International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend
ZL6LH 2008
Baring Head Lighthouse

The International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend 2008
The 2008 ILLW activity was over the weekend 16th – 17th August 2008.
The ZL6LH team is John ZL1BYZ, John ZL1ALZ and David ZL1DK.

Over the past couple of years we had been working toward operating from the Baring Head lighthouse South East of Wellington. We were to have gone there for the 2007 ILLW but the bus had a gearbox problem and we were not able to make the trip. 2008 was better with a different bus and the trip there and back was completed without any trouble at all. The bus was serviced and ready to go on the Monday, and Tuesday it was taken to Paerata and put into one of Johns sheds on his farm. Over the next couple of days, items off the list were gathered and packed into the back of the bus. The seats in the rear had all been removed so it resembled a big empty van. John ZL1ALZ had built a table that sat over the first passenger’s seat and the second seat could be used for mobile operating. With the seat squab removed a chair could be put in place and static operating was possible at a more usable seating height.

We had discussed the trip and decided that we would leave Auckland on the Thursday evening and drive through the night to Wellington. I left Papakura and met John ZL1BYZ at Paerata around 6.30pm. We finished packing and left to collect John ZL1ALZ at Pokeno on the way. Sitting in his garage was John’s bag, bed and a couple of cartons of food. Gee we were well fed over the weekend thanks to Johns wife Jill. Lucky we only ate about 70% of what was packed. Now with the three of us onboard, we were off to Baring Head, Wellington. We had been looking forward to this for such a long time.

The trip down was broken by many cups of coffee from the rear kitchen area/radio operating table. We drove South via Highway 2 to Tirau and then Taupo, the Desert Road and then through to Wellington. The drive was challenged by weather conditions. We experienced heavy rain, hail and snow. The snow was the worst as we had that all the way along the Desert Road. One interesting incident was when we had pulled over to the side of the road to take a picture of a road sign that was covered by snow. While stationary, a ‘B’ train truck and 2 trailers roared past on the other side of the road and powered off around the corner and out of sight. We continued our trip and just around that corner, off the road and nosed into a bank was a very similar truck and trailers that had jack-knifed and slewed off the road and ended at all sorts of strange angles. Not a happy chap we thought. Further on we saw snow ploughs working to keep the snow off the road. It was not until we passed Waiouru that the road was clear of snow but still the chance of ice was present till we were South of Taihape. On we drove through rain and hail and finally we were on the approaches of Wellington. The challenge for us then was to find the Hayward’s Hill turnoff. Further South than we thought we were soon up and over the hill and into the Hutt Valley. Another 10 km or so and we were parked and had a 3 hour wait until we could collect the shed key. 8am finally passed and the yard was open and I collected the envelope containing the key.

Off we set for Baring Head. We worked the National System during the trip across the Hutt Valley and after a circle around a couple of blocks I found my bearings and we were off up the hill to Wainuiomata. Baring Head access is via Coast Road which leads SE from Wainuiomata. Geoff ZL1AKY had some Maidenhead Locator squares that he needed on that road and it was good to be able to give those to him. Finally, the bridge. On the right just short of the coast is a bridge with a locked gate that gives access to Baring Head. It took a long time and many many calls to get to the position where access through gates, through private property and into the Lighthouse Keepers compound was possible. We were met at the gate and escorted up a very steep road with a hairpin just after the start of the climb. John ZL1BYZ drove and I sat in the passenger’s seat looking down trying to see the bank which was so steep. I could see the bridge and we talked about what if …. John ZL1ALZ was in the back trying to take pictures on his camera of the rise also. A drive over the top and then about a 2 km trip along the track with views of Wellington and the Heads and further South to the South Island. We could see right the way South to the Kaikoura Coast area and the snow covered ranges inland. Around the last corner and there it was, Baring Head. What a sight and what a relief that after a couple of years we were finally there. We drove up the last slope and into the compound. Immediately we stopped we were off with cameras and clicking away capturing all the sights, Lighthouse, Keeper’s cottages, and the magnificent views from the bluff. The Baring Head light is on a 75m headland at the South Eastern approach to the Wellington Harbour. The Light, the second to last manned light built in NZ was first lit on the 18th June, 1935. This light replaced the original upper Pencarrow light which is now an historical place. Marine Safety number K4004, the Baring Head Lighthouse is 12m high and was originally powered by diesel generator and converted to mains power in 1950. The lens does not revolve as others do rather the light flashes on and off. The present tower is the original and is much the same design as the lighthouse at Cape Reinga.

This light is one of the more accessible by road and the keepers were able to fetch supplies from Wellington and schooling was not the problem other keepers were faced with. Signs of footings are still visible around the area where the Navy had placed Radar and additional Signal Station equipment during the Second World War. Around the headland are steep slopes that local rock climbers use to hone their skills. After looking around a bit, John ZL1BYZ found an easier slope and went for a walk down onto the beach and along to the point. On Sunday, I found a track the cattle had used and I took that track down to the beach. We both took many photos and a good record of what is at water level and the water crashing into the rocks makes for some exciting shots. We all took photos of the lighthouse area and the choice for the QSL card photo will be interesting.

After the initial photo shoot, we were into unpacking and setting up the aerials. The location for the bus and mast was interesting and after sinking into the ground every time we ventured off the track we decided to erect the mast in the centre of the track. John ZL1ALZ erected the 2 poles for the dipoles and had the 80m and 40m aerials up and running. John ZL1BYZ and I worked on the mast and tri-band beam etc. The complete setup was built by John ZL1BYZ and was used during the 2005 ILLW when we operated from Wairoa. The final location for the mast was between some well established trees and while the guy ropes were much longer than we normally used that location proved the right choice. We had a test of all the equipment and all worked as expected on the Friday afternoon. Conditions were NOT good. I had a listen later in the evening of Friday but heard no European DX on the 20m beam and those signals from VK had severe QSB with some signals peaking S9 and quickly falling to S0 with no signal at all.

Saturday morning after breakfast we decided to have another look at 20m. Over to the generator and oh, I was presented with problem number one. The ‘no brand’ generator would not; there was no AC output and when we checked it with a meter, there was less than 2v DC at the DC terminals. Time for a coffee and a chat on what to do now. We moved on and opened up the switch and output board but all seemed fine there. All terminals were tight and there were no signs of burn marks anywhere. We then took the alternator end cover off and checked the wiring behind. Again all looked fine and the only area that may have caused the problem is the exciter/regulator block that has some components inside an aluminium block that is filled with gunk! Just as well we had two generators, though we had been earlier offered the use of a 4kva diesel generator. We decided to continue with just the one generator so we connected both stations to the Suzuki generator and we were in business again. Back to 20m and the beam but now there was no signal at all. The blow on Friday evening had presented us problem number two as our tri-band yagi was US. We could shake the mast and the SWR would flick back and forth but at rest was on the maximum stop. Out came the dipole and as we had a halyard up the mast we were soon back in business but now with a much lesser station than we had intended.

We worked stations on 20m during the early afternoon but they were no great signals. We then had some reports of distortion on our 20m phone signal and the side tone on CW appeared distorted so problem number three had just surfaced. A check of the setup showed very high SWR from the new aerial setup. With an MFJ Antenna Analyser we checked the coax with a dummy load, the ATU with the coax into a dummy load and the balun, we proved absolutely nothing. We changed the coax and put it all back in situ and ran a little less power and it worked from then till the end of the activity. It may have been that the balun was getting hot, becoming saturated and going haywire. A break in transmission may have allowed it to cool and mask the problem. Yes, we were not without our troubles this year, none were expected and we now need to give our equipment a good going over. We have finally come to the conclusion that ‘Murphy’ hangs out in that area, maybe even in one of those boarded up cottages!

While we had problems with aerials, lack of propagation was the major hurdle and one that we were unable to beat. We had many things going for us at the site but conditions were not leaning our way and as such our QSO count was far less that we had hoped for. Our final count was 763 with 54 lighthouse QSO’s, including some multi QSO’s to the same Lighthouse station on different bands. DX lighthouses other than VKs , CV1AA Puerto del Buceo West Breakwater and LU6WG/LH Faro Golfo Nuevo.

On 80m there were local and VK QSO’s but signals were not consistent within ZL whereas the VK stations were far more stable. We found 40m the money band for DX. There were many QSO’s with DX stations in addition to the Remembrance Day Contest and when open, the 40m QSO’s were ticking away providing a steady increase to our QSO numbers. On 20m phone, had it not been for the RD Contest in Aussie our total QSO count would have been pathetic. CW contacts gave better results on DX than phone. That said, while there were phone contacts into Europe, Japan and America, where were the numbers? The thought of working with the RIT on RX to keep the numbers rolling in was a pipe dream. Yes, there were bursts of VK’s but virtually no DX… where was everyone? Surely if you can work one in the States there must be others?

Monday arrived and while we tried in vain for more contacts on 20 and 80m there were some additional numbers from 40m again. At around 10.30am the signals were gone and we had a coffee and decided to start packing up. The breakdown is always easier than the establishment and with just a couple of hours passed we had most of the stations packed up into boxes and ready for storing in the bus ready for the return trip to Auckland. A lunch of soup and sandwiches and by 2.30pm we had walked the area and picked up every piece of tape or sign that we had been there. The tyre tracks in the grass will disappear over time and they were the only trace of our presence.

Again we were escorted out past the bridge gate and we were off on our way to Auckland. Another trip across the Hutt Valley to return the key, back to Lower Hutt and over the Hayward’s and we were on our way home. The trip home was better than Thursday night’s. While there was some drizzle, we encountered very little rain and no hail. On the Desert Road there was snow but not falling so the trip, while a cautious one was more relaxed. Coffee was available at regular intervals and John ZL1ALZ had made some very nice pork sandwiches just to keep us from wasting away. Thank goodness for the coffee John supplied from the back of the bus as our intention of working HF mobile turned out to be a complete failure. Not a dickey bird heard at all! As a result of the planning that we had put into the extended weekend we had a very enjoyable time. We will have some work to do on our equipment between now and 2009. As for 2009…. we are not sure yet. We are working on other locations but none are finalised at this time.

It was pleasing to hear Nigel ZL2SEA from our Papakura Radio Club out at Puniho just North of the Mt Egmont Lighthouse and Stuart Watchman, ZL2TW (our Southern most club member) with the Blenheim group with ZL6CC at the Cape Campbell Lighthouse which guides ships around the South Islands most North Easterly point. These two and our operation from Baring Head were the only operations heard by us and I understand that we were the three operations that did work the 2008 International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, well done……. For 2009, there may well be another group from Papakura setting up a lighthouse station and we will offer any assistance and advice if needed.


ZL6LH

Statistics

QSOs 763, CW 187, SSB 574, FM 2
Lighthouse stations 52
Band breakdown, 
20m CW 31 Phone 451 
40m CW 156 Phone 53 
80m CW - Phone 70 
2m/70cm FM 2