n 1914 a young Australian named Marcus J.G. Brims, who lived in the small, far north Queensland town of Mareeba, became the first licensed amateur radio operator in this Australian state!

His call sign was XQA (X= experimental, Q= Queensland, A= first issue in the state).

His permit was issued with a start date of the 7th of February 1914 his operating conditions were 160m band with 76w output.

The permit was revoked on the 6th of August 1914 due to the outbreak of WW1, and his equipment was surrendered to the Post Master General’s department for storage for the duration of the war!

The Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club (TREC) has been issued with the call sign VK4XQA and will be running an award program from the 7th of February 2014 to the 6th of August 2014 to celebrate the Centenary of the issue of this first license, to be eligible for the award certificate, TREC requires operators to have one (1) contact with 3 different TREC club members on any HF amateur band from 160m thru to 10m WARC inc’l. To receive the certificate TREC needs the contact times and the personal call sign of the TREC operators (this will be supplied during the contact with VK4XQA) AND $10 US to cover certificate and postage costs and your address details (most important)!

QSL cards will also be issued to stations that do not require or qualify for a certificate, to receive a QSL card please supply $2US and a self addressed envelope with your QSL card.

Tablelands Radio and Electronics Club Inc P.O. Box 682 Atherton QLD 4883 Australia

The award rules will also be available on the VK4XQA QRZ.COM page.

A roster of TREC operators with operating times and bands will be posted on the TREC web site - http://www.treclub.org.au and VK4XQA QRZ.COM before the commencement of the award period.