The Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group is going to mount a display at the Adelaide Maker Faire this year. This will be a huge opportunity to promote Amateur Radio to School and University age people and their parents as a fun challenging activity to get your collective creative juices flowing in.
Members are currently in the process of constructing our display. If you want to get involved, contact Kim VK5FJ who is coordinating the event for the club
NOTE: CHANGED WEEK THIS MONTH – 4th Friday – 28th October
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held on Friday October 28th, at the Reedbeds Community Hall, Fulham in Adelaide. The meeting time has been moved back one week in October and November this year due to the availability of the hall.
Digital Amateur Television on 446.5MHz
Steve Adler, VK5SFA will be giving a presentation of his experiments this year setting up a DVB-T ATV transmitter on the 70cm band. The discussion will include how others can get involved in these experiments, including how to receive the 446.5MHz Digital TV signals.
The system that Steve is experimenting with is using the same modulation standards as the main broadcasters. This means that at least some current TV sets can directly tune to the channel, while for others, the purchase of a cheap set top box from one of several retailers (for <$100) will get you access to Steve’s signal.
So why not come along and find out all about digital ATV?
The hall will be open from 7.45pm with the meeting starting at 8.00pm. Visitors are most welcome
AREG OCDX Contest Field Day Event
CANCELLED!
Due to the unprecedented weather in SA over the last few days, National Parks South Australia have advised that Para Wirra Park will again be closed today. This has lead to AREG making the decision to cancel the planned activities in the park.
Operation in the contest will still go ahead but from a private location. See further reports for updates.
The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group is again entering the Oceania DX SSB Contest over the October long weekend (October 1st and 2nd).
The club is once more mounting a major portable operation from Para Wirra Recreation Park. VK5ARG will be active on all bands from 160-10m during the contest using 5 QRO (high power) stations.
Station Visitors Most Welcome!
As has been the case the last couple of years, the station construction will commence from Friday morning, with the aim of having the major components operational no later than midday Saturday. This provides an ideal opportunity for members, but more importantly general amateurs and members of the community, to come along and “have a try”. AREG will be turning the station over to all takers for the hours before the contest so that people can experience operating the station.
To come and visit, you will need to head to Para Wirra Recreation Park, You will find us here. For those who pre-register, there will be catering available on a “Pay as you Go” basis for modest prices. The station will be active for the full 24hrs from 0800 UTC Saturday to 0800UTC Sunday. Visitors should call the station on 2m (146.550) when you reach the park.
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Para Wirra Park Map
The Station: VK5ARG/P
The station will be substantial with full size rotatable dipoles on 40m, a 3 element beam on 20m, a Spiderbeam for 15m and 10m and full size dipoles on 160m and 80m. All stations will be running 400W. It is certainly impressive to see the arrays of antennas in use during the event…..
Qualification of World Wide Flora and Fauna park: VKFF-1739
Back in May 2016, the Para Wirra Recreation Park was redesignated a conservation park, and so it now qualifies for the world wide flora and fauna awards program as well. As the station is operating in the OCDX contest we wont be conducting the usual publicity of a parks activations. However, contacts with VK5ARG/P will still qualify for the VKFF-1739 park! We will ensure the log is uploaded to the Parks and Peaks database at the conclusion of the activation. You may also find us on air testing from as early as Friday night through to Sunday night.
So look out for us calling CQ during the contest, and if you are in the Adelaide area, come on up to Para Wirra Conservation Park and say hello! We would love to see you!
10/15m Station illuminated at night – Starlapse by VK5GR
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will feature an introduction to Microwave Amateur Microwave Equipment and Communications, presented by guest lecturer, Iain Crawford VK5ZD. Iain will be talking about the gear he uses and some of the basic operating tips involved. This will provide the ideal opportunity to whet your appetite for these bands just as the sunspot cycle draws to a minimum on HF, and coincidentally right before the VHF/UHF contest season!
http://www.vk5zd.com/Images/Blog/IMGP4702.JPG
Iain has been experimenting with these modes for many years, and has constructed transverters for 23cm, 13cm, 9cm, 6cm and 3cm.
The meeting will be held at the Reedbeds Community Hall, Phelps Court, Fulham on Friday 16th September. Doors will open at 7.45pm with the presentation starting at 8.00pm.
After the talk, there will be coffee and cake and an opportunity to socialise with fellow amateur radio enthusiasts, followed by a short AREG business meeting.
All amateur radio operators and people with just an interest in radio in general are welcome to attend! We hope to see you there!
The next general meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held on Friday August 19th. Doors open 7.45pm with the meeting starting at 8.00pm.
The topic for the evening will be “Introducing Digital Modes on HF – how to get started – from a beginner who just has”. I will be taking you through what can be achieved on a fairly modest HF station using digital modes, including what software you can use, what hardware you need and what some of the more “exotic” modes are that you can play with on HF digital, including:
Feld Hellschreiber Signals on 20m
MFSK16 from VK2YQA/4 on 20m
I will also discuss calling techniques, frequencies and contesting on HF as well as logging on rig integration.
I don’t profess to be an expert on these modes either – this is all relatively new (apart from RTTY) to me too (despite being licensed since the 1980s) as until March this year I had never had my own HF station. Having said that, even with a modest 100W station I have managed to work 62 countries using a variety of these modes, even in the relatively poor conditions on HF that we have seen over the last 6 months.
MMSSTV Software
SSTV Pictures on 40 and 20m.
After the presentation there will be a light supper followed by the monthly business meeting.
VK2YQA/4 MFSK16 Picture from QLD on 30m
The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group held it’s Annual General Meeting last night, Friday July 15th. At the meeting, all positions were declared vacant and Chris VK5CP presided over the process of selecting a new committee for the forthcoming year.
Nominations were received and in the absence of any competition, the following people were elected to the committee for 2016/17″
[table “” not found /]Welcome to the new members on the committee in Kim and Theo!
The committee wishes to formally advise members that the Annual General Meeting for 2016 will be held on Friday 15th of July starting at 8.00pm.
The location will be the Reedbeds Community Hall, Phelps Court, Fulham.
After the formal part of the AGM meeting, there will be a guest presentation by Rod Baker, VK5ZTV. Rod will speak about the technologies used to manage Adelaide’s road transport system. This will provide a fascinating insight into this very complex system.
Visitors are most welcome. Doors open at 7.45pm and there will be a light supper after the presentations. If you need help finding your way to the venue, give VK5ARG a call on 439.900 via the Summertown repeater.
AREG is always looking for avenues to encourage amateurs out into the field to operate their stations. One of the unique ways to do this is to go and operate from a conservation park. Several awards systems have been established to promote this type of portable operation. These have been very effective in stimulating activity on the HF bands domestically particularly during daylight hours on 20 and 40m.
There are various forms of these awards including Summits On The Air, World Wide Flora and Fauna and other National Parks awards both in Australia and abroad. Paul VK5PAS has been a major champion of this type of operation and in particular is the founder of the VK5 National & Conservation Parks Award.
Sample VK5 Parks Award Certificate
At AREG’s next meeting on Friday June 17th, Paul VK5PAS will give a presentation on the Parks ‘N’ Peaks movement and the VK5 award in particular.
Everyone is most welcome to attend. The meeting will be held at:
Reedbeds Community Hall
Phelps Crt, Fulham
The doors will open at 7.45pm and the presentation will get underway at 8.00pm sharp.
After the meeting a short debrief will be given on the outcomes from the River Paddling Marathon that many AREG members are involved with this weekend.
Log Book Of The World
In addition to Parks n Peaks, Paul is now able to assist with the certification process for LogBook of the World. We hope to hear more about how to become registered for LOTW from Paul during the meeting as well.