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.
Twice Monthly Club Meetings
We meet at the Redland 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 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 Museum
We have an informal gathering on Saturday afternoon at our Training Room/Workshop at the north side of Redland Museum.
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
2m VHF 146.875 / 146.275 MHz, FM 25 kHz Bandwidth, 91.5 Hz Tone, IRLP node 6633, EchoLink node 488558
(IRLP node currently offline for maintenance 4/Jan/24)
70cm UHF 438.450 / 431.450 MHz, FM 25 kHz bandwidth, 91.5 Hz Tone, Dual Mode FM and C4FM (System Fusion)
Yaesu Wires-X node 59002, EchoLink node 474766,
70cm DV Repeater UHF – 438.825 / 431.825 MHz Please have TG9 TS1 (TG9/1) and TG9 TS2 (TG9/2) configured in your radios code plug. Available networks and modes include
- Brandmeister network assigned to TS1 with TG505 static, all other TG’s user activated.
- VKFreeDMR network assigned to TS2 with TG505 static, all other TG’s user activated using Dial-a-Talk Group.
- D-Star : user activated, please leave unlinked after use.
BDARS Club Nets
VHF FM Net – 146.875 MHz (VK4RDB Repeater at Mt Cotton) Monday evenings at 7:30 pm local time, usually run by Peter (VK4VY) with the club callsign VK4BAR
Fusion Digital UHF Net – 438.450 MHz (VK4RDB Repeater at Mt Cotton) Tuesday evenings at 7:30 pm local time, usually run by Geoff (VK4FK)
HF Net – 3.570 MHz LSB SSB Wednesday evenings at 7:30 pm local time, usually run by Bill VK4NBP with the club callsign VK4BAR
FreeDMR Digital Late Night Net – 438.825 (VK4RDB Repeater at Mt Cotton) Thursday evenings at 9:00 pm local time, usually run by Martin VK4MCU
Dawn Patrol UHF FM Net – 438.450 MHz (VK4RDB Repeater at Mt Cotton) 6:30AM Every day except Sunday, usually run by Eddie VK4TJE
BDARS Club HF and VHF/UHF Station
BDARS has a club HF and VHF/UHF station, available for all members’ use.
The 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.
The VHF/UHF station uses an Icom 9700 transceiver.
Prior to use, BDARS members undergo a training session on the HF station. On successful completion, they are issued with a password. Access is via a BDARS developed booking and control webpage ShedWeb.
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.
