Field Day 2023
The Branch will be participating in the NZART Jock White Memorial Field Day again this year over the weekend of 25th and 26th February. We will be joining Branch 42 (Titahi Bay Branch) this year at their venue at Hill Road in the Belmont Regional Park. Contact the Chair to record your interest in joining us this coming weekend.
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ZL2WB VHF Field Day Activity
Six members of the club activated ZL2WB in the NZART Field Day contest. The weather wasn't the best, but we made some contacts on all three bands we had equipment for: 6m, 2m and 70cm. As anticipated, there were not many active stations again this year. Most contacts were on 2m SSB. The most distant stations worked were in Tauranga, Mt Taranaki and Marton. There were no South Island stations worked this year.
Blackwood Cup Winner for 2023
Since 1930, the Blackwood Cup has been awarded by the Wellington Amateur Radio Club to a deserving member. In recent years, the cup has been awarded to the winner of a competition for homebrew equipment. This year's Blackwood Cup run-off was held at The Collective Hub in Johnsonville from 1pm - 3pm on 1 October 2023. Four members (Daniel ZL2DTL, Eben ZL2EF, James ZL4JOCO and David Marshall) brought along a presentation on their homebrew construction project(s) to have a go at winning the Blackwood Cup. Note that an entry can be a presentation on any electronic or radio related project completed over the last 12 months. Voting was by secret ballot of all club members attending the meeting. The voting was very close, but Eben ZL2EF won the day with his presentation on the construction of two VHF/UHF yagi antennas for different purposes. Eben's presentation went into some of the theory behind spacing and number of elements. One of his antennas had no reflector. George ZL2AG was the 2022 holder of the cup.
AGM 2023: Tuesday 21 March 1pm - 3pm
Our AGM was held on Tuesday 21 March 2023 at The Collective Hub, 1/33 Johnsonville Rd. Due to challenges in preparing the Financial Report in time for the meeting, given increased trading table sales, the meeting was adjourned and the Financial Report will be discussed at the regular April meeting. Mike ZL1AXG also revealed the strengths and weaknesses associated with a range of entry-level Chinese handheld radios based on online reviews. This includes VHF and UHF analogue and DMR radios. This was a follow up talk to his coverage of Chinese mobile rigs at the February meeting. A PDF version of the talk is available on request, and was circulated to members.