The next monthly AREG fox hunt is schduled for this Friday night, the 12th of November, again kicking off at 6.15pm from the southern end of the car park at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, with the fox transmitters being activated and “hounds” released from 6.30pm.
As always, participants are welcome to liaise via the Summertown UHF Repeater on 439.900MHz (-5MHz Input with 91.5Hz CTCSS).
All are welcome to join in – AREG members and non members alike. See you there!
The next foxhunt will be held this coming Friday, 22nd October. It will start once again from the car park of the Adelaide Aquatic Centre, in the North Park lands, off Jeffcott Rd, North Adelaide. Hounds will gather from 6.15pm and kick off will be 6.30pm.
Foxes will be deployed on 145.3MHz, 144.39MHz and 70cm (TBC).
Liaison will be via the Summertown UHF Repeater on 439.900MHz (-5MHz Input with 91.5Hz CTCSS).
All are welcome – AREG members and non members alike. See you there!
The next AREG meeting will be held this coming Friday at our clubrooms at the Fulham Community Centre. Doors will open at 7.15pm.
Our presenter this month is Marcus VK3TST/VK5WTF who will discuss “the peaks and valleys of QRP portable, from where to go, to how to be heard, and the equipment you need to get a signal out.” Marcus, who was licensed as a teenager in 1994 is always trying to do more with less. He will talk about the basics of antennas he uses and his experiences hiking with amateur radio in both Australia and Japan.
The meeting presentation will commence at 7.45pm ACDT and will also be streamed live for members on Zoom (that is 7.15pm QST or 8.15pm AEDT for our interstate members). While we wont be offering a live Youtube stream this month, we do hope to post a recording of the presentation after the event on HamRadioDX.
The presentation will be followed by a general business meeting. All members are encouraged to attend either in person at the hall or via Zoom if you are remote.
To find us in person, the meeting will be held at the Fulham Community Centre, Phelps Court, Fulham SA. See you there!
AREG is pleased to confirm that our next meeting will be streamed live on Youtube via the HamRadioDX Channel!
The broadcast will start on Friday 17th September:
The presentation by Scott VK5TST will provide an introduction to filament based 3D printing. While the technology is large, and there are many ways to use and enjoy it, this is based on one person’s experiences. I approached 3D printing as getting a new tool to help with other hobbies, rather than my hobby being build and development of the printer.
The presentation will discuss the technology, the process, equipment (software, printer and consumables) with some tips on how to get started. Not to mention a few lessons over a year or so of playing with the hobby.
The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be hosting the presentation live at our clubrooms at the same time, Phelps Court, Fulham. Doors will be open from 7.15pm. COVID Safe protocols will need to be observed – face masks will need to be worn and COVID Check in will be mandatorty.
Remote AREG members will be able to interact with the meeting via our Zoom link.
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group will be held this coming Friday, September 17th, starting at 7.45pm ACST. We will be featuring a presentation by Scott Testi VK5TST who will talk about 3D Printing Basics – One Way to Get Started.
The brief presentation will provide an introduction to filament based 3D printing. While the technology is large, and there are many ways to use and enjoy it, this is based on one person’s experiences. I approached 3D printing as getting a new tool to help with other hobbies, rather than my hobby being build and development of the printer.
The presentation will discuss the technology, the process, equipment (software, printer and consumables) with some tips on how to get started. Not to mention a few lessons over a year or so of playing with the hobby.
The meeting will also be streamed for members via Zoom and we are hoping to also make it available via YouTube via the HamRadioDX Channel. (TBC)
The group meets at the Fulham Community Centre, off Phelps Court, Fulham. Doors open at 7.15pm. A general business meeting will be held after the presentation.
Visitors are most welcome!
We run as a COVID safe event. Everyone attending in person will be required to wear a mask and will need to do a COVIDSafe Checkin at the door.
Our September fox hunt is scheduled for the evening of Friday the 10th of September, kicking off at 6:30pm from the southern end of the car park at the Adelaide Aquatic centre.
As usual, this event is open to all participants and you don’t need to be a member to join us.
This hunt will again see our usual two 2m foxes in use as well the 70cm fox. Our little biscuit tin fox has had an upgrade to a green army ammo tin and SLA battery, donated by Kim VK5FJ. This has increased the Baofeng/Arduino powered fox run time from 3.5 hours to 11+ hours.
Last month’s hunt saw eight of us join in to locate the three foxes. The biscuit tin, deployed by AREG members Chris VK5CP and Gary VK5GRY, was clevery hidden under a witches hat/street cone on Halifax St in the city. Hunters knew they were close when they spotted Chris and Gary seated outside a nearby hotel enjoying a beverage whilst watching the hunters drive up and down trying to locate the transmitter.
The 70cm fox stuck was to the back of a street sign off Greenhill Road, in the Adelaide Parklands whilst the second 2m fox was hidden by the banks of the Torrens River at Grange.
Mark VK5QI’s newly designed TDOA doppler system with car Head Up Display worked extremely well. A video of it in action can be seen here.
Once again, hunters are encourgaed to liaise on the night on the club’s VK5RSB 70cm repeater.
We look forward to seeing you on the night.
VK5ARG: Tarlee Contest Site – Remembrance Day Contest 2021
The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group will be held this coming Friday, 20th August. The topic will be Amateur Radio Contesting with VK5ARG. During the meeting we will explain the basics of Amateur Radio Contesting and how we apply them during “Contest Month” up at our remote site west of Tarlee.
The aim will be to demystify how to get involved with contesting and explain the basics. We will also talk a bit about contest strategy, band awareness and operating styles, so you can get a feel for how to make contacts in a contest environment. After the initial presentation, there will be time for Q&A.
For anyone who would like to get involved in Contest Month during September/October for the first time, know that we will be working to introduce newbies at the event with each new operator having a mentor to help them get into the swing of things!
Michael VK5ZRN – First time contester – Remembrance Day Contest 2021 @ VK5ARG
The presentation this Friday night will start at 7.45pm. Doors open at 7.15pm and the venue will be the Fulham Community Hall, Phelps Court, Fulham! Visitors are welcome – see you there!
AREG Members note: the meeting will be simulcast on Zoom for members who cant be there in person, but there will be no YouTube stream this month. We will be observing the current COVID restrictions at the hall as well and will ask everyone in attendance to wear a mask in accordance with current health guidelines. Check in at the door will be mandatory. If you are unwell, please stay home and join the proceedings via Zoom!
There is a very un-publicised Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) trial on air in Australia at the moment. The trial is on 747kHz from a transmitter site in Wangaratta, Victoria and the program is ABC Radio National.
Youtube video from “digitalmediafan”
The signal does become decodable at times during the early evening however; there is co-channel interference coming in from MW AM transmitters on 747kHz in Toowoomba, Hobart and Esperance to contend with along with selective fading in the pass-band.
More information on the DRM format can be found here: https://www.drm.org/
Steve VK5SFA has been experimenting with decoding the signal and has had some success using the following information and links:
He also suggests a directional antenna such as a magnetic loop might be of some benefit. Steve has used his Flex Radio as well as an Airspy HF+ Discovery SDR receiver with some success. Experimenters should also remember to use a digital USB mode (no audio EQ) and make the RX filter wide enough to fit the whole digital spectrum when trying to decode the signal. (Note the centre carrier frequency is 747kHz +/- the signal BW)
Have FUN experimenting!