Hi Everybody,
Merry Christmas to you and your families.
The usual club net will be held on Wednesday 27 Dec.
The Wednesday coffee morning at the Gisborne CFA will be held on Wednesday 3 January 2024.
Saturday 20 January 2024 is the club family day on Mount Macedon. Further details will be sent out nearer the event.
Regards,Graeme VK3NE.
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Author: Editor
A quiz and sumptuous lunch at Xmas meeting
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...
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MRARC Meeting, Saturday 16 December 2023
Hi Everybody,
The meeting this Saturday is the club Christmas gathering.
Time: 1000Hrs.Venue: Woodend RSL Hall, 32 Anslow Street, Woodend.
There will be entertainment with audience participation and free food for all.
Come along and make the last meeting of the year a memorable one.
Regards,Graeme VK3NE,Secretary, MRARC.
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Coffee morning Wednesday 6 December 10am
Hi Everybody,
This Wednesday is the last coffee morning for 2023.
Time: 10:00amVenue: Gisborne CFA meeting Room.
All welcome, bring a friend, bring some show and tell or just sit around and talk.
Lunch afterwards at one of the local cafes.
Regards,Graeme VK3NE,Secretary, MRARC.
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Power supplies for field operation
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...
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Show and tell meeting
The November meeting was informal with mostly socialising and a bit of show and tell. Graeme, VK3NE, brought along a very nicely made WSPR transmitter using an early Raspberry Pi with a low pass filter for two (really three) bands.
Peter, VK3TPM, brought along a Quansheng UV-K5. It's a decent successor to the low cost Baofeng UV-5R but it features USB-C charging (unfortunately not USB programming) and more significantly optional firmware that enables new features. It can be re-flashed fr...
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MRARC Meeting, Saturday 18 November 2023.
Hi Everybody,
This Saturday is the November club meeting.
Time: 10:00amVenue: Woodend RSL hall.
There is no formal presentation this month. Plenty of time for show and tell and discussions.
Don't forget the club nets tomorrow night. The Mt Macedon repeater has been returned to service since last week outage.
Regards,Graeme VK3NE,Secretary, MRARC.
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Rosebud Radiofest an excellent show
Like last year, a few members of our club made the journey down to Rosebud for the RadioFest.
Lots to see
It was very well organised and there was loads of interesting equipment on display or for sale.
This mystery item was purchased and I have to say that I definitely feel more energetic since getting it back to the shack and putting it to the test.
Happily it turned out to be what I had hoped - an amplifier and speaker in a box with battery or external power. Very useful aroun...
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Coffee morning Wednesday 1st November
Hi Everybody,
This Wednesday is coffee/tea morning.
Venue: Gisborne CFA Meeting Room.Time: 10:00am.
All welcome, bring a guest or friend or some show and tell.
Lunch afterwards in a nearby cafe.
Regards,Graeme VK3NE,Secretary, MRARC.
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Club 80m net heard in Sydney on indoor loop
As members know, the club holds a weekly net each Wednesday. From 8pm it's on the VK3RMM 2m repeater, which covers a lot of Victoria. From 8:30pm it's on 3.685MHz, which is generally regarded as a good spot for local chat.
This week I received a reception report from Stephen, VK2BLQ, located in Chatswood, Sydney, who was able to hear some stations using an indoor receive loop.
He's using an amplified broadband receive loop called an MLA-30 but he's enhanced it by substituting the thin...
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