News 03.02.2019
Don’t forget the Wyong Field Day organized by the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club later this month; it’s the biggest hamfest in the Southern Hemisphere, to be held on the 24th February at Wyong Racecourse. Naturally there will be a free bus service run by the CCARC to and from the station. In the meantime, should anyone have any photographs of the old Field Days then Vice-President Jaye VK2FOMG would love to hear from you.
The advised lectures so far include: “Impacts of Space Weather on Aviation” by Vickal Kumar, “How science works” by Brian VK2GCE, “Satellites and collecting telemetry” by Cameron VK2CKP, a talk on the RAVEN frequency-hopping military radio using valve technology by Ray VK2NO, and a talk on the Multi Mode Digital Voice Modem by Lindsay VK2AMV. Be sure to check the Field Day site for any updates to this list. Of course there will be many rigs to be raffled on the day, but naturally we cannot mention their models.
The Central Coast Amateur Radio Club is also interested in collecting some early history about itself, so if anyone has any stories, snippets, or outright gossip then please share them, as some history appears to have fallen by the wayside as various members came and went.
All meetings of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club are held at the Club rooms in Dandaloo St, Kariong, just past the fire station at 1pm, preceded by the famous sausage sizzle run by master chef Steve VK2SKC, starting at noon. The Club rooms are accessible by bus, with a stop just opposite Dandaloo St, serviced by the route 34 bus from Gosford railway station every hour. The Club rooms are usually open from 10.30 am every Saturday, for general chit-chat and access to the Club workshop and library.
The Club relays VK2WI News broadcasts every Sunday morning and evening. Callbacks are taken after the morning news only, on the Somersby 6 and 2m repeaters VK2RAG on 53.725 and 146.725 MHz respectively; please note that both repeaters require the standard sub-audible tone of 91.5 Hz.
The Club also runs a mixed-mode repeater VK2RAG on 439.950 MHz, which is connected to the P25 network; a 91.5 Hz tone is required for analogue access, and is highly recommended for receiving.
There is a net held every Thursday on the 2m repeater VK2RAG on 146.725, starting at 8pm; all members are encouraged to join (especially if Club news for the ARNSW broadcast is involved). Club news is happily accepted at “publicity@ccarc.org.au”, preferably by 12 noon on Friday. Listeners may “join” the net by email to “netmaster@ccarc.org.au” and their comments will be read out.
The Club also has a Facebook page: just look for “centralcoastarc”, so be sure to “like” it to receive further updates. There is also a Twitter account on @ccarclub , and also there is now a YouTube channel, which is proving to be quite popular, especially with interstate visitors.
Further information about the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club including coming events can be found on the web site www.ccarc.org.au, and it has a completely new look and will be constantly evolving, thanks to our amazing IT team. There’s been some satellite activity on the Facebook page, so check out the video as well.
— Dave VK2KFU, Publicity Officer, Central Coast Amateur Radio Club