Winterfest - Thank you and prizes : Thanks to all those who attended, to the vendors for their support and the great bargains, to the exhibitors who gave us ideas for our next project, and to the BMARC members who helped. It is going to be bigger and even better next year. If you want to find out who won the raffle and lucky door prizes check out the winterfest page. (Ref-27/08/08 0:00-51)

Cameron Corner Trip - Contact frequencies : Remember that trip to Cameron Corner? If you haven't packed yet you're going to miss it. All is not lost. Joe VK2JP reports that they leave on Monday, will travel up for 2 days, stay for 3 days, and take 2 days to get back. They will be attempting to make contacts on the hour as follows: Day 10.120 or 7.070. Afternoon try 14.200. Evening try 3.600. (Ref-24/08/08 0:00-50)

Ragchew - 3rd Quarter 2008 : Don't forget to check out the latest issue of Ragchew - available for download here. (Ref-13/08/08 0:00-49)

Membership Renewals are Overdue : Have you remembered to renew your membership for the 2008-09 year? Only $30 for singles with discounts for families and concessions. Help support our great club. A link to download a renewal form is in the members area. (Ref-10/08/08 0:00-48)

Contacting Committee Members : Please be aware that the email addresses for most of the BMARC Committee members have changed. If you would like to contact a committee member or a non-executive position holder please use the links on the committee page. (Ref-09/08/08 0:00-47)

New Members : A warm welcome to new member Les VK2MPZ and also to returning member Richard. (Ref-06/08/08 0:00-46)

Cameron Corner DX-pedition : A group of members are planning a trip to Cameron Corner departing on the day after Winterfest 25 August. If you are interested in joining the group please contact our Vice-president Joe VK2JP. These pictures from a previous adventure may convince you to go. (Ref-23/07/08 0:00-45)

BMARC Winterfest 24 August 2008 : Don't miss this year's WINTERFEST. Exhibitors, bargains, Flea Market and more. More details on the Winterfest page. (Ref-20/07/08 0:00-44)

Renew your membership now : Don't forget that memberships expired on June 30. Why not renew now before you forget. Membership renewal forms are in the members area. If you are not a member why not join? (Ref-16/07/08 19:31-43)

Next Meeting 1st August : By popular request the topic of the next meeting will be "How to build simple resonant long wire antennas for HF" presented by Henry VK2OM (Ref-13/07/08 21:21-42)

Minutes of July Meetings : The minutes of the July General Meeting and Executive Meeting are now available in the members area. (Ref-13/07/08 21:20-41)

Club Meeting - this Friday 4th July : A change of topic for this months meeting. Tim VK2XTT will now present "Amateur Satellites 101". All those with an interest in Amateur radio are welcome. Refer to "About the Club" if you need directions. (Ref-01/07/08 0:00-40)

Minutes of June Meetings : The minutes from the June General Meeting held on 6th June and from the Executive Meeting held on 13th June are available in the members area. (Ref-24/06/08 19:52-39)

Winterfest 2008 : This years BMARC Winterfest will be held on 24 August. As in previous years we plan to have exhibitors with plenty of bargains, a flea market, and other items of interest to the radio amateur.

Set aside Sunday 24 August and keep an eye on this site for further details. (Ref-22/06/08 19:08-38)

Ragchew Lite - June : For those who don't have a subscription to the club newletter, Ragchew, the June issue (which is the first by our new editor Andrew VK2FACV) is available for download in the archive area. You can subscribe and receive Ragchew by email automatically on the same web page. (Ref-16/06/08 14:45-37)

Trans Tasman 160m Phone Contest : Mark Saturday 5th July in your diaries for this contest and watch this spot for further details. (Ref-10/06/08 21:29-36)

Space Shuttle Mission : Space Shuttle Discovery is currently on its 26th mission. Audio is available through EchoLink conference *NASA*. Information about the mission is on the NASA web site. This NASA link provides information about the ISS and ham radio. (Ref-01/06/08 19:12-35)

Amateurs on the Radio : No - not on the amateur bands but on ABC Radio Sydney 702. BMARC member Terry VK2UX joined Richard Glover's regular "Self Improvement Wednesday" slot on 28 May to present "The Language of Morse Code". The ABC Radio web site has the audio along with a quiz to test your understanding of the presentation here. A copy of the audio is available as an mp3 here. (Ref-01/06/08 16:16-34)

Education News : Today, 1st June, 9 people have to go away and think about their new callsign. 8 successful Foundation applicants were trained and assessed by Daniel VK2DC and his elves over the weekend. In addition BMARC member Richard VK2FREK passed his Standard theory. A VERY successful weekend. Thanks to all those involved. (Ref-01/06/08 15:54-33)

John Moyle 2008 - Award : A certificate recognising our fourth place in this years John Moyle has been received. (Ref-30/05/08 8:10-32)

John Moyle 2008 - Results : BMARC again achieved 4th place in our category with a total score of 3740 points. Results here. (Ref-21/05/08 18:55-15)

Results from Trans Tasman : Our provisional score in the Trans Tasman 80m phone was as follows:

(Ref-20/05/08 6:21-14)

Next Foundation Course May 31-June 1 : The next Amateur Radio Foundation course will be held on Saturday May 31st and Sunday June 1st at the 1st Blaxland Scout Hall in Reading Street Glenbrook.

Start Time will be 0830 0n Saturday with a finish time of approximately 1600 hrs. Lunch, (a BBQ sausage sizzle) will be on Saturday only.

Start time on Sunday is also 0830, but a finish time of approximately 13 - 1400 hrs.

The cost will be $40.00 per head payable on the Sunday at time of assessment.

This will be the last course with the cost set at $40.00. Future courses will be at an increased cost of $55.00.

Go to the education page for more information. (Ref-18/05/08 17:00-13)

Upcoming meetings : The June meeting will be on Friday 6th June. The topic of discussion will be "How do you operate that radio?". A little knowledge of different radios will be useful to us all especially if we are using unfamiliar equipment at a contest.

At the July meeting we expect to be building the 6m rigs donated to the club and in August we will discuss antenna building. (Ref-18/05/08 14:15-12)

China Earthquake : Please refer here for frequencies to avoid as they are being used for emergency operations. (Ref-15/05/08 0:00-11)

AGM : Minutes now up in members area. (Ref-12/05/08 0:00-5)

VK/Trans Tasman 80m Phone Contest : 9 people turned up last night Daniel VK2DC, Erik VK2MAN, Peter VK2PJZ, Paul VK2FPFD, Alf VK2YAC, Warren VK2FJOY, Suzanne VK2FSPH, Steven VK2VSV, and Murphy VK2BREAKIT. Murphy's job was to ensure the antenna was lying on the ground when the rest of us got there. He did that and left. Daniel & Erik got the antenna back up and we were ready to go with about one minute to spare. Conditions were a bit difficult at the beginnning but rapidly improved. A great time was had by all. Results will be up shortly. p.s. We found the missing banner. (Ref-11/05/08 0:00-6)

VK/Trans Tasman 80m Phone Contest : Sorry for the short notice. We are entering this contest which takes place on Saturday evening 10th May between 1800-2400 Sydney local time. Check here for the contest rules. We are entering the multi operator category which is one operator per hour over the six hours meaning we need between 2 and 6 operators. As at 11pm Friday we have 3 operators. The clubhouse will be open from 1730 and 147.050 will be monitored if you are interested in coming along. BYO food and drink. (Ref-09/05/08 0:00-8)

Ragchew : For those who don't have a subscription to the club newletter, Ragchew, the May issue is available for download in the archive area. You can subscribe and receive Ragchew by email automatically on the same web page. (Ref-08/05/08 0:00-9)

AGM : The club's annual general meeting was held on Friday 2nd May 2008. Tim Tuck was re-elected as president and most positions were filled. Full details will follow shortly. (Ref-02/05/08 0:00-10)

John Moyle 2008 - Pictures : A few pictures from our activities at this years John Moyle. (Ref-15/03/08 0:00-31)