The next AREG meeting will be held on Friday the 15th of August at the Fulham Community Centre – Phelps Court, Fulham. This will be the AREG’s Annual General Meeting, which will include the election of the 2025-2026 committee.
At this meeting we’ll have a presentation from Adrian KO8SCA on the plans for the February 2026 Bouvet Island DXpedition (3Y0K).
Bouvet Island is the most remote uninhabited island on earth, and is currently the #10 most wanted DXCC. It’s a serious challenge to even just get there, let alone get equipment onto the island, set up a station, and then work the many many stations expected to be calling.
Adrian will be presenting via Zoom from the US (a very awkward time difference), so a big thanks to him for agreeing to present to us!
Doors open at 7.00pm and the presentation kicks off at 7.30. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’ve never come along to one of our meetings, we’d love to see you there, all guests are welcome. For our remote members, the meeting will be broadcast via Zoom
After the talks we’ll all be given an opportunity to have an eyeball QSO among ourselves whilst enjoying a tea or coffee and a biscuit.
In July of 2025 we tried something we hadn’t tried in a while – doing a balloon launch in Winter. Finding a weekend suitable for a large balloon launch in Winter is pretty tricky – the right balance of ground weather conditions (low wind, no rain) and a flight path that doesn’t end up hundreds of km to the east means that launches often get delayed and delayed – and that’s exactly what happened!
The intention of Horus 64 was to re-fly our cross-band repeater payload up to an altitude of at least 35km, allowing repeater coverage between Adelaide and Melbourne. Unfortunately we were never able to get the repeater payload in the air due to poor weather, but we did still do 2 balloon launches with lighter payloads.
Another objective of the launch was to experiment with, and promote the use of the new web-browser-based decoders for our telemetry transmissions. These decoders were developed by Michaela VK3FUR, and make reception of our Horus Binary tracking telemetry, and our Wenet imagery, much more accessible.
Horus 64A – 6th July 2025
What I’m now calling ‘Horus 64A’ launched on Sunday the 6th of July. It was pretty clear during the preceding week that the repeater launch wasn’t going to be possible, with the flight path prediction landing in inaccessible areas north of Waikerie. The call was made Friday night to scrub the full-size launch and send up a lightweight tracking payload under a small (100g) balloon, to give stations some telemetry to practice reception on.
Horus 64A – Waiting for launch.
Weather at the launch site turned out to be ideal, with low winds and clear skies. Unfortunately the flight path predictions were unchanged, so a full launch was still not possible. Mark VK5QI and Will VK5AHV filled the (very small) balloon with a few interested onlookers, and the balloon was released on time at 10AM.
The flight proceeded as expected until about 15km altitude, where we suspect that some of the insulation around the payload gave out, resulting in a sudden drop in temperature and the failure of the tracking payload at just under 17km altitude. No further signals were received. A dashboard showing telemetry from this flight is available at this link.
Thanks to the stations that received telemetry from this flight: BARC-RRR,VK3APJ,VK3APJ-2,VK5AI,VK5AKK,VK5ALG,VK5APR,VK5ARG,VK5CBM,VK5CV,VK5FD,VK5GA,VK5GY,VK5IS,VK5KX-i5,VK5LN,VK5NEX,VK5NTM,VK5QI-9,VK5RK,VK5ST-4,VK5TRM,VK5ZAR,VK5ZBI-1,VK5ZBI-2,VK5ZM,VK5ZMD
Horus 64B – 13th July 2025
Our second try at the repeater launch was for the following weekend. Again, as we got closer to the launch day the weather forecasts were looking pretty poor. This time we had a combination of very high wind speeds at the launch site, as well as a flight path that would take the payloads east into Victoria, landing somewhere inside the Murray Sunset National Park.
Not a very good flight path prediction!
When it became clear that a full-size launch was once again not going to be possible, the plan pivoted to another smaller launch – this time with a tracking payload *and* an imagery payload, accepting that these payloads might not be recovered on the launch day.
Michaela VK3FUR was able to quickly build up a Wenet imagery payload to fly on this launch. This payload also included software which alternated between the ‘classic’ Wenet modulation (in use since ~2018), and a new ‘Wenet v2’ mode, which is more spectrally efficient. We also added on a PiCam v3 as one last test to see if we could get the auto-focus behaving correctly. Michaela drove over from Melbourne along with Geordie VK3CLR and Alex VK3SNP the day before the launch! You can read her writeup on the payload and flight here.
Launch!
On arrival at the launch site, it was immediately obvious that a full-size launch would have been a very bad idea – it was windy! After finding a sheltered spot to fill, it was decided to try flying a 600g Hwoyee balloon to give the imagery payload a bit more time in the area. Filling went fairly quickly, with many hands available to help out with ‘balloon management’.
Launching was a bit more challenging – with wind gusts picking up right as we were preparing for launch, and the balloon almost hitting the ground! The entire launch was captured by Autumn VK5CLD:
Reception Experiments
With the flight heading to the east at over 200 kph we decided it wasn’t worth chasing, and instead headed up to a lookout near Palmer to attempt to track the payloads for as long as possible.
Many different antenna setups receiving imagery and telemetry!
Peter VK5KX and Matt VK5ZM were already on-site, with Pete’s tracking antenna setup, and Matt’s ‘pelican case portable’ receiver. After the launch crew arrived, we had some fun trying out different reception setups, including receiving Wenet imagery using a mobile phone, RTLSDR, and a 18-element yagi! (Worked great, but very difficult to point accurately!). Michaela demonstrated a cheap Wenet reception setup which she describes in her blog post.
Burst, Landing & Delayed Recovery
With a 600g balloon, we had expected a burst altitude around 30km. Unfortunately the balloon failed at just over 20km altitude, and we suspect it might have been due to a collision with one of the payloads!
The payloads descended under parachute to a landing approximately 13km north-east of Underbool, Victoria. The last telemetry packet was received by VK5TRM at an altitude of just over 1km, from 130km away. The last imagery packets were received at an altitude around 2.2km by VK5KX’s portable setup, at a range of 250km.
The next day, Michaela & company visited the predicted landing area (a bit of a detour, while heading home to Melbourne) and were able to spot the payloads. A short walk across a paddock, and the payloads were easily recovered.
Michaela was able to create a time-lapse showing the images captured by the payload in the last few hours after landing, before the battery failed:
Wenet Payload Imagery
Unfortunately we hit the PiCam v3 focus issues again – this time we think it was caused by the autofocus algorithms not handling the movement of the payloads during flight. Essentially all of the images taken after launch were out of focus. On our next launch we will most likely switch back to the PiCam v2 or PiCam HQ.
The ‘Wenet v2’ modulation performed well, and we’ll be switching to this on all future launches. Further information on how to receive this will be provided before the next launch.
A selection of images from the flight as shown below:
Flight Statistics
The following stations received the ‘ITSWINDY’ Horus Binary Telemetry during this flight: AAA-RX,Angaston-RX,BARC-RRR,VK3APJ,VK3BKQ,VK3FUR,VK3TNU,VK5AKK,VK5ALG,VK5ARG,VK5BRL,VK5CBM,VK5CLD-9,VK5FD,VK5GA,VK5GY,VK5HS,VK5HW,VK5IS,VK5KAW,VK5KX-i5,VK5LN,VK5NE,VK5NEX,VK5PJ,VK5QI-9,VK5RK,VK5ST-4,VK5WE,VK5ZAR,VK5ZBI,VK5ZBI-2,VK5ZM,VK5ZMD,VK5ZQV,vk5cv,vk5trm
The furthest reception was from VK3BKQ near Geelong, at a distance of 495 km!
You can find a breakdown of packets received on the flight dashboard, available at this link.
The following stations received imagery packets from the ‘Wenet Classic’ transmitter (VK3FUR):
VK5LA: 28413 packets (6.94 MB)
VK3TNU-2: 45224 packets (11.04 MB)
VK5KX-9: 23358 packets (5.70 MB)
vk5cld-2: 4438 packets (1.08 MB)
VK5QI-9: 24411 packets (5.96 MB)
VK5HS: 20952 packets (5.12 MB)
VK5ZM: 6831 packets (1.67 MB)
VK5CLD-9: 20679 packets (5.05 MB)
VK3SNP: 225 packets (0.05 MB)
VK5IS: 15612 packets (3.81 MB)
The following stations received imagery packets from the ‘Wenet v2’ transmitter (VK4XSS):
Thanks to everyone that received telemetry and imagery on this flight, and in particular thanks to those stations that gave WebHorus and WebWenet a go!
Next Horus Launch – August / September
We still want to try and get the cross-band repeater in the air. This will hopefully happen in late August or early September – information will be posted here once a date is finalised.
We can also announce that we will be performing high-altitude balloon launches for Fleet Space later in the year, as part of their LaunchBox STEM program. The first of these launches is expected to occur in mid-October.
The next AREG meeting will be held on Friday the 18th of July at the Fulham Community Centre – Phelps Court, Fulham. (Not at last month’s venue in St Peters – we’ll probably be back there at a future meeting!)
This month’s presentation is from Grant VK5GR, on considerations around setting up a station for a large worldwide amateur radio contest!
Grant will take you through various considerations when designing a HF contest station, starting with HF Propagation analysis and station location selection (and how to use the ARRL HF Terrain Analysis package). We will then take us through some station design ideas intended to maximise your ability to be heard at the right times and on the right bands to maximise your competitiveness. Ways of operating multiple HF transmitters from one location will also be discussed, as well as the types of gear to consider. Finally, he will take a look at contest logging systems and show how easy it is to record your QSOs. During the evening, Grant will specifically work through the planning that has so far taken place around the AREG effort to activate VL5X in this year’s 80th Oceania DX Contest during the October long weekend.
Doors open at 7.00pm and the presentations kick off at 7.30. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’ve never come along to one of our meetings, we’d love to see you there, all guests are welcome. For our remote members, the meeting will be broadcast via Zoom, and the talk will be recorded for later viewing on Youtube.
After the talks we’ll all be given an opportunity to have an eyeball QSO among ourselves whilst enjoying a tea or coffee and a biscuit.
Update: Thanks to everyone that helped out with this launch! A full writeup will be published in the coming weeks.
AREG’s High-Altitude Ballooning sub-group, Project Horus, is planning their next launch for Sunday the 13th of July, with a planned launch time of 10 AM ACST.
This launch is currently planned to be performed from the Mt Barker High School Oval with the launch team arriving on site from around 9:30 AM. Note that access to the oval is via Stephenson street, and parking near the oval is extremely limited. We are expecting significant wind gusts at the launch site – be prepared!
Details of the frequencies in use on this flight are:
Wenet Imagery on 443.5 MHz. (Now receivable using a web browser! See below!)
Primary Horus Binary telemetry on 434.200 MHz – callsign ‘ITSWINDY’
On this flight we encourage new listeners to try out our new web-browser-based decoding software for Horus Binary and Wenet – find out more about this further below!
The primary tracking telemetry will be transmitted on 434.200 MHz using the Horus Binary 4FSK data mode. Amateurs in the Adelaide and Central SA region are also encouraged to get involved with the flight through receiving and uploading flight telemetry from our 70cm band tracking beacons. Every piece of telemetry data is valuable to the flight tracking and recovery teams so if you can help join the distributed receiver network to collect that data you will be making an important contribution to the project!
Note that you will need to use a USB ‘dial’ frequency of 434.199 MHz for the 4FSK signal to be centred in your receiver passband and hence be decodable.
Horus Binary telemetry can now also be received using your web browser, using either a SSB receiver or even a RTLSDR!
Click this link to start up a browser-based receiver:
Imagery on this flight will be transmitted via the Wenet downlink system, which uses 115 kbit/s Frequency-Shift-Keying to send HD snapshots. Reception of the Wenet imagery requires a RTLSDR, and a 70cm antenna with some gain (a 5-element Yagi is usually enough).
Wenet can now be received on almost any modern computer, and even some newer android devices, using the new WebWenet software! This operates entirely within a web browser. Information on how to get setup to use this is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euo4BGB6wUU
Click this link to start up a browser-based receiver:
This payload will be alternating between standard Wenet transmissions and an experimental new version of Wenet which runs at a slightly lower baud rate and a narrower bandwidth. The transmitted mode will change between images, so if you aren’t decoding anything immediately, be patient and wait for the next image!
You can try out receiving the new version of the Wenet signal using WebWenet at this link:
We encourage new listeners to try out the WebWenet software for decoding signals on this flight – however you can also still receive the signal using the Linux-based decoder, with details on this available here:
This month’s presentation topic will be from Adam Jenkins, on ESP32 Microcontrollers!
Adam will discuss the possibilities inherent in the ESP32 microcontroller for communications. With built-in Bluetooth, WiFi, and a dual-core CPU, the ESP32 is changing the maker world and opening up new possibilities that will enhance radio projects—from remote station control and APRS beacons to digital mode interfaces and portable logging tools. Adam will discuss the capabilities of the ESP32, programming basics, and how it can interface with RF hardware.
Doors open at 7.00pm and the presentations kick off at 7.30. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’ve never come along to one of our meetings, we’d love to see you there, all guests are welcome. For our remote members, the meeting will be broadcast via Zoom, and the talk will be recorded for later viewing on Youtube. After the presentation we will be holding a Special General Meeting to vote on a special resolution for updates to the AREG constitution. AREG members please check your emails for information on this!
After the talk and meeting we’ll all be given an opportunity to have an eyeball QSO among ourselves whilst enjoying a tea or coffee and a biscuit.
How to find us this month!
The St Peters Youth Centre building is located at the end of Cornish Road, Stepney, with the main entrance off Cornish Road. You can find
Parking is available at:
Cornish Road, Stepney
The Linde Reserve Carpark, off Nelson Street, Stepney (including a Jolt EV charger!)
Even more parking in the other Linde Reserve carpark, off Stepney Street; and
Parking across Nelson Street, in The Avenues Shopping Centre.
The next AREG meeting will be held on Friday the 16th of May at the Fulham Community Centre – Phelps Court, Fulham.
The Four Sides of a Triangle, by Graeme Wilson VK5RE, is a guest lecture on how he drove 521,000 km around Australia in six and a half years checking mobile phone coverage, and how he developed driving techniques to do “Efficient Driving” and seeing and photographing many interesting “things” along the way.
Doors open at 7.00pm and the presentations kick off at 7.30. Everyone is welcome to attend. If you’ve never come along to one of our meetings, we’d love to see you there, all guests are welcome. For our remote members, the meeting will be broadcast via Zoom, and the talk will be recorded for later viewing on Youtube.
After the talks we’ll all be given an opportunity to have an eyeball QSO among ourselves whilst enjoying a tea or coffee and a biscuit.
AREG is pleased to announce that we have finally completed the long planned 2m repeater project at our Summertown repeater site. This now completes the full set of repeaters for all amateur bands from 6 m (53 MHz) to 23 cm(1273MHz).
The new repeater, which operates on 147.175 MHz (+600 kHz) and has been on test for a number of weeks, received its final antenna over the weekend. The antenna was also relocated to the top of the tower. So far, signal reports have been excellent right across Adelaide and the greater central South Australian region. We are getting great signal reports from mobiles and hand held operators alike all over Adelaide, including the southern suburbs (Christies Beach), Eastern foothills (Rostrevor/Newton) and the Northern hills face suburbs (like Hillbank) as well as further afield from Murray Bridge, Normanville, Renmark and Port Lincoln.
Operating via VK5RSB 2m
Stations using the repeater should be aware that the system is set up a little differently to other Adelaide repeaters. When you access the repeater, you will hear a courtesy beep 1 second after the end of your transmission, (which signals that the 5 minute time out timer has been reset), followed by the repeater tail transmitting for a further 4 seconds. During the remaining 4 seconds, you are free to key your transmitter and continue your conversation without waiting for the repeater transmitter to shut down. This reduces the “crash bang” squelch break noise you might be used to on other systems.
To access the system you do need CTCSS transmit capability. The repeater responds to a 91.5 Hz sub-tone for activation.
VK5RSB 2m Predicted Coverage
If you would like to send us a signal report, please email vk5arg @ areg.org.au. We would love to hear from you!
Our other repeaters at VK5RSB
If you would like to try some of the other bands, you will also find VK5RSB on:
53.750 MHz (-1 MHz offset)
439.900 MHz (-5 MHz offset) (with 91.5 Hz CTCSS)
1273.500 MHz (+20 MHz offset)
Future Plans
Future plans also include adding an APRS repeater on 145.175 MHz (AX.25) and connecting the VK5RSB 70cm repeater to the central SA repeater network as the replacement Adelaide network hub (given that the VK5RAD 70cm and APRS repeaters at Crafers are expected to cease operation when that site is closed in August 2025).
For April’s meeting (on Friday the 18th of April, the Good Friday public holiday), AREG will not be holding a meeting at the Fulham Community Centre. Instead, we’ll be trying something a bit different and meeting up in a park for a BBQ lunch, HF activation, and some fox-hunting!
We’ll be meeting at the lower section of the Morialta Conservation Park from around 11AM with parking available off Moritalta Falls Road. We’ll be near one of the BBQ areas, so look out for a red AREG flag!
We’ll have a HF station going to activate the Morialta Conservation Park (VKFF-0783) so listen out for VK5ARG on the bands! There will also be a fox-hunting (amateur radio direction finding) course set up around the park, with plenty of equipment available to borrow and give fox-hunting a go.
If you’re coming along, we suggest you bring a chair, drinks, and food for lunch (the club will provide some basic BBQ fare too).
