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!
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| 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