February 7, 2010 is the first anniversary of the disastrous fires in Victoria where 13 major fires burnt 352,686 hectares.  173 lives were lost, over 2000 homes destroyed, countless stock killed, kilometres of fences,  sheds and wildlife.

The fires continued to burn in the area until March, when fire fighting efforts along with cooler weather and rain allowed the fires to be brought under control.

The Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group members were impacted significantly by the fires.  Members homes were lost, the club room grounds were burnt and the club lost our communications trailer.  Fortunately the club rooms were saved by a neighbour.

Amateur Radio played a significant role in providing communications operators to emergency organisations post the fires, providing 1000's of hours of operating along with many other technical services.  This is an oportunity for all amateurs to recognise the service given.

For the first anniversary of the 2009 February fires the Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group have applied for and received a special callsign in recognition of the services radio operators provided during and after the fires.  This callisgn is VI3KIAH and will operate at Kinglake, one of the most significantly damaged areas, on February 7, 2010.  Radio amateurs and friends are invited to visit the station on the day.  'Kiah' is an Australian Aboriginal word meaning "beautiful place".  The club will issue a special QSL card for contacts made on the day.  The plan is to run to a schedule of frequencies over the day.

Attached is the concept document that the club lodged with the Wireless Institute of Australia and Australian Communications and Media Authority to gain the callsign.

The Yarra Valley Amateur Radio Group would like to invite all amateurs to participate in this event, where propagation allows, by calling in over the day and evening or visiting the station during its operations, in particular amateurs from the bushfire affected areas.

The Club has received notification that we have been allocated the 30th January by Bunnings in Cranbourne to host a BBQ Stall from 8am to 6pm.  This is very good news as it will provide us with a great opportunity to promote the club and the hobby to a broad cross section of the community right on our doorstep.  In addition this will provide a fantastic chance to raise significant additional funds for our club.

We still have 7 weeks to get ourselves organised, and on behalf of the club I thank Brian VK3BSN who has been diligently working in the background to secure this opportunity and will be working to get the paperwork in order over the coming weeks.  Also, thanks to Pat VK3OZ who has once again put her hand up as the nominated food handling representative.

Please check your calendar and if you are able to spend an hour or two – or some hours – then please give me a call or send me an email with your availability.

The Club is planning an excursion to Mount Buggaree for the Summer VHF/UHF Field Day on the 16th of January 2010.

Over the next 3 to 4 weeks we need to confirm who intends to go, what equipment is being taken, and what the potential camping or lodging sites are.

For those that are interested in improving their Morse skills the Club will be holding a "Morsecodeians" get together at the Club Rooms each second Thursday night from 28 January 2010 at 8pm to collectively work whatever suitable morse can be found on the HF bands.

See the Event Queue for dates.

The Club effort for the Spring Field Day will be on Saturday 28th of November in the 8 hour section - 3pm until 11pm. We will need people to arrive at 2pm to assist with setting up the station and ensure we are on air by 3pm. The venue is still being decided with a few options under consideration. Any members who wish to liaise directly with Phil may wish to activate our station earlier (from midday onwards) – otherwise the official kickoff time for the Club will be 3pm.

GGREC has introduced a Worked VK3RLP awards program.

The Objective: To encourage members (and the general radio community) to integrate radio operation in with other family/social/travel activities and to promote the hobby of Amateur Radio and GGREC.

One reason for choosing our repeater/IRLP node is that by being on 70cms it makes operation far easier and more convenient for members.  Take the handheld with you on the next weekend away, or for the more adventurous build up a portable high gain antenna and try for the Distance Award or Difficulty Award on the next 4WD trip or holiday.

Category 1: The Distance Award The member who completes a QSO via VK3RLP from the furthest distance from the repeater’s location.  This category is designed to encourage members to make a contact via the repeater from far-away locations and experiment with antennae, choice of location and propagation.

Category 2: The Difficulty Award The member who has a QSO via VK3RLP from the most difficult location to access.  This category is for those who like the challenge of accessing difficult or challenging locations.

Category 3: The Oddball Award The member who has a QSO via VK3RLP from the strangest location.  This category is really just for fun and imaginative operations.

Category 4: The Interesting QTH Award The member has a QSO via VK3RLP from the most interesting or unique location.  This category is to see what interesting and different locations members may visit.

Category 5: The Non-Member Award This category is for non-GGREC members and will be assessed on a combination of the previous 4 categories.  Essentially, this category will be awarded to the applicant who makes the most interesting, strangest, farthest, and most difficult contact via the clubs repeater, either direct via RF or IRLP, or a combination of these characteristics.

The Rules:

1. All QSOs in Category 1 & 2 must be by direct RF contact into the VK3RLP repeater.
   
2. QSOs in Category 3 & 4 may be originated via another IRLP device or direct into VK3RLP.
   
3. Aeronautical QSOs are permitted and will be considered in the broader context of the category in which they are being applied for, and the other applications that are terrestrial or marine based.
   
4. All applications must accompany some form of supportive evidence.  Refer to the “Making an Application” section of this document.
   
5. Non-member QSOs can be direct via VK3RLP or IRLP.  The committee will take into account all characteristics of the application when assessing each award.
   
6. There is no limit to the number of applications that members or non-members can make – in fact, the more the merrier – this objective of this Award is to encourage activity and have some fun.
   

The Award commences on 1st November 2009 and finishes on 31st March 2010.  This Award program is intended to be fun and to promote the hobby and the club, as well as generating more activity on the VK3RLP IRLP Club repeater.

The club will provide small business card style brochures for members to hand to interested/confused members of the public which directs them to our web site to learn more about the hobby and our Club.

Status updates will be provided on the club’s website, magazine, fortnightly news broadcast and at the monthly General Meeting.  Awards will be issued at the General Meeting in May 2010.

Making an Application: It is preferred that all applications be accompanied by a photo of the member on location, and some form of confirmation of the QSO (be it an email or QSL Card confirming the QSO).

Applications can be made by email or in hard copy to any committee member and must include:

• Name and Callsign of the operator
  
• Category of Award being applied for
  
• Details of the QSO (date, time, location (inc details such as HASL, Gridsquare, Lat/Long etc where available), station worked (name and QTH), mode (RF or IRLP, signal report etc) – relevant to the Award category
  
• Any supportive evidence of the event/QSO (eg. Short story, QSL Card, email, photo etc)
  

Yaesu FT-950

I won’t bore you all here with the sales pitch from the various Yaesu brochures, but I do invite everyone to read the reviews of the radio on the internet and start familiarising themselves with the radio and its features.

Perhaps most importantly, the sophisticated receiver section utilizes DSP filtering, incorporating features such as Variable Bandwidth, IF Shift, and Passband Contour tuning. Digital Noise Reduction and Digital Auto-Notch Filtering are also provided, along with a manually-tuned IF Notch filter.  The radio will also give us much improved access to six metres for the upcoming summer six metre DX-season.  Maybe someone wants to consider a six metre antenna project?

A small but dedicated team from our club intends to activate the Wilsons Promontory Lighthouse on ILLW on the 21st and 22nd of August 2010.  This will require a 19km hike in and the same on the way out, so we are already preparing a training regime as well as organising and testing portable and light weight station and antennae options.

The Ballarat Amateur Radio Group (BARG) will be hosting a dinner on Saturday, 24th October, prior to Sunday’s Hamvention, and everyone is welcome.

The venue and details are:
The Western Hotel
1221 Sturt Street, Ballarat (corner Ripon Street South).
Saturday, 24th October @ 7:00PM

A team of experienced VK amateurs is heading to Norfolk Island this January to operate bands from 6 metres to 10GHz. The team from the VK uWave Group, will be Alan VK3XPD, Kevin VK4UH and Michael VK3KH.

Preparation and preplanning is progressing well with accommodation and airfares already booked. As with most remote operations the airfare cost and arrangement are the most difficult part, particularly as the group plans to take a 1.2 metre dish for all bands from 1296MHz through to 10GHz.

A group of VK5 and VK3 operators has organised to travel to Port Macquarie on the NSW coast, with full Microwave gear, to take advantage of the opportunity. A number of ZL operators have also indicated their interested in setting up at favourable locations on the NZ North Island. It is hoped to use 2 metres as the main propagation indicator, and then move up the bands as propagation/conditions permit.

The group will have internet access, and will use the VKlogger (www.vklogger.com) as the main method of liasion. Operation will be SSB, CW and where possible Digital modes for Meteor Scatter and Tropo paths. 6 Metres will be part of the operation, and we are hoping for opportunities on the “magic band” in all directions. As this is the main Sporadic E season, anything is possible. We will have HF capabilities, but these will be limited as VHF,UHF and Microwaves are our prime focus.

The group is excited about this venture, and we hope we receive support from VK and ZL operators to make it worthwhile. We will post updates as we get closer to the time.

This year JOTA / JOTI is on Saturday 17th October. As it does every year, the Club will be operating radios to assist the Cranbourne Guides.

This year the event will run from 3pm until 9.30pm. Between 3pm and 5pm will be for the younger children followed by dinner and a camp fire. The older children will arrive for dinner and then use the radios up until 9.30pm.

As on previous years, food and drink will be provided for us throughout the day by the Guides.

The Oceania DX Contest is coming up in October. The Phone contest is Saturday 3rd October 0800Z through Sunday 4th October 0800Z, with the CW contest being the following weekend the 10th & 11th October.  If anyone is interested in joining me to put in a club effort please drop me an email.  Full details about the contest can be found at the following web site.