Q-News AR News from Queensland

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…

Ken Fuller VK4KF left us on 5th August aged 98 years. He met his wife Pat when she was still a teenager on the range west of Sydney. Ken worked in the Queensland Rail Workshops in Ipswich, and went on to be a draftsman while studying Engineering part time. He was part of the crew monitoring rocket launches at Woomera, before becoming Science advisor to Federal Ministers in Canberra. He and Pat enjoyed sailing and after retiring they spent some years on their yacht along the Queensland coast. There he discovered Amateur Radio and received his full call with help of Amateurs on the Sunshine Coast. He gave up sailing in his 90s and went into care recently. This restricted his Amateur activity. There will be a service for him at Saint Lukes church Wooloongabba on 21st August at 11 am. Vale Ken Fuller VK4KF SK It's 16 August on the Darling Downs and most other places in Queensland. I'm John VK4JPM Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club, and we're celebrating the last day of Ekka by wondering what we might have…

This is Allan VK4HIT with news from Ipswich and District Radio Club. We’re into August already which means its annual general meeting time for the club. This will be held on Saturday August 22 at 10am. This month’s business meeting is once again on the same day as the AGM. A reminder that annual dues need to be up to date to vote at the AGM. July’s business meeting noted in the WICEN report that the Lake Manchester event has been cancelled by the organisers. The next WICEN event is the Mt Glorious Trail on November 8. There was plenty to talk about in general business, so members are urged to check their emails for the minutes. The next contest is the Remembrance Day contest on August 15 – At July’s meeting Di VK4DI explained it was a good opportunity for all clubs to engage in a social activity and play radio. The club now has a new online dashboard, providing one central location for viewing the status of our digitally linked repeaters. The dashboard includes access to information for the club’s DMR, P25,…