by Dave Gemmell ZS6AAW
and the Old Timers.

International Museums Weekend. 19/20-06-2004.

International Museums Weekend. A special event took place over the weekend, 19th – 20th of June and yours truly had a good time on the morning of the 19th. I had hoped to contact a few overseas station but alas that was not to be! One ZS station was heard in contact with a USA station but I could not hear him so it was useless to try. This leads me to a subject that has puzzled me for a long time. Is it due propagation conditions, equipment and antenna systems inadequacies or poor operating practices that we don’t make these DX contacts ?

At least, I was in contact with the Antique Wireless Association on most Saturday mornings at about 09H00. I had hoped that a few more museum would have been represented but, alas, it was not to be!

Any way it seems that it is to be an annual event so those hams intending to take part in next year’s event are requested to register via the International Museums Weekend website at www.ukradioamateur.org/imw. The organiser, Harry M1BYT, asks that you register so that everyone knows you are taking part and where you are located. Obviously, dear Reader, you have only just received you copy! This should not put you off as there must be lots of occasions when museums have some special event or occasion.

AND THE REST OF THE YEAR?

No radio amateur in this country should complain that nothing is happening on the SA Ham scene.

Especially with the following annual events, etc. Note that these are FUN days not contests where the pressure is on…………….

The above events provide lots of “public relations” for the “institutions involved but even more for Amateur Radio as a whole. So do be careful!!!

Nevertheless, there are other dates on which the “historically minded” hams can set up a special event station. The following are a few occasions when quite a few South Africans took part or aircraft in which they flew. Of course, week days are more often than not rather inconvenient by the nearest Saturday or Sunday, morning and/or afternoon would be fine.

Anyway, there are a few ideas!! Go ahead and try one or two of them out. Have a look at the SARL Contest Calendar so there aren’t any clashes with other events! Don’t forget to co-ordinate via the SARL HQ office as well as the website manager.

From then on it’s up to the hams to do the rest, which is to come on the air and have fun!!!

Don’t wait for someone else start a special event yourself!! You cannot sit back and expect the SARL to organize it for you! But do let them know what’s going on. If you are operating according to the correct radio regulations, who can stop you?

The rest of the address information stays the same, namely;
davegemmell@bmknet.co.za and P.O.BOX 77, IRENE, 0062 and TEL: and FAX: 012 – 667 2153 (NB. Please ask for the FAX!)

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.

by a Staff Reporter

Well! It’s a bit difficult to write something for a Column like this if you haven’t got anything to write about! Here I sit, in the land of museums (UK) and I can’t think of anything to write about either. I should be careful about complaining but there are several museums in South Africa with attendant and interested Hams who could supply info. for this Column.
Please forgive me for saying “They do like this in the UK …….. etc.” It’s annoying but to me what’s even more annoying is that the people of South Africa, especially we radio amateurs, could just as well! The lack of funds shouldn’t hold us back either! Many museums have surplus equipment, not suitable or appropriate for any particular display (or having much cash value attached to it!) which may be used for demonstration. Just about all the museums I’ve seen have a children’s section which is geared up for the young to fiddle with bit and pieces and learn something about certain physical properties. One such display caught my fancy, a section of an aircraft was clearly marked “Touch Here” . Another was a number of tubes of the type used for cleaning pools, all knotted with their beginnings and ends marked! The idea was to show the tube allows one to talk to some in another position without causing interference to some other conversation. The section was appropriately named, “Explorers’ World – Interactive and Science Centre”!
Another point, a very big point, that was very evident was the availability of pamphlets and brochures which were available at various points where the interested could see them clearly, railway stations, bus stations, tourist bureaux, etc. Even the individual museums had brochures of others in same area!
The standard thought seems to be …. “If its old keep it, preserve it and make it interesting to look at” . Above all, a small charge to see it won’t chase anyone away.
Judging by the attendance most of these places of interest are doing fairly well especially in the shops where novelties relating to the museum are sold.

I have just been watching a short TV documentary about nations who were invaded and conquered by barbarians. Occasionally the “take-over” was, in a way, a good thing and brought a new and better way of life. Other times it was a total “take-over” with the older and probably better ways being absolutely replaced by something quite foreign. The main reason for the defeats seems to be the lack of co-operation between the defenders! Perhaps we, as hams, should take note of these ancient battles, invasions, etc., etc., etc. because to me that’s what seems to be in our SA Ham circles is that we are running around in circles and not standing together to defend and protect what we’ve got! A pretty good amateur radio system! Yes! There are a few dents and blemishes, here and there, to clean up but we do have a very good working system!

If you think this Column is too Euro-centric you’re probably correct! Then whose fault is that??? For a more South African oriented feature please send your contributions to P.O.Box 77, Irene, 0062, or Fax/phone 012-667 2153 or be really un-museumlike use the ultra-modern e-mail to davegemmell@BMKNET.co.za

There’s not much to report in the radio side of the museum scene but Dave ZS6AAW visited a number of places on a recent visit to the UK . Unfortunately most of the visits to these places of interest were “rapid” and I wasn’t able to find anyone who could tell me if there were any hams associated with the various museums. So as time is few, please excuse me if I ramble on a bit about aircraft, factories and castles. Then they do give you ideas of where and how special event stations could be set up. There should be comparable places in South Africa something like those set up for the International Light House Event held not so long ago.

VISIT TO THE NORTH.
On trip to the north of Scotland, at the towns of Findhorn and Lossiemouth which are two RAF Air Bases , Nimrod recce planes are stationed at the former whilst Tornado fighters are at the latter. The fascinating thing about the Nimrods is that their wings seem to have been taken straight of the Comet airliner of the late 1950,s! No mistaking the two squarish/oval air intake “holes” on each wing close to the fuselage. These aircraft came flying over from time to time and it is quite fascinating to see 3 or 4 Nimrods doing “circuits and bumps” usually in SA we only see one large aircraft at a time! Being operational airbases I couldn’t arrange a visit at all so the nearest thing in the radio line to be seen were 3 large masts which were obviously the local long wave DF station or Non-Directional Beacon (NDB).

THE CASTLE ON DUMBARTON ROCK.
The reason why I mentioned the visit is that it is just another example of aviation history and places of interest which could pass unnoticed if one was #unobservant#
These occasions seem to occur at times in the most unlikely of places. On climbing to the top of the rock (about 200 metres high) one reaches a viewing platform which has notices giving the history of various places of interest below. The most interesting was the building which housed the factory where about 280 Sunderland flying boats built during WW2. It is now a ware house for the local whisky distillery. The last time this Rock was used “in anger” was also during WW2 when an anti-aircraft battery was stationed there but there is no trace of these installations. During the same war in May 1941 the Rock was struck by high-explosive bombs the first enemy attack on the castle in nearly 300 years.

AIRFIELD AT EAST FORTUNE.

If a friend had not mentioned its existence I would not have been able to visit this WW2 airfield right in the middle of the farming area. One of many airfields which dotted the English and Scottish country sides during WW2 and seem to be tucked away amongst the wheat and barley fields. This Museum is also the home of an Comet airliner and a Vulcan bomber. There were only two display hangars which were crambed with aircraft. There was a display of radio equipment but it was not in working condition.
One thing, apart from the many aircraft that were on display, was a piece of aircraft fuel pump and a R1155 receiver with a notice on top saying “Please Touch” obviously put there for those people, young or old who were just eager to put their hands on something! Quite a good idea I thought!
Then, this seems to be the general idea about most of the museums in the UK that there has to be something which can be “played with” or touched. In a lot of the cases it a sturdy model which illustrates a principle or two. Perhaps we can learn something from this and put it into practice.

 
MW, LW, AND VLW?
Yes! You have read correctly! Medium wave, long wave and very long wave. These terms haven’t been used in Ham circles for some time so what better place to mention them but here in the Museum Column.
Medium wave, 550 – 1600 kHz, is used in SA as well as the UK for broadcast purposes. I have counted about 12 stations this morning, mostly English but there were 4 French and 1 Chinese, which must be local in the London area. On the very long wave band, 150 – 250 kHz, there were 7 stations. I was unable to monitor the 250 – 450 kHz due to the lack of a suitable receiver but I strongly suspect that it should be the same as SA that is, the Aero Non-Directional Beacons (NDB’s).
The Sept. 2000 issue of Practical Wireless has an article Michael Mucklow G4FIA on building a converter so that the Amateur 73 kHz band can be received. Do any of the SA readers of Radio-ZS know of such a band for us ZS hams?