The Maker Group enjoyed a well-attended meeting yesterday afternoon at our Victoria Point clubhouse, with a diverse range of projects being demonstrated and discussed. As always, the clubhouse provided a welcoming venue for members to get together, share ideas and, naturally, compare notes on the latest gadgets.
Graham, VK4GRK, demonstrated his Mk2 Go-Box, which incorporates just about everything needed to pack up and head into the field. It contains two radios, power management and a host of other facilities — proving once again that “portable” equipment has a habit of becoming increasingly technological!
Phil, VK4PG, brought along his latest work-in-progress: a Satellite Tracker program, together with an experimental antenna rotator designed, ultimately, to work with it. The hardware incorporates 3D-printed components produced by Phil, while the software makes use of ESP32, Arduino and Python, with a little assistance from AI.
It was encouraging to see that, with the help of AI, you don’t necessarily have to be a professional programmer to produce credible and useful software for Amateur Radio. Of course, it still helps to know what you’re asking the computer to do!
Tom, VK4HTE, popped in with his MeshCore nodes — the new kid on the block in the world of LoRa mesh communications — and was looking for some assistance in setting up additional nodes. Instead, however, he became engrossed in a discussion about his homebrew and commercial antennas, some of which Phil now has in his collection. The conversation inevitably turned to how they had all managed to achieve a near-perfect 1:1 VSWR without needing a tuner. Clearly, there is some antenna magic going on!
Vice President John, VK4JBE, brought along his collection of Pluto SDRs and was helping Ian, VK4YIP, set up his own DATV stations with a few laptop computers. Ian’s DATV equipment is intended for use at the forthcoming JOTA (Jamboree on the Air) Scouting event. More volunteers are needed, so please put your hand up if you can help with JOTA!
Finally, Bob, VK4YA, was testing the Uninterruptible Power Supplies kindly donated by Glenn, VK4PK. When we find a good one, it is destined for the Mt Cotton repeater site. Bob also spent some time working on the Lightning Detector network unit at the clubhouse, which had been detecting rather more unwanted noise than lightning. Apparently, even a lightning detector needs a little help distinguishing the interesting signals from the background clutter!
Remembering David, VK4ZF
The group sadly missed David, VK4ZF, who was not only the leader of the Maker Group, but also a past President of the club. David passed away unexpectedly just a few days ago.
Members of the group and the club extend their sincere condolences to David’s family and friends. David was an enthusiastic and talented maker who was always willing to share his knowledge, lend a hand and encourage others. His contributions to the Maker Group, the Redlands Museum and fellow amateur radio operators, together with his passion for building, experimenting and solving problems across both electronics and mechanical projects, will be greatly missed. His generosity, knowledge and enthusiasm made a lasting contribution to those around him.
Today’s meeting was, in its own way, a fitting tribute to David. The group continued doing what he enjoyed so much — making, experimenting, learning and sharing ideas with fellow Amateur Radio enthusiasts.
We warmly welcome attendance at the next Maker Group meeting. Be sure to check the BDARS calendar on this website for upcoming dates — we’d love to see you there! The clubhouse is at 314 Colburn Ave, Victoria Point QLD 4165, (next to Meals on Wheels). Parking is outside the building or in the Park car park just prior to our turning.
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