Spectrum - QSL.net 2016-10 - 417.pdf · This was followed by “ Klondyke “ DVD showing the site...

SPECTRUM http://www.qsl.net/zl1bq 1 Vol 53 October 2016

SPECTRUM October 2016 Vol. 53 No. 10

The Official Newsletter of the

Auckland VHF Group Inc.

Spectrum

VHF — UHF Field Day Contest Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 December

See page 6


Celebrating 60 years : 1956 — 2016

SPECTRUM is the official journal of the Auckland VHF Group Inc. Opinions expressed are

those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect club points of view.

The closing date for SPECTRUM articles is by the 1st of each month. Articles to be submitted to

the editor Peter ZL1UKG [email protected]

Office Name Call sign Home Work / Mobile E-mail

President Dave Dingley ZL1TIA 828 9394 [email protected]

Vice President Vacant

Secretary Marlene Matthews ZL1MYL 634 5130 [email protected]

Treasurer Doug Cooke ZL1TTE 846 6075 0274 978 121 [email protected]

Committee Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 418 1071 021 844 804 [email protected]

Merv Thomas ZL1SK 828-7174 27-499-0262 [email protected] Peter Loveridge ZL1UKG 377 3398 [email protected] David Probine ZL1TND 630 8044 [email protected]

AREC Section Leader Laurie Mathews ZL1ICU 634 5130 0274 817 463 [email protected] Deputy Section George Raffles ZL1TUX 626 6944 021 735 361 [email protected] ZL1BQ Trustee Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 418 1071 021 844 804 [email protected] Repeater Trustee Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 418 1071 021 844 804 [email protected] Klondyke Managers ZL1VH / ZL1BK 690 Manager Dennis Seymour ZL1UET 532 8666 850/670 Manager Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH 418 1071 021 844 804 [email protected]

ATV/Beacons

Spectrum Editor Peter Loveridge ZL1UKG 377 3398 [email protected]

Trading Table Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH [email protected]

Hon Auditor Raequel Probine 630 8044

Webmaster Terry Corin ZL1BPA [email protected]

Club Web Page http://www.qsl.net/zl1bq

ATV Interest Group http://www.qsl.net/zl1qf/atvug/ATVusers.html

ZL1VHD Dstar gateway administrator; Laurie ZL1ICU 634 5130 0274 817463 [email protected]

ZL1VHD Dstar gateway registration URL: http://zl1vhd.dstar.org.nz



Branch 66 NZART PO Box 10138, Dominion Rd, Auckland 1446

Clubrooms: 30 Hazel Ave, Mt Roskill

Club News and Net:

The combined Auckland VHF Group and Auckland Regional Branch News and Net are held on

the 146.625 MHz repeater and 439.875 MHz at 8.15 pm each Sunday or after the ZL6A NZART

National Broadcast on the last Sunday of the month.

Club meetings are held at the Clubrooms at Hazel Avenue, on the second Monday of

each month at 7.30 pm. For other details, listen to the News and Net each Sunday

Evening at 8.15pm.

mailto:[email protected]
















http://www.qsl.net/zl1bq

http://www.qsl.net/zl1qf/atvug/ATVusers.html

http://nz.mc961.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]

http://zl1vhd.dstar.org.nz



From the President

Greetings All,

Over the last month or so I have had quite a lot of time to contemplate "things". All

sorts of "things", ranging from Lewis Carroll's "Walrus and the Carpenter"

“Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--

Of cabbages--and kings--

And why the sea is boiling hot--

And whether pigs have wings.”

whilst under the influence of habit forming pain relief, in hospital, to where our com-munity is heading while reading some columns in our newspapers and various forums

(fora?) on this wonderful thing called "The Internet"

I have this habit of scanning several recycling sites on the net including Trade Me, looking at what people are disposing of. I am often surprised by what is on offer, and, sometimes take up peoples' offers. More often than not it is a case of "first in,

best dressed" to get all manner of "bargains".

I don't mind admitting I have obtained some things that I would be very unlikely to go out and buy. Looking around, I have a door bell (wireless) that works just fine with a change of battery and resetting the "coding switch". Two wireless mice that all

that was needed was to match the Bluetooth USB to the correct mouse. A Freeview

STB that came to life when the instructions were found to retune it.

The most recent object was a toddler's music machine that "doesn't work". It took all of five minutes to clean a little corrosion off a battery holder spring and all was well

again. My grand daughter is very pleased with her "new" toy and her mother is

happy that the volume is limited to a bearable level!

I must admit that, on occasions, when I bring some of this "stuff" home, I am asked (in a not very pleased tone) "what are you going to do with THAT". This does worry

me a little. I have visions of ... unpleasant things happening.

It leads me to contemplate just where we are going, when there is so much of this

"stuff" going to land-fill.

Apart from Junk Sales, is there anything that we as a group can do to re-use or re-purpose the "stuff" that our community is generating, or should I just go back into

an induced haze and wonder if pigs have wings?

73

Dave

ZL1TIA

PS Have you seen the You Tube "instructions" on how to add a phone jack to an Apple(c) i7 phone?

Have a look but PLEASE don't do it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OyHmJz84og

If you want to know why, ask a question on the

news and net 6625 Sundays 2015 hrs.


Auckland VHF Group (Inc) Branch 66

**** General Meeting notice ****

Monday 10th October 2016, 7:30pm at the Clubrooms

Hazel Avenue, Mt Roskill

The Evenings Subject: Sunspots—Where Were Headed

A presentation courtesy of the World Wide Radio Operators Foundation which takes

a look at Sunspots, Solar Cycle 24 and a look at what may be ahead with Cycle 25.

This is a powerpoint presentation by Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA with accompanying

voice commentary. We are in the decline of Cycle 24, what’s likely to happen with Cycle

25. Learn more about sunspots and the behaviour of the sun!

Another meeting not to be missed!

EVERYBODY WELCOME

John Dunn ZL1JD moving to Nelson.

After many years in Auckland, John is selling up and moving to Nelson. There will be a farewell for John at the QTH of Vaughan and Jenny Henderson, 217 Glenfield Road, on Saturday October 8 from 4pm onwards. All welcome. Bring your own refreshments , finger food supplied.

Volunteers Wanted:

Your committee are looking for volunteers to help run the Sunday night News and Net on the 6625 Repeater. Would you like to help? Please let Marlene ZL1MYL know if you are willing to assist.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Members are advised that the Annual General Meeting of the Auckland VHF Group Inc., will be held on Monday 14 November 2016 at the Clubrooms, 30 Hazel Avenue, Mt Roskill, com-mencing at 7.30pm.

The business of the meeting will include receiving reports from office holders and the elec-tion of officers for 2017. Setting of the 2017 subscription will also be discussed. More details of the meeting in next month’s Spectrum.


Jumbo Trophy Indoor Bowls

The next inter-branch indoor bowls challenge is on Wednesday 5th October 2016, 7:30pm at the Albany Village Hall, corner of Oteha Valley Road and SH17, Albany. If you would like to come along and make up a team for Branch 66, please let Vaughan ZL1VH know as soon as possible.

Jamboree On The Air

JOTA weekend is October 15 and 16. North Shore Branch 29 are looking for amateurs willing to assist with running this event. Venue is Camp Maynard, 101 Paremoremo Road, Albany. Come along between 9am and 4pm on either Saturday or Sunday and help with this activity. Help operate on HF, VHF and give young people a taste of ama-teur radio.

Western Suburbs Used Equipment Sale

The Western Suburbs Radio Club used equipment sale will be held on Saturday 5 Novem-ber from 9am to 12 noon. Venue open for sellers from 8am.

The venue as usual is the Rosebank School, 217 Rosebank Road, Avondale. Keep the date clear, come and enjoy a morning of hot bargains and, of course more importantly, the opportunity to catch up with other Hams.

Amateur satellites launch from India

AlSat-1N and Pratham, both with amateur radio payloads, successfully launched on the Indian PSLV-C35 mission at 0342 GMT on Monday, Septem-

ber 26, 2016, and reports are requested.

AlSat-1N, a 3U CubeSat was built in collaboration between Surrey Space Centre (SSC) staff and Algerian students as a technology transfer and dem-

onstrator for Algeria. The satellite is also hosting three U.K. payloads from various institutions and aims to take images of the Earth and send back data

from the UK payloads.

The IARU coordinated downlink frequency is 437.650 MHz 9k6 FSK. Any downlinked data will be gratefully received to [email protected] Both

decoded hex files and recordings would be greatly appreciated.

Further information on AlSat-1N, description PDF and message format Spreadsheet, can be downloaded from the AMSAT-UK website

https://amsat-uk.org/2016/09/24/alsat-1n-pratham-launch/

information on the Pratham student satellite is at

https://amsat-uk.org/2016/09/07/pratham-student-satellite/


https://amsat-uk.org/2016/09/24/alsat-1n-pratham-launch/

https://amsat-uk.org/2016/09/07/pratham-student-satellite/


Auckland VHF Group Inc

Minutes of General Meeting held Monday August 8th 2016

Present: Members as per attendance book.

Apologies: ZL1TTE, ZL3CK

The meeting was chaired by Dave ZL1TIA.

Minutes of June 13th 2016 meeting as published in Spectrum.

Moved: ZL1TIA Seconded: ZL1UKG

Matters Arising from Minutes:

1. None.

Correspondence In:

1. News letters via email Branch 10, 86,29

Correspondence Out:

1. Sympathy Card to Aola, Carol & Mary Johnston on behalf of President, committee & club members.

General Business:

President Dave Dingley ZL1TIA gave a tribute to Silent Key - David Arthur Johnston QSM - ZL1AMN

The club was represented at ZL1AMN’s funeral by ZL1TIA, ZL1AYV, ZL1TUX, ZL1VH, ZL1ICU &

ZL1MYL

Hamilton Market Day: Helpers for the Hamilton Market Day are ZL1TIA, ZL1VH, ZL1TUX, ZL1UKG

& ZL1TND. Sellers at 8am - buyers at 10am. ZL1MYL said all YL’s are welcome to join the WARO

ladies for morning tea in the on site café at 10.30am

The General Meeting closed at 20:00 hours.

This was followed by “ Klondyke “ DVD showing the site preparation, assembly and construction of the

Klondyke tower and installation of antennas. Bob Holt ZL1BBZ and Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH fol-

lowed the DVD with information on what took place and how many amateur radio clubs and their mem-

bers contributed to the end project.

The work these people carried out is still appreciated to this day.

Much discussion took place over supper to the extent the President was not able to lock up until 11.30pm!

_____________________________________________________________________________

VHF/UHF Field Day Contest - December 3 and 4

All bands 6 m and up. The operating periods are 5 pm to 11 pm on the Saturday,

and 7 am to 1 pm on the Sunday, NZ local time. The operating periods are divided

up into one hour sessions which start and end on the hour. Repeater, satellite, EME

or crossband contacts are not permitted. Pencil these dates into your calendar now!

The Auckland VHF Group Team operating as ZL1BQ will again be active from a hilltop

above Puhoi. If you’d like to come along and take part, get in touch with Peter

ZL1UKG or Vaughan ZL1VH. See page 2 for contact details.


Results of the 2016 Brass Monkey Contest – 06/07 August

VHF-UHF-SHF-EHF Contests, are administered by the Auckland VHF Group Inc. on be-half of all VHF groups, including all New Zealand radio amateurs and supported by NZART.

Overall Winner Station Points ZL1GSG 91

Band Winner 2m Station Points ZL1GSG 37 *

ZL1UKG 11

Band Winner 70cm Station Points ZL1GSG 54 *

Best DX Station Distance 2m ZL1AKW-ZL1UKG 173 km

70cm ZL1AKW-ZL1GSG 167.3 km

Certificate issued*

Active Stations (3 in total): ZL1AKW ZL1GSG ZL1UKG

Operator comments

• 2m station Yaesu FT290R + PA 40W output. 9 element Tonna Yagi

• 70 cm station Icom IC402 + PA 20W output into a 13 element Flexa Yagi

• 23 cm station DB6NT transverter 1.5W output into a 1m dish with multiband feed. Also a 16 element Flexa Yagi

• 2m station Yaesu FT290. 5/8 ground plane on car roof.

VHF managers’ comments

The very low number of logs submitted was disappointing with only two logs received.

Greg ZL1GSG also had equipment for 12cm and 23cm but had no contact on those bands as ZL1UKG’s 12cm equipment was found to have a TX fault and no other stations were available.

Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH and Peter Loveridge ZL1UKG VHF Contest Managers

The rules for VHF-UHF-SHF-EHF Contests, as administered by the Auckland VHF Group; on behalf of all VHF groups are available on the NZART website at: http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contest-rules/rules-vhf-and-above/

All contest logs should be sent, to arrive within two weeks, to: [email protected]

or by mail to: Contest Manager, PO Box 10138, Dominion Road, Auckland 1446.

http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contest-rules/rules-vhf-and-above/

http://www.nzart.org.nz/activities/contest-rules/rules-vhf-and-above/


Last Meeting: At the Group’s September meeting, Ian Ashley ZL1AOX entertained us with a very informative talk on 3D printing. Ian gave a background to the process which is basically a computer con-trolled hot glue gun!

Photo - Ian ZL1AOX with one of the two 3D printers on the top table.

Ian’s PowerPoint presentation took us through a brief history of 3D printing, also known as addi-tive manufacturing.

The earliest 3D printing technologies were developed in the late 1980’s, at which time they were called Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies. This is because the processes were originally con-ceived as a fast and more cost-effective method for creating prototypes for product development within industry.

Commercial 3D printing systems were all priced well above the budget of the hobbyist and it was not until early 2000 when Dr Adrian Bowyer, a Senior Lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath developed the RepRap project that 3D printing came into the reach of home

experimenters and hobbyists. The word RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototype, a practical self-copying 3D printer - a self-replicating machine. This 3D printer builds the parts up in layers of plastic. This technology existed before RepRap, but the cheapest commercial machine then would have cost you about $NZ50,000.

On 13 September 2006, a RepRap 0.2 prototype successfully printed the first part of itself, which was subsequently used to replace an identical part originally created by a commercial 3D printer. On 9 February 2008, RepRap 1.0 "Darwin" successfully made at least one instance of over half its total rapid-prototyped parts.


On 14 April 2008, possibly the first end-user item is made by a RepRap: a clamp to hold an IPod securely to the dashboard of a Ford Fiesta. By September of that year it was reported that at least 100 copies have been produced in various countries.

Photo - Dr Adriane Bowyer (left) and Vik Oliver (right) with a parent RepRap machine, made on a conventional rapid prototype, and the first complete working child RepRap machine, made by the RepRap on the left. The child machine made its first successful grandchild part at 14:00 hours UTC on 29 May 2008 at Bath University in the UK, a few hours after it was assembled.

Vik Oliver, shown in the photo above, is a New Zealander and lead the development of 3D print-ing in New Zealand. He is now involved with a company, Diamond Age Ltd which supplies 3D printers and consumables to the New Zealand market.

In April 2009 electronic circuit boards were produced automatically with a RepRap, using an auto-mated control system and a swappable head system capable of printing both plastic and conduc-tive solder. On 2 October 2009, the second generation design, called "Mendel", printed its first part. The Mendel's shape resembles a triangular prism rather than a cube.

It took until January 2009 for the first commercially available 3D printer – in kit form and based on the RepRap concept – was offered for sale. This was the BfB RapMan 3D printer. Closely fol-lowed by Makerbot Industries in April the same year, the founders of which were heavily involved in the development of RepRap until they departed from the Open Source philosophy following extensive investment. Since 2009, a host of similar deposition printers have emerged with mar-ginal unique selling points and they continue to do so. While the RepRap phenomenon has given rise to a whole new sector of commercial, entry-level 3D printers, the ethos of the RepRap com-munity is all about Open Source developments for 3D printing and keeping commercialization at bay.

The Prusa I4 demonstrated in action by Ian at the meeting had its origins in another commercial spin-off from the RepRap project. Josef Prusa a 23 year old Czechoslovakian student at Bath Uni-versity got involved in the RepRap project and was instrumental in producing the second genera-tion “Mendel” design. On returning home he set up a company to produce kitsets of the 3D printer under his own name, Prusa.

The company grew a little too quickly and went through a period of financial difficulty where it was unable to supply product. Their web site and advertising now suggests that they are back in business.


The first of these was the Prusa I1, soon followed by the I2.

These kept the same shape as the Mendel design and had some limitations, requiring a high level of skill to set up and get good printing results.

From these early designs came the Prusa I3 and the I3 Mk2. This later model includes the ability to automatically level the heated print bed that the object being printed is built up on.

The Prusa I4 which Ian demonstrated at the meeting was not produced in Czechoslovakia but in China. These are a Chinese manufactured clone of the Prusa I3 (before the Mk2) and can be purchased for around $NZ600 (landed) from suppliers like Alibaba.


The Prusa I4 which Ian demonstrated at the meeting was not produced in Czechoslovakia but in China. These are a Chinese manufactured clone of the Prusa I3 (before the Mk2) and can be pur-chased for around $NZ600 (landed) from suppliers like Alibaba.

The other 3D printer Ian brought to the meting was a Rapide Lite 200:

The Rapide Lite 200 is a 3D printer built on a solid aluminum frame and prints with a wide range of materials at up to 50 microns resolution. Ian’s ex-perience with this printer has been that although it prints very well, it is more difficult to set up and requires some care to get good results.

Like the I4, the Rapide Lite comes with software to help run the printer and accepts the industry stan-dard file format called GCODE.

So how to you go about producing some-thing on a 3D Printer?

The first step is to prepare your design using 3D software or download from the internet, e.g. TinkerCAD, 123Design, Sketchup, Onshape (Cloud based), OpensCAD (a maths-based ascii text),

Thingsverse, and others. A Google search will bring up many free 3D CAD programmes. Having created your design, save the work as an .stl or .obj file.

Because the 3D printer builds up your design layer by layer, you now need a “slicer” programme to produce the GCODE file that the printer requires to print your design. Slic3r, Mattercontrol, CURER, Repetier Host are all free programmes or Simplify3D which can be purchased.

Depending on your printer, the GCODE file is either saved to an SD card or sent to the printer over a USB connection.

The choice of material you make your object from depends on the printer head technology and maximum temperature available. Ian has used PLA and ABS.

Commonly available materials are:

PLA - PolyLactic Acid ABS - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Nylon - Family of synthetic polymers which can be melt-processed. PET - PolyEthylene Terephthalate PVA - PolyVinyl Alcohol HIPS - High Impact Polystyrene Wood - Similar to PLA with wood added TPE - Highly elastic and flexible, e.g. NinjaFlex Titanium - Aircraft and rocket motor parts produced by metal sintering Resin - Liquid photopolymer cured using UV light.

References:

Google 3D Printing, Prusa, RepRap for 1000’s of on line information pages!

http://prusaprinters.org

http://diamondage.co.nz

http://rapide-3d.com/


Last Meeting Continued:

Photo - Prusa I4 3D Printer available from China in action.

Photo - Close-up of the I4 printer producing a sea-horse.


Auckland Unitary Plan Update 24 September 2016

NOTE: This paper deals with some highly technical matters. I have tried my best to simplify

what is written, but I don’t recommend that you read it if you are not feeling sharp!

In the 28 July 2016 Unitary Plan Update, I mentioned that we had achieved some very significant “Permitted” conditions in the Unitary Plan, and that there was nothing more we could do unless someone could identify a point of law that had been breached. I did have some searching dia-logue with our solicitors, and although we agreed that the Amateur Radio Configurations in the Plan were very poorly worded and contained ambiguities, this was merely poor drafting, and not a point of law, so NZART did not make an appeal by the closing date of 16 September 2016.

Regrettably one concession that the Unitary Plan DID NOT GIVE was any specific relaxation of the Height in Relation to Boundary rule. That rule says that the height on any lot had to be no higher than 2.5m on the boundary, rising an additional one metre for every metre inside the boundary. Thus a 10.5 metre mast had to be at least 8 metres from the boundary, and a 15 me-tre high mast would have to be 12.5 metres inside the boundary. It is not clear whether this is re-laxed at all as a result of the “plus 1/3rd” of the maximum permitted activity height” in the Definition of Height.

Ambiguities

In discussion with the solicitors, one of the ambiguities we identified was:

The Definitions of Height basically says: Height rules or standards are always a maximum << i.e. Zone height being 8 metres for Residential , 9 metres for Productive Rural>> unless oth-erwise stated in a rule or standard. Excludes:

And the exclusion that interests amateurs is (4) flagpoles, masts, lighting poles, aerials or antennas that do not exceed: (a) one third of the maximum permitted activity height for the site; or (b) 300mm in diameter

b) The Rules for ARCs state (b) a maximum of one supporting structure greater than 102mm. The maximum height of the support-ing structure shall be the relevant building height. The maximum horizontal diameter of the pole or supporting structure is 800mm. The minimum setback from any boundary is 1.5m. Any guys used to support the pole must not exceed 10mm in diameter;

Despite these two statements, there is still a question. What are amateurs actually “Permitted” to have? The point at issue is that nowhere in the Plan does it define whether the Rules supersede the Definitions, or vice versa, or do they both apply?

One interpretation could be that structures could be up to 800mm horizontal diameter at the bot-tom, reducing to 300 mm at the defined zone height, and a further 1/3

rd of zone height at 300mm

diameter or less. But Resource Consent Planners might interpret this differently.

Another ambiguity applied to the ARC Rule:

(25) Amateur radio configuration activities must comply with the following standards:

(d) the maximum height of antennas mounted on buildings using a supporting structure less than 102mm diameter shall be 18m in the residential zones, and 18m or the relevant permitted or actual building height plus 5m (whichever is greatest) in all other zones;

Continued on page 14


What does “mounted on buildings” actually mean? The Building Act 2004 under the heading “Meaning of Building” in Section 8, includes in clause (1) (b) (iv) a mast pole or a telecommunications aerial that is on, or forms part of, a building and that is more than 7 metres in height above its point of at-

tachment or base support (except a dish aerial that is less than 2m wide): In other words, any mast or

pole greater than 7m in height is a building.

What does all this mean?

The consensus of the legal people whom I spoke to was that if you already had a legally installed pole or mast or ARC in your garden, you could now attach a pole of up to 102mm diameter to it up to a total height of 18m without a resource consent. (You would, however, require a Building Consent if it went higher than 7 metres above its point of attachment.) Once again Resource

Consent Planners might interpret this differently.

Overall Recommendation

If you are planning to put up the simplest of structures (such as a vhf aerial and rotator on a short 102mm diameter pole), there should not be any problem.

If, however, you are planning any sort of large structure which needs a Building Consent, then because of the ambiguity in the above rules you could end up in an argument with Resource Planners about what is permitted, and what requires a Resource Consent. (See the type of argu-ment I got into, which was published in the May/June 2016 issue of Break In).

Under the Unitary Plan schedule of charges, the cost of a Resource Consent could start at $2,300, could rise to 2 to 5 times that price – and at the end if it you might not get the consent.

The recommendation from our Legal Advisors is that if you get challenged over the interpretation of the Unitary Plan rules, you should seek support from a Lawyer. In the long run it will be cheaper than a Resource Consent, and is more likely to result in success.

Douglas Birt,

ZL1BFS

Local Government Liaison Officer

Coming Events:

October 1 and 2—Microwave Contest All bands 23cm and up. 1700 to 2300 Saturday 1 October, 0700 to 1300 Sunday 2 October.

October 5—Jumbo Indoor Bowls Challenge. See page 5 for details.

October 15 and 16 - JOTA (Jamboree on the Air). See page 5.

November 5 — Western Suburbs Junk Sale. See Page 5.

November 14 — VHF Group AGM at the Clubrooms, Hazel Avenue, Mt Roskill 7.30pm.

December 3 and 4—VHF Field Day Contest. All bands 6m and up. Saturday 1700 to 2300, Sunday 0700 to 1300 NZDT. More details next month.

December 12 — VHF Group General Meeting and End-of-Year Social Function.


Icom IC-7610, IC-R8600, IC-R30 and ID-51 PLUS2 models

shown at Tokyo Ham Fair 2016

At the Tokyo Ham Fair 2016, Icom Inc showed the first samples of new radio models — IC-7610, IC-R8600, IC-R30 and ID-51 PLUS2 to the public. Details are relatively scarce but here are the basic details so far on two these models:

IC-7610 HF/50MHz Transceiver (Base Station) The IC-7610 is the successor to the IC-7600 and is a dual-watch capable HF+50MHz 100W base station with built-in antenna tuner. The LCD will be touch screen and you will be able to connect an external display.

IC-R8600 Wideband Receiver (Base Station) The IC-R8600 replaces the IC-R8500 wideband receiver and will feature the technology incorpo-rated into Icom’s best selling IC-7300. The IC-R8600 will be able to receive a wide frequency range from 0.01-3000MHz frequency in analogue and various digital modes (D-STAR, P25, NXDN and dPMR). The IC-R8600 will feature a larger 4.3 inch touch screen display which will feature


Don’t Pound My Octothorpe

If you want to spark a conversation at your next social event, ask everyone the proper name for this symbol: #. Most North Americans will probably say pound sign or perhaps number sign. It helps to have an international audience, since a person from the UK will likely call it the-hash symbol.

Lately, the world of Twitter (and other social media) has made extensive use of # to tag keywords, referring to it as the hash mark used to create hashtags. A musician might claim that it is the sharp symbol from musical notation but closer examination reveals that the sharp symbol is quite different.

The AT&T engineers working on the original DTMF system adopted the name Octothorpe for this symbol. There are various explanations and anecdotes that have developed over the years con-cerning how this happened. Various forms of spelling show up in the literature (octatherp, octo-thorp, etc.). Doug Kerr’s story is particularly interesting and available on the internet (see be-low). There are US Patents that use the word “octothorp” to refer to the # symbol. Patent num-ber 3920926 uses “octothorp” for # and “sextile or asterisk” for the * symbol. The term ex-tile never caught on at all.

For amateur radio usage (with a North American bias), I hear mostly pound for # and star for * and I suspect that will not change any time soon.

Reprinted with permission from – Bob K0NR

References:

Wikipedia entry for the number sign (#): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign

The Symbol on the “Pound” or “Number” Key (#) is Also Called an Octothorpe

The ASCII Character “Octatherp”, by Doug Kerr

_______________________________________________________________________________________

On loan from the Museum of Leonardo da Vinci in Florence, Italy, a vast array of interactive machines are

created from original da Vinci drawings. Highlights include the bicycle, hang glider, defence of town halls,

as well as his fascinating flying machines. If you haven’t seen it, the Exhibition at MOTAT closes on Octo-

ber 16. Open from 10am to 5pm daily, MOTAT admission applies: Adult $16, child (5-16) $8, student $8,

Family $40, under 5 and SuperGold Card holders are free.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-tone_multi-frequency_signaling

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2011/06/the-symbol-on-the-pound-or-number-key-is-also-called-an-octothorpe/

http://dougkerr.net/pumpkin/articles/Octatherp.pdf


VHF Marine Channels Changing

At the 2012 ITU World Radio Conference (WRC) changes were made to the International Radio

Regulations in regards to the allocation of VHF frequencies for maritime use. These changes, di-

rected by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), are to provide more radio spectrum for

automatic identification system (AIS) signals and VHF data exchange system (VDES) signals.

As a consequence, New Zealand, along with a number of other countries, is required to change

some maritime VHF repeater channels to make space for the newly allocated international ser-

vices for ship tracking and data services. New Zealand will be moving a few private VHF repeater

services, most Coastguard VHF repeater services, and all NowCasting weather services to accom-

modate these changes.

The frequency changes will take place over a two week period around October 1 2016, before the peak summer recreational boating season when VHF radio services become busy. This ensures New Zealand is ready for the changes that come into force internationally on 1 January 2017.

The existing marine Channel 16 used for safety and distress purposes will not change.

Around Auckland some significant channel changes will be:

Coastguard has published a colourful map of the country displaying changes to Nowcast and Coastguard channels. Further information at www.coastguard.org.nz and www.retune.co.nz

Note: It is not necessary to purchase a new radio - your existing VHF Marine Radio already has all these channels in it.

Old Channel

New Channel

New Ship Frequency

New Shore Frequency

Use

16 16 156.800 156.800 Safety and Distress

1 18 156.900 161.500 Coastguard Manakau

80 64 156.225 160.825 Coastguard Outer Gulf

82 60 156.025 160.625 Coastguard Inner Gulf (Waitemeta)

71 71 156.575 156.575 Auckland Maritime Radio Working Channel

68 68 156.425 156.425 Plenty Area Maritime Radio Working

20 20 161.600 Nowcast Whitianga

21 19 161.550 Nowcast Waitemata

22 79 161.575 Nowcast Outer Gulf


Amateur Radio Emergency Communication.

Volunteers in radio communications.

Using our resources to help the community.

INFORMATION

The Auckland VHF Group has an active AREC section that works closely with Auckland City

Civil Defence. They provide advice, resources and manpower to assist in times of need. The

Auckland VHF Group clubrooms provide a backup system to complement the existing systems

maintained by Auckland City Council Civil Defence.

The AREC section is headed by Section Leader Laurie Mathews ZL1ICU.

From time to time the VHF Group has training sessions and exercises. Members also assist with

sports events, parades and Rally NZ.

For further information about AREC please see the NZART web site.

JOIN BRANCH 66 AREC

All members of the Auckland VHF Group are encouraged to join the AREC section. Your

contribution, large or small is appreciated by all involved.

For further information about joining Branch 66 AREC contact the Section Leader or his Deputy.

AREC:

Section Leader; Laurie Mathews ZL1ICU 634 5130 0274 817 463 [email protected]

Deputy Section; George Raffles ZL1TUX 626 6944 021 735 361 [email protected]

*****



AUCKLAND VHF GROUP (INC)

SUPPORT THE EFFORTS OF THE VHF GROUP THROUGH YOUR

SUBSCRIPTION

SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR 2016

THE SUBS GO TOWARDS;

Maintenance and on-going improvements to beacons, repeaters and linking systems for

the national system, including the Klondyke repeater site.

Provides on-time and free access to spectrum magazine as soon as it is available.

Provides facilities for good speakers and lecturers at our general meetings.

Discounted access to our trading table goodies.

Access to test equipment and technical help when needed.

FULL MEMBERSHIP $45.00

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP $40.00

FAMILY MEMBERSHIP ADDITIONAL $10:00

SEE ATTACHED MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL FORM (next page)

REMEMBER TO KEEP US INFORMED OF YOUR INTERNET ADDRESS!

OTHERWISE WE CANNOT SEND YOU SPECTRUM!




NAME Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms Christian or

given Surname

Mr

Address

Phone: (home)

Phone: (work)

Phone (Cell)

Email

Occupation: Callsign

NZART Member Branch assigned

AREC Member Branch assigned

Category To pay

Membership Full $45:00 $

New/Renewal/Change Associate $40:00 $

Receipt # Family Add $10:00 $

Donations Auckland ATV $

Auckland/Klondyke $

Brynderwyn $

Data/D-Star $

IRLP $

Beacon/Repeater/Links/ATV Licences $

Other $

Total $

Payment

Circle one --> Cash Cheque Internet deposit

Invoice/Statement re-

quired Please Advise Treasurer

Internet To account ASB 12-3020-0473626-00. Account name is: Auckland VHF Group

Inc. Include your Name/Callsign for us to track. Note: this form needs to be returned

to update records. FAX to 028 25544801 or Email [email protected]

Post The Treasurer, Auckland VHF Group Inc., PO Box 10138,

Dominion Road, Auckland 1446.

In Person Bring this form and payment to the next club meeting, 2nd Monday of the

month or to the Committee meeting last Monday of the month.



The Auckland VHF Group Inc Branch 66 NZART gratefully acknowledges the sponsorship of Branch 66 Beacons, Repeaters and

Fixed Links license fees and the Group’s repeater operations by the following

radio amateurs and NZART Branches for 2016

The Auckland VHF Group, Branch 66, would like to thank all those who came forward to

sponsor the licence fee for our Beacons, Repeaters or Fixed Links for the year 2016 or do-

nate towards the Group’s repeater Operations.

Merv ZL1SK – [email protected]

Repeater frequency Repeater Sponsorship Amount

and name location advised for 2016 paid

53.725 Repeater Klondyke Road Gwynne Rowe ZL1AAR $50.00

144.253 Beacon Nihotupu Nick Wallace Zl1IU $50.00

145.625 Data Rptr Klondyke Road NON-operational

145.650 Dstar repeater Klondyke Road L/M Mathews ZL1ICU/ZL1MYL $50.00

146.625 Repeater Klondyke Road L/M Mathews ZL1ICU/ZL1MYL $50.00

146.700 Repeater Ruaotuwhenua Dennis Thornton ZL1TAY $50.00

146.900 Repeater Mt Puketutu Radio

432.253 Beacon Nihotupu Under repair

438.175 Dstar repeater Klondyke Road L/M Mathews ZL1ICU/ZL1MYL $50.00

438.500 Repeater North Head

439.850 Link Tx to Kaimai Klondyke Road Waikato VHF Group Inc. $50.00

439.875 Ak Nat Sys Rptr Klondyke Road

439.900 Link Tx to Egmont Klondyke Road

439.950 Link Tx to Brynderwyn Klondyke Road

1291.9 Repeater 217 Glenfield Rd Vaughan Henderson ZL1VH $50.00

Total Sponsorship $400.00

NZART Inc: Branch/Personal donations

Auckland Branch 02 $100.00

Franklin Amateur Radio Club. Br: 10 $200.00

Manukau Radio Club, Br: 21 $100.00

Papakura Radio Club. Br: 65 $500.00

Martin Seay ZL3CK $100.00

Donations $1000.00

Prepared by Merv Thomas ZL1SK and current as at 26/09/2016



TRADING TABLE

Currently our Trading Table is only open on meeting nights. Opening on Saturdays may resume later in the year so keep an eye out for announcements in Spectrum.

We have heaps of parts from dismantled commercial analog TV gear – transmitters, fil-ters, circulators, patch panels, power supplies, cabinets. Too much to list individually, so come along to the clubrooms and have a look

Parabolic Dish Clearance:

We have had an opportunity to assist a company that was about to write off some old stock that had never been used in the field. The dishes are mostly made by RFS in France and have size SU2 corresponding to a nominal diameter of 0.6 m. Rim to rim they are 0.75 diameter. Some of the dishes have feeds but they are not on Amateur bands. Weight is of the order of 8 – 12 kg. The awkward shape means pick up only from the clubrooms. This size is ideal for 6 cm and 3 cm bands and acceptable for 9 cm. F/d is not specified for these dishes but measurement to the centre of the dipole of a “splash plate” feed is approx 19.6 cm above the surface (SU2 35AN). Mounting hardware to a pole is available for several of the dishes for pointing in fixed directions as point to point links. The plate which mounts the feeds could be modified to support a feed built to match the dish or a new circular plate could be cut or turned from sheet aluminium if starting from scratch.

See July Spectrum for more information on the feed system and splash plate. Some of the dishes have already gone to keen constructors!

We have heaps of parts from dismantled commercial analog TV gear – transmitters, fil-ters, circulators, patch panels, power supplies, cabinets. Too much to list individually, so come along to the clubrooms and have a look.

Spectrum - QSL.net 2016-10 - 417.pdf · This was followed by “ Klondyke “ DVD showing the site...

Documents

Transcript of Spectrum - QSL.net 2016-10 - 417.pdf · This was followed by “ Klondyke “ DVD showing the site...