Marconi Centre, Poldhu, Cornwall We heard tales of trips "home" to Cornwall from Bob Morris ZL2AVM. There was a pirate mentioned... just one as it happens, but Bob ZL2AVM took us on a fascinating illustrated communications romp through parts of Cornwall over several centuries. From coast-top beacons, flag signalling, telegraph experiments and undersea cables he lured us into his world as a lad growing up. His family links with the area helped set the scene for a discussion of Marconi’s activities (with special reference to Poldhu and Porthcurno, and to the impetus the development of railways gave to electrical signalling requirements. There was even a glimpse of Goonhilly (further west) which began as a satellite telecoms tracking station, only to change its nature as reliable undersea cables and “stationary orbit” satellites became dominant. The site of Bob’s first amateur station G3KYB was disclosed, and he asserted that while he had been tempted, he never did run an antenna from the shack up the adjacent church tower.
The first meeting of the new Branch 50 (Wellington) NZART kicked off Wednesday 18 April at our regular meeting location (Lutheran Church Hall in King St, Mt Cook) with a report back from the first committee meeting of the new committee. Ideas for meetings through calendar 2018 were discussed with positive feedback to all proposed themes. Now the committee has to get to and arrange all of these items! Members also agreed to the sale of the club rig (IC7410), purchased in 2014. A discussion at a subsequent meeting will determine whether or not this equipment should be replaced. This will also determine what happens to other related station equipment (such as a 12v power supply and tuner). Bernard ZL2BD had planned to give an intro to the Shed Workshops. Unfortunately, Bernard was sick, so Mike ZL1AXG gave a bit of a taster session for the first of the upcoming shed workshops. The first topic will be on antenna matching. Please do come to the inaugural Shed Workshop at 1pm on Sunday 27 April at Bernard's QTH (1 Winsley Tce, Churton Park). No need to bring anything. Just yourself. Mike ZL1AXG gave a brief talk about some of his recent…
Club member Yan ZL4YY (also F1TUJ and XV4Y) talked about his operations from South-East Asia, where he lived for many years with his wife and son. He talked about the way amateur radio callsigns are obtained, licensing requirements, descriptions of other Vietnamese operators, and equipment at his home QTH (left outside on the verandah to reduce moisture damage). Yan demonstrated an impressive list of countries worked and DXCC twice over! Yan finally received his ZL licence last month, so you will no doubt hear him around the bands now that he has settled in to Wellington with his family!
John ZL2HD spoke at our Wednesday 17 August about the kinds of antennas, masts and towers that are permitted within the Wellington City boundaries. John outlined efforts involved in trying to protect Amateur Radio interests in the face of city council moves to regulate the proliferation of cellphone towers and streetside cabinets. The process has continued since 2010, when cellphone masts started proliferating. The council had no control over placement of antennas on the roadside utility corridor. Wellington has separate definitions for antennas and aerials in its District Plan – antennas are what telcos use, aerials are thin bits of wire that radio amateurs want. Masts are fine. Towers are something else again. The upshot: “Masts or supporting structures of any height are permitted if they are below 102mm in diameter (guys don’t count so long as they’re not thick); “fatter things” (including lattice masts) cannot exceed 18m in height on a residential site, or rise beyond 5m above the “building profile.” The building profile is determined by a surface at 45 degrees to the horizontal starting two metres above the ground on the property boundary. Rural sites have their own rules, seasides and ridgelines are special cases. Heritage areas are a separate problem. Existing installations survive…
