Boaties and other lake users will have VHF radio coverage across most of Lake Hāwea this summer after a repeater station installed on Mt Maude last week drastically improved coverage.

The Upper Clutha Radio Telephone Users Association (UCRTUA) raised $75,000 to extend Lake Hāwea’s VHF coverage and improve safety for people out on the lake.

UCRTUA chair Ian Brown said the facility on Mt Roy provides coverage on Lake Wānaka but only reaches around a quarter of Lake Hāwea.

Now, boaties can use their VHF radios on almost the whole lake and even into the Hunter River.

Ian said picking the best location for the repeater station was one of the UCRTUA’s challenges until his son, a helicopter pilot, flew over Mt Maude and discovered “he could see everything” including the river, making it the perfect spot for the line-of-sight service.

VHF (very high frequency) radios are the most common method of short-range communication in the marine industry and, as a ‘one to many’ communications method, typically the preferred option.

Lake Hāwea users should use channel 4 as their primary channel and channel 66 as an alternative, Coastguard Wānaka Lakes said.

Just as they had hoped, UCRTUA managed to install the repeater station in time for the busy summer season.

“Our goal was to get it up before December 1 and I think we got there on November 28,” Ian said.

The group raised the money needed for the project in just four and a half months, with major donations from Otago Community Trust and Central Lakes Trust and many smaller donations from members of the community.

“The next focus for us is membership,” Ian said. “We need people who might use the radios to become members. We have about 50 members who pay $55 each.”

“That’s around two and a half grand - it will not continue to run the VHF.”

Anyone interested in becoming a member or making a contribution to operational costs should contact Robyn at [email protected] .

Temporary signs will be installed at around 10 Lake Hāwea locations this summer and next year Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) will install permanent signage, Ian said.

PHOTOS: Supplied