Wonderful Rosebud Radiofest

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.
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Packed meeting with welcome guests

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...
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Meeting at Woodend Saturday 15th November

Hello everyone, This Saturday is the next club meeting from 10am at the Woodend RSL. A mix of short form topics are planned: Some gear sales (bring some cash) Maddog Antenna products from Barry VK3BRT and Graeme VK3CDO A free way to remote control your network radio when away from home - Peter VK3TPM QRP-Labs QMX for portable operation and 3D printer applications There will be lunch afterwards at one of the local cafes and all are invited. Regards,Peter, VK3TPM,Acting ...
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Graeme, VK3NE: Silent Key

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, ...
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Stealth operations from hotel rooms and other unlikely QTH’s

At this month's meeting we had a special guest presentation from Ross, VK1UN/VK8UN/EX0AA/G6BTE/6O0O, on the techniques he uses to operate amateur radio from unlikely locations. The aim of this talk was to present a means of optimising station performance from hotel rooms and other difficult location on 160m, 630m and 2200m WSPR bands. Very good results can be achieved if one systematically optimises transceivers, tuners and antennas used out of a hotel room or equally applicable, to S...
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Raising amateur radio antennas without injury

Here we are at Erics VK3 ED’s QTH.  Crew arrived to make sure Eric’s multi band inverted V was erected safely as possible. Safety officer (Joe VK3MAB) checked the crew first to make sure all had the correct PPE. Caution tape was used to indicate go and no-go zones, pity it was upside down. The installation went with no injuries to the crew. Tea, coffee, and food was supplied by all, followed by the usual chat. Just a note to members if you need a hand there are plenty of members that will ...
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Meeting Saturday 18th October

Hello Everyone, This Saturday is the next club meeting from 10am at the Woodend RSL. Our speaker this month is Ross Ballantyne, VK1UN. Ross will talk about his FDIM 2024 presentation “Stealth operations from hotel rooms and other unlikely QTHes”. He will also be embellishing on some recent innovations he has done on tuners. In particular, examples of operations and results, equipment and gear needed, and a systematised approach to optimisation of QRP very portable operations. Ro...
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