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 […]
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Category: Technical Stuff
Sat 16-Aug-2025 – PicoRx Buildathon
(Work in progress … really!) The PicoRX was introduced to the MWRS at the June 2025 Lecture as one of the projects for the shack. Since then, many members have ordered and acquired the kit and started the build process. A Buildathon was organised for those who wished to build their PicoRX together in a […]
July 2025 NTP Clock Buildathon
Following the June 2025 lecture where the NTP Clock and the Pi-PicoRX were introduced as “Projects for the Shack”, an obvious appetite for the projects motivated Richard ARH and Simon VK2YU to organise for the acquisition of the components and organise for buildathons so that members can get together to build and configure the devices. […]
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 […]
HamClock Configurathon
Following feedback received from a very good HamClock lecture and the urge from many members to build their own, a “Configurathon” evening was organised for Wednesday 26-Feb-2025, basically BYO hardware and lets configure together, first one to tell the time from his/her clock … helps the other ones to finish. Richard VK2ARH kindly organised the […]
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 […]
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 […]
on/off toggle switch to a push-on/push-off switch
I needed to convert from an on/off toggle switch to a push on/push off switch with discrete components from my junk box. Basically, the old system uses a simple on/off toggle switch: when the toggle is on, the system is on, when the toggle is off, the system is off. The new system has one […]
June 2024 ADX Buildathon
It all started with very good lecture by Richard Hinsley VK2ARH/W5ARH on the ADX (the Arduino Digital Transceiver) in April 2024 followed by an email to all from Michael VK2MDP asking around about interest for a club buildathon, very quickly the list of interested members grew to 28 people wishing to grab a kit, many […]
May 2024 – 5th Wed – Enclosures, Cabinets, and Carry Cases
Having the best radio and test equipment enclosure requires a combination of ingenuity and art. Appearance and practicality are as important as the actual function performed by the equipment. We are looking for big & small, artwork, robustness, embedded functions, old, modern, classic, generic, jiffy, portability and more. There are prizes for the Best Display […]
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 […]
13-Apr-2024 Working Bee
Saturday was a perfect day for doing some antenna work and other maintenance: sunny, not too warm, and with the predicted rain showers choosing to fall elsewhere. Just as well, as we had a lot of jobs to get through! The team managed to get through nearly all of the work items, but a couple […]
The Kiwi has Landed!
Listen to our new KiwiSDR at http://websdr.mwrs.org.au:8073, and watch the July 2024 lecture, VK2MB KiwiSDR Secrets to learn how to use it. It’s been a long wait, but the Society is back in the webSDR business! For those who have never used one, a webSDR is a web-connected Software Defined Radio, accessible from anywhere on […]
GSTARS visit to Mt Gray Radio hut, Goulburn (14-Feb-2024)
The Goulburn & Southern Tablelands Amateur Radio Society (GSTARS) met at the Goulburn North Maccas at 1800 on Wed 14feb2024. Rod Miller VK2ZZM & I, Dom Bragge VK2JNA are members there (as well as MWRS). We consolidated into about six 4wd vehicles & headed up Mt Gray overlooking Goulburn. Mt Gray is where the majority […]
WOWIT Indicator
We’ve got 2 rigs in the car, a 70cm/UHF-CB combo and a 2m. A green light on the rig goes on to show it is receiving, however if you were not quick enough to see it, then you go “which one was it?” (WOWIT). So, using a latch relay and a couple of resistors, I […]