27 November 2012
18 October 2012
Some FAQ's
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Use of the
Otago Maritime VHF network. We depend on membership and volunteers to continue
operating our three linked repeaters (Ch 62, 64, 66) covering the Otago coast.
You can join by phoning 0800 837 2346, or sending your subscription to OMVHF
Assn, PO Box 2120, South Dunedin
2. Trip Reports. Our network is staffed by volunteers
who may not always be available. Otago Harbour Control (Ch 14) will take TRs on
our network if there is no response from our operators. If a TR cannot be taken
on our network we advise calling ‘Chalmers Maritime Radio’ on Ch 16.
3. Call signs. Call signs are assigned
to a vessel not a person and should always
be used in an emergency situation. Vessels using VHF (or SSB) are legally
required to have a call sign.
4. The scheduled times for Marine Forecasts & Shore Station
Reports are – 0700, 1200, 1900 hours.
5. Shore
station weather reports. We suggest the following template
for weather reports – clouds, conditions (atmospheric, sea), wind (strength,
direction), barometric pressure, temperature, tide (if applicable).
6. Representation on the Committee. There is provision in
our rules for group representation on the committee. At present the Otago Yacht
Club, Tautuku Fishing Club and the Port Chalmers Yacht Club have
representatives. More would be welcome.
16 July 2012
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Date: Thursday 26th
July 2012
Place: Otago Yacht Club, Magnet St, Dunedin
Time: 1930 hours
Business: The normal business of an
Annual General Meeting will be conducted, including Receiving Reports; Election
of Committee, Honorary Solicitor and Financial Reviewer; Subscriptions; and General
Business.
Speaker
At the conclusion of the AGM,
Ian and Alison Milne will give an illustrated talk on their adventures by
kayak, dory and canoe-yawl in Fiordland, Stewart Island
and the Marlborough Sounds.
This will be followed by
a light supper.
Committee Meeting
At the end of the
evening, a short committee meeting will be held to elect the officers for the
coming year, as required by the Rules.
Ian Milne
Secretary
Ph 03 488 4205
16 July 2012
Notes
The Annual Report, Repeater
Trustee’s Report and Financial Report will be available at the meeting and will
be posted on the association’s blogsite: http://otagomaritimevhfassn.blogspot.com
.
Subscriptions are
currently $38 (Recreational) and $58 (Commercial). Six years’ membership for five years’ subs
are $190 and $290 respectively. The committee is recommending that they stay
the same this year. Hence renewal
notices are enclosed with this notice as appropriate.
Chairman’s report 2012
The
committee elected at the Annual General Meeting were John Armstrong, Martin Balch, Ted Gilbert, Vern
Hall. Michael Harkness, Ate Heineman, Ian Milne, Keith Simon
and Terry Thomas. At the first committee meeting the following were re-elected:
Chairman, Michael Harkness; Secretary, Ian Milne; Treasurer, John Armstrong and
Repeater Trustee, Martin Balch. Les McBean and Ron Johnston were welcomed to
the committee as group members representing the Port Chalmers Yacht Club and
the Tautuku Fishing Club Inc., respectively.
Barry Crane agreed to be our external reviewer, and it was decided to
appoint an Honorary Solictor as and when required.
During
the year the committee discussed the questions submitted by Ted Gilbert to the
AGM and fomulated answers, which will be placed on our blogsite (otagomaritimevhfassn.blogspot.com/).
The committee looked at following-up a proposal by Terry that the Association
place notices seeking new members and promoting water safety at boat ramps; a
practice followed by other associations around the country. During the past
year the power cable to the repeater on Hautai Hill was replaced with the help
of volunteer labour and generous help with heavy machinery from the Reids, who
own Nature’s Wonders. Without their support this project would not have been
possible. The Association obtained a grant from the Bendigo Foundation to
partially fund this project. We also attempted to test the effectiveness of a
repeater, operating from our old site in Emerson Street, to reach areas in the
harbour and along the coast not well served by Channel 62. You will find
further details in Martin’s report.
I would like to thank the committee for
their support especially Martin and Ian and our volunteer operators: Martin Balch, Ted Gilbert, Kevin Hughes, Heather and
Keith Simon. I would also like to thank
those who have helped with the evening weather round-ups and provided relief
for Keith and Martin.
Sadly Heather Simon passed
away at the beginning of December 2011. For many years Heather helped Keith operate
the Taieri Mouth repeater, and was very helpful to boaters intending to cross
the bar at mouth of the Taieri River. She will be missed by many recreational
boaters.
Michael Harkness
Annual repeater report 2011 – 2012
There are two
major items to report on this year.
Hautai Hill power
Development and
expansion of Nature’s Wonders, our hosts business, brought about a necessary
power cable upgrade. As work progressed it became obvious the old cable had a
number of previous repairs, was inappropriate for the job and could not be
legally re-installed. With the considerable
assistance from the landowners, Perry with his son Martin, a new trench was dug
between the power source in their new wool shed and the “igloo” (our equipment
hut), on the top of the hill, 350 rugged metres away. Many members and some
non-members were involved in this project. We were also well assisted by the
Bendigo Valley Sports and Charity Foundation who responded favourably to our
funding request. Without the generous assistance
of the Read’s and their heavy equipment, and the volunteer spade gangs, this
would have been an extremely expensive project.
The trenching was a major exercise with heavy digging through a mix of broken
and solid rock.
(Photographs may be viewed on an earlier post.)
(Photographs may be viewed on an earlier post.)
Fill-in Repeater testing
This is subject to
a second report which will go before the committee initially. The test site was
the Emerson Street
water tank that was previously our linking site and still has some equipment
installed. Unfortunately, someone took
exception to the testing leading to the early abandonment of the tests. In the
short time we had available, tests showed signals at Kaka Point were similar
but other areas to the south were significantly improved – Taieri Mouth was
slightly improved, while over the city beaches, the city, parts of the Taieri
and importantly, the Upper
Harbour signals were
significantly improved. The remaining critical areas – Tow Rock, Nuggets
anchorage etc. were unable to be tested.
Maritime Radio
access to “User Group Repeaters” for SAR purposes
This subject had
been raised at National Search and Rescue meetings. I had a meeting with Maritime Radio staff to
discuss the subject. The outcome is while it could happen sometime in the
future, it will not happen in the short to medium term.
Weather Sked Operators
We have maintained
the full service during the year despite the ever decreasing number of
operators. This is a common problem that is occurring around the country with
volunteer Coast Stations. Moeraki no
longer has a permanent operator with John McLellan in the “Rendall on Reed”
rest home. Martyn Finnie provides Moeraki
reports to the evening sked when he is available. In Oamaru Ted Gilbert
maintains a constant listening watch ably assisted by Jim Fraser and Archie
Thomas, while Robert George helps when necessary with reports from the upper
harbour. Sadly, during the year, we
have lost several of our strong supporters. Heather Simon lost her long battle
with cancer. Her familiar voice, friendly assistance, and watchful eye from her
kitchen over that notorious Taieri Mouth bar is sadly missed by all. John
McLellan’s wife Pauline has lost her long battle with failing health. While her
voice was rarely heard on the air, Pauline was always in the background
supporting John and no matter how ill she was, hot buttered scones and other
delicious goodies were always on the table for visitors. Bruce Walker, the
Chief Signalman at Harbour Control
and one of our original weather watch reporters passed away suddenly last
Friday after a brief illness.
That leaves only
Keith and me carrying the duty shifts with Rowan Leck
from Marine SAR recently stepping in to assist when we were both away.
To our repeater sites.
Swampy summit
linking site.
No work apart from
routine checks by our landlord.
MM 66 on Cape Wanbrow.
No work but testing
work is planned as it does not seem to have the coverage it should. This is
waiting for a convenient time when Terry and I are in Oamaru and have the
several hours necessary available. Otherwise, the installation is working well.
MM62 on Hautai
Hill
Apart from the
reduced coverage from our high aerial, everything tests fine and works
satisfactorily.
MM 64 on Hinahina
Hill
Has not been
visited and continues to work well.
Generally, the system continues to provide
excellent service to our prime target areas.
All equipment is in good condition and
working well but it must be recognised that with the exception of the Cape
Wanbrow and Swampy Summit installations, most of our aerials, aerial
infrastructure and repeaters radios are now fully or near fully depreciated and
over 10 years old. There is no immediate need to replace any of the equipment
and we hold adequate spares but within 5 years, we will need to be budgeting
for some replacement/upgrades.
Martin Balch
Repeater Trustee
Notice of Annual General Meeting
Date: Thursday 26th
July 2012
Place: Otago Yacht Club, Magnet St, Dunedin
Time: 1930 hours
Business: The normal business of an
Annual General Meeting will be conducted, including Receiving Reports; Election
of Committee, Honorary Solicitor and Financial Reviewer; Subscriptions; and General
Business.
Speaker
At the conclusion of the AGM,
Ian and Alison Milne will give an illustrated talk on their adventures by
kayak, dory and canoe-yawl in Fiordland, Stewart Island
and the Marlborough Sounds.
This will be followed by
a light supper.
Committee Meeting
At the end of the
evening, a short committee meeting will be held to elect the officers for the
coming year, as required by the Rules.
Ian Milne
Secretary
Ph 03 488 4205
16 July 2012
Notes
The Annual Report, Repeater
Trustee’s Report and Financial Report will be available at the meeting and will
be posted on the association’s blogsite: http://otagomaritimevhfassn.blogspot.com
.
Subscriptions are
currently $38 (Recreational) and $58 (Commercial). Six years’ membership for five years’ subs
are $190 and $290 respectively. The committee is recommending that they stay
the same this year. Hence renewal
notices are enclosed with this notice as appropriate.
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