Q-News AR News from Queensland

Hi there - it's been quite a block of days with lots of news. I'm John VK4JPM for the Darling Downs Radio Club, and this is our QNEWS contribution for week of 25 October. Coming up: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Midterms and several other events that have nothing to do with hams so... they won't be mentioned. Before I start this week, I'd like to throw a 52-week challenge of our own to all other radio clubs in Queensland. DDRCi has been contributing to QNEWS every week for a bit over two years now. There's always stuff to talk about, but this is a shared channel and it's there for you too. There might be 5000 radio clubs in Queensland, and you must have something to tell your members... so why is it just us every week? Can we help you to get on air? What messages can you bring to the world of amateur radio listeners... or even professional radio listeners. We'd all like to know about what your club is doing. And we'd like to build up the news a bit. If there's anything we can do to make your life easier or even…

Hi. Hope you're having a good JOTA weekend; talking to lots of scouts and guides - on-air and online - and making our next generation of hams feel welcome. I'm John VK4JPM Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club, and if you're listening to the Sunday morning edition of QNEWS then we're over at the Kanyana Guide Hut right now doing our bit to get a heap of young people on air. Have a listen out, and I'll tell you more in a sec. If you missed last week's meeting: it was a cracker, with 22 members and guests coming out of the woodwork to talk LoRa and Mesh. The club has a solar MeshCore repeater running at Harristown, adding to the collection of mesh devices slowly invading Toowoomba. We discovered what to do with a companion, how to find hardware, and where to tap into resources. There will be more of this coming, and look for some detail on the website as we build our story. Thanks again to Ben VK4AFB, Sam VK4SAM, Perry VK4PER, and especially to Dave VK4JPS who coordinated all the research and did the…

Hi and thanks for tuning into the broadcast - I'm John VK4JPM, Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club, unless I'm mistaken there's a great chance that this is Sunday 11 October. In the mornings the club 2m net will be on in just under 30 minutes, and you can find all about that on our website at ddrci.org.au. It's a friendly net where we go round twice and see what's happening and what projects everyone is working on, and whether it's rained. Shoes and ships and sealing wax sort of stuff. IF you've never joined us before, why not do that - via VK4RDD if you're in the Darling Downs region, or via EchoLink if you'd like some excitement. Last week I mentioned Mesh, Mish, Mash, Mush and Mosh. Yes, they are all real words. Tomorrow night, Monday 12 October, we're meeting at our spot in Harristown for a bit of a mesh bash. It's our regular monthly club meeting night, and the topic is Mesh Networking for Hams. You can attend either remotely by Zoom or in person, and this time we're pleased to say we have…

Hi, and before we start: hands up who got the clocks wrong this morning? I'm John VK4JPM Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club, and I've danced around so many timezones in the last week that I'm not even sure that this is Sunday. But it is, unless you're listening to this on delay or from the weblinks on our home page. Did you know that you can access our QNEWS segment online? ddrci.org.au and keep your eyes peeled. Important news about our next meeting, which is in a little over a week on Monday 12th of October. The topic is Mesh, the umbrella term for peer-to-peer comms via a LoRa backbone, supplemented by additional protocols. If that made no sense at all, and there's no reason why it should, then this is a good meeting for you to attend. Just like SSB and FT8 and a heap of other modes that we now take for-granted, Mesh is going to play a part in your future. There are many people who think that Mesh is a solution looking for a problem, and we'll talk about that because it's important. There are many…

Hi at whatever time you're listening to QNEWS: this is the edition for week commencing Sunday 27 September, and 2026 is fast running past. I'm John VK4JPM Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club with this update. In two weeks and one day it will be Monday 12th of October, the second Monday of the month and the date for our regular Club Meeting. The October topic is Mesh communications. A quick web check will tell you that Meshtastic and MeshCore both use LoRa radios for off-grid mesh messaging; but what does that actually mean, and how do the systems work. There's also a lot of discussion about Meshtastic vs Meshcore, almost like they are opposing NRL teams. At our next meeting, we're going to introduce the topic of Mesh in a way that's helpful, and give you some examples of what you can do with Mesh messaging. And our team of experts will show you how easy it is to start experimenting with Mesh and what practical outcomes you might get - plus it will be a good opportunity to review some of the underlying…

It's Sunday 20 September and spring is springing, especially in Toowoomba where the Carnival of Flowers is now in full swing. I'm John VK4JPM Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club and welcome to an update for club members and listeners. Last Monday we visited radio station 4DDB and really did learn a heap of stuff about broadcasting. The big message is that broadcast technology IS incredibly broad, and you can have a heap of fun applying skills that you already have, and you get to work with all kinds of gear that is bigger than anything we play with in amateur radio. There are 460 community broadcasting stations in Australia and all of them are looking for tech support. So if you're listening to this broadcast, you're already pre-qualified, and there are people who would love to hear from you. And we can help you make the connection to a station near you. If you'd like to know more or get an introduction, drop me a line via Secretary@ddrci.org.au Our next club meeting will be on Monday 12 October, in…

Hi and welcome to Sunday 13th of September, or whatever date it is where and when you're listening. We try to keep things uncomplicated. You're listening to QNEWS across Queensland, and I'm John VK4JPM Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club with a bit of a splash for members, guests and travellers. OK, and anyone else who happens to be listening. If it is indeed Sunday, then tomorrow night from 1900 you'll find us all at Community Radio Station 4DDB. Our club is being handed the red carpet treatment, with the question: does treating red carpet make it a better sound absorber? We're all set to learn about acoustics, balanced audio lines, microphone patterns, analogue consoles, digital links, high power FM transmission, and the most important thing of all: how critical air conditioning is to a radio station. These are just some of the skill areas that are involved in tech for broadcasting, and so many of those technologies are useful to know when you dabble with amateur radio. And how valuable is this…

John Roberts VK4TL Left us on Monday 24th August in his 97th year. John had what some would describe as an absolute passion for Radio and was always experimenting and building transceivers and amplifiers with many fine examples still in use today. In his earlier years he was an engineer on the infamous Radio Caroline ship and was also an operator of the RAF Gibraltar Club station ZB2A. With many callsigns over the years from places he was deployed with the RAF he ended up in Australia where he went on to become the long time broadcast engineer for Commercial Radio group NQ radio which seen him to retirement. John was President of TREC with multiple stints between 2003 and 2019 and was very dedicated to helping out with horse endurance rides and manned the base station many many times over the years. Over the years John experimented with 6 metres, Satellite Work, and Earth Moon Earth on 1296 before downsizing to move to Cairns from the Atherton Tablelands. Vale John Roberts VK4TL, Silent Key Hi, and welcome…

From Darling Downs and the World comes this week's grab-bag of news from the Darling Downs Radio Club. Hi, I'm John VK4JPM, Secretary of theClub. Coming up after QNEWS, starting at 1000 if this is the morning edition,you're invited to join our Club Net either via VK4RDD repeater on 146.750 (and don't forget the 91.5Hz CTCSS tone), OR - if you're brave - join via Echolink. Look for VK4DAK-L or node 6925. And on our website there will be link to the easy-peasy instructions for using Echolink. For those who went looking on the site last week and didn't find anything: it wasn't your fault. Despite being highly technical people, sometimes murphy wins. So... check it out. ddrci.org.au and if you can't find a mention on the home page directly, check that we might have hidden it as a calendar entry... that's the scrolly thing that is at the top of the home page. While you're there, check the detail on the next club meeting, coming up on Monday 14 September. We're visiting community radio station 4DDB-FM, where they…

Hi, this is Bob, VK4BOB up in the tropical paradise of Cairns. Ten hams from Cairns Amateur Radio Club travelled up to Cooktown in Far North Queensland on 14 August 2026 to operate the next day, Saturday, from the carpark by the Grassy Hill Lighthouse using the club’s call VK4GrassyHillLighthouse. But first, on Friday evening many of us enjoyed a sunset cheese and bikkies cruise on the river and into the mangrove swamps. On Saturday a few of us also activated POTA locations including the Grassy Hill Lighthouse State Heritage Area, Endeavour River, Endeavour River National Park, and Black Mountain National Park. For some of our newer members these were their introductions to this part of our hobby. Much of the day up on Grassy Hill seemed to be spent socialising rather than playing radio, especially with hot dogs for lunch then later spag bol and curried rice for dinner plus snacks and freshly brewed coffee throughout the day. Just after sunset however we saw on the weather radar a rather nasty stretch of…