IT'S ON AGAIN 2026
- Craig VK3NCR
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Antennapalooza 2026 – Our Tenth Year!
Program for April 18 & 19, 2026
In 2026 the theme will be about POWER. We hope to get some guest speakers lined up to talk about our power infrastructure, power in the shack and in the field.
The 2026 program is still being prepared, but you can check out what we did in 2025:
Saturday
12:30 pm Welcome and brief introduction to the event for 2025
(5 min)
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12:35 am Klaus Illhart VK3IU
Klaus has operated a HF6V 6-band HF vertical antenna (The Butternut) for several years. It is an effective antenna for a small backyard. Klaus is going to talk about this design, its advantages and some of the issues he has had to confront along the way.
(approx 30 min)
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1:20 pm Ian Jackson VK3BUF
Amateur Radio is a difficult hobby to accurately portray to non-Amateurs. Ian will use this opportunity to present a new initiative aimed at encouraging more people to embrace Amateur radio and to showcase ideas for established operators to try.
This is the first time this concept has been presented to an audience. comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
(approx 25 min)
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2:00 pm A Workshop (With Fred VK3FWR)
Workshop at the Pavilion on the new TinySA Ultra pocket sized Spectrum Analyser.
These are an amazing and inexpensive device with lots of features, good from DC to 6 GHz for around $200.
We will have a play with a couple of these units and see how they can be used for tracking down sources of interference and other tasks.
(approx 35 min)
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6:00 pm If you are not preparing your own meal, orders will be taken for a run to a Pizza shop in Drouin (They are very good)
Small pizzas are about $12.50 Large are about $16.00. It will help if you have roughly correct change at hand.
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If it is not a high fire risk day, we will light a campfire in the fire pit around 6-7:00 pm in the forest area.
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Sunday
10:00 am Jim Frances, VK3UFO
Jim is a seasoned bush traveller. Today Jim will show us how he stays connected with the rest of the world from remote locations using the Starlink satellite based internet service.
(approx 30 min)
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10:30 am Ian Jackson VK3BUF
This presentation will be a walkthrough of the 20 metre band demo curtain array. The discussion will examine some of the design choices that were made and challenges overcome to put it all together (and keep it in the air!)
(approx 35 min)
1:10 pm Move to the Curtain Array transmitter site
(bring a drink and a chair)
After re-locating to the Curtain Array transmitter site (rather than the pavilion), we will have a walk-through of the antenna in action and see what activity we can hear and how well others can hear us on 20 metres.
(approx 40 min)
Stay at the site and try your luck with some DX. Use your own callsign or the official Antennapalooza event callsign of VK3AZA.
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(Other presentations on Sunday, not yet confirmed)
———————————————————————————If you would like to contact the event organiser, use the email:
Some of the topics presented at previous years:
A beginners guide to Amateur Radio
Why Amateurs still use Morse Code
What to expect from Amateur Exams
Vertical antennas for 20 & 40 Metre bands
Setting up your first home station
Demonstrating D-star
OKA off-road vehicle inspection
Mobile antennas
Modulated light transmission
Erecting wite antennas in trees
Introducing Raspberry Pi projects
Wire antennas for small backyards
Rhombic antenna demo
Humvee vehicle inspection
Sark antenna Analysers
DX Pedition antennas
Installing your Amateur Radio in your car
Australian Repeaters
Dealing with radio interference
Using ultrasonics for tracking power line noise
DF Loop constriction
Antenna launching into trees
Tracking interference – a professional perspective
Automotive Electrics challenges
Setting up a portable station
The importance of ground plane radials
Overcoming difficulties for Maritime radio operations
LETS SEE WHAT THIS YEAR HAS TO OFFER…
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