QNews for March 15th 2026

Kevin Dalton VK4WA at age 74 has passed away after being in a nursing home with dementia for some time. Kevin Dalton, now Silent Key, had been an enthusiastic long time member of the Brisbane Amateur Radio Club over many years, serving in most club committee positions. VK4WA had a passion for building kit and homebrew projects. He was always keen to start many and varied projects including the club parrot repeater, a club beacon which morphed into the WSPR Beacon and the installation of old and new repeaters at Rochedale, serving as the officer in charge. His radio interests were varied, covering the full spectrum from the 2200m band through to microwave bands. He was also working on the leading edge of LED transmissions and with VK4EBP Jan Oskuita successfully transmitted signals from the Rochedale club to Redbank Plains, then co-wrote a published paper on the findings that drew interest from England and across the world. In his later years, Kevin found travelling to the Rochdale club shack taxing, and so he joined the Ipswich and District Radio Club for a short time, before convalescing at home. His funeral will be held at Mt Gravatt Cemetery & Crematorium Chapel at 620 Mains Road, Nathan on Monday 16 March at 12:30PM.

This is Laurie VK4BLE from the Redcliffe and Districts Radio Club, with another Redfest 26 update. Just a reminder, if you are still wishing to be a part of Redfest 26 and want to book a table or two, go to the website Redfest.org So, get in now as there is only 26 days till Redfest. Do you want to know more about digital communications, then come to the presentation by Peter from FreeDV. Do you know how to use digital nodes, well Glen VK4NGA will be giving a great presentation on how to use them. Icom Australia will be at Redfest 26 and is going to talk about their latest developments in Amateur Radio. Peter VK4EA our WIA director will be talking about D-Star repeater functionality as well as updating us all on the WIA. So, heaps going on and you won’t be disappointed. So, go to the website redfest.org for more information. Remember our major prize this year is the Icom IC7300 MK2 transceiver second prize is a Xiegu X6200 HF transceiver and 3rd prize is a Anytone DMR transceiver plus many more prizes on offer. If you are the lucky winner and not at Redfest, your prize will be shipped to you, no matter where you are. If you are looking for new equipment, then catch up with QSL Comms or Elite Communications. Mad Dog Coils, VK Direct, Radio and More and Garage Art will also be there and not to forget Icom Australia, ALARA and the WIA QSL Bureau. So, remember to come and collect your QSL cards or just inquire about the service. Update your information with the bureau as you may had an address change or callsign upgrade. Catch up with friends you haven’t seen for a while. Keep an eye out for the coffee van and clubs’ famous bacon and egg rolls on the day. There is plenty to enjoy at Redfest, especially for you wife or partner. There will be plenty of tables with goodies for the ladies. Grab a ticket in the Mother’s Day raffle, they will love it. So, remember to bring the whole family and make it a day out for everyone to enjoy. Put the date in your calendar, Saturday the 11th of April, at the Deception Bay North State School, 33-49 Old Bay Rd, Deception Bay, doors open at 9am. See you at Redfest.

Thanks for joining the Darling Downs Radio Club for our QNEWS segment on Sunday 15 March 2026. I'm John VK4JPM, Secretary of the club, and this week's info is sponsored by the letter "W" for "WIA". Are you a member of the WIA? There are SO many good reasons to be a WIA member, but here's one that's important to our club. Every year we have to pay an eye-watering public liability insurance bill to protect the club in case something goes wrong. That bill would be substantially higher, except that the WIA has arranged a massive discount..