Category: News

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CANCELLED: Branch 50 Meeting: 16 August @ Waitohi Johnsonville

WARC members admiring a Begali key. Trevor King ZL2AKW is on the far right

MEETING CANCELLED AND TALK POSTPONED. THE PANDEMIC LEVEL HAS BEEN RAISED TO LEVEL 2 AND WAITOHI MEETING ROOM IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

Trevor King, ZL2AKW, a former NZART President and Council member, has a long history of involvement in amateur radio, Trevor is also an honorary life member of Branch 50 NZART and has been coming along to our meetings for over 50 years (see Trevor on the far right in the photo above).

Trevor will be sharing about his career and interest in amateur radio over the years.  Trevor was first “on the Air” as a 14-year-old schoolboy living in Palmerston North.  That was back in 1948.  He was initially assigned the call-sign ZL2AGC.   

It is worth pointing out that Trevor was one of the founding members of the Branch’s earlier Projects Group that brought a number of kitset projects to NZ amateurs, and was also actively involved in contesting (with a special interest in CW) and in the Quartz Hill User Group.

Trevor’s Bio will contribute to our Member Bios collection that will shortly be made available to members  through our website (via login only).   

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Shed Workshop: An introduction to a low cost SDR Spectrum Analyser

SDR Spectrum Analyzer

Our Ted Talk for the year (from Ted ZL2TB) was scheduled for Sunday 2 August from 1pm to 3pm at Ted’s QTH, 14 Quigley St, Newlands. Thirteen members enjoyed Ted’s introduction to his low cost SDR Spectrum Analyser (available for around $500) that can be procured through the internet. This device can be used for all sorts of purposes, with slightly differing models having slightly different features.

Ted gave a practical demonstration of potential use cases that reflected his personal interests in the VHF, UHF and microwave spectrum, such as looking at the output of the FM radio stations on Mt Kaukau in Wellington, the transponder outputs (including half transponders) from satellite signals able to be received in Wellington. Given the affordability of the device and potential to examine a broad spectrum all at once, this session was of interest to members.

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50 Years for Wellington VHF Group

Wellington VHF Group was formally formed in August 1970, as a sub group of Wellington Branch 50. This August marks the 50th anniversary of this meeting, where Bill Hamer ZL2CD moved that the Group be formed.

According to the latest Q-Bit, the VHF Group is planning to hold a celebration to recognise reaching 50 years this August. They are looking for expressions of interest in the event.

They will hold their regular Thursday night meeting on the 27th August and dedicate the evening to short talks on events and projects that the Group has initiated, such as the Wellington Walkie, the UHF National System, Belmont repeater, ATV, various repeaters and other projects, even the DMR National System and the Colonial Knob project.

On Saturday evening, 29 August, they plan to hold a dinner as the main social event.

If you are keen to participate, the Wellington VHF Group would love to hear from you and if you have ideas to add, they would like to hear from you.

Please email the secretary@vhf.nz

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Shared lunch on Sunday 19 July

Bring something for sharing with other club members

Our mid-winter nosh up was held on Sunday, 19 July 2020, from 12 noon until 2pm. We enjoyed the warm of Bernard’s QTH with a smaller group of nine members attending. There was lots of good food and plenty left over and lots of chat. Members of the committee outlined progress in getting the Trading Table under way (including the new section added to the website and production of 15 Magnetic Loop Butterfly Capacitor kits). There was also discussion of the opportunity provided by the Maker Hive at Waitohi (Johnsonville Library) to attract younger members. There was endorsement of the idea of making available simple kitset projects to people interested in electronics. Several members were available to provide guidance to people of any age in using soldering stations at Waitohi. Use of the 3D printers could enhance interest in construction and digital techniques.

We also asked questions of George ZL2AG on his employment in the Post Office (and later Telecom) and his long history of involvement in amateur radio and vintage radio. A video recording was made of George’s interview, that will be available to members via this website in future. Others also reminisced on the “good old days” of amateur radio.