2012 SGARS Executive Committee

At the February meeting of The St George Amateur Radio Society, members elected an executive committee for 2012, as follows;

Peter O'Connell VK2EMU, Brain Clarke VK2GCE, Cameron McKay VK2CKP, Paul Howarth VK2GX, Angela Bell VK2FABL, Greg Bain VK2HIP, Chris Howarth VK2FCJH and Phil Higgerson VK2OX.

The committee members will be meeting shortly to plan a range of interesting and exciting activities for the year ahead.

SGARS may be looking for new meeting rooms, so if you know of a suitable location, such as an un-used scout or guide hall, community centre, etc., please email the committee at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Next SGARS regular meeting will be held on Wednesday evening, 7th March 2012, commencing at 7.30 PM.

Don't forget our regular 2m net held each Thursday evening, commencing at 8.00 PM on the Heathcote repeater VK2RLE 146.800 MHz - 600 kHz.

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.

2012 VHF UHF Summer Field Day Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th January VK2DAG was one of the winners of the 2011 Spring VHF UHF Field Day. Congratulations Matt. Cameron VK2CKP and the SGARS team operated a club station from Mt Bindo during the Spring VHF UHF Field Day. Read More for Cameron's report. See photos click here. Members and friends are welcome to join the SGARS team to operate the club station VK2LE during the Summer VHF UHF Field Day, over the weekend 14th & 15th January 2012.

New operators are most welcome. No previous experience in contest operating is necessary. You do not need to have a vast array of equipment either. The only requirement is to have a sense of adventure, fun and the ability to go without sleep for 24 hours helps. Also you must be self sufficient with food, water, clothes, toilet paper and sleeping kit. 

For more information please contact Cameron VK2CKP by email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .