Broadcast - 10 May 2026
Now that I have your attention, there have been quite a few requests as to whether the club rooms would be opening up to watch the REAST club forum on “Our New Band Plans”. Well the 13th of May coincides with this Wednesdays Technical Night. So doors will be open by 6:30 pm as usual and at 7:30 mobile phones will be put on silent and we will cross to the live stream on the REAST YouTube channel. There will be no “Show and Tell” on the night but feel free to continue on with Ross, VK7ALHs idea of “Show and Eat” or maybe even “See and Eat” this week. So instead of watching from home, feel free to come along and enjoy it on a large‑screen monitor, in a calm, distraction‑free environment.
Now to catch up on our last club technical night.
Ian VK7IG’s latest piece of test gear turned up on his doorstep only a few hours before our club’s technical night, but that didn’t stop him from bringing it along for an early look.
At first glance it’s “just” an RF attenuator, but this one is far from the usual fixed value pad. The device is the HTOOL DA001, a compact broadband digital attenuator built around the ADI HMC624A‑EP gallium‑arsenide chip. It covers 100 MHz right through to 6 GHz and includes a physical adjustment knob paired with a bright 25 mm OLED display that shows the attenuation in real time. Power comes from an internal battery charged via USB-C, and RF connections are handled through SMA sockets. The whole unit sits in a neat black anodised enclosure measuring roughly 75 × 40 × 33 mm.
Performance wise, it offers an attenuation range from 0 to 31.5 dB in 0.5 dB steps, with an accuracy of around plus or minus 0.2 dB. It’s designed for 50‑ohm systems and can handle input levels up to 28 dBm, making it a handy inline tool for lab work, field setups, or general RF experimentation.
It appears to be a very nicely executed piece of Dutch design, and at around $80 it’s surprisingly affordable for what it offers. Once Ian has had a proper chance to put it through its paces, we’re hoping he’ll bring it back to the club for a more in depth evaluation and perhaps a few live demonstrations.
Peter VK7SP’s latest acquisition is a NanoVNA-F V2 Network Vector Analyser. This model sits neatly between the original compact NanoVNA and the much larger tablet-style SysJoint VNA, so calling it a midsized unit seems about right. Unlike the early NanoVNA designs, which were essentially bare circuit boards with no protective enclosure, this version comes housed in a proper case, giving it a much more robust and finished feel. The unit provides frequency coverage from 50 kHz through to 3 GHz, making it suitable for a wide range of RF measurement tasks. It’s supplied in a moulded plastic storage and carry case, with cut-outs for the analyser itself along with the open, short, and 50 ohm load SMA calibration pieces, plus room for leads. With its 105 mm × 65 mm colour display, SMA RF connectors and a rechargeable internal battery, the unit is well suited for portable analysis both in the shack and out in the field. Thanks Peter.
Rowan VK7III also gave us an in‑depth look at the MeshCore repeater map for Eastern Australia, which is freely accessible online. The interactive map displays live traffic between MeshCore nodes all the way down the eastern seaboard, including South Australia and Tasmania.
Rowan also explained how certain nodes can run “observer” software to capture local traffic data. This information is then forwarded over an internet connection to the map server, where it appears on the display in near real time.
Check out the link in the text version of the broadcast: eastmesh.au - Community MeshCore Network
What was special about the 5th of May this year? If May the 4th can be Star Wars Day, then the very next day deserves a mention as well.
May is the fifth month, so the 5th of the 5th at 5 o’clock gave us a perfect little moment of symmetry and a fitting anniversary. Because back in 1971, Swiss engineer Hans Camenzind was creating a chip that would become a legend in its own lifetime; the 555 timer. That makes this year its fifty-fifth birthday. And honestly, who in electronics hasn’t used one? For a design to last half a century and still be on workbenches everywhere, now that’s something worth celebrating.
A neat date for a timeless IC, the triple five.
As usual pictures will be available on the NTARC Web site under “Blogs” for this broadcast. NTARC Blogs
UPCOMING EVENTS
On Air Test and Technical Net session - Every Wednesday night, Test-Net and CW course on 3.580 MHz from 7 pm, then a Technical Net on 3.567 MHz from 7.30 pm till 8.30 pm. Your host for the evening is Nic, VK7WW.
Special Club Room Technical night - The next session will be this Wednesday the 13th May and will commence at the usual time of 6.30 pm at the Club Room Archer Street, Rocherlea. There will be a live stream of REAST presentation, “Our New Band Plans”, commencing at 7:30 pm.
Coffee Morning - Held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10 am to noon.
Finally - If you have any items of news please email them to the Secretary at the following address
news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5 pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73, Stefan VK7ZSB.
