Manawatū Amateur Radio Society ZL2KO

Manawatū Amateur Radio Society (MARS), call sign ZL2KO, was established to promote the hobby of private individuals to communicate by radio. We are Branch 20 of the New Zealand Association of Radio Transmitters (NZART).

We have our own clubrooms, we meet every month, and produce a regular newsletter. If you would like to learn a new skill and have some fun, please come along to a meeting as a visitor – gents, ladies or youngsters of any age are welcome – and see what we do. We run training courses to help you gain your licence, and every year have a sales day for buying and selling second-hand equipment.

An important part of our activities is supporting Search and Rescue through AREC (Amateur Radio Emergency Communications – see www.zl2ko.org.nz/arec/).

Amateur Radio, also known as “ham radio”, is about experimenting and communicating, using not only radio, but a range of technologies including satellites, the Internet and even beams of light! In New Zealand, hams are licensed by Radio Spectrum Management (RSM). Once licensed, an amateur can operate two-way radio equipment from home, from vehicles and from anywhere in New Zealand and, in many cases, when overseas too. The possibilities are endless, from sending TV pictures and operating through amateur radio satellites, to just having a quiet chat with friends at a distance.