Repeater Report - 2013

Annual repeater report 2012 – 2013
No major projects have been undertaken this year after the significant work at Hautai Hill last year. The next planned major project is the installation of a fourth repeater at the Emerson Street water tank, previously our linking site. We still have our secure equipment cupboard on the site and a current lease for the use of the site. Some of the infrastructure from the linking installation is able to be re-used for the new repeater. Work is progressing on assembling the technical equipment and preparing to manufacture the linking hardware. Fund raising applications and licensing are the first items to cover and then the work of the final assembly of the technical equipment can begin in earnest.
Weather Sked operators
Our numbers remain thin on the ground. Moeraki no longer has a permanent operator with John McLellan in the “Rendall on Reed” rest home. Martin Finnie helps out with local conditions most evenings during the year. Keith and I carry the duty shifts with Rowan Leck and Terry Thomas filling in on occasions.
Our repeater and linking sites.
Swampy summit linking site.
No work apart from routine checks by our landlord.
MM 66 on Cape Wanbrow.
No work but a suspicion this site is now working better with the analogue TV transmitters on the site switched off. It is known that other VHF operators on the site were suspicious they were also suffering similar de-sensing problems but no concise tests have been carried out to confirm our suspicions. On other sites where tests could be accomplished, the analogue switch-off has resulted in improvements to VHF communication operations.
MM62 on Hautai Hill
Apart from the apparently reduced coverage from our main aerial, everything continues to test fine and works satisfactorily.
MM 64 on Hinahina Hill
A routine visit unearthed no problems. The stays on the pole supporting our antenna were re-tensioned to straighten the pole. The site was inspected again this weekend with no problems in our department although another user’s aerial had fallen down and was repaired.
The repeater system continues to provide an excellent service but Dunedin area coverage will be much improved with the advent of the fill-in repeater at Emerson Street. The channel that will be used is yet to be allocated. I note again 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 4 to 5 years, we will need to be budgeting for some replacement/upgrades.

Martin Balch Repeater Trustee

Chairman's Report 2013

Chairman’s Report 2013

Otago Maritime VHF Association Incorporated

At the first committee meeting In August 2012 the following were re-elected to the committee: Michael Harkness (Chairman); Ian Milne (Secretary); John Armstrong (Treasurer) and Martin Balch (Repeater trustee). The committee were: Vern Hall, Ate Heineman, Ron Johnston, Les McBean, Gavin Palmer, Keith Simon and Terry Thomas. Vern also represents the Otago Yacht Club Inc; Ate the Port Chalmers Fishermen’s Cooperative, Les McBean the Port Chalmers Yacht Club Inc and Ron Johnston, theTautuku Fishing Club Inc. Ian is not seeking re-election and on behalf of the association I thank him for putting the association’s records in order and for the many hours he spent revising the rules. Barry Crane agreed to be our external reviewer, and it was decided to appoint an Honorary Solicitor as and when required.

We are a small association with a total membership of 214 individual and commercial members and 10 group members. The latter include groups with diverse interests from recreational fishing to search and rescue.  Use of the term ‘group’ to describe the latter has led to some confusion, which we hope the revised rules will clarify.  A copy of the proposed revisions is posted on our blogsite. During the year 20 new members joined the association and 2 individuals resigned. 

The association may be small in number, but our network covers one of the longest and most exposed coastlines in the country (see the attached map prepared by Terry Thomas). The hub of the network is the repeater on Swampy, a prominent hill to the north-west of Dunedin, which can reach from Cape Wanbrow (south of the Oamaru boat harbour) to Hinahina hill (south of Balclutha). The network allows calls to be monitored anywhere along the coast and sometimes one can hear Ted Gilbert in Oamaru or Keith Simon at Taieri Mouth responding to calls outside their immediate areas. The blue areas on the map indicate areas of poor coverage because of ‘shading’ from hills, which the proposed new channel 60 will address. The coast from Allan’s Beach (the south side of the Otago Peninsula) to south of Taieri Mouth is one of these. This year there have been about 30+ incidents requiring SAR callouts, many in the Taieri Mouth area.  Fortunately there have been no fatalities. External funding will be sought for this development. The proposal from last year’s AGM to install notices at boat launching sites is in hand.

The network has required some maintenance in the past year, but nothing on the scale of the power cable to Hautai Hill. Martin, Terry, and Greg Stoop carried out some long-overdue maintenance at Hinahina, which included uprighting the mast. In the next 12 months the mast at HHH autai Hill will need to be inspected, and our landlord at Cape Wanbrow (Downer Ltd) has asked us to upgrade our repeater to avoid interference between the other services at this site. This will require installation of isolators and cavity filters.

I would like to thank the committee for their support especially Ian, John, Martin and Terry and our regular volunteer operators: Martin Balch, Ted Gilbert, Kevin Hughes and Keith Simon. We are also grateful for help from Martin Finnie who continues to give the evening weather round-ups from Moeraki, and Rowan Leck and Terry who have provided relief cover. We are very short of volunteer operators. If you are prepared to help or know of someone who is able to help operate this important service please let one of the committee know.

Michael Harkness

Chairman

Notice of AGM

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Thirty-first Annual General Meeting of the Otago Maritime VHF Association will be held on:

Date:            Tuesday 30th July 2013
Place:            Otago Yacht Club, Magnet St, Dunedin
Time:            1930 hours

Business:        The normal business of an Annual General Meeting will be conducted, including Reports; Election of Committee, Honorary Solicitor and Financial Reviewer; Subscriptions; Notified Business and General Business.

Notified business:    Consideration of the revised Rules.  The Rules have been revised to clarify the membership and delegate requirements, and to update other clauses in a more logical sequence.  A copy of the revised Rules has been placed on the blogsite at http://otagomaritimevhfassn.blogspot.co.nz/search/label/Rules.  

Speaker       
The speaker will be Terry Thomas, on “Communications at Sea”, including AIS, DSC, email and internet.  

The talk will be followed by a light supper.  


Ian Milne
Secretary
Ph 03 488 4205
ian.milne@clear.net.nz
8 July 2013

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.  Any extra amount as a donation will be much appreciated.  We are a Registered Charity, and a receipt will be issued for donations over $5.00 to enable tax credits to be claimed.

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Date:                              Thursday 26^th 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

ian.milne@clear.net.nz

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. 

                                                                                           

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Date:                              Thursday 26^th 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

ian.milne@clear.net.nz

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. 

                                                                                                                                 

2011 AGM Draft Minutes

Otago Maritime VHF Assn. Inc.,

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at the

Otago Yacht Club on Thursday 15^th September 2011

The Chairman opened the meeting at 1935 hours, with a welcome to those present.

Present: 

Chairman: Michael Harkness;

Secretary: Ian Milne; 

Treasurer: John Armstrong;

Repeater Trustee: Martin Balch;

Keith Simon; Jack Squires; Kevin Martin; Les McBean; Ron Sim; Terry Thomas; Ted Gilbert; Graham Wright; Graeme Wall; Ate Heineman; Maggie Oakley; Vern Hall.

Apologies:

Ron Johnston; Colin Weatherall; Jeff Donaldson (Acting Harbourmaster); Kevin Hughes; John Milburn (Monarch Cruises); David Blair; Fiona Balch; Ian McKay; Mike Boylen; Bill McIndoe; John McLellan; Robert George; Bruce Walker and Paul Wright (Otago Harbour Control); Meri Leask (Bluff Fishermen’s Radio); Lox Kellas (Dunedin Police and Coastguard).                                                      

Moved Simon/Thomas, That the apologies be accepted:                                            Carried

Minutes of Previous AGM:

The minutes of the 2010 AGM, held on 9^th September 2010, were read by the Chairman. 

Moved Harkness/Thomas, That the minutes be approved as a correct record:                 Carried

                                                                          

Annual Reports:

1. Chairman’s Report:

The Chairman presented his annual report, which was accepted:              

Moved Harkness/Sim, That the Chairman’s report be adopted:                                 Carried

2. Repeater Trustee’s Report:

The Repeater Trustee presented his report, and added the point that etiquette for the use of the repeaters should include the use of simplex channels where possible, such as when boats are in sight of each other.                                          

Moved Balch/Simon, That the Repeater-Trustee’s report be adopted:                      Carried

3. Treasurer’s Report:

The Treasurer presented the financial reports, which were briefly discussed.  It was commented that the increased number of members paying the five year subscription for six years’ membership could be seen as a vote of confidence in the Association. 

Moved Armstrong/McBean, That the financial reports be accepted:                          Carried

Subscriptions:

The Treasurer reported the committee’s recommendation that subscriptions remain the same as

at present, i.e., Single year, $38 Recreational; $58 Commercial; or the discount rates of $190 and $290 for six years’ membership respectively.  

Moved Armstrong/Balch, That the subscriptions remain as at present:                                  Carried

Election of Committee Members:

The following members were nominated for the committee:

Ted Gilbert                                  Harkness/Sim

Michael Harkness                        Balch/Heineman

Keith Simon                                Balch/Gilbert

Ian Milne                         Harkness/Balch

Ate Heineman                              Gilbert/Harkness

John Armstrong                           Thomas/Balch

Vern Hall                         Balch/Harkness

Terry Thomas                              Harkness/Balch           

Martin Balch                                Thomas/Simon

Moved Balch/Gilbert, That nominations be closed:                                     Carried

The Chairman declared the above members to be elected to the committee. 

Admission of Group Representatives:

The following club delegates were welcomed to the committee, under the “group membership” entitlement:

Les McBean, for the Port Chalmers Yacht Club Inc.;

Ron Johnston, for the Tautuku Fishing Club Inc..  (Ron had sent his apologies for this meeting and had indicated his continuing availability for this position.)

Honorary Solicitor:

It was decided that an Honorary Solicitor would be sought, as and when required.

Financial Reviewer:

The Treasurer reported that our present reviewer, Barry Crane, had indicated his willingness to remain in this position, for the very reasonable fee of $300. 

Moved Armstrong/Harkness, That Mr Barry Crane be appointed Financial Reviewer for the 2011-2012 year:                                                          Carried

Notified Business:

Questions from Ted Gilbert:

Ted Gilbert had submitted a series of eight questions concerning various aspects of the Association’s activities.  It was agreed that they were good questions. The Repeater Trustee had provided answers for discussion.  However, it soon became apparent that this discussion could take some time, and Maggie Oakley proposed that this be left to the committee to finalise and post on our blogsite as “FAQ”.   This is at http://otagomaritimevhfassn.blogspot.com/ .  This proposal was accepted by the meeting, as an instruction to the committee. 

General Business:

1. Terry Thomas suggested that the headings of notices and minutes of Annual General Meetings be numbered, such as “The Thirty-fifth Annual General Meeting….”, or as appropriate.  As this is common practice and a good idea, the Secretary agreed to arrange it.  

2. Following the above discussion on “Group Membership”, the Secretary volunteered to write to the boating clubs and other groups which may be interested, to advise of them of their entitlement to appoint representatives to our committee, and also to remind them that “group membership” does not entitle individual members of that club or group to free use of our repeater service.  This was accepted by the meeting. 

3. Regrets were expressed that John McLellan, formerly of the Moeraki Fishing Club, and the Association’s volunteer operator in that area, was no longer available due to ill health.  The Chairman volunteered to purchase a suitable book, and present it to John as a token of the Association’s gratitude for his long service as our operator in Moeraki.

Committee Meeting:

As a committee meeting is required to be held within thirty days to elect the officers for the coming year, it was decided to hold a meeting on Monday evening, 10^th October 2011, at Martin Balch’s place, 23 Connell St, Waverley, Dunedin, at 1930 hours.  

Close of Meeting:

As there was no further business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 2035 hours, with thanks to those in attendance. 

Guest Speaker: 

The meeting was followed by a very interesting talk and slide-show by Robyn Armstrong about her and John’s experiences, sailing around the south coast and exploring Dusky Sound and Preservation Inlet, in February-March 2009 in their yacht, the Shag, and an award-winning movie of the trip made and presented by John called “Discovering Dusky”, with a light supper to end the evening. 

Michael Harkness

Chairman

Ian Milne

Secretary

Repeater Report 2011

Annual Repeater Report  2010-2011

The major change this year was the completion of the new linking system to the Hina Hina Hill site enabling us to close down the Emerson Street site and cancel the respective licences.

Cape Wanbrow, Channel MM 66 has needed no maintenance this year. When possible, we are continuing to run tests on the site to confirm it is not being interfered with by other services – so far nothing conclusive has been found.

Hautai Hill, Channel MM 62 had several weather related power failures but in all occasions, service continued uninterrupted on the back-up battery supply. The landlord is extending his farm sheds over our buried cable so work has been undertaken to mark the cable route and allow the landlord to do his foundation work.  At some time, we will need to excavate the lower half of the cable and re-route it much deeper as the farmer cannot cultivate the paddock it crosses as the existing cable is too shallow. The repeater has required no work during the year.

Hina Hina Hill, Channel MM 64.  This site had a power failure that required a visit. It was found our power supply had disappeared and we were sharing a power supply and battery with DOC. The DOC power supply had failed and the battery had also failed. We believe it was our battery.  A new battery and power supply were installed and the two systems separated. A re-furbished set of radios were subsequently installed with the new linking system. The aerials all tested fine.

Tests have been approved and will be carried out shortly to see if the Emerson Street site can be used to enhance coverage into the city beaches and Kaka Point area, known coverage shadow areas at present.

Generally, the system continues to provide excellent service to our target areas, and to many areas beyond our targets with continued good response to our weather information services.

All equipment is in good condition and working well but it must be recognised that with the exception of the Cape Wanbrow installation, 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 equipment and we hold adequate spare transceivers, but within 5 years, we will have to budget for some replacements.

Martin Balch

Repeater Trustee

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Date:                        Thursday 15^th September 2011

Place:                      Otago Yacht Club, Magnet St, Dunedin

Time:                       1930 hours

Business:                 The normal business of an AGM will be conducted, including Receiving Reports; Election of Committee, Honorary Solicitor and Financial Reviewer; Subscriptions; and Notified and Non-notified Business.   Any notified business must be in the hands of the Secretary not later than 31^st August 2011.

Speaker:                  At the conclusion of the meeting, John Armstrong will give an illustrated talk on his and Robyn’s experiences with their yacht, the Shag, sailing to and visiting Dusky Sound.  This will be followed by a light supper.  

Ian Milne

Secretary

Ph 03 488 4205

ian.milne@clear.net.nz

Notes:

The annual Chairman’s 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 were raised to $38 (Recreational) and $58 (Commercial) last year.  Six years’ membership for five years’ subs are therefore $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 2011

Chairman’s Report 2011

Following our usual practice the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Repeater trustee were elected by the committee at the first committee meeting. They are: Mike Harkness (Chairman), Ian Milne (Secretary), John Armstrong (Treasurer) and Martin Balch (Repeater trustee). Other members of the committee are: Brian Chalmers, Ron Johnston, Vern Hall, Ate Heineman, John McLellan, Les McBean, Keith Simon and Terry Thomas (Vice Chairman). An external reviewer was to be appointed.

This year marked a turning point, Hina Hina Hill was fully commisioned and apart from a problem with the power supply, which Martin refers to in his report, it has been functioning well. Overall our system, which serves a challenging part of the coastline with equally challenging weather, provides an excellent sertvice although coverage in the Tow rock and Nuggets areas is patchy. The committee is aware of these problems and is considering options, one of which may be to site a repeater at our old site in  Emerson Street. The power cable to Hautai Hill has been located and was partially uncovered by Terry and Michael, but it will need to be buried deeper, probably later this year. Development of our blog site is underway and we encourage members to forward material for it. It can be accessed at: otagomaritimevhfassn.blogspot.com.           

Overall, the association and equipment are healthy, but we would still like more members from the Oamaru and South Otago areas and greater involvement in the Association by more members. One place to start would be to post copy, links and/or images on our blogspite or forward them to John at omvhfassn@gmail.com. Martin notes in his report that  eventually we will need to find funds for new equipment, but this should not be for a few more years.

Finally, I would like to thank the committee for their support escpecially Ian for putting our records into a coherent order; our volunteer operators: John McLellan, Kevin Hughes, Heather and Keith Simon, Martin Balch, Ted Gilbert and Martin Finnie, and our members who have provided on-the-water weather reports. Martin Finnie has, on occasions, done the evening weather round-ups from Moeraki. At present Moraki is unmanned because John, due to ill health, has retired to Oamaru. We wish him and Pauline well and will miss his experience and help on the air.

Michael Harkness

AGM Thursday 15 September 2011

The Annual General Meeting will be held at the Otago Yacht Club's clubrooms in Magnetic Street, Dunedin. (Behind the Stadium) commencing 7.30pm.

The meeting will be followed by "Discovering Dusky" presented by John & Robyn Armstrong on their cruise to Dusky Sound.

Chairman’s Report 2010

 

The following Officers of the Association were elected from the Committee at the first meeting: Chairman - Michael Harkness; Vice Chairman – Terry Thomas; Honorary Treasurer – John Armstrong; Secretary – Fiona Balch; Hon. Solicitor – to be appointed if the need arises; Financial Reviewer – deferred; Repeater Trustee – Martin Balch.

Other members of the Committee are: Brian Chalmers, Ron Johnston, Vern Hall, Ate Heineman, John McLellan, Les McBean, Ian Milne, Keith Simon.

During the year there was a small increase in our membership: the total number now stands at approximately 200. Following up a suggestion from Keith that many recreational VHF users while owning VHF radios were not members of the Association, I visited a fishing contest at Karitane and distributed application forms to those who were not members of the Association. In fact, very few were members of the OMVHF Association although all appeared to own VHF radios. It would be in our interest for members to distribute applications forms at future fishing contests.

We have had some issues with the power cable and signal strength at Hautai. I refer you to Martin’s excellent report. As Martin mentions in his report, the cable will have to be located and re-laid in a deeper trench, and at the appropriate time we will require a working bee. This should enable us to complete the job quickly and efficiently. The incoming Committee will also need to tidy up the arrangements at Hautai with Terry who has security and Differential GPS transmitters at Hautai, and I’m am sure that we can come to an amicable agreement.

I have put a temporary hold on further developments of Hina Hina until we are sure we have sufficient funds to complete the exercise. At present the subscriptions and interest received will not meet our continuing obligations including repairs, licences and replacements. Over the next year, we will need to apply for a grant to fund our on-going developments and costs. Overall, the Association is in a good position and I think we can look forward to the productive year.

Finally, I would like to thank those who have worked on our repeaters, to our operators – John McLellan (who was honoured with a QSM for his long involvement with SAR), Kevin Hughes, Heather and Keith Simon, Martin Balch, Fiona Balch, Meri Leask (who comes up on the morning weather schedule) and Ted Gilbert, and those who have provided on-the-water weather reports. I would also like to mention that Neville Crozier resigned from the Association during the past year: Neville was member of the Association for many years and helped many sailors; and also Hamish Scott who retired from Harbour Control in December 2009.

Michael Harkness