Summerland Amateur Radio Club

WELCOME TO SARC

Serving the Northern Rivers of NSW

Members are advised that membership fees are now due. Please check the Membership Page for payment details.

The SARC Office is now a real office. The old laptop is working fine and the printer has been installed. The old table has been moved out. Much neater.

The Wednesday night net previously run on Mt Nardi 70cm is currently being run on Parrots Nest 70cm, 439.950. The net will return to Mt Nardi 70cm when that repeater is on-air again.

The John Moyle Field Day report is here.
Scroll down past the weekly Net Reports to read it.

Peter Stevens VK4BT (SK)

The following wonderful tribute to Peter was taken from the GCARS Facebook page and used here with the President’s permission. Thanks.

It saddens me to say that Peter VK4BT has gone Silent Key today. He passed away at 3:20pm, Thursday 15th May. He’s been in Intensive Care at Redcliffe Hospital for the past few weeks, and today with family by his side, his life support was removed. Many Amateur Radio operators had noticed and asked where he was as he was missing from the airwaves. That testifies to the number of AR friends he had locally, and throughout Australia and the World.

Peter VK4BT has been a longtime member of GCARS and other SE Qld clubs. He was a past President, and currently a Life Member. Peter has also been a Net Controller on our 8am morning Net, as well as coordinator for the other Net Controllers. He was always willing to offer advice to others and assist when operators were stuck with radio menus. He will be sadly missed. I have passed on condolence’s to Jill, Pete’s sister, on behalf of all AR operators. Further details on funeral arrangements will be passed on as I’m told.

NET REPORTS FOR WEEK ENDING MAY 18, 2025

Dawn Patrol numbers for the week were 37.
Just a reminder, the Dawn Patrol commences at 6:30am AEST Monday to Thursday mornings.

MONDAY May 12, 2025 – 2 metres Parrots Nest. Joining Jonie VK2ZJJ as VK2SRC were: Paul VK2AMT, Andrew VK2XI, using the club’s remote access IC-9700 and Dave VK2ZDR.

Tuesday May 13, 2025. – The Diginet
This evening, logging in on 2 metres Parrots Nest with Paul VK2AMT as VK2SRC were : Barry VK2VBG, Andrew VK2XI, Duncan VK2DLR and Jonie VK2ZJJ. We had a couple of overs on our Parrots Nest 2 metres repeater before Duncan and I QSY’d to our normal frequency of 3.590 USB for another round with Fldigi and Olivia 8-500.

Normally I would include a screenshot of the Fldigi screen, but this week I forgot. We all had about S1-2 noise and this produced excellent signals and a 100% decode record. Items for discussion included the faulty power supply on my Icom IC-7700 and Duncan’s wish to start up a couple of parrot repeaters and beacons, using the Yaesu FT897 or FT818 with a Yaesu SCU-17 interface unit. Jeff’s main problem was a nasty and painful ear infection. Duncan detailed the WIA’s education resources for clubs website, which could be a very handy area to examine. Jeff is beginning a plan to have his Elecraft KX3, SignaLink and Raspberry Pi digital setup ready for next week. The is a need for patch leads from the radio’s antenna socket to the incoming coax, without bending thick coax cables aroun. We all sound as if we can all benefit from building a few of those. It was another good and interesting net with a variety of mainly technical subjects. Thanks to Duncan and Jeff for their excellent support/
Cheers from Paul VK2AMT

Wednesday May 14, 2025 – Parrots Nest 70cm. 4 stations made the net this week, Dave VK2CIN, Joni VK2ZJJ, Paul VK2AMT and myself as VK2SRC.  We discussed the unpleasant condition of Vertigo, train travel, old Stallone movies, the lack of well spaced service centers on the M1 to Sydney.  Join us next Wednesday at 8PM EDST and tell us what you think. We will again used the Parrots Nest 70cm repeater as Mt Nardi is currently off air.

Cheers
Andrew VK2XI

Thursday May 15, 2025 – Woodburn Repeater. Paul VK2AMT was joined by Jonie VK2ZJJ, Barry VK2VBG and Dave VK2ZDR. The recent news that Peter VK2BT had passed away was very sad.

Friday May 16, 2025.
The numbers for the After-dark net on Friday 16-05-2025 were 10.
Joiners were; VK2WSR Jeff, VK2ZDR Dave, VK4SD Danny, VK2XI Andrew,  VK4GCR Ralph, VK2MBJ Brian, VK2YHP Jim, VK4DIY Craig, VK4PI Peter and  VK2TTL Rhod.

The main subject was the recent passing of VK4BT Peter Jr. Peter was a 
member of SARC and a contributor or coordinator on many of our nets. 
Peter Jr will be missed by members of our club. Other topics included 
the weather and amount of rain, transceiver models and  repair/maintenance, Next meeting 25th May, Whirlee-gig maintenance, 
traffic conditions and frill-neck lizards.

Feel free to join us on Friday nights @ 8:30pm. Have your say and meet 
some like-minded operators.

Cheers Jeff
VK2WSR

John Moyle Field Day 2025

SARC members Pat VK2FAAD, Graham VK2BWC & Graeme VK2QJ met up at Coutts Crossing for a coffee & snack, then made our way to Vista Point, arriving just after 11am. We were surprised how well the track held up given the recent rain & flooding from cyclone Alfred. 

We started setting up both Pat’s and my stations before breaking for lunch followed by treats supplied by Graham, it wasn’t long before we were back at it. Graham helped Pat set up his new antenna configuration which included single yagis on 6m, 2m & 70cm which proved to be very successful, making setup much easier, after a minor repair to the 70cm preamp Pat was soon up and operational. Meanwhile I undertook the maiden setup of my new ute-mounted tower and antenna system covering 23cm, 13cm, 9cm, 6cm & 3cm bands, with work continuing until 11.00am Saturday morning, yes 1hr before  the start of the event

Graham headed home late Friday afternoon, after another enjoyable afternoon assisting Pat & I with setup. Thanks Graham for your help . Unfortunately due to work commitments, David VK2JUB was again unable to make it for this event, leaving just Pat & myself to cover all eight (8) bands.

The Brisbane beacon was still off air due to Cyclone Alfred therefore the usual testing was unavailable, Saturday morning on air tests were successful on 6m, 2m, 70cm, 23cm, & 9cm bands.
The weather remained fine all weekend, both Pat & I commented that it may have been the best weekend weather experienced at Vista.

The event started slowly with mostly local stations worked, with several VK4 stations still off air due the cyclone earlier that week, things picked up later with one or two VK4s worked. Contacts were made on all bands from 6m through to 9cm, unfortunately there were no stations operating on 6cm nor 3cm. The outstanding contacts were 23cm & 13cm to VK4FB Roland in Bundaberg @ 579km, also 9cm also performed well with contacts to Trevor VK4AFL never falling below S9 all weekend,  not bad for the maiden test of the new system.

Stations worked were VK4AFL, VK4AMG, VK4FB, VK4HMD, VK4UH, VK4UV, VK2AMT, VK2DLR, VK2ELH, VK2OT, VK2TTL, VK2VL, VK2XI, VK2XML and VK2ZDR, the overall number of stations were well down due to the recent weather event. The results weren’t too bad, we managed 211 contacts and our 3rd highest score, we are awaiting the final results to see how we fared. 

We packed down on Sunday after the event ended, heading off the hill just after 3:00pm, catching up with Tony VK2VL in Grafton for a quick break before I made it home around 18:00, 

with Pat arriving home around 19:00. As always, it was a great weekend on a hilltop, flying the flag for SARC, & doing what we enjoy, we are looking forward to the Winter FB mid June. Thanks to all that supported & made contact with us during the event, without you it would be nothing.

Regards Graeme VK2QJ

The Clubrooms are not just for meetings

On Wednesday 9th October, Sara VK2SUN and Paul VK2AMT met up with Duncan VK2DLR at the clubrooms. The object of the meeting: a day soldering electronic components onto a PCB. Neither Sara or I had any experience in doing this and were dead keen to try. Duncan had procured three crystal radio kits for us to practice on. Yes, the kind that kids the world over had put together years ago. One thing that I had problems with was eyesight. I found that headband type magnifiers are often clumsy and have poor quality magnifiers. I persevered with normal glasses. There was lots of laughter and stuffups requiring desoldering. At the end of the day, three crystal radios were finished. Two worked, mine didn’t. Who knows why, perhaps a faulty component. More important than that was the soldering practice. It’s amazing the difference solder types and thickness plus iron temperatures make. Both Sara and I had basic Duratech 30 watt irons with a temperature control on the handle, Jaycar products. They were excellent and didn’t cost the earth. We found that thin old fashioned lead solder is much easier to work with on small components than lead free or thicker solder types. A great day. Three friends having lots of fun. The clubrooms are ideal for these types of days. Many thanks to Sara and Duncan for a fun and informative day.

de Paul VK2AMT

MADness at Vista Point

On Sunday 6^th April, Graeme VK2QJ and Graeme VK2BWC headed to the hills 70Km west of Woolgoolga to take part in the Brisbane VHF Group’s April MAD (Microwave Activation Day) Vista Point. They regularly use this location for the John Moyle and VHF/UHF Field days, I met the two Graeme’s here just after they had setup. Graeme QJ’s Ute tray mounted station. They were preparing to make contacts with the other portable and home stations taking part in the MAD. Other stations were active from. Apologies to those I may have missed.

• Hummock Lookout Bundaberg – Kevin VK4UH and Colin VK4UV using VK4IF/p
• Kamarun Lookout Lamington National Park – Scott VK4CZ – observing were Ralf VK4GCR, Eddy VK4TJE, Scott VK4MGL, Dennis VK4DWN and AdamVK4GHZ
• Toowoomba – Martin VK4HMD

Vista Point is a wonderful take off point at 1310 meters ASL and is a perfect location for one end of the record attempt planned for today. 587.2 Km North, just out of Bundaberg at Hummock Lookout Kevin and Colin were setting up their impressive station with the aim of jointly setting new distance records.

The path from Vista Point to Hummock Lookout

I was fortunate to see firsthand Graeme’s skilfully engineered slide-on slide-off Ute mounted station consisting of a self-designed and built 4.2-meter tilt-over, extendable and rotatable tower. Both the tilt and extension are achieved with 12v actuators via a wireless pendant. The rotator is a Create RC5-1 and can achieve bearing adjustments down to 0.5 degrees. Aluminium toolboxes are mounted on either side of the tray, storage on the driver’s side and the station equipment on the passenger side. The station that covers all microwave band from 23cm to 3cm has been custom built by Graeme and consists of 2 x IC-905 and an IC-705 with automatic amplifier switching, this also incorporates temperature, current and reflected power monitoring.

Graeme’s efforts were well rewarded with a series of awesome contacts that set one personal record, one New NSW WIA record and New WIA National record as listed below.

• 23cm voice to VK4IF at Hummock Lookout Bundaberg 587.2km (personal best 23cm contact).
• 23cm digital to VK4HMD at Toowoomba 291km
• 13cm digital to VK4IF at Hummock Lookout Bundaberg 587.2km (New WIA NSW 13cm digital record)
• 9cm digital to VK4IF at Hummock Lookout Bundaberg 587.2km (New WIA National 9cm digital record)
• 6cm no contacts
• 3cm CW contact to VK4VU Brisbane 300km, one-way contact as Rod had RX only. It is hard to believe that this very impressive configuration was completed less than 18 hours prior to this event. The full list of equipment comprises.

Station setup
4.2m high Ute mounted rotatable tower,

1.2GHz-23cm
IC905 #1
|Mast mounted 180w amplifier & 20dBm preamp 
|2 x 35 element M2 Yagi’s

2.4GHz-13 cm
IC905 #2
Mast mounted 120w amplifier & 20dBm preamp
1 x 900mm Gridpak 

3.4GHz-9cm
I C905 #2
Mast mounted SGLabs transverter, 100w amplifier & 18dBm preamp
1 x 900mm Gridpak

5.7GHz-6cm
IC905 #1 
Mast mounted 50w amplifier & 28dBm preamp
1 x 600mm prime focus dish

10GHz-3cm
IC705
Mast mounted Kuhne G5 transverter, 20w amplifier & 24dBm preamp
1 x 600mm prime focus dish

587.2km North at Hummock Lookout Bundaberg VK4IF/p the station comprised
1.2GHz-23cm 
Antenna 1.2m prime focus mesh dish. Multiband feed
|ICOM IC9700 + SSPA [120W]
Battery supply 12v

2.4GHz-13 cm, 3.4GHz-9cm and 5.7GHz-6cm
Antenna 1.2m prime focus mesh dish. Multiband feed
Separate transverters on each band Kuhne Electronics modules and PAs
Power 2.4GHz = 25 watts, 3.4GHz 120 watts, 5.7 GHz 100 watts
IF transceiver ICOM IC705. Battery supply 12v (and 240AC from 12v inverter on 5.7GHz)

10GHz-3cm
Antenna 600mm prime focus solid dish, Shepards Crook feed
Transverter, PA and receive preamplifier – Kuhne Electronics modules constructed entirely in wave-guide. 60 watts output.
IF transceiver ICOM IC705. Battery supply 12v

At Kamarun Lookout Lamington National Park – Scott VK4CZ station comprised
1.2GHz-23cm 
ICOM IC-910H + PE1RKI 150w amp
45el DL6WU Yagi (and 240AC from 12v inverter)

2.4GHz-13 cm
SG-Labs tvtr + Spectrian PA [30W]
24dbd Gridpack
IF transceiver ICOM IC705. Battery supply 12v

3.4GHz-9cm
GARC panel + Stealth amp [30W]
900mm offset dish with
IF transceiver ICOM IC705. Battery supply 12v

10GHz-3cm
Kuhne G3 transverter + DEMI amp [4W]
600mm dish
IF transceiver ICOM IC705. Battery supply 12v

VK4IF/p log was as follows

I was very fortunate to be there and see the records set and record this piece of history and be able to report on this MAD. Thanks to the two Graeme’s for allowing me to be part of the day.

73 Andrew VK2XI

The 2 metre repeater at Parrots Nest is available and the 70cm repeater is available too but the signal is a bit low. The 6 metre repeater is not available at present.

Diamond W-735 40 & 80m Dipole – impressions

The Diamond W-735 is a dual band wire antenna covering 80 and 40 metres. The choke traps act as loading coils on 80 metres, shortening the antenna length on this band, thus making this antenna a good choice where space is limited. An inverted-V installation would make fitting into small yards even easier. Initial tests display a SWR figure that is easily within the 3:1 SWR range of transceiver antenna tuners. Some users have said that the bandwidth is a bit limited but that’s not surprising considering it is a wire antenna with traps or coils. The bandwidth is wide enough that satisfactory SWR can be achieved easily with any tuner. Tuning is performed by folding excess wire rather than cutting it. On 3.604, the SWR is 1.6, on 3.575 it is 1.11, on 7.100 it is 2.2. The quality of the parts is extremely high and the weather sealing of the coils is excellent. It has a 1:1 balun and a SO-239 socket. The power handling is 1.2kW PEP. This antenna has outperformed longer G5RV and OCF dipoles at my location, even at a modest 6m height. It’s an antenna which has me active on 80m in particular, so it’s a keeper. It could also be used as a portable antenna with a single pole, as an inverted-V.

de Paul VK2AMT

Flu precautions : update 1 August

Please stay away if you have a cold or flu-like symptoms.

We are still asking people to sign in as they arrive, using the book on the table at the door. Use of hand sanitiser and social distancing are still sensible things to do.

WHAT’S ON IN 2025

Membership and Information

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