Radio-Telephone Club Formed Recently

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31090, 20 June 1966, Page 10

Radio-Telephone Club Formed Recently

A social club in which members communicate by radio-telephone has been formed in Christchurch. The Canterbury RadioTelephone Club was formed a few weeks ago with a meeting of 15 members, and already membership has grown. All the members own walkie-talkie, up to 1 watt, transceivers. They are not used for business purposes, and they operate on the 2.65 m/c, citizens’ band. Most of the members have the transceivers in their own homes, and a number of them also use them on private launches.

A small number of men around Christchurch with the radio-telephone transceivers got into the habit of calling each other up a few evenings a week for an exchange of information and general gossip. The move to inaugurate the club began from this group. Officers of the club are: president, Mr N. F. Pipe; vicepresident, Mr G. Gallagher; secretary-treasurer, Mr E. T. Forrester. Some of the members have permanent outside aerials fixed to their home so they can enjoy the “gossip” sessions in the comfort of their firesides. The sets can work the whole of Christchurch easily.

Launches can be “worked" by radio-telephones as far north as Motunau. In the “skip” season, from November to March, launches at Lyttelton and Akaroa have worked Auckland and Whangarei. In this period, the radio waves "bounce” off the ionosphere. Mr Price, with the radio

(ship to shore) in the Canterbury Yacht Squadron’s pickup launch, worked a launch in Hauraki Gulf from Charteris Bay last summer. Radio-tele-phone conversations have been carried between Christchurch and Dunedin in the freak conditions. Some members think that they will be able to work Australia and even America in future skip seasons. The Post Office has given its official approval of the formation of the club. The citizens’ band is set aside for private persons. The St John’s Ambulance Association uses it, but on a slightly different frequency. Club members are going to have field days in the country and also on members* launches, and will run some competitions next summer.