Zero dollars!

That’s right! For the first year, there will be no charge to join the Illawarra Amateur Radio Society. New members joining from January to June also get their membership extended until June the following year.

If you have been thinking about joining, there is no better time. If you know someone who might like to join, let them know about this change.

Sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

See you there!

This talk will introduce you to flying amateur radio-based experiments using unmanned high altitude balloons. Learn about the different types of balloons, what kinds of equipment you can include, how the balloon is tracked, and a bit about the history of ARHAB.  Neil will bring his ARHAB gear for a bit of show and tell as well.

October’s meeting will be at 1:30pm on Tuesday 13 October at Australia’s Industry World (AIW) visitor centre at the BlueScope Steel north gate entrance, Springhill Rd Coniston.

See you there!

This is a great opportunity to get rid of all (or at least some) the accumulated detritus of a lifetime as a radio amateur!

Date: 26 April 2009
Venue : Kembla Grange Racecourse
Time: 9.30am – 3.30pm.
Domestic quantities accepted.

Dispose of your e-waste responsibly by bringing domestic quantities of electronic waste for recycling. Electrical wastes that will be accepted include televisions, monitors, projectors, desktops, electronic games, laptops, joysticks, all computer peripherals, printers, CDs, DVDs, tapes, photocopiers, cameras, servers, DVD players, video recorders, electronic components, speakers, network equipment, sound equipment, scanners, faxes, mobile phones and landline phones. Remember if the goods are in working order, please check with local charities and second hand goods if they will accept them before bringing them to the e-waste collection day.

Items NOT Accepted – Smoke Alarms

This activity is open to residents of Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama Council areas only.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Neil VK2VNJ
VK2RDS gateway administrator

We need six people to man the barbeque, take and fill orders, and so on.  We operate from about 8:30 am to 3pm on the day, however you wouldn’t necessarily need to be there the whole time.

If you can spare some time on the 29 November, please let our illustrious Secretary and sausage coordinator Maeva Bennett VK2HUG know on 4297 6065 (email to Maeva is not working at the moment due to a nasty electrical storm last week).  It would be great to get some fresh faces involved.

Hope to see you there!

Neil VK2VNJ for Maeva VK2HUG

As in past years, the Illawarra Amateur Radio Society and the Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club, will again be manning the Point Perpendicular Lighthouse at Jervis Bay to celebrate this historic event.    The unmanned solar light will be switched off and the ‘old’ original light will again be lit by our friends from Lighthouses of Australia, 

From it’s 93 metre vantage point atop the cliff face at Jervis Bay, the 1,200,000 candle power beam of the Point Perpendicular light will again be seen for 42 kilometres.  This is only the third time the light has been lit since it’s decommissioning 1993 when the new smaller solar powered light was commissioned.  The volunteers from Lighthouses of Australia work tirelessly throughout the year in the preservation of the historic lights dotting the Australian coastline. 

The IARS will be manning all bands from 160 through to 23cm.  Listen for us around the call channels or use the Coast Link Repeater System for liaison, we’ll be using and listening out for the club callsign, VK2AMW on:-  146.650 MHz south to Bateman’s Bay, 146.975 MHz in the Nowra /Southern Highlands area, and 146.850 MHz in the Wollongong / Sydney area.   IRLP node 6018 and Echolink Node 325276 will also be in operation onsite.   The station will be manned around the clock for the event.

If you would like to visit the historic lighthouse and take up the very rare opportunity to actually see the light in operation, or visit the IARS station and see how radio communications are carried out around the world, follow these directions to the lighthouse .   Day trip visitors are very welcome, bring the family and have a good day out.   If you would like to register to stay overnight at the station you need to attend the IARS meeting on Tuesday evening at 7.30pm at Industry World Visitors Centre, Springhill Road, Coniston to register or contact the Secretary or Assistant Secretary.  There are strictly limited places overnight.  Remember this meeting is also our AGM, support your club attend the AGM.  

Further information:- secretary

To register your club or station for the ILLW event, or to see what other lighthouses are involved this year, follow this link to the Official International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend web site.

The Illawarra Amateur Radio Society sincerley thanks the Department of Defence for the use of the Point Perpendicular facilities for this important international event. The Royal Australian Navy are the custodians of the Point Perpendicular Light and do a sterling job in the preservation of this important historic building.

As a result of this, I have completely closed the old Yahoo! group, and will be deleting it from Yahoo! soon.

Regards,

Neil VK2VNJ, IARS Webmaster

To find Blackbutt Reserve, Blackbutt (a Wollongong southern suburb) follow the directions below.

 Travel along Shellharbour Road to Woodlands Drive, then travel along Woodlands Drive to the T intersection and turn left into Blackbutt Way.  Follow the road into the reserve to the right past the water reservoir to the car parking area.   Follow the IARS signs that are sign posted on power poles along the way.  See Link below for Map to location.

 Start time 09:30 Hrs, Lunch 12 Midday, Mini Auction starting at 1pm.

Map to Blackbutt Reserve for IARS

The workshop will again be held in the premises of Rivers Solar Pty Ltd at 4 Mineral Road, Oak Flats, NSW.  We thank VK2TSB for the use of his facilities once again.  The start time for the workshop will be 10am.  

The project this week is the “Differential Time of Arrival – Radio Direction Finding Fox Hunt Unit”.  All amateur’s and prospective amateurs are welcome.   You don’t need to be a member of the IAR’s club to attend this workshop.   The workshop will be tailored for both experienced kit builders and those that have never picked up a soldering iron before.  

The workshop has been prepared by our inhouse project expert Paul, VK2FE.

There will be a sausage sizzle for lunch at a friend of the family price, as well as soft drinks.

There will be kits of parts available for sale at cost price of $30.00.  The IARS will subsidise the cost of kits for financial club members.  The price to Financial club members will be $22.00.   No thongs or open footwear will be allowed.  All tools will be provided, bring you own along if you wish. 

You will need to book for the workshop, please call or text your details to 0405 444 644 or email the following address.  technical_workshop

Come along and have a fun time, and go home with a working project.  Courtesy of the Illawarra Amateur Radio Society, the progressive amateur radio club.