This weekend, 4-5 May 2024, St Albans just north of the Hawkesbury River is again hosting the Convict 100 mountain biking event. Our friends at CREST are again providing safety communications, and spent last weekend and yesterday (Friday 3 May 2024) setting up repeaters and other gear along the course. Of course, the multi-talented Manly-Warringah […]
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Category: Fun Stuff
Other fun things that don’t yet have a particular category.
VK2MB/p on air for John Moyle Field Day 2024
Members of the Society once again headed south to Culburra Beach NSW to participate in the annual John Moyle Memorial Field Day Contest on 16-17 March. The JMFD team comprised: A Lesson Learned… One of the first rule of portable operation is: before you leave home, thoroughly check that all gear is in good working […]
February 2024 lecture – HMAS Vampire Project
Colin VK2JCC leads of team of Amateurs, including several MWRS members, who operate the Special Event Station VK2VMP from HMAS Vampire’s HF Communication Centre, and who talk to visitors about the ship and about Amateur Radio. The Vampire is moored at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney. Watch Colin’s lecture at […]
VHC Pilgrimage 2023
The annual post-Christmas trip to the Victorian High Country was kicked off by Andy VK2EAH and Geoff VK2WA, with Dom VK2JNA in hot pursuit. Dom caught up by Jindabyne and we headed down the Barry Way. We paused at Ingeegoodbee to take in the first scenic lookout: After a quick swim in the fast-flowing (and […]
The French Atlantic Affair
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, […]
70cm coverage test for ATV
MWRS hosted a test for the Sydney ATV group, as they have lost their Lawson repeater and are trying to find another site. The initial test used a 9dBd 6-element Yagi, pointed SSW, and 20W FM. FM was used for convenience (equipment is easy to access). The Yagi was located on our tower, below the […]
Building an outdoor ADS-B receiver
Article by Simon Mitchell – VK2YU Overview The aim of this project was to build an ADS-B receiver using the popular PiAware implementation (created by FlightAware). The installation and configuration of PiAware is very well documented so I will not elaborate on this in this text only to point interested people to FlightAware’s PiAware URL: […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
MWRS Members on HMAS Vampire
If you haven’t heard MWRS members Colin VK2JCC, Carmel VK2CAR, and Stuart VK2BMX operating 40m from a park recently, it’s because they have been busy on the historic warship HMAS Vampire, activating the Special Event Station VK2VMP! They are joined on the “Vampire Team” by Mark VK2DI, Steve VK2KHA, Chris VK2VCG, and Alex VK2PRC. Congratulations […]
Mar 2023 – 5th Wed – Old Kits (DSE, TANDY, EA)
Here at MWRS, the Fifth Wednesday (of any month that has one) is devoted to themed Show and Tell, with prizes for the Best Display and Best Story. The theme of this 5th Wednesday was classic 70s through 90s kits and memorabilia from Dick Smith Electronics, Tandy, Jaycar, Altronics, and Heathkit. Dick Smith Electronics and Tandy (Radio […]
VK2YU Home brew M0MCX DX Commander
Home brew “DX Commander” 7m antenna – November 2021 … Australian date & time Firstly, this build is a copy of a commercial antenna so ALL credit to the design and effort of the idea all goes to the designer: Callum McCormick, M0MCX https://www.m0mcx.co.uk The original build information is here https://www.m0mcx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/DXC-Rapide-User-Guide.pdf Note there are several […]
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, […]