Christchurch Section AREC
Section Leader’s Annual Report – November 2000
2000 has been yet another active year for the Section.
Y2K
Y2K came and went, it was pretty much a non-event, but it was worth the planning and exercises just in case. An activation exercise in anticipation of a possible requirement for Y2K held last year went well, and will continue as a national annual exercise. We celebrated the start of the year 2000 a little later with a BBQ event in January; we now await the start of the new millennium next year.
SAR
This year has again been fairly quiet for SAR.
During the year we had a number of SAR activations, which resulted in our being stood down either before getting underway, soon after getting on the road, or pretty much as we arrived on site. These activations also included the unexpected “exercise” at Porter Heights. As well as these callouts we were again involved with the District SAREX, this time at Lake Lyndon in March. We were also involved in a SAR Training Weekend providing tuition and assessment for the Comms module from the SAR Workbook. We again provided assessment of Communications at the annual Harris trophy SAR Competition late last year and just recently this year. This year we awarded a Trophy, “The Graham Wilson Memorial AREC Comms Trophy”, for the best score in Communications.
CD
Again many members, and other hams, were involved in the three part Operation Pandora Exercise activating Region and all the Area HQ’s over a period of a couple of months.
We were involved in a rescue exercise, based on the new CIMS methodology, in the Heathcote Valley area. We also assisted with the CD Inter-Firm Competitions, again providing assistance with the timing for the event, and in assessing communications skills. Four of our members attended a training course for, and obtained the Restricted Radiotelephone Operators Certificate to be able to operate the new VHF Marine set at Regional HQ. John Fisher, the Civil Defence Manager for Canterbury gave us a presentation on where Emergency Management is heading at our August meeting.
We were also activated on two occasions to provide operators at Regional HQ during a monitoring phase for flooding in August, and the storm and flooding in October.
Jetboating
The dedicated team involved with Jetboating events again braved the winter elements to provide safety and timing communications for events during the winter and spring months. They were active for 4 monthly races on local rivers, and almost a week on the rivers around Canterbury for the NZ River Racing Championship. Still to come is another race, the final for the year on the Waimak in December. We have made use of APRS on the Patrol Boats on a number of the race events this year and also during the National Championship.
Training
During the year we have had a number of training sessions on the 4th Wednesday of the month, covering message handling, both “on-air”, and a “class” session on techniques, CD1 and packet, and ES Band equipment. Coming up at time of writing is a weekend session on the new National Training Modules, to be held in Ashburton.
Other Events
There have been a number of other activities and events during the year to help us exercise and raise funds from donations. Again the biggest of these, the Coast to Coast, went off well with another big team effort. We were involved with motor sport with the NZ Motor Cycle Grand Prix and the Canterbury Rally. We again utilised APRS on the Car Rally, this being a big challenge due to the course winding its way around Banks Peninsula. We also again covered the Arawa Canoe Club Classic Kayak race at the end of last year. This year the City Council Shakedown event was renamed “Kids ‘n Action”, and we again provided communications support to run the timing of this event. The Oxford walk saw members of our group and North Canterbury providing communications support to this event. Our thanks again go to North Canterbury Section for their support in the Motor Cycle Grand Prix, the Coast to Coast, the Car Rally and other activities, also thanks to the West Coast section for their support for the Coast to Coast.
As well as these we have had a number of working bees, and a number of us attended quite a few meetings of various kinds, so all in all a pretty busy year.
Coming up shortly are the Arawa Canoe Club Classic Kayak race and the final Jetboat event for the year.
Projects
Work has started on an overhaul of the Daihatsu Communications Vehicle to revamp it along similar lines to the layout of the Command Vehicle.
During the year we have also purchased an Icom narrow band VHF set for the Daihatsu to cover the ES band.
Once again, a very big thank you, from me to all members, for your efforts, and support throughout the year. I know that at times I may not have acknowledged all participants in my reports, but your efforts are not forgotten, it is a team effort. I know how hard it is to find the time for the activities that we are involved in, so again a big Thank You. My special thanks to Jeni, Dave, Dudley and Mike for their work as my Deputies and as the Section Secretary, for without them I would not be able to operate the Section as I have.
I am again willing to continue as the Section Leader if this is the wish of you all.
73
Steve Davis ZL2UCX