This meeting will include Tim VK2ZTM as our guest speaker.

Remember our meetings are now held on the second Wednesday of the month (Except for January)

See you there.

The Illawarra Amateur Radio Society have constructed a high quality dual band base antenna.  The antenna has provided remarkable results and the Society has produce surplus antennas that are now offered for sale on a first come first serve basis.

This antenna provides continuous coverage of the 2 metre (144 – 148MHz) and 70cm (430 – 450MHz) bands.  The antenna has a low SWR (less than 1.5:1) over both bands and forms an ideal aerial system for dual band transceivers.    It features a single feed point via a stud mount SO239 socket. It has excellent DX properties and will out- perform many theoretically better antenna systems.     The antenna is a dual “J pole” design, and has a common driven element for both bands. It does not require a ground plane for operation.  This structure exhibits better gain than a quarter wave ground plane and about the same gain as a half wave dipole. Viewed from the top, the radiation pattern is omnidirectional. The vertical plane radiation is parallel to the ground (zero angle of radiation) giving good local coverage. In this antenna, the feed is at the current point of the quarter wave stub, providing a low impedance that can be easily matched to the coaxial feeder.      All the aluminum alloy used in the antenna is grade 6060 which has excellent weathering characteristics.   The resonator rods are secured with 304 grade stainless steel nuts and washers, and this allows minor adjustments to be made in the lengths of the elements.    In turn this allows for minor adjustment with the SWR and bandwidth centre to optimise performance at a selected frequency.     The design is based on an article which originally appeared in CQ magazine (1987).

The antennas are limited stock, so don’t delay in placing your order.   If you were buying this antenna on the commercial market you would expect to pay well over a hundred dollars.

TO place an order email :-

Wednesday April 11th is the first meeting at the new location.  The IARS has said good bye to the noisy, dusty location near Blue Scope Steel and relocated to the Northern Meeting room at the Figtee RSL Bowling Club..  We thank Industry World at Coniston for many years of support, but as the club grows we need bigger premises with more modern facilities.

The Figtree RSL Bowling club is located at 120 The Avenue, Figtree.  It’s only a few minutes from the previous location and still easily accessible from the F6 freeway, whether you are traveling from the North or South.   There is a map and full detailed instruction available on the clubs web site.   There will also be help available for talk in, on the coast link repeater network from an hour prior to the meeting, call VK2AMW for directions.   Access to the coast link system is via VK2RMP 146.85Mhz , VK2RIS 146.975Mhz, or 146.675MHz.

This month’s guest speaker is Phil Wait VK2ASD the vice president of the Wireless Institute of Australia.

Phil will present the club with the cheque that was awarded as part of the club grant scheme by the WIA this year.     The funds provided to the club will be used to build a portable audio visual pack to take to the high schools of the Illawarra to promote amateur radio as part of the science curriculum   The IARS places on record it’s thanks to the WIA for it’s support of this project.     Phil will then deliver a technical talk on B.P.L. (broadband over power lines), and the current issues that this emerging technology will pose to the amateur operator.   The night’s technical talk will be rounded up with a rundown on the International happening in thje radio world.    This looks to be a very informative night with many interesting topics for the radio operator.   Don’t miss this one, place a reminder in your calendar now.

We welcome any comments on the repeater systems provided by the Illawarra Amateur Radio Society.   Please email the secretary with comments and signal reports.

The society currently sponsors 15 repeaters for the amateur radio community, as well as linking arrangements to repeaters of many other clubs.

This meeting will feature a video presentation by Club Vice President Rob VK2MT and should prove to be a great evening.

Unfortunately we were unable to have our March meeting at the new venue (Figtree Bowling Club) due to Tuesday being heavily used by other clubs that use this venue.

The April meeting will be held at Figtree Bowling Club on Wednesday the 11th of April at 7.30pm. the address is 120 The Avenue, Figtree. The club has a website http://www.figgybowlo.com.au/

Subsequent meetings from the April meeting will occur on the second Wednedsay of each month – Except for January when no meeting is held. Dont forget enclosed footwear and tidy dress is the standard at the club.

Any further updated information will be posted before that meeting.

Please advise all you know to ensure all attend the correct venue.

Cheers

Tony Stone
VK2TS

This month’s guest speaker will be Gil McPherson VK2ZGE.  Gil built the famous, Non Directional Beacon that guided his friend Dick Smith onto the container ship in the North Pacific Ocean for a mid sea refueling exercise, during his epic round the world helicopter flight in 1982 and 1983.  Gil has one of Australia’s most extensive radio receiver collections in Australia.  Gil will be presenting a talk on the construction of some of the high class communications receivers he has built over the years.  These include a home built copy of the Collins S-Line receiver, and a Deltahedra receiver as described in Radio and Hobbies in 1964.

See you all there!

1. The judging of entries for the crystal radio set competition. The rules are here.

2. The annual IARS auction will also be held. The Auction Rules of engagement:

• Please no junk. If you bring it, and it doesn’t get sold, you take it home. Anything found left at the end of the night will be disposed of at our discretion. Please don’t complain you didn’t know.
• All goods for auction to be booked in by 7.00pm, no exceptions to this rule. The meeting will begin at 7.30pm sharp.
• 10% of all sales to go to the IARS to help keep our club going, unless kindly donated to the club which will then attract 100% of the takings. John 2KEJ will organize settling this after the auction has closed and things have settled down. It does take time to work the totals out. Rest assured Simon knows what he is doing and he knows the rough value of all goods.
• Status of equipment to be the seller’s responsibility. If it doesn’t work make it known as any argument’s after the sale will be between yourself and the buyer, it has nothing to do with the IARS.
• All transmitting equipment should only be sold to those known to, or can prove that they have an amateur license, or they can convince us they are studying for it and their license issue, is inevitable. This of course does not apply to non transmitting items such as cable, components, accessories, receivers etc.

The meeting is at the usual venue: Industry World, Coniston.

It should be a great night.  See you there!

The WIA has suggested that this is an opportunity for NSW amateurs to have input to the review and hopefully achieve an outcome of an easy approval for their tower requirements. The more submissions the review receives recommending this the more likely the desired outcome would be achieved.

The IARS committee recommends all NSW amateurs make individual submissions to the planning review. This is fairly easy to do, for example, it can be done by email.

Submissions to the review close on Friday 4 November.

For more information, including guidance for making a submission, see the WIA news release.

If you have more snapshots from that weekend you’d like to share, just send them along to me and I’ll add them to the gallery.

WHERE VHF STARTS AND THE FUN BEGINS

October 2011 Meeting – Tuesday 11th

Whether you’re an old hand on 6m, or just wondering what it’s all about, the talk by Roger Harrison VK2ZRH on Tuesday 11th will take you on a tour of all that’s magic about what they call “the magic band”.

With the solar cycle rising, and the summer sporadic-E season getting under way, 6m DX is providing some exciting opportunities.

Hear all about it, with Roger’s usual mix of art, science, technology and tomfoolery.

Notification is also given that the postponed Annual General Meeting of the Illawarra Amateur Radio Society Inc. for the financial year 2010 – 2011 will be held just prior to Rogers road show.     There have been no amendments or additions to the agenda that was distributed to financial members in July this year.  The meeting will commence at 19:30Hrs AEDT this coming Tuesday 11th October 2011 at the usual meeting venue, The Visitors Centre, Industry World Centre, Springhill Road Coniston, at the BHP North Gate Entrance.

Need some help to find us?  Follow this link.    IARS Meeting Place.

See you all there.