The New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART) is a non-profit organisation of amateur radio enthusiasts in New Zealand. It represents New Zealand amateur radio operators nationally and internationally. NZART is a founding member of the International Amateur Radio Union. It is an association of individual members, however those members are encouraged to form local branches.
Membership of NZART is voluntary; it is estimated that approximately 35% of New Zealand's licensed amateur radio operators belong. Members are represented by Councillors to the NZART Council, the executive body tasked with the business management of the association.
Governance
The NZART Council includes seven executives. These are the NZART President, vice-president, and Immediate Past President (if required). Regional councillors are elected to represent different geographic regions of New Zealand: two from the North Island, two from the South Island, and two from anyway within New Zealand.
The NZART Council works with an appointed NZART Business Manager. The Business Manager is employed by NZART (30 hrs per week), and in 2020 an Office Assistant was employed (30 hrs per week). Both are tasked with the day-to-day business operations of the association, including manning their office, and providing administrative duties to AREC, located in Upper Hutt, near Wellington.
Additional officers reporting directly to NZART Council include the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Amateur Radio Emergency Communications, The Engineering Licensing Group (ELG) and the Administration Liaison Officer (ALO), who is charged with liaison with the Radio Spectrum Management Group of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Relations with the New Zealand Government
The NZART has performed an advocacy function, commenting on policy and planning initiatives proposed by the New Zealand government in the areas of radio licences, spectrum allocations for broadband wireless, and the future of digital communication. The Association also contributed to the creation of EMF exposure standards in their role as member of the NZ RF Standard Committee.
In 2006, the Ministry of Economic Development's Radio Spectrum Management division was assisted by NZART and the local Coastguard Boating Education Service in the creation of an update to the Spectrum Management and Registration Technology (SMART) which allowed people to search online for radio operator information including callsigns. In 2008, it was noted that there were some discrepancies between the SMART system and the callsign book produced by NZART.
Publications and services
The official journal of the NZART is Break-In, a bi-monthly publication containing articles of interest to the amateur radio community. Also, an annual publication known as the Call Book provides an index of licensed amateurs in New Zealand by call sign, providing addresses for the purpose of contact acknowledgement (QSL), as well as much other information useful to the New Zealand radio enthusiast. Other publications include Ham Shacks, Brass Pounders and Rag Chewers, a history of amateur radio in New Zealand, published in 1997 with assistance from the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs Historical Branch.
In 1980, NZART collaborated with author Jumbo Godfrey ZL1HV to produce a Basic radio training manual: a study course for the amateur radio operators.
The Association provides some educational services, such as providing demonstrative lectures on electromagnetic wave theory. Another service offered by the Association is to provide trained personnel and radio communications systems to Amateur Radio Emergency Communications, a group which liaises with the New Zealand Police and Civil Defense services in emergency situations.
Break-In
The official journal of the NZART is Break-In, and is published bimonthly. The publication is a requirement of the NZART Constitution The term break-in refers to a system in CW whereby the transmitting station can hear the other station's signal during “key up” periods.
A total of six issues a year are produced, with the first January/February distributed within the first week of February, and so on.
The close off dates for articles/advertising are year-on-year:
10 January for January/February issue. 10 March for March/April issue. 20 April for May/June issue. (produced to coincide with the AGM over Queens Birthday Weekend) 10 July for July/August issue. 10 September for September/October issue. 10 November for November/December issue.