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CCARC NEWS 14-11

CCARC NEWS 14-11

THE PERIODIC NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

ISSUE No 14-11 28th March 2014

In this Issue:

  1. John Moyle Field Day contest weekend
  2. JayCar Tuggerah & Erina Discount
  3. Assessment & Education days in April & May
  4. CCARC Lectures
  5. WIA News – WIA Merit Awards Nominations
  6. Broke & fixed
  7. Reminders

1. JOHN MOYLE FIELD DAY

Last week we had a report from Doug VK2MDC who organized a local team to Staples Lookout. This week we have the report from Dave VK2JDH who organized his team to Mt. Allyn.

Here is Dave VK2JDH’s report of the Mt Allyn operation.

“John Moyle Memorial Field Day 2014

Once again VK2EH took part in the JMMFD for 2014. Last year we managed to get first place in the 24 Hour Portable Multiple Operator Phone VHF section, our best result, and hoped to repeat the result this year, but it seems unlikely at this stage.

Operation was from the usual location of Mt Allyn QF57rv 1100M ASL in the Chichester State Forest adjacent to the Barrington National Park.

Vk2KCM arrive on Thursday night and VK2JDH on Friday afternoon. The weather did not look that promising, despite the reasonable forecast, as there were thunderstorms to the north and south 20 km or so away.

The road from Eccleston to the State Forest was in excellent condition and it looked as if it had been graded recently and there was little dust. Unlike last year the final 5 km had seen some road works and was in reasonable condition.

However on Saturday morning the weather was good which made setting up the station quite pleasant.

We were underway in the contest at the 12 noon (0100 UTC) start time. 2M was the most active band , followed by 6M and 70cm. No two way contacts on 23cm were to be had.

In the first few 3 hour blocks we had a regular, but not high , number of contacts, several VK1 contacts.. I heard several VK3s on 2M but the signal was far too weak, and had QSB, to work.

Contacts continued slowly but steadily throughout the afternoon and evening till about 22:00, until the wind started to pick up and we decided to call it quits for the night and resume at 05:30, so we thought.

During the night the wind steadily increased into very blustery conditions, resulting in little sleep from the noise of the wind. Several times during the night we had to check the camp site and secure any loose items and ensure the tents where in one piece. Come morning the wind was as strong as ever and the decision was made that it would be unsafe to raise the antennas as they would most likely sustain damage. So we commenced the pack up and headed for home without making any further contacts.

While most contacts where on a bearing of around 230 -+ 30 degrees, we also made a few contacts to the north and east which have been a rarity in the last few years

We also made several contacts with club members Doug VK2MDC and Andrew VK2PAM operating from Staples Lookout near Woy Woy.

On Saturday we were joined by two operators from the Hunter Radio Group who intended to enter the HF section. They set up adjacent to us with their squid pole supported dipoles. They too decided to leave on Sunday morning.

We are always looking for additional operators so we can have more radios on the air and enter the all band division of the contest. If you are interested contact Dave VK2JDH.

Equipment used:

6M Yaseu FT 897 100W half wave vertical

2M ICOM 910 100W 14 el Yagi

70CM Yaseu FT897 35W 12 el

23CM ICOM 910 10W 23 el”

Barrington area scenery.

JMFD Clouds

John Moyle Field Day

 

2. JAYCAR TUGGERAH & ERINA CCARC DISCOUNT

discount

Further to our previous item about Jaycar Tuggerah CCARC Discount.

Col VK2ZCO has found that Erina Jaycar also gives us the same discount – approx 10% on purchases over $25.

 

3. EDUCATION

Education

Our Education Officer Chris Lobb VK2YY is organizing an assessment day on 12th April and an education day on 10th May at CCARC.

This is an ideal time to study for your Foundation license, or the next level of your license, the upgrade from Foundation to Standard or Standard to Advanced. Anything worth having needs to be worked for, but you don’t have to do it alone. Chris, VK2YY is willing to give us his time to run training courses and examinations to help you. Why not contact Chris via email VK2YYChris at gmail.com

Chris reports that we had a great turn up at Wyong field day for education on Saturday and exams on Sunday. There were 6 foundations and 4 upgrades to Standard or Advanced.

 

4. CCARC LECTURES

March saw the return of the monthly lectures with a lecture on “DX Television” by Bruce Holland VK2ZAD. This was very enjoyable for those able to attend and brought back memories for many.  There is a copy of the presentation now available for download.

Next lectures coming up are:

Saturday 19th April 2014    “Antenna Construction” by Col Hodgson VK2ZCO

Saturday 24th May 2014    “SDR Radio and Aeroplane Tracking Radar” by Victor Barker VK2BTV

 

5. WIA NEWS.

Wireless Institute of Australia Merit Awards Nominations

The Board of the WIA at its discretion makes awards to members for their contribution to Amateur Radio. These awards are usually presented at the WIA’s Annual Conference and AGM. The Board is now calling for nominations.

Source WIA News

6. BROKE & FIXED.

The clubs telephone is fixed & we are experiencing problems with the clubs emails.  These will be fixed shortly.

7. REMINDERS.

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

Our Smoke Signals Editor, Leonie VK2LCP is preparing for the next issue (May) and is asking nicely for articles, photos (any from Field Day would be appreciated). New items are to be sent to: smokesignalseditor at fsparker.com.au  please.

CCARC has a 23 cm repeater on trial. Output 1273.400 MHz offset plus 20 MHz.  We invite you to use it as much as possible and send Don VK2ZCZ your written (or typed) signal reports.

Jaycar Tuggerah & Erina gives CCARC members a discount – approx 10% on purchases over $25.  Make sure you ask for it. Thanks Rod VK2LAX and Col VK2ZCO.

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

For submissions to this newsletter from CCARC club members please email the editor news-editor at ccarc dot org dot au

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.

Dave VK2DLS … News & Publicity Officer …

editor

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