SPRINGBROOK Activity – Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society Inc.

On Sunday 6 September, members of GCARS and Gold Coast Game Fishing Club went to the repeater site at Springbrook. The order of the day was to install a marine band repeater for the fishing club and swap out the antennas for our VHF repeater. We also took the opportunity of placing a generator for use should there be an extended power disruption which will cut in when the 240 VAC system is down and when the on-site batteries run low. This is a much needed backup.

Aidan, VK4APM went up the tower to install the new antennas that were pre-assembled at the GCARS club house recently. Assisted by Jeremy, VK4JKR, Ashleigh, VK4DRA, Ken, VK2KEN and Matt, VK4TRK. Later, George, VK4GUM showed up. The fishing club boys: Wayne, president, Malley and Dennis were incredible help. They also brought lunch!

It was a beautiful day on the mountain but by the end of the day as the light faded the fog started to form and it got quite cool. It was a fantastic day with lots of work done and we all learned a lot about how our repeater system works.

A big thank you to the fishing club for all their help.

Fishing Club Antenna Pre-Assembly

The club house was a beehive of activity today. All the equipment needed to install a new marine band repeater arrived over the past 2 weeks. With the help of members of the fishing club and our members, we pre-assembled as much of the antenna structure as possible. The install [...]

PACIFIC AIRSHOW 2026

The Pacific Airshow held on the weekend of 14-16 August was a great success! GCARS involvement was similar to previous years. GCARS had volunteers at the Southport airport: Chris, VK4CBX, Ed, VK4JEN and Matt, VK4MGM. Coolangatta airport: Mark, VK4DMH, George, VK4GUM, Geoff, VK4DLA and Jamie, VK4XD. At the tower was [...]

SDR PRESENTATION

There were 12 members at the SDR presentation by Glenn, VK4GCS today. Glenn explained the equipment needed to have the kind of setup he had. SDR (Software Defined Radio), in this case a transceiver was connected to a computer and other components which shows a visual representation of a communication. [...]

WORKING BEE

There were 13 members in attendance today and lots of progress was made to the beautification of our club house facility. George, VK4GUM brought along his ride-on lawnmower and made quick work of the lawn areas. After that he joined the whipper-snipper group which included Jeremy, VK2JHA, Jeremy, VK4JKR, Mike, [...]

KAKODA Challenge

A long day for GCARS members today as we supported with radio comms at the Gold Coast Kokoda Challenge. Mark, VK4DMH, Ashleigh, VK4DRA and Ed, VK4JEN relayed status, logistics and medical incidents messages for the 630 participants. The two track areas on Austinville Rd that were manned by us are [...]

Mike's Coil Workshop

Mike's Coil Workshop On Saturday, 23rd of May, Mike (VK4MCF) conducted his antenna coil workshop. Nine participants built their own coils. With a long whip antenna attached to the coil and both placed on a tripod, you have the perfect POTA antenna setup. A sausage sizzle followed the workshop plus [...]