MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
Meeting on Wednesday 5 April 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street
Chair: Paul ZL2HB, the meeting started at 7:30 pm.
Present: Revell ZL2SS, Blue ZL3TT, Stan ZL2ST, Michael ZL2MY, Rob ZL2US, Stu ZL2XC, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Peter ZL2HM, Phil ZL2RO, Karl ZL1TJ and visitor from Rotorua Craig ZL1ER.
Apologies: ZL2MQ, ZL2MO and ZL2VM.
Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL3TT, ZL2MY.
Arising: Rob ZL2US regarding the suggested follow up the Branch 13 licensing course. The idea is good, however the H.B. Radio club tried something similar but found there was little interest.
Paul 2HB assured Rob there was no intention to compete with the HBARC. Suggested by Peter 2HM to try the American ‘Elmer’ or mentor system to support new hams. To be further discussed.
Correspondence: Email exchange with ELG’s Steve Fogerty about the 2m beacon frequency.
We have now been allocated 144.263 MHz which is satisfactory. After advertising in Infoline and a 10 day break to allow for objections the beacon may be activated.
Outwards: a submission to NZART regarding the Arthur (Jumbo) Godfrey Memorial Award.
Finance: Payment of $50 to NZART for the beacon frequency change. Some subs remain unpaid.
General Business: Rob ZL2US reported on the the recent visit to the Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) and the Maritime Operations Centre (MOC), both in the Avalon building complex, Hutt Valley. The MOC is in the Avalon tower building which is very earthquake proof but will move/sway even in very light winds. All nine participants enjoyed the excursion.
Blue ZL3TT was thanked by Paul for the visit to his workplace which was also very interesting.
Karl reported that the club’s FT1000 is awaiting two replacement powersupply diodes.
Blue mentioned that angle iron for the tilt over antenna mast has now been procured at no cost.
Craig ZL1ER told the meeting a little about the Rotorua Amateur Radio Club which is this year hosting the NZART annual conference. The RARC is a well organised club with some 30 members.
There are two monthly meetings, one formal and the second one technical. Repeaters have recently been relocated and upgraded and the 435 repeater can handle all modes. Craig also talked about his own experiences as a ham, a D-Star hotspot will become active at his QTH soon.
Stan mentioned an enquiry in the Infoline newsletter for information about ‘Sinewave’ George.
Probably George Stanbury ZL2OP.
The meeting closed at 8:10 pm.
Followed by a most interesting talk by Dave ZL2DW regarding his involvement with the Hawke’s Bay Mountain Radio Service. This is an autonomous radio network operated by volunteers with bases in Rotorua, Hastings and Wellington in the North Island and a more centralsised system based in Christchurch covering the whole of the South Island. Users, who are mostly trampers, hunters and the like, hire a portable low power (4 Watt) 3MHz SSB transceiver for the duration of their trip (cost $8/day) and can call in at scheduled times for weather reports, messages or whatever.
Calls can be made at any time in case of emergency. The radio comes with a simple dipole which needs to be strung out between trees or bushes. The range can be considerable in spite of the low power and the system has proven to be invaluable on many occasions. Dave told the stories of a few recent calls involving the local rescue helicopter. The most regular call: ‘My mate went out last night and did not come back’. Dave’s response: ‘Bang some pots and pans for a while’ often works.
Karl ZL1TJ Sec. NARC.