Located in Woodville, Tararua, New Zealand.
Branch 06 ZL2IB TARARUA RADIO CLUB Incorporated
Amateur Radio first began in Dannevirke in 1928, when a group of enthusiasts came together and decided to form a club to further their interest in amateur radio.
There are no more records of those early times, but they presumably carried on holding meetings in private houses until the outbreak of World War II when amateur radio was suspended for security reasons.
The Club was reformed after the war and in the "Break-In" call book of 1947, it was listed as Dannevirke Branch N.Z.A.R.T. with the call-sign ZL2OY,
and by this time, the war surplus ZC1 Transceivers were being made available to branches and Dannevirke became busy making modifications to power supply etc.
Much building was in progress, especially for 6 metre gear.
About 1950 to 1953 the Club went into recess, owing to a lapse of memory by the secretary in not renewing the licence and call sign which had to be relisted as ZL2AGM Branch 06.
The Borough Council made a clubroom available in the Drill Hall for meetings. When the Club shifted to the Dannevirke Services & Citizens Club,
it was decided to build a rack and panel 100 watt transmitter as a branch project and under the guidance of members Harold McCutcheon and Dave Barrett,
using parallel 807s final and 807 modulators.
In 1989 it was decided to join with the Wellington VHF Group, and an application for a UHF site on Mt. Wharite for both 665 and 910 repeaters was granted by the management of 2XS FM site and B.C.N.Z,
to locate the repeaters and antennas at the Wharite site on their property, at no cost.
About this time a regular Amateur News and Information Bulletin service started on the 665 repeater,
run by the then Secretary of the Club.
In the 1960's after discussion about a suitable transceiver for the Club,
it was decided to buy a ZL2BDB Transceiver kitset.
In 1978 there was a disastrous fire, at the Dannevirke Services Citizen Club, but fortunately, damage to the radio equipment etc.
was mostly caused by smoke. In 1979 a meeting was held with some members of the Pahiatua Branch,
to discuss the building of a Repeater to serve the Pahiatua-Dannevirke area and beyond.
During 1983 the Dannevirke branch moved it's meetings to the new Civil Defence Communications building in the grounds of the rebuilt R.S.A. Club.
About this time the Call-sign was changed to ZL2IB, in honor of long time member and Secretary Perce Benson.
By 1985 it was suggested that as more Branch Members were coming from the Woodville area,
the name should be changed to Southern Hawkes Bay Branch of N.Z.A.R.T. with the name change being confirmed in 1986.
In 1993 a Branch Net started on 665, held every Friday night at 8 pm.
with a monthly roster for Net Controller and it is still going to this day.
The history of Amateur Radio in Pahiatua goes back to the 1920s when Fred Martin and Garth Grocot started experimenting.
Many others have come and gone since then, but interest has never flagged and Clem Parker of Pahiatua recalls the first actual record of Hams in Pahiatua being taken around 1934.
The Club unfortunately went into recess around 1994 through lack of members and it eventually amalgamated with the Southern Hawkes Bay Club and with another name change became Tararua District Radio Club.
These now incorporates members from Dannevirke,Pahiatua,Marton,Palmerston North,Wanganui,Feilding .
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Visitors are most welcome
