A good turnout and a lovely day for the coffee morning at Gisborne. Due to extreme fire conditions we weren't able to access our normal venue of the CFA building. Ron had the bright idea of simply dropping the name of John, VK3JCB at the near-by SES and that got us in the door there. Very kind of them. We had an animated discussion, solving world problems as always. Peter, VK3TPM, brought a new (to him) Xiegu X6200 radio which seems like an excellent portable radio with built-in ba...

Well guess what? The tour force of MRARC attended the fest. JoeVK3MAB, BarryVK3BRT, JohnVK3JCB, Ron VK3ZJ, PeterVK3 PRC, PeterVK3RV, Peter B, JohnVK3IC, EricVK3ED, CraigVK3CDN, Geoff VK3MGM. The day started with breakfast at the Big M at Ballan. The second wave arrive at the ham fest at 10.00am. Crew assemble ready to hunt for the best deals and buying what was on offer at the various tables. Everyone did at least three rounds around the tables looking for that elusive bargain. Lot...

After all the recent fires and flooding rains around the state it was a perfect day for the club's annual picnic day at Days Picnic Area on Lions Head Road, Hesket. The turnout was excellent with many members, including some who often don't make it to meetings. What was particularly striking was all the radio gear and antennas that were set up. There were end feds, squid poles, ground mounted verticals and even a loop antenna. Unfortunately band conditions where not terribly good but a f...

This year the club Christmas function was well attended and highly entertaining. Howard opened the bar, Barry and Peter cooked up a brilliant feast. Joe began gave a fashion parade of the proposed options for the club's coming range of clothing. A challenging four round quiz was run with only a few appeals - amazing given some of the proposed "answers" we were offered! Our thanks again to Joe, VK3MAB, for a fine effort in preparing the material. We were very pleased to welcome ...

Graeme VK3CDO and Peter VK3TPM spent a very pleasant afternoon, night and breakfast at the Barmah Lakes campground. As usual, Graeme came well equipped for the field operations. An end fed antenna was strung up and we had several contacts including to a POTA station in NSW and Richard VK3LRJ. The KX3 was matched beautifully to the end fed using a home brew Unun but the band seemed rather dead. Connecting the end fed direct to the radio brought the band to life and the KX3's amazing t...

Once again the Rosebud Radiofest was well attended by members of the Macedon Ranges Amateur Radio club. Here we see Joe, VK3MAB, dreaming of the gear he will buy when the doors open. Peter, VK3PRC, managed to maintain control in the face of many temptations. It's a long trip from central Victoria but it's always worth while. Warm congratulations to the organisers for a well run event with plenty on show.

Today's meeting was very well attended. We had a gear sale (with some very generous prices), a quick presentation on QRP gear and accessing your home radio remotely via Tailscale. Joe VK3MAB, led the event and held a minute's silence to honour the passing of a co-founder and huge contributor to the club, Graeme, VK3NE. Sorely missed. We were honoured to have Gaz Emil Petru, Y05DND, visiting from the Romanian club Y05KAD. Welcome Gaz! There were also two new faces, Carl and rec...

It was a rather subdued get-together at the Gisborne CFA today as we reflected on the contribution of our friend Graeme, VK3NE. Graeme will be greatly missed and we have started to re-configure things in his absence. Lovely to catch up with everyone and share some coffee and lunch.

There is a celebration of life in honour of Graeme Ian McDiarmid, VK3NE on Friday 7 November 2025 from 2:30pm. Gladstone Park Uniting ChurchCnr Carrick Drive and Elmhurst RoadGladstone Park The memorial service was very well attended including many from our club. Joe, VK3MAB, spoke as did others from the wide variety of organisations Graeme contributed to.

Sadly Graeme, VK3NE passed away peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday 28 October. Graeme was an avid radio amateur who embraced the technical side of the hobby, always with the aim of producing the best quality signal he could under all weather conditions and with the best equipment available to him.  His knowledge of the hobby was extensive and thorough - many amateurs acknowledged and valued his broad understanding of the subject.  Along with his technical knowledge, ...