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 […]
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Category: Technical Stuff
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 […]
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 […]
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: […]
A Tape Measure Tactical Antenna for Airband
There are plenty of amateur tactical aerials available on the market for 2m and 70cm but I couldn’t find an airband one. I decided to cook one up, but couldn’t find any recipes. I wanted an end-fed half-wave (EFHW) tuned for 125.000 to 127.000 Mhz. We use many flower pots aerials, rubber duckies and quarter […]
VHF portable operation with range
Portable VHF/2m operations can often be a challenge when range is required: Here is a simple and economical portable set-up providing you do not have to run into the bush. Except from the length of the RG58 cable, all the components were picked up from the local council clean-up! The aerial is a ground independent […]
Lectures Online – Something Old, Something New…
Two lectures have been uploaded to VK2MB-TV today. One lecture sat unnoticed on an SD card since it was recorded in February 2022. Sorry about the delay, but better late than never! David VK2CZ did a presentation on Antenna modelling software for Radio Amateurs. The “New” one is last month’s lecture by Zara VK2ZYP, on […]
Another walk in the park
Several members of the club (Carmel VK2CAR, Colin VK2JCC, and Richard VK2SKY) were active portable at Rofe Park in Hornsby Heights today, 17 March 2023. The aim this time was to call in to the Westlakes Amateur Radio Club net (Mon/Wed/Fri at 9.30am on 7115kHz), just for the fun of it. The Westlakes folks were […]
The Case of the Elusive Stinger: Repairing a Terlin Outbacker
The Australian Terlin Outbacker antenna has been a stalwart of HF mobile communications since time immemorial. It’s a sturdy, adaptable, vertical antenna that can cover the entire HF spectrum by plugging a flying lead into one one of a number of sockets depending on the band of operation. It also has an adjustable top section, […]