Over the last few years the QHUG Committee has explored a range of potential sites for a new HF DX Contest station. At the beginning of 2011, we were hopeful that a site at Pukerua Bay would prove suitable, but wind shear and limited area for HF antennas on top of the hill meant that we concluded the site is not for us. After five years, the Committee somewhat reluctantly decided to recommend to the club that we dispose of our remaining assets. Our two containers and various masts stored at Titahi Bay have now been sold or passed on to others to use.
QHUG will still have a future, but a very different future from that when we were the ‘first station in the Southern Hemisphere to be heard’. With a bank balance in excess of NZ$30,000, the committee recommended to WARC, Inc that we look to allocate grants to groups undertaking HF or DX related activities. Rather than incurring additional costs associated with creating a Trust, QHUG will remain a committee of WARC, Inc. The Committee realises that a much wider group of supporters exists, and having a fund that encourages DX and contest activity will meet their needs as well.
Applications can be made online at the ZL6QH.com website, where all application details and forms can be found.
Thanks to Ralph ZL2AOH for his long standing services as QSL Manager (and some cards are still appearing through the bureau) and other members of the Quartz Hill Management Committee (ZL2AOH, ZL2AMI, ZL2AOV, ZL2ACG, ZL2BD, and ZL2UDF) for their advice and practical contributions.
Mike ZL1AXG
February 2013