AREG Nets: On Line and On Air!

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To help keep our members connected during this time of social distancing and COVID-19, the club is moving to increase the amount of on air contact opportunities. We are planning on holding an alternating on air net one week and a Zoom round-table chat on the alternate weeks.

The next event will be held this coming Friday, 8th May. Starting at 7.30pm it will be held on the club’s VK5RSB repeater 439.900 which will be linked to the IRLP network via node 6214 to reflector 9558 (which is also linked to the EchoLink node *VK3JED*

This will help to keep our interstate members connected too!

VK5RSB 70cm Coverage Map

The following dates will also have an on air net:

  • May 22nd
  • June 5th

Visitor check-ins are most welcome on the on air nets. The net control station is VK5ARG.

In between the on air weeks, there will be a separate video round table using Zoom Meeting online for members only.

The club just held one of these which was hugely successful as everyone got to see, hear and participate in the free discussions that en-shewed. Members will be provided details of the Zoom logins for each of these on our internal mailing list.

Currently the next scheduled Zoom round table for members is May 29th, also starting at 7.30pm.

Details of our monthly meeting for this month are in a separate post.

We hope to see you all on the air!

AREG Lecture: April 2020 – Online !

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This month the AREG will be taking it’s monthly lecture Online due to COVID-19.  Dave VK5FDAN will be talking to us about Solar Cycle 25 and what we can expect HF to do as we come out of the current Solar Minimum.

While we experiment with various Online meeting platforms we have elected to limit our initial lectures to members only.   I’m sure that once we have found our feet and have ironed out the bugs in our chosen system we can once again look at opening our doors to other interested Amateurs or groups in some form.

I know within our group we’ve wanted to look at online meetings and lectures since we have both international and interstate members, but for reasons it’s never happened.  Times are certainly changing and the impetuous to do so is now.  So please continue to watch this space…

From everyone within the AREG we wish you all the best, please maintain your social distance and stay safe !

USA Exams planned for Adelaide April 4th: CANCELLED / POSTPONED

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UPDATE: March 22nd 2020 – Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the South Australian government now restricting interstate travel (requiring forced isolation for those arriving in the state), the VEA team has regrettably had to cancel the planned FCC exam session for April 4th in Adelaide.

VEA and AREG hope to reschedule this opportunity for later in the year once the restrictions have been lifted.

Next AREG Meeting (March) – Cancelled !

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The next meeting of the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group has been cancelled due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 virus.  Dave VK5FDAN’s talk on the ionosphere will instead be held over until our April meeting, please continue to check our website for details closer to the date.
In lieu of our usual monthly meeting members and friends of the AREG are encouraged to join us on VK5RSB 70cm at our regular meeting time for a Net and a chance to catch up for a chin wag.
Again our apologies to all members and friends for the short notice of cancelling this months meeting, I’m hoping to catch many of you on VK5RSB 70cm Friday night at 8pm.

Next AREG Meeting POSTPONED: Hello Solar Cycle 25! –

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Due to the cancellation of our March meeting, we are now hoping we can bring this topic to members in April. Stay tuned for further details

Always of intense interest to Radio Amateurs is what is going to happen to the ionosphere. More recently, the big question on everyone’s lips has been, when is Solar Cycle 25 going to get underway and how strong (or weak) is it going to be.

AREG is pleased to announce that we have a preeminent expert in this field coming to speak at our Friday 20th of March general meeting. Dr David Neudegg (VK5FDAN) from the Defence Science & Technology Group will give us a radio amateur perspective on what is happening with Solar Cycle 25.

The meeting will be held at the Fulham Community Centre, off Phelps Court in Fulham. The meeting will start at 7.45pm. Doors open from 7.15pm. Visitors are most welcome to join us!

We hope to see you there!

Marathon Canoe Club: River Paddling Marathon 2020 – call for radio volunteers!

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The River Paddling Marathon 200 event staged by the Marathon Canoe Club of SA will again be running over the June long weekend from Berri to Morgan in South Australia’s Riverland. Staged over 3 days from June 6-8, this event will see over 100 competitors brave the winter cold to paddle the mighty Murray River downstream for 200km.

Once again, the Amateur Radio Experimenters Group in conjunction with the Riverland Radio Club, is supporting this major community event with a safety communications radio network. Communications is provided via a combination of Amateur and Commercial VHF/UHF radio networks. The radio team operates 20 check points, including 3 locks, 9 starting lines, 3 finish lines, the event command post and provides VHF command and APRS tracking of 4 safety boats plus the event medics. This is all delivered via a 2m/70cm FM network using a combination of local and portable repeater systems deployed specifically for this event.

Andy VK5AKH visiting Ivan VK5HS and Peter VK5FLEX at one of the checkpoints

Would you like to get involved?

To cover all of the checkpoints and roles, the group needs a small army of volunteers. Members from both AREG and RRC have been the backbone of the event now for over 5 years. This year, we would love to broaden the engagement further. If you are a member of any of the local radio clubs, WICEN SA, WICEN VIC or just an individual with 2m/70cm mobile capabilities and you would like to get involved, please contact us via vk5arg@areg.org.au to express your interest. Registrations are open until the end of March 2020.

What do you need to participate?

We keep the check point requirements simple. Each checkpoint is open for ~3-4 hours and mostly operators are only rostered on for one checkpoint a day.

For most checkpoints a 2WD vehicle and a 25W or higher 2m mobile radio with a car mounted antenna is usually sufficient to reach the comms network. 70cm is used in a limited number of check points too. Minimum teams of 2 are preferred, one for spotting and one for manning the radio. If you wish to participate as an individual we can pair you up with one of the other operators for the day.

If you have never participated in the event before, there will be a briefing night held in Adelaide several weeks before the event. If you are new to the event, our event planners will stage you with one of the more experienced operators to show you the ropes the first year.

Paul VK5BX and Peter VK5KX running Net Control

Logistics Arrangements?

The Radio network participants are mostly based out of Kingston on Murray caravan park for the event and many come and stay for the three days. AREG provides financial assistance towards the cost of accommodation and one of the meals during the event. People usually arrive in the area Friday afternoon (and a small team gets to work that day installing the radios in the boats around 4.30pm at Waikerie). The event is over by 4pm on Monday afternoon leaving plenty of time to drive back to Adelaide.

If you cant come for the full three days, on the Monday in particular it has not been uncommon for people to come up just for the day from Adelaide. (Day 3 is centred near Morgan so is within easy reach).

So if a fun relaxing 3 days on the Murray River interests you please contact us via vk5arg@areg.org.au to express your interest! We would love to see more members of the Amateur Radio community getting involved and supporting this fantastic community event!

 

Project Horus – Horus Binary Test & Tune Launches

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FURTHER UPDATE: The second launch (23rd Feb) was also a success, with even more new callsigns showing up. The following stations were seen to upload telemetry for this launch: VK5BGN, VK5EU, VK5FPKR, VK5KK, VK5KIK, VK5KX, VK5LJG, VK5LO, VK5NE, VK5NEX, VK5NTM, VK5PE, VK5PW, VK5QI, VK5QS, VK5ST, VK5TRM, VK5ZEA. The callsign ‘PLEASE_CHANGE_ME’ also made another appearance 🙂

Thanks to all that received telemetry from these launches, and we hope to see you on the tracker again during future Project Horus launches!

 

UPDATE: The first launch (16th Feb) was a success, with quite a few new stations uploading telemetry. The following stations were seen to upload telemetry this flight: CT1EGC/VK5, VK5APR, VK5CV, VK5FPKR, VK5HS, VK5KIK, VK5KX, VK5LJG, VK5NE, VK5NEX, VK5NTM, VK5PE, VK5PW, VK5QI, VK5ST, VK5TCP, VK5TRM. Also a special mention goes out to callsigns ‘PLEASE_CHANGE_ME’, and ‘DONT_CHANGE_ME’, who might need to go edit their configuration settings 🙂

The next launch will be this coming Sunday, the 23rd of Feb, also from Two Wells. Launch is expected to be around 10AM again. The payload will be a cut-down RS41 Radiosonde, and we will be launching as a ‘Small’ balloon (<= 50g payload).

If you’ve been following the last few Project Horus High-Altitude balloon launches, you may have noticed the new ‘Horus Binary‘ telemetry payload is making a regular showing. This payload uses a high performance 4-FSK modem specifically designed for High-Altitude Balloon flights by David Rowe (VK5DGR) and Mark Jessop (VK5QI).

Horus Binary Telemetry

After resolving some issues experienced on the first few flights, the Horus Binary payload has now proven itself to be well suited for high-altitude balloon tracking, with fast position updates and high robustness to weak signals and fading. It has considerable advantages over the ‘traditional’ RTTY payload in both reliability, reception range and speed.

RTTY (left) and Horus Binary (right) payloads.

As such, it’s time we start to say goodbye to the RTTY tracking payload we’ve been flying for the last 54 flights. It may still make an appearance on a few more flights, but it is long overdue to be phased out, and the weight budget used for more interesting things!

To help regular listeners make the transition, and help new listeners get set up to receive this new telemetry, Project Horus will be performing a series of small (not-so) high-altitude balloon launches over the next few weekends. These launches will each fly a single Horus Binary transmitter, which consists of a reprogrammed Vaisala RS41 radiosonde. It is expected that each flight will remain in the air for approximately 2 hours, giving ample time to test receiving setups.

How can I get involved?

Getting setup to receive the Horus Binary telemetry is no harder than receiving RTTY – if you have a 70cm SSB receiver, or even a Software-Defined-Radio like a RTLSDR dongle, you can get involved and help contribute to the tracking of Project Horus balloon launches, and the success of our future flights.

 

 

We have recently re-vamped the documentation for Horus Binary, and there are now reception guides available for both Windows, OSX and Linux available here: https://github.com/projecthorus/horusbinary/wiki#how-do-i-receive-it

Follow the linked instructions prior to the scheduled flights, then during the flight tune your SSB receiver to 434.660 MHz USB – our standard Horus Binary frequency. Listeners in the greater Adelaide region should be able to receive the signal from the payload shortly after launch, with those further afield following as the balloon and payload ascend to higher altitudes.

If you have issues with setting up the software, please contact Mark Jessop (VK5QI) at vk5qi (at) rfhead.net .

Scheduled Launch Times & Locations

The following launch times are planned:

  • Sunday 16th February, 10AM CDT, from the Two Wells Football Oval (across the road from the bakery!)
  • Sunday 23rd February, 10AM CDT, launch site TBD

All are welcome at the launches – though unlike most Project Horus launches, these launches are expected to be over with very quickly! Launch crews are expected to be on-site approximately 30 min before the launch time, and may depart to chase the payload depending on flight-path predictions.

Online Tracking

Tracking of the flights will be available on the HabHub Tracker, available at this link. (Note that other balloon launches will also be visible on this page, including the Bureau of Meteorology launches from Adelaide Airport).