Val Hawtree reckons amateur radio operators were the forerunners of Skype and Facebook and it was a good way to communicate with people around the world.
Mrs Hawtree has been talking to people for 20 years through her call sign ZL2FO, and has just won the Thelma Souper Memorial women's amateur radio (WARO) competition for members in New Zealand and Australia. Mrs Souper was an early amateur radio operator in New Zealand.
The competition was for the highest number of contacts over two hours on April 27-28 - Mrs Hawtree spoke to 140 people in that time. She was presented with her award last night by the New Zealand Amateur Radio Society.
Her husband, Graham, was already an amateur radio operator and it was through him she became interested.
She sat exams and got her licence to operate and then bought the hardware. The cost of the equipment depended on what you bought, and from where, or whether you built your own.