Hi everyone , my name is Steve VK4SJH.

I am pleased to announce that the Redcliffe Radio Club will be starting the 2024 Amateur Advanced Training Course on 10th February via Microsoft Teams.

Your instructors will be myself, Mark VK4EMP and Ken VK4AKH.

The course will be run every Sunday 7:30pm to 9PM using Alan Jenners VK4KZ excellent notes and other sources. You will find the instructors very helpful and friendly. Go to the Redcliffe Radio Club’s website for details including email address and mobile phone number via the online form stating that you would like more information about the Advanced course.

If you think that you would like to do the Standard training for the Standard exam don’t worry our course teaches at both levels.

David VK4DN from the Bundy Amateur Radio Club.

Just a quick update about the huge WIA Convention and HamFest happening this year on May 4th and 5th in Bundaberg.

The event promises to be a great opportunity to buy and sell new and used equipment but also an amazing weekend for visitors to the Bundaberg region. Network with other amateurs from all over Australia and New Zealand.

VK stations, mark your calendars for May 4th and 5th - your 2024 Bundaberg WIA Convention and HamFest.

David VK4DN from the Bundy Amateur Radio Club.

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking.

Apart from the devastation so many people have suffered in the almost freakish weather we have endured, in the last several days, there is one thing that springs to my mind. The government has been issuing reminders for people to have an evacuation kit ready for immediate use. This certainly is a great idea and for many of the less agile a suitable container that can be moved on wheels will be a help also. A recent trip away reminded me just how much we need to transport and this was just medical aids, clothing and the like. Documents, photographs, jewellery and the like weren’t even taken and the car seemed to be filled.

This is not the point other than to show how many important items have to be included on a list and prepared for transport. When it comes to clubs the situation is compounded as they also have belongings and records to consider. Who has the responsibility for ensuring that these items can be removed in times of emergency and taken to safe storage? When you consider the cost of replacement, an average ham shack can soon accumulate a bill running to a few thousand dollars. If you have ever had to prepare a list for an insurance claim you will know how quickly the figures can build up.

So obviously, for a club, there needs to be a schedule of what needs to be removed quickly in the event of a threat to the items belonging to the club. Are there lists of items to be prioritised and containers for transport as well as the manpower and means of removal? These are all considerations that can be overlooked in a club where no drama is expected. The TV footage I have seen of the overnight flooding in parts of southern Queensland show how people can be caught unawares and in many cases clubs have premises, leased by local councils, which are subject to floods. If this is a known risk, have precautions been taken such as providing benches or roof storage which might save items that have to be left behind or when access is already lost?

There are many things to consider in keeping the assets of a club safe and the where, why and how are going to be determined by local factors. Just because fire has never been through an area or it hasn’t flooded in living memory doesn’t mean that it can’t happen, as this past weeks victims can attest.

Organisation is a task that needs to be thorough and preparation needs to be based on sound facts. If we haven’t managed to prepare for the worst, it is really time to pull the finger out.

I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think how about you