Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the December 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
The CTARC's final official meeting for the year, our "Radio Family Day", was scheduled to take place at the clubhouse on Saturday, 27th November 2021, starting at 14h00.
However, weather predictions indicate that date will be rainy and because of Covid restrictions the End-of-Year function is held outside. Therefore, sadly, the 27th November function is POSTPONED.
The new date for the EoY party wil lbe announced presently. We hope to hol;d it on a weekend in early December.
CTARC Committee members are reminded of the forthcoming committee meeting to be held on-line at 19h00 on Monday, 15 November 2021. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE REVISED DATE...
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the November 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
We are delighted to report that most (24 out of 27) of the Radio Amateur Exam candidates who wrote the recent exam at the clubhouse have passed. Congratulations to the new radio amateurs! Welcome to the hobby and the ham community, which you will find is a fellowship without equal.
We encourage all radio ham in the Cape Town areas, both new and existing, to join the CTARC.
Congratulations also to Chris ZS1CDG who conducted the course and who shepherded the newcomers through the process. There are already a number of new voices on-air.
On Saturday, 23rd October 2021, prospective radio amateur candidates nationwide will write the Radio Amateurs Examination at various centres around the country. This exam and the HF Assessment must be passed in order to obtain the Amateur Radio license and a call sign, both of which are issued by ICASA. Included in this number is a large group of candidates under the mentorship of Chris ZS1CDG.
Some 29 RAE candidates will write the RAE Exam at the CTARC in the Main Hall next to the clubhouse.
This group recently started their HF Assessments with Chris on Saturday, 16th October this year. Owing to the large number of candidates involved, Chris will continue this process on Saturday 23 October before the main meeting at 14h00.
We wish all RAE candidates, and in particular Chris's group, the very best of luck for the forthcoming exam, and we hope to hear them on air soon!
We also invite the candidates to consider joining the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre, our welcoming and friendly radio ham club. Contact the Club Secretary Anne for further details here.
The October 2021 meeting of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Society will take place at the clubhouse on Saturday, 23rd October at 14h00.
The main topic of the meeting will be a talk and demonstration by Dirk ZS1X on Digital Mobile Radio. This new digital feature of our hobby enables licensed radio amateurs to talk worldwide with other radio hams via DMR-enabled repeaters and base station radios. Relatively inexpensive DMR radios are now becoming available. As such this adds a very exciting feature to our available options.
There will also be the usual Swop Shop where amateur radio-related items may be bought, sold and swapped. As ever, should any items you bring along not be sold, please take them home afterwards as there is no room in the clubhouse to keep them there!
As we are all still under Covid regulations, the meeting will be held outside the clubhouse on the lawns. The usual precautions of social distancing, masks and hand sanitising will apply.
At the recent Committee meeting it was decided that, should the weather be unkind to us, the meeting will be held in the hall adjoining the clubhouse.
We look forward to seeing you there!
 |
| Image from RigPix.com |
John ZS1WJ, stalwart member of the Antique Wireless Association as well as the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre, is busy restoring Yaesu FT-101 transceivers, of which he has a number at his workshop in Kleinmond.
He hopes to make these available to new radio hams to help them get on the air and to introduce them to the mysteries and magic of valve-based radio gear.
But now he's running out of spare parts for these venerable and excellent Yaesu radios.
So, if you have an old FT-101 transceiver, valves, components or spare circuit boards for these rigs that you'd like to dispose of, please do contact him on O82-673-5337. You will also find him on the 40 metre net on 3640 LSB at around 17h00 (Central African Time) most afternoons of the week. He's also looking for a front plate for the FT-101E or FT-101EE.
CTARC Committee members are reminded of the committee meeting to be held on-line at 19h00 on Monday, 18 October 2021. Please do make an effort to attend the on-line meeting.
(If you can't be there, please remember to send in your reports and apologies to Rob ZS1SA or Anne.).
The CTARC Radio Amateur Examination classes continue, ably led by Chris ZS1CDG. He currently has 29 people attending his course, which is something of a record for our growing club.
On Saturday, 16 October 2021, Chris will be taking these members through their on-air HF Assessments at his QTH in the northern suburbs. He and they will be on-air on the 40 metre band from 11h00 SAST. He extends a request for local radio hams to be there to exchange basic QSO's and signal reports with the RAE candidates.
Thanks in advance for your kind cooperation!
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the October 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
As CTARC members will have learned through our Sunday bulletins and RagChew, two fine rigs from a deceased estate were made available for sale recently.
Sealed private bids were submitted to Anne, the CTARC Secretary and the bid acceptance period closed on 30 September 2021.
The winning bids are:
The Kenwood TS B2000 goes to Shaun ZS1RA;
The Yaesu FT-990 goes to Pieter ZR1HR.
Congratulations, gents!
The monies raised from the sale of these two radios will go to CTARC funds.
CTARC Committee members are reminded of the committee meeting to be held on-line at 19h00 on Monday, 20 September 2021.
Please do make an effort to attend the on-line meeting.
(If you can't be there, please remember to send in your reports and apologies to Rob or Anne.).
Chris ZS1CDG and Pino ZU1KAT hope to activate Maclear's Beacon on Table Mountain, weather permitting. Listen out for them on 145.500 MHz Simplex and give them SOTA points. It will also be the opportunity to wish Chris a Happy Birthday too!
They will be going up by cableway in the morning (Chris gets a free birthday ticket!) and should be active by mid-morning.
Chris and Pino have been active this past week on that frequency with SOTA activity on mountains and hills in the Cape Metropole area. For those who have to be at work, take your handie along to the salt mine!
STOP PRESS! The Monday 20th September Maclear's Beacon SOTA event has been cancelled due to weather. HOWEVER, Chris ZS1CDG and Pino ZS1KAT are determined to still do it this week, weather permitting. So, please keep your rigs tuned to 145.500 MHz.
The September meeting of the CTARC will take place on Saturday, 25th September 2021 at 14h00, on the lawn outside our clubhouse in Rondebosch. Yes! We will have an open-air meeting again - the first proper one in three months.
Strict adherence to the Covid regulations will be required by all for everyone's safety. Properly-worn masks, social distancing and hand sanitiser (please bring your own along).
The meeting will be a show-and-tell event where members are invited to bring interesting ham items to show off and demonstrate to those present. Don't be shy - bring your project along to the meeting!
Refreshments will not be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own along.
A mini-flea market will also take place. The club has a number of items to be disposed of. You can also use the opportunity to bring along your own ham-related gear to sell or swop.
See you there on Saturday 25 September!
______________________________________________________________
This event has now taken place. A full report appears in Ragchew of October 2021
A reminder,
On Sunday, 26 September 2021 between 14h00 & 15h00 UTC (16h00 & 17h00 local time) the Cape Town ARC will be running the ZS1 Sprint on the air. As you probably know this is a one hour contest on a Sunday afternoon and there hasn’t been a ZS1 sprint for several years.
We would like to remind you to please have your club station on the air to give out points during that hour with your club call sign. We would ask that you send us a copy of your logs for that one hour period so that we can do the scoring for the participants.
The CTARC club station will be activated between these times so that CTARC members may come and make contacts. If you can't make it to the clubhouse, ZS1CT would still greatly appreciate your support in the form of contacts with our club station!
For your convenience the rules from the SARL Blue Book are [here].
With appreciation,
Rob ZS1SA
Chairman CTARC
Thanks to Chris for his efforts and to all those who attended!
In line with the SARL National Field Day on the weekend of 11/12 September 2021, the CTARC has decided to run a field station at the CTARC clubhouse in Rondebosch. Chris ZS1CDG will set up a field station on the lawn outside the clubhouse from around midday on Saturday, 11 September.Radio amateurs are invited to come and set up their field stations and antennae there as well. As it is a Field Day event, no mains electric power will be used (unless provided by your portable generator, of course!).
The usual Covid precautions will be in place. Let's keep this event virus-free.
We look forward to seeing you there!
_________________________________________________
This event has now taken place. A brief report [here].
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the September 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
Recently Mike ZS1FP (who used to run the net with Noel/ZS1FW/sk, as well as after Noel passed on) announced that he's no longer available to do that. Thank you, Mike, for your service to the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre.
Fortunately, Barry ZS1FJ has stepped in to continue to run the net, which is for all radio amateurs (not just CTARC members) who can reach that repeater to participate in! Thank you, Barry!
Remember, the net meets every Monday evening, starting at 20h00 local time, on the 145.750 MHz repeater (Duplex FM, input frequency 145.150 MHz, no CTCSS tones required).
The net covers a wide range of topics that radio hams may discuss including (but not limited to) technical matters. Do join in! It's a great opportunity to chew the proverbial rag with fellow radio hams!
At the outbreak of hostilities, the potential threat of invasion from the Axis forces, as well as U-boat attacks on shipping off the coast of Southern Africa were of great concern to the military authorities. Fortunately, there were two great assets at the Allies' disposal. The first was the invention and development of Radar in Britain.
The second asset was in the person of Sir Basil Schonland (1896 - 1972), a significant figure in our military and scientific history and clearly a brilliant man. Born in Grahamstown, Schonland matriculated (aged just 14) from St Andrew's College as the top pupil in the then Cape Province. His studies took him to Rhodes University, and then to Cambridge University in England. His tertiary studies were interrupted by the First World War where, in the Signal Services of the Royal Engineers, he served in the British Army from 1915 to 1918. He was wounded at Arras, mentioned in despatches and awarded the OBE.
After the war he returned to study Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge. In 1922, he returned to South Africa and lectured at UCT, later becoming Professor of Physics there. In 1937 he moved to Johannesburg to direct the Bernard Price Institute of Geophysics at Witwatersrand University.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, now with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, Schonland was in charge of the South African Special Signals Services and led the development of South Africa's own Radar system. In 1941 he went to England to acquire more equipment for South Africa and became superintendent of the Army Operational Research Group of the Air Defence Research and Development Establishment (AORG) between 1941 and 1944. Under his leadership the Research Group made significant contributions to the war effort, particularly in Radar used by the army. By 1944 he was scientific adviser to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. By the war's end he held the rank of Brigadier.
Post-WW2, Schonland returned to South Africa to continue as director of the Bernard Price Institute at Wits. On the request of Jan Smuts, he established the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. In 1954 he became deputy director and then director of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell in the UK. He was knighted by the Queen for his services to Science in 1960.
(Portions of the above attributed to Wikipedia)
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| (Above map from publication by Brian Austin ZS6BKW) |
The presentation, by Allan ZS1AL and Professor Mike Inggs, was most interesting. We were treated to photos, maps and descriptions of the development of South African Radar and the activities of the SA Special Signals Service. The system had two main functions - firstly, that of ocean surface surveillance and secondly, the coordination and ranging of the heavy artillery sited primarily to protect Simonstown and Cape Town harbours from attack.
Of particular interest to us in Cape Town were the descriptions of the facilities positioned around the Cape Peninsula and Cape Hangklip, as well as maps of Radar coverage around the coast at the time.
On a personal note, I was moved by the film clips (some even in colour) of the personnel who developed and operated the radar system during their period of deployment, including the many female operators who tirelessly sat at their stations for long hours under conditions that could be kindly described as spartan. One of them may have been my Auntie Pam. Such was the great secrecy surrounding the entire project that we only learned of her involvement in the Special Signals Service long after she had passed on...
The meeting ended at around 15h45. Grateful thanks to Allan, Professor Inggs and all who attended the on-line meeting. A truly memorable presentation indeed!
Allan has kindly indicated he has more videos of the above topic and we will post links to them here shortly.
Nick ZS1ZD
The August meeting for the CTARC will take place on Saturday, 28th August 2021 at 14h00. Owing to the current Coronavirus restrictions, it will be an on-line meeting.
Alan ZS1AL will present a talk on South Africa's involvement with Radar during WW2, which promises to be very interesting indeed. There are still a number of old Radar sites dotted around the Cape Peninsula and beyond. Sadly, some of these are now derelict and efforts to preserve their history must be made.
________________________________________________
This event has now taken place. A brief report is [here] and will appear in the CTARC Ragchew newsletter.
The Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre set up a station at its traditional Green Point Lighthouse venue for the 2021 ILLW event, from Saturday 19th to Sunday 20th August 2021.
Owing to the Coronavirus safety restrictions, our club wasn't able to use the actual Lighthouse or associated buildings this year as we usually do. No mains power plus the temporary loss of access to the large room and lighthouse tower we usually enjoy there made setting up a multi-rig, multi-band, multi-antenna HF station too cumbersome to do this year. However, none of these limitations prevented Chris ZS1CDG from setting up a field station at the venue to make contacts through the QO-100 geostationary satellite. Strict Covid precautions were maintained throughout the event.
A resounding success! The event was attended throughout the weekend by numerous radio amateurs as well as members of the public, who were curious to see radio hams making many international contacts via the satellite. As ever, it was a great opportunity to promote both our club and the hobby to many visitors. It was also a lot of fun!
Among those present were Chris ZS1CDG, John ZS1EQ, Graeme ZS1GAK, Fred ZS1FZ, Stan ZS1HC, ZS1KU, Lem ZS1LEM, Celso ZS1MYG, Peter ZS1PC, James ZS1RBT, Paul ZS1S, Rob ZS1SA (CTARC chairman) & Anne, Tony ZS1TK, Phil ZS1WW, Bryce ZU1BM, Kiara ZU1ISS and ZU1KAT. We were also delighted to see Syd ZS5AYC & Adele ZS5APT who had traveled down here from Natal.
A video of the CTARC ILLW event is [here].
Hats off to Chris ZS1CDG for setting up the event and thanks to all those who attended and operated the station. We look forward to the ILLW again next year where (oh, how we hope!) we will be able to run a full HF station again at Green Point Lighthouse.
A more comprehensive report and photos are in the September 2021 edition of Ragchew, the CTARC's newsletter .
CTARC Committee members are reminded of the committee meeting to be held online at 19h00 on Monday, 23 August 2021.
Please do make an effort to attend the online meeting.
(If you can't be there, please remember to send in your reports and apologies to Rob or Anne.).
Once again, people who would like to learn the necessary skills to write the RAE (Radio Amateurs' Examination) may do so via the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre. The indefatigable Chris ZS1CDG has just started another RAE Course for those who would like to to become radio amateurs.
In order to become a licensed radio amateur in South Africa, all prospective candidates must write (and pass) the Radio Amateurs' Examination, which is held twice a year at various Amateur Radio clubs and associations throughout the country.
Owing to the Coronavirus safety restrictions, Chris's RAE course is currently held online. It covers the necessary technical and legal modules all radio amateurs must know in order to operate their radio stations safely, legally and within the technical specifications required by ICASA, the communications regulatory authority who issues the much-prized Amateur Radio License all legal radio hams must possess.
A high success rate has been maintained by Chris who has already offered this course several times. A number of new radio hams in and around the Cape Peninsula owe their success in passing the exam to his wise and witty guidance.
If you would like to do the course, write and pass the RAE, become a radio ham and speak to the world, please contact Anne, the CTARC Secretary, [here] for further detaills.
It is with sadness that we must announce the passing of James Gardener, ZS1ROY in mid-August 2021. He also held the call sign ZR1CT before he became a ZS.
James had been an active club member of the CTARC in the past and had served on the CTARC Committee from 2006 to 2008. He was active on HF and VHF frequencies from his QTH in Parow.
His funeral was held on Friday, 20 August 2021 and our club was represented there by Richard ZS1RIC who attended.
Our condolences go to James' widow, family and friends.
R. I. P.
Last year I was determined Covid-19 was not going to stop our club's unbroken 20-year odd record of running a station at Green point lighthouse for the ILLW event.We set up a very basic 100 watt HF station with a vertical whip and made contact with a handful of 40m stations. This year I thought, even though the lighthouse is closed, we could set up a small station on Saturday21 August . Over the last year I have become more interested in the QO-100 geostationary satellite that is capable of communicating with stations from Brazil to Thailand.
I have a dish that we can set up in the front of the Lighthouse with both an uplink antenna and an LNB for the satellite downlink. The station would probably require two operators as unfortunately I find The LNB can drift a little bit as it is not synchronised to GPS however it is perfectly usable and a lot of fun. It would be really good if we could cause some havoc on the satellite for a few hours from midday as I think we will be very popular on the satellite as not many stations will have a chance to communicate with a lighthouse station - pile up conditions! If you would like to operate the station you're more than welcome to.
I think I will sort everything out from about 11h30 a.m. with the aim to start transmission at about midday. ZS1S Paul will help with the battery and if anyone has a gazebo it might be a good idea to bring with them so that we can avoid the sun. Additionally if you'd like to set up a HF station alongside the QO 100 station you're more than welcome to and they may even investigate using DMR as well with the club's callsign so there's plenty of opportunity to do some operating if you so wish.
My only request is that if you do want to operate the satellite station please bring a second pair of headphones with a 3.5 mm jack so that I can tune the RX whilst you operate the satellite. For those that don't know, making contact with satellites it is traditional to give a grid square locator as well as RS report and additionally the reference for the Lighthouse which is Zulu Alpha 006.
There is no need to be nervous when operating the satellite as I will guide you with the correct procedure - I’ll write all this on a sheet of paper in front of you so you won’t forget. This would be a wonderful opportunity for RAE candidates to explore another side of amateur radio.
If you cannot make the event you can listen to us live by following the website below.
https://eshail.batc.org.uk/nb/
73
Chris ZS1CDG
______________________________________________________________________
NB: This event has now taken place. A brief report is [here] and a more complete one will appear in our Ragchew newsletter of September 2021.
The August 2021 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's
bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew"is now published. Grateful thanks to the
editor, Anne, for another fine edition.
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the August 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
It is with sadness that we must announce the passing of Emmanuel "Manny" Petersen, ZR1AE on 26 July 2021.
Manny was a former member of the CTARC. He was also involved in Hamnet and was particularly active in radio communications for rallies and events. His salt mine activities included working on contracts at Mosgass in Mossel Bay.
We will miss his cheerful "guten morgen!" when coming up on the two-metre repeater frequencies in the mornings,
Manny is survived by his son, daughter and grandson.
Our condolences go to his family and friends.
R. I. P.The Annual General Meeting of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre was held at 14h00 on Saturday, 24 July 2021. Owing to the current Coronavirus restrictions at the time, the meeting was held in virtual format on the Jitsi platform. This was the first such AGM for our club to be conducted this way.
The elections were conducted successfully and the previous Chairman, Rob ZS1SA was re-elected for another year. The Committee was also re-elected, with some changes to members' portfolios. The new CTARC COmmittee for 2021/2022 period may be seen [here].
Danny ZS1BL has stepped down from the Committee after some five years of faithful service.
Owing to the virtual nature of the meeting, awards could not be physically handed to the recipients but will be done so at the soonest opportunity.
A fuller report will appear in the next edition of Ragchew.
CTARC Committee members are reminded of the committee meeting to be held online at 19h00 on Monday, 19 July 2021.
Please do make an effort to attend the online meeting.
(If you can't be there, please remember to send in your reports and apologies to Rob or Anne.).
The July 2021 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's
bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew"is now published. Grateful thanks to the
editor, Anne, for another fine edition.
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this March edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the July 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
Owing to the current Covid restrictions on meetings, our AGM will be held in virtual/online format.
Further details will be provided presently.
Owing to the restrictions on club activities at the clubhouse due to the Covid-19 lock-downs, the CTARC Committee have decided to keep the ordinary members' annual subscription to just R100-00.
Your annual subscription must be made to the CTARC and can be done by EFT. If doing so, please include your name and call sign (e.g. "JOHN SMITH ZS1ABC") in the recipient's note, so that you may be ticked off the list!
Details of the CTARC's account information are [here].
A reminder that subscriptions for access to our Remote Station at Morningstar (R350-00) are not included in the above-mentioned amount and must also be renewed annually at this time, for those who make use of that system.
Thank you to those members who have already paid their subscriptions. Our Club Secretary, Anne, welcomes early payment of subs before the rush at the end of the month!
Due to the Coronavirus lockdown restrictions, for the safety of our club members the CTARC has decided to hold our June 2021 meeting in virtual (on-line) format.
Fortunately, a fascinating illustrated presentation has been arranged by kind courtesy of OM Alan ZS1AL. Rear Admiral (JG) Andre Rudman (Retired) has most kindly agreed to present to our members:
The Mystery of the SS Waratah
117 Years of Speculation Have Possibly Been Solved
Admiral Rudman has 40 years of esteemed Naval Experience on which, through diligent and copious investigation, he will provide us with a most plausible alternative solution to the resting place of one of history's most talked-about and elusive vessels.
The presentation will review the facts of the well-know story of the Waratah's disappearance, give and overview of some of the people who spent their lives and fortunes looking for the ship, and there might even be a sting in the tail with new information never before published!
Sadly, Covid Regulations require that this has to be an on-line presentation and the CTARC will only be able to accommodate 75 participants in the session.
The meeting takes place at 14h00 on 26 June 2021. Log in at 13h50.
So: for those members who are interested and have the ability to participate either on their computer of mobile smart phones, please let our club secretary Anne know BY EMAIL as soon as possible, that we may be able to attend to the necessary preparations.
_______________________________________________________________
This meeting has now taken place. A report on it is published in the 2021 July edition of Ragchew..
The June 2021 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's
bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew"is now published. Grateful thanks to the
editor, Anne, for another fine edition.
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the June 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
The outdoors meeting at the CTARC Clubhouse, which took place on Saturday, 22 May 2021, is reported on by Tony ZS1TK on Page 6 of the June 2021 edition of Ragchew.
It was to be the last actual meeting at the CTARC club house before the new Covid-19 regulations and restrictions took place.
Download the June 2021 Ragchew [here].
Our speaker will be Lem ZS1LEM, who will be talking about Satellites and working them on the ham bands.
The Radio Amateurs Examination and HF Assessments will also be taking place at this venue.
Further information will be made available in due course before the date.
The May 2021 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's
bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew"is now published. Grateful thanks to the
editor, Anne, for another fine edition.
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the May 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
The CTARC was planning to activate Mills On The Air at Mostert's Mill in Mowbray. Sadly, the mill was burned down in the recent devastating fire that affected UCT Upper and Middle Campus, as well as the mountainside skirting around Devils Peak, from Newlands right across to Walmer Estate in the City Bowl.The Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre has now joined ClubLog!
ClubLog is an online database with a suite of powerful tools supporting active DXers. Once you have registered on ClubLog and uploaded your log, you will be able to:
Once you have registered with Clublog, under settings and club you will see CTARC.
Please join our league table to encourage HF activity and promote some healthy competition between our members. Additionally our club group can be ranked amongst other clubs around the world. Chris, ZS1CDG.
Follow the link [here].
On Saturday, 24 April 2021, some twenty-five CTARC members and friends attended an open-air meeting at the clubhouse in Rondebosch.
The usual Covid-19 safety precautions were in place and everybody cooperated with the face mask and social distancing requirements.
It was a very casual meeting, and Rob ZS1SA gave a short 20 minute report on what is happening behind the scenes at the clubhouse and decisions taken by the Committee. Thereafter we had the opportunity to chew the proverbial rag and socialise together. It was great to see old friends and everyone had a good time. At 14h00 the meeting ended.
A more complete report, with photos by Tony ZS1TK, is in the 2021 May edition of Ragchew, which you can download [here].
We look forward to our next outdoor meeting at the clubhouse, which will take place 9weather permitting) on Saturday, 22 May 2021.
CTARC Committee members are reminded of the committee meeting to be held online at 19h00 on Monday, 19 April 2021.
Please do make an effort to attend the online meeting.
(If you can't be there, please remember to send in your reports and apologies to Rob or Anne.).
We are looking forward to having a members' meeting at the clubhouse on Saturday, 24th April 2021.
At the forthcoming CTARC committee meeting the 19 April online committee meeting, the possibility and format of this meeting will be discussed. We will announce further details presently.
On Saturday, 27 March 2021, the long-awaited ham boot sale / flea market took place at the CTARC Clubhouse.
At first the weather threatened rain, and indeed there was a small shower early on, but it cleared up sufficiently for the flea market to go ahead without further disruption.
Committee members pitched up early to set up the event, barrier-tape the perimeter to ensure compliance with Covid-19 requirements. Other folk started arriving and by 10h30, the official start of the flea market, browsers were champing at the bit.
All people at the meeting had to wear a mask, maintain social distancing and sanitise their hands appropriately. They also were required to sign a Covid declaration form, which process was capably managed by our indispensable club secretary, Anne. She also sold fine embroidered CTARC face masks, setting new standards for sartorial elegance at our club meetings. While we all are getting tired of face masks by now, at least where we do need to wear them we can represent our Club with pride!
We're glad to report that everyone cooperated with the Covid safety requirements, which gives us hope for the possibility of further clubhouse meetings, subject to the official lockdown re-assessments.
In contrast with previous flea markets, catering and liquid refreshments were not provided this year, but members brought their own food and flasks of coffee.
While current circumstances reduced the number of vendors and attendees compared to previous years, the event was most successful. Tony ZS1TK counted fifty-two visitors in all. Around fifteen people were selling items. A number of happy campers walked away with nice bits and pieces, components, rigs and antennas. There were, as always, some great bargains to be had.
At around 14h30 the fleamarket started winding down and was done by about 15h00.
Most grateful thanks to Rob and Anne for managing the event work so well, and to all committee members for their contributions. And to all the buyers and sellers who were there too!
A more comprehensive report (with photos) is included in the April Ragchew here.
The April 2021 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's
bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew"is now published. Grateful thanks to the
editor, Anne, for another fine edition.
Remember please, Anne is
always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the
case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in
this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for
sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos,
details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the April 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
The March 2021 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew"is now published. Grateful thanks to the editor, Anne, for another fine edition.
Remember please, Anne is always needs articles to publish in Ragchew! This is especially the case during the lock-down. Thank you to those numerous contributors in this edition!
You can advertise ham-related items - for sale, swop or wanted-to-buy - in Ragchew, including colour photos, details and prices. To do so, please contact the editor [here].
Download the March 2021 Newsletter as a PDF file [here];
Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page
Here are links to a fascinating technical article on Television Detector Vans in the UK, used to track down clandestine TV viewers who neglect to pay their television licenses there. At 12 pounds GBP a month, that works out to around R3000 ZAR per annum...
The article appears in the Southgate Amateur Radio Club in the UK:
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2021/january/tv-detector-vans.htm
The original article in Hackaday.com is here:
https://hackaday.com/2021/01/18/tv-detector-vans-once-prowled-the-streets-of-england/
Grateful thanks to Lem ZS1LEM for the info!
We are also considering whether the March meeting will still take place, and will keep our members informed in good time. The official announcements scheduled for 15th February should give further insights on the way ahead.
In the mean time, all radio hams rejoice in the fact that the Coronavirus doesn't propagate by electromagnetic waves (well, not yet, anyway) so we may maintain contact using that medium!
We do thank all our CTARC members for their understanding and support for our club throughout these extraordinary times we live in. Keep faith! These difficult circumstances will pass.
In May this year, Chris ZS1CDG of the CTARC will run an online Radio Amateurs Examination course for prospective radio hams.
Download the PDF [here].
