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    • August 2024 General Meeting - Winlink
      • August 2024 General Meeting - Winlink ZL2WAL Wed, 08/28/2024 - 00:05 For this months General meeting John ZL2XJ & Pete ZL2SLD Will give a presentation on WinLink. Date: 29 August 2024 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Tawa Community Centre Meetings

    • June 2024 Meeting - 3D Printing for Fun & Amateur Radio
      • June 2024 Meeting - 3D Printing for Fun & Amateur Radio ZL2WAL Sun, 06/16/2024 - 22:19 The topic for this months General meeting will be 3D Printing for fun & Amateur Radio, Rob ZL2WAL will give an over view of Consumer 3D printing and some of the ways it can be used for fun & Amateur Radio Date: 27 June 2024 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Tawa Community Centre Meetings

    • January 2024 Meeting - BBQ, Sunday 28 January
      • January 2024 Meeting - BBQ, Sunday 28 January ZL2WAL Thu, 01/25/2024 - 09:14 The January meeting is a combined meeting with all branches invited at QE2 Park Paekākāriki, enter via Wellington Road then Queen Elizabeth Road and meet in the open area indicated by the red cross in the photo . BYO food, drinks , portable chairs , ground rug etc. There is some seating in the park. For those bringing a BBQ it must be GAS (no wood or charcoal). XYLs YLs & family also welcome. Bring bikes to explore the tracks around the park . Date: Sunday 28 January Time: From midday Location: QE2 Park, Paekākāriki Meetings

    • 29 September 2022 General Meeting - SDR and Network Analyser
      • 29 September 2022 General Meeting - SDR and Network Analyser ZL2HD Wed, 09/28/2022 - 10:38 Rob ZL2WAL will take on his experiences setting up and using Software Defined Radio (SDR) based on the RTL Dongle.   Also: The VHF Group has inherited a HP8753C spectrum analyser and S-parameter test set. This will be on-site and available for members to try out at this month’s meeting,  the plan being to make it available for members to use on an ongoing basis by arrangement. In addition to the Talk by Rob ZL2WAL advertised in Q-Bit Tim Goode ZL2RST will demonstrate some functions of the analyser by making a few measurements aligned to what a  VHF experimenter might find useful.  

    • June 2022 Meeting - Choosing the channel
      • June 2022 Meeting - Choosing the channel ZL2HD Mon, 06/27/2022 - 12:39 30th - Main : 7:30pm, Tawa Community Centre, Cambridge St, Tawa. Ian Hutchings, ZL2HUT with give us a talk on : • Finding a frequency that works and • What to do if it doesnt! A look at finding a link frequency for NZ Coastguard linking in Wellington, and making it work! Meetings

    • March Main Meeting (Online) - Jojn ZL2 XJ on Mesh Optimisations
      • March Main Meeting (Online) - Jojn ZL2 XJ on Mesh Optimisations ZL2WAL Fri, 03/25/2022 - 11:56 This month’s meeting is an update on the work being done by the Wellington mesh steering group. The group has put together a plan to reactivate and enhance the various nodes around Wellington with the aim of making it reliable and a valuable asset for remote operations and AREC use. There are mesh nodes on many of the VHF Group’s sites and members’ homes, so it will be good to have them working again. John will explain what mesh is, why the existing setup was not working, and how they are engineering a solution to overcome the problems. John is the VHF Group’s representative on the steering group.  John has extensive project management skills as well as his technology expertise, so it will be interesting to hear how this project is being organised. Google Meet joining info Video call link: https://meet.google.com/ytk-dvoh-gdo Or dial: (NZ) +64 4-889 5020? PIN: ?956 041 723?# More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/ytk-dvoh-gdo?pin=2612355647526 Meetings

    • Christmas Picnic Dinner
      • Christmas Picnic Dinner ZL2WAL Wed, 12/08/2021 - 10:43 In place of the committee meeting this month we will be having a picnic dinner, come along and join the committee for a picnic dinner at Willowbank Reserve in Tawa: When: Thursday 9 December 2021 From 6:00pm Where: Willowbank Reserve by the Takapu Road station at the southern end of Tawa https://wellington.govt.nz/recreation/outdoors/parks-and-reserves/city-and-suburban-reserves/willowbank-reserve Bring: Your dinner WVHFG Categories Events

    • John ZL2TAU Silent Key
      • John ZL2TAU Silent Key ZL2WAL Mon, 11/29/2021 - 12:29 Sadly we hear that John ZL2TAU (Salvin John) passed away over the weekend.  We offer our sincere condolences to John's partner and his family. John had just made it to 80 years and had been an amateur since his early 20's, certainly a double old-timer.  John was very active in radio both professionally and as an active amateur.  John has been involved in construction, repeaters, VHF DX, and site investigations and negotiations over the years, and was a very strong supporter of the VHF Group. John most recently worked at Transpower, dealing with their widely varied communications needs from Northland to Southland and all the power schemes, transmissions systems and large loads in between.  John was supportive towards local radio manufacturers, and this helped gain them international markets, with New Zealand customers being so few and relatively small.  He had worked in a variety of organisations and was well connected and respected in the industry. John was on hand to help with AREC events when he could, as well as offering advice any time it was requested, and he often spoke from personal experience on a variety of topics at our meetings. John’s support and positive influence will be missed by the Group.

    • A couple of recommended DMR radios..
      • A couple of recommended DMR radios.. ZL2HD Fri, 11/26/2021 - 12:33 I asked for some recommendations of a good radio to buy at the November meeting.   A couple of radios were recommended by people who had very recently been studying this subject and had purchased these radios. Thanks for sharing your experiences.   The RT73 mobile dual band DMR was recommended. Very small, powerful, very good. It was noted that this radio could hold all the DMR IDs in the world, so every contact came up with callsign and location.  Some rave reviews on AliExpress and some tips to follow.   The Anytone AT-D878 Handheld was highly recommended as a solid and easy to program and use radio. Also the Anytone AT-D578, which uses the same codeplugs as the 878 handheld.  If you are keen to customise you codeplug, this is a good feature. Remember that there are codeplugs on the AREC.today website, so have a check there to see if your radio has one there before you place your order.   73   John ZL2HD

    • September Main Meeting (online) - Programming DMR Hotspots
      • September Main Meeting (online) - Programming DMR Hotspots ZL2WAL Thu, 09/30/2021 - 13:35 As we are still at level 2 this months meeting will be online, Paul Miller - ZL2BEZ will be presenting on programming DMR hot Spots. You can either join using the following link https://meet.google.com/xmt-twha-cgd Or you can dial in with these details +64 4-889 5036 (PIN: 696018756) WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • August 2021 Meeting Cancelled - Catch up on video option
      • August 2021 Meeting Cancelled - Catch up on video option ZL2HD Mon, 08/23/2021 - 09:58 The 26 August meeting has been cancelled, we hope to have this speaker later in the year.   We will be having an informal catch up on Google Meet. The link to the meeting will be posted here on the evening.   It is very easy to join, and you can also use a standard landline to call in!     Email us if you have any questions about joining.   73 John ZL2HD

    • June General Meeting Canceled
      • June General Meeting Canceled ZL2WAL Wed, 06/23/2021 - 15:46 Due to the change to Alert Level 2 in Wellington the general meeting that was to be held on 24 June 2021 is cancelled. WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • February 2021 Meeting - John Andrews ZL2HD - Utility scale solar in NZ
      • February 2021 Meeting - John Andrews ZL2HD - Utility scale solar in NZ ZL2WAL Mon, 02/22/2021 - 08:02 There is a race on to get solar farms consented in NZ with high power prices and the falling cost of solar. John will give an overview of his company’s progress to get a 16MW plant going. Date: 25 February 2021 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Tawa Community Centre WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • January Meeting - Combined BBQ with Kāpiti Branch
      • January Meeting - Combined BBQ with Kāpiti Branch ZL2WAL Wed, 01/27/2021 - 18:13 The January meeting is a combined meeting is a combined BBQ with Kāpiti Branch at QE2 Park Paekākāriki, enter via Wellington Road then Queen Elizabeth Road and meet in the open area indicated by the red cross in the photo . BYO food, drinks , portable chairs , ground rug etc. There is some seating in the park. For those bringing a BBQ it must be GAS (no wood or charcoal). XYLs YLs & family also welcome. Bring bikes to explore the tracks around the park . Date: Saturday 30 February 2020 Time: From midday Location: QE2 Park, Paekākāriki WVHFG Categories Meetings Attachment(s) BBQ Location Map

    • Nov Meeting - Thu 26th 7.30pm Tawa
      • Nov Meeting - Thu 26th 7.30pm Tawa ZL2HD Wed, 11/25/2020 - 10:51 Ron ZL4TDR – STSMHS Server Transport System Message Handling Server (STSMHS) its Architecture. The STSMHS is part of the NZ Automatic Building Fire Alarm System. It is a ”Life Critical System” that validates and then forwards valid fire alarms to the 111 Fire Emergency Centers where they are then sent to the NZ Computer Aid Dispatch System. That causes Fire Appliances to be dispatched to the building where the fire alarm was activated.

    • September Meeting - Join us for dinner at 6:30
      • September Meeting - Join us for dinner at 6:30 ZL2HD Mon, 09/21/2020 - 17:52 Breaking News:  With the return to level 1 this week, we are going to have our 50th celebration dinner at 6:30 pm at the meeting room in Tawa. We will have a few pizzas there, but feel free to bring something to eat. We will have soft drinks, tea and coffee, but you can bring anything you like. This will be followed by our main meeting and special guest speaker. 

    • 50 Years of the VHF Group - Special Meeting to recall stories from the past 50 years
      • 50 Years of the VHF Group - Special Meeting to recall stories from the past 50 years ZL2HD Thu, 08/13/2020 - 09:56 The August 2020 meeting is to celebrate the 50 years of the Group.  A few people were there at the time and we look forward to hearing about those days. We have done a lot of exciting things over the 50 years - the Wellington Walkie, Belmont 710 and ATV site, Colonial Knob, lots of VHF Conventions, and a good number of projects, repeaters, the UHF National System, the DMR National System, the NS awards.... wow. So please come along and tell your memories of the group's activities, bring any momentoes, photos, or certificates (Who has a Belmont Tree or a Belmont Power Line certificate?) And we are having a social dinner on the following Saturday evening at Yum Yum House in Tawa, from 6:30. Please let us know if you are coming so we can book the tables.   COVID-19: If we are not able to meet (we cannot under level 2, 3, or 4) we will meet via Google Meet.  Here is the proposed meeting link (you can test it now to see if you have everything working). You can also phone in on a good old normal landline phone, or a smart phone) https://meet.google.com/ebm-nmzp-upq   WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • July 2020 Meeting - Remit Voting and VLF Operation
      • July 2020 Meeting - Remit Voting and VLF Operation ZL2WAL Wed, 07/29/2020 - 18:53 This months meeting will be NZART AGM remit voting followed by a presentation from John ZL4JY on his experience with Very Low Frequency (VLF) operation Date: 30 July 2020 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Tawa Community Centre WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • June 2020 Main Meeting - Remote Meeting Tools
      • June 2020 Main Meeting - Remote Meeting Tools ZL2HD Thu, 06/18/2020 - 10:59 We held our meetings over the internet during the COVID-19 lockdown, and we found a few good tools and interesting features- as well as a few tips and tricks. We think these tools can be useful as part of the amateur's toolkit, so we are going to have a review and try out a range of tools at the meeting. It should be a fun night as we try to get skype, meet, zoom, google chat, FB messenger, and more going.  Also tips and tricks to make good use of video. (like the trick of calling in on your phone and only watching via the internet... good trick).

    • May Meeting -
      • May Meeting - VHFAdmin Sun, 05/24/2020 - 18:37 The general meeting this month is an online meeting with John ZL4JY talking about the 900MHz DMR repeater installed at Colonial Knob. Date: 28 May 2020 (please not corrected date) Time: 7:30 pm Location: Google Meet https://meet.google.com/xhi-gfnr-iba or 04 889 5237‬ PIN: ‪211 203 025‬# WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • April Meeting - Ian Hutchings ZL2HUT on the Wellington Coastguard Comms
      • April Meeting - Ian Hutchings ZL2HUT on the Wellington Coastguard Comms VHFAdmin Tue, 04/21/2020 - 08:13 The General meeting this month will be an online meeting.  Ian Hutchings, ZL2HUT will talk on : Coastguard run a VHF Comms system around the Wellington Coast. The on-line presentation and meeting will outline what was discovered when the system trouble shooters from the VHF group got busy on the network design and radio equipment. Date: 30 April 2020 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Google Meet https://meet.google.com/zoa-bkio-noq or (09) 886 4223, pin 762 472 801# You can either Join the meeting using your browser (Chrome, Firefox or the new Edge ) or your mobile phone or dial in the meeting will be open from 19:00 for people to test their connections WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • 2020 National System Award
      • 2020 National System Award ZL2HD Thu, 03/26/2020 - 19:18 Thanks for all the participants that have sent in logs for the award. We are working on them now and with our new "work from home" rules, we should have them out to you by the end of March.   If you have not sent in a log, it is not too late and we will process it (no matter when you get it to us!) 73 Awards@vhf.nz

    • March 2020 General Meeting Cancelled
      • March 2020 General Meeting Cancelled ZL2WAL Sun, 03/22/2020 - 09:35 Due to the increased risk of COVID-19 and the closure of the Tawa Community Centre by the Wellington City Council, there will be no March 2020 General Meeting. WVHFG Categories Meetings

    • Branch 50/74 Lunch and Shed Workshop Event
      • Branch 50/74 Lunch and Shed Workshop Event ZL2WAL Fri, 02/28/2020 - 18:04 On 1 March from 12 noon -3pm we will be meeting for a light lunch at Mike ZL1AXG’s QTH Branch 50 NZART will be ordering in a light fingerfood lunch (savouries and sandwiches) as the hosts for the joint event for Branch 50 and Branch 74 members. Venue: Mike’s Garage, 2 Derry Hill, Churton Park (Please park on roadside outside QTH or on Amesbury Drive) We will have a special guest presenter – Charlie Morris ZL2CTM talking to us about homebrew transceiver design approaches. Charlie has a range of experimental radios using quite different techniques. He has a global following of QRP and homebrew affiacondos who follow his latest creations. For example, check out his videos on Youtube and this review of an SDR design on Soldersmoke: http://soldersmoke.blogspot.com/2016/02/zl2ctms-teensy-sdr-ssb-superhet-very.html The session will end with tea and coffee at around 3pm (or just prior). WVHFG Categories Events

    • End of year Group dinner 28 Nov at Yum Yum House
      • End of year Group dinner 28 Nov at Yum Yum House ZL2HD Tue, 11/12/2019 - 14:10 Again we will hold our end of year dinner at YumYum House in Tawa. Please RSVP to info@vhf.nz and partners, family, friends are all welcome.   From 7pm, but come when you can as it is a fairly large group and they cannot cook for us all at the same time! 

    • National System Award 2020 - Telephone Exchanges
      • National System Award 2020 - Telephone Exchanges VHFAdmin Sun, 11/10/2019 - 20:58 This year the theme of the award is telephone exchanges. This is a fun event for all Amateurs, all who submit a log will receive a Certificate. The Award Runs from 26 December 2019 to 9 February 2020 The BIG challenge: how many different telephone exchanges can you contact other amateurs at, via the National System or DMR (on the ZL talk group). The rules are simple. Contact an Amateur located as close as possible to a Telephone Exchange via the National System or DMR ZL Talk Group – both sender and receiver log One Point for contacts made via the National System or 1.5 points for contacts made via the ZL DMR talk group Contact a National System or DMR Repeater Trustee, log Five Bonus Points for each trustee Must include a contact with ZL2WA Telephone Exchanges may only be logged once (Telephone exchanges do not include Cell Sites, Cabinets or Radio Transmitting/Receiving sites). As a starter here is a list of Chorus Exchanges extracted from The New Zealand Gazette Notice Number 2011-go8265. Logs must be received with a summary of the points claimed by the Award Custodian no later than 13th March 2020, and may be submitted by email to award@vhf.nz with KNSA in the subject line, or, post to: Kordia National System Award Wellington VHF Group Inc C/- 28 Hereford Street Wilton Wellington 6012 Copies of the blank Log Form, are available from the following links: Blank logsheet in PDF Blank logsheet in XLS

    • Tom Clarke ZL2TDD Silent Key
      • Tom Clarke ZL2TDD Silent Key VHFAdmin Wed, 10/30/2019 - 07:34 Tom Clarke ZL2TDD passed away on Saturday 26 October aged 75 years. Tom was Treasurer of the VHF Group for many years and was a stalwart contributor to many Group projects as well as AREC events. His funeral will held at St John's Anglican Church 18 Basset Rd Johnsonville at 10am on Thursday 31 of October at 10am WVHFG Categories News

    • October 2019 - AGM and Show & Tell
      • October 2019 - AGM and Show & Tell VHFAdmin Fri, 10/25/2019 - 00:34 The October meeting will be the AGM & AREC section AGM followed by the traditional show and tell. Date: 29 October 2019 Time: 7:30 pm Location: Tawa Community Centre WVHFG Categories Meetings

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