Author Archives: REAST

10 Years of the 23cm QSO Party

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Some history – a number of Hobart stations had been testing out rigs and antennas on 23cm.  Just under 10 years ago in discussions at a REAST BBQ it was decided we should encourage this activity in some way.  The suggestion was that we run a 23 cm QSO party straight after the Broadcast each Sunday morning to see how that works out and explore how well the various stations can communicate and encourage the improvement of antennas and systems.  

On Sunday 6 December 2015, Murray VK7ZMS, operated from Mt Wellington and was the initial control station for the QSO party.  Operation was on FM on 1294.0 MHz and in general people  operated with horizontal polarization.  There was a wrap up of how this all worked out at the DATV night on 9 December 2015 and more activity was planned on 23 cm.  One option was that we can run a net by all beaming at Mt Wellington and continue each Sunday after the broadcast.  So those with 23 cm gear dusted it off and joined in. 

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Justin VK7TW Interviewed on ABC Radio Evenings Program

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On Wednesday evening, ABC Radio Hobart contacted us through our Facebook page wanting to know if someone would like to talk about the experimenters night and what happens at REAST.

Justin VK7TW made a detour from his regular sojourn to the club rooms to visit the ABC studios and give an interview on the things that have been happening recently on Joel Rheinberger’s Evening’s show.

With permission from ABC, we can share the audio of the interview below.

Audio of Interview

Congratulations Justin on the great interview!

REAST DMR Radio Club Buy Closed – for the moment

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The REAST Club Buy of the Radioddity GD-77 DMR handhelds has been a great success, with a total of 20 handhelds sold in this club buy.

We’ll be taking a break for a bit to focus on other club activities, but there may be another buy depending on developing interest.

A big thanks to Clayton Reading – our DMR Guru – for all of his hard work in the setup and distribution of radios to everyone, and of course thanks to everyone for buying in and opening up a new aspect of this exciting hobby

The REAST Digital Repeater is getting closer

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Great News !  The frequency assignment to get another 70cm pair for adding a digital repeater to VK7RAD has been completed, and ACMA has provided the allocation we need to progress with the installation of the Yaesu DR-1X repeater.  Further news coming as things unfold, so stay tuned !

Digital Radio Club Buy (open to non-members as well)

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Following a great deal of interest in Digital Radios, repeaters and DMR radios, REAST is arranging for a series of club bulk buys of the Radioddity GD-77 DMR Handhelds.

These are available for purchase from the club for $120 each ( $130 for non-members ).  You may have seen these available online in the usual places, but unlike other sellers these will be setup and configured for you so that all you need to do is enter your callsign and you will be on the air.

Further details – including how to purchase  are available on the REAST web site at the following URL : https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/digital-radio-club-buy/

REAST Equipment Tender – Now Open

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As part of work to clean up the Clubroom, a number of surplus items are being made available for sale by tender to financial REAST members.

The catalog of items for tender is available in the members only area of the web site, as well as a paper copy on display for members in the Clubroom.

The Tender will close on midnight Monday the 30th of July, with emails sent to the successful bidders shortly afterwards.

Further details on how to bid are included on the cover page of the tender catalog.  If you have any questions please email tenders@reast.asn.au for further details.

Good luck, and thanks for supporting REAST

Repeater Upgrades Under Way

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If you have not been around the Clubroom,or had the chance to use VK7RAD recently you may not be aware that work has started on the upgrade of REAST’s Repeater Infrastructure.  Recently Damien Styles (our new Repeater officer) installed a Spectra MX-800 Repeater, replacing the trusty old Phillips 814 that ha served for many years.  Word has it that the more modern hardware has resulted in a noticeable improvement in audio quality.  Don’t take my word for it – get on air and give it a go !

For those of you asking about the Yaesu DR-1 – we are (still 🙁 ) waiting on the license variation to get additional frequencies for this and when we have the OK from ACMA we will be getting that up and running  to !