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CCARC NEWS 13-33

CCARC NEWS 13-33

THE PERIODIC NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

ISSUE No 13-33 27th. September 2013

I am sending out this issue on Friday as I’ll be busy with the WICEN exercise at St. Albans Saturday and Sunday.

In this Issue:

  1. Another Smart Phone Amateur Radio “App”
  2. A flash from the past.
  3. Broke & fixed.
  4. Reminders.

1. Another Smart Phone Amateur Radio “App”

Love them or hate them, “Smart Phones” are part of today’s culture, so it’s nice that some applications are available for these devices that are useful in our hobby.

The latest app I have found is for Android based phones or tablets and is a remote control program for Amateur radio stations called Pocket RxTx.

RXTX-1 rxtx-2  rxtx-4

What makes this application a little different to some others, is that it talks to several different standards. It can control the Yaesu FT817 / 857 or 897 transceivers via Bluetooth or any transceiver that can connect to and be controlled by Ham radio Deluxe (which is most transceivers built in the last 15 years or so) and it also talks to SDR receivers that are already accessible over the internet as part of the “WebSDR” service.

What does all of this mean? It means you can access you home rig (at least the receiver) from anywhere you are that you have cell phone coverage – perhaps in a coffee break in the office or while sitting in the train or bus on the way home. Remember the antenna is on the remote receiver, so as long as you have cell phone or better still WiFi access, it doesn’t matter how electrically noisy the location you are in is, it’s where the receiver is, be it yours at home or from someone else who has kindly shared theirs to the Internet anywhere in the world!

If you have an Android device and want to try out this (free) app, it can be downloaded and installed from the Google Play store here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.yo3ggx.rxtx&hl=en

Ed VK2JI.

 

2.A flash from the past.

Bandspread-1 Bandspread-2

I had forgotten that during my time at the Hull & District Amateur radio Society, that I had once been the editor of that clubs newsletter. That was until I was spotted on the Internet by another old member of that club and he sent me the attached version of “Bandspread” which is the edition where I took over the role as editor. Back then, this was printed on a dot matrix printer printed 6×4 pictures stuck to the master copy and then photocopied before being handed out to members (i.e. PRE INTERNET!). It’s interesting that my first editorial is rather similar to one I published here a couple of weeks ago – without content a club news letter is nothing.

In any case here’s that newsletter for you all to download the pdf and read if you wish to.

[wpdm_file id=103]

Ed VK2JI.

3. Broke & fixed.

Thankfully all CCARC infrastructure is currently operational.

4. Reminders.

This section lists important announcements and possibly items from previous CCARC NEWS editions that are still current and may need your input:

New for-sale item on the Sales page – check it out here

Saturday October 12th. from 9am to 1pm CCARC members, their families and friends are invited to meet at Katandra Reserve on Mount Elliot. Mount Elliot is our local Summits on the Air (SOTA) peak and has been “activated” a couple of times already by members. More importantly it has a beautiful park with facilities (toilets) barbeques and seating. So we can combine a nice social picnic and play radio at the same time! What could be better?

Those wishing to operate the VK2AFY/P station to keep in the spirit of SOTA will need to do a little exercise, walking down and back up one of the beautiful tracks from the park as motorised arrival to a SOTA peak is not allowed and as the car park is in Katandra reserve the accepted option is to walk out of the “activation area” and back in carrying any equipment that is intended to be used. Those who attended my lecture on SOTA last Saturday at the club rooms will understand all of this. If you didn’t manage to get to my lecture, don’t worry – we can explain everything on the day.

Whether interested in the radio side of things or not, please come along and enjoy a CCARC social outing.

I’m letting you know ahead of time, so that you can arrange transport with other members if you have no car yourself. Although there is a very occasional bus into the area the nearest regular public transport point is Lisarow railway station and I would not recommend walking all the way from there!

The plan is to wrap up at about 1pm so that those wishing to attend the WICEN meeting have time to return to the club rooms, however those who are not involved with WICEN are of course welcome to stay on through the afternoon and enjoy this beautiful location, that not so many people know about yet. (Don’t forget your camera to grab some of the wonderful views from the lookout).

Oceania DX contest and JOTA.

Doug VK2MDC is looking for operators both for the Oceania DX contest on the 5th. and 6th. of October (at the club rooms) and the Scout’s Jamboree on the Air on the 19th. and 20th. of October (at East Gosford scout hall). Please contact Doug if you can help with either of these events.

Anyone reading this on the website who is not yet a member of the CCARC, please consider joining by emailing ccarc @ ccarc.org.au for full details.

For what’s coming up in the next few months at the CCARC, please check the club calendar, accessible from the header on any page on the website.

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