Is There Anybody Out There?
A relatively early start for the troops on Wednesday; Rob ZL4ROB suggested participating in an AREC exercise, from MP. More of a check-in than an extensive exercise, there were 3 nominated frequencies on 80, 60 (near), and 40m, to be able to make contact on. Rob, as ZK1EBR, kicked off… [Read More]
Not so much a sale – rather a giveaway. The garage on the west lawn is due for demolition and that means the contents have to go. A not often frequented place, apart from the attempted breakins and tagging, the garage is a veritable “Aladdin’s Cave” of potentially useful items.… [Read More]
Definitely an inside type of day with the weather capable of blowing a dog off a chain. It was a good time to have a tidy up. With many years accumulation of “could be handy for something, sometime” type items, it was time to move some on. The sick bay… [Read More]
Simon ZL1SWW and Harry ZL1BK did some measurements on “old wobbly” – the 5775 repeater vertical and found it is currently behaving. It has a broad smooth low SWR curve across 2M – quite unlike previous measurements where it exhibited an extremely odd shaped response. There is probably an intermittent… [Read More]
Enough consideration over coffee, it was time to verify how we could reach the 5775 repeater antenna ( the one on a lean at the top of the pole ) for repair. Firstly, carry a long ladder to the top without damaging any of the troops. Well, the access test… [Read More]
What started out as a sub 10° temperature day, soon warmed up. A very convenient reason Dave ZL1DL used to stop sweeping the driveway; he was dressed for the lower temperatures. Actually, it was the arrival of others that really led to more interesting activities. Martyn ZL3CK headed off to… [Read More]
A quick condition check on our 5775 repeater batteries today let us know they are in need of replacement. Well at least one needs replacement, but that effectively means the pair should be replaced together. The two lead acid batteries in series for 24v, gave results at the opposite ends… [Read More]
Having woken up at stupid o’clock then getting up an hour later to go to the dawn service at Stockade Hill Howick, Dave ZL1DL was taking it easy for the day, when early afternoon Harry ZL1BK popped up on 40m musing going portable in the Musick Point carpark. A short… [Read More]
Autumn is also known, and probably more appropriately so, as Fall. And so if you’re going to participate in Fall, why not maximise the effect of your actions and, say, try blocking a roadway. And so it was. On Sunday, we arrived to find a small tree doing a lay… [Read More]
Yes its AGM time again for the club and if that’s not fun enough on its own, the AGM was preceded by a regular monthly general meeting. Before we got down to meetings however, there was a bit of technical time and of course coffee. Martyn brought buns, so the… [Read More]