Branch 50 (Wellington) NZART – Known as the Wellington Amateur Radio Club
Our 20 June 2017 meeting at the Lutheran Church Hall, King St, Mt Cook reflected our ever popular mid-winter Nosh n’ Natter. Plates of food (many heated up in the oven reflecting the colder weather) were pulled out after a very short business meeting. A valve VHF receiver was on display (thanks to the folk from Wrights Hill Fortress). There was lots of catch ups and chatter about amateur radio topics of interest to members.
All attendees at the 17 May meeting were invited to provide a tip that would make life better for others. Bernard ZL2BD’s tip at the April meeting got us started:
Bernard ZL2BD suggests that the iCom 13 pin accessory plug is a bit of an oddball, and that you can make an adapter to a DB15 socket that takes away the pain of soldering wires to the 13 pin plug. A range of other equipment can then be connected using standard DB15 plugs. These are cheap and easily soldered.
John ZL2HD brought along a bunch of 10 tips (not all amateur radio related). His best tips included:
John also suggested using Google Drive Scan to capture valuable documents (like your passport when travelling overseas). Mike ZL1AXG noted that Evernote Snanable (works on Android and iOS) would convert business cards into contacts in your phone book, meaning you can throw away business cards after scanning.
Mike ZL2VMH had a really helpful tip for people who regularly service equipment. Take a closeup photo. Mark on the printout things that are important (i.e. Main power lead, RF out, this contact is dodgy, etc.).
Mike ZL1AXG reminded all of the value of using your cellphone to record your car’s location when away from home — makes it easier to find it again!
Bernard ZL2HD had great suggestions for the use of US$2 buck, boost, or buck/boost boards from eBay. Buy them by the dozen and use them instead of a normal power supply (that means you can plug in any voltage power supply for your device and get the right voltage out to suit your circuit).
The incoming WARC Inc Committee met on Monday 27 March and have come up with an advance programme for the balance of this year:
Wed 19 April – SDR radios – a hands-on demo of the Icom IC7300
Wed 17 May – Vote on Remits Conference – A topic to be confirmed
Wed 21 June – Nostalgia nosh-up night – should be a good evening!
Wed 19 July – Topic to be confirmed
Wed 16 August – Valve-era competition night. This will be a fun night!
Wed 20 September – Our favourite presenter returns (subject to confirmation)
Wed 18 October – Annual Blackwood Cup (get the project going now!)
Wed 15 November – Remits night – topic to be confirmed
Wed 6 December – Christmas Dinner (with a new venue!)
The Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday 15 March 2017 at the Lutheran Church Hall, Mt Cook at 7.30pm. The meeting elected a new committee with a new Chairperson, John ZL2HD and a new Committee Member (Bernard ZL2BD).
Our Secretary-Treasurer (Doug ZL2AOV) continues in the role, whereas Mike ZL1AXG continues as a committee member. The meeting farewelled Bjorn ZL2ET from the Committee. WARC will look to reform itself again to being simply Branch 50 NZART as a result of falling membership.
