The annual Macedon Ranges Amateur Radio Club family day on Mount Macedon was a very enjoyable get together. As we picnicked in the paddock there were entertaining discussions on a wide range of topics.

Quite a few members of the club live on larger blocks of land and have the space to experiment with big antennas. I'm fortunate to be on five acres with many trees so put up a full wave length antenna cut for 80m. It's not a thing of beauty, it just meanders around a few trees and is held up with paracord at each corner. I cut 82m of wire, strung it up, and then started shortening the loop until it was resonant within the 80m band. The loop is driven with a 4:1 balun and works pretty ...

The first coffee morning of the new year at Gisborne CFA was very entertaining. Apart from the normal one-on-one chat Graeme, VK3NE, showed pictures of high power transmitter coupling and organs. There's a move afoot to share information about the coffee meetups of other Victorian clubs so we look forward to welcoming some new people in the future.

Quizmaster Joe This week the club met at Woodend for our annual Xmas lunch. This year quizmaster Joe conducted a challenging trivia quiz that stumped many of the tables but was blitzed by the table of mostly ladies. I think they had double the score of the male dominated tables - which rather questions our abilities. Questions ranged from the hits of girl bands to the dates of bridge openings. A fine time was enjoyed by all. Peter, VK3RV, also handed around a mystery bit of electronics...

Most amateur radio gear runs on a supply voltage of under 14V but there are many LiPo battery packs that produce more than that and need to be regulated down. Frequent SOTA operator David, VK3KR, has been building supply adapters for this purpose. At Gresswell Hill, of the power supply running the mcHF transceiver. Primary power source is an 18.5V LiPo which has sufficient power for many hours of activating David was lucky enough to obtain a commercial grade DC-DC Converter, recovered fro...