QNews for October 6th 2024

Q-News AR News from Queensland

Alex McDonald VK4TE passed away on 27th September Alex's radio interest as a boy came from the humble crystal set, this was followed by six years as a RAAF radio technician, during this period he got his amateur limited licence followed by the unrestricted licence about four years later. Alex was secretary of the Queensland branch of the WIA for years until it was absorbed into the national WIA, during this period, he was instrumental in recording morse practice tapes and sending hundreds of them to radio amateurs who wished to upgrade their licence. In his early years, Alex was mainly interested in competitions, he achieved his DXCC and loved radio field trips with his family. After 45 years of not using CW, he regained proficiency and focused on CW contacts until his passing. Amateur radio was a significant part of Alex's life, it gave him great entertainment and created many friendships.

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. The images of destruction from various parts of the world have proliferated in the past few weeks. Sadly the news doesn’t seem to be improving with wars and natural disasters claiming headlines. It has been a feature of the amateur community to offer assistance to the community in times of distress and following the devastation that Hurricane Helene has wrought through parts of the southeastern US, we have seen mainstream media picking up on some hams using their stations to pass welfare messages. There is a long history of this in the United States and even in this Land Down Under many man-hours have gone into community support with amateurs using their equipment and skills during cyclones, floods and fires and also working in volunteer bodies in their home communities. Most of the OTs are familiar with the WICEN acronym and several bodies are operating under the WICEN name scattered around the country. Seventy years or so ago, Australia had a strong volunteer body known as the Civil Defence. This body performed multiple functions but it had a strong government-supported ethos of looking after the civilians which was shaped by the lessons of World War 2. Today there is much less emphasis on civil defence with bodies such as the Salvation Army, Red Cross and SES performing many of those functions. You will find amateur operators working quietly within these bodies and many other groups. However, just because there are formal structures doesn’t mean that we as individuals cannot help if the situation demands it. Certainly, the training which these bodies and professions such as the military provide can smooth the way messages are handled but really, if we think about what our regulations exams cover, we all have the basics of being effective message handlers. With more and more equipment being available for camping and other recreations, most of us can have things like backup power to run rigs and computers. The thing is that amateurs have the option to be versatile in what they do and what bands they use. That versatility can link low and high power, DX and NVIS, simplex and repeater operations into very effective communication networks. I certainly would like to see the promotion of activities like WICEN and things such as message handling tools and operating manuals as it would improve the flow of information to those who need it and it would also make operations consistent and better able to be logged. It seems that much effort has been put into promoting other areas of the hobby when community support could be more valuable. As we head into daylight saving in other parts of the country, we in the east of the country especially along with the north and north-west are welcoming the start of cyclone season. It is also the time when bushfires are at the most damaging in the run-up to the great mid-summer season. I reckon we can all be ready to do a bit if needed as in times of emergency every little bit helps. I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think….how about you?