You can view Mal’s lecture on our YouTube channel, VK2MB-TV. During the lecture, Mal demonstrated using an XGecu T48 Universal Programmer to identify unknown logic ICs. You can find out more about it (and sibling models) at http://xgecu.com/EN/index.html. Days leading to the lecture In the few days leading to Mal’s lecture, the society’s email reflector […]
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Category: Lectures
Presentations usually held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month
August 2025 – Lecture – Two-way Radio in Australia from the 1960s
Norm Champion, formerly VK2ZND, returns to the club with a presentation on the development of two-way radio in Australia from the 1960s, and his role in it – particularly in the introduction of Citizens Band radio. You’ll learn a lot of “behind the scenes” information from Norm’s story. Watch it on VK2MB-TV.
July 2025 – Lecture – Weather Balloon Tracking and Recovery
Tim Jensen VK2TIJ gave the July lecture on the topic of Weather Balloon Tracking and Recovery, which included an account of the early history of ballooning. He also details the ionosonde technology that provides telemetry of the balloon’s flight, how you can track them and decode their telemetry, and what you can do with if […]
June 2025 – Lecture – Build Projects for the Shack
The June lecture, Build Projects for the Shack by Richard VK2ARH and Simon VK2YU, introduced two new club projects: an NTP (Network Time Protocol) Clock for the shack, and Pi-PicoRX, a software-defined radio receiver based in the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller. You can watch the lecture on VK2MB-TV. The lecture proved very popular, and another […]
May 2025 – Lecture – Spy Radio, the Special Operations Executive, and
Held 21-May-2025, presented by Colin Christie VK2JCC Covert communications played a crucial role during World War II. Colin’s lecture will focus on the use of spy radios by the French Resistance. These radios were essential for transmitting critical information to Allied forces, often under life-threatening conditions. The Special Operations Executive, a secret British organisation, played a […]
June 2025 – Lecture – Build Projects for the Shack (preview)
Lecture will be held Wednesday 18-Jun-2025, here is what to expect. NTP Clock and Pi-Pico Rx – 2025 Build Projects for the Shack? By Richard VK2ARH and Simon VK2YU Richard VK2ARH and Simon VK2YU will present a couple of projects for consideration for a 2025 build project which they have been working on in recent […]
April 2025 – Lecture – Dom VK2JNA trip to the tip
This April lecture was an impromptu one by Dominic, so actually happened on the fourth Wednesday (23-Apr-2025). Dom reports on adventure and the trials and tribulations that invariably come with a 3500km drive from Sydney to “The Tip”, i.e. Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland (https://maps.app.goo.gl/CQaxeqhsh4956…. If you’re into travel, 4WD adventures, and of […]
February 2025 Lecture: HamClock
For the February 2025 lecture, Richard Hinsley VK2ARH/W5ARH and Simon Mitchell VK2YU presented an introduction to setting up and using HamClock, an application that provides real time space weather, radio propagation, and many other points of information for use in the shack. The lecture includes a live demo of the application and brief explanations for […]
January 2025 lecture: HMAS Diamantina
For the January lecture at the Society, Mike VK2MDP spoke about a combination of family and naval history, centred around the World War 2 frigate, HMAS Diamantina, which now lives at the Queensland Maritime Museum. Mike discovered historical connections between the ship and HMS Teviot, while he was researching his father’s service in the Royal […]
November 2024 lecture: Precision ADS-B
In November, we had a special visit from Mogens Bradley Anderson of ADSB Support in Billund, Denmark, home of another well-known company that makes plastic bricks or something… Mogens and his Australian wife were here on holiday, and he took some time out to give us a presentation about his company’s work in Automatic Dependent […]
September 2024 lecture: Fiskville
In the club’s September lecture, Warren Lang spoke about Fiskville, a site once owned and managed by Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd. It was used as a long-distance radio communications station, part of the Imperial Wireless Chain. The name Fiskville of course came from AWA’s chairman, radio pioneer Ernest Fisk. You can also read about the […]
July 2024 lecture: VK2MB KiwiSDR
If you haven’t yet tried the Society’s KiwiSDR receiver, you’re in for a treat. We’ve “customised ours for Australian conditions” so you’ll find features there that you won’t find on other web SDR receivers. This lecture by Richard VK2SKY explores everything from basic use to some of the lesser-known functions, and reveals many handy shortcuts to […]
June 2024 Lecture – Journey to the Red Centre and WA
Brian and Sue Bailey spoke about their road trip from Sydney to Western Australia via the Red Centre. This lecture was of particular interest to Amateurs who are keen on Four Wheel Driving. The trip was marred by their Prado’s engine blowing up on the border of WA and SA. They recounted how that had to get […]
May 2024 lecture – Quantum Key Distribution
In secure encrypted communications, one of the most important ideas is that the encryption key contains all the protection of the whole system. But what happens if the system isn’t already secure…if it is brand new (unkeyed), or the key is already compromised? Even public-key cryptosystems like RSA encryption suffer from this problem: how do the initial […]
April 2024 lecture – ADX Transceiver
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/cG4vHLs39iU. For our April lecture, Richard Hinsley VK2ARH/W5ARH talked about the ADX (the Arduino Digital Transceiver) and the buildathon program he ran in 2023 for the Cowtown Amateur Radio Club in Forth Worth, Texas. His presentation includes a live demonstration of the transceiver. Update, March 2025: Richard has updated the Constuction […]