Branch 50 NZART
Rather than have our own Branch 50 NZART BBQ this year, the committee decided to join with Branch 74 (Wellington VHF Group) and Branch 69 (Kapiti Branch) at their Combined Branches BBQ. The Combined BBQ was held at QE2 Park, Paekakariki on Sat 29th Jan from 1200pm onwards. Mike ZL1AXG and Frank ZL2TTS attended the BBQ. There were 14 amateurs and XYLs in attendance.
Our Christmas Lunch was held at the Petone Working Men's Club, 47 Udy St, Petone on 6 December at 12 noon. Around a dozen OMs and their XYLs attended. The final club event for the year was for the Social Group get together on Tuesday 21 December. As usual we gathered at George ZL2AG's QTH at 1330 hours to share what we had all been up to.
John Moriarty ZL2JPM demonstrates his QRP portable mag loop antenna Our final shed workshop session for the year was held on Sunday 5 December from 1pm - 3pm at John ZL2JPM's QTH at 9 Ramphal Terrace in Khandallah. John ZL2JPM talked in more detail about his portable microprocessor controlled QRP mag loop antenna that he briefly introduced to us at the October meeting. John won the annual Blackwood Cup for 2021 based on this entry.
Sorry, not permitted in Wellington, NZ The 2021 Wellington Draft District Plan is out for feedback from residents and organisations. Branch 50 NZART will be responding to the draft District Plan, as we have done so in the past. The plan gets updated once every 10 years, so this is our opportunity to make sure that the plan reflects the benefits of amateur radio in our community (e.g. through support for emergency communications) while addressing potential adverse impacts of "amateur radio configurations" on neighbours and the wider community. A draft submission can be found below. This will be discussed and refined prior to submission (due no later than 14 December 2021). Club members are asked to send suggestions for amendment of the submission to the Committee (committee@zl2wb.com). [wpdm_package id='4872']
KiwiSDR receiver Our November meeting was held on Tuesday 16 November (note that this was a different day to usual) from 1pm - 3pm at The Collective Hub, Johnsonville. John ZL2XJ and Bernard ZL2BD gave a presentation and demonstration of the KiwiSDR project that will be installed on a quiet receive site not too far away from the city. The equipment has been tested in suburban Wellington this year. The presentation included an overview of the technology and its application, and included a "listen in" on KiwiSDR sites via the internet portal. The meeting also discussed our draft submission to the Wellington City Council on the Draft District Plan.