Branch 50 (Wellington) NZART – Known as the Wellington Amateur Radio Club
Laura ZL2LEP, one of our teen members, can be seen operating the GB3RS amateur radio station at Blechley Park in the UK. Bletchley Park is known for its work in breaking the German Enigma code during World War II.
A club SDR receiver is up and running in Tangimoana (north of Wellington City) in a very quiet location for RF noise and can now be accessed by members and non-members via the KiwiSDR.com website. Search for ZL2WB to begin listening.
A web based remote HF receiver for RemoteDX members, and potentially a wider range of users was approved at the RemoteDX AGM in 2020. The remote SDR was funded and built by RemoteDX Inc. in September 2021. It was eventually installed under test at Tangimoana in May 2024. This project now falls under the control of the Wellington Amateur Radio Club.
The KiwiSDR is a 14-bit wideband RX only HF software defined radio created by John Seamons (ZL/KF6VO) which has up to 32 MHz of bandwidth, so it can receive the entire 10 kHz – 30 MHz VLF/LF/MW/HF spectrum all at once. However, it is not like a PC SDR as you do not connect the KiwiSDR directly to your PC. Instead the KiwiSDR is a cape (add on board) for the Beaglebone single board computing platform. Beaglebone is a small computing board that is like a Raspberry Pi. The KiwiSDR is designed to be a low-cost standalone unit that runs 24/7, connects to a HF antenna andinternet network, and shares 10 kHz – 30 MHz reception over the internet with up to 4 simultaneous users.
KiwiSDR is designed to be shared and accessed over the internet from anywhere in the world. You can connect to any one of more than 500 shared KiwiSDRs right now.
Tangimoana has been found to meet the key non-functional requirements for the SDR station, such as a low RF noise site, space for a suitable antenna, 230V mains supply and a good connection to the internet.
Power supply requirements for the Kiwi SDR and the Active Mag loop in use have taken account of the need for low RF noise at the site. The solution includes a Gel battery with a linear battery charger to achieve this.
Further equipment, including a second SDR receiver, is planned for the same location later this year to improve the resilience and capacity of the facility. A design report has been prepared and can be downloaded here:
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The Wellington Amateur Radio Club has now hosted four HamCrams (two in 2023 and two in 2024). We try and make it easy to get to be an amateur radio operator. We have had a consistently high pass rate of over 80% at our HamCrams.
There is already a wait list for a future HamCram. The timing of our next HamCram has not been confirmed, but will be no later than early 2025, and if there is sufficient interest it may be held as early as November 2024. Please write to Mike ZL1AXG to be on the wait list Please email Mike ZL1AXG now to pre-register for a HamCram. You won’t want to miss out!
Bernard ZL2BD explaining a technical point in the April 2023 HamCram
