MAD - Sunday March 24, 2019

[VK4CZ]

Brisbane VHF Group have announced that the next planned MAD [Microwave Activity Day] will be on Sunday March 24, 2019.

1,296MHz and up. Pick your Mountain top, and start your planning!

Remember to keep us all informed of your planned activity, so we can all maximise the opportunity to have fun.

[VK4MJF]

Weather permitting Im loading up my picnic basket, I also have a multi band grid pac ,(1296Mhz 2.4- 5.8 Ghz) maybe also 2.4 GHz transverter 10- ? wats to test. Will try after 10am @ Mt Mee. Hope there are so takers, weather maybe a problem again.

[VK5ZD]

Who's going where? Myself, Dave (VK5KK) and Tim (VK5ZT) would like to know so we can put ourselves somewhere with a good likelihood of making a contact or three.

[VK4CZ]

Iain

It's like herding cats... but last known plans [for last MAD that was cancelled due to WX] were:

VK4OE/P: Kamarun Lookout QG61NU [Lamington NP] - 1.2 to 76GHz
VK4LHD/P: Howells Knob QG63JF [Sunshine Coast - Maleny] - 1.2 to 10GHz
VK4EA/P: Howells Knob QG63JF [Sunshine Coast - Maleny] - 10 to 24GHz
VK4CZ/P & VK4YR/P: Gus Beutel Lookout QG62CP [Ravensbourne - North of Toowoomba] - 1.2 to 10GHz
VK4UH/P & VK4MIL/P: Stradbroke Island [East of BNE] - 1.2 to 10GHz

Cheers,

[VK4EA]

Time for kickoff?


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[VK4CZ]

Not yet.... Hope some comms soon. Hard to co-ordinate via osmosis [emoji848]

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[VK4AFL]

Am available 23 cm & 13 cm [2400.1 much preferred].

73, Trevor, VK4AFL, QG62OM.

[VK4EA]

Heading to Howell’s Knob shortly, 90 minute journey.

Not yet.... Hope some comms soon. Hard to co-ordinate via osmosis [emoji848]

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[VK4GHZ]

Also posted on Faceplant.

Hearing about such disorganised chaos really turns me off getting enthused about microwaves again.
Seriously guys, these events are not hard to manage.
Discuss a schedule AND LOCK IT IN, well in advance, so there is no doubt as to what is happening and when.

If out-of-town visitors want to participate, then they need to fit in with what was organised - not the other way around.
A firm schedule well in advance will help their planning too.

Otherwise it just turns into what we are witnessing. Chaos, which then becomes totally counter productive.

If people are still not sure of what's happening the night before, or the morning of, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM that needs identifying, and fixing.

Information on the BVHFG website is, to be utterly frank, woefully lacking.
The website is underutilised. It's 2019, so learn how to do things with it.

Co-ordinating via secret-squirrel email (where some people get left out) is an utter joke.
Are you operating within a secretive bubble not wanting new blood, or what?

Then you have conflicting information posted here on Faceplant and on other Forums, simply because people don't know what's going on.

It's so sad to see enthusiastic locals (like Scott) be turned off because of the utter chaos.

Some of us have to work, so weekend time (if you're lucky to have weekends off - I work most of them) become absolutely precious.
Something retirees have no concept of.

This is a leadership problem within the Brisbane VHF Group.
Get your act together BVHFG, and actually make it fun, rather than a disincentive. Please.

I would encourage anyone from the BVHFG reading this to hold a post mortem, so that event planning isn't such a shambles next time.

You can take this as constructive criticism.

[VK4REX]

Hi Adam

Couldn't agree more with your comments.
This is why I gave up bothering with the 23/23 and MAD days a long time ago, total chaos every time and total lack of coordination despite Scott's efforts.
Then throw in the current episode with the VK5's (only here to break records nothing to do with MAD) and it was even more crazy.
Fortunately several years ago I started to get interested in FPGA's, DSP and FFT code (the heart of SDR radios) and have spent a lot of time learning and meeting a really great group of people where the interest is shared openly not this AR keep it secret squirrel stuff as evidenced today.
As the logger closes I would like to thank you for the effort over the years and good luck with your en devours out side of this dying hobby. BTW us old retiree's do interesting things, just some of us don't play with dead AR horses.

Rex

[VK3BA]

G'day Adam,

I'll concur with Rex's comments about the logger. One of the main features I'll miss is the up to date repeater & beacon database. It's been a great live database - much more accurate, reliable and live, than anything else we've seen. It's been easy to keep up to date and easily relied upon, compared to other listings such as the WIA rptr listing...

All the best VK Logger...

Thanks Adam.

Cheers,

[VK4MJF]

I'm sorry you guys, but if you ask or get involved like i know you all have, and very helpful too many like myself I might add. Please get past what ever is sticking in the background I think you all could assist with whats left of our HOBBY. As a standard call, you look down on us and we take it on the chin and listen, learn then move on. So far my advancement is because of this club and others like it. And as like all other clubs they are not perfect but at least they are there. You all could arrive to a meeting in the future and help advance it to your wishes. Thanks for reading this, the youth of today need you. Also I was at the MAD yesterday, with my 90 watt club 1296 amplifier and my home built 2.4 Ghz tranverter and Amplifier which was not possible for my to build some years back.

[VK5ZD]

Then throw in the current episode with the VK5's (only here to break records nothing to do with MAD) and it was even more crazy.

Don't know why you would think that. If all we wanted to do was have a go at breaking records then we could just as easily do that in SA and not bother to drive 6,000km.
Thanks to all those that did give us some contacts on the day.
73
Iain

[VK7HH]

Then throw in the current episode with the VK5's (only here to break records nothing to do with MAD) and it was even more crazy.
As the logger closes I would like to thank you for the effort over the years and good luck with your en devours out side of this dying hobby.

This was my experience with the VK5's. The excuse I was given was not good enough that it couldn't warrant a simple phone call to say what was happening at the other end. Very poor show that.
As for my own experience, I work weekdays and it just happened to be the JMFD and very rarely I had a Sunday morning free. It also was a nice day, and coincided with Hepburn showing promising conditions to VK3, and, as spotted here on the Logger, I was hearing VK3RGI on 2.4 GHz which is my furthest (and had there been anyone at the other end, a record contact).

I also echo the sentiments about the current Logger, it will be missed greatly. Thanks Adam for your hard work that has largely gone unnoticed and unacknowledged.

Also agree with the comments re the organization of these MAD days. Obviously I'm a bit far to participate in VK2/4 but through the videos I've watched online on YouTube from the VK4's and the posts read here, I've learnt a lot and it's gotten me started in microwaves. I only hope that this continues locally here in VK7.

Vale Logger.

[VK3HY]

Some disappointing comments above. Here in VK3, I found the VK5s went out of their way to make contacts with as many stations as they could and to help others to work them. VK5ZD/P was most helpful in assisting me to set up contacts with VK5KK/P.

Only here to 'break records'? - I don't think so.

I do hope those comments won't discourage the VK5s from future similar activity.

73 Gavin, VK3HY

[VK3QI]

Likewise here, Tim, Iain and David were only too willing to give out contacts on 1.2Ghz and upwards from the two chosen locations near Geelong and Kinglake.

They also spent time eyeballing some locals and providing their expertise and experience.

Cheers

Peter VK3QI (VK3ER/p)

[VK4GHZ]

Sadly, the VK3s are missing the point.

Nothing to do with providing contacts, or sharing expertise.
It goes without saying, that aspect was a great effort.

The BVHFG's schedule, if there ever was one, completely revolved around the VK5 road trip.
Perhaps the VK5s should have been in town a day earlier to fit in with the planned VK4 Activity Day?
This would have ensured a start time - known well in advance - could be followed.
This is critical, especially if a few hours of travel and rig time are involved.

If potential participants don't know what's going on, then they are unlikely to 'waste' the day (time + money) even bothering.
As we have witnessed.

The bulk of my home renovations is mostly over, and I was looking forward to get back into VHF and microwaves.
But, the inability to organise something relatively simple makes me wonder if I should get out of it for good, sell the remaining gear, and not waste further precious time, and money.
One less potentially active station.

If ham radio clubs/groups cannot get their act together, making it difficult for others to get involved (and they are mostly oblivious to this), then the slow death will continue.

[VK3HY]

Perhaps more use should be made of Contest Radar in all States......check out https://contestradar.com/

Cheers

Gavin VK3HY

[VK5ZD]

The BVHFG's schedule, if there ever was one, completely revolved around the VK5 road trip.
Perhaps the VK5s should have been in town a day earlier to fit in with the planned VK4 Activity Day?

If there was a schedule we were not aware of it. We were in town the day before as we had originally assumed that the '23 on 23' event would be held on the 23rd (seemed a reasonable assumption at the time). When we heard it was on the 24th we extended our stay by a few hours in order to participate (we had originally planned to leave on Sunday morning). We didn't see any information about where the locals might be operating from until 23rd by which time we had already decided the sites we would go to and had organised our accommodation to suit.

Personally, I thinks it's useful to have more than one operator at each site as you can then compare the performance of the equipment. For example, I now know that VK4OEs 47GHz transverter receives a lot better than mine does.

[VK5ZD]

Further to my post of the 26th, that's not to say that we didn't try to extend some records, sometimes successfully, sometimes not (no VK4 records were harmed ). However, we did not do this at the expense of making other contacts. Surely one aspect of this hobby is to try pushing the limits and see what can be done. I think the best effort was by VK4CSD and VK4FB managing 15km on 122GHz. Well done guys.