QNEWS for 29th September 2024

Q-News AR News from Queensland

Hi. I'm John, VK4JPM with an update from the Darling Downs Radio Club.

The Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers is still in full swing until 7 October, so it's a perfect time to try for your Garden City award. Check out the rules on the club website at ddrci.org.au, and you'll see it's pretty easy to get - especially if you come up on the club's VK4WID Sunday net at 1000. That's the biggest hint I can give you, so what are you waiting for?

You can also make personal contact with club members at our October lunch, coming up on Saturday 12th at the Southern Hotel. We kick off at 1130, and it's open to everyone whether you're a member or not.

• Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking.

  The end of the first month of Spring has almost caught us by surprise with some pleasant weather being interrupted by a cold and wet change. The long range weather is for warmer and generally wetter conditions over the next three months so for the gardeners amongst us it looks promising for some nice fruit, vegetables and flowers.

  Of course we all try and get ahead of the weather and plan for future events with the hope that all will go well. Thus we usually go through the Spring cleaning routine to set us up for the next few months of warm and pleasant weather. What we must also factor in is that we are approaching the annual cyclone and bush fire seasons, so being ready to meet the challenges of these “natural” events have to be taken into account as well.

  Being as well prepared as we can be is always part of the amateur radio practice and this runs to following the guidelines of the various bodies that look out for natural events and their consequences. A stock pile of things such as food and water, medicines, broadcast radio and spare batteries, fuel for the generator and so on should all be in the ready to go state. No one wants to be isolated, without electricity or to have to evacuate their home but as various authority figures tell us, the inclement weather is expected to be more severe.

  Having taken care of the emergency things, we should take time in the good weather to sort out what is on the agenda for the next few months. Rural people will be planning for the seasonal changes which govern their life and others will be marking off the calendar as to when their leave falls, when they can put the tools away for a few weeks and so it goes according to circumstances.

  Clubs, I would expect, have their calendars marked with the events that are coming and making plans for meetings, field days and contests, for instance. Whilst the school holidays have come to an end, it is really a good time to think if activities can be arranged for students in the coming holidays and making preparation for the necessary publicity and stores to be on hand.

  Along with the outings and meetings, perhaps as we also have a large ageing population, a plan for making home visits to local amateurs to provide some of the companionship that hams espouse.

  Flying the flag is always a good way to attract publicity so maybe a barbeque in a local park with some portable operations could provide an invitation to other locals to see what we get up to. There are so many ideas that can be successfully adopted and with band conditions and the weather being favourable why not give some of them a go?

  I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think….how about you?