Meetings

Meetings of the Wellington VHF Group

June Meeting - The new MEOSAR Satellite system explained

The June meeting will be a talk from Rodney Bracefield the RCC (Rescue Coordination Centre) Operational Support Manager on the MEOSAR Satellite system including the NZ COSPAS SARSAT Earth Station near Rotorua and 406 EPIRB beacon tracking.

http://www.maritimenz.govt.nz/news/media-releases-2015/20151029a.asp

Date: 30 June
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Tawa Community Centre

March Meeting - Batteries, Solar (PV) and Electric Vehicles : The end of the Lines Companies?

John Andrews, Senior Energy Analyst at NZX Energy will give a presentation on

The recent Downstream Conference for the electricity and gas retailers and generators covered the possible effects of batteries, PV and EVs on the lines companies, the national grid and electricity retailers and generators. Much information from other markets was presented, but the big question remains- is New Zealand really different? And does NZ have the right model in place to deal with these changes?

November Meeting - Peter Lake ZL2AZ, IARU R3 Director

For the November meeting we are privileged to have Peter Lake ZL2AZ, IARU R3 Director, speak to us about his 10 years as director and the progress that has been made during this time. Peter has recently announced his retirement and this will take effect just before the meeting.

Date: Thursday 26 November
Time: 7:30 pm
Location: Tawa Community Centre

SIG for Sept 2015: 19:30, 17th, Mesh users get started night

This month's SIG meeting will cover the use of and services available over the mesh.  James ZL2ET has also created the virtual tunnel to the nodes of Rob ZL1FLY.  This in turn has allowed us to view other sites around the world.

James will outline the VTUN, the services he is hosting at his QTH, and how to use them.

Mike ZL1AXG will show us the services he is hosting and how we can access them.

The highlight is that we hope to be able to use the voice facilities over the mesh and James and Mike are excited to be able to demo this.

August Meeting - Two Speakers

The August general meeting will have two speakers:

Propper networking in the microwave bands: John ZL4JY will talk about professional microwave networking and why the mesh is not the answer to everything. John has considerable experience across the subject, and has provided the microwave link that brings internet services to Colonial KNob for the DMR repeater. What next?

SIG for July 2015: DMR Code plug update and overview

Since the DMR system was set up at Colonial Knob, a number of enhancements and extensions have occurred.  The code plugs determine the radio front panel channel setup, and changes have been made to make the radio easier to use when moving around the Wellington region, to support new DMR repeaters, and allow for the upcoming frequency changes.  Support for the analogue channels has been made within the local zone, and plenty of channels added to make the radios usable in a number of situations.

June Meeting - Interisland HVDC Link

The June general meeting will be a talk from the NZART President Stuart Watchman ZL2TW.

When commissioned in 1965 the Benmore-Haywards interisland HVDC link was a pioneering feat of electrical engineering. Stuart (a non electrical engineer!) will present the history of this link and how it fits into the NZ power grid.

Date: Thursday 25 June
Time: 7:30 pm Location: Tawa Community Centre

Links related to the presentation: