It's Sunday 28 September 2025, and we've just passed the spring solstice. Days are getting longer; the sun is getting higher, and next weekend Daylight Saving Time starts in many states that aren't Queensland. That's the solar report for this week, so hi - I'm John VK4JPM, Secretary of the Darling Downs Radio Club with some updates for members, guests, and everyone who is listening so that they can be in the callback! I'm going to start with a big shoutout to all the club members and others who helped get us across the line and into the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers Parade. All those flowers that attendees made at the last tech meeting were carefully attached to the side of our float and made us look FABULOUS. We had real radios operating on the truck, and despite the rain that fell ONLY for the hour that we were in the procession, we had a great crowd and an amazing time. If you go to the website - ddrci.org.au - there's a story in the calendar rotator, and a link where you can see what we looked like in the parade. Pretty cool stuff. Who knew that you could put petals on a satellite dish and attract LNBees? So what important dates are on the club's calendar? This coming Saturday - that's the 4th of October - we've scheduled the bimonthly club lunch at an old haunt: Rink 46, which previously was known as the Drayton Bowlo. All the details are on the website; rock up after 1130 and stay for a few hours. No ceremony, although we'd appreciate an email to lunch @ddrci.org.au to let us know how many of you are coming. And look, we have a bit of a surprise for after the lunch; we've also scheduled a tour of an important facility not far away. Guests, XYLs and harmonics are all very welcome for this one. Saturday 4 October from around 1130. Our next technical meeting is on Monday 13 October at the Victory Street Scout hall, and another very timely topic: we're going to dissect the two determinations that ACMA has just released - that's the amateur radio determination which defines what we're allowed and how we're allowed to do it, and the citizen's band determination which has some interesting tweaks that you'll want to know about. 13 October for that one, in person or via telepresence if you can't get to Newtown. And the November meeting is locked in for Monday 10th, with focus on Station EMR management. All the details are on the website - check the calendar scroller on the home page, and click into anything that looks interesting. ddrci.org.au, and if you missed anything - like details of our next education sessions, or how to become a member, start from the website and drop an email to [email protected] if you can't find what you're looking for. Oh, and check out how we looked in the parade - it's a hoot. Until next week: 73 from John VK4JPM and the team from the Darling Downs Radio Club

Social Scene Townsville Amateur Radio Club's Cardwell Gathering Field Day October 3 at Meunga Creek Caravan Park & Camp (wiacal) Qtech2025 a two-day conference Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd November at Kedron-Wavel RSL (vk4uh) GOLD COAST AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY – 2025 HAMFEST NOV 9 (vk4dmh) Country Paradise Parklands 231 Beaudesert Nerang Road.