ZL2GT Napier Amateur Radio Club Inc

Good Operators Guide by Riley Hollingsworth FCC

The following hints are a starting point for being a good operator. They have been put together from various statements made by Riley Holingsworth of the FCC during many different presentations he has made.

Please think about them.

You don’t “own” or get preference to use any frequency.

Realize that every right carries responsibilities, and just because you may have a right to do certain things doesn’t mean it’s right to do them in every circumstance.

Give a little ground–even if you have a right not to–in order to help preserve Amateur Radio and not cause it to get a bad name or hasten the day when it becomes obsolete.

Respect band plans, because they make it possible for every mode to have a chance.

Be aware that we all love Amateur Radio, and there’s no need to damage or disgrace it just to save face.

Cut a net or a contester a break, even if you don’t have to and even if you have no interest whatsoever in nets or contesting.

Don’t operate so that whoever hears you becomes sorry they ever got into (or tuned in on) Amateur Radio in the first place.

Keep personal conflicts off the air. Settle your arguments on the telephone, the Internet or in person. Just keep them off the air.

Stan, Lee and Peter went to the clubrooms and:
1) Hung the ladder up on the wall in the shack.
2) removed all the records from the wardrobe and Stan made a big start to sorting them out
3) Took the wardrobe, old glass cabinet, and other stuff to Marewa junk dealer. Stan was amazed when I brought back $40.00
4) Cut out 2 shelves just below the tea counter and re-located the beacon under the shelf. Strangely, it still works!
5) Mounted the white bulletin board on the right hand side wall near the op desk.
6) Peter arrived and we removed all the old gear from under the long green bench that the beacon was on. Peter took most of it home to sort out and check for operation.
7) put a lot of records back under the long beacon cabinet and has a box of paper for recycling
8) Lee removed all the old Canadian Air force manuals for re-cycling.
9) The following day, Laurie ZL2TC was in and ran a cap strip down the wall and sorted the coaxial cables. The VHF and UHF radios are now operational.

The shack looks amazing!

Still a bit more to do. Lee got the AEA Electronic Keyer going and has won a Trade-me bid on a Galbraith keying paddle to be donated to the club.

Thanks for the help guys. More to come!

Five of us gave it a good go on 21 – 22 July in the recent ZL – VK Contest with call sign ZL2GT. It kept us occupied on air from 8pm Sat. night until 2am Sunday morning at the Guides/Scout Camp east of Hastings near Haumoana. We ran dipole aerials on 80m (CW mode) and 160m (Phone mode).

There was much frustration being able to hear and not work many VK stations but we did manage a few but it certainly was not our best year, our guys on 80m/CW made similar comments. ZL event stations with large/gain aerials seemed to have the edge over our dipoles but having said that our contact numbers were creditable but the VK multipliers were not as we had hoped.

We can at least be happy with our “Boys Weekend Away”. Many thanks to those who worked us, every point helps. Photographs below……
David ZL2DW

Secret Operating Technique