You won’t find too many novels that include a passage like this: Yes, Dr. Berlin, but what do you hams talk about? Is what they usually said to him, and he’d realize then that they’d never understand, and he’d change the subject. But sometimes, though rarely, he’d come across someone who really dug his hobby, […]
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Author: Richard Murnane
Camzilla Strikes Again!
One of the joys of the Australian bushland (even in urban areas like Sydney) is the variety of wildlife to be found. We’ve reported before about various critters marauding about the club grounds. Well, it looks like “Camzilla”, one of our local goannas, has struck again (1-Dec-2023)! As one of the club wags put it: […]
October 2023 lecture – Laser Communications
October’s lecture is now available on the Society’s YouTube channel, VK2MB-TV.Free Space Optics (FSO) uses light propagating in free space to wirelessly transmit data for telecommunications. “Free space” means air, outer space, vacuum, or something similar. This lecture by John Cummins highlights some of the engineering challenges in designing and building a commercial laser communications product […]
21-Oct-2023 JOTA!
Well, that’s another JOTA done and dusted. Thanks everyone on the MWRS JOTA team who participated (in callsign order): JOTA was a great team event, although the participating Scout numbers were down a bit, about 60 in total. The Scouts and Guides ventured over from the campsite to the MWRS clubhouse, to get a taste […]
September 2023 lecture – Tim’s Excellent European Adventure
Tim Jensen VK2BT travelled to Germany in June for the 46th International Amatur Radio Exhibition at Friedrichshafen. While he was there, he travelled around Europe visiting museums and other places of interest As well as Friedrichshafen, and the Amateur Radio goodies on display there, Tim will talking about the technological battles from European history, with […]
Aug 2023 – 5th Wed – Radio Scanners
Severe storms over northern Sydney kept many people at home on Wednesday, so there were only a few items on display this time, but those who turned up still enjoyed the evening. The theme for the night was radio scanners. Russell VK2BYN won the Best Story award for his tale about fireworks on the harbour, […]
26-Aug-2023 University Sydney Open Day
The University of Sydney held its annual open day on the 26th, hoping to entice a new crop of students to pursue their higher education there. There was something of a carnival atmosphere to the event, with most faculties having a light-hearted element to their displays, such as LEGO tables and fairy floss offerings somehow […]
August 2023 lecture – Amateur Television
Gary Shipton VK2CRJ has been active on Amateur Television (ATV) for half a century, and has seen many technological developments over that time. His talk covers everything from the early analogue days, right through to the latest digital technology, including ATV repeaters and satellites. The lecture is a mixture of theory and practical information to […]
Morsin’ Down the Highway…
How often do any of us get to make contact with a military aircraft…using Morse Code…while hooning down the highway? For most Amateurs, the next time would be the first time. On Friday 18 August 2023, Dom VK2JNA made the contact, though in a slightly unusual way. Dom takes up the story: “I have just […]
2nd Turramurra Cubs Visit, 14-Aug-2023
As all our regular visitors know, playing radios with the Scouts isn’t just a once-a-year thing for us, so we had another visit from one of the local Scout groups, this time 2nd Turramurra Cubs. As usual, we give our young visitors a taste of the hobby, and what they might experience if they come […]
1st Forestville Cubs Visit, 2023-07-25
JOTA comes but once a year, but at Manly-Warringah we make sure that our friends in the Scouting movement don’t have to wait a whole year for their next experience of Amateur Radio! Throughout the year, the Society hosts visits from local Scout groups – a kind of mini JOTA – when the kids come […]
Going Bush for NavShield 2023
Club members Simon VK2TW and Richard VK2SKY were again active with NSW State Emergency Services for their Bush Search and Rescue NavShield bush navigation event. The event takes place in a different location each year, within a few hours’ drive of Sydney; the location is kept secret until shortly before the event to avoid teams […]
Go West, OM!
During a July 2023 family visit to Perth, VK2AXC ran a Morse Code Activity for his grandson’s Cub group.VK2AXC’s son is also a new leader with the Greenwood WA Cub Scout Group hence the invite to help with an evening program. By all accounts the Cubs had great fun, and got in some advance preparation […]
24-Jun-2023 Winter VHF/UHF Field Day
Stunning day, great location, good view to the ocean. Gear was setup up efficiently and worked well on 6m, 2m, 70cm and 23 cm. Present: Nick VK2FS (Organiser), Geoff VK2TGO, Geoff VK2WA, Michael VK2MDP, Phil VK2APL, Phil VK2JPK. Dom Visitors VK2JNA, Mal VK2TMF. Downside – nobody on the air. Only made contact with three stations […]
JOTA’s Coming…
Update, September 2025: this year’s JOTA/JOTI is happening from 17-19 October, so we’re updating this post to assist clubs and Amateurs who are looking for ideas for the JOTA weekend. This event is one of the important ways we introduce youngsters to the great hobby of Amateur Radio, so we encourage all Amateurs to get […]