POSTPONED Branch meeting September 2021 – Colonial Knob Mesh Upgrade and Update

The view to the North from Colonial Knob

We are still at Covid Alert Level 2. Wellington City venues are not available for use, and to host at a member’s home would be challenging under existing requirements. Therefore, the Committee has decided to postpone the meeting. The Committee will review options on 23rd September.

At this meeting Ted ZL2TB and John ZL2XJ will give a presentation on the Colonial Knob high speed broadband node upgrade.  This is our most complex node in the network, with links northward to Mt Field and  Titahi Bay, to the East – in future to Mt Climie, and to the South the node connects to our Johnsonville node with a link onward to Ngaio.

This will be a chance to have a refresh on the possibilities of the high speed broadband network and see how our upgrade has benefited the mesh network.

Tea and coffee will be available after the meeting in the cafe upstairs, courtesy of the club.  All welcome!

August Meeting – Bob Morris ZL2AVM speaking on his time in TV broadcasting

Bob ZL2AVM (on right) with Ted ZL2TB, March 2021

Those who have heard Bob ZL2AVM speak about his days at sea or as a young person experimenting with amateur radio in Cornwall, will know that he always gives a great presentation.   

Those who came along to Bernard ZL2BD’s QTH at 1 Winsley Tce, Churton Park, on Sunday 15 August got to hear his latest talk on his career in Commercial Television Broadcasting. In turns out that ships and television transmitting stations weren’t so different after all!

Storms, and in particular, lightning strikes were a major concern, but fortunately Bob manages to escape being electrocuted, and hence was able to tell us his wild tales.

Shed Workshop 1 August 2021: Four approaches to knowing whether a band is open

How do you know whether a band is open?

There are a number of different ways to know if there is propagation on an HF band. Listening for stations on a band is not necessarily the best way to determine whether there is a band opening. If everybody is listening, and nobody is calling then the band will still seem to be dead. 

John ZL2XJ and Mike ZL1AXG demonstrated the use of beacons, DX clusters, the reverse beacon network, WSPR that can all help in determining the likelihood of a band being open.

The QTH for the Shed Workshop held on 1 August 2021 was that of John ZL2XJ at 9 Ridley Green, Churton Park.

18 July 2021 Meeting – Trevor ZL2AKW and the Br 50 Projects Group

Our meeting on 18 July at the Johnsonville Library (Waitohi Hub Makerspace) attracted 10 members.

Trevor ZL2AKW gave a talk on the Projects Group that developed a wide range of projects for ZL amateurs during the 1970’s through to the 1990’s.   He covered “the why, the how, and the outcome”.  Kits discussed included the QT silent tune up kit, the Chelmsford transceiver and tuners. Trevor also brought along some of the completed kits.

The Projects group had some very talented and well qualified contributors.  One in ten active NZ Hams of the era bought at least one kit. The Chelmsford CW transceiver was a popular kit for portable operation.  While some maybe were never completed, none went wrong!

Tea and coffee (courtesy of the club)was available after the meeting in the cafe upstairs.