Branch 50 (Wellington) NZART – Known as the Wellington Amateur Radio Club
A regular shed workshop was held on 5 November 2023 at The Collective Community Hub in Johnsonville. Mike ZL1AXG gave a presentation on the kitset from QRP-Labs. A completed build of the kitset, a partly completed build, and a kit as yet to be built (from John ZL2XJ) were available to view.
The presentation is available below as a PDF.
Wellington Branch 50 NZART has three teen members: Daniel ZL2DTL (13), Alek ZL3ALK (15), and Findlay ZL2JVM (16), who all gained their operator’s certificate during 2023. Mike ZL1AXG arranged for them to visit the shack of Todd ZL2SP in Porirua.
Todd has a collection of HF beams and some very nice HF equipment. The three new amateurs were able to rotate the big antennas, tune the wide open HF bands and make contacts far afield. The team thoroughly enjoyed the morning out at Todd’s QTH!
On Saturday 16 September you will have the chance to practice sending messages in an Emergency Communications exercise involving Branch 50 and Branch 42 (Titahi Bay) of NZART.
Ross ZL2UAC will be net control. Operations will be on DMR repeaters (Wrights Hill Wellington and Colonial Knob, Porirua) from your home QTH.
You should have been contacted by email this week if you had earlier indicated an interest in emergency communications, were in one of our HamCrams, or a member of Branch 50 or Branch 42 NZART. Pre-registration is no longer required. AREC membership is not required.
You will be operating on VHF/UHF DMR repeaters locally and based from home. You will need to check in with Net Control at 4pm. You will need to provide a SITREP when you are called in. Please read the document “Radio Voice Procedures” attached to the email, that will explain the requirements for a SITREP.
It should be fun!
On Sunday 27 August the Wellingon Amateur Radio Club and the Cross-Country Vehicle Club combined forces on a special Cross Country event to check out radio operation in the Akatarawa ranges. Max (ZL2MXN) organised the event. Max was a graduate of the July HamCram. A total of 9 vehicles ventured out with a number of amateurs in the group (a combination of Branch 50 NZART and 4WD members).
James ZL4JOCO reported:
“A good day out, proving that the Mount Clime 730 repeater is the easiest of the repeaters to access from all sorts of locations. I got contacts on Climie 730, Belmont 710 and Porirua ZL DMR. I even managed Mount Clime from Orange Hutt which is pretty much in the centre of the forest and down at the bottom of a valley. I also managed to get the HT to get an APRS position packet to the Ngaio digipeater. That was from a ridge line under a pylon.”
Well done Max and team!
