QNews for August 9th 2026

This is Allan VK4HIT with news from Ipswich and District Radio Club. We’re into August already which means its annual general meeting time for the club. This will be held on Saturday August 22 at 10am. This month’s business meeting is once again on the same day as the AGM. A reminder that annual dues need to be up to date to vote at the AGM. July’s business meeting noted in the WICEN report that the Lake Manchester event has been cancelled by the organisers. The next WICEN event is the Mt Glorious Trail on November 8. There was plenty to talk about in general business, so members are urged to check their emails for the minutes. The next contest is the Remembrance Day contest on August 15 – At July’s meeting Di VK4DI explained it was a good opportunity for all clubs to engage in a social activity and play radio. The club now has a new online dashboard, providing one central location for viewing the status of our digitally linked repeaters. The dashboard includes access to information for the club’s DMR, P25, D-STAR, YSF and newer AllStarLink repeaters. Greg VK4GJW has started yet another Foundation course with six candidates in what is a busy year of training for the club’s training officer. And two new members were welcomed last month – Matilda Walker and Craig Burnett. Hi from the Darling Downs Radio Club for week beginning Sunday 9 August, and lots of stuff happening this week. I'm John VK4JPM Club Secretary. The AGM was wonderful; we easily made quorum and had lots of people attending remotely. Good on you! The important motions were carried unanimously after vigorous discussion. Our new rules are on the website for you to check, and all the reporting has been submitted to Fair Trading. So now we wait for a bit. Tomorrow night is the club's monthly meeting, and lots of stuff happening. Firstly, we're encouraging a bit more social stuff so come along for the natter and we'll be providing tea, coffee and tim-tams.. and maybe a bit more. We had cheese and bikkies at the AGM, and that went pretty well. The meeting detail is on the website right now at ddrci.org.au, but here's a taste of what we're doing: with the updated repeater and controller now in service, come and see some of the backup hardware and learn what it takes to make a repeater work. there will be a bit of experimenting and guidance for IRLP and Echolink so that you can see how that works if you've got something interesting - either old or new - bring it along for show-and-tell there will be further update on how we're doing with the clubhouse project and * we have a massive amount of gear for sale on-site, and it's a good chance to come and peruse before the good stuff goes. Well, it's all good stuff, but that item you really want - the reverse-threaded low-impedance high-current medium-voltage twelve-pin Z-FET might be snaffled up by the time you get back. Don't say we didn't warn you. The WIA has offered a $50 subsidy for club members to join the WIA or renew your subscription. If you're under the pump financially, or maybe retired and on a tight budget, please drop us a line. Don't be bashful: your WIA membership allows the club to get a good rate on insurance, which is massively important to the club. Application is through the club, not to the WIA directly. If you'd like to follow up, send a note to [email protected]. And speaking of membership, if you haven't renewed your club membership now would be a good time. The AGM kept the rates at the same level for the coming year, so we're still one of the best-value clubs in Australia. Go to the website and click the big red join/renew button to make things happen.