SCARC is having a car boot sale on March 22nd at the clubrooms, 85 Godfreys Rd, Bli Bli. Entry and traders' tables are free, but we require bookings to secure a traders' spot.

Hi - I'm John, Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club and this is QNews for Sunday 9 March. I'm sure you all know the phrase "We live in interesting times", and this time is spectacularly interesting. QNews is assembled on the Thursday before broadcast, and written before that... so as I record this segment pretty much everything I say is going to be a best guess.

The club meeting on Monday 10 March will be Simon VK4TSC and Alan VK4AL from the Brisbane WICEN group talking about emergency preparedness: what WICEN is and not, how it operates in our region and how you can get involved. All great topics and extremely relevant to dealing with emergencies.

TARC did the 2025 Defence Welcome to Townsville Expo. 1st March, the birthday of both the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Navy saw the running of the Defence Welcome to Townsville Expo, organised by the Directorate of Regional Engagement, Defence Member and Family Support, Joint Support Services Division, Military Personnel Organisation, Department of Defence.

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. It is just weeks ago that areas to the north were fighting the force of nature with homes flooded and roads cut. Only last week I commented on the vague pattern that was the path of Cyclone Alfred and wished him away. This week the south of Queensland and northern New South Wales are feeling the brunt of what a cyclone can provide and we have no assurance that the system is moving far away or dissipating any time soon. My earliest memories of weather like this are of being stranded on the farm that my parents owned and getting the thrill as military aircraft flew low over the paddocks and dropped fodder to stock on adjoining farms. Back then, the rescue boat was a sturdy wooden vessel propelled by about half a dozen oarsmen whose task was to best the raging brown water to offer assistance. Local radio amateurs used shortwave radios to pass messages to and from the flood-bound areas. I was too young to know that they were involved, then. These days the communities depend on the services of emergency workers and volunteers and the boats tend to be metal and powered by petrol engines. A smaller crew means more goods or passengers can be taken aboard. Radio amateurs may assist on an ad-hoc basis or some are involved in local disaster support but the ubiquitous mobile phone is thought by many to provide communications and safety. As we have personally experienced, when the cell service runs out of battery power people can be without communications for days until battery charging is provided by emergency generators or re-connection of mains electricity. It was with a certain feeling of satisfaction that I watched news reports of retailers running out of generators as the seriousness of the impending threat dawned on people. It is perhaps too late to remind listeners about the service an amateur station can provide if there is preparation for conditions like the passage of a cyclone. However, the whole situation should provide a lesson in preparedness on personal, domestic and community levels. As we can’t be sure of where Alfred will travel before finally blowing itself out, we should be encouraging others to be properly prepared in the next few days and then look over what did and didn’t work for them. For all those directly affected I trust you stay safe and the disruption to you and your friends and family is not too great. I personally know many amateurs live in the path of the cyclone or its area of influence. I hope your antennas came down when you wanted them and not when the gales hit. I trust you kept your food fresh and the lights stayed on. I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think….how about you?