QNews for April 12th 2026

Brad Donald Johnson of MacGregor, VK4BRA whose old call was VK4AIR passed away on 25 March 2026. Brad VK4BRA had been in radio from 1976 as many of us were , as a CBer. Brad passed with a full licence in Amateur Radio in 1979 and worked as a light and sound engineer in his own business. He is survived by 2 sons.

The next Ipswich WICEN-supported event is the Brisbane Trail Marathon on April 26 held in the South D’Aguilar National Park. It features the ultimate trail running challenge. Start and finish is at Enoggera Reservoir, The Gap. This is a big event so I’m sure the club’s WICEN coordinator will not turn away any additional volunteer radio operators and supporters to work the various safety check points along the trail. If you have never participated before, you will be paired with an experienced operator. To volunteer please contact Paul at [email protected]

I'm John VK4JPM, Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club. By the time you hear this, RedFest will be over, and I know there will be people we met who have forgotten our email address already, so here it is: [email protected] and the home page is at ddrci.org.au, which is where you'll find all the details on what follows. This week reminders that our next club tech and chat meeting will be streamed and in person, and for this month is a week later on Monday 20th of April. No doubt those who return from RedFest will have a bit of show and tell - so bring stuff along - and we have some tech discussions following our outing at John Moyle. And watch this space: there could be a surprise guest. the next bimonthly club lunch is due and that's going to be on 26 April at the Southern Hotel in Toowoomba... south, down Ruthven Street. We've booked the table, and festivities start from 1200. By the way, the hotel has erected a massive solar array which doubles as over-cover for car parking. Quite clever. * last week I mentioned that we're doing another run of licence assessments, and you don't have to be in Toowoomba to work with us. We have four ACMA-accredited advanced assessors, which means we're qualified to take all kinds of special conditions into account, including remote delivery. If you are thinking of getting or upgrading a licence, please talk to us, and start by sending an email to [email protected]. * Personal admission: life has been hectic and I didn't get to this week's QRP transmitter project even though I have a cupboard full of Raspberry Pi boards. And I'm still trying to get to Großreinemachen which is the big magic cleanup. But... while you're waiting for me to claim success, why not try this week's challenge which is "operate in an uncommon digital mode". There's a hint on the website at hamchallenge.org, and scroll down to week 16. We love hearing from members and anyone interested in amateur radio. To do that, and to be added or removed from our mailing list, drop a line to [email protected]. Everything we do is on the website at ddrci.org.au, and you can trust that to be correct. So the reminder: why not come and say hi to us at the club meeting or club lunch in a week. BIG hint: that's a way of achieving the challenge from week 17. Simples! And the club net follows the Sunday morning edition of QNEWS on VK4RDD at 1000 actual time. Until next week, I'm John VK4JPM. 73 from Darling Downs Radio Club.