The Bayside District Amateur Radio Society (BDARS) is centred in the Redlands area of Brisbane.  We welcome those interested in amateur radio, short wave listening and related electronic communications.  The interests of our members are diverse – covering HF, VHF, satellites, homebrewing, digital techniques and even good old ragchewing.

Our Clubhouse

After many years without our own place, in 2023 BDARS was granted a lease by Redlands Coast Council for a modest self-contained demountable building located in Victoria Point’s Cascade Park. Although this space is limited, we enjoy ‘Maker Group meets’, outside BBQs, and run most of our training courses from that location. It’s also a great place to drop in almost anytime for a chat with some of the other members to discuss radios and individual projects.

Twice Monthly Club Meetings

We hold the main meetings at the Redlands Coast Museum, 60 Smith Street. Cleveland. The meeting room is at the south-eastern corner of the building, where there is off-street parking. Both meetings start at 7.30 pm (although some arrive early, from 7pm for an early chat!)

Club General Meeting – First Monday of the month, 7.30 pm kick-off

Tech Night – third Monday of each month, 7.30 pm kick-off

BDARS Values

Amateur Radio brings together people from many different backgrounds and walks of life. Each person brings their own valuable experience and a shared interest into the hobby. To ensure unity and harmony we all acknowledge and subscribe to some shared core values within the membership. These values are enshrined in our “1BDARS” Value Statement.

BDARS People

Morning Coffee Get-Together

We meet for an informal chat and coffee at the Redlands Sporting Club, 20 Anson Road Wellington Point. Partners are most welcome.

This happens every second and fourth Wednesday of the month and starts at 10am (although people do start to get there at around 9:30am).

Saturdays at the Clubhouse or the Museum

We have an informal gathering most Saturday mornings at the Victoria Point Clubhouse and occasional working sessions at the Training Room/Workshop Redlands Coast Museum in the afternoons. 

We meet from 1:30 pm to 4 pm. This session is designed for us to:

• Operate radios on HF and VHF/UHF;
• General knowledge sharing with formal and informal training; and
• Use of our test gear and soldering iron.

There may be times when we have other Saturday activity planned such as contests or a fundraiser. In these cases, the Saturday at the Museum days will not take place.

BDARS Club Repeaters (located on Mt Cotton) VK4RDB

We currently have four repeaters on Mt Cotton covering FM and the digital modes. All the repeaters are linked to the Internet. For more information see this page.

BDARS Club Nets

We run several radio and Internet linked nets, see this page.

BDARS Club HF and VHF/UHF Station

BDARS has a remote club HF and VHF/UHF station, available for all members’ use from their own QTH.

The Remote HF station has a FlexRadio 6400, designed for remote operation. This 100 W all-band HF SDR transceiver is physically located at Mt Cotton. The antenna is a Bushcomm multiband dipole. As it is designed for remote operation, this club HF station can be operated from the comfort of your own home QTH or even interstate.Remote

The Remote VHF/UHF station uses an Icom 9700 transceiver.

Prior to use, BDARS members undergo a training session on the use of both transceiver stations. On successful completion, they are issued with a password.

Access to the stations are via a BDARS developed booking and control webpage ‘ShedWeb’ which ensures authorised accesses only.

Internal Club Communications – Discord, Forum, WhatsApp

BDARS has vibrant internal communication channels:

• “HF Chasers” WhatsApp group for DX spotting and general chat on DX matters;
• Discord for our Makers and Electronics members; and
• BDARS Forum – information sharing, general Q&A and internal equipment buy/sell.