Community
13 March, 2024
Locals on the same wavelength
Occasionally I wander slightly out of the Douglas shire, although this particular topic potentially covers the whole of our FNQ region and beyond.
The concept of wireless communication has existed since the late 1800s and with equipment, such as smartphones, it is part of our lives more than ever.
Naturally, there have been vast improvements in technology and much of the experimental work over the years has been conducted by amateur radio enthusiasts, often better known as radio hams.
This hobby has also been around for many decades, involving people talking technically and socially in local towns, country wide and even across the globe ... simply with a radio transceiver and appropriate antenna, or aerial as some would prefer to say.
One may think that the hobby would be dying out with the invention of the internet and its free worldwide communication methods, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In fact, in countries like the USA, the interest in ‘ham radio’ is on the increase.
More locally, ham radio in FNQ is alive and well, with the Cairns Amateur Radio Club Inc spreading the love. The club recently entered into an agreement with the Cairns Northern Beaches Scout Group to hire part of their Smithfield building as a base for meetings and training sessions.
The club’s first use of the room was to take part in an Australia Day contest. Local amateur operators and other clubs tried to make as many contacts around the world as they could, in a 12- hour period.
Several contacts with hams in Europe and the USA garnered them enough points to win a certificate from the organisers, the Wireless Institute of Australia.
Recently, on Tuesday, February 20, the Northern Beaches Scouts Venturers group invited the club to give them a presentation about ham radio.
Ten venturers and leaders attended a presentation by Bob Ronai (callsign VK4BOB), supported by club president Steve Brodie (VK4SJB). Using equipment set up by Mark Forster (VK4JU), contacts were made with hams in Qatar, England, Scotland and Ireland.
Several of the venturers took the microphone to introduce themselves to the Irish station and chatted with Nick (callsign EI4IB) over in County Westmeath.
The Cairns Amateur Radio Club members would like to give similar presentations to other scout groups, school STEM classes and in fact any other group of people who might be interested.
The club intends in the coming months to offer training programs leading to participants sitting the exam for the foundation licence, the most basic of three levels of ham licence.
The club would be delighted to hear from anyone interested in becoming a licensed amateur radio operator and maybe attending their regular meetings.
Information can be found via: vk4cns@gmail.com
I’m off to see who’s on frequency, so for now it’s Gazza signing out.
Send your stories to gazza@cairnslocalnews.com.au
