In this mini-lecture in March 2026, Colin VK2JCC (aka Professor Portable) tells of his recent experiments with Artificial Intelligence, and how he used it to make a short video about the Amateur Radio.See it here.
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Category: Lectures
Presentations usually held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month
New Life for HamClock!
If you run HamClock in your shack, you may be aware that the back-end services that power HamClock will be ending in June 2026. Some enterprising Amateurs have stepped up to provide replacement services to the Amateur community. In this March 2026 mini-lecture, Simon VK2YU explains what’s going on under the hood, runs a quick […]
November 2025 — Lecture — My Family in World War II
(or, as Spike Milligan might have put it: “Adolf Hitler: My Family’s Part in His Downfall”) In this lecture, Zara VK2ZYP talks about her great-uncle, who was involved in the crucial development of radar; her Grandpop, who fought on D-Day at Juno Beach, and became the youngest major in the Royal Marines; and her Nanna, […]
Sep 2025 Lecture – Resurrecting Vintage Computers with Mal VK2TMF
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 […]
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 Andersen 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 […]