New 2m repeater added to VK5RSB Adelaide

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AREG is pleased to announce that we have finally completed the long planned 2m repeater project at our Summertown repeater site. This now completes the full set of repeaters for all amateur bands from 6 m (53 MHz) to 23 cm(1273MHz).

The new repeater, which operates on 147.175 MHz (+600 kHz) and has been on test for a number of weeks, received its final antenna over the weekend. The antenna was also relocated to the top of the tower. So far, signal reports have been excellent right across Adelaide and the greater central South Australian region. We are getting great signal reports  from mobiles and hand held operators alike all over Adelaide, including the southern suburbs (Christies Beach), Eastern foothills (Rostrevor/Newton) and the Northern hills face suburbs (like Hillbank) as well as further afield from Murray Bridge, Normanville, Renmark and Port Lincoln.

Operating via VK5RSB 2m

Stations using the repeater should be aware that the system is set up a little differently to other Adelaide repeaters. When you access the repeater, you will hear a courtesy beep 1 second after the end of your transmission, (which signals that the 5 minute time out timer has been reset), followed by the repeater tail transmitting for a further 4 seconds. During the remaining 4 seconds, you are free to key your transmitter and continue your conversation without waiting for the repeater transmitter to shut down. This reduces the “crash bang” squelch break noise you might be used to on other systems.

To access the system you do need CTCSS transmit capability. The repeater responds to a 91.5 Hz sub-tone for activation.

VK5RSB 2m Predicted Coverage

If you would like to send us a signal report, please email vk5arg @ areg.org.au. We would love to hear from you!

Our other repeaters at VK5RSB

If you would like to try some of the other bands, you will also find VK5RSB on:

  • 53.750 MHz (-1 MHz  offset)
  • 439.900 MHz (-5 MHz offset) (with 91.5 Hz CTCSS)
  • 1273.500 MHz (+20 MHz offset)

Future Plans

Future plans also include adding an APRS repeater on 145.175 MHz (AX.25) and connecting the VK5RSB 70cm repeater to the central SA repeater network as the replacement Adelaide network hub (given that the VK5RAD 70cm and APRS repeaters at Crafers are expected to cease operation when that site is closed in August 2025).

AREG April Meeting – Good Friday Park Picnic / Foxhunt / HF Activation

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For April’s meeting (on Friday the 18th of April, the Good Friday public holiday), AREG will not be holding a meeting at the Fulham Community Centre. Instead, we’ll be trying something a bit different and meeting up in a park for a BBQ lunch, HF activation, and some fox-hunting!

We’ll be meeting at the lower section of the Morialta Conservation Park from around 11AM with parking available off Moritalta Falls Road. We’ll be near one of the BBQ areas, so look out for a red AREG flag!

We’ll have a HF station going to activate the Morialta Conservation Park (VKFF-0783) so listen out for VK5ARG on the bands! There will also be a fox-hunting (amateur radio direction finding) course set up around the park, with plenty of equipment available to borrow and give fox-hunting a go.

If you’re coming along, we suggest you bring a chair, drinks, and food for lunch (the club will provide some basic BBQ fare too).

Hope to see you there!

Next Fox-Hunt – Friday 7th March

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AREGs next car-based fox hunt will be held this coming Friday the 7th of March. We arrive at the start location around 6pm, and depart at 6:30 PM.

We are also looking for volunteers to hide the foxes each month. If you would like to give this a go, please contact Mark at vk5qi@rfhead.net

Our start location is the Beaumont Road carpark, off South Terrace in the southern CBD Parklands. 

We’ll have three foxes deployed around the Adelaide area, on both the 2m and 70cm bands, so come along and have a go!

Area where the foxes might be hidden.

The frequencies will be:

  • 145.300 MHz (1W transmit power)
  • 144.390 MHz (100mW transmit power)
  • 439.400 MHz (50mW transmit power)

As usual, liaison will be on the VK5RSB Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5 CTCSS. Please come up on the repeater so we know who is out hunting, and how you are faring throughout the evening! If we don’t hear from your, we may recover the foxes before you find them!

We also have a mailing list, and a Facebook Messenger group – please contact Mark VK5QI (vk5qi@rfhead.net) if you would like to be added to this!

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment, with the foxes hidden within the bounds shown on the above map. We would love to see you there!

73

Mark VK5QI

Next AREG Meeting – “RADE – Machine Learning for HF Speech” by David Rowe VK5DGR

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The next AREG meeting will be held on Friday the 21st of March at the Fulham Community Centre – Phelps Court, Fulham.

This month we have a presentation from David Rowe VK5DGR, on the ‘Radio Autoencoder’ (RADE) digital voice mode, which is in active development and available for preview right now in the latest version of FreeDV. RADE combines machine learning techniques with classical DSP to send high quality speech over HF radio at SNRs as low as -2 dB.

Doors open at 7.00pm and the presentations kick off at 7.30. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’ve never come along to one of our meetings, we’d love to see you there, all guests are welcome. For our remote members, the meeting will be broadcast via Zoom, and the talk will be recorded for later viewing on Youtube.

After the talks we’ll all be given an opportunity to have an eyeball QSO among ourselves whilst enjoying a tea or coffee and a biscuit.

73, Mark VK5QI

160m Interference Investigation by Arthur VK5AI – Presentation Recording

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Thanks to Arthur for a great example of how with the right approach, interference to the amateur radio bands can be resolved amicably and with great results!

Arthurs presentation was recorded and has been uploaded to Youtube here:

Arthur’s presentation slides are available here: 160 m Interference Investigation.pdf

During the presentation Arthur gave some examples of near-field E and H-field probes, with further information on constructing these available at this link.

73, Mark VK5QI

AREG’s Adelaide Amateur Radio & Electronics Sale – Back in 2025!

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AREG are happy to announce that our Amateur Radio & Electronics Sale will be back again in 2025 on Sunday October 26th, at David Roche Park, Kilburn!

We hope to build on our success in previous years with more sellers, more demos, and even some technical presentations throughout the day!

More details will follow in coming months – but for now you simply need to:

Sunday

October 26th

2025

We hope to see you there!