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QNEWS MAY 4 2025 - VK4 ON AIR

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DID YOUR CLUB TELL ANYONE ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO THIS WEEK?
IPSWICH AND DARLING DOWNS DID - WHY DIDN'T YOUR CLUB? ASK!

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THE FOLLOWING NEWS CAN BE HEARD FROM OUR AUDIO SERVICE
Available in Audio RIGHT NOW

Also search QNEWS (make sure it IS the Ham Radio QNEWS)
in your podcast.

QNEWS thanks to Tony VK7AX can be found on
www.vk7ax.id.au/wianews/
180.150.53.59/wianews/
QNEWS audio ready to download thanks to Brendan VK4BLP from
www.wiaq.org.au



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VK4 SILENT KEYS @ WIA YEAR FROM MAY 6 2024

SK CALL SK NAME DATE ADVISED BY

VK4PS ALAN STEPHENSON 23/05/24 (vk4zz)
VK4FANG ROGER HARNDEN 22/07/24 (vk4zz)
X/VK4TC Terry Harding Cain 30/07/24 (vk4zz)
VK4CWJ GORDON WEBSTER July 2024 (vk4vp)
VK4SWR JOE SEBAST5IANI 03/07/24 (vk4zz)
VK4TE ALEX McDONALD 27/09/24 (vk4ra)
VK4NL NOEL DESJARDINS 16/10/24 (vk4vp)
VK4RG RON GRANDISON 22/12/24 (vk4hit)
VK4NOE FRED WHITE 29/01/25 (vk4eht)

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Ipswich & District Radio Club

Web – www.vk4wip.org.au
Email - vk4wip@...
Full list of repeaters - www.vk4wip.org.au


This is Allan VK4HIT with news from Ipswich and District Radio Club.

In a catch-up from the March business meeting the club accepted no fewer
than six new members and one returning member.

We think this could be a record, with the exception perhaps of that very
first club meeting in the early 1960s.

It brings current club membership to a very healthy 71.

A warm welcome to Anne, Andrew, Mark, John, Mick and Kevin and to
returning member Kelly.

Under expert guidance from Greg VK4GJW during the last Foundation course
Anna VK4NNA passed with 100 per cent and was issued her call-sign within
two days of the exam. Perhaps that’s another record.

The next foundation course is this month.

And on the social scene president Peter VK4SIR is looking for company for
a camping weekend for the Clairview Gathering May 8 to 10 at the BarraCrab
caravan park.

Reporting from Ipswich this is Allan, VK4HIT.





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submit different slants to keep your event 'fresh .‘

A reminder when supplying HamFest info we obviously can't
plug DEALS from commercial traders "on air", but we at the
WIA will put your supporters 'goods' in this text edition
"no worries."

We will not give blatant 'plugs' to raffles, be it raffles
at the event or "on-line".





DARLING DOWNS RADIO CLUB

vk4wid@...

Hi from the Darling Downs Radio Club - I’m Secretary, John VK4JPM and this
is Sunday 4 May.

Last Wednesday you should have received an email about the upcoming
foxhunt. If you didn't get it, you should definitely send an email to
secretary@..., because we might have wrong details or be unable
to get in touch with you. And right now we don't have a way that you can
self-subscribe to our lists, but regardless of whether you're a member or
not we'd love to keep you informed. Don't be bashful and get on the list.

This coming weekend there are two major club activities:

Next Saturday 10th of May we have our first annual club foxhunt and BBQ.
Well, you have to start somewhere, and in the case of the DDRCI foxhunt,
we're starting at Peacehaven Botanic Park on Kuhls Rd in Highfields.
Start time of 1030 is when hounds depart for the chase, so you'd want to
be in the carpark maybe around 1000. Bruce VK4MQ is our hunt-master, and
he's mapped out a finish point that's going to work for both newbies and
experienced hands. You won't have to travel more than 15km radius from
the start, and there's going to be plenty of support. In fact, if you go
to the club website at ddrci.org.au and check the event invitation in the
calendar, you'll find loads of hints, maps, DIY options, and just about
everything you need except the final location of the fox.

It's not possible to get lost because we're going to come back to
Peacehaven Park for the BBQ. Check out the photos, which look pretty good
but real life is better. And you don't have to be in the hunt to come
for lunch... all welcome - just turn up with some food and drink and join
in.

All the info you need is on the website, but if we've missed anything then
drop a line to the secretary.

Two other things about the foxhunt:
* next Thursday night on the 8th of May we're running a drop-in zoom call
from 1900 local time. We're calling it an orientation, and it will
provide a chance to get any last minute info or ask questions about any
aspect of the hunt. And we can have a bit of a chin-wag at the same
time, another skill we can help you develop.

* if you're coming on the hunt, drop a line to foxhunt@... to
tell us how many people will be along. There's no entry fee, and no
formal requirements, but knowing that you plan to hunt or BBQ will help
us with planning. That address again: foxhunt@...

Good luck everyone.

And on Monday 12th, it's our regular monthly meeting, coming to you once
again from the Toowoomba Library starting from 1900. The topic is WICEN
and Simon VK4TSC from Brisbane WICEN is coming up specially to brief us on
what WICEN is all about and how to get involved. And why should you get
involved? Because as an amateur radio operator it's always important that
you should be prepared and ready to support a civil emergency. When the
zombies rise and commercial communication stops, we hams are the people
who will hold humanity together. But realistically, you will learn
potentially new and useful operational skills that can make you a better
operator. And, as another support activity, Simon is going to ask you to
get involved with the Hip Pocket Rally that takes place in Southbrook, a
bit west of Toowoomba, on 28 June. Helpers from our club are welcome,
and Simon will tell you what's expected and how to get involved. That
date again: 12 May for the meeting, and 28 June for the event.

We will try to again bring you the member meeting via Zoom, and details of
the link will be up shortly on the event calendar entry on the website.
But in person is always better if you can make it: the Toowoomba Library,
level 3, and if you're a new face we'll do our best to make you feel at
home.

If you missed anything and can't find it on the website, drop me a line
secretary@....

Thanks for listening, and there's a little bit extra in the News text
edition - I’m John VK4JPM, and I’ll catch you next week to let you know
how the hunting went.


==========================

If you missed the pointer to the movie "Frequency", you should check it
out: go to the ABC iView site, and navigate through "channels and
categories", then movies, science fiction, and Frequency will be in the
list if it's still available. Or try the Programs A-Z link and scroll to
"F".

One of these might be a direct link:



You do need to have a (free) iView sign on to watch the movie, but the
trailer is open. And listen for the classic line: "want CW or LSB"? Yes,
their operating procedures are suspect - generally it's better to press
the button when you transmit - but we've seen worse technology portrayals
in movies.

==========================

Info on the club Foxhunt:


More info will be added in the next few days, including how to register -
that will be in the article, along with a link to the map for the start
location and the BBQ location (almost the same place). No, we won't tell
you where the FOX is going to be found, but it won't be too hard, and
Bruce promises no dirty or sneaky tricks. We did a test a few days ago,
and you could possibly do the hunt with just a handheld and a whip
antenna, but that definitely would be the hard way.


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Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking.

One of the changes to modern retailing is the growth of on-line retail.
Yes we still
have the grocery store in the guise of the supermarket and the hardware
store that
sells lots of corner store items. We have the newer outlets from overseas
that lets
you get groceries, hardware, musical instruments and surprises, all in
good old
bricks and mortar stores, as they say.

We people who enjoy the electronic side of making things have seen a large
drop off
of retail outlets and some of us find it awkward or impossible to get to
the nearest
store, especially if you live in the regions.

This brings me to the amateur radio tradition of having a pile of loot, a
box of
goodies or a rack of spares colloquially called the junk box. So it was
that during
the past week I gathered some material that had been waiting for the
opportunity to
be attacked by heat and molten solder and I set forth.

I found that I had accumulated a stash of generic UHF plugs, PL259’s, and
I had a
nice run of coax to make some patch leads. Once the eyes were tuned to
cutting and
trimming the cable ends to the right length came the thrill of melting
solder.

That task seemed to go not too badly for the first two ends until I picked
up the
meter leads to do the mandatory check for shorts or open circuits. That
test was
past but what greeted me was the centre pins on both connectors were now
lopsided.

I have made the discovery that most of this collection of plugs, probably
sourced
from an Asian vendor did not have decent insulation but some brown, low
melting
point plastic substitute.

Hopefully I hadn’t lashed out too many pennies in buying this collection
of rubbish
in thinking I was getting the better quality

insulation. A quick look on my nearest dedicated ham radio supplier showed
a listing
for proper plugs with teflon insulation and including postage they are
about $4:00
each. Thank heavens for the specials offered by this retailer.

I suppose what is an object lesson from days of yore, is that items which
can be
salvaged and reused have a quality that is worth utilising. If you have ever
wondered why there can be containers filled with electronic and electrical
bric-a-brac at your HamFest, then I have just given the reason why.

Buying from overseas and especially sourcing generic type items can be
fraught with
danger. Cable with insulation that breaks down with heating or voltage, fake
semiconductors and RF connectors that don’t meet specs are some of the
many issues
you can read about with on-line shopping. There may be consumer law to
protect
purchasers in this country but cheaper items are often a lottery when
bought from
overseas unless they are so-called A1 by reputation. We can say “let the
buyer
beware” but there really is no practical recourse when postage to and from
countries
like the USA can be multiple times the cost of the “bargain” and the only
beneficiary ends up being the local waste facility.


I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and that's what I think, how about you?



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Social Scene

NOTHING UNTIL JULY BY LOOK OF THINGS.

VK - Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association 50th anniversary
Glen Waverly July 26 president@... (vk2ayl)

VK4 - GOLD COAST AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY – 2025 HAMFEST NOV 9 (vk4dmh)
Country Paradise Parklands 231 Beaudesert Nerang Road.



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