18 June – Monster Shed Workshop – Construction of Flowerpot Antennas

We held a MONSTER shed workshop to construct flowerpot antennas on Sunday 18 June at The Collective Community Hub, 1/33 Johnsonville Rd, . Around 30 people turned out and 22 antennas were built. The event commence dat 1.30pm with an introduction to the build by Bruce ZL2ABC. Teams of 4 to 5 people worked through a number of “stations” in building their antennas. We needed to be out of the building by 4pm, which was rather tight!

A special thanks to Bruce’s XYL who provided scones and personal service at the tea/coffee zone.

This was a special shed workshop for any amateur (or prospective amateur operator) interested in building their own Flowerpot Antenna (see https://vk2zoi.com/articles/dual-band-half-wave-flower-pot/).   Members of other Wellington region clubs were welcome to participate in this activity!

The cost of the antenna was $20.

Shed Workshop: Sunday 23 April – VHF/UHF handhelds

We met on Sunday 23 April from 1pm – 3pm at Bernard’s QTH, 1 Winsley Terrace, Churton Park. 15 people showed up.

We were able to welcome several of our HamCrammers and those on the wait list for the next HamCram as well as regular and other new members.

Topics covered included:

  • A general overview of the broad range of interests within amateur radio
  • A discussion on future topics for shed workshops that are of interest to those starting out in amateur radio
  • A quick guide and Q & A on options for handheld transceivers for VHF/UHF

The Shed Workshop concluded with tea, coffee and nibbles.

Shed Workshop on 6 March: The ZC1 test jig & a replacement vibrator

For anybody who has been around in amateur radio for a while, the ZC1 will be well known. It was developed by Collier and Beale during WW2 for use by the NZ armed forces. As it covered both 80m and 40m, it was highly prized by hams, in an era when commercially made equipment was hard to come by.

On Sunday 6 March 2022 Bernard ZL2BD gave a talk (on Zoom) on a ZCI test jig that he built, and has used to test the working of several ZC1s. The club owns a ZC1 that is for sale to any member interested in purchasing it and was tested using this test jig.

Bernard also demonstrated a replacement vibrator that doesn’t require modification of the ZC1 power supply. He is still working on variants to perfect this.

11 members and visitors joined in on the Zoom session, which was very well received by those attending.