� QNEWS - SEPTEMBER 3 2023 - VK4 ON AIR --------------------------------------------------------------------* DID YOUR CLUB TELL ANYONE ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO THIS WEEK? --------------------------------------------------------------------* THE FOLLOWING NEWS CAN BE HEARD FROM OUR AUDIO SERVICE Available in Audio RIGHT NOW QNEWS thanks to Tony VK7AX can be found on www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/ 203.31.7.19/wianews/ QNEWS audio ready to download thanks to Brendan VK4BLP from www.wiaq.org.au Also search QNEWS (make sure it IS the Ham Radio QNEWS) in your podcast. --------------------------------------------------------------------* VK4 SILENT KEYS @ WIA YEAR FROM MAY 13 2023 SK CALL SK NAME DATE ADVISED BY VK4OD PETER HARDING 10 JULY 2023 vk4bab --------------------------------------------------------------------* --------------------------------------------------------------------- CLUBBING --------------------------------------------------------------------- CAIRNS http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk4/CairnsAmateurRadioClubInc/ Hi, Bob VK4BOB here with news from tropical Far North Queensland. Several members of the Cairns Amateur Radio Club lit up Grassy Hill, Cooktown, on Saturday 19 August, with our portable station for the lighthouse weekend. We planned to operate only the one day due to other commitments of each of us, and we were set up by 10am and packed up by 9am Sunday. We had Cook Shire Council permission to operate from a public area there and to disregard the sign at the bottom of the hill instructing that vehicles over 7 metres were prohibited so that I could take my camper up to the top carpark. At first there was just a light breeze but by mid-afternoon the gazebo was trying to imitate Mary Poppins with the usual Cooktown winds even though we had beautiful clear sky, so the gear was moved “indoors� into the camper trailer. We set up an EFHW 40m antenna in an inverted L ten metres high and a 5.8m telescopic antenna on a flyscreen ground plane. It was too breezy to set up the three element 10 metre yagi on the 4 metre high tripod. The four bandpass filters the club recently purchased proved their worth as we could at last operate on different bands with different radios at the same time. For the first few hours we worked were VK2-3-4-5-6-7-8 and ZL. Mid-afternoon though saw the DX start up so we were able to have QSOs with Malta, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Panama, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, USA (lots of them), and Vietnam. Also heard at strength 1 but no QSO possible were a lighthouse station in each of Scotland and Wales. We had a total of 50 QSOs. Not bad for a couple of IC7300s running just barefoot. Operators of VK4GHL which stands for Grassy Hill Lighthouse, were Steve VK4SJB, John VK2FUZZ, Bob VK4BOB and guest Mike MM7MMW. We were visited by the Mayor of Cook Shire Council, Peter Scott, and his wife; Marge Scully of the Cooktown Historical Centre and her husband; Pat Edmunds VK4MUY, the only licensed ham in Cooktown though she is no longer on the air; and Rod VK5KFB who was passing through Cooktown. All being well we’ll be doing it again next year! Ipswich & District Radio Club http://www.wia.org.au/clubs/vk4/IpswichAndDistrict/ Web � www.vk4wip.org.au Email - vk4wip@wia.org.au For a full list of repeaters - www.vk4wip.org.au This is Allan VK4HIT with news from the AGM and August business meetings of Ipswich and District Radio Club. The club is in safe steady hands following the annual general meeting held on August 19. The executive committee for the year ahead consists of: President Peter VK4SIR Vice president Mark VK4SMA Secretary Greg VK4GJW And new treasurer Ian VK4LIP President Peter provided a detailed report on the year which included noting an increase in membership and repeaters and the valuable contribution WICEN makes to the club through members supporting events with safety communications. The club has also signed a long-term agreement with River 94.9 for continued use of facilities on The Knobby at Glamorgan Vale. The Ipswich Analogue Repeater Network added its sixth site on Saturday August 26. A new 70cm Toowoomba repeater - VK4RTW - is now on-ar. Ipswich club thanks Darling Downs Radio Club for housing equipment which significantly improves the Ipswich network coverage in this area. Ipswich club station manager Rob VK4AB was supported by Greg VK4GJW, Mark VK4SMA, Andrew VK4QF, Alistair VK4MV and Tony to conduct the successful installation. Toowoomba and surrounds can now access VK4RTW on 439.775 with 7 MHz offset and 91.5 tone. Seven megahertz offsets for new repeaters were adopted for most of the 70cm band in 2015. Reporting from Ipswich this is Allan, VK4HIT. --------------------------------------------------------------------* Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. To all the fathers listening I hope you have a wonderful day that fills you with memories and brings a smile to your face. Some 60 years ago, the writing and composing team of Lerner and Lowe produced an iconic musical to the theatre and subsequently the cinema. That was “My Fair Lady� which was an adaption of the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw’s play titled “Pygmalion�. Why I mention this is that one of the songs was entitled “When Spring crept over the window sill�. After the farewell to Winter that many parts of the east coast of the continent have endured I would have expected Spring to bounce into our consciousness taking away the memories of the recent storms. But “No� say the weather experts with a glint in their eyes, welcome to the annual storm season. As band conditions of short wave have been a little so-so recently, it is nice to have the expectation of the changes that the warmer months can bring to our radio activities. Hopefully we have managed to do the annual maintenance and our stations are prepped for the changed band conditions and we can take the opportunity for some outdoor operating and some DX on the higher HF and into the VHF parts of the spectrum. This is where we have the tussle of the increased atmospheric noise and the benefit of the openings from the sunspot cycle and other space weather phenomena. Of course one of the things that we should take account of in the storm seasons is the possibility of static discharges and lightning strikes. Protecting our equipment is part of safe operating practice and having suitable grounding and disconnection of external paths such as antenna cables and mains and copper telephone circuits is also a protection for our families and homes as well. A direct lightning strike can not only fuse metal, it can cause other materials to explode and also burn. When you have seen people who have been through the experience of losing all their white goods from the stove in the kitchen to the washing machine and dryer in the laundry as well as all their electronics you can appreciate their angst and hurt. What I am endeavouring to do is remind us all that it isn't just the time when the suburban grass needs cutting more frequently and trips to the swimming pool are a comfort, it is also the time when we should check our homes and surroundings for things that are potentially unsafe. Many will have seen the video of the people taking shelter during a lightning storm and they huddle under the canopy of a tree. When the tree takes a direct strike, it seems the 3 people all die. Here is a message, a lesson to pass onto our family and friends that we should understand what is safe in the circumstance and not put ourselves in danger because of ignorance. I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think....how about you? -------------------------------------------------------------------* 2023 Social Scene Clubs are welcome to submit text with audio for this section VK4 - SUNFEST - SEPTEMBER 9 (vk4an) At Mountain Creek State School’s massive air conditioned auditorium, just off the Sunshine Motor Way. Mountain Creek is tucked in to the west of Mooloolaba VK - ALARAMeet2023 4/5 November in HOBART (luther8@bigpond.com) VK - WIA AGM held MAY 4-5 2024 in BUNDABERG. (barc) TO SUPPLY QNEWS ITEMS:- Send SCRIPT to qnews@wia.org.au send audio to http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/upload/ QNEWS Tips to get MORE out of your weekly newscast on VK4WIA If you would like to submit club news items for inclusion in QNEWS broadcasts, please email your item in text to:- qnews@wia.org.au THEN submit audio:- To submit audio email qnews@wia.org.au and ask for the current password then read "how to submit items" in the weekly news page on http://www.wia.org.au/members/broadcast/contribute/ Remember the sooner you submit audio material the more the likelihood of it being broadcast in the very next edition QNEWS. Each item will only be broadcast once, if you want a couple of mentions, please submit different slants to keep your event 'fresh .� Subscribe: QNEWS-VK+subscribe@groups.io Group Owner: QNEWS-VK+owner@groups.io Help: QNEWS-VK+help@groups.io TO CEASE GETTING THIS EMAILED SERVICE:- Unsubscribe: QNEWS-VK+unsubscribe@groups.io -----------------------------ENDS------------------------------------*