Category Archives: Club Activities

Club Activities or Events

AREG VHF Sprint – Oct 23rd 2022

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When: Sunday 23-10-2022 1000 ACST
Duration: 30min
Where: 2m FM 146.425 -146.600.
Region: VK5

The Amateur Radio Experiments Group is looking to stimulate VHFsimplex activity with a  2m Sprint. In the first year, the frequency will be limited to the 2m band and the FM Mode. This is the most accessible with most hams having an HT or FM mobile radio at hand. The Plan is to have fun and introduce or reintroduce people to VHF and carry the newfound love of VHF into other Field days and Contests.

Sprint Contest Rules

Single Operator stations only, one call sign per operator/station. Different station types are permitted and encouraged eg Portable or Maritime Mobile. One point per contact, no reworking, 5 bonus points for working the AREG contest call; VL5X. Exchange is a Signal report and serial number starting from 1. e.g. 59001. Stations are to adhere to the VK band plan and operate in the FM Simplex range of 146.425 -146.600, stations may liaise on the call channel, but contest exchanges should occur somewhere either side of the call channel. Stations are encouraged to spread out, call CQ and search up and down the band.

Log Submission

Logs to be submitted in the calibro format using www.vklogchecker.com logs close 2 weeks after the contest.

AREG supports a fun and inclusive environment for the contest, please remember we are here to have fun.

Questions and feedback to: VHFSprint@areg.org.au

Spread the word, the more stations that participate the more fun it will be. #AREGVHFSPRINT

Please keep watching the website for any further news or developments prior to the contest.

New VK5 VHF Contest Announced: The AREG VHF Sprint!

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The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group is proud to announce a new event in the VK5 Amateur Calendar ! This coming October, the AREG will hold its inaugural AREG VHF 2m Sprint contest.

The aim of this event is to promote 2m FM simplex activity between stations in a fast paced, work as many QSO’s as you can, fun filled, action packed, 30 minute period.

Running on a Sunday just after the WIA broadcast we hope to see many people head out to their nearest hill top for an hour to come and play radio !

The rules of the contest, similar to the WIA Harry Angel sprint, will be released closer to the date. Meanwhile, now is a good time to go and find that 2m mono-band FM radio that’s been languishing in the back corner of the shack, dust it off and get it ready for battle.

Please watch the AREG website and listen to the WIA VK5 local broadcast for further news!

September FOXHUNT – This Friday 6.30pm

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The next monthly AREG Foxhunt will be run this coming Friday starting 6.30pm from the Adelaide Aquatic Centre car park. Hunts will run on 2m and 70cm.

Liaison will be on the Summertown 70cm repeater which operates on 439.900 (-5MHz) 91.5CTCSS.

The event is open to anyone with radio direction finding equipment and will span most of the Adelaide metropolitan area. We would love to see you there!

 

VK5RWN DMR 70cm Digital Voice Repeater NOW ON AIR!

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AREG is pleased to announce that our new DMR repeater commenced operation on Saturday 14th August at ~3pm ACST! The service operates on 438.900MHz  TX -7MHz RX from the VK5RWN D*STAR site and is operating in parallel with DSTAR through common TX/RX antennas.

This has been a 12 month project funded and developed by the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group to restore DMR service to the Adelaide metropolitan area.

The project has been made possible thanks to the generous donation of a DR3000 Motorola repeater by Andrew VK4QF. It also required a new cavity diplexer and antenna setup which combined VK5RWN DSTAR on 438.4 with the DMR on 438.9 onto common antennas, developed by Paul VK5BX. In addition, a new IP Router was installed to expand our available ports to accommodate the new service. All up a core team of 6 members were involved in the installation and commissioning of the system – thanks everyone for your contributions!

The repeater would not have been possible if it wasn’t for VK5RWN’s core infrastructure already developed at the site, including internet connectivity by Adelaide based ISP KernWi-Fi, who is also a sponsor of other AREG projects.

There will be an introductory presentation on DMR at the AREG September meeting. More details closer to the date!

AREG AGM 19th August: 3Y0J Expedition – Preparing to visit the most remote place on earth

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AREG will be hosting a Zoom presentation by Adrian KO8SCA on the plans for the 3Y0J DXpedition to Bouvet Island planned for January 2023 as part of our Annual General Meeting. The presentation will be held at 8:00pm ACST (1030z) Friday August 19th and will be Simulcast live-streamed via the HRDX Youtube channel. We hope to see you there!

REMINDER: Next Adelaide 2m/70cm Foxhunt TONIGHT @ 6:30pm

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The next AREG Adelaide 2m and 70cm Fox-hunt event will be held on Friday August 12th. It will once again commence from  the car-park of the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, off Jeffcott Road, North Adelaide. Hounds can assemble from 6.00pm with departure at 6.30pm. Three fox transmitters will again be active on 144.390 MHz, 145.300 MHz, and 439.4 MHz.

The event is open to anyone to enter. Inter-team liaison occurs via the VK5RSB 439.900MHz  (-5MHz with 91.5Hz CTCSS tone access) Adelaide Metro area repeater. Hounds are asked to announce their presence on the repeater if they are late and are joining from other locations.

We hope to see you there!

AREG August 19th AGM Meeting: 3Y0J Bouvet Island Expedition

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group will be the our Annual General Meeting, to be held on Friday August 19th. Proceedings will start at 8:00pm ACST (8:30pm AEST, 6:30pm AWST, 1030UTC).

Our guest speaker for the evening is Adrian KO8SCA, one of the team members of the 3Y0J Bouvet Island DXpedition, who will join us via Zoom from his home in New York. Adrian will take us through the challenges facing the 3Y0J team and preparatory work that has been completed so far for this epic adventure.

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AREG July Meeting – Lightning Talks: AREG members in the VHF/UHF Field Day

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Hopefully you have noticed by now that AREG is currently heavily promoting VHF and UHF activity within the Amateur Service. Many of our members took the hint and got up on the air for the WIA’s Winter VHF/UHF field day this year!

Now that the event is over, we thought it would be great to review the events of the day and have each of those who participated give a short 5 minute summary of their experiences on VHF/UHF in the contest this year. So the next meeting will be a series of member “Lightning Talks” – 5 minutes each on how you went, what you did, what worked and what didn’t – so that we can share the experiences and learning ready for the next event in Spring.

To hear how everyone went, come along to the AREG meeting this Friday night, starting at 7.30pm. AREG meets at the Fulham Community Centre, off Phelps Court, Fulham. Visitors are most welcome.

For those members interstate or locally who cant attend in person, the meeting will as usual also be conducted in parallel online via Zoom. Visitors who would like to attend our meeting via Zoom can email our secretary – Mark via secretary@areg.org.au to request guest access to the Zoom conference for the night.

After the presentations, there will be a short business meeting. This is our last business meeting for 2021/22 as the AREG Annual General Meeting will take place next month, on the 19th of August.

We also hope to have a special guest speaker at the AGM – stay tuned for more details!