Monthly Archives: January 2004

THE QRP COLUMN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2004

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THE ------- COLUMN JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2004.
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by Dave Gemmell ZS6AAW
and the Low Power Bunch!

ZS6UT OBTAINS 160 m DXCC CERTIFICATE.

Since starting on his quest for DXCC on the Top Band in May 1995, it has taken Ed Willers, ZS6UT, 8 years to get the much sought after DXCC No. 1024 which was issued on 24th July 2003. Congratulations to Ed and well done!

QRP category. Rudi ZS6DX took the top spot in the world. Rudi made 1,440,318 points from 1,043 QSOs and 471 prefixes on all bands.

Single Operator. Two call signs are listed. Dave ZS6HO made 1,364 points with 22 QSOs and 22 prefixes as an All band high power station. Rae ZS6RAE took part as an All band low power station (100 watts and less) and made 48,236 points from 139 QSOs and 124 prefixes.

Multi-operator Single Transmitter. ZS0M with 3,730,510 points from 1,838 QSOs and 685 prefixes.

Well done to Rudi with his top QRP spot in the world. Also congratulations to Dave, Rae and ZS0M.

SARL KIDS’ DAY.

The 14th of February is an important day! No! Not because its Valentine’s Day but because it is SARL Kid’s Day! Don’t forget, if you would like to your children to speak on the air or to send messages using morse code on your equipment please remember to register your callsign with SARL HQ (if you did’nt do it in June 2003!!!) THEN fill in and FAX the Notification Form to SARL HQ at least SEVEN days before 14/2/2004.

This Column is a bit short this month due to a lack of input from you readers! Please help!!

davegemmell@bmknet.co.za and P.O.BOX 77, IRENE, 0062 and TEL: and FAX: 012 – 667 2153 (NB. Please ask for the FAX!)

RADIO SCOUTING JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2004

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by Dave Gemmell ZS6AAW
and the Broomstick Warriors.

46th JOTA/JOTI. {18 – 19/10/2003}

Well, the 46th JOTA/ 7th JOTI has come and gone, but certainly not forgotten!! Many thanks to the following Hams and stations who supported the Guiding and Scouting movements over this notable week-end!

ZS1CT/P, ZS1B BUDDY, Cape Town, – ZS3KBS, Kimberly,

ZS4BS DENNIS BLOEMFONTEIN – ZS4WRC/ZS4NS NICO – WELKOM

ZS6ABD RON – LADISMITH/NATAL, ZS6ARV JAN – JOHANNESBURG,

ZS5PMB/ZS5RK ROD – PIETERMARITZBURG/NATAL,

ZS5ZLB/ZS5WI WILLIE ESHOWE/ZULULAND, ZS6ARV JAN

ZS6BP/JOHN ZS6RNA / ZS6RN NIGEL – ARROW PARK/EAST RAND

ZS6SRC/ZS6AYC SID – SECUNDA/GAUTENG

ZS6WRS – WHITERIVER/MPUMALANGA

A extra special thanks goes to following people who sent in reports;

ZS1B BUDDY, JOHN ZS6RNA, Mercia ZR5MMG,

DC. Anthony Mac Gregor. – Northern Natal

Glynis Longhurst – Akela, 1st Eshowe Cubs

Dawn & Paul Smit, Bradley Davies – 1st Secunda Scout Group

Many thanks must also go to the Hams not mentioned here but whom, nevertheless, contributed to JOTA unfortunately the only …..?????

RADIO versus the “PLASTIC BRAIN”.

(Hopefully, the following paragraphs may simulate a bit of discussion!!!)

As I edit these reports I have noticed a few “things” as far as South Africa is concerned and would like your comments when comparing them to the rest of the World. Actually it was the following comment about JOTI by Buddy ZS1B which set me thinking!

“It was obvious that they found HF ham radio the most popular with echolink being a close second, while the JOTI activity seemed to be a poor 3rd, judging by the comments of the scouts. They are looking forward to next year’s event”.

 

The summary of the various modes used during JOTA/JOTI are as follows:

a) AMATEUR RADIO.

Cape Town ZS1CT/P controlled by Buddy ZS1B. More than 80 contacts were made with 40 countries, of which a total of 31 were JOTA stations.

b) ECHOLINK.

Only Cape Town ZS1CT/P reported 15 QSOs were via echolink to 9 countries. Kevin ZR1KDG on 2 metres where he had fun working through a local repeater which was linked to ZR1EL, who effected the Echolink for most of the weekend.

c) IRLP.

No JOTA station in SA seems to have used this mode !!! As far as I know there are only two IRLP repeaters ZS5DBN in Durban and ZS6ERB east of Jo’burg.

d) INTERNET.

Only Cape Town ZS1CT/P and Secunda ZS6SRC reporded any JOTI activity but only ZS6SRC sent full details, an abbreviated “table” of which appear below.

 

SECUNDA JOTI CONTACTS

Australia = 9, Netherlands = 6,

United Kingdom and Johannesburg = 3 each

Gauteng, Germany, New Zealand and Mexico = 2 each

Botswana, Brazil, Nepal, Ireland, Norway, Peru, Phillipines, Singapore,

Slovenia, and Sweden = 1 each (total of 30)!

 

So that’s the sum total of what I know about bringing JOTA/JOTI up-to-date!!! Are these details accurate? Do they give a true reflection of the interest in JOTA and thus an interest in Ham Radio?

Personally, I don’t see Ham Radio, as we know it, to be threatened by computers in general. The only suggestion I can make is that more accent be placed on “homebrew” equipment and special events. In other words activities in which young and old can partake. Believe me many ham radio activities do not need much supervision only a little effort on the part of the beginner or the ham. JOTA provides a very good “testing ground” for my statement.

There are enough complaints/suggestions about how to Modernize/ Update ham radio using the computer but judging from the JOTA reports I received (6 in total) what has happened? Then there’s the report from Northern Ireland about GN4SIW being the one of the few JOTA stations in that country!

My opinion is that every hobby seems to be going through a “dip” but in difference is killing the hobby! Any suggestions of how we can overcome this apathy before it does any real damage? At least, as far as Ham Radio is concerned.

 

“THE ADVANTAGE OF SARL MEMBERSHIP.

I received the following message from David GI4FUM from Northern Ireland!

“I got your email details from the SARL bulletin. I’m a SARL member. Just to let you know that GN4SIW will be one of the very few JOTA stations QRV from Northern Ireland. It is being run by Antrim and District Amateur Radio Society from the scout hall in the town of Randalstown which is about 25 miles North West of Belfast. I am chairman of the club and also the district commissioner.”

 

Once again! My plea for more info. from you chaps! This column of yours needs some livening up! Please send contributions (even in rough form) to:-

davegemmell@bmknet.co.za and P.O.BOX 77, IRENE, 0062 and TEL: and FAX: 012 – 667 2153 (NB. Please ask for the FAX!) MNI TNX.

MUSEUM NEWS JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2004.

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MUSEUM NEWS JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2004.

by Dave Gemmell ZS6AAW
and the Old Timers.

FLYING DAYS or AIRSHOWS.

At he first monthly meeting of the Friends, the CO. of the SAAF Museum Lt-Col Niel Thomas announced that as from February 2004 there would a Flying Day at Swartkop AFB on the first Saturday of each month and one or two Air Shows spaced out during the year. Please note the following dates in 2004 :-

FLYING DAYS: 7th February, 6th March, 3rd April, 5th June, 3rd July, 7th August, 3rd September, 3rd October, and 27th November.

AIR SHOWS: May 1st, 2004 at Swartkop and 25th September 2004 at Waterkloof

Hopefully we will be able to get ZS6MUS activated for the whole day on each occasion.

The show at Waterkloof will be out of the question due logistic problems.

 

YSTERPLAAT AIRSHOW.

Saturday November 6th, 2004 was also quoted as the date for an air show at Ysterplaat (Western Cape)

SPECIAL EVENT STATION ZS100FLY.

Rob Parkinson ZS6RAP will be operating a special event station operating for the rest of 2004 to celebrate 100 years of powered flight. He arranged to have the special call sign ZS 100 FLY which he will be using when he operates his station from various Airports, Historic monuments, Air shows and Aviation sites throughout South Africa. A special collectors item QSL card will be issued. The station will operate on all HF Bands and 2 metres.

On the 17th December 2003, the actual date of the anniversary of the Wright brothers’ historic flight, I activated ZS6FLY from the SAAF Museum and what made it even more enjoyable was that I managed to contact ZS100FLY operated by Rob from the Rand Airport.

SPECIAL EVENT CALLSIGNS.

While still on the subject of special event stations, HAVE YOU CHAPS RENEWED YOUR SPECIAL EVENT CALLSIGNS YET!!! If you haven’t, it may cost you R140 to get them back!!

SEE ???? Column regarding a “new” special event callsign “registration system”.

Some of this news may be a bit old but, after all, it is a museum column!!!

Shouldn’t we be a bit more “long sighted” and say….

……….There’s no signal like an old signal……..

RADIO ZS

Members can now download the most recent edition of Radio ZS from the SARL website. The file is 1,4 megs big and should be a fairly easy download. The editor is busy preparing the last issue for 2003 and is in need of local articles. These can be sent to radiozs@sarl.org.za.

In order to liven up this section of your magazine please send contributions to:-

davegemmell@bmknet.co.za and P.O.BOX 77, IRENE, 0062 and TEL: and FAX: 012 – 667 2153 (NB. Please ask for the FAX!) MNI TNX.