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. Further details will be posted over the coming week so stay tuned and keep an eye on your email or the site!

This contest commemorates the Amateurs who died during World War II and is designed to encourage friendly participation and help improve the operating skills of participants. It is held on the weekend closest to the 15th August, the date on which hostilities ceased in the southwest Pacific area.

A perpetual trophy is awarded annually to the Australian state or territory with the best performance. The name of the winning State or Territory is inscribed on the trophy, and that State or Territory then holds the trophy for 12 months. The winning State or Territory is also given a certificate, as are leading entrants.

More details are available on the WIA Web Site at http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/

REAST has scheduling Foundation training on the 3rd Saturday of every second month. That is February, April, June August, October and December. If interested then contact Reg on email [email protected] or phone mobile 0417 391 607 if you wish to participate. The training manual used for this training - "Your Entry into Amateur Radio" is available from the Caltex Service Station - Corner of Amy St and Main Road Moonah for $35 Cash. (73, Reg, VK7KK)

As part of National Science Week there is an Open Day planned at the Telescope and Grote Reber Museum.

Learn about the science of radio astronomy and the history of Grote Reber, experience the Telescope Control Room and view the 26m dish antenna at this annual event. A great day out for families, with tours of the facility, 3D movies, face painting, BBQ, water rockets and many other events.

One of the challenges of growing the hobby is engaging new members from an ever increasingly diverse community.

Training Officer Louise Adams from Equal Opportunity Tasmania will this month be presenting an overview of discrimination law, lead a discussion into respectful and inclusive practices, and provide tips on recognising and dealing with discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour.

Please come along to the REAST clubroom on top of the Queens Domain for this topic.

You've now got the radios, but how does DMR Work? Whats a Talk Group? Scott VK7HSE will be presenting at our October presentation night to demystify the technical details of DMR Radio. This is one of the presentations that should not be missed. This presentation is expected to happen on Wednesday 3rd October @ 7.30pm. We're not quite sure if we will be live streaming it yet, so we strongly advised that if you are interested to please turn up!

REAST has scheduling Foundation training on the 3rd Saturday of every second month.

That is February, April, June August, October and December.

If interested then contact Reg on email [email protected] or phone mobile 0417 391 607 if you wish to participate.

The training manual used for this training - "Your Entry into Amateur Radio" is available from the Caltex Service Station - Corner of Amy St and Main Road Moonah for $35 Cash.

(73, Reg, VK7KK)

Can't make it to Hamfest or need a bit of extra cash to buy things at the Hamfest? REAST is having a radio and electronic car boot sale & BBQ on Sunday November 4th from 10am (right after the broadcast) through to 2pm.

There is no car boot fee for sellers and at the BBQ sausages and hamburgers with bread and sauce will be $2ea. So far we look to be having all sorts of things for sale from radios to computer bits and basically anything that has something electronic in it. Please no general goods. For more information please contact by email [email protected]

I think we can all agree that the weather this week has for the most part been more like "outside weather" and our hobby now has some great ways to get active outside. REAST's next presentation on Wednesday November 7th will see a panel of experts talk on going portable with the hobby. From preparing for a successful field trip to lessons learnt from less-than-successful expeditions, this evening will be definitely one for anyone who likes taking their radio out of the house. We look forward to seeing you there at 7.30pm! Youtube stream Link: https://youtu.be/_ucontwL2Yk

We are privileged to have Andrew Klekociuk from the Australian Antarctic Division who has agreed to give REAST a presentation on a potted history of Australian atmospheric research in Antarctica, from studies of aurorae, the ionosphere and magnetosphere, and cosmic rays to modern work on global climate modelling and related topics. There will be some side trips to note some personal highlights, including professional and hobby interests in radioastronomy.

Andrew is a Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division where he has conducted research on the Antarctic atmosphere for over 30 years. He grew up in Tasmania and gained a PhD in physics from the University of Tasmania. He has hobby interests in astronomy and environmental monitoring.

Queen's Domain clubrooms from 7:30pm on 1st May 2019.

Thanks to Warren VK7WN for organising this presentation.

Photo by Ben McCormick and sourced from http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/antarctic-insider

Photo by Ben McCormick and sourced from http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/antarctic-insider

The presentation for June is on Wednesday 12 June 2019  and will be given by our resident radio control experimenter Ron Cullen. It is a follow up from his previous presentation that was done back in June 2017.

Ron will be covering improvements that he has made to do with remote control aircraft, First Person View (FPV) including a head tracking system which complements the FPV experience.

He will also be presenting a new modern aircraft which is capable of reaching speeds of 100+km/h.

Ron also now builds his own 5.8GHz AV antennas with the aid of a handy jig he created making the job a lot easier.

All this and more from Ron this Wednesday night, the 12th of June 2019 from 7:30pm.

See you there.

We will be opening the REAST Clubrooms on Saturday June 29th for an antenna build day. An Antenna build day gives people the opportunity to work on antenna projects they have been working on, or starting a new project, with equipment and knowledge available to make sure you go home with a tuned antenna - which is very important if you are transmitting.

The Antenna Analysers available on the day will be able to measure between 100KHz to 600MHz, which covers the majority of amateur radio bands people use.
Two Kits will also be available on the day:

• An end-fed half wave antenna that can be used on 40-20-15m will cost $35
• A VHF/UHF handheld Moxon antenna for working LEO Satellites will cost $25

Each kit takes around 1-2 hours to assemble and test, so why not bring up some lunch and put together an antenna that you can start using as soon as you are done.

If you are interested in pre-ordering a kit, and guaranteeing availability please contact Ben VK7BEN by email at [email protected].

If you are building kits please be aware that there will be only limited tools available at the clubrooms, and you are strongly encouraged to bring your own. Ben will advise kit builders of what tools they will need on the day a bit closer to the time.

For July REAST will be holding a GPS Disciplined Oscillator Forum on Wednesday 3rd July from 7:30pm.

This forum will be led by Rex VK7MO and Justin VK7TW who will be bringing along a broad range of GPSDOs and run through the positives and negatives of the various models.

A broad agenda for the forum will include -

· What is a GPSDO and how does it work?
· When is a GPSDO used and what benefits does it bring?
· Not all GPSDOs are the same.
· Where can you get more information about GPSDOs?
· Who are the Time Nuts?

If you have a GPSDO then bring it along and tell people about what you use it for and your experience with it.

We will have some interesting research around the very topical locking of the ICOM IC-9700 to share.

The session will be streamed on the REAST Facebook and YouTube Channels and will be recorded.

We look forward to seeing you along.

We are lucky to have Ian MacIntosh back for a fantastic presentation and demo of Oculus Rift Virtual Reality (VR) technology. Ian has been experimenting with this technology for many years and the presentation will include Oculus Rift VR Archaeology since 2012 as Ian will be able to demonstrate each of the models over the last few years.

The history of VR will be included from the 1960s and the players in this space. Ian will then move to the challenges like - Tracking. IMUs, IR Constellations and webcams, Room Scale tracking and motion capture. There are also technology challenges with real time processing, communication channels, bandwidth and latency.

Ian will show the technology he has built up over his time experimenting with VR technology. The prototyping he has been doing and Photogrammetry. Don't know what this is - why not come along and learn! Ian will then go into the tools he uses with an application called Meshroom.

During the presentation and demonstration there will be many forays into the real-world applications that this technology is already being used for. A huge thank you to Ian for giving us this presentation on one of his many passions.

This looks to be a fantastic night and we hope to see you up on the Queen's Domain in the REAST clubrooms from 7:30pm Wednesday night, 7th August 2019.

We are privileged to have a " behind the scenes" tour of the ABC Radio and TV studios in Hobart.

A huge thank you to Damien VK7SD and Alan VK7KAN who will be showing us through.

More details closer to the event.

Following on from our hugely popular presentation by Kim VK7KB, Alan VK7KAJ and Roger VK7ER in August 2017.

These guys are back and will continue where they left off in 1970's with the rest of the story about Antarctic Communications up to the present day.

More details closer to the event.

Ever wondered what goes on to bring you that carton of flavoured milk? Well this behind the scenes tour of the Lion Dairy & Drinks company in Lenah Valley will show you the whole process. We are lucky to have the chief engineer - Dale Barnes VK7DG to show us through.

The levels of automation and process control used within this factory are a wonder to behold!

Given this is a food production facility all visitors will need to comply with the hygiene and Good Manufacturing Practise requirements as we all do as employees. This includes all visitors needing to wear long pants fully covering the legs. Visitors will be supplied boots ,dust coats, protective safety glasses, hair nets and beard masks, washing and sanitising of hands before entering production area.

This members tour will take place on Wednesday 16th October at 7:30pm. Meet at front office car park - 215 Lenah Valley Rd.

A huge thank you to Dale for organising this tour.

We are privileged to have Dr. Conn O'Neil from General Practice Plus along for the night to give some insight into common (and not so common) men's health issues and importantly how we can prevent or reduce the risks associated with these issues.

More info closer to the event.

Fun with QRP

This Wednesday night we have guest presenter Peter Parker VK3YE coming along to the clubrooms to give an impromptu presentation entitled "Fun with QRP - Equipment, Antennas & Operating".

Peter is a prolific experimenter, broadcaster, videographer and author.

His latest book - The Australian Ham Radio Handbook is now available in Jaycar! Take a look at his website for more information. http://vk3ye.com/

We get underway in the clubrooms from 7:30pm and the presentation will be broadcast on RF and streamed on the REAST YouTube Channel.

https://www.reast.asn.au/special-interest-groups/amateur-tv/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC64To_tq1E7PfK1pqtX_vRw/

https://www.facebook.com/reasttas/

See you there.

(73, Justin, VK7TW)

This night was born from a group looking at pictures and videos of various amateur's shacks.

Steven VK7OO is currently getting his shack back up and running at his new house and he was asking different people about space saving ideas in the shack.

Amateurs are usually resourceful people who have been re-purposing, recycling and re-using things for a very long-time.

So, we have decided to have a forum where everyone can come along and bring your interesting and innovative ideas that you have in your shack, outside, inside, etc.

There is no limit to the ideas - simple, complex, easy, hard, bring them along and talk about them. If you have some show and tell to demonstrate the idea then bring it along. You may have a problem or challenge that you are dealing with - bring

that along and we are sure there will some ideas in the room to help you solve that issue.

The format is a forum where everyone can input their ideas, questions, problems and solutions.

See you there.

73, REAST Committee

If interested in assessments then contact Reg on email [email protected] or phone mobile 0417 391 607 if you wish to participate.

The training manual used for this Foundation training - "Your Entry into Amateur Radio" is available from the Caltex Service Station - Corner of Amy St and Main Road Moonah for $35 Cash.

(73, Reg, VK7KK)

Rex's portable 6m antenna

Following on from our successful forum nights we are running and antenna forum night for our August presentation night.

The format of the night will be an open forum for anyone to bring along their experience of the antennas they are using, building and testing. This includes the antenna analysers you use with your antennas.

It doesn’t have to be a huge in-depth analysis presentation just come along and share your experience with the antennas you are using. If you have some analysis data then certainly bring it along.

They can be permanent installations, mobile, satellite, microwave, LF, MF, HF, portable or handheld, in fact anything and everything is encouraged. Just come along and share your experience.

We will compile on the night a list of antennas and users and make it available so, if you are interested in a particular antenna you will know who to contact.

The night will be streamed and we will take questions and comments via R2, DM 3807 and the YouTube Chat Channel. We will also broadcast the night on RF 445.5MHz DVB-T around Hobart.

Do you have an interest in electronics or technology? Ever stared up at Mt Wellington at the large rocket ship tower and wondered how does radio work?

Come learn about Amateur Radio!

The Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania (REAST) will be holding a public open day on Saturday December 5th up at the top of the Queen’s Domain.

Amateur Radio (ham radio) is a popular hobby and service that brings people, electronics and communication together. People use ham radio to talk across town, around the world, or even into space, all without the Internet or cell phones. It's fun, social, educational, and can be a lifeline during times of need.
There will be lots going on in and around the REAST clubrooms and we will have lots of different activities for everyone!

• Did you know foxes are alive and well in Tasmania? Come join in on a "fox hunt" or hidden transmitter finding game.
• Have you ever talked over a light beam? Come up and meet our Wallies and talk over a red light beam.
• Come check out our television studios where we will be broadcasting live on the airwaves using Amateur Television.
• WICEN - the civil emergency network will be there with their big mobile tower and show what they get up to.
• ALARA - the Australian Ladies Amateur Radio Association will be there with the many activities that ALARA get up to.
• Moonbounce - you will be able to see how the equipment that amateur radio operators use to bounce signals off the moon and back.
• Morse Code - yes it is still used and is actually gaining in popularity - it's SMS that is over 100 years old! Come along and try your hand at it.
• Microwaves - bit like the type in your kitchen but much less power. See it in action!
• Interested in bushwalking? - How about taking a radio with you and operating from the top of a mountain - Learn about Summits on the Air (SOTA).
• Pictures over radio - Come up and see Slow Scan TeleVision (SSTV) and see pictures being send over radio.
• Did you know the internet has links back to technology that radio amateurs developed called Packet Radio - come along and see it in action.
• Learn who to become a radio amateur - REAST runs regular courses up on the Queens Domain.

There will be many other general displays and interesting and fascinating things that amateurs get up to as well as a Sausage Sizzle (with onion!), coffee and cake available on the day.

Who could pass up an opportunity such as that!

Notice of AGM 2021

Dear Members,

In accordance with the Rules of the Association, Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania will be held on Sunday 31st January 2021 @ 11.00am located at the Queens Domain Clubrooms.

I encourage anyone willing to contribute to the club as a committee member or office holder to nominate for a position.

Agenda

1. Attendance & Apologies

2. Welcome & Silent Keys

3. Ordinary Business:

3.1. Confirm the minutes of the last preceding Annual General Meeting and of any general meeting held since that meeting.

3.2. Business arising from the last Annual General Meeting:

3.3. Receive from the committee, auditor and servants of the Association reports on the transactions of the Association during the last preceding financial year.

3.4. Elect the officers of the Association and the ordinary committee members.

3.5. Appointment of Ex Officio Officers Bearers.

3.6. Appoint an auditor.

After the AGM there will be a discussion about the future of the 6m repeater VK7RAD.

There will also be a quick-fire auction of equipment from the estate of VK7MC. Proceeds to go back to the estate.

We will then finish the proceedings with a BYO BBQ.

Yours Sincerely

Tony Lathouras VK7VKT

REAST Secretary & Public Officer

5 January 2021

Our March presentation night will be a discussion forum on the ACMA proposals for licence reform and the other changes they are proposing.

It will take place in the COVID-Safe Queen’s Domain clubrooms from 7:30pm.

Supporting documents are below:

ACMA Licence Change Proposals - https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2021-01/review-non-assigned-amateur-and-outpost-regulatory-arrangements-consultation-012021

Apparatus Licence - https://www.acma.gov.au/apparatus-licences

Class Licence - https://www.acma.gov.au/class-licences

WIA Survey Registration on licence changes - https://www.vision6.com.au/em/forms/subscribe.php?db=520800&s=232856&a=77723&k=NDm5RIsXSsIuIl8QaGDuHEdqKaoD4aqQ4cFJ5POACy4&fbclid=IwAR1XFvpXNG0_4KIT-xmGHLqXOC8TxaTYzCnGnBozTpYviFlaifDFhbCMekE

See you there.

73, REAST Committee

A huge thank you to REAST Member Andrew Elwell for giving us a talk on the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre.

This centre is based in Western Australia and Andrew is a Supercomputing Systems Administrator who works remotely from his home in Cygnet, Tasmania.

The Pawsey Supercomputing Centre prides itself on incorporating a range of best practices, features and solutions. Key features of the Centre include:

• A purpose-built supercomputing building of more than 1000 m² at Technology Park in Kensington, Western Australia; complete with scalable cooling and electrical services, to accommodate for expanding supercomputing infrastructure within the facility
• A unique groundwater cooling system for removing heat from the supercomputer and dissipating this heat via an aquifer, 140 metres below the Centre, with no loss of groundwater.
• A photovoltaic system which has been incorporated into the building’s shaded façade, plus an extensive PV array on the roof of the building
  • This installation generates 140 kW of electricity onsite, which acts to offset the electrical and CO² footprint of the Supercomputing Centre
• Automated ‘intelligence’ incorporated into the building, with real-time monitoring, to facilitate efficient operation and support fine tuning of operations to reduce overall power costs

Andrew will be covering the centre, its history, who was Joe Pawsey and the work being undertaken to process the data from the Square Kilometre Array radio astronomy project.

This should be a fascinating presentation.

One not to be missed.

73, REAST Committee.

Our REAST May presentation night will be a talk by Dr. Mike Groth VK7MJ on many lightning derived phenomena.

While Army Signalers in the trenches in France during the First World War were using early valve amplifiers to detect the earth currents generated by the field telephones in the enemy trenches, they discovered that the earth generated a range of strange audio frequency signals, including clicks, tweaks, and whistling.

These remained a scientific curiosity for almost 40 years, until the International Geophysical Year in 1957-8, when they became a tool for exploring the electrical and magnetic properties of the Earth’s magnetosphere before the development of specialised geophysical monitoring satellites in the 1970’s.

This will include many fascinating phenomena that Mike come across whilst undertaking his research in New Zealand featured in his Listening to the Planets presentation.

This should be another REAST Presentation not to be missed.

Thanks to Mike for offering to give the presentation.

73, REAST Committee

Please note - REAST's July presentation night will be on the second Wednesday night of July - the 14th.

It will be a presentation and tour of Tas Maritime Radio Facility on the Queens Domain.

Barry McCann OAM will be giving us a presentation on the Tasmania-wide maritime radio network and the services that TMR provide to maritime users and then he will give us a tour of the facilities operations room and museum.

We get underway at 7:30pm in the Queens Domain Clubrooms.

A huge thank you to Barry and TMR for this night.

73, REAST Committee.

Contesting at LX4SKY.

REAST's August presentation night is all about contesting on HF and VHF and above.

With the Remembrance Day contest just around the corner (14/15 August 2021) we want to equip everyone with contesting skills to ensure they get the most out of their RD Contest experience.

Martin VK7GN will be giving us the High Frequency (HF) contesting low down and Richard VK7ZBX will be covering contesting on VHF and above frequencies.

A huge thank you to Martin and Richard.

See you there.

73, REAST Committee

An interview from Casey Station

Our REAST presentation night will be an interview with Warren VK7WN/VK0WN direct from Casey Station in Antarctica.

This will be a free-flowing discussion with Warren following an outline of a typical day at Casey Station with some interesting stories thrown in.

The interview will take place on Wednesday 7th September 2022 from 7:30pm from the Queen’s Domain clubrooms and via Zoom.

A huge thank you to Warren for making time to do this for us.

The interview and Q&A will be streamed on the REAST YouTube channel.

https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/live-stream/

Facebook event

73, REAST Committee

June Presentation - Weather Satellite Image Reception

We thank Tony VK7XTC who has agreed to give us a presentation and maybe demonstration of his weather satellite receiving station.

Tony has been posting some impressive single and composite pass weather satellite pictures and Tony will be showing the equipment and software he uses to create these fantastic pictures.

This should  be a great Centenary Month presentation night from 7:30pm this Wednesday 7th June 2023.

See you there.

https://fb.me/e/4pR7j5yqw

73, REAST Committee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c8VKH4WIdo

Kicking off our 2024 presentation series we have something special.

Greg Bird from the Tasmanian Surf Life Saving Association is giving us a presentation on the their extensive statewide radio network.

It gets underway from the Queen's Domain Clubrooms from 7:30pm.

The presentation will be streamed on the REAST YouTube channel.

Look forward to seeing you there.

73, REAST Committee

The Annual General Meeting and Special General Meeting of the Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania Inc will occur on the 7th February 2023 from 1pm and will be proceeded by a free Sausage Sizzle from 12 noon.

Further information about both meetings will be distributed to member emails prior to the meetings.

73, REAST Committee.

REAST will be holding a Foundation Training and All Licence Assessment Day.

Foundation Licence training commences at 9AM and Assessments commence around 1PM.

If you would like to participate in this session then please contact Reg Emmett VK7KK - REAST Learning Organiser on email: [email protected] or mobile: 0417 391 607 at least a fortnight prior to the session.

Foundation License Handbooks are stocked at the Tasmanian Petroleum Service Station which is at 136-138 Main Road Moonah thanks to Clayton VK7ZCR. Please note that only cash ($35) can be used to pay for the Foundation Licence Manuals at the Service Station or they can be ordered through the WIA, see the Foundation Manual Page.

Courses available
There are a range of options available to study for amateur radio examinations:

• A Self Study Manual is available for the Foundation Licence
• REAST Foundation Licence Training Videos – 10 REAST YouTube videos
• WIA Foundation Licence practice examinations
• Other self study options – self study – there are many courses of study available through books, the Internet and CD-ROM; or,
• By completing correspondence courses; or,
• Study in a radio class.

Please contact us for more information

We recommend the Silvertrain for Advanced and Standard Training material and courses. More information can be found at: https://www.silvertrain.com.au/

An alternative is the Radio and Electronics School courses for Standard and Advanced training material. More information can be found at: www.res.net.au

Happy Studying

REAST will be holding a Foundation Training and All Licence Assessment Day.

Foundation Licence training commences at 9AM and Assessments commence around 1PM.

If you would like to participate in this session then please contact Reg Emmett VK7KK - REAST Learning Organiser on email: [email protected] or mobile: 0417 391 607 at least a fortnight prior to the session.

Foundation License Handbooks are stocked at the Tasmanian Petroleum Service Station which is at 136-138 Main Road Moonah thanks to Clayton VK7ZCR. Please note that only cash ($35) can be used to pay for the Foundation Licence Manuals at the Service Station or they can be ordered through the WIA, see the Foundation Manual Page.

Courses available
There are a range of options available to study for amateur radio examinations:

• A Self Study Manual is available for the Foundation Licence
• REAST Foundation Licence Training Videos – 10 REAST YouTube videos
• WIA Foundation Licence practice examinations
• Other self study options – self study – there are many courses of study available through books, the Internet and CD-ROM; or,
• By completing correspondence courses; or,
• Study in a radio class.

Please contact us for more information

We recommend the Silvertrain for Advanced and Standard Training material and courses. More information can be found at: https://www.silvertrain.com.au/

An alternative is the Radio and Electronics School courses for Standard and Advanced training material. More information can be found at: www.res.net.au

Happy Studying

REAST June Forum Night: APRS and Meshtastic

Join us for an exciting evening at the REAST June Forum Night on 12th June 2024, starting at 7:30 pm at the Queens Domain Clubrooms and streamed. 

This event is all about APRS and Meshtastic networks, and we’re inviting enthusiasts to come along and share their experiences and projects.

Whether you’re a seasoned expert or just curious about these technologies, bring your gear for a show-and-tell session and connect with fellow amateur radio aficionados. 

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, share, and explore the fascinating world of APRS and Meshtastic!

73, REAST Committee

REAST will be holding a Foundation Training and All Licence Assessment Day.

Foundation Licence training commences at 9AM and Assessments commence around 1PM.

If you would like to participate in this session then please contact Reg Emmett VK7KK - REAST Learning Organiser on email: [email protected] or mobile: 0417 391 607 at least a fortnight prior to the session.

Foundation License Handbooks are stocked at the Tasmanian Petroleum Service Station which is at 136-138 Main Road Moonah thanks to Clayton VK7ZCR. Please note that only cash ($35) can be used to pay for the Foundation Licence Manuals at the Service Station or they can be ordered through the WIA, see the Foundation Manual Page.

Courses available
There are a range of options available to study for amateur radio examinations:

• A Self Study Manual is available for the Foundation Licence
• REAST Foundation Licence Training Videos – 10 REAST YouTube videos
• WIA Foundation Licence practice examinations
• Other self study options – self study – there are many courses of study available through books, the Internet and CD-ROM; or,
• By completing correspondence courses; or,
• Study in a radio class.

Please contact us for more information

We recommend the Silvertrain for Advanced and Standard Training material and courses. More information can be found at: https://www.silvertrain.com.au/

An alternative is the Radio and Electronics School courses for Standard and Advanced training material. More information can be found at: www.res.net.au

Happy Studying