Be part of the world’s largest distributed radio network at The Townsville Amateur Radio Club
It’s the ultimate specialised hobby that allows members to experiment with technology while keeping the community safe.
Townsville
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IT’S the ultimate specialised hobby that allows members to experiment with technology while keeping the community safe.
It is this double threat that makes this club unique.
The Townsville Amateur Radio Club was formed in 1948 and uses the internet, mobile phones and special apps to transmit andreceive messages.
The club is a self-training facility of technical operations in communications and technology as well as human applicationof technology.
Club secretary Gavin Reibelt worked as a coast guard radio operator for 18 years and was trained in Morse code, voice codeand data from the age of 20 to transmit cyclone warnings to ships.
Mr Reibelt said the club had helped him to continue his work as a radio operator and it helped save lives.
“We don’t provide entertainment, we experiment and research and help out with community groups and help out the SES,” he said.
“We use a lot of stuff we have put together over time and we go out into the field and practise (transmitting) under difficultconditions.”
Mr Reibelt recalls a particularly proud instance during his time as a member of the club.
“During the Night of Noah of 1998 we helped run the SES communications centre at West End when they weren’t able to call theirvolunteers in because of the flooding,” he said,
“It is great being able to help out the community at a time in need.”
The clubhouse in West End is home to five radios and the Mount Stuart site has three amateur radios, the SES repeater andthe community UHFCB repeater.
The club has 90 members, of whom about 30 are active members who all abide by an internationally co-ordinated licensing system.
Their systems regularly tap in to international transmissions including from Europe, the United States, South America, Russiaand Antarctica.
Mr Reibelt said a wonderful perk of the hobby was organically connecting with people from around the world.
“It is really rewarding when we go out and do all this stuff and we actually get contacts from interstate or overseas eithertransmitting on voice, Morse or computer,” he said.
“I met a fellow I spoke to in Russia and he came out here for a holiday a few years back and I’ve also had a couple that havecome across from the United States.”
Mr Reibelt said the digital age of the internet had dramatically enhanced radio communication abilities and he was lookingforward to future advancements.
“We don’t know what is ahead of us yet until someone brings out something new and wonderful and any new stuff we usually tendto grab it and use it,” he said.
TOWNSVILLE AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
Contact name: Gavin Reibelt
Number: 0427 182 469
Website: https://thetarcinc.weebly.com
Address: Green St, West End
When: 1st and 2nd and 3rd Tuesdays of the month
Membership: $40 singles/families $20 students/pensioners
Originally published as Be part of the world’s largest distributed radio network at The Townsville Amateur Radio Club