Are you interested in fitting a radio transceiver to a vehicle? Do you know the best location for the antenna or more importantly, the legal locations for an antenna? Do you know your way around the electrical systems of modern vehicles? Modern vehicles have complex electrical systems and care must be taken when installing a radio transceiver to ensure these systems aren't compromised or damaged.

This will be a panel led discussion by members that have extensive commercial experience in this area. The discussion will cover how to install a radio transceiver in various modes of transport as well as some of the pitfalls. Attendees are also encouraged to come with specific questions that they'd like answered. 

This presentation will be of interest to both newcomers to amateur radio and experienced operators as it's not often we get the benefit of the experience of presenters with extensive knowledge in this area. 

Mobile Operation and Antenna Fitment will be held on Wednesday evening, 6th of June 2012, commencing at 7.30 PM. The venue is the rooms of The St George Amateur Radio Society, Donnelly Park, Kyle Parade, Connells Point.

Entry to this event is free. For more information about this event, amateur radio or SGARS, email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sunday Operations from KSM/K6KPH

In addtion to broadcasts that occur each Saturday, there will now be broadcasts from this station on Sundays dependant on the availability of the operator Mike Payne. The suggestion for people interested in the Sunday transmission is to monitor the KSM frequencies for a transmission. If heard, that means that Amateur station K6KPH is also operating on the Amateur bands. 

The regular Saturday transmissions occur at:

Saturday from 1700 UTC to 2300 UTC

Sunday 0300 to 0900 Australian Eastern Standard Time

If operating on Sunday, the transmissions are most likely to begin at:

Sunday from 1200 to 1600 US Pacific Time

Daylight Saving Time for the US and Australia needs to be considered to work out local time. At present (April 2012), this translates to:

Sunday from 1900  UTC to 2300 UTC

Monday 0500 to 0900 Australia Eastern Standard Time

KSM Maritime Frequencies (CW): 426 / 500, 4350.5, 6474.0, 8438.3, 12993, 16914, 22445.8

KSM Maritime Frequencies (RTTY): 6328, 8433, 12631  - Information on the RTTY modes used can be found on the MRHS website.

K6KPH Amateur Frequencies: 3550, 7050, 14050, 18097.5, 21050

For more about this station please visit the Maritime Radio Historical Society website at the link below:

http://www.radiomarine.org/

Experience Amateur Radio

What is Amateur Radio?   What is there for me?     How do I get Started?     Amateur Radio Events 2012

Coping with Retirement - Amateur Radio has the Solution

A study has looked at our aging population and how people handle retirement after a lifetime of working, and how they cope with change.

Retirees are turning to the hobby of amateur radio as it provides something to do and important social contact. Amateur radio operators come from all age groups, all walks of life and anywhere in the world. Operators can make their own equipment, experiment with a range of technology or communicate with over 1 million other operators worldwide.

Obtaining an amateur radio licence is easy with the Foundation entry level accreditation, ideal for anyone as no technical background required. Amateur Radio would make an ideal Men's Shed activity.

The St George Amateur Radio Society has a series of events which provide an ideal opportunity to "Experience Amateur Radio" including Foundation Licence training and assessment.

The next event will be held on Wednesday evening 7th March 2012. For more information email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Membership is open to the St George Amateur Radio Society.

Current Membership application forms are available on line by clicking here. If you do not have someone to nominate you, please submit the form anyway and we will try and find someone.

Membership Application Forms can be sent either by;

• in person to the Secretary at one of our regular gatherings,
• email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
• mail to PO Box 530 Engadine NSW 2233
  

Payment of membership fees can be paid either by;

• Cash payment to the Secretary at one of SGARS regular gatherings,

• Direct Deposit into SGARS Bank Account as follows;
  

• Account Name: St George Amateur Radio Society Social Club
• BSB: 815-000 
• Account Number: 249821

• Transfer Description: Your Callsign or Name & Payment Details, eg VK2ABC Fees

• Cheque made payable to "The St George Amateur Radio Society Inc" and attached a short description with your call sign or name, reason for the payment and a return address.

P25 Digital Mode comes to Amateur Radio A number of ex commercial Motorola XTS3000 UHF hand held transceivers are currently available from a popular online auction site. These Model 3 units have capacity for 255 channels, either analogue or P25 digital, in either 12.5 or 25 kHz spacing. Operation with P25 digital mode is available for use by Standard and Advanced level operators, and is becoming more accepted as an alternative mode to conventional analogue format. The WIA Band Plan has 438.950 MHz allocated as a simplex frequency for APCO P25 mode. Also some Sydney repeaters will facilitate digital P25 operation. ACMA has suggested Astro ID - Client Number; Network Access Code (NAC) - 293 (Source WIA Band Plan). Yaesu is considering providing APCO P25 mode on future amateur radio transceivers, a discussion paper is available from the Yaesu web site, click here.

XTS3000 ex commercial transceivers may not be supplied with batteries, charger or programming cable. Batteries are available from on-line suppliers, including Premier Batteries. Chargers and programming cables and software is also available on line.

For more information come along to the SGARS February 2012 meeting. Programming assistance may be available to SGARS members.

Disclaimer - The author has no connection with any suppliers of ex commercial Motorola XTS3000 transceivers.