Summerland Amateur Radio Club

 

 

WELCOME TO SARC

Serving the Northern Rivers of NSW

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Members are reminded that club fees are now due. Details of payment options are here: https://sarc.org.au/membership/

The Club’s Committee and Committee Appointed Positions are now listed on the Committee page.

What’s new on the website?

Under the page heading called General Technical Articles you will find a new page containing a new article called “SSTV -Questions and Answers”. It’s a very well done informative piece on many aspects of the analogue image mode SSTV. A new page under General Technical Articles describes the basics of tuning Cavity Filters. Both pages are well worth a read.

It’s up!

The club sign’s frame is up, thanks to an informal working bee on the morning of Sunday 12th, before the Committee meeting. It’s now cemented in place and awaiting the sign’s attachment soon. Many thanks to all who helped. Andrew VK2XI’s experience as a fencing contractor came in handy, he had the holes dug in no time.

A bit of work at Parrots Nest

Above, at left is the new Tait TB8100 repeater for 70cm. Installed Saturday 4-7-26. To the right, Ross and Duncan work on installing it. Ross also gave the site a run over with the ride-on mower and Duncan and Ross also whipper-snipped the weeds.

A bit of work at the Clubrooms

Above is the new Cable Tray ready for the Coax Cables. There is a plate secured to the wall ready for cables. Many thanks to Tony VK2RI, for his help, it’s much appreciated. The cable from the HF wire antenna is aleady through the wall and connected. At right, Ross is busy trimming the tray and its supports to size. Running the thick Heliax coax through will be a job for another day.

Hey, there’s a new antenna up!

VK2SRC/p Winter Field Day 2026 Report

SARC members Pat VK2FAAD & Graeme VK2QJ met at Junction Hill before continuing onto Coutts Crossing, catching up with Graham VK2BWC for morning tea. We then made our way to Vista Point, arriving around 11am, it was great to have Graham VK2BWC back on the team. Pat, Graham and I soon set about putting together our stations, breaking for lunch around 12:30pm, thanks to Graham’s wife Helen for the delicious rock cakes. Pat and Graham set up the 6m, 2m & 70cm station, while I completed the 23cm, 13cm, 9cm, 6cm, 3cm & newly added 1.2cm bands. Pat’s new antenna mounting system made antenna alignment easy & considerably reduced the setup time. David VK2JUB was also unable to make it due to work commitments, leaving just Pat & myself to cover all eight (8) bands.

Both stations were operational before nightfall, with the Brisbane beacons heard on 23cm, 13cm & 3cm, as well as successful decodes on 6cm. A few test calls with VK2 & VK4 stations were also completed Friday night.

We were blessed with good weather during setup early Friday afternoon until around 15:30 when a light misty rain & breeze set in, seeing temperatures drop rapidly. Graham headed home soon after so as to get home before dark, thanks Graham for your help,

We woke to overcast skies Saturday morning, the weather remained overcast but mostly fine at Vista for most of the weekend, we could often see rain on the ranges. Overnight temperatures dropped to around 4c Friday & around 0 degrees C Saturday. We were blessed with fine weather during the pack down Sunday. Despite the limited number of operating stations, things started well with several locals & the odd VK4 station, this continued throughout Saturday night & into Sunday morning with a few VK4 portable stations keen to make contacts.

23cm performed well with 69 contacts during the event, the highest number of 23cm event contacts made so far. Contacts were made on all bands from 6m through to 3cm with 23cm performing the best, other bands following closely behind. Microwave conditions were well down compared to usual with noticeable multipathing on all microwave bands, unfortunately no contacts were made on 24GHz, 326km is pushing the boundaries, I could see very slight indication of Kevin’s 24GHz transmission, but far too weak for even for a digital contact, better luck next time. We plan to try a 160km 24GHz during the next MAD 12th July 2026. The outstanding contacts were, 326km on 3cm (10GHz) voice contact with VK4IF who were only running 500mW, yes half a watt, also 13cm, 9cm & 6cm where VK4IF were only running 2W, repeated several times throughout the event. Also Andrew VK2XI’s first 6cm contest contacts at 196km, welcome to 6cm Andrew.

A couple of videos from the Brisbane VHF FB Page.

Col VK4UV’s amazing trailer mounted dish.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1805676773926841

6cm (5.7GHz) contact VK4IF – VK2SRC
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2795450764174130

This shows you never know until you point & try.

Stations worked were VK4IF/p, VK4WIE/p, VK2XI/p & VK2FB/p who also went out portable, VK4AFL, VK4HMD, VK2AMT, VK2DLR, VK2ELH, VK2ZDR, and VK2VL, plus many more. The overall number of stations were well down, nevertheless we managed 289 contacts, given the conditions & lack of stations, our score wasn’t too bad , we managed our highest ever Field Day scores, we’ll await the final results to see how we fared.

Pat & I are getting the hang of N1MM for logging contacts with only a few minor errors made, like a few others we had issues with N1MM dropping point for some contacts, fortunately this was able to be sorted after the event.

We packed down Sunday after the end of the event, further improvements to both stations once again made it quicker & easier to pack up. Pat & I headed off the hill just after 2:00pm, we stopped for a short break at Coutts Crossing before heading home, I made it home around 17:00, with Pat arriving home around 18:00.

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 Spring FD, 19th & 20th September 2026. Thanks to all who made contact with us during the event, without you it would be nothing. Good luck to all who submitted logs for the event.

Regards Graeme VK2QJ

The articles on Microwaves are now on the Microwave Field Days page

The image above shows Andrew VK2XI’s great setup above Byron Bay for the Summer VHF-UHF Field Day, just completed today (Sunday 4th) complete with microwave gear. All the equipment worked very well, including the microwave setup, so well done Andrew. There will be another report from the VK2SRC club station as well.

SARC CHRISTMAS PARTY 2025

The SARC December Committee Meeting was held at 10.20am and the party followed afterwards. There was a good number in attendance. The weather was quite warm but not unpleasantly so. President Ross thanked Jeff and Julie plus Duncan and Paul who spent Saturday afternoon cleaning and tidying the clubrooms. A very pleasant day.

What’s behind the front panel of a Tait TB8100 Repeater?

Well, the photo above shows it. From left to right, an AC / DC Power supply, two PA’s (power amplifier modules), and two transceiver modules. All these are able to be accessed and controlled via software on a computer. Ross very kindly showed Jeff VK2WSR and Paul VK2AMT at the clubrooms the basics of accessing the repeater’s modules. Totally fascinating and I’m thinking that there will be more sessions involving repeater maintenance. Thanks to Ross for a fascinating session. While we were there, Jeff also plugged in and connected to one of his All-Sky Cameras running on a Raspberry Pi mini computer, via the club’s modem. de Paul VK2AMT.

PLEASE NOTE: all details and tributes to amateurs who have gone silent key are now listed as separate sub pages under the heading SILENT KEYS.

2026 VHF-UHF CONTEST DATES

Summer VHF-UHF Field Day: 1st full weekend of January.
Times: 0100 UTC Saturday through 0059 UTC Sunday (0400 / 0359 in VK6).

Winter VHF-UHF Field Day: 3rd weekend of June
Times: 0100 UTC Saturday through 0059 UTC Sunday (0300 / 0259 in VK6).

Spring VHF-UHF Field Day: 3rd weekend of September
Times: 0100 UTC Saturday through 0059 UTC Sunday (0400 / 0359 in VK6).

Andrew VK2XI set up at St Helena on 26-10-2025, working 23cm with the new yagi and also microwave, 2.4GHz

Today I packed the Prado and travelled down the highway to St Helena in the hills above Byron Bay to take part in the Microwave Activation Day or MAD organised by the Brisbane VHF Group. The objective was simply to test out my new, to me, 1.2, 2.4 & 3.4Ghz transverters and new 1.2Ghz 36 element Yagi. The location is well known for its clear path North to the Gold Coast and Brisbane as well as South to the Northern Rivers and importantly to Vista Point. The setup was right on the edge of the road and took longer than expected to erect as it was all uncharted waters. With the 1.2Ghz Yagi beaming South I quickly made contact with Grahame VK2QJ at Vista Point and we received 10 to 20dB over 9 signals each way, this was a very pleasing result from the new Yagi with 30W. I then swapped over to the 2.4Ghz 25W Transverter fed into 24dBi Gridpack and again made contact with Grahame with received signals around S3, another pleasing result. Unfortunately attempts to make contact on 3.4Ghz were not successful so I have some work to do there before next outing to work out why. 

The expected contacts into VK4 did not eventuate either due to a poor turnout and those that did operate were working higher bands. This was disappointing but the location excites me as I will take the full station and caravan there for the Spring VHF Field Day in 4 weeks time. I hope to hear you calling CQ Field Day soon.

de Andrew VK2XI

2025 Winter VHF-UHF Field Day Results

The results are in for the VHF-UHF Winter Field Day, click on the link below. Outstanding performance from the SARC Club Station and individual club members. We really do show the way when it comes to commitment and support for the club station. The results are on the vklog checker website.

https://www.vklogchecker.com/Contests/Results/e29898ae-603c-4ce0-bf5f-a453d3c22198

LATEST TOWER WORK

On Sunday morning the 12th, before the Committee Meeting, one job on the list was getting the tower ready for raising by the crane on Wednesday. Quite a few of us put some time in getting the three runs of coax cable terminated where necessary and the new cable clamps installed in the cable tray. Tony VK2RI, Duncan, Ross, Jim and Paul all put in some time helping to get the tower ready. Thanks to all.

IT’S UP! the tower is back on its slab, the next job is to fit the antennas and complete the coax cable connections.

A trip to the western division

Ross VK2ARD, Lachlan VK2FOOD, Duncan VK2DLR and Paul VK2AMT paid a visit to Julie and Jeff VK2WSR at Coonabarabran. We were all given a wonderful warm welcome by Julie and Jeff. On behalf of all of us I thank them for their hospitality. These visits are normally planned to coincide with the Open Day at the Siding Spring astronomy site. The Open Days are strongly recommended for anyone with half an interest in the night sky. Quite a number of the numerous observatories on Siding Spring Mountain are open to inspection. The site is now managed by the Australian National University in Canberra and there were quite a few ANU students on hand to explain what is happening. We also attended a lecture at the Coonabarabran Golf Club on Friday night called Science in the Pub. Four young scientists explained their fields of research to the enthralled audience. Their youthful enthusiasm for their fields of study was wonderful and they all conveyed a summary of their work in such a way that a person with average intelligence could understand their work.

On Saturday we drove up to Siding Spring and spent some hours exploring the observatories there. The instruments are normally not available to the public and it is marvellous to get up close to them and get a summary of the work done.

The image above shows just one of the great views from Siding Spring. The astronomy site is surrounded by the volcanic peaks of the Warrambungle National Park. I strongly recommend doing some of the walks into the Warrumbungles if you can. There are quite a few to chooose from. The whole region contains much to explore. Other areas of interest in the area include Mount Kaputar National Park and the radio telescope site near Narrabri named the Australia Telescope Compact Array. There are more details here:

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/visit-a-park/parks/mount-kaputar-national-park

https://www.narrabri.atnf.csiro.au

I can only recommend a visit to the region. It is an easy day’s drive from the Lismore area. Sincere thanks to Julie and Jeff for their hospitality.

de Paul VK2AMT

SARC PLANNING MEETING

On Sunday 13 July at 10am a number of SARC members gathered at the clubrooms to discuss improvements and upgrades at the club building, tower and grounds. The summary below is a dot point explanation of the result of the meeting.

Tower:
Work to proceed as planned this Tuesday.
Agreement on antennas going back on the rotator will be as follows:
6 metres. 2 metres & 70cm with a multiband vertical on the top of the new pole.
New cable tray to be fitted, 300mm wide tray similar to that used at Parrots Nest site.
2 HF dipoles to be raised on new rigging.
All tower hardware to be stainless steel fittings unless otherwise specified.

Radio Room:
Re-sheet eastern wall as discussed onsite.
Frame out the northern wall ready for sheeting.
Re-locate power outlets to suit the new set up.
Re-locate the solar inverter onto the western wall along with isolators.
DB to be brought out onto the new wall once sheeted.
Remove several bricks to allow for a bulkhead plate to be fitted.

Radios:
Retain the current IC-9700 and IC-7300, add a second IC-7300 to the system as discussed.

Club Main room & associated rooms:
Remove toilet cistern & hand basin, line 2 walls with villaboard & re-fit toilet & handbasin, fit new architrave around door & paint.
Plaster works in the main room to go ahead with new cornice fitted all the way around, all vertical  joints to be plastered up ready for painting.
Quote for internal ceiling access and 3 quotes for the new front doors into our clubrooms.

Grounds:
New frame to be constructed for our club sign as discussed onsite, this will be a galvanised frame for strength & longevity, to be constructed by club members inline with our current builder.

Start earthworks on the southern side of the main building to allow for a block retaining wall.

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.

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.

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.