QNews for November 10th 2024

Q-News AR News from Queensland

Hi - John VK4JPM with the Darling Downs Radio Club update for Sunday 10th of November.This month the topic is balloons, specifically those that go halfway to outer space - maybe even three times as high as jet planes. Dave Nebe, VK4DN was part of a team from Bundaberg Amateur Radio Club when they did two High Altitude Balloon Experiment launches and he'll be along tomorrow to tell us the full story. There are so many parts to an experiment like this, and it's what hams do best: we come up with ideas and make them work. Dave will be able to talk about the preparation, payloads, launch, recovery, and what the experimenters learned - from both successes and failures. Bring your questions and your experiences. And who knows - maybe this is an opportunity for the Darling Downs club to do something similar. In December, our meeting topic is Software Defined Radios, and what you can do with some pretty cheap and easily available hardware. Plus we want to talk to you about ideas for club development and where we might head in the next five years. The committee has a few ideas and'd like your input and thoughts. It's YOUR club! All this is on the website at www.ddrci.org.au, and if you're a member you should have received an email with the latest news and reminders. If you can't find info or you have a question, drop a line to [e-mail], and if you didn't get to write that down just use your favourite search engine for Darling Downs Radio Club. You'll find us. But mostly we'd like to find you so here's a final reminder: tomorrow night, Toowoomba Library, 1900 Eastern time, and join us for the meeting, a cuppa, a natter, and a bit of brain food. And don't forget the club net on VK4RDD every Sunday at 1000. That's it for this week - 73 from John VK4JPM for the Darling Downs Radio Club team.

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. This past week has seen some notable happenings. The Melbourne Cup was run and won by a Queensland-trained horse. The Reserve Bank held the interest rate constant. An inland town was evacuated because of strong fire activity and the Sun has assailed us with solar flare action once more. However, the thing that has captured the media attention has been the electoral joust in the USA. It would appear that the candidate most likely to be declared President is the one with the most disruptive policies, as far as our country is concerned. Trump has promised tariff barriers to protect a raft of other changes in trade and economic activities. Even as TV stations, on-air and online, presented the election commentaries reports were going to air that governments and no doubt international businesses, were attempting to work out the ramifications of the changes that Trump has mooted. Based on his rhetoric, economists forecast large increases in monetary inflation and the cost of living in the US with flow-on effects to countries like ours. We have had the media impress the messages from the Reserve Bank, the Government and the man in the street that the cost of borrowed money is crippling people financially with repayments beyond their capacity to pay and the general cost of living is placing stress on food bank type charities as more people try to survive without enough money. For us who enjoy the thrill of recreational electronics, just think of where so much of our gear comes from. It may bear the logo of a famous brand but it has, in smaller writing, a message “Made in China”. If we try and think this through, it becomes mind-boggling as the implications of what Trump’s policies can have on our small country down under. As much as it is Christmas shopping time, it might also be prudent to consider purchases which might become more expensive just after New Year. I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think….how about you?