VK5RSB 6m Repeater Update: New Antenna has Arrived

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LcK75XpcaUPDATE: April 17th 2015: Users of the VK5RSB 6m repeater will be pleased to learn that AREG has finally received the new antenna from Polar Industries.A big thank you to all of the donor’s who have helped fund the replacement antenna.

The club is still happy to receive additional donations so that the maintenance funds can be replenished, so if you are a regular user on VK5RSB 6m, please consider making a contribution! Donations can be made via the PayPal button on the left hand side of the screen.

Planning for the replacement antenna’s installation is now underway as well as the repairs to the 6m transmitter amplifier. We will advise when the system has been restored!

IRLP Node 6214 now locked with a PIN!

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Due to inappropriate activity where the IRLP node 6214 sadfacehas been maliciously interfered with and manipulated to the point of triggering lockout responses from other IRLP network nodes, AREG has been forced to require operators to register for access to the node, and for registered operators to use a PIN code for access.

 A most unfortunate side effect of this is that we have now locked out incidental travelers from the system and this is not in the spirit of Amateur Radio Operations. ( I am very sorry that this has had to occur, I held out as long as I could!)

Amateur radio operators who wish to use the IRLP node 6214, are requested to apply via email, with a valid email address and call sign, so as to be issued with the PIN. All applications will be recorded for administration purposes.

Applications may be made to either,

vk5bb@wia.org.au  or vk5qi@wia.org.au

Security of the issued PIN is paramount and it shall not be passed on verbally to any other interested parties.

All inquiries for the PIN shall be referred to the AREG web pages.

73, Ben, VK5BB

IRLP Node 6214 Administrator

Next Meeting 17th April: Using Pan-adapters in your HF Station

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The next meeting of the Amateur aregmapRadio Experimenters group will be held on Friday 17th April. The venue as always will be the Reedbeds Community Hall, 19 Fitch Rd, Fulham SA 5024.

The meeting will start at 7.45pm with a short business meeting, and will be followed by a technical presentation by Andy VK5AKH on installing and using SDR radios as pan-adapters on your HF station. Andy will also give some insight on the benefits of using this technology when working HF.

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HF Pan-adapter display captured from the 20m HF band

After the meeting there will be cake and coffee available as well as many members ready for a chat.

If you want directions to get to the meeting give VK5ARG a call on the Summertown 439.900MHz repeater (91.5Hz CTCSS).

River Paddling Marathon: AREG Communications Update

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Attention all club members – the radio operator registrations are now open for this year’s event. Please access the registration form link e-mailed to all members via the mailing list and complete your details for 2015 as soon as possible so that checkpoint planning, accommodation and catering can all be finalized. Note: the AREG home base this year will be the Kingston on Murray Caravan Park.

AREG activation of VI5ANZAC 25th – 30th April 2015

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The Amateur Radio Experimenters Group will be participating in the WIA organised special event callsign activation of VI5ANZAC. The major commemoration is on the 25th April 2015, which is when Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli, marking 100 years since our nation’s involvement in WWI.

The club has secured the window from 0000UTC (9:30am CST) Friday 24th April through to 2359UTC 30th April (9:30am CST Friday 1st May) to activate the callsign. After interest was also expressed from the Elizabeth Amateur Radio club to operate portable from an RSL hall on ANZAC day, AREG has cooperated and agreed to EARC operating the callsign up until 12.00pm CST on April 25th, so that operators from both clubs can share in the experience.

The principle goal of AREG with the callsign is to contact Turkey on HF after 12:00pm CST (0230UTC) on the 25th of April (Anzac Day) as well as provide an easily reachable signal across VK/ZL (and all points in between). A large construction project is underway at one of the club members stations aimed at installing a 3 element 40m beam and 4 element 20m beam in time for the event. The AREG also intends for it’s members to activate it as often as possible from AREG members stations thereafter within the club’s operating window on HF and VHF/UHF as far as possible.

More details of AREG’s exact plans will be released closer to the event. At this stage, members are asked to contact the committee to place their details on the club roster for activating VI5ANZAC between Sunday 26th April and Friday 1st May 9:30am.

CQ WPX & VK5 Parks Award activity underway!

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The VK5ARG activation during the CQ WPX Contest and the VK5 Parks award activation by VK5QI and VK5AKH are underway now from the Coorong National Park. The bands are jumping and the team is having lots of fun camping out under the stars.

iOE1VKA20m is alive with activity during the contest, as can be seen from Mark’s SDR screen capture here. Not a lot of room on 20m when this was captured!

All the best boys and enjoy yourselves.

VK5ARG Active in VK5 Parks Award and CQ WPX Contest this weekend

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This weekend will see VK5ARG portable on the airwaves again with several intrepid members including Andy VK5AKH and Mark VK5QI planning on operating portable from the Coorong National Park, 175km SE of Adelaide.

CQ WPX Contest Activation VK5ARG

coorongnp-mapVK5ARG will be active in the the CQ WPX SSB Contest, which  is based on an award offered by CQ Magazine for working as many prefixes as possible during the contest period.. Held on the last weekend of March (SSB) and May (CW), the contest draws thousands of entries from around the world.

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VK5 Parks Award Simultaneous Activation

This is also the second anniversary of the VK5 Parks Activation Weekend  event organised by the Adelaide Hills Amateur Radio Society. Paul VK5PAS who has driven the VK5 Parks Award has done a sterling job and promoting HF and VHF/UHF portable operation through this initiative giving amateurs a great incentive to get out and about and see the natural wonders of our state while playing Amateur Radio.

Operators of VK5ARG this weekend will also be making contatcs under their own callsigns during the VK5 Parks Activation, so look out for Mark VK5QI/P and Andy VK5AKH/P (and others) on the bands. For more information about the VK5 Parks Award visit their website.

Antennas will be 16m tall vertical on 160-30m, inverted Vee on 40m and 2 element hex beam 20-10m. Operating Low Power as generators are not allowed in the park. Good luck in the contest and hope to see you in the log.
coorongvk5arg

John Moyle Memorial Field Day over for another year

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Journey’s End

The joint EARC, NERC and AREG activation of the Para Wirra Recreation Park for the 2015 John Moyle Memorial Field Day contest has been a roaring success. It was great to see so many people from all of the participating clubs come along and pitch in with manpower and equipment. Most of all it was clear that everyone who came along had a lot of fun and got to play a LOT of radio…

Thanks must also go to the Wireless Institute of Australia who granted access to the state WIA callsign VK5WIA for the event. It was great to unite all three clubs under the state banner.

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At the end of the event, VK5WIA/P had worked a total of 1141 stations in 24 hours with the breakdown band by band standing at:

  • 160m: 5
  • 80m: 92
  • 40m: 564
  • 20m: 319
  • 15m: 148
  • 10m: 13

We now look forward to submitting our logs and seeing how we went.

Thanks Everyone

A big thank you to the contest “master”, Andrew VK5AKH, who rallied all of the equipment and man power from many sources across both clubs into a cohesive station, along with help from many others. Thanks also to all of the band captains, operators, support crew and catering crew for making the event special. A special thanks also to the rangers from the Parra Wirra Recreation Park who gave us special permission to remain in the park after hours to operate the station.

More Images

Finally, here are some more images from VK5WIA. We have created a photo gallery of the event on the AREG website. Check it out here!

Grant VK5GR has also created one last time lapse sequence to inspire us for next year!

Final Reminder

If you worked us more than 5 times, please make sure you also submit a log to the contest manager. This is a new rule for this year and it will help verify our repeat contacts.