QNews for September 7th 2025

Welcome to QNEWS and a segment from the Darling Downs Radio Club. It's 7 September where we are, and only four weeks until Daylight Saving starts. First piece of news: we had our Annual General Meeting last Monday, easily made quorum, and everything went smoothly. The motion to replace and update the Rules was passed without dissent, and we have a full committee with three new members joining the team. The rogues gallery is online at the website, and you can check out the new club officers. The meeting also updated our member schedule with two new member classes: family membership for up to two adults and up to two children for $55 and a new junior member category - if you're under 17, it's only $10 to be a member of the club. The membership system is updated and you can join or renew right now. And thanks to everyone who joined or renewed during the special membership drive last month: as you can see, you did get a bargain.

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. This past week has seen the Sun continue a range of electro-chemical gyrations with results being both seen and received on Earth. Sunspot Cycle 25 is certainly maintaining the interests for all those who follow space weather and for radio amateurs as well. Now that we have officially entered Spring time, I would imagine that many people are preparing for the warmer seasons and checking and prepping gear that has been stored during the Winter. It has been a strange period with the southern highlands of Queensland receiving a rare smattering of snow and parts of the interior plagued by flooding. Now we get to prepare for the annual cyclone season. Life is full of action. I am committed in family matters so my social calendar is something to look forward to in the future. But for many of us, students and parents and others who enjoy their radio, I have a question. How do you record the events that you wish to enjoy so they don’t slip by until it is rush to prepare? Being of the old school, so to speak, I use paper records to keep track of appointments and events. The ubiquitous calendar fixed with a big magnet to the fridge door is the main household source of these reminders. For good measure, I use a pocket diary so that details are available when I indulge in sports such as shopping. Not everyone uses a smart phone and sometimes the old methods provide a level of redundancy that a lost piece of electronics might lose. The reason I ask the question is, I believe that a consistent platform to inform our community would be helpful. There are events on the amateur calendar which go from local to international and these need integrating with personal events such as sports, other recreations and medical visits, for instance. Would it be a help if we had a platform to distribute regular detailed updates and what would it be? Email was the go to in previous years but the use of social media platforms seems to have replaced a lot of email correspondence and how many people still regularly log into web sites to check things like this? Our broadcast news carries a certain level of events and the print schedule of the magazine goes against efficient updating. Then once we have made a choice of method, there comes the necessity of having a coordinator who can extract the information and compile the necessary posts to get out to members. Assuming that the mechanics could be sorted there is the reluctance that seems to be inflicted on our communications hobby of getting the information from the sources to the distribution point. Ask our News Editor how easy it is and you will understand my point. For what it is worth, do you think we could benefit by a simple system of notification that would allow the best planning for us all? I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and that's what I think, how about you?