AREG Meeting Friday 16th Sep: Introduction to DMR Digital Voice Radio Systems

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As a reminder, AREG is hosting a presentation this Friday night introducing DMR Digital Voice networks, following the commissioning of the VK5RWN DMR Repeater.

The meeting will start at 7.45pm ACST (8.15pm AEST) and will be relayed to YouTube with thanks to Hayden VK7HH via the HamRadioDX Channel

You can attend in person for the presentation by visiting the AREG clubrooms, off Phelps Court, in Fulham, Adelaide. Doors open from 7.15pm

 

The Adelaide AREG DMR repeater is in part made possible through internet services obtained from KernWi-Fi, who also sponsor AREG’s Adelaide CBD analogue repeater site VK5RSA.

Next Meeting: Introducing DMR Digital Voice Operation

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be held on Friday 16th September, 7.45pm at the Fulham Community Centre, Phelps Court, Fulham.

The presentation this month is an introduction to DMR – “Digital Mobile Radio”, following on from the successful launch of the club’s VK5RWN DMR Repeater on 438.900MHz last month.

Our panel of speakers includes Mark VK5QI who will introduce the fundamentals of DMR, Ben VK5BB who will take us through what all of the DMR terminology means and how it applies to programming your DMR radio, and Peter VK4NBL who will take us through other ways of connecting to DMR when you are out of range of the repeater.

For AREG regional members, the presentation will be webcast via Zoom. For non members we will be streaming the presentation via VK7HH Hayden’s HamRadioDX channel on YouTube! (details to follow)

Visitors are always welcome at the hall. There will also be a short business meeting held after the presentation.

For members, this is also intended as an introduction to a subsequent code plug building workshop night to be held in the next 4-6 weeks at the hall, If you have any interest or even curiosity in what DMR is all about this is a very useful presentation to come and learn more!

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!

 

VK5 Inwards QSL Bureau Sorting Day – supported by AREG

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It was a great turnout today at the 6 monthly VK5 QSL Bureau sort which in VK5 is operated by the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group on behalf of the WIA. We had 12 AREG members and partners get involved with sorting just under 12kg of QSL cards. These will be made available for collection at the AREG Car Boot Sale on September 3rd.

WIA member and affiliated club cards not collected at the sale will be mailed out the following month.

The Car boot sale is the ideal time for non-members to drop by and pick out their cards  from the non member QSL collection too.

AREG: 2021/2022 – A Year in Review

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The Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group Inc held its Annual General Meeting on Friday August 19th. Our new office bearers for FY22/23 are as follows:

PositionName
President:Gerard VK5ZQV
SecretaryMark VK5QI
TreasurerChris VK5FR
Committee:Michael VK5MN
Committee: Scott VK2JAX
CommitteeBob VK5FO

A vote of thanks was given to the departing committee members Kim VK5FJ, Jeff VK5AC and Andrew VK5AKH for their contributions to the committee in 2021/22.

Members can contact the committee through the vk5arg @ areg.org.au mailbox.

2021/22 was a big year for AREG. The following highlights will give you a sense of what was achieved this past year!

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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!