It has been many years since the Napier Amateur Radio Club has operated a contest from it’s Latham Street clubhouse. A year ago, the club committee decided to clean out the junk in the old radio room and rebuild the radio shack with an operational station which could be used by the members. The FT-840 and Emtron Antenna tuner with the newly erected 80/40M trap dipole does a credible job on the HF bands. VHF and UHF radios in the shack are also available for use. A few months ago, Mike ZL2VM asked to have the use of the shack for this year’s Trans Tasman Contest with help from Dave ZL2DW and Michael ZL2MY. The result was the team was up and running and the new shack was finally in use.
Dave ZL2DW Continues the story ……
FUN IN THE ZL – VK COMPETITION
Having had a taste of a few other similar events over recent years Mike (ZL2VM) raised the idea of doing the 80m Phone section from the Napier Br 25 Club Rooms, so the appointment was made and set for participation on 11 May 2013. Armed with tea, biscuits and sleeping bag etc Mike and I met at the Club Rooms about an hour before start time, (8pm NZT) and soon after were joined by Mike (ZL2MY). We had a “tactics talk” and pre brief of the event and off we went. The first hour was quiet with only 15 contacts, however the VK’s were there and workable. Mike and Mike and myself rostered our way through the night (the event finishing at 2am NZT).
The New ZL2GT Radio ShackWhile not the highest contact numbering station in ZL we believe we had a good selection of ZL 1 – 4 and VK1 – 9 stations to give a good score of multipliers. The Branch station (using a 40/80m trapped dipole) had a standing S6 noise level coming from suburbia but we could always achieve a contact with anyone we targeted. I believe this is the first time the Branch Club Rooms located station has been used in a competition, and the Br 25 ZL2GT call sign was put to good use.
Mike ZL2VM in the middle of a “Run”Dave ZL2DW takes a minute off to look relaxed
Later in the evening Lee ZL2AL called in for a while with his camera and took pictures of proceedings. While leaving the operator uninterrupted in the “shack” the others quietly talked amongst themselves in the main hall, about all and sundry. 2am (NZT) came and the log stopped, with about 150 ish contacts, so it was “crash on the floor” time for Mike ZL2VM and myself, Mike 2MY having gone home an hour earlier at the end of his hour on.
Michael ZL2MY having a go
A very happy team after a very successful contestSo that puts aside this years 80m Phone section of the ZL- VK Competition, roll on the 160m Phone and 80m CW/Digital section in July at rural Moore Rd, Haumoana.
There is also a suggestion that a second station will be active then too, again from the Branch 25 Club Rooms.
A great time was had by all. David Walker (ZL2DW) ( for the ZL2GT Team)
The Napier ARC Jock White Field Day team, ZL2G consisting of Stan ZL2ST, John ZL2QM, Michael ZL2MY and Lee ZL2AL managed to head off ZL1AA in Auckland and ZL2QF in Patea with 396,090 points winning the Patea Trophy again and posting the highest score in the contest. The scores of all teams are below
Mike ZL2VM will head a group to operate the TransTasman Contest from the clubrooms on 80M SSB using our new station.
Contest Information below:
2013 Trans-Tasman Contests
Contest Manager: Rob Glassey (ZL3AKM)
Queries and comments can be emailed to the Contest Manager on: vktasman@hotmail.com
The old VK/trans-Tasman Contests web site is no longer active. This WIA page is now the main source of information for this contest.
Contest Introduction
80m phone: SAT 11th MAY 2013
The ever popular 80m phone contest continues much the same (see rules).
Multi-Mode contest: SAT 20st JULY 2013
The Multi-Mode contest combines 160m phone with CW and Digital modes on both 80m and 160m, all on the same night!
Both contests are run as 6 one-hour blocks, from 8 UTC to 14 UTC.
The best 5 hours count toward the final score.
See the rules below for details and this years changes to the scoring system.
Aim Of The Contest
The main emphasis of the contest is on making trans-Tasman and trans-continental contacts.
The 6-hour contests are not intended to be either sprints or marathons, but to provide a good evenings contesting without too much intrusion on family life or sleep time. The format is intended to be suitable for both the serious and the novice contester, with a friendly and relaxing atmosphere.
The scoring system rewards contacting as many different call areas of VK and ZL as possible. Bonus points are awarded each hour for every group of 5 different call areas.
The points tables reflect typical propagation during the contest, accounting for distance and band, and also allows for differences in propagation with time zone. Selecting the best 5 hours of the 6 allows for poor propagation in the west in the first hour, and late nights in the east.
The 80m phone contest is always popular, and the second night’s mix of 160m phone, and 80m&160m CW and Digital modes, has something for everyone, and plenty to offer a multi-op station as well! So extend the dipole, fire up the PC, or break out the paddle and have a go!
The current Napier Branch Field Day team has been in the fray for over 30 years. Stan ZL2ST, Peter ZL2LF, John ZL2QM, Lee ZL2AL and Michael ZL2FAR are regulars. We have enjoyed success at winning the Patea Trophy many times often placing first nationally with top scores. Success is enjoyable but having fun with your mates is always our objective. We have been doing the Jock White Field Day contest so long that any of us can do each other’s job.
Peter ZL2LF to John Zl2QM “This connector is stuffed John!”
Each year, the equipment varies as do the antennas but the constant is the usual tent and the generator.
Yaesu FT1000MP’s, K1EL electronic keyers and IBM laptops are used along with the N1MM Contest logger which has a module specifically designed for the Jock White contest. We always use boom mic/headsets and Bencher keyer paddles. The program controls the radios, operates the keyers, while keeping track of QSOs, multipliers and total scores. It also prevents us from making duplicate contacts and creates a Cabrillo format file for submission to the contest organizer.
We gave up using paper logs over 15 years ago and have used several logging programs since then and finally settled on N1MM. It’s free to download and use. The screen shot shows that when the callsign is entered, the RSTs are automatically placed (may be modified) and it waits for our op to enter the other station’s number and branch number. When you hit Enter, the contact is logged, the score calculated and multipliers considered. The running total score for the band is always at hand. The score screen is shown for the 40M operation only. The 80M operation is on another laptop screen.
At the end of the contest, the 80M and 40M logs are combined and the total score is arrived at. No paper or pens are needed. Computer logging takes care of the mechanical side of operating and allows us to concentrate on searching, pouncing and operating. Sending automatic perfect CW exchanges allows the other station to copy the numbers much easier with fewer requests for repeats.
Stan ZL2ST pressurizing the spud gun to shoot a line over the trees for an antenna halyard.
The team assembled Saturday morning and quickly got to work. Peter, John and Stan got to work assembling the 80M vertical loop and 40M horizontal loop antennas.
Lee assembled the two stations in the tent. Computers and radios were lit up when the generator was fired up. Meanwhile last minute changes to antenna lengths were made to bring them into resonance.
“Another 2 metres added here will bring it down to 3550 Khz”
All was ready on we were into it at 3pm contest start. Stan and Lee got away to a good start and 40m was playing very well. ZL2G was slowly edging away from the pack. It became evident early on that our competition was coming from the usual ZL1s and ZL2QF who won the Patea trophy in 2012.
Stan ZL2ST lurking in the trees on the other end of the 80M halyardStan ZL2ST is off and running on 80M
For most of the contest, ZL2QF was only a few contacts behind and chasing us. We were ahead on 40M while they were level with us on 80M and the final score always comes down to the multipliers each station works.
John ZL2QM running them on 40M
In previous years, the various branches around ZL fielded a lot of teams and most were active. We felt that there were more “Home” stations entered. 40M has traditionally been a band where we trail behind our 80m band station. This year the activity was almost equal in QSOs made.
John does the graveyard shift just before midnight
Big scores over 600 – 700 QSOs on 80M hasn’t happened over the past few years which may be a reflection of sunspot activity, more home stations or just overall reduced contest participation. We don’t know but I am sure the Contest Organizer, Stuart ZL2TW will comment at a later date. Our raw scores are up on last year and we had additional multipliers which gave us nearly 40K more points than last year.
Lee ZL2AL satisfied with the final score on the screen.
The weather was kind to us and fortunately Murphy didn’t strike in any major way. The end of the contest saw a good score in the log. The important thing was we had a lot of fun. It sure beats watching TV for the weekend doing something a bit out of the ordinary. A fast teardown of our setup and we were back home in Napier two hours after the contest ended.
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.
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
Peter ZL2LF Lost in the MomentMichael ZL2MY Checks the Log for DupesDave ZL2DW Listens to Mike ZL2VM working a stationPeter ZL2MS does the business
The team of Laurie ZL2TC, Michael ZL2MY, Karl ZL1TJ and Lee ZL2AL arrived on Sunday morning early and got stuck into the work. A short time later Colin ZL4KJ showed up and had a great morning watching the proceedings. Nice to have you join us Colin. Karl the electrician seems to have missed his calling in life as he turned into a very professional painter for the morning and completed all the windows and surrounds as planned. Great job Karl!
Laurie was on a mission to lower the front porch pole and install a new Diamond 144/70Cm dual bander antenna and a folded dipole 2M antenna. Laurie, Mike and Lee quickly got into the job at hand and the pole was lowered to a 45 degree angle so that Laurie could work on the roof attaching the new antennas.
The job progressed nicely as our new low cost painter did his Vincent Van Gough on the windows and the base coat was finished.
The 80m/40m trap dipole was to be placed higher in the trees as an upright Vee rather than an inverted Vee. Lee got out the spud gun and a line was placed high up in the top of the gum tree. While pulling through the nylon fishing line with the guy rope attached Murphy struck! The guy rope was too short and Michael was yelling “stop Lee” he watched the end of the guy rope disappear back up in the tree before he got Lee’s attention. There followed a short session with Michael on a stepladder, 4m fiberglass pole in hand attempting to snag the end of the rope. Almost impossible but nice try Michael! This was followed up with a successful second shot over the tree and very quickly the dipole was secured high up in the trees.
Michael hard at work on the mast
Michael brought a few bits and pieces for his new 5 band Hex beam along for inspection and to test local knowledge. He was about to use copper wire for the elements and a suggestion was made that the elements would sag unless the wire was “hard drawn” A little Kiwi #8 ingenuity saw one end of a 30 metre length of the wire attached to the fence and the other end to the tailgate latch on lee’s van. The start was marked on the grass and the wire was initially tensioned about a ½ metre. A bit of wire testing/bending and more driving forward resulted in instant hard drawn copper wire about a metre longer at not extra cost! Let us know how the Hexbeam works Michael.
Colin Wonders Where the RF Went!
It was planned to take down the second pole in the middle of the roof but the team decided to leave that for another day. The shelf in the ham shack was finished, radios mounted and cables from the new antennas pulled through awaiting Laurie’s master touch with the coax cable connector crimper. We actually achieved a very good morning’s work and things are taking shape nicely. More work on the main antenna pole is needed with a new 20M sloper dipole up into the trees to be hung from it. Additional work is planned for the shack sorting and re-arranging files followed by a trip to the tip. A time frame before April looks possible and will be arranged. We are already thinking about the possibility of doing some ZL NZART contests and events using ZL2GT and ZL2G from the clubhouse. More later.
