News 12.05.2019
Members are advised that Friday 17th May is ITU Day, so please use the “AX” prefix whenever possible; as the saying goes: “use it, or lose it”.
The next lecture will be on Saturday 18th May, on surface mount soldering by Graham VK2GRA; it will involve a demonstration and some practice. Don’t forget that this is also the date of the Federal election, so remember: “vote early, and vote often”.
Central Coast WICEN (which has a close relationship with the Club) has a new web page; please see ccwicen.org.au (note that it is no longer WICEN CNC), and thanks go to Club webmasters Henrick VK2FTDR and David VK2VGA for setting it up.
All meetings of the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club are held at the Club rooms in Dandaloo St, Kariong, just past the fire station. Meetings start at 1pm, preceded by the famous sausage sizzle run by master chef Steve VK2SKC from noon, followed by Karen VK2AKB’s yummy pikelets. 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 (and one can usually bludge a lift back). The Club rooms are usually open from 10.30 am on Saturday, for general chit-chat and access to the Club workshop and library; the Club also conducts Foundation training on an as-required basis, and a new course is coming up soon, depending on the new arrangements with the Australian Maritime College.
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 digital network; a 91.5 Hz tone is required for analogue access, and is highly recommended for receiving. Also, both IRLP and EchoLink will become available soon.
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). There is also an experimental HF net on 80m, but it is difficult to find a free frequency so it will be announced on the VHF net. 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 a YouTube channel of the weekly streaming news via several modes which is proving to be quite popular, especially with Amateurs both interstate and overseas.
Further information about the Central Coast Amateur Radio Club can be found on the web site www.ccarc.org.au.
— Dave VK2KFU, Publicity Officer, Central Coast Amateur Radio Club
