Welcome Everyone

to the history page of information & links about the North Shore Branch 29 of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters.

Postal address: 400 East Coast Rd, Mairangi Bay, North Shore City 1310, New Zealand.

Our club station callsign is ZL1AB. Once it was ZL1WO.

Meetings over the years have been held in the test room of a power supply company, private house, rented club house, and more recently in the CD HQ.

The Branch has participated in Amateur radio Field day contests (under canvas), many emergency drills, sporting events, parades and boat regattas.

Training classes in radio theory and morse code operating have helped many, young & not so young, members to gain skills & licenses of their own. More than a few have used the knowledge as a begining of a lifetime career.

VARIOUS ARTCLES RELATING TO THE HISTORY OF NORTH SHORE BRANCH OF NZART

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Break-In for November 1948 pp 9, 32. Author: J. Carrel, ZL1HL.

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AUCKLAND AND NORTH SHORE BEANO By J. L. Carrel, ZL1HL *

THE second combined Auckland-North Shore Beano, which was held at the Commodore Lounge on Saturday, October 9th, proved an unqualified success.

....At 8 p.m. the programme opened with the introduction of chairmen, Harold 1CH of Auckland, with Jim 1GF of North Shore. A toast, "The King," was followed, much to the amusement of all present, by the entry of the M.C., King (Ed. 1BE) Farouk, followed at the clap of his hands by his band of stalwart slaves, 1QP, 1SJ, 1DW, 1WA, 1OL, 1MS, and Fred Powell) who, at the bidding of their master, attended to the liquid needs of the guests. King Farouk, as befits an Arab potentate, was appropriately clad in Sheik's attire (complete with wristlet watch!), while his slaves presented an exotic spectacle with their flowing white robes and red fez caps and sashes at their waists.

There were about 160 present and, in welcoming the visitors, of whom there were many, Harold, 1CH, revealed that Hams from as far afield as Whangarei, Dargaville, Thames, Waiuku, and the Waikato area had traveled to Auckland especially for the occasion. Toasts were drunk to "The Association, "Kindred Clubs," "The P. and T. Department," and "The Visitors." The 1st District Vice-President, Bert, 1HQ, when responding on behalf of the Association, pointed out that the guests present represented a very large part of the Association, whose success depended very largely on the activity of each member. He asked that all should become active members, taking part in contests, contributing to "Break-In," and sending forward ideas to Headquarters. Bert concluded his remarks with a timely appeal to each member to bring along a new member. Mr. D. McMahon, District Radio Inspector, in responding on behalf of the P. and T. Department, emphasised the Association's need of public goodwill due to the increasing pressure being brought to bear on amateur bands by commercial interests. The department acted as a buffer between the amateurs and the public, said Mr. McMahon, and he illustrated the point by telling of a complaint made by a BCL who suffered from interference from a YL Ham who, because she worked in a kapok factory was known on the air as "Kapok Liz." In proposing a toast to "Absent Friends," the Auckland chairman regretted the absence of two of the best-known members of the Association, Fred Leader and Gordon Salt, 1CK. Fred is at present in hospital, but everyone was pleased to learn that he is in good spirits and making progress towards a complete recovery. Among the guests was "Pop," 1IZ, who was celebrating his seventy-second birthday. To his surprise and obvious delight, a cake, complete with candles, was wheeled in with great ceremony. "Pop" explained that he was just a new- comer to Ham radio, having obtained his license in 1936, but expressed the hope that he would still be operating on his hundredth birthday, a sentiment endorsed by all present. During the course of the evening items were capably presented by Tex Doyle (Hill Billy), Bob Harwood (piano-accordion), Alan Matthews (magician), and Bill Todd (comedian). A pair of 717A's was the prize for the lucky winner of the competition, in which entrants estimated the resonant frequency of a length of wire hanging on the wall, while a length of 300 ohm feed line was won for the best story. Raffles for an electric jug and a bottle of gin were drawn and the winners announced. An amusing sidelight was the presentation of the second prize for the best story. This was a transmitting tube of very early vintage, complete with authority from the R.I. to the winner to use 10 watts on its 35 amp filament. The highlight of the evening's entertainments was the presentation of the film, "Hams in Hollywood" by Bert, 1JO, capably assisted by Seth, 1KJ (sound effects), and Harold, 1CH (commentary). There were glimpses of well known local Hams "at home," together with an explanation of how Des, 1WA, obtains the extra power he needs for his ZC1 to work the DX. The heads of the tables were appropriately decorated with scale models of 10-metre beams on lattice towers, which anyone would be proud to own, and, in addition, N.Z.A.R.T. pennants were displayed in prominent positions. Two large globes emphasised the worldwide scope of the amateur movement. During the suppertime guests circulated their QSL's for autographing by those present. All present agreed that the success of the evening was due to the thought and hard work devoted to the organization by Bert, 1JO, and his band of Auckland-North Shore assistants, and wish to say again, "Thanks, Bert." For those of the visitors who were able to linger in Auckland over the Sunday, a programme of visiting and entertaining was drawn up.

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* 5 Malibu Flats, 281 Mt. Eden Road, Auckland, S.1.

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[Notes: 1. Text as published in Break-In, complete with typos (sashes, Kapok, competition) and cavalier use of apostrophes. 2. Initial letter T in bold face, with twice the point size. Extends down into 2nd line in "Illuminated Manuscript" style.]

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Break-In for December 1950 pp 3 - 5. Author unknown but suspected of being Wally Briden ZL1PN (who was secretary at the time) or maybe ZL1HQ. Or maybe a committee effort.

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Click for the second page of club history.