ZL2GT Napier Amateur Radio Club Inc

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 6 December 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm.

Present: Revell ZL2SS, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Michael ZL2MY, Wally ZL2MO,

Paul ZL2HB, Blue ZL3TT, Errol ZL2IT, Stan ZL2ST, Mike ZL2VM and Karl ZL1TJ.

Apologies: ZL2XC and ZL2US.

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL2HB, ZL2MO.

Arising: Dave 2DW: both the annual combined branches end of year dinner and the ‘summer wine’ bus trip went well. The latter saw 9 participants, no one was ‘evicted or arrested’ for misbehaving.

Correspondence: various email correspondence regarding the 2018 hamfest. Advertising and seeking speakers. Requests for support from radio equipment suppliers resulted in one ‘no thank you’ and one ‘no reply’. Email from Stu 2XC, in Papua NG for the week, available for 40m QSO’s.

Finance: RSM invoice for licence fees has been paid by direct debit. Transfer of cheque signing authority from Stan to Paul has been achieved with the usual bank hassles. The Napier CC ground rent account can now be paid.

General Business:

Dave 2MQ: A second run of the pool Cue antenna kitset has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Wally obtained quotes for the hire of spray painter, cherry picker, cost of paint and sign lettering.

Errol offered his spray painter for use by the club. Some discussion led to the conclusion that the roof, being low pitch, can be safely painted without the use of additional equipment.

Errol suggested that, considering the great job building custodian Wally has done on the interior of the clubrooms, the club could perhaps consider looking at replacing the ageing chairs. Stan explained the history of the existing chairs. To be further considered at the next committee meeting.

Karl reported briefly on the state of hamfest preparations, advertising is in place, several speakers have confirmed availability. The venue has been booked but details of catering etc. need to be finalized.

The meeting closed at 8:07 pm.

And was followed by Dave 2MQ presenting a slide show explaining the multi band, microprocessor based SWR meter he has designed and built as the club’s next project. The meter can be offered as a partially built kitset or fully built up and should, all going well, be available at the April 7th hamfest. One built up meter could be the raffle prize. Dave’s excellent presentation, showing both the versatile electronic hardware available now and also what can be done with simple programming, will fill one of the slots at the hamfest, ideally the first or second one.

Being the end of year meeting the customary liquid refreshment etc. made the evening special.

Karl ZL1TJ Secretary NARC.

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 1 November 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm.

Present: Revell ZL2SS, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Wally ZL2MO, Paul ZL2HB, Blue ZL3TT, Errol ZL2IT, Stan ZL2ST, Rob ZL2US, Stu ZL2XC and Karl ZL1TJ.

Apologies: ZL2VM.

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL2MO, ZL3TT.

Arising: Dave ZL2DW: waiting to hear back from Masterton Radio Club regarding numbers for the proposed second run Pool Q 2 band antenna. Whanganui may also be interested.

Dave 2MQ: costing comes to $45 plus freight if any.

Dave 2DW: the annual Waipawa meeting and dinner was another success, about 20 attended.

Dave 2MQ: all equipment offered on Trade me was sold for fair prices, the club’s coffers benefited.

Correspondence: Accounts from Napier City Council for annual ground rental, account from Radio Spectrum Management for licence fees. Email correspondence regarding the proposed hamfest and possible presentators.

Finance: To be presented at the AGM following the monthly meeting.

General Business: Dave 2DW: The annual end of year joint branches dinner will be held at the Napier RSA restaurant 0n Saturday 24 November starting 6pm. Bookings required asap.

Also the next Branch 13 meeting will be on the 22nd and include both the AGM and the annual home brew contest. This year will also see a repeat of the popular ‘Summer wine’ bus trip and lunch. All welcome to join, talk to Dave 2DW or Rob 2US.

Revell 2SS: did an Internet search of amateur radio club buildings and signage on these in connection with proposed added signs for the NARC building. Revell printed a number of these off for us to check and get inspired and hopefully persevere with the project.

Dave 2DW opened a brief discussion on next year’s (7 April) Hamfest. Proposed to follow previous format with Friday night registration and meet up and Saturday dinner at the RSA or similar. Dave 2MQ to make firm bookings, also check out catering etc.. Paul 2HB suggested another attempt is made to find a commercial sponsor. Karl to check out. The speakers to be invited and other details will be discussed at this month’s committee meeting (21st).

Stan 2ST reported briefly on last weekends CQ worldwide CW contest.

The meeting closed at 8:05 pm.

It was followed by the AGM after which two contenders presented construction projects:

Stu ZL2XC, a microprocessor (Arduino) based device with touch screen control, communicating with the transceiver, driving two servo motors and band switch relays to automatically adjust the antenna tuner to a perfect match. The device being in the prototype stage looked vey promising and Hi Tech and we are looking forward to see the device fully operational.

Errol ZL2IT presented a truly innovative idea: a water cooled 50 MHz 250 W linear amplifier. Why water cooled? Because large heatsinks are expensive and the shed happened to yield a suitable car heater core. And just for the fun of it. Again, about 90% completed, it looks promising and we are looking forward to see the finished product.

The vote for the most innovative project went to Errol’s amplifier with a very small margin.

Karl ZL1TJ Secretary NARC.

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 4 October 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm.

Present: Revell ZL2SS, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Wally ZL2MO, Paul ZL2HB, Blue ZL3TT, Errol ZL2IT, Mike ZL2VM, Stan ZL2ST, Michael ZL2MY and Karl ZL1TJ. Apologies: ZL2US.

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL2HB, ZL3TT.

Arising: Dave ZL2DW: following up on Errol’s querie about the week-end licensing course costs it has now been agreed that NZART’s reduced part year membership fees allow the cost to be reduced.

Correspondence: email exchanges regarding the possibility of DF (fox hunt) exercises (Errol 2IT) and some interest from the Masterton club in the 2014 club pool Que antenna project (Dave 2DW).

Finance: Account for $250 presented by Karl for radio equipment purchased from SWL estate.

General Business: Dave 2DW: the next Branch 13 meeting will be the annual excursion to Waipawa, dinner at Mulligan’s, all welcome and spare seats may be available. Also, the Masterton Radio Club may be interested in buying a few of our (2014) pool Q 2m/70cm kitset antennas. Are we interested? Dave 2MQ offered to do a costing for another run, Dave 2 DW to find out the numbers required. The kitset could possibly also be sold at the 2018 Hamfest.

A working bee is planned for Saturday 14 October. Jobs to do: painting of soffits and windows, repair gutters, replace outside lights, refit the Gillchrist Memorial Hall lettering and a few minor jobs. A show of hands showed adequate support.

Karl: equipment purchased from SWL estate to be sold on Trade me by Dave 2MQ to boost club funds. Club members interested can set a reserve and purchase items at that price if the is reserve is not met on Trade me. Contact Dave or Karl.

Errol’s presentation to Branch 13 of the concept of a simple offset tuning attenuator added to a handheld 2 m radio was received well. He will repeat the demonstration at the NARC Open door on Sunday 15.10 (1:30 pm). There is some interest form some members from both branches to get together and build this device to eventually be followed up by a DF ‘fox hunt’ exercise. Suggested by Dave 2DW: a Pakowai Hall BBQ after. Napier clubrooms may also be suitable?

At the September committee meeting the 3 band yagi antenna and support system was discussed. The committee, with the exception of Revell ZL2SS is not overly enthusiastic about proceeding with this, at least for the time being. It is a big job and the difficulties to make structures safe and vandal proof appear to be substantial. Dave 2MQ asked how often club member would use the equipment and out of all present only two, possibly three members made a commitment.

It was decided not to proceed for the time being.

Dave 2MQ reminded all that our next meeting will be the AGM and that nominations are now called for. In particular a new treasurer is needed as Stan 2ST is now, after many years of great service to the club, definitely resigning the position. Consider giving this a go, it is not a demanding job and support from President and Secretary is always there. Contact Dave or Karl.

Finally a request from Errol 2IT: I am restoring WW2 radio equipment, does anyone have spares, in particular valves such as 1T4, 1S5 etc..

The meeting closed at 8:25pm.

Followed by our annual quiz and (not very) sticky bun event. Questions from the NZART data bank and an interesting range of general knowledge ones kept us entertained for a while. Winners: Revell 2SS came 1st, shared 2nd and 3rd Dave 2DW and Peter 2CD. Thank you Dave 2MQ for organizing.

Karl ZL1TJ Secretary NARC.

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 6 September 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm. Dave welcomed Peter Mulhare ZL2IK

Present: Revell ZL2SS, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Wally ZL2MO, Paul ZL2HB, Blue ZL3TT, Errol ZL2IT, Mike ZL2VM, Peter ZL2HM, Stan ZL2ST, Michael ZL2MY, Peter ZL2IK and Karl ZL1TJ. Apologies: ZL2US.

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL2HB, ZL3TT.

Arising: The club’s 2m and 6m beacons are now fully operational after fitting the aerials by ZL2MQ, 2VM and 1TJ on 10.8 and heaving the mast back up with assistance of 2HB, 2MY, 3TT, 2IT and 2ALK on Saturday 12.8. Thanks to all.

Correspondence: Inwards: Bank Statements. Outwards: Article (re: beacons) to Break In magazine.

Finance: The club received a refund of $200 from lines company Unison.

General Business: Dave ZL2DW reported that, in spite of 12 people initially registering an interest in the proposed ‘Boot camp’ licensing course, only one has actually paid the prerequisite deposit. The course is now unlikely to proceed. A fairly lengthy discussion followed seeking the reasons for this and potential alternative approaches. Some of the comments made: Paul 2HB: Amateur radio needs to be promoted as a community service in times of disaster. Peter 2IK: Whangarei classes went well in March but a recent repeat saw no takers, perhaps too soon or else wrong time of the year for other reasons. Dave 2MQ: is Break-out sent to school science teachers? Dave 2DW: I have promoted AR to schools for years but nothing has ever come out of that. I suppose if youngsters want to find us they will through the internet. Paul 2HB: newspaper advertising? Peter 2IK:Rotary Club advertising does not work any more. Errol 2IT questioned the $200 cost. Dave 2DW explained the fee which includes membership for Bch 13 and NZART.

The fee may be partially waved in case of hardship. Errol: We need to re-brand ourselves as Radio Experimenters, doing away with the amateur label. It has negative connotations.

Blue reported contacting the Napier City Council regarding road signage. He was told that the NARC does not qualify for this service.

The meeting closed at 8pm.

Followed by Mike ZL2VM explaining his other interest namely radio astronomy. There is a branch of this science that, other than ‘listening to the Stars’ involves listening to electro magnetic phenomena in the Earth’s immediate envelope. Radio waves are generated by such phenomena as electro static build up and lightning but also through external influences such as solar flux and flares. Surprisingly, such electro magnetic waves exist at very low frequencies (VLF) and can be monitored with relatively simple equipment e.g. the sound card of a computer. Radio skills are needed to employ filters to block local interference signals. The topic is huge and Mike suggests the following resources for those interested:

Crab Nebula

https://youtu.be/ZiGuh0yISao

Inspire Project

http://theinspireproject.org/

Live VLF RX’s

http://www.abelian.org/vlf/

SuperSiD

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/

Spectrum Lab

http://www.qsl.net/dl4yhf/spectra1.html

XiVERO VLF RX

www.xivero.com

Radio-Sky Pipe

http://www.radiosky.com/skypipeishere.html

Live RX

<http://kiwisdr.jks.com:8073/>

SDR RX

http://www.sdrplay.com/rsp2pro/>

Mike’s talk was followed up by Peter ZL2IK who shared his recent experimentation with WSPR, Weak Signal Propagation Reporting, which is in some ways related to the previous topic as it may also involve radio waves at audio frequencies. Peter mentioned Schumann resonances which are global electromagnetic resonances, generated and excited by lightning discharges in the cavity formed by the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere. This cavity forms a wave guide tuned to 7.8 Hertz. Peter’s WSPR activities are usually around 630m. Another fascinating talk.

Karl ZL1TJ Sec. NARC.

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 2 August 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm. Dave welcomed visitor Ron ZL4RMF.

Present: Revell ZL2SS, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Wally ZL2MO, Paul ZL2HB, Blue ZL3TT, Errol ZL2IT, Lamont ZL2ALK, Ron ZL2RMF and Karl ZL1TJ. Apologies: ZL2VM, ZL2XC, ZL2US.

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL3TT, ZL2HB.

Arising: Dave 2DW, the Branch 13 auction was another success, one Branch 25 member coming away with an exceptional bargain. (ZL2MO)

Dave 2MQ: the Club’s beacons are now soak testing on the workbench at my QTH.

Correspondence: email correspondence outwards: Break-in advert seeking Hamfest papers. Inwards: response from Debby NZART regarding our request to present a united front to energy retailers, mail from Peter Raeburn regarding his late (SWL) father’s receivers and a bank statement.

Finance: Term deposit was rolled over for 6 months. Subs paid by ZL3TT, received $20 from 2HB for surplus TV signal strength meter.

General Business: Errol: came across an interesting concept: Offset attenuator used for desensitizing receivers while direction finding (e.g. foxhunting). Google this for more information.

Consequently a discussion on ‘having a go’ at a DF excercise was discussed. Perhaps one of the Club’s Sunday pm get togethers, finishing with a bbq at the clubrooms? To be followed up.

Blue: it would appear that the Napier City Council supports the idea of club rooms being made more prominent with the installation of AA style signs. This may be suitable for NARC? Blue to check this out. Dave 2MQ reminded us that some form of sign on the street site of the clubrooms was discussed before and needs to be followed up.

The meeting closed at 8pm.

Show and Tell:

Started off by Dave 2DW, Postage Stamp sized section aerial revisited. Dave showed with drawings and photographs the improvements to his horizontal square loop antenna.

Addition of a balun and common mode choke and a loading coil at the corner opposite the feed point made the aerial now use-able at all bands except 160m.

Errol presented a recent addition to his electronic design and build arsenal: free software to design printed circuit boards. This relates to the demonstration of similar software by Dave 2MQ few weeks ago. The “easyeda” program is as the name says easy to operate and has a huge component library. Find it through Google.

Ron ZL4 RMF, from Dunedin, presently looking after Rob 2US’s place, told us a bit about himself.

He calls himself a 160 meter man and made a strong case for having a go at this section of the band. Ron is listening most night at 9pm, 1850 KHz.

Ron also mentioned the very useful Australian government website where propagation can be checked quickly and easily anytime of the day: http://www.sws.bom.gov.au/

Karl ZL1TJ Sec. NARC.

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 5 July 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm.

Present: Revell ZL2SS, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Wally ZL2MO, Paul ZL2HB, Mike ZL2VM, Stan ZL2ST, Blue ZL3TT and Karl ZL1TJ. Apologies: ZL2IT, ZL2XC, ZL2US.

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL2MO, ZL2MQ.

Arising: Dave 2MQ: the beacon transmitters on test may need some temperature stabilisation, most likely thermostatically controlled cooling fans.

The maintenance work scheduled for 22 June was postponed due to adverse weather conditions. This is now scheduled for 27 July: beacon aerial installation and gutter repairs. Paul 2HB suggested warmer weather is needed to complete the (soffit and windows) paint job.

Stan mentioned that NZART Conference photos, now available on the Web, appear to show fewer grey heads, are hams getting younger? This was confirmed by Dave 2DW who was there.

Correspondence: email correspondence regarding the disposal of the FTdx400. Inwards: Bank statement.

Finance: Stan 2ST: Current account balance $905, other accounts as previously reported.

General Business: Dave 2DW: A firm date has now been set for the Branch 13 weekend licensing course: 16 and 17 September. Mike 2VM reported knowing one candidate from Napier to take part.

The Branch 13 equipment auction and scrap metal collection is scheduled for 26 July, all welcome.

The Cornflakes Net annual luncheon will be noon, 12 July, Napier RSA restaurant.

Karl: The Napier Radio Club August meeting will be ‘Show and Tell’, as in previous years.

Blue 3TT mentioned broadband fibre presently being installed in Latham Street. Should the club apply for a connection? Karl: perhaps joining forces with The Menzshed may be more economical?

The meeting closed at 8pm.

Paul 2HB reported having made contact with the local scouting groups. Not a great deal of interest in participating in the forthcoming ‘Jamboree on the air’ event was shown. Consequently Paul decided not to proceed with further preparation.

A discussion on the potential and practicalities of a D-Star repeater for the Napier area followed.

Dave 2MQ brought and demonstrated the assembled prototype of the Club’s project, the multi band microprocessor driven ‘Mega’ SWR meter. Calibration and further testing are next.

This is a magnificent device with excellent features.

Needed now: someone with artistic capabilities to draw the front and rear panel decals.

Karl ZL1TJ Sec. NARC.

MINUTES OF THE NAPIER AMATEUR RADIO CLUB

Meeting on Wednesday 7 June 2017 at the Clubrooms 123 Latham Street

Chair: Dave ZL2MQ, the meeting started at 7:30 pm.

Present: Laurie ZL2TC, Revell ZL2SS, Rob ZL2US, Peter ZL2CD, Dave ZL2DW, Wally ZL2MO, Paul ZL2HB, Mike ZL2VM, Ray ZL2RB, Michael ZL2MY, Stan ZL2ST, and Karl ZL1TJ. Apologies: ZL2IT.

Special presentation: Dave ZL2DW, having attended the NZART annual conference presented on behalf of NZART the Arthur (Jumbo) Godfrey Memorial Award to Laurie ZL2TC. A copy of the Submission to NZART in support of Laurie’s nomination is attached to these minutes.

The Napier Amateur Radio Club, Branch 25 of the NZART,  nominates Laurie Winton ZL2TC for the Arthur (Jumbo) Godfrey Memorial Award.

We submit the following in support of our nomination:

# Laurie has given his full support to Branch 25 for 35 years

# He was a tutor for the ham licencing exam at the local Technical Institute for some years (1980’s)

# He built and maintained the club’s repeaters since 1982

# He was the club’s Repeater Trustee for most of that period

# He was Branch 25 President for 12 years (2003-15)

# He was the Branch Conference Delegate on many occasions

# He was always active within the club, ran the Hawke’s Bay Hamfest (2016), a number of construction projects, regularly presented technical talks, active in contesting, Dx-ing etc..

Minutes of previous meeting: Read and confirmed to be correct: ZL2HB, ZL2VM.

Arising: Karl: the licence for the new 2m beacon frequency has now been activated. Our proxy at the NZART AGM was Steve ZL2UCX. Dave 2MQ: The newly re-built beacons are now soak testing on dummy loads, awaiting aerial installation.

Correspondence: Outward: Thank you to Morris ZL2AAA for building our 40 and 80m bandpass filters, email to Steve Fogerty re beacon licence, email to Debbie NZART re power account.

Inward: responses to these emails, also email from Laurie 2TC re beacon aerial connections and email from Dave 2DW re using a a drone to install aerials over large trees at next open day.

Finance: Accounts presented for payment: Wally for building materials, Dave 2MQ for parts for the band pass filters and Karl for replacement parts for the FT1000 powersupply.

General Business: Dave ZL2DW: reported on attending the Rotorua NZART annual conference and AGM. Proceedings were civilised and ran smoothly. Remits 1 and 2 passed, remit 3 was defeated. Various workshops attended by Dave were well presented and interesting.

Also: the July meeting of Branch 13 will feature the annual donated equipment and junk sale.

Karl: the club made second place in the recent Jock White field day contest. Our score being close to the winners, our regular foes Patea.

Rob ZL2US: the next weekend licencing course will be end of August or beginning of September. There are 10 or so interested at this stage. A switch to using laptop computers instead of books is being considered. All interested to contact Dave 2DW or Rob 2US.

Karl: The club’s most recent fix-it day did not produce the desired outcome due to adverse weather.

It was agreed to give this another go on June 22. To do: install beacon aerials, fix the gutter and some painting (soffits and windows).

The meeting closed at 8 pm.

Followed by Dave 2MQ presenting the enclosure with completed front and rear panels for the club’s project, the ‘Mega’ SWR meter. Dave explained the concept and execution of what is going to be a fairly amazing piece of gear with the aid of block diagrams. Also a brief introduction into the programming of the Arduino micro computer. Some very versatile electronic wizardry that can be bought for a few dollars on Ebay. A great presentation.

Karl ZL1TJ Sec. NARC.

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.