Wellington VHF Group, Inc: Online.

Group Member to represent N.Z. at International Conference

I am pleased to note that N.Z.A.R.T. Council has chosen to distinguish one of our members to represent N.Z. Amateurs at this international conference. Doug ZL2TAR, long-time member and technical scribe, has been selected as the New Zealand delegate to the Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (GAREC) Conference 2009, being held in Tokyo 24-25 August.

He is presenting a paper to the conference, describing the New Zealand National System and the role of the system in public safety. Along with Peter ZL2ARW and John ZL4JY Doug was designer of the national system, including the frequency and propagation planning, and licensing. We plan to publish Doug’s paper to this conference in Q-Bit when Doug returns from Japan.

Doug san, subarashii desu né, congratulations and well done.

VHF/UHF Contest Rules

Your committee has decided that the Rules will be hosted on our Website, see;

http://www.vhf.org.nz/VHF-UHF-SHF-ContestRules

Other Branches and NZART sites are invited to link to our website.

Repeaters & Projects.

This month it is timely to update you on the work being done on the repeaters and projects that we have underway. There is a lot of effort by a lot of people to maintain our sites and to do new projects.

Maroanui Install backup battery and power supply charger. Steve ZL2KG has the lead on this work in co-ordination with Taupo Branch 60.

Egmont Check for ice damage. Steve ZL2KG has the lead on this in conjunction with site contractors.

Wharite Replace antenna pole, replace 1 National System ULS antenna. Steve ZL2KG has the lead on this work.

Colonial Knob. Install 70cm dual dipole antenna. Install antenna multiplex. Install and commission 900MHz antenna, install and commission 900 MHz repeater. John ZL4JY has the lead on this work.

Belmont. Replace hut steel door and frame, refurbish 70cm colinear antenna, replace ATV antenna matching harness, reinstate ATV repeater, build and install external battery housing, upgrade power distribution. Gavin ZL2TVM and Peter ZL3TC have the lead on the teamwork for this. At some time in the future the pole mounted mains transformer will be replaced with the refurbished higher rated unit we have acquired.

Ngaio Reservoir (aka Kaiwharawhara High). Tidy up and install rack, install dipole antenna and feeder, install 70cm repeater, duplexer, power supply and backup batteries. Peter ZL2VK has the lead on the teamwork for this.

Hawkins Hill Install VHF dipole and feeder, install and commission VHF APRS receiver. Integrate APRS service to 6625 data repeater. Paul ZL2BEZ and Peter ZL3TC have the lead on this work.

Website Create an indexed library for technical articles (from past Q-Bit). Mark ZL1VMF, our webmaster, has the lead on this.

Constitution The updated and upgraded Constitution has now been completed and was approved at the last branch meeting. It will now be submitted to the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.

Charitable Now that the changes to the Constitution are completed, a re-application for registration as a charitable organisation will be made. Rob ZL2WAL, the Secretary, will be attending to these two.

Radio Classes Run a series of 18 radio classes, in cooperation with Wellington City Council community services. Peter ZL2VK has the lead on this, along with a team of mentors.

Digital ATV Develop a strategy for the future use of digital Amateur TV, including repeaters and extenders. As reported in last month’s Q-Bit Ralph ZL2TV has been asked to take the lead on this work, and his draft report is currently in review. We expect to publish his full report shortly.

As you can guess from the size of the list there is a lot of activity underway. With the possible exception of the constitutional stuff, these projects and activities need involvement of members. If you want to be involved in anything particular, please contact Peter ZL2VK, co-ordinator, or any of those listed who have the lead on the various activities.

Email to sheldad@iinet.net.au or Telephone (04) 232-8608

It doesn’t require massive effort on your part, or need to consume a lot of your time, any level of involvement will be appreciated! Peter will be organising working bees when required, please contribute your effort and help spread the load.

Finally, our thanks especially to our coordinator, to our Trustees, and to those who are providing the leadership on these various activities.

On-air, or not?

At a recent branch meeting it was noted that on-air activity levels are pretty low. Both Don ZL2TLL and Bob ZL2GF commented that it’s hard to get a simplex SSB contact, or even a repeater contact on some repeaters. Whilst it is recognised that it is an individual thing to talk on-air, are there things we can do to encourage more activity? John ZL4JY suggested that maybe we haven’t got anything to talk about any more, the level of construction and experimentation are low, and technical discussions on-air are a thing of the past. Do we need a wider range of constructional subjects at the special interest group meetings (SIG) to stimulate interest? So, what can be done to improve matters.

One suggestion by Peter ZL2AYX is that to provide coverage maps of all the national system repeaters throughout the country would definitely get more activity on the national system by travelling amateurs. Your committee has decided to support an initiative to liaise with all national system owners and produce these. Randall ZL2RJP has been appointed to head up this project, and we look forward to hearing more about this as work progresses.

Another suggestion is to beef up our net activity. Suggestions made range from subject chats to a news net involving all local branches, finishing with a “call-in”. Your committee supports any initiative in these directions and John ZL2HD has been appointed to get things going. Please support John and the other members of the branch with your participation.

Preparing for KiwiSAT – A volunteer is required

As you already are aware the Group has a strong desire to support the KiwiSAT initiative, and we have in the past donated funds specifically for the Tecstar Solar Cells ($5k) and more recently for the Battery Charge Regulator ($4k).

Thanks to Terry ZL2BAC we had an excellent presentation on KiwiSAT at our May branch meeting. In anticipation of the launch of our very own ZL satellite, I asked Terry what else we could be doing in preparation.

What is required is a design for a portable (fold-down, or collapsible) beam antenna, to be either a construction project, or a kitset that can be distributed by the Trading Table.

A quick summary of planned KiwiSAT operating frequency bands is;

It has been pointed out that designs for 2M/70cm crossed yagi etc are a “dime-a-dozen” on the internet. Agreed, but most of these are either not readily portable, or they fall down in performance due to electrically noisy joints and/or clamps. The latter can easily destroy the chances of good reception of a satellite at apogee, and remember that’s where KiwiSAT will spend a lot of time.

Your committee has decided to support this project. What is required now is someone to take it on and see it through to a finished antenna. This project calls for design skills and experience, both radio and mechanical. If you would like to design an antenna and/or guide a group of volunteers to manufacture these antennas, please contact me, or any other member of your committee. It should be fun.

73,
Dick Greenbank ZL2TGQ
President.