QNEWS for 6th July 2025

This is John VK4JPM, secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club with our contribution for Sunday 6 July 2025, and firstly a bit of sad news. About two weeks ago Philip Webb, VK4HPW and VK4APW late of Warwick, went silent key. Philip was a longstanding member of the Darling Downs Radio Club and the Boarder Rangers Radio Club. Those who knew Philip have commented that he was a trainer, a listener and an encourager - all great attributes.

The next meeting of the club will be held on 14 July at the regional scout HQ in Victory Street Newtown (Toowoomba Newtown) and will be on Zoom. The link is on the calendar entry on our homepage where it's easy to find and where it can be changed quickly if something goes wrong. Details of the meeting are in the calendar entry. Our feature guest is Peter VK4EA and we're looking forward to a better understanding of how our electricity supply grid works and is controlled, along with some information on what might be coming down the track

Greetings from The Redcliffe & Districts Radio Club VK4RC Robert Thomson VK4TFN here. 11:00am Saturday 13 July The Redcliffe Club will host a Family Day Fox Hunt. This event is for the children. It all starts at 11:00am at our club house. To find us go to redclifferadioclub.org.au VK4TAA will provide more information on the day. Spare fox hunt "sniffers" are available. Picnic and BBQ facilities at the destination. BYO picnic. At the Picnic area there will be pedestrian fox hunts for the children. This will be a family day out. The bigger the turn out the greater the fun for everyone. Thank you RRT VK4TFN

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. The crazy weather has been taking a toll along the Pacific Coast of the continent and I have felt empathy for the Inuit tribes of North America. Sadly my imagination has run amuck with this analogy but the cold slicing breezes seemed to find the porosity of my sub-tropical attire and chill the skin to the tips of the fingers. None the less, I have been wondering just which roads we need to travel to align our wish for growing the hobby with the changes in technology and attitudes in the 21st Century. Once it seemed that most people, entering the amateur radio family, looked for some suitable tools under the Christmas tree. You know, pliers, soldering irons and screwdrivers with perhaps a book on a special topic thrown in for good measure. The time moved on and with it the access to very esoteric equipment which most of us take for granted now. The ease with which global communications and broadcasting happens is the outcome of the “digital revolution” and some very imaginative minds. So we have to recognise that the ease with which we can hold a video chat on the internet depends on an amazing wealth of engineering and unimaginable amounts of money invested in the machinery, both hardware and software. This is the point where we need to put our critical thinking to work because as much as we can enjoy the simpler aspects of being a ham, we have to be able to distinguish between what can be accomplished from our home station and what is available via modern technology and the internet. I am not saying we individuals should be the ones to try and design the next iteration of entry qualifications but surely it is up to us to be able to explain in plain, simple words what makes amateur radio different yet similar and successful when the powerful systems fail. Like in the heydays of the great races on the Bathurst Mt. Panorama circuit, the track-side enthusiasts could delightedly distinguish the strengths and weaknesses of the contesting super cars, I would like to think we nerdy types whether playing digital modes, contesting or rag-chewing could hold a sensible discussion around the barbecue with their friends. So it is over to you to give this topic a red hot go and see if you have some answers which can help us. I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and that's what I think, how about you?