings, scripts, photos or memories of WA amateur radio news from earlier decades? We’d love to hear from you: newswest@vk6.net.