GCARS
Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society

Wongawallen Repeater Updates 2021

Update on GCARS repeaters – I had reports yesterday that the Wongawallan (Nth Gold Coast) DMR repeater is not connected to the Network (failed a few days ago). I’m endeavouring to figure if the issue is at our end, at Telstra, or the DMR ISPC server. Hopefully another update tonight.

We have activated the APRS (145.175 MHz) transceiver a few days ago at Wongawallan. It’s working but still needs some configuration details as it’s not appearing on the web map.

We have temporarily powered down the 2 metre Wongawallan repeater (147.2 MHz) so the antenna could be used for the APRS. We hope to have another antenna mounted up there very soon.

DMR is now working. We lost our wireless internet, so had to reboot the modem

JOTA 2025 SUCCESS!

On 18 October 2025 GCARS hosted a JOTA event for the Girl Guides from the Gold Coast. There were 17 Guides and 7 leaders. The programme included learning how to solder, put together an electronic kit plus getting on air and making a QSO in order to earn a badge. [...]

YAGI is UP!

11-10-25 Today at the club the YAGI was taken from the ground and put back up where it belongs. Thanks to Aidan VK4APM, Craig VK4AHC and Ken VK2KEN. It was team work! The YAGI is on the tower, wired and standing tall! The rotor still needs to be wired-in which [...]

Ron Bertrand & Sausages

There were 15 attendees at today's club meeting. We were pleased to have Ron Bertrand wow us with his in-depth knowledge on subjects today which included antennas: impedance vs capacitance, the Omega system: low frequency used to contact submarines whilst submerged, Joseph Fourier, the mathematician and scientist and his contribution [...]

Satellite Tracking Software 2025

Turn the power on, and turn the computer on (the power switch is directly below the Acer logo), turn the rotator and usb controller on, and finally the IC-9100. Login to the computer. There are three icons on the desktop, each of these will need to be opened: RIGCTLD, ROTCLD, [...]

VK4BT Memorial Service 2025

The Memorial Service on June 11th 2025 for GCARS Life Member Peter Stevens, known to many as VK4BT, also as VK4KTX. Peter went Silent Key (passed away) a few weeks back after a short period in ICU. It was a well attended funeral service with around 90 people in the [...]

Satellite Tracker

We had a discussion at our meetings of how to solve this, currently, cables are just run through the roof which means adding new wires isn't easy. It was suggested to run conduit through the roof from the radio room so we can easily push through new cables as we [...]