Taree and District Amateur Radio Club

Very sad news and looks like another victim of the last few years craziness. I think just about every radio operator would have some form of MFJ gear in their shack or gear collection.

MFJ To Close after 62 Years. We have been distributors for MFJ products since 1974. As such we were probably the first distributor in Europe, At one time we were the world's biggest MFJ...

World Amateur Radio Day is held each April 18th. Here is an article from IARU that describes the background of this day.

World Amateur Radio Day | International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) World Amateur Radio Day Every April 18, radio ama­teurs world­wide take to the air­waves in cel­e­bra­tion of World Ama­teur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that the Inter­na­tion­al Ama­teur Radio Union was formed in Paris. Ama­teur Radio exper­i­menters were the first to dis....

Our recent day out for the annual John Moyle Memorial Field Day Comp.

Well here's a very different take on promoting ham radio from a female perspective, Russian style 😳

YL Raisa I started my Journey in Ham Radio at OH73ELK in 2018. Amateur Radio has brought me amazing emotions

Some pics from our most recent antenna day at Redbank Reserve. Lots of testing and learning going on :)

Julian Perrin (VK3JFP) shared that he is concerned about the numbers of people involved in amateur radio gradually falling due to age, etc and not being replaced to ensure the future of the hobby. To this end he has very generously put together some free training resources to help encourage those interested in gaining their licence to do so. These resources include detailed lessons, electronic theory, regulations, syllabus and sample exams for all licence levels. Please check these out and share with anyone it may assist. Thanks again Julian you have done an amazing job 👍👍

www.julesworkshop.net

A very interesting video from VK3YE on HF beacons, where they are locally and around the world, and how to find them to hear where the bands are open to. There is also some quick tips to assess propagation to a particular place on 5 bands within a minute. See what beacon is transmitting when: https://www.ncdxf.org/beacon/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4cbe05deN4

The 5 HF frequencies you should always monitor Listen to these international beacons to hear where the bands are open to. PLUS quick tips to assess propagation to a particular place on 5 bands within a mi...

The club recently activated a site at Crowdy Head lighthouse for the annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. Again a good number attended and the weather was kind as well meaning a good day of making contacts was enjoyed.

Our members activated a site at Crowdy Head for the 2023 John Moyle Memorial Field Day and a great day was had by all. To top it off we came 8th outright! Well done!

Our most recent antenna shootout at day at Coopernook, with more testing and comparing of notes. A number of designs were tested including some yagis, squid pole and c-pole antennas.

Following on from the great success of our previous antenna shootout days we recently held another one at the Coopernook Forest Picnic Area. A top day was had testing and adjusting various antennae, including hand built yagis for 2m, 70cm and HF verticals. More days are planned for the future and anyone with an interest and antenna construction and testing are most welcome to come along. Stay tuned here for our next shootout day.

This weekend we held an antenna shootout day on the grounds of Peter's (VK2FZPS) place at Harrington. A great day was had by all and further insights gained into antenna performance and structure. A lot of fun was had also.

A huge thankyou to everyone who has shared our post about our stolen repeater and given your support, it is greatly appreciated. It reflects so positively of the great qualities of our radio community that is always so ready to help each other. Quite a number have been asking if it has been reported to police and for the serial number. Yes it has been formerly reported to police. As for the serial number, it is
TBHO Tait 18097225. So if you ever see one of these units that you feel is suspicious you can now confirm its true identity.

ALERT- Lost presumed stolen. Recently our club procured a Tait TB8100 repeater for community use and benefit to all residents in and vistors to our region. After a long wait from overseas, checking and programming in Sydney, it was mistakenly sent to a suburb of Melbourne with the same street name and number instead of its equivalent in Taree. It was then apparently left at the doorstep of the unattended address on the Tuesday before Christmas with no signature gained at the time by the freight company. After some detective work we managed to track down the residents of the mistaken address and after their considerable cooperative attempts by them to locate it, we have sadly so far had no success. We can only thetefore presume it to be stolen. There were two cartons, a larger one containing the radio, the other much smaller with cables, etc. This was the last of this model and cannot be replaced with a new one the same. If you know or hear of anyone approaching a radio club, individual radio operator, etc trying to sell a cheap Tait repeater please contact us immediately. We have all the details of its very unique programming including serial number to identify it. Please pass this around to anyone you know in the radio community so they can keep an eye out. Thanks very much for your help.

With 2023 well underway our club has resumed its regular monthly activities. Our club meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month at 7pm, and while the venue varies a little we always warmly welcome visitors so message for more details. If you're into radio or just want to know more about it please let us know, we'd love to meet you. We also hold our weekly club nets via our 2m VHF repeater at 7.30pm on 146.675 mhz with - 0.6 mhz offset & 123 hertz tone. Please join us there.

On behalf of all of our members at TADARC we wish you all a really happy Christmas and all the very best for the new year. We hope you have some time over the Christmas break to share some fun and good times with family and friends, and also if travelling please drive safely. See you all in 2023!

Sounds interesting and nice piece of kit, great if you can be there!

**BREAKING NEWS**
We can announce the Australian Debut of the Icom IC-905 will be at the Tassie Ham Expo on November 6th! Thanks to Icom Australia Official and Icom HQ in Japan for making this all happen! Also on show will be Icom's latest range of Amateur transceivers!

You won't want to miss out! Register NOW ⬇️⬇️
https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/tassie-ham-radio-conference-and-expo/

Silent key :- We have received the very sad news that Des Hancox, VK2AGA, has passed away. Des has been a member of Taree and District Amateur Radio Club for many years and was a very much liked and greatly respected person throughout the amateur radio community. He will be very sorely missed by all. Des's funeral will be held at the Manning Great Lakes Memorial Gardens chapel, Pampoolah, this Thursday, 24th February, at 11am.

We have received the sad news that John Pinson, VK2KBD and VK2MV, has passed away at the age of 86. John was not only a long term radio operator but was involved in teaching for many years in his working life. John used these skills to teach Amateur Radio licence classes here in Taree in years gone by and many local amateurs gained their licenses thanks to him. John's funeral will be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church, Taree, this Friday, 21st January, at 2pm.