Last night (18 May 2022), in place of the usual lecture at the clubhouse, we got to visit the MQ Photonics Research Centre at Macquarie University for a presentation about lasers and photonics. Our hosts, Professor Helen Pask and some of her team of researchers, gave us a wonderful show of the wonders and applications […]
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Author: Richard Murnane VK2SKY
Glow Worm Tunnel Marathon RF survey
On 7 May 2022, WICEN NSW Inc conducted an RF survey of a section of the Glow Worm Tunnel Marathon trail. The aim was to determine radio coverage for the Pipeline Track section between the campgrounds at Glen Davis and Newnes. WICEN tested the safety communication bases in both locations, as well as a third […]
Video: Unexpected Visitors
New on VK2MB-TV, some video from the clubhouse security camera, of wildlife that visits the club in May 2022 outside of scheduled meeting times… click here. Enjoy!
Mayham 2022 at Wyong!
The annual Central Coast Amateur Radio Club Field Day is on today at Wyong Racecourse, and Russell VK2BYN has already sent around a few photos. No doubt more will follow, so check back later… AWA Teleradio 60A, 2-10MHz transceiver Lots more Mayham photos from Patrick VK2PN here.
23cm fun in the fog
On 27 April 2022, Steve VK2KFJ and Dom VK2JNA headed up to Mt Coree (Summits on the Air VK1/AC-023, on the ACT/NSW border) to do a 23cm test with Dave VK2JDS at Gowan, near Orange, some 250km away. Dom reports: We drove our 4WDs in from the west & the east via Piccadilly Circus in the Brindabella […]
Australian Space Weather Alert System
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Space Weather Services seems to have updated its front page recently, to provide a basic propagation dashboard in a more easily digestible format. Also check out the handy Australian Space Weather Alert System guide, which explains the Alert System in more detail. All the old favourites, such as the HF Systems […]
G3UML, Amateur Radio, and the Falklands War
A recent video on the Waters & Stanton YouTube channel featured the role of Amateur Radio in telling the world about the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands (or Islas Malvinas if you were cheering on Argentina at the time – we’re not taking sides here HI!) The video tells the story of Laurie G3UML, […]
February 2022 Lecture – Antenna Modelling
David Burger VK2CZ spoke about professional antenna modelling and optimisation using the “HOBBIES” [link unreachable] software package. “HOBBIES”, or “Higher Order Basis Based Integral Equation Solver”, can be used for antenna design and placement, EMI/EMC analysis, and many other applications. David’s lecture includes several practical antenna design examples, including: – 80m Bobtail– 160m inverted L– […]
Carmel VK2CAR’s WIA award
Congratulations to Society member Carmel VK2CAR, who picked up the Technical Award in the WIA’s 2020-21 Publications Committee Awards, for her article, “Clothesline wire makes easy ‘multi-band’ antenna”. The article appeared in the WIA’s Amateur Radio magazine, issue 3 for 2020. The award is for an article judged by the Committee to be the best […]
2m weekly net returns
(Update, Feb 2022: with restrictions easing and clubhouse meetings back, the 2m net has been discontinued, as originally planned below. Those unable to come to the clubhouse can still join in via Zoom.) With the COVID Omicron variant making its presence felt (11,201 daily cases as of 2021-12-29), the club weekly 2m net is back […]
2021 Christmas nets
Unlike last year, the 40m band was reasonably cooperative for the club’s Christmas HF net. The net opened at about 8.30am, with Andy VK2EAH having the honour of net controller thrust upon him. Let it be noted that he performed the task admirably. On 7045 there were check ins from (in callsign order): VK2BDF Phil […]
VK2MB 3rd Place in JMFD!
Back in March, the Society participated in the 2021 John Moyle Memorial Field Day. VK2MB/p came third in the Multi Operator, Phone Only, HF Bands, 6-Hour categories, scoring 238 points for 119 contacts. Word is that another two contacts would have earned us 2nd place! The certificate for the event arrived in the post recently, […]
Deferred AGM, 2021-11-07
The Society’s Annual General Meeting, help over from mid-July due to a certain pandemic situation, finally took place at the the club rooms on Sunday, 7 November. The meeting was well attended, despite the rain and thunderstorms in the area, and everyone enjoyed the slightly modified format BBQ afterwards. The full list detailing the new […]
Lights off again at Barrenjoey
Dammit, COVID-19, you’ve done it again! Sydney’s lockdown has been extended until the end of September, which means that our activation of Barrenjoey Lighthouse for the International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend on 21-22 August has been cancelled for the second year running. While we won’t be at the lighthouse, some of our members will be […]
COVID restrictions ease!
Update, 18 October 2021: Good news at last! Because NSW has passed the 80% fully vaccinated milestone, COVID lockdown restrictions for fully vaccinated people have eased up further. Details at https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/stay-safe/rules/fully-vaccinated. As a result, meetings at the clubhouse have resume. Up to 20 people can be in the clubhouse at a time. You need to […]