On Saturday, 12 April, many of us will be heading to Redfest. Thanks to the bright yellow badges, you'll recognise us, so come and say "hi". And now for something completely different. As you've heard, this year Redfest clashes with our regular bimonthly club lunch moved lunch to Sunday 13 April, Monday 14 April is our next member meeting and will be held at the Toowoomba Library at 1900. Our treasurer, Cameron VK4CSS will talk about RADAR and LIDAR. Cam will present about radar and lidar speed measurement, including the history of radar and lidar; give a brief chat about over-the-horizon radar; explain how radar speed measurement work, including videos to demonstrate, and he'll talk about when radar or lidar doesn't work. And why would you want to attend? Well, you might even learn something about both technologies that could save you from being accused of an action that can't be proved or where the measurement can be shown to be inaccurate. Got it? The date again: 1700 on Monday 14 April at the Toowoomba Library - where the parking is plentiful and under cover, and once again we welcome members and non-members alike. I'm John VK4JPM for the Darling Downs Radio Club - 73 and see you next week.

Robert Thomson VK4TFN here. REDFEST 25 "Adventures on HF" will go ahead at 9:00 am on the 12th April. It's only two weeks away. Our new venue is: The Deception Bay North State School, Old Bay Road, Deception Bay. There are still a few tables left if you hurry. $15 per table. Email [email protected]

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. The wet weather continues. Sadly some areas in the north of Queensland are getting a repeat dousing, and the inland is getting floods, for better or worse, may remain for many days or weeks. For farmers who look forward to rain at the right time, may improve their income in the long run and for the householders who have been surrounded or evacuated, relief can’t come soon enough. I imagine that many amateurs have developed a routine of checking the weather, space weather and propagation charts, planning their activities. The long term forecasters are an indicative service to the agricultural industries but our Bureau of Meteorology is relatively cautious in issuing trends in the weather for as much as the commuter and tradie might like the assurance of perfect knowledge, forecasts beyond days, even when based on good averaging of data, tend to fall into the crystal ball style of guesswork. So it is with the solar activity that gives such wonderful conditions for long-distance communications and within hours or days can provide a total blackout on many bands. Just as the Earth has patterns of activity in wind and ocean currents, these too can alter drastically and quickly as the information from the amateur radio balloons circling the planet can report. The solar cycle of activity averages around 11 years from peak to peak. Within that, we can plan and speculate on what activities we might be able to accomplish. As we grow into familiarity with the various skills that make our operations more enjoyable and interesting, we accumulate a store of knowledge which is applied to radio but also aids in so many other areas. Sadly there is a level of confusion coming from across the Pacific as the new US administration assails the community with instructions and demands. The final outcome of the shutdown of overseas broadcasting can only be guessed at and the cleaning of the FCC book of rules may or may not change how amateur radio is conducted within the US jurisdictions. In the past week, our regulator, the ACMA, has been releasing many papers to its client base via email and website. We are fortunate that order stays with the governance of radio communications in this country. I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP, that’s what I think…. how about you?