Branch 50 NZART
A total of 15 members and XYLs met over Christmas dinner on Monday 3rd December at the 1841 Restaurant in Johnsonville, taking advantage of the 2 for 1 deal. Those attending the dinner thought it represented good value.
Our November meeting was held at the Maritime Radio NZ headquarters at Avalon in the Hutt Valley a week earlier than normal on Wednesday 14 November. This was a chance to see the Maritime operations centre in action, with three active searches under way including a Mayday call while we were visiting. Supper was available and we supped up large on special treats (leaving some for the Maritime NZ team). We also honoured the unexpected Silent Key of Doug ZL2AOV, whose funeral was held earlier in the afternoon.
Over the summer we are having informal shed workshops. No set topic, but all are welcome to come along, preferably (but optionally) with your soldering iron and a project to work on. That might be a uBITx transceiver, a magnetic loop antenna, a power supply, an arduino nano keyer project, or whatever takes your fancy. There are eight magnetic loops under construction for a start! #2 in the summer series was held from 1pm - 3pm, on Sunday 7 October 2018. The venue is: 2 Derrry Hill, Churton Park (QTH of Mike ZL1AXG)
Branch 50 NZART participated in the Wellington Maker Faire on 4 November. Some 2500 people passed through the Maker Faire on Sunday 4 November from 10am to 4pm. John ZL2XJ and Bernard ZL2BD with the Branch 50 display at the Maker Faire NZART Inc took an outside area, immediately in front of the entrance to the TSB Arena on Queen's Wharf, to showcase amateur radio. Two local clubs (Branch 50 and Branch 63) were supported by two NZART councillors in promoting amateur radio. Some of the larger team at the Maker Faire 2018 Chatting about the gear ... And making contacts from inside the tent ... A large number of people came by and chatted, including a number of amateur operators. Nineteen contacts will be followed up - primarily people showing an interest in amateur radio or operators who are interested in becoming active again. They will all be put in touch with NZART and their local branch. Those on the stand felt it was successful, and we won a prize for the best presented stand.
This year there were three entries in the Blackwood Cup contested at the October meeting ( Wednesday 17 October) at the Lutheran Church Hall, King St, Mt Cook, Wellington. Bernard ZL2BD showed off a couple of SWR meters. One of these covered both HF (using a standard pair of toroids in a bridge circuit) and VHF/UHF (using a stripline circuit). Bernard separates the sensor components from the metering components so that the bridge can be located somewhere remotely as required. Mike ZL1AXG showed off his completed "Hiland" 0-30v 0-2A power supply and talked about a couple of the glitches he uncovered. Occasionally when turning the unit on, the supply will not move off zero volts. This is thought to be a function of the slightly different specs for the op amps, which were substituted. The other fault is in the cheap $2.70 Aliexpress digital volt/ammeter. The ammeter reports double the actual current! Doug ZL2AOV talked to his uBITx transceiver and an extensive range of modifications, including built in battery, VOX and S-meter. The Blackwood Cup moves on from Mike ZL1AXG's shack to Doug ZL2AOV's shack, as he was declared the winner by Malcolm ZL2UDF.