CTARC Mega Flea Market - 2 March '19

It’s Here!!!

The CTARC’s Annual ‘Bumper,’

Bigger Than Ever,

 ‘Flea Market!’

Scene from a previous flea market. Lots of  ham stuff on offer!

The date of the CTARC Annual Flea Market is easy to remember, it’s always the first Saturday in March at the CTARC clubhouse, just off Laidlaw Lane in Rondebosch.

This year it is THIS SATURDAY, March 2nd 2019 opening at 12h00 noon for sellers to set up, and 13h00 for buyers to arrive.

There will be a small charge to sellers of R10-00 to help defray our costs but no charge to buyers and browsers. This small fee also allows sellers to park their vehicles on the grassy area directly in front of the club house.

As this area is limited in size, buyers and non-sellers will be requested to park in the paved parking area off Laidlaw Road, which is immediately adjacent to the flea market area only a few metres away.

Sellers are reminded to please bring their own table if they do not intend to sell out of their boot as the club has only a very limited amount of tables.

All are welcome!

Ice cold refreshments and boerewors rolls will be available from 1 p.m. throughout the afternoon until stocks run out!.

Tell your friends and bring the family….See you all there

THIS SATURDAY 2nd March 2019

Regards,

Anne Bareham
(CTARC Secretary and Ragchew Editor)

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Note: This event has now taken place. The report-back is [here]. 

CTARC March Meeting - 2 March '19

The CTARC's March monthly meeting will be, as is always the case, our Mega Flea Market, which is traditionally held on the first Saturday in March. In this case, that will be Saturday, 2nd of March, 2019.

The venue will, as ever, be our clubhouse, off Laidlaw Lane in Rondebosch.

This is just to give advance notice of the event so that you all have time to:

• decide what equipment you would like to dispose of,
   
• dust off the boxes and vacuum-clean the innards of spiders,
   
• start composing creative sales pitches to prospective buyers, and
   
• think up equally creative rationales for your XYLs, YLs or Significant Others as to just why the numerous items you will have purchased at the event are essential items for your radio shack and have been acquired for far less than the cost of the compensatory movie tickets and restaurant meals you may well have to budget for in addition to your purchases...

If you haven't attended a CTARC Mega Flea Market, you can read about last year's one [here].
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Note: This event has now taken place. The report-back is [here].

CTARC Forthcoming Fox-Hunt - Sat 23 Feb '19

THIS SATURDAY, 23 February:

For those wishing to take part in the next fox hunt, we will be meeting at the club house at 14h00B: [2 p.m. local time] on our regular meeting date of 23 February 2019.
This promises to be a fun event!

For those unfamiliar with Fox Hunting, we will hide a small 2-metre band transmitter somewhere and it will transmit one minute on and one minute off continually. Your job is to find it by following the direction of the strongest signal received on your radio.

You will need:

• Your 2-metre handheld radio tuned to 145.525 MHz.
   
• It will be most helpful to have a small directional antenna in order to pinpoint the direction of the fox which is transmitting on 145.525 Mhz.
   
• An attenuator of some sort would also be helpful but not absolutely necessary for this hunt. Alternatively you can also try using the body fade technique with just a hand held radio with its rubber antenna. We will show you how to do this on the day.

(For more information on the suggest equipment, please see your January 2019 issue of Ragchew).

We will make this an easy hunt so you will be able to find the fox with minimal equipment. This hunt will be on foot. If the fox is found too quickly on that day then we will hide it in another more difficult location. It is estimated that the hunt will take a maximum of 1 hour to complete. Once we become more experienced at finding the fox, later in the year on our next hunt we will hide the fox further away requiring you possibly drive to get close to the fox then get out of your car and find the fox on foot.

Come and enjoy the fun on the Saturday afternoon and even if you don’t want to take part, come along and encourage the hunters.

Rob ZS1SA

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Note: This event has now taken place. A report will be published shortly.

CTARC Radio as Art - 18 Feb '19

'"Babel" [2001], by Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles, is currently on display at the Tate Modern gallery of art in London.

As a comment on media and technology, the artwork explores the concepts of information overload and failed communication. The artist refers to it as a 'tower of incomprehension'. 

The structure consists of hundreds of analogue radios, each tuned to a different broadcasting station. The lower tiers are old valve radios from the 1920's, and with increasing height smaller and more modern radios are positioned, thereby visually emphasizing the height of the structure.

The noise produced by the structure is constant, but as the different radio stations are constantly changing, no two experiences of the work are ever the same. 

The link to the exhibition page is [here].

CTARC Committee Meeting - 18 Feb '19

CTARC Committee members are reminded of the forthcoming meeting at 19h00 on Monday 18 February 2019 at the clubhouse.

(If you can't be there, please remember to send in your reports and apologies to Rob or Anne.).

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Note; this meeting has now taken place. Feedback on the February Committee Meeting will be given by our chairman, Rob ZS1SA, at the next convenient monthly meeting.

CTARC National Field Day - 9/10 Feb '19

Members of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre set up a solar- and battery-powered field day radio station outside the clubhouse for the SARL National Field Day Event, which took place on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th February 2019.

The Field Day's traditional purpose is to give radio amateurs the opportunity to rehearse their emergency preparedness for comms operation in the face of a disaster or weather emergency, where adequate mains power and conventional fixed antennas would potentially be unavailable.

Danny, ZS1BL, Lem ZS1LEM, James (no call sign) and Chris ZS1CDG had a very windy day out in the field. Several different antennas were tried out but the gods of propagation where not on our side. We did make several contacts however and it was a lot of fun.

Thanks to Chris ZS1CDG for the photos below:

CTARC Fox Hunt #2 - 23 Feb '19

Following the recent fox hunt held in December 2018, we have decided to hold another one, on Saturday, 23 February 2019 - not in March as was originally announced here.

This event will replace our usual February monthly meeting. We will meet at the CTARC clubhouse at 14h00 and kick off from there.

We are providing an early heads-up about this so that members can dig out their rusty, trusty two-metre band DF antennas and portable radios from the attic, polish them up and test them in good time.

Even if you don't have a 2m DF antenna but do have a tin can your 2m handie will fit into, bring those along and you will learn how you can use the can and your body as attenuators to get at least approximate bearings on the elusive fox's signal.

Fox hunts are great fun, and we hope as many CTARC members and friends as possible can attend this one!

Further details will be posted here in due course.