VK5RSB 6m Repeater Replacement Antenna Ordered!

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The repair of the 53.750 MHz VK5RSB 6m FM repeater is one step closer with the order finally being placed for the replacement antenna.

Members will recall; that the site suffered what appears to be a lightning strike before Christmas. The temporary antenna that was installed shortly after the strike hasn’t worked out so well. Due to excessive VSWR, it has damaged the transmitter PA which Adrian VK5ZBR will lovingly reconstruct (again) as part of the repairs.

A big thank you to all the members who made donations towards it’s purchase. We have been advised that the antenna is only 1-2 weeks away from delivery into Adelaide. Once it has arrived, plans will be set for the repair to take place.

Next AREG Meeting now 13th March!

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The Amateur Radio Experimenter’s Group is going to hold it’s monthly meeting a week early in March on Friday March 13th. This is to avoid clashing with preparations for the John Moyle Field Day. The main topic for the evening will be discussing the arrangements for the John Moyle Field Day contest.

The venue will be the Reedbeds Community Centre, Fulham Gardens.

See you there from 7.45pm!

AREG February Meeting

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The next meeting of the AREG will be held on Friday DCP_6746 - CopyFebruary 20th at the Reedbeds Community Centre, Henley Beach South, starting at 7.45pm (location details are available via the contact us page).

The topic this evening will be “Cellular Communications Systems” presented by Grant Willis, VK5GR, and will take a look at the history and evolution of cellular networks in Australia from the early VHF party line system through to today’s modern 4G LTE 300Mbit/s networks. Both the history and technology will be discussed. Hope to see you there!

VK5RSB 6m Repeater – Down Again

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VK5RSB 6m_2The VK5RSB 6m repeater is once again off the air.  We suspect that the temporary antenna has failed, most likely taking the power amplifier with it again.

The AREG is currently looking to buy a new commercially made co-linear 6m antenna, we have received quotes to replace the antenna for A$500.

The AREG would welcome any donations to the antenna replacement by regular users/contributors.  There’s a donate button on the front page of our website, simply place “VK5RSB 6m” in the relevant field when prompted to let us know what the donation is for.

Those users that have already donated we offer our thanks !   Without your support this repeater would be off air for a much longer period.

D-Star DVAP & Dongles

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d-star-logo-350The AREG is happy to report that the recent issues with D-Star DVAP and Dongles accessing and using VK5RWN has been resolved.

The issue turned out to be the Internet router config, which was blocking some necessary ports that weren’t identified at the time of cut over.

Thanks to Bob, Michael & Ben from the AREG D-Star team for resolving the issue.

73, Matthew VK5ZM

AREG January 2015 General Meeting

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Happy new year and welcome to 2015.

This post is just a reminder to members and visitors that the next AREG general meeting will be this coming Friday the 16th of January starting at 7:45pm.   Details of where the AREG meet can be found in the “contact us” section of the website.

This month we have the first business meeting of 2015.   As is usual of this time of year at the first meeting we will have a lot to discuss and plan for the coming months, especially since there was no December meeting.

The business meeting will be followed by coffee and cake.

We hope to see you there.

73, Matthew VK5ZM

VK5RWN – Service Restored

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LcK75XpcaNow that the bush fires in Adelaide are over and vehicular access to the repeater site has recommenced, the VK5RWN D-Star services have been restored.   All ports are operational and the wireless internet link re-established.  Further changes to the internet configuration are planned in coming months.  We thank the D-Star users for their patience while services were disrupted.

73, Matthew VK5ZM

VK5RWN – Adelaide Bush Fires

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AUSTRALIA-ADELAIDE HILL-BUSHFIRE

Due to the bush fires in the Adelaide hills mains power to the VK5RWN repeater has been lost.   As of Tuesday the 6th of January the repeater sites 300Ah backup battery system has run out of power.

The bush fire has passed within 2kms to the north of the repeater site, for which we are thankful.  Access to the repeater site is currently restricted due to road closures and the proximity of the fire ground.

Until the damage to the power infrastructure can be restored and road closures removed the VK5RWN D-Star system will be unavailable.

We thank you for your patience as we wait for the VK5RWN service to be restored.  Our thoughts and best wishes go to those people who have lost property and homes in these recent fires.

73, Matthew VK5ZM