CHATHAM   ISLANDS   NEWS

ZL7C Operators Newsletter #1
Written by Murray ZL1CN on 18 October at 2100 UTC

The operators here arrived in two contingents - one on Tuesday from Christchurch, and the other on Wednesday from Wellington.
The first Team arrived to excellent weather on Tuesday and, because it was late in the day by the time they arrived, they started unpacking gear and setting up the stations.
On Wednesday, the weather was also good, so they started assembling antennas and finished setting up the gear they had with them.
The second contingent assembled in Wellington and, apart from a delay in the arrival of some equipment, all went according to plan, and the Team assembled later that afternoon at the site. The weather was very good, so it was all hands on deck to complete the antenna assembly and the vertical for 80 and 160m was erected later that afternoon.
By the end of Wednesday the stations were all assembled, and the antennas were ready to be erected.
On Thursday morning, the 30m antenna was erected, so it was possible to make the first Pactor 3 QSO with Gordon ZL2ARN, and the first photographs were up-loaded for publishing on our website. Later in the day the rain started, so it was necessary for the last of the antennas to be erected by a very hardy bunch with a variety of wet weather gear - lots of very wet team members and they were ready to get dried off.

We finally went on the air at 0451 on 17 October, with as many bands and operators as we could.
By the time the first log take was done, just after 1900, we had more than 6000 QSOs in the log, and 24 hours later a further 9000 QSOs were in the bag, on all bands and modes. However, at this stage there have been no 160m QSOs, 40m SSB QSOs and we have had no success so far on 6m, although we continue to listen and our beacon is running. It has been heard briefly in Kaikoura, N.Z.

Since Thursday afternoon, the weather has not been good. Except for a short spell on Friday afternoon, we have experienced high winds and rain most of the time.

The stations are set up on the Norman Kirk Memorial Sports Centre. This features a squash court, a playground for children and a race-course for the annual race meeting. We have eight stations set up, with four on SSB, three on CW and one on 6m. We have eight Yaesu radios, six of which are currently in use, two Icom radios and six linear amplifiers.
Antennas are generally in two separate fields, one for CW and the other for SSB, on opposite sides of the operating builiding. We have the following in use: 2 five element yagis for 10m, with a further two for 15m. a four element yagi and a three element yagi for 20m, a vertical for 80 and 40, with a further vertical for 80 and 160 and a vertical for 30m. Also we have a beverage antenna.

Operating conditions are comfortable, in the sports centre. The room is carpeted with plenty of natual light, and we have the coax cables coming through the window. The area is equipped with a kitchen, so we can make cups of tea and coffee as we wish.
We are sleeping in the hostel, located a mile from the Sports Centre so, although we have hired a small vehicle for the duration of our stay, there are a lot of walking trips between the two. That is fine except for when the rains come when we often get wet!! We also get wet when we go outside to rotate the antennas!
The hostel is also very comfortable, and we have the place to ourselves. This means that most of us can sleep on lower bunks, and we have two showers to share between us. That is not a problem as we are operating 24 hours, so that means that showers are available as required.
The hostel managers have agreed to provide us with the materials for breakfast, so we get our breakfast cereal, toast and fruit as required. For the other meals we have been patronising the piecart and the cafeteria which is here. The first night I think the lady got quite a shock when she realised that she would have to provide food for twelve hungry souls, but she did a wonderful job.

Well, we are having fun, with good band conditions and generally well behaved pileups.
Thanks for all the support we have had and for the support we continue to have.
73 from the team at ZL7C on cold and windy Chatham island.

ZL1CN