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Thanks to Bob VK3GF for this information. Want a quick way to analyze your antenna performance over local terrain without the HFTA? K6TU.net recently launched a great new feature called TERA. Previously, I had to download massive 360° terrain profiles and run them through HFTA software on the PC. Now TERA does all of this directly in your browser: No Downloads or Software, No need to handle terrain files or install HFT A, and instant Visuals: Model your antenna online and instantly get clear, intuitive Gain vs Takeoff and polar plot graphs.I ran a comparison test with HFTA, and TERA’s MoM results looks better than HFTA. It saves a ton of time whether you're optimising a home setup or planning a field station. Check it out at https://k6tu.net

Pick up that microphone tune up you rig and make time to connect to your club during the Trans-Tasman Low-Band Contest From: 6pm Australia eastern standard time On frequencies: 7.080 to 7.300 SSB LSB 3.600 to 3.700 SSB LSB 3.535 to 3.570 CW 1.843 to 1.875 SSB LSB

International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend - ILLW For some reason or other August seems to have become the international weekend for lighthouses. Countries all over the world have become involved in one for or another of lighthouse activity. Some years ago the United States Congress declared August 7th as their National Lighthouse Day and during that first week in August amateur radio operators in America set up portable stations at lighthouses and endeavour to make contact with each other. This event is known as the US National Lighthouse Week. when: Saturday 15th August 2026 Where: World Wide LINK: Click Here In Britain the Association of Lighthouse Keepers, ALK, conducts International Lighthouse Heritage Weekend on the same weekend as the ILLW in August. Their objective is to encourage Lighthouse managers, keepers and owners to open their lighthouse or lightstation and related visitors centres to the public with a view to raising the profile of lighthouses, lightvessels and other navigational aids, and preserving our maritime heritage. However, the major event which takes place in August is the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, ILLW, which came into being in 1998 as the Scottish Northern Lights Award run by the Ayr Amateur Radio Group. The history of this event can be found elsewhere on this site. The ILLW usually takes place on the 3rd full weekend in August each year and attracts over 500 lighthouse entries located in over 40 countries. It is one of the most popular international amateur radio events in existence probably because there are very few rules and it is not the usual contest type event. It is also free and there are no prizes for contacting large numbers of other stations. There is little doubt that the month of August has become "Lighthouse Month" due largely to the popularity and growth of the ILLW. History:

Remembrance Day Contest WHEN: Next contest 15th & 16th August 2026 DETAILS: Contest Manager Alan Shannon VK4SNvk4sn@wia.org.auChanges in 2025:1. The manager will provide awards for the top 3 Youth entries. LINK: Click Here Remember to send in team nominations before contest start. Contest Introduction: 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. Aim Of The Contest: Amateurs will endeavour to contact amateurs in VK call areas, ZL and P29 on all bands except WARC bands. Modes allowed are PHONE, CW and RTTY as per the era remembered. This Years Contest: TO CHECK YOUR LOG IS SUBMITTED, PLEASE CHECK 'SUBMITTED LOGS' on vklogchecker.com Download the 2025 RD - Opening Address Audio - Link Download the 2025 RD - Opening Address Text - Link History: RD Contest 2021

Hi Fellow Members, Come and join our Monthly Famparc Members Coffee and Cake morning. Visitors also welcome. BOOKING MADE UNDER NAME OF: FAMPARC CLUB COFFEE AND CAKE MORNING Monday 13TH JULY 2026 10aM. This benefits everyone and gives us the opportunity to discuss various life topics, not just Amateur Radio. Enjoy a good laugh! TWISTED SISTA CAFE Within the Karingal Hub Shopping Centre. CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS S059 / 330 Cranbourne Road,Frankston Karingal Hub.Near Reject Shop.. Roof Top Parking next to Cafe. Find Twisted Sista at the Coles entrance, opposite Just Cuts, near the Reject Shop. PHONE 03 8766 0618 OPENING HOURS Monday – Thurs: 7.30am – 5pm Sat & Sun: 7.30am – 5pm Fridays: 7.30am – 9pm Monday 13TH JULY 2026 10aM. Hope to see you there !

The MacService Group We are hosting an "open warehouse" sale to empty the contents of my father (Bernie) retired business - The MacService Group. WHEN: July 11th, 8:00am - 1:00pm WHERE: 231 OSBORNE AVENUE, Clayton South, VIC 3169 NOTE: CASH & CARRY ONLY - NO Credit Cards, NO PayPal! There are hundreds of thousands of items over 3000m2, including a very large quantity of Radio/RF equipment, much of it vintage and hard to find. If you could please share this with your members, that would be wonderful. I have attached a flyer with the address and information on some of what's available. We'd love some of these special pieces to go to good homes, rather than a public auction/dealers. Thank you, Jordan Lebenbaum.

WIA Reports: Original Post Here Date : 02 / 07 / 2026 Author : WIA One of the most exciting developments in amateur radio and community communications is the rapid growth of MeshCore networks. Built using the low-power LoRa radio protocol on the licence-exempt 433 MHz and 900 MHz ISM bands, these innovative networks are demonstrating just how much can be achieved with a handful of inexpensive devices, some clever software and a community of enthusiastic volunteers. Unlike many modern communications systems, MeshCore networks do not rely on the Internet to move messages. Instead, each node automatically communicates with neighbouring nodes, intelligently routing messages and data across the network until they reach their destination. As more nodes are added, the network becomes stronger, more resilient and capable of covering increasingly large areas with surprisingly little infrastructure. Much of the growing MeshCore infrastructure has been installed by volunteers using solar-powered nodes located on hilltops, towers and other elevated sites. Because these repeaters are independent of both the commercial power grid and the Internet, they can continue operating during power outages or communications failures. This resilience is attracting increasing interest from amateur radio operators and community groups exploring MeshCore as a valuable "when all else fails" communications network. Australia is seeing rapid growth, with networks now appearing in many states and territories. Volunteers continue to extend coverage by adding new nodes and linking communities together, while internationally the MeshCore ecosystem continues to expand as more enthusiasts discover its simplicity, flexibility and impressive performance. Whether your interest is experimentation, emergency communications, low-power digital networking or simply learning something new, MeshCore offers an exciting opportunity to become involved in one of amateur radio's fastest-growing technologies. To explore the expanding East Australian network and view live coverage (see the picture accompanying this story), visit EastMesh atLink. To learn more about the MeshCore project, compatible hardware, software and documentation, visitLink. With only a few hundred milliwatts of RF power, a simple LoRa radio and a growing community of volunteers, MeshCore is proving that resilient communications don't always require expensive infrastructure. Sometimes, the best networks are the ones built by communities, for communities. A great example of volunteers creating an independent network for the community that might just survive the zombie apocalypse! Page Last Updated: Thursday, 02 Jul 2026 at 09:23 hours by Justin Giles-clark Thanks to the WIA and our members for this report. Many members know that we now have our very own MeshCore Repeater at the club rooms built and installed by Paul VK3BV. Details Here..

GGREC just released a YouTube clip of the July 2026 Hamfest at Longwarry Vic. Are you in this clip? On Saturday, July 4, the Gippsland Gate Radio & Electronics Club will host their Hamfest. Please be aware that our Monthly meeting, usually scheduled for this Saturday, will be postponed because several club members and some of the administration will be attending the Hamfest. Therefore, the Famparc Monthly meeting will take place the following Saturday, 11th July. The venue is at the Longwarry Community Hall at 14 Kennedy St. Longwarry, approx 60km East of Dandenong, Vic. The venue is easy to find. It is just 3 km South of the freeway interchange, 150 metres South of the Longwarry train station and level crossing. When: Saturday July 4th 2026 Where: Longwarry Community Hall at 14 Kennedy St. Longwarry Click Here for Google Map Location.

The FAMPARC Contest Team had a great rehearsal day today :-). It started with Roy GB and his torch at 6:30am scoping out the site for the 80-metre antenna! Now that's commitment! The rest of us arrived around 9:30 am and got stuck into it. Outside, we erected the 80-metre dipole, an 80-metre vertical and a 160-metre dipole. Inside, we setup the two temporary stations for 80-metres and 160-metres, along with logging computers. It was a lesson in modern technology because each computer had a different interface to the accompanying radio! One used a USB cable, one used ethernet and the third used the proprietary Icom CI-V protocol. Thanks to David DLR and Peter IJ for loaning their equipment. By lunch time we finally had it all connected and working. Patrick APL had done a great job providing the data cabling inside the clubroom, so it was very neat setup. After a cup of tea and a snack, we started testing the cross-band interfence. As expected, there is some cross-band effect, but nothing that cannot be easily managed. When everyone was happy, we dismantled everything and discovered that packup is a lot quicker than setup! It was a great rehearsal day! We bumped into all the issues we expected, but we resolved them. The team is looking forward to the Trans-Tasman Contest on 18 July.

At the last club meeting I mentioned the potential of the open-source AEtherSDR as a free option to connect to the Online Shack for club members who only use Apple products or Linux. After a bit of investigation I now have the spectrum and waterfall working with our club system. AEtherSDR is open-source and built on the Qt framework. The source code is available on GitHub but there are binary installer files available for Mac, Linux and Windows. If you would like to try it, you will still need to register for credentials to our club Online Shack. To obtain them, just send me an email at vk3frc.remote@gmail.com. AEtherSDR connected to the club remote system on a Mac-Mini

Setting Up SSB Audio Properly - Mic Gain, ALC & Proc Setting up SSB audio on a modern HF transceiver is actually much easier than many people think… once you understand the balancing act between: Mic Gain ALC Compression / Processing Output Power In this video I show you the exact process I personally use whenever I set up a new radio. We look at: What ALC actually does Why overdriving sounds terrible Why no ALC is important for digital modes How compression stabilises your signal Why your power meter jumps around on SSB Mic technique and distance Common mistakes new operators make Why “more mic gain” is often the WRONG answer This isn’t a laboratory-grade engineering lecture - it’s simply the practical real-world method I use in the shack every day. Whether you’re brand new to HF or you’ve been operating for years, hopefully this helps you get cleaner, stronger and more consistent audio on the air. 73, Callum - DX Commander

May 2026 UPDATE! For those of you that are lucky enough to have an Apple iMac or Macbook, you know doubt know of the beautiful macOS operating system the these computers use, and the simplicity on how the OS works. There is an excellent macOS App called RUMLog NG, a brilliant full bells and whistles Ham Radio Logging program. I have been using this amazing Logging program since around 2010 for memory. It is updated on a very regular basis. I have been working with Tom, the App designer and builder to add the up and coming Australia Day Contest.. There are many many Contest that he has available. I have now Beta tested the Contest addition the program and also worked with Alan VK4SN to make sure the uploaded file is in the correct format for the contest. He has approved the file format. So Tom, the App designer and writer, has submitted the updated version to the Apple App Store. Once approved by Apple, it will be available for worldwide download. Note: This is not just a Contest Program, it is also a fully blown Logging program that will talk to you modern transceiver, as well as integrate into your WSJTS (FT8) software, as well as update, QRZ, HamLog, HamQth and much more. There is also IOS Apps for both iPhone and iPad, that also talk to your database that RUMLog NG uses.. For example, you can have your Database stored within the Apple Cloud, so that any changes are also updated across all devices and vice a versa. As of 21 May 2026.. As requested by me, the Trans-Tasman Contest, has been added to the latest update. Note: Except for offering help to the designer which then helps other Hams, I have no affiliation to this program etc. Hope this helps.. Craig vk3ncr