HQIL HEADER
NZART Headquarters Infoline Issue 232
19-JUNE-2011
NZART Website: http://www.nzart.org.nz/home/


In This Issue

*From The Business Manager ZL2DL
*Ann Fraser ZL3TNT has resigned from NZART council
*Kordia Agreement Signed
*FMTAG Notes For HQ Infoline-232
*NZART Top Monitoring System Observer Award
*DX Code of Conduct Update
*Proposed Changes to VHF-SHF Records Keeping
*Release of E, X and Y callsign suffixes to the amateur radio service
*VHF/UHF/SHF Contest Notes
*HF CONTEST with JOHN POWELL ZL1BHQ
*Housekeeping
*Attachment for Infoline Branches Subscribers: infoline-232.doc

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From The Business Manager ZL2DL


Debby says...

I am off work until next Tuesday. Seems the conference flu bug has taken
a firm hold on me...have been off work all week with a chest infection.

Debby

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*Ann Fraser ZL3TNT has resigned from NZART council*
Midlands District councillor, Ann Fraser ZL3TNT has resigned from NZART
council. This creates a casual vacancy which council will have to fill.
Would any NZART member who resides in the Midland District, and is
interested in becoming a councillor, please advise the president, HQ, or
any councillor of their interest so that council will be able to make a
decision.
Roy ZL2KH

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*Kordia Agreement Signed*

On behalf of NZART Council I am very pleased to be able to report that a
new lease agreement has been signed between your Association and Kordia
Ltd. The agreement is for a five year term and covers all the existing
Kordia sites which have amateur equipment installed.

The agreement signals a return to the terms and conditions which existed
prior to Kordia’s decision to charge site rentals – i.e. there is no
charge for the equipment rack space or antenna space and the only cost
is a contribution towards the power used. This is less than $1000 per
year and will continue to be paid for by your Association, as it has
been since the original agreement was reached with Kordia’s
predecessors, BCNZ and BCL.

Particular thanks must go to Otago Branch for their excellent submission
to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises, the Hon. Tony Ryall. This
submission titled “Save Our System” clearly struck a note with the
Minister and resulted in a political directive to Kordia resulting in
their return to an arrangement which is financially sustainable for the
amateur community.

I would also like to acknowledge with thanks the contributions made by
Christchurch Branch, Whangarei, Kawerau and Gisborne for their work in
raising the political noise level with their local MP’s which I am sure
made the Minister and his predecessor aware of the situation.

I have received some comment regarding the apparent lack of action by
NZART at a national level in lobbying the Minister for SOE’s over the
Kordia’s situation. I did make two attempts to get an appointment in
Wellington. The first was deferred by the then Minister (Simon Power)
and the second opportunity late in November 2010 I had to cancel due to
work overseas. A reply received from the Hon. Simon Power in October
2010 read as follows:

“You will appreciate that my responsibility as Minster for State Owned
Enterprises does not extend to the operation of a SOE. In accordance
with section 5(2) of the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, matters of an
operational nature, including charges, are legally the responsibility of
SOE boards.”

This did not give me any great expectation that the then SOE Minister
would be responsive to representations from NZART at a national level.

What I did do through this time was to encourage the various people who
had contacted me to try lobbying their own local MP to try and raise the
political “noise” level. In early March this year came the announcement
that the Hon Simon Power was retiring from politics at the end of 2011
and early April, the announcement that the Hon. Tony Ryall was appointed
as the new Minister for State Owned Enterprises. Otago Branch’s very
timely letter to the new minister was sent on 13 April and as you now
know, resulted in prompt action by the new minister.

The new agreement recognises Kordia Ltd as a platinum sponsor of NZART
and we will be working with Kordia to both recognise and promote them
via the NZART web site and also in Break-In. The value of the new
sponsorship agreement with Kordia is $92,300 – this is the figure we
would have to pay if we were paying commercial rates for the eleven
Kordia owned sites where amateur radio equipment is located. Other
NZART branches that have their own web sites are encouraged to also
place appropriate acknowledgement of this generous sponsorship on their
own web sites. More information on this will available in the near future.

Many of you will be aware that ARTANZ made a submission to Kordia. This
proposed a five year term and to provide publicity for Kordia in
exchange for a return to the “status quo” – i.e. no charge for the
sites. While the ARTANZ submission may have assisted Kordia in drafting
up the new terms of the agreement, I am in no doubt that it was not
their submission that brought about the change of heart on Kordia’s
part. In my recent discussions with Kordia, it was clear that it was
political pressure which resulted in their change of position regarding
charging for our use of their sites.

While the new agreement only covers existing sites, I would be happy to
approach Kordia in the future to seek approval for additional sites for
amateur repeater equipment. To this end ARTANZ have completed and
submitted to Kordia the required engineering evaluation for Hedgehope
with a view to the possible use of this site as an extension to the
National System on to Invercargill and this site will be included in the
new co-location schedule. Both Dunedin and Eastern Southland Branches
have been actively investigating alterative sites for a National System
extension which does not require the use of Hedgehope. I expect a final
decision on the most appropriate site for an extension of the National
System into the “deep south” will be made by the Branches concerned.

Vaughan Henderson ZL1TGC

NZART Vice-President

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FMTAG Notes For HQ Infoline-232


PROPOSALS

1. Branch 53 Te Puke has applied for an APRS Digipeater at Shaw Road,
Topo50 map reference BE37 870.20 014.96. The transmit and receive
frequency will be 144.575 MHz, in accordance with the band plan.


2. Branch 53 Te Puke has applied for an APRS I-Gate at the Branch 53
Club Rooms, Topo50 map reference BD37 913.75 142.71. The transmit and
receive frequency will be 144.575 MHz, in accordance with the band plan.


Comments and Applications

Please send your comments and suggestions on the above matters and
recommendations, and on any other FMTAG matters, by e-mail to:

?subject=FROM_INFOLINE-232_PAGE

Applications for repeaters, beacons, digipeaters, point-to-point links,
and so on, should be made on the latest version of FMTAG Form 10. The
latest versions of FMTAG Form 10, and the explanatory Form 10A, are
available on the NZART web site:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/nzart/fmtag/

Completed forms should be sent by e-mail to
?subject=FROM_INFOLINE-232_PAGE

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NZART Top Monitoring System Observer Award

The purpose of this NZART Top Monitoring System Observer Award is to
encourage all listeners and radio amateurs to actively report unusual
signals or suspected intruders on the allocated international and IARU
Region 3 radio frequencies from VLF to Microwave. The purpose of these
reports to assist the NZART Monitoring System Co-ordinator who collates
and verifies potential intruders, who invade our precious finite radio
frequencies. This information will be recorded for evidential purposes
and where appropriate action taken to remove the intruder. There is a
very long history of radio amateurs and listeners' providing such
reports to ensure that the allocated frequencies are protected for the
enjoyment of all.


What do you need to do?

Merely enjoy your scientific hobby, but report signals via the different
means available via the NZART web site to the Monitoring System
Co-ordinator. All reports will be verified and collated into an annual
league table and shown in the bi-monthly Break-in magazine and NZART Web
pages. The person judged to be a prolific and solid Intruder Watch
contributor during each year. The recipient will receive a free one year
NZART (single) membership subscription and will be provided with an
official certificate of merit of their achievement. The NZART Monitoring
System Coordinator will ask for clarification or additional information
as required to verify the report.


Conditions:

1.

All past and present Monitoring System Co-ordinators are barred
from entry for this award.

2.

Send reports including date/time in GMT, Frequency, Readability,
Strength, Tone (RST), Mode, direction of signal (if possible), and
any relevant comments.

3.

Send your reports to:
or via:


4.

You do not need to be a current member of NZART to contribute
towards the Top Watcher Award or to participate.

5.

The award winner will be declared in November of the current year.

John ZL1GWE NZART Monitoring Service Coordinator

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DX Code of Conduct Update

DX CODE OF CONDUCT

Dear DX Code of Conduct supporter,

Most of you have seen much more evidence of our progress in spreading
the word about the DX Code of Conduct to the ham radio community. Our
site has had almost 16,000 unique visitors. The distribution of visitors
is world-wide, one of our key objectives. Click on
http://s07.flagcounter.com/more/NoSG
to see our statistics. It has been gratifying to see that the
overwhelming majority of DXpeditions have endorsed the Code.


For the coming year, our goals are to:

1.

Work with DXpedition team leaders to encourage training exercises
so that every operator's proficiency at pileup management is at a
level consistent with their team's objectives.

2.

Continue to get DXPeditions to incorporate the Code EARLY on in
their website planning. Many of these sites have 50,000 visitors
and we'd sure like more of their visitors come see our website.
Whatever click thru rate we can get, it would be better if we were
part of their thinking from Day 1.

3.

Work with the national societies to get them on board to
promulgate the Code to their members through clubs as well as
directly to their membership. 'We hope they will post the Code in
their language or put a link on their websites.

4.

Work with the higher profile DX clubs to get them on board on a
consistent basis to always work on educating the members about the
importance of ethical conduct.

5.

We would like to have every National Society send every member -
or at least every new member - an e-mail version of John and
Mark's book as Standard Operating Procedure, and continue to do it
forever. OK, so many new members aren't destined to be DXers, but
at least they can get the message that ethical behavior is
important to the ham community.

At the individual level, you will note that the vast majority of new
supporters have incorporated the logo of the Code at their websites. If
you signed up before this feature was ready, please take a few minutes,
go to
http://www.dx-code.org/link.htm
and follow the directions to put it at your website or QRZ page. You can
also “talk us up” at your club meetings, perhaps using the Power Point
presentation we've prepared. Feedback I received from clubs about the
Power Point is enthusiastic.

The World Wide Radio Operators Foundation -
http://www.wwrof.org http://www.wwrof.org/
- has put together a Contester's Code of Ethics that incorporates our
Code. We wish them great success in promulgating that Code to their
constituency.

So our thanks to you all for your support of the cause of striving for
the best possible ethical operating practices. We hope you take pride in
the role you have played in our mutual success.

Finally, please take a minute to forward this e-mail to your DX-pals.

For the Committee,
Randy W6SJ

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*Proposed Changes to VHF-SHF Records Keeping*

Simon Lewis ZL4PLM - NZART VHF-SHF Records Keeper

Last year I offered to take over the running of NZART's VHF-SHF records
system and as part of that changeover, I decided to carry out a review
of how the records program was being run, the records formats in use and
the rules and guidelines being used to govern the process.

Following on from that review I wrote a proposal to Council on how I
would like to restructure the records system, the changes I would like
to see in the way the records are recorded and some proposed changes to
the rules and guidelines used, all of which are intended to bring the
records program inline with globally recognised standards, provide a set
of guidelines and rules that match modern operating methods and more
importantly, provide a new baseline that will encourage new record
attempts and increased participation in the VHF-SHF records program.

This proposal was reviewed and accepted by council at the F2f meeting at
Silverstream and as part of the change process we are now publishing the
proposed changes for comment from interested VHF-SHF operators and would
like to hear your comments and feedback on the proposed changes. I have
also included a sample of what the 144 MHz record table would look like
under the new format so you can see the proposed look and feel to the
tables.

Closing date for comments / feedback is 17 July 2011 after which fine
tuning will take place and the new formats placed online onto the
website. Feedback and comment should be sent to the NZART VHF-SHF
Records keeper

To further encourage participation in records attempts a new certificate
of achievement is being created and will be awarded to all new
successful records submission to ecognise the achievement. A hall of
fame and firsts list will also be created so that that past history is
not lost.

Simon ZL4PLM

Use this link to see the proposed rules and sample image:

http://www.nzart.org.nz/info/vhf-records/

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RSM Newsflash

17 June 2011

*Release of E, X and Y callsign suffixes to the amateur radio service*

Radio Spectrum Management will allow the use of E, X and Y callsign
suffixes for amateur radio service callsigns from Noon, Wednesday 22
June 2011.

Amateur radio operators that wish to have an amateur callsign issued
that contains an E, X or Y callsign suffix should approach an Approved
Radio Examiner (ARX) to complete this work.

A list of Approved Radio Examiners (ARX) is located on the RSM website.

http://www.rsm.govt.nz/cms/engineers...or-public-work

The effective time and date from which Approved Radio Examiners (ARX)
are permitted to allocate the new callsign series is:

*Noon, Wednesday 22 June 2011*

Until then, *ARX’s are not permitted to allocate E, X and Y callsigns.*

At Noon on the 22 June 2011 SMART will process ARX allocations on a
“first come, first, served” basis.

A new edition of the Radio Operator Certificate and Callsign Rules (PIB
46) permitting the use of the new callsign series will be published on
the RSM website on the morning of 22 June 2011.

VAUGHAN HENDERSON ZL1TGC

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Contest News


VHF/UHF/SHF Contest

VHF++ Brass Monkey Contest (1st SAT AUG) 06/07-AUG-2011

FROM THE VHF-UHF-SHF CONTEST MANAGER

A reminder that the cut-off date for receipt of Hibernation Contest logs
is only seven days away.

The next contest is the Brass Monkey Contest, 50 MHz and up, on Saturday
the 6th and Sunday the 7th of August 2011. The operating times a
Saturday 1700 to 2300 NZST and Sunday 0700 to 1300 NZST.

The contest after that is the Microwave Contest, 921 MHz and up, on
Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd of October 2011. The operating times
a Saturday 1700 to 2300 NZST and Sunday 0700 to 1300 NZST.

All contest logs should be sent, to arrive within two weeks, to:



with Contest Log in the subject line, or by post to:

Contest Manager
Wellington VHF Group
P.O. Box 12-259
Thorndon
Wellington


*HF CONTEST*

2011 NZART MEMORIAL CONTEST

When :- 2 and 3 July 2011

Times :- 2000 NZST until 2300 NZST both evenings

Band :- 80M

Contest Information :- Pages 5.6 and 5.7 2010/2011 NZART Callbook


INTERNATIONAL CONTESTS

VK/Trans-Tasman 160M Phone Contest 1200Z until 2400Z Sat.25 June - Check
WIA Website for details

IARU World Champs (CW and SSB) 1200Z Sat. 9 July until 1200Z Sun.10 July
- refer ARRL Website


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Please think of the environment before printing this e-mail

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Housekeeping

1.

*Break-In-Closing Date Reminder:* Copy for the JULY/AUGUST issue
of Break-In-closes on 10-JULY-2011

2.

*Copy for Break-In: *Copy is welcome in most electronic formats
but word.doc files are preferred. Photos and other graphics should
be send as separate discrete files (*.jpg preferred); not as
embedded pix in the body of the text. Please ensure that suitable
descriptive captions/legends are included with your copy.
All received copy will be acknowledged to confirm receipt.
Thank you for your cooperation.
John Walker ZL3IB Editor.

3.

*Break-In: Early receipt of copy is much appreciated *

4.

*Break-In-AREC Column: *The close-of-copy date is the 03-JULY-2011
for articles for publication in the AREC COLUMN OF BREAK-IN.
Photos, if available, to be on a separate floppy or CD (with
captions), posted DIRECTLY TO US. Use Call Book address. All other
material can go to e-mail:
or


5.

The ARRL and WIA Weekly News
http://www.nzart.org.nz/news/2010-news/

6.

Subscribe TO/FROM Infoline
http://www.nzart.org.nz/join/e-mail-lists/join-infoline-list/

/*Next NZART Official Broadcast is on SUNDAY 26-JUNE-2011*/

/*Next HQ-Infoline e-mailed on SUNDAY 03-JULY-2011*/

*Headquarters-Infoline is a twice-monthly bulletin of news from NZART
Headquarters.*News and items of a general or technical interest are also
included. These are obtained from various sources. The bulletins are
e-mailed directly to Branches, the amateur radio packet Bulletin Board
Service and to others that subscribe through the NZART Website at:
http://www.nzart.org.nz/join/e-mail-...infoline-list/

Regards, Jamie Pye ZL2NN, Editor