Meetings – Page 22

November 18, 2015November 19, 2015

CW Night

Our regular Wednesday 18 November meeting featured speakers with an interest in CW. It was an interesting night about keys, paddles, bugs and thoughts on the future of morse code.

WARC members admiring a Begali key. George ZL2AG’s monster 12″ key can be seen in the background.

We welcomed three members of Titahi Bay Branch 42 – Phil ZL2OWL, Max ZL2CVW and Ken ZL2TKY.

Phil and Max brought along their prized Begali keys. Phil has a collection of over 100 keys, but those he most frequently uses are all Begali keys. His Begali collection includes straight keys, mechanical bug keys, and single and double paddles.

Ralph Sutton (ZL2AOH) gave a very interesting talk on his introduction to morse code when he joined the navy, and then his continued use of morse when he joined the Merchant Navy. Ralph joined the ranks of amateur radio operators when he retired in 1990 as a result of encouragement from Trevor King, ZL2AKW, another of our WARC members. Ralph subsequently initiated the establishment of FISTS in New Zealand when the Morse Code requirement for licensing of radio amateurs was proposed for removal. New Zealand membership of FISTS peaked at just over 300 members and there are still over 150 members today.

A number of members shared about their own morse code experiences and George ZL2AG and Alex Paterson both brought along unique morse keys. George’s key was the biggest anybody had seen. He constructed the key himself many years ago. Alex’s key was also made by himself as a teenager. We wish Alex well in the amateur radio examination.

October 21, 2015October 23, 2015

October Meeting: Blackwood Cup

It was Blackwood Cup time again on Wednesday 21 October. Four members brought along home brew projects they had completed over the last 12 months and gave a brief talk on them. John ZL2HD somewhat surprised himself by winning the competition, and taking away the cup. Of course the winner gets to go and get the engraving put on the cup base!

John’s construction was a clock inspired by a clock he acquired from the estate of the late Bill Hamer ZL2CD. However, this one is controlled within microseconds of the real atomic time and sources its time via an arduino and a GPS chip. In a sign of the times, most of the project time was spent in writing the Arduino “sketch” or program that controls the clock. Well done John!

The runner up in the competition was Col ZL2COL who produced a rugged lightweight box for his FT857, power supply, tuner and other bits and pieces, including a swivel out light for the portable shack! This was put to the test on the South Coast at Karori Rock Lighthouse in the International Lighthouse Contest.

Other entries included James ZL2ET application of a Raspberry Pi to a miniature transmitter deployed on WSPR service. Don’t know what that is? Then come along to the February meeting to receive a full explanation and to see it demonstrated!

Ted ZL2TB showed us a very well constructed home brew interface between his rig and the sound card in his computer. No RF in the computer with that one!

The fact that we are still getting a muster of entrants every year means Wellington branch members and still doing some home construction!

August 23, 2015September 19, 2015

Wrights Hill and Mt Cook historical perspectives – 16 September 2015

Don Beswick ZL2BL spoke on underground activities at Wrights Hill, the possibility of an underground tunnel complex in Mt Cook (under the former Dominion Museum) and the No. 10 set used at the end of the second world war (and which was installed in several locations around Wellington).

Doug McNeil ZL2AOV noted in his report of the evening:

“Don Beswick ZL2BL entertained and informed members with a wide range of photocopied images from the Wrights Hill project and the No 10 set – a valve-based eight-channel multiplexed voice transmission and reception system operating around 4500MHz. He also outlined his research into what the military and/or civilians built under the Dominion Museum building in Buckle St, Mt Cook. Don is convinced there are still tunnels down there; though public records point only to several air raid shelters. Don is writing a book on the topic – “there’s a lot more down there than we’ve been led to believe” and is seeking Massey University (the site’s occupiers) support to excavate spots on the site. Don’s talk, and members’ comments, extended to similar developments at Palmer Head and elsewhere in New Zealand.”

August 21, 2015November 19, 2015

Wellington Broadband-Hamnet continues expansion

A bunch of Wellington amateur operators at the Special Interest Group held in early August.

There’s lots of things going on with Broadband-Hamnet. The mesh network is expanding. On 22 August 2015) new nodes were established at Gloaming Hill (to provide coverage in the Titahi Bay area) and at the Titahi Bay Branch 42 clubrooms. This also brought on board another amateur station. In addition an additional node in Johnsonville has resulted in improved stability for the link to Ngaio (with Nanostation M2s in Johnsonville pointing both north and south to provide the bridging path).

A successful SIG meeting was held in Tawa on 6 August with 18 enthusiasts turning out. A range of speakers whipped up interest amongst a range of local hams from branches across the region to join the mesh. The next Mesh net SIG meeting is scheduled for Thursday 17 September. Catch you there!

Several Wellington amateurs also caught up with Rob ZL1FLY on 24 August over some 807s. Rob is a mesh champion in Auckland and has an active role in providing IP services to NZ amateurs on the mesh. Since meeting up with Rob, James ZL2ET has extended on of his mesh nodes to be a virtual tunnelling (VTUN) client and has connected the Wellington mesh to the global mesh scene. This provides even more services and amateur connections. Fun!

A range of services are now available on the Wellington section of the mesh, including websites, VOIP and chat services. Check out the NZ Broadband Hamnet website for more information and to keep up to date on mesh happenings!