CRARC Committee January update email #comittee update
The CRARC committee meets on-line on the second Wednesday of the month, to discuss the running of CRARC. This email is an outline of items covered and other topics potentially of interest to CRARC members and is promulgated to keep members aware of what is going on. As we hit the start of yet another year we hope that all members had a safe and enjoyable festive season and we hope to see people remain active and enjoying the hobby.
This month’s meeting is tomorrow night at the club rooms – intention is for a planning activity for the activities associated with general meetings (and other possible activities throughout the year) so please come along and help to determine this year’s activities and what you are willing to drive. Doors open at 7:30pm for an 8pm start at the club rooms.
As at the January Committee meeting, Club membership was at 184 financial members. We understand that there are some still who have been experiencing problems with the online renewals – please if we can ask that you contact the membership secretary if you have problems with it. As always, if you have any membership queries or problems, contact Graham on membership@crarc.org.au
CRARC maintains a number of Beacons and Repeaters.
|
Repeater |
Status |
Comment |
|
Isaacs 2m Analogue |
Non-operational |
Long term U/S due QRM from adjacent site |
|
Isaacs 2m D-star |
Operational |
Ongoing packet loss issues due link issues |
|
Isaacs 2m beacon |
Operational |
|
|
Isaacs 70cm Analogue |
Operational |
Includes IRLP and Echolink |
|
Isaacs 70cm DMR |
Operational |
|
|
Bulls Head 2m Analogue |
Operational |
Replacement repeater appears good |
|
Ginini 6m Analogue |
It’s coming! (eventually) |
On hold pending rectification of other issues at site |
|
Ginini 2m Analogue |
|
|
|
Ginini 2m APRS |
Operational |
Re-booted and working again |
|
Ginini 70cm Analogue |
Operational |
Intermittent QRM |
|
Ginini 23cm Beacon |
Operational |
|
The repaired Icom repeater at Bulls Head appears to be working fine with no QRM – please note that it now requires a 91.5Hz tone to access the repeater. The licencing paperwork to change the Ginini 70cm repeater to a 7MHz split has been completed and we hope to make a trip early in the new year which should see the intermittent QRM rectified. Changing to a 7MHz split means we will need to reprogramme and retune the repeater as well as a retune of the UHF filter stack which may see some glitches. All other repeaters appear to be running correctly at all other sites, but if you notice any issues with repeater performance, please advise the committee by email.
On the education front, the first course for 2025 was successfully run by Malcom VK1MAL, Rob VK1FRJ and Bob VK1ED with all 9 candidates successfully passing the exam – well done and welcome to the amateur fraternity. The next course on 15/16 March is now open for bookings. Note that the education team may also conduct upgrade assessments on the Saturday of the course (pending assessor availability and sufficient lead time to order exams) in addition to out of sessions examinations by arrangement with the education team via education@crarc.org.au
For WICEN, there were no events supported. The next event is a short one with a couple of people needed to provide comms support for the Memory Walk and Jog event run by Dementia Australia on 23 Feb 2025. The next big event on the WICEN front is the Rally of Canberra on 21-23 March which will be much larger and needs a lot of member assistance for us to be able to deliver the usual high quality support. As you will likely have seen from his email on Friday, Phil VK1PL is still looking to pull back from the running of these events and is looking for several people to take on parts of this role. It does entail a reasonable amount of effort in the lead up to the event including attending a number of meetings with the event organisers to ensure that the communications side of the event is not an after thought. If you are interested in this, please reach out to Phil and discuss what is involved and what you feel you can bring to the party. A call for volunteers for both of these activities is expected to go out shortly.
QSL cards – Steve VK2NSS advises that there has been a shipment of new cards received and hopes to have them available at the meeting this Wednesday. Please note that there are large quantities of cards that have been sitting in the clubrooms which will be returned to the WIA shortly, so if you want your cards, get them before they go.
The CRARC Merchandise shop continues to run quietly in the background with a wide selection of T-Shirts, Hoodies, Caps, Polos and Sweaters in both male and female styles. Each T-Shirt, Hoodie, Polo and Sweater can be ordered with the CRARC Logo, your callsign and your name digitally printed over the left chest. Caps can be ordered with the CRARC Logo and your callsign digitally printed on the front. A small commission for each item is paid to CRARC so all purchases support your club. https://merch.crarc.org.au/
Matt VK1MA