Meeting June 2004

Summary of the NERG Meeting held on the 10^th June 2004

AIn June we were treated to an excellent presentation on the DX'pedition to Baudin Rocks off the coast of South Australia last Easter. Presenters Peter VK3QI, Jack VK3WWW, and Keith VK3FT set a new level of multimedia excellence with slide shows explaining the how's and why's of the DX'pedition, followed by Jack's video giving a clearer idea of how the dx'pedition came together and what the conditions were like on the island.

This is obviously not a trivial exercise, and our speakers explained why they chose certain equipment and antennas based on their earlier expeditions. Various items that made the event a success were handed around – from little things like plastic stoppers that prevent table legs sinking into the sand, and the extra mains cable RF chokes that eliminated interference from the generators. Their tips on the home made bandpass filters* that eliminated local QRM will be most usefull on our next NERG field day.

For those interested there is a DVD circulating around the club with videos of this and previous DX'peditions mounted by the group. By coincedence a 5 page article on the teams trip to Waldegrave Island appeared in the June issue of Amateur Radio magazine and is well worth a read.

* Information on the bandpass filters can be found in the ARRL handbook. Look for 3-pole band pass HF filters designed by W3NQN – especially those using tapped bi-filar wound toroids.

The NERG do offer an invitation to any person interested in Amateur Radio to visit us on any club night.

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North East Radio Group, Inc. Melbourne, Australia. updated 1 July VT