Posted on

February Meeting: 20 February – Superconductors

Levitation using superconducting magnets

Bernard ZL2BD will be giving a presentation at our February 20 Meeting on superconductors. There is a lot happening in this field, with significant implications for many everyday activities.

The meeting will be held in our regular venue – the Lutheran Church Hall, King St, Mt Cook, Wellington starting at 7.30pm. Tea and coffee will be provided after the talk. Everybody is welcome to attend.

John ZL2XJ plans to get the Branch on the air on Field Day. He will want to hear of amateurs who are keen to be involved in this activity on Saturday and Sunday.

Please take note of our AGM on 2 March 2019 at 7.30pm, Lutheran Church Hall as above.

Posted on

Multimeter Shed Workshop – Sunday 10 Feb

The shed workshop on Sunday 10 February was attended by five OMs. Several weren’t able to be present due to a conflict with the Vintage Radio Society. The conflicting time will be remedied for future shed workshops.

The topic for the workshop was provided by Bernard ZL2BD – an introduction to multimeter calibration.

Our measurements and calibration errors

Those attending the workshop brought along their multimeters and these were calibrated on the spot by those attending using an averaging method. Most of us were surprised how poorly the analogue meters (including an AVO) fared, and just how well our modern cheapie (and not so cheap) digital multimeters actually did.

A full report can be downloaded here:

Icon
Mulitmeter Calibration Workshop Report 587.61 KB

Posted on

January BBQ and Estate Sale

It’s summer time! BBQ time.

Our annual club BBQ was held on 16 January 2018 at the Chairperson’s QTH in Churton Park. 15 members and one partner were present.

Following the BBQ (approx. 7.30pm – 8pm), members disappeared into Mike’s garage to look over Silent Key Doug ZL2AOV’s collection of parts, projects and equipment. Around two thirds of the high value items received a bid in excess of the reserve and were sold on the night. Some missed out on the piece of gear they were seeking to acquire because they were over-bid. THere was also plenty of junk. Only five crates ended up at the tip, so most of Doug’s amateur radio gear was recycled into the deep junk boxes of club members. Some got absolute bargains!

Piles of junk, or real bargains?