Down the rabbit hole I went today, and tripped over this page at RSM which discusses the issues importing electrical, electronic and radio devices into NZ from a Government perspective. I noted "suppliers of radio transmitting products must hold a Licence to Supply.". Makes me wonder whether Trademe and such are watching for this sort of business, what with people routinely purchasing transmission kit to resell it...

Today at #NetHui I attended a discussion on Disaster Recovery.
Ham radio got a brief mention.
Then later the same day, I get referred to this:

Never underestimate the value that ham radio can bring to communications 'when all else fails'.

What can I say, but, I Like It! Credit goes to Makezine.com (earlier link goes to vhf.org.nz, where I also published it).

Possibly the most ambitious Cadet Expedition ever?

Great to see, and especially interested in the involvement of Amateur Radio as well. Hats-off to TS Talisman!

Spent several hours tonight finally sorting out an article - with photos and video - about the SAREX I helped at a few weeks ago.

Check it out @ http://www.vhf.org.nz/content/search-and-rescue-exercise-tararuas.

A bit of a teaser as to the contents:

.

Ironically despite my time working for the NZDF, that's the closest i've been to an operating Iroquois in many years... will be a little sad to see them go, good ol' workhorses that they are. Interesting to note that despite originating from the Vietnam War era, variants are still manufactured and sold. And there are hoards of variants...

But yeah, despite only being able to attend the SAREX on the Sunday I managed to get a lot out of it; it helped me make sure I hadn't forgotton any of the key skills required to run comms in a situation like that, got me up-close to an Iroquois and presented an opportunity to talk to the flight crew for several minutes, and also got me some exposure to some of the latest in comms equipment being deployed by SAR. Much thanks to ZL4JY for the opportunity, and to ZL2HD and the others who made me welcome.

An Interesting Read with links to an ARRL news article on the ham radio response.

Good on them for having a plan to deal with such an event... !

I coulda told you that!

... Jamboree On the Air (JOTA) 2008..

A fun way to spend the day, at least.

:-)

Spotted this one when researching the latest fad - energy saving light bulbs:

Energy Saving Bulb 'cracked like a gun' - in the Otago Daily Times.

The guy interviewed is a guy i've seen in various places thanks to the Amateur Radio community.

I hafta say, why didn't people consider the RFI impacts of this technology sooner???

People are oblivious I suppose...

With the baseline noise level in the RF world going up and up - thanks to more and more electronic appliances and more and more wireless technologies - at some stage you really do have to sit up and take notice about this sorta thing.