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.

ZL2BD HV Magnetic Loop Butterfly Capacitor

The now very well regarded high voltage butterfly capacitor kit designed by Bernard Robbins ZL2BD will be launched by Branch 50 (Wellington) NZART in a couple of months time.

This will be your opportunity to acquire a butterfly capacitor suitable for an HF transmitting magnetic loop. The kit details and price will be available shortly, but enquiries can already be made to: tradingtable@zl2wb.com

Our shed workshop on 6 September 2020 will be an online Zoom session open to any amateur operator interesting in magnetic loop antennas. Bernard will be giving you all the details on transmitting magnetic loop antennas and he will demonstrate how to assemble the capacitor to make it easy for you to build the kit. It is dead simple to build!

Sunday 5 July: Hive Makerspace introduction and Demo by John ZL2XJ of the Nano-VNA

The programme for the afternoon meeting (1pm – 3pm at the Waitohi – Johnsonville Library) involved:

1] HIVE makerspace introduction and demonstration

Tūhura HIVE is the makerspace and sound studio, located on the lower ground floor of Johnsonville Library at the Waitohi Community Hub. It has facilities for:

  • 3D printing
  • 3D scanning
  • Laser cutting
  • Audio recording studio

One of the Makerspace Specialists gave a 30 minute introduction and discussion about the facilities available for Branch 50 member use.

The talk / walkthrough include a look over what is available in the Hive, A discussion of the objectives of the space, and some preliminary discussion on how we could use the space / get involved (either individually or as a group). This could be a good recruiting gdround for younger people interested in electronics.

The laser cutter, the 3D printers and possibly the 3D scanner (for replicating parts) would be of most interest to members.

2] For the second part of the afternoon John ZL2XJ gave a short talk / demonstration of the NanoVNA and the associated PC software tool to test filters and antennas.

The workshop finished at 2.45pm and several of us retired upstairs to Common Ground Café.