Category Archives: LiveStream

Livestreamed Presentations available via YouTube

AREG April 17th Meeting – Software Defined Radio for Radio Amateurs

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Modern amateur radio is changing rapidly, and Software Defined Radio (SDR) is at the centre of that change. Many amateurs already own an SDR — or use one indirectly — but few have had the chance to understand how it actually works or why it feels so different from traditional radios.

This upcoming lecture will provide a plain‑language introduction to SDR, aimed specifically at amateur radio operators, not engineers or programmers.

Rather than focusing on mathematics or theory, the talk will explain SDR concepts using familiar radio ideas: receivers, mixers, filters, IF stages, and transmitters — and show how these functions are now being done in software instead of hardware.

Topics will include:

  • What “software defined” really means in a radio
  • Why SDRs can see so much spectrum at once
  • The role of analogue‑to‑digital converters and why bit‑depth matters
  • Why some SDRs are better at weak‑signal work than others
  • How modern SDRs replace IF strips with digital processing
  • What limits SDR transmit power and why filtering still matters
  • How SDRs are used by amateurs, researchers, and modern networks

The lecture will also touch on GNU Radio, the most widely used SDR software framework, explaining what it does and why it has become so important — without requiring any programming knowledge.

Whether you are:

  • Curious about SDR but unsure where to start
  • Using an SDR “black box” and want to understand what’s inside
  • Interested in digital modes, weak‑signal work, or experimentation
  • Wondering how modern radios differ from classic superhets

…this session is designed to demystify SDR and connect it back to the radio principles amateurs already know.

No prior SDR experience is required — just an interest in radio.

So when are where is this event? AREG meets at the Fulham Community Centre, off Phelps Court, in Fulham, Adelaide. Doors open at 7.00pm, Friday 17th April.

This month the meeting will begin with a short Special General Meeting to address a minor change to the group’s constitution, followed by the presentation which will likely start around 7.45pm.

For our regional members, the meeting will, as usual, also be interactively streamed via Zoom. If you are a regional amateur and are interested in finding out a little more about AREG, guest passes are available to our Zoom meetings on request. Please contact our secretary – via vk5arg@areg.org.au

 

AREG November Meeting – SA Repeater Network and the VK5RSB Repeater Rebuild

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held this coming Friday, November 21st . The presentation this month is by Dean VK5HQ who will take people through the work that the AREG Repeater sub-group has undertaken at Summertown to rebuild it and prepare it to become the SA Repeater network hub repeater. He will also take you though the rest of the linked repeater network sites to give you an understanding of the reach and operation of the central SA network.The meeting was held at the Fulham Community Centre.

A copy of the presentation is available here

 

 

 

 

Next AREG Meeting: Neil VK5KA – Measuring your Transmitter Quality – Friday 17th February

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The next AREG meeting is this coming Friday, February the 17th at the Fulham Community Centre – Phelps Court, Fulham.

This month’s presentation will be from Neil Abraham, VK5KA, on the topic of transmitter quality measurements. Neil will cover practical methods of testing and optimising your transmit system, from the audio going into it, to the radio signals coming out of it. If you want to be sure your on-air signal is clean as a whistle, this is a talk not to be missed!

Doors open at 7.15pm and the presentation kicks off at 7.45. 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!

The presentation will also be live-streamed on Hayden VK7HH’s HamRadioDX Youtube Channel.


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

Introducing Amateur Satellites – YouTube Livestream – Friday 7.45pm ACDT

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AREG in conjunction with Hayden VK7HH and the HamRadioDX YouTube channel are pleased to bring to you a presentation by Adam VK2YK / VK5GA on how to get started with Amateur Radio Satellites.

AREG Members can meet Adam in person at our main meeting venue, Fulham Community Centre, in Adelaide. Remote members can interact with the meeting via Zoom. Non members will be able to watch the session via HamRadioDX on Youtube.

The presentation starts at:

  • 7.45pm Central Daylight Time
  • 8.15pm Eastern Daylight Time
  • 7.15pm Queensland
  • 6.45pm Northern Territory
  • 5:15pm Western Australia