Have you had some experience using CB radio and wish it could do more? Are you frustrated with the poor rapport prevalent on CB radio and have to turn it off after a while due to bad language or poor radio etiquette or simply not being able to get through to someone? You will probably have to turn it off if you have kids in the car listening to CB radio these days. Are you interested in expanding your knowledge and use of radio communication technologies and having some fun?

Well, there is a much better radio-based communications network called Amateur Radio. Unlike CB, Radio Amateurs must be licensed to operate a very wide range of radio frequencies and modes specifically dedicated to Radio Amateurs across the world. Amateur Radio is much more formal using long-established radio etiquette protocols used worldwide.

Amateur Radio Repeaters are located on the NSW Far South Coast, on the Monaro, and near the NSW/Victorian border. You can easily talk from Merimbula to Cooma, Eden to Jindabyne, Perisher Valley to Tura Beach, Bega to Berridale, and so much more all on a simple handheld radio. CB radio can never do that!

In order to gain this access operators must sit an exam to qualify for one of three levels of licence. The entry-level licence, called the Foundation Licence is quite easy to attain requiring a bit of study over a weekend or two and will get you started. Standard and Advanced licences allow greater privileges such as higher power and access to even more radio frequencies. Any of these 3 license types allows the use of dedicated HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies to contact and chat with other licensed operators across our region, NSW, Australia, and even the World.

Take a look at some of the interesting articles about Amateur Radio on our links page: https://smarc.org.au/links/

You can find out more about getting your licence including some publications to get you underway by clicking on this link: https://smarc.org.au/getting-your-license/

Our club would be happy to assist anyone who is interested in attaining their Amateur Radio Licence.

So, if you’re interested in learning more about Amateur Radio and the wide range of exciting possibilities it offers take a good look over this website and feel free to contact the Snowy Mountains Amateur Radio Club: https://smarc.org.au/contact-us/

Due to Christmas, the usual Sunday morning coffee meeting was changed to the following Tuesday. It was unfortunate that family activities prevent many of the regulars from attending, but we were fortunate to, once again, have with us, Stuart Bartlett.
Stuart completed a double degree (B.Eng/B.Sci) in Mechatronics Engineering and Physics in 2017 at the University of New South Wales (UNSW). During his honours year he did research at the Centre for Quantum Computation & Communication Technology. While completing his studies, he was also involved with the design and construction of BLUESAT (Basic Low-earth orbit UNSW Experimental SATellite) and later with CUBE-SATS.
Presently he is a Project Engineer at High Earth Orbit (HEO) Robotics, a privately owned Australian start-up aerospace company who are a world leader in AI-based navigation technologies, robotics, and satellite-to-satellite photography. His role there is to determine the parameters which will allow a camera on an orbiting satellite to image other orbiting objects (space junk, unidentified objects, asteroids, etc) as they whizz by at up to 54,000 km/h and are in the frame for only a fraction of a second. His other interest is in “off-world” robotics. He is a Ph.D. student at ACSER (Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research) based at UNSW with a particular interest in studying the use of small mobile robots for the mapping of water-ice deposits at the lunar poles.
Plenty of questions and answers while enjoying a cup of coffee which gave those present a great insight into the world of quantum computing and the technologies being developed to explore and mine minerals on the Moon. Questions were raised about how robots working on the Moon could be powered (several possibilities are being investigated); mining rights and space law (especially now that Russia and America are not the only parties involved); about the possibility of a space launch being kept secret; and much more.
It was very encouraging to hear about Stuart’s work and to realise that careers and opportunities for young people to be involved in research and development in high-tech, leading-edge space technologies are now available in Australia for students following STEM-based studies at high schools, TAFE colleges, and universities.
The photograph records those present at the meeting. From left to right – Russell VK2VRW, Bruce VK2DEQ, Dave VK2DE, Susan Dart, and Stuart Bartlett.