NEWS and NOTICES

The Waihi North '5475 repeater has been repaired and now that the Covid-19 restrictions have lifted in the Waikato, has been re-installed. Tests indicate that it is working fine.

The Waihi North '5475' repeater was removed from service on 3 July for repair in Hamilton, due to extensive rat damage. It is not known at this stage when it will be re-installed.

The Annual Genreral Meeting was held today in the Te Aroha Events Centre, 44 Stanley Ave., Te Aroha, at 1:30pm.

The election of Officers resulted in the following being elected:-
Bulletin Editor - David King - ZL1DGK

Subscriptions for 2021 are to remain the same - $25.00 for an individual and $30.00 for a family or club. To qualify for a family membership, all family members must be living at the same address.

The Annual Genreral Meeting was held today on Zoom.

The election of Officers resulted in the following being elected:-
Bulletin Editor - David King - ZL1DGK

Subscriptions for 2019 are to remain the same - $25.00 for an individual and $30.00 for a family or club. To qualify for a family membership, all family members must be living at the same address.

The Annual Genreral Meeting was held today in the Te Aroha Events Centre, 44 Stanley Ave., Te Aroha, at 1:30pm.

The election of Officers resulted in the following being elected:-
Bulletin Editor - David King - ZL1DGK

Subscriptions for 2019 are to remain the same - $25.00 for an individual and $30.00 for a family or club. To qualify for a family membership, all family members must be living at the same address.

We're aware of at least two independent sources of interference impacting the WaiPlenty network at present. With eleven receivers across four elevated remote sites, there's plenty of open doors for interference to enter.

One source of interference is entering via the repeater receiver ay Maungakawa. This interference appears to be as a result of enhanced propagation conditons at present. The second source of interference is coming from the wind power turbines at Te Uku and is entering the network via the Maungakawa facing link receiver at Te Uku.

To keep the interference impacting the network to a minimum, Maungakawa will be de-linked/isolated when the interference is present.

27 August 2018 - the stolen Icom repeater equipment was found in a storage shed in Hamilton, after a chain of coincidences.

22 November 2018 - the new repeater equipment, purchsed prior to the recovery of the stolen repeater, was installed and made operational. However, the link to Te Weraiti was not able to be connected, due to a new feeder cable being required. The installation of the replacement cable was reliant on other commercial rigging work to be carried out there later in the year.

14 December 2018 - the new feeder cable for the UHF yagi facing Te Weraiti plus the IRLP link facing Hamilton was installed, allowing Te Uku to be linked to Te Weraiti. Unfortunately, a problem has occured at Maungakawa affecting the link to Te Uku. So in the meantime Maungakawa is stand alone, with repair expected early this year.

We would like to thank the Waihi Club (Branch 43) for making a substantial donation towards the purchase of the new Icom FR5000 repeater.

The Annual Genreral Meeting was held today in the Te Aroha Events Centre, 44 Stanley Ave., Te Aroha, at 1:30pm.

The election of Officers resulted in the following being elected:-

The latest information we have had from the Police, is that the prospect of getting our equipment back is virtually nil. From forensic tests carried out on a computer, it would appear that our equipment, along with other commercial equipment, is most likely residing in the USA.

We are now in the process of obtaining the necessary equipment to re-establish the site. So far we have been donated an Icom FR5000 repeater, but will be approaching philanthropic trusts for funds, (approx. $3500.00 required) to purchase the remaining equipment. Replacing the coaxial feed to the IRLP/Te Weraiti yagi will be part of the reinstall, as this coax has become full of water.

At the AGM today Alan Wallace, who has been the President since the 2008 AGM, announced that he would not be standing again. Alan was thanked for his contribution to the group, over the 9 years he was president. Phil King ZL1PK was elected as the new president.

The election of Officers resulted in the following being elected:-
Te Uku Site - To date (19 March 2017) the equipment that was stolen has still not been found, after the Police and other parties have been involved in trying to locate it.

Te Uku Site: As of today the missing equipment has not been located, even though various organisations have put a great deal of effort into it. To get Te Uku back on the air, it was decided to relocate the equipment at Maungakawa to Te Uku for the time being. This will restore the primary coverage to Hamilton and allow us to restore the IRLP to its normal setup. If and when the missing equipment is found, or we have to purchase new equipment, it will be installed at Maungakawa. If new equipment has to be purchased a fund raising programme will be undertaken.

Kaimai Site: There will be a working bee on Saturday 11th Feb to paint the hut, put new building paper under the roofing iron and repair the National System antenna array. The working bee will start at 9.00 am at the road gate on highway 29. A paint brush, lunch and a drink will be required. Saturday 18th Feb will be the fall-back day.

President - Alan Wallace - ZL1AMW
Vice President - Morris Beale - ZL1ANF
Secretary - Gavin Petrie - ZL1GWP
Treasurer - Ian Brown - ZL1TAT

Bulletin Editor - David King - ZL1DGK

Subscriptions for 2015 are to remain the same as this year - $25.00 for an individual and $30.00 for a family or club. To qualify for a family membership, all family members must be living at the same address.

Kaimai Hut: The hut at Kaimai is to be painted, so we are looking for volunteers.

Tom Bevan: Thanks to Tom Bevan (ZL1THG) for his generous offer in repairing the faulty Kaimai National System transmitter.

2016 AGM: The AGM is to be held in Matamata, as usual, in the Anglican Church Lounge on Sunday 20th March, 2016.

Subs are due: so please pay now so as you can vote at the AGM and avoid any possible increase in the subscription. See details on website - http://www.zl1is.info/renew.html

Te Weraiti 695 Rcvr: After receiving reports that the sensitivity of the '695 receiver at Te Weraiti had reduced, test were carried out on site and remotely, and confirmed that the receiver was up to spec. If you do not have a line-of-site path to a repeater, or are using a hand-held, many factors, other than the repeater, can change the signal received remotely.

Waiplenty Network: overall the Network is going well, except for the odd person who often persists in triggering the network for many minutes at a time. There are also a couple of interference issues. Te Weraiti picks up Japanese fishing boats using their radios when in the port or off the coast of Tauranga. Te Uku experiences interference almost on a weekly basis for about an hour at a time, from onsite personnel downloading data associated with the wind turbines.

70cm DMR Repater: A 70cm DMR (Digital Mobile Radio) repeater operating on 439.725 MHz has been installed in the centre of Hamilton in conjunction with Branch 12 and the National AREC. This repeater is part of a national network being setup by AREC, with several repeaters being installed up and down New Zealand and linked via the Internet. When not in use for AREC purposes, it is available for normal amateur communication. A map of the New Zealand AREC DMR Repeater Network Sites can be found HERE. This 70cm DMR repeater network is part of the DMR-MARC Worldwide Network - more can be found HERE.

Newsletter Editor:  Our longtime newsletter editor, Kevin Murphy, ZL1UJG, has stepped down after giving 15 years of sterling service. Kevin has kept us up to date with the happenings of the Group, produced dozens of technical items keeping us abreast of latest technologies coming on the market, and written many construction articles of interest to all. From us all thank you Kevin for your dedication to the job and a task well done.
In place of Kevin we welcome David King, ZL1DGK, as our new newsletter editor. Thank you for agreeing to be our new editor. If you come across any articles that could be used in the newsletter, please send them to David at - zl1dgk@nzart.org.nz

President - Alan Wallace - ZL1AMW
Vice President - Morris Beale - ZL1ANF
Secretary - Gavin Petrie - ZL1GWP
Treasurer - Ian Brown - ZL1TAT

Bulletin Editor - David King - ZL1DGK

Subscriptions for 2015 are to remain the same as this year - $25.00 for an individual and $30.00 for a family or club. To qualify for a family membership, all family members must be living at the same address.

Waihi North Repeater: It is hoped that the new Waihi North Repeater on the WaiPlenty Network will be fully operational towards the end of the month.

VK Amateur: Brian Clarke VK2GCE will be in New Zealand in February 2015 and has offered to speak at one of our meetings on "Safety in the Radio Shack". To take up his kind offer we have scheduled a meeting for either the 8th or 15th of February 2015, and will know which date in due course as he finalises his itinerary. The meeting will be in Hamilton at the usual time of 1.30pm.

Group Website: This was down for a few days in October while Alan (ZL1AMW) changed his ISP.

Service Announcement: A new message will be placed on the WaiPlenty Network, for a few weeks, after the new Waihi Repeater is installed, to advise of the new repeater and its coverage.

President - Alan Wallace - ZL1AMW
Vice President - Morris Beale - ZL1ANF
Secretary - Gavin Petrie - ZL1GWP
Treasurer - Ian Brown - ZL1TAT

Problem at Klondyke: There appears to be a problem at Klondyke with the port facing Kaimai. Although the speech leaving Kaimai is fine, by the time it leaves Klondyke on either the North or South Facing ports or the 9875 repeater, it appears to be getting clipped, as though it is 'over-deviating'. If you are using any National System repeater within the Waikato/BoP area, speak well away from your microphone or lower your voice, as this gives a much improved audio signal throughout the main-trunk of the System and from Klondyke 9875.

Update on Waihi North (Te Keho): We are still waiting for an indication from the site owner as to when the construction of a new building on the site is going to happen. Unfortunately until the new building is constructed we are not able to move in. All indications are that it will not be this side of winter 2014. However, floor space for one equipment rack has been allocated to us in the new building.

9cm Bandplan Revision: The VHF Group has made a submission to FMTAG, against making any changes to the existing plan.

Copyright - Waikato VHF Group Inc. - 2021