CTARC Committee Meeting - 15 Nov '21

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...

 

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.).

CTARC Committee Meeting - 18 Oct '21

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.).

CTARC RAE Classes - 21 Aug '21

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.

CTARC Subs Coming Due - Jun '21

We remind our club members that the annual CTARC membership subscriptions are due at the end of June 2021.

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!

CTARC Indian Radio Kits - 7 Aug '20

DON'T GET BORED DURING LOCKDOWN! GET BUILDING...

INDIAN RADIO KITS: uBITX

The CTARC is organising an exciting construction project for interested club members:

A QRP HF transceiver covering the HF bands, with the following features:

• Up to 10 watts PEP on lower HF bands, dips to 5 watts on 28 MHz;
• SSB and CW modes;
• Simple to build and align;
• Minimal controls;
• Based on Arduino Nano controller and a Si5351 for all local oscillators;
• Double-conversion, superhet architecture

The cost of this HF radio transceiver is $209-00 (USD) = R3500-00 ZAR (at today's  exchange rates), excluding RSA taxes and VAT. The final costs  will be conveyed to purchasers on the kit's arrival in South Africa. We are hoping a bulk order will reduce these costs).

The full uBITX version 6 Kit is comprised of:

1. The Main uBITX board;
2. Main uBITX board with mounting hardware;
3. TFT - Arduino Board with Display with mounting hardware for the front panel;
4. Encoder with pre-soldered cable;
5. Tuning knob;
6. Volume control knob;
7. USB extender cable;
8. Mounting screws & nuts;
9. Microphone;
10. Power Supply jack;
11. Speaker;
12. Cabinet (box) - chassis, front, back & top panels.

Take a look at their website for all the specifications of the transceiver:

https://www.hfsignals.com/

TO ORDER, PLEASE CONTACT CTARC SECRETARY, ANNE BY E-MAIL WITH YOUR PROOF OF PAYMENT

 E-MAIL: ctarccapetownarc@gmail.com

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PLACED YOUR ORDER NO LATER THAN
31 AUGUST 2020

CTARC Fox Hunt - Aug '20

As our members will all be aware, actual meetings during the Coronavirus lock-down period have had to be cancelled owing to the stringent limitations on meeting logistics in our clubhouse.

However, there is still a meeting format that is possible, safe and legal, and that is the Radio Fox Hunt! The hunts we have organised at the CTARC in the past have been great fun.

The CTARC is planning to hold another fox hunt at or near our clubhouse (but not inside it!) in the near future. We would like, first, to get an idea of how many would be interested in  taking part in such an event.

If you would like to take part in a Fox Hunt at the CTARC, please e-mail our Secretary, Anne.

CTARC Morningstar's QO-100 Satellite Station - 2 May '20

A dish antenna to work the Es-hail 2 /  QO-100 geostationary satellite has recently set up at the CTARC's remote station at Morningstar. This amazing feature has been discovered by many of our club members, enabling them to work transcontinental DX via satellite. If you are a licensed radio amateur, you can too!

To gain access to this great feature, you need to be a CTARC member [details here] and have also taken out the annual subscription to access the Morningstar Remote Station. However, those with access to Morningstar get free access to the QO-100 Satellite transceiver as well.

Working the Satellite has a learning curve - you need to be able to ensure that activating QO-100's linear transponder doesn't transmit downlink signal on the wrong frequency! Therefore all those members with Morningstar access who would like to also us the QO-100 feature need to contact the CTARC Secretary [here] to register. She will then send you links to an instructional PDF by Tjerk ZS1J and video by Chris ZS1CDG that explain how the system works.

CTARC New Membership Form for 2020 / 2021

The Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre continues to grow. New members are always welcomed into our sociable community!

Membership of the CTARC has many benefits, including:

• Fellowship with like-minded radio enthusiasts and involvement in the CTARC's interesting meetings, bulletins, radio nets and activities;
   
• The CTARC's bi-monthly newsletter, Ragchew;
   
• Access to people highly experienced in amateur radio technology, radio station assembly, construction and operating skills;
  
  
• Use of the CTARC's amateur radio station ZS1CT [for licensed radio amateurs];
   
• Optional access to use the Remote-Controlled Station at Morningstar [for licensed radio amateurs];
   
• Access to our regular ham radio equipment Swop Shops and car boot sales;
   
• And much, much more...

The Application Form for membership of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre, for the period 2020/2021, details current membership fees in the document.

Prospective members are requested to download and fill in the application form and return it to the Secretary, Anne or to hand it in to the CTARC chairman, Rob ZS1SA, at one of our monthly meetings.

Download the correct Application Form PDF file [here].

CTARC Annual General Meeting - 27 Jul '19

Chris ZS1CDG receives the Buck Taylor Award
from CTARC Chairman Rob ZS1ZSA

The CTARC held its AGM on Saturday 27 July 2019 at the clubhouse at the Belvedere Community Centre in Keurboom Park in Rondebosch.

Committee members including Rob and Anne started arriving to set things up from 13h00, Mike ZS1FP set up a microphone and PA system. By the time the meeting formally commenced at 14h00 all seats inside had been taken, with a sizeable number of club members outside. We had a total of 57 attending that day.

Club Chairman Rob ZS1SA called the meeting to order with the gong as is our tradition and, as there was most definitely a quorum present, declared the meeting open.

His first task, and a sad one at that, was to ask the members to hold a minute’s silence for those CTARC members who had become Silent Keys this year. Gerald Meneses ZS1GRM of Vredehoek, and Leon Isaacson ZS1CI of Woodbridge Island were thus acknowledged.

Then Rob asked for acknowledgement of the previous year’s AGM minutes, which was obtained from John ZS1AGH and seconded by Nick ZS1ZD.

Rob then proceeded with the Chairman's Report. Firstly he drew our attention to the fine new solid steel security gate, professionally welded by Richard ZS1RIC. Then he provided a summary of an eventful 73rd year of club activities:

In August 2018 the CTARC held the annual International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend at Green Point lighthouse – our 22nd year at that venue. It was also an opportunity for Chris ZS1CDG to complete the HF Assessments for his fledgling RAE candidates, which will be done again this year too.

The September 2018 meeting was a talk and slide show by Mike ZS1CO on his trip to the USA and some interesting hams he met there.

The October meeting was a video made available by Paul ZS1S on the VK0EK DX-pedition with which our club assisted.

The November meeting was our 2018 end-of-year function which took the form of a braai and social occasion

In December, during the Xmas break, Rob organised a successful fox-hunt, reviving a fun activity that we will see more of in future at the CTARC.

Our January 2019 meeting was a Show-and-Tell format, where members brought and described various homebrew projects they had constructed or found interesting. These are always most interesting meetings, and the standard of construction and interest was high.

As the February 2019 meeting would have been just a week away from our March Flea Market, no formal meeting was scheduled, but nevertheless a second fox-hunt was organised. Word of how much fun these are had by now spread and the fox hunt was well-attended.

On the first weekend in March the CTARC hosted the annual Mega Flea Market. This buying/selling and swopping event has grown through the years and was very well attended. Many radio hams drove off afterwards with heavier car boots and lighter pockets than when they had arrived! That evening will have been punctuated with interesting explanations to wives and spouses about these new acquisitions.

At the end of March, Tom ZS1TA gave us a most interesting talk and slide show on Low Earth Orbit Satellites.

In April Rob ZS1RM gave a fascinating talk and demo on B25 military radios, which are his passion and abiding interest. He demonstrated the modular component aspect of these rigs, taking them apart, reassembling them and then operating them again.

In May Barry ZS1FJ showed us a video on the Scarborough Reef DX-pedition. The location is a precarious piece of rock sticking out of the sea and one of the highly sought-after DX entities.

In June another fox-hunt took place. There was also a DF-Antenna construction workshop run by Rob ZS1SA. We also held a social braai for the RAE candidates to meet the rest of the club. In spite of seriously wet weather, the meeting was well attended

In addition to the monthly meetings, Rob mentioned the four antenna workshops that the club held through the past year. These included refurbishing of the main antenna feed lines, the addition to the mast of the 40m rotatable dipole generously donated to the CTARC by a kindly member. ZS1ZKZ effected some seriously appreciated repairs to the main mast’s lifting system. <There was also a Repeater visit where Paul ZS1S, Rob ZS1SA, Lem ZS1LEM and Dave ZS1SG did repairs to the equipment = dunno if this should be mentioned. Anne, please check with Rob.>

The CTARC’s Remote Station out at Morningstar, generously made available by Fred ZS1FZ and maintained and developed by Alan ZS1LS, continues to be a great success. We currently have 48 subscribers to this system, to which another 5 from overseas will be joining shortly.

The CTARC’s membership continues to grow, in spite of the difficult economic climes. This year our membership increased by 20 new members to bring it up to 111.

The Chairmans report was followed by the Secretary’s report. Anne delivered this with her characteristic efficiency. She thanked us all for our assistance with her communications, emails and admin. She mentioned the CTARC’s FaceBook group now has 269 members. She also mentioned her new role as treasurer, taking care to emphasize the need to maintain transparency as regards the admin of financial aspects of the club, membership fees, donations and catering expenses.

Danny ZS1BL gave the Treasurers report, showing us the spread sheets of the CTARC’s finances. While the club is in a healthy financial state, the income is slightly down from last year due to that year’s substantial donations received. Having been CTARC Treasurer for a goodly number of years, Danny is stepping down and that portfolio will be handled by secretary, Anne.

Rob then gave a breakdown of the various roles of the Committee members and thanked them for their contributions through the year – John ZS1EQ, Chris ZS1CDG, Noel ZS1FW, Paul ZS1S, Paul ZS1PXK (his 18th continuous year on the Committee), Danny ZS1BL, Peter ZS1PGC, Tony ZS1TK, Barry ZS1FJ, and co-opted members Charles ZS1CJO and Nick ZS1ZD. Their roles will remain as before, but with the difference that Danny ZS1BL is resigning as treasurer (which portfolio will be taken up by Anne), Tony ZS1TK becomes Club Events Reporter and Photographer, Paul ZS1S will be Bulletins Manager in addition to his representation on the Western Cape Repeater Working Group. Ettienne ZS1ESB will remain as the CTARC’s honorary auditor.

It was then Rob’s pleasant task to hand out the annual club awards.

The Golden Wellie award went to Keverne ZS1ABU for faithful attendance through thick and thin.

CTARC Life Membership was awarded to both In ZS1SX and John ZS1AGH.

The Fox Hunting Award (a new one, instituted by Rob ZS1SA) was awarded to Colin ZS1RS.

The Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy was awarded to James ZS1ZKZ.

The Buck Taylor Award - our club's premier award, was awarded to Chris ZS1CDG.

The Sports Award trophy was accepted in absentia by Michael ZS1MJT on behalf of Hughey ZS1YS.

Paul, ZS1S presented our club Secretary, Anne with a beautiful bouquet of flowers to say Thank you from the Committee and Club for another year of sterling service and Ragchew editing.

Following the awards, the CTARC Chairman and Committee were re-elected (with the abovementioned exceptions) for another year.

As a final acknowledgement to Gerald ZS1GRM /SK, his son-in-law Daniel ZS1DEA made two brief announcements. the first was the presentation of a trophy to the CTARC, to be used in commemoration ZS1GRM. Rob gratefully accepted the award, a mounted transmitting valve, on behalf of the CTARC.

The second announcement was that samples from a flagon of Gerald’s finest mountain dew distillate would be available afterwards for those who wished to raise a toast to the fond memory of ZS1GRM. We did so, confident that Gerald would have approved of this, his final contribution to the CTARC. Indeed, it was good stuff ! 

With the business concluded, the meeting broke for delicious refreshments [arranged by Rob and Anne] and the opportunity to have a good chat with all the other members.

The meeting adjourned at about 16h30.

Photos:

A magnificent set of photos by Una ZS1UNA can be seen [here]

Other photos are available [here].

Our next meeting will be the International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend, which the CTARC will hold at Green Point Lighthouse 17 / 18 August. We look forward to seeing you there!

CTARC - Subscription Renewal for 2019 / 2020

A HUGE THANK YOU to those members who have already renewed their club subscriptions for 2019 / 2020,

For those club members who are still to renew their membership:

There has been a small increase in subs for this year.

The new amount payable is R180-00 per Member, and R140-00 for Pensioners (over 65).

(For new members joining the CTARC, a once-of Admin Fee of R50-00 applies.)

(Remember your spouse/partner may join the Club for 50% of your fee).

The Membership Renewal Form is attached with all the information you need, including banking details, and this is your reminder to please pay your 2019 / 2020 subs as soon as possible.

(EFT is preferred if possible please, but I will be collecting cash subs and forms at the AGM.)
Please remember, to send me proof of payment if you pay by EFT.

CTARC subs are due each year on 30 June 2019, and those members who have not let us know their intention to renew on or before the AGM, we will have to assume you wish to be removed from the membership and mailing lists.

*Most important... If your contact details have changed please also update them on the form attached please.

Morningstar:

Also available to members is our high power remote base station at Morningstar.

If you would like use Morningstar and have not already subscribed, then kindly add an additional R300-00 to your membership subs which will be used as your contribution toward the site rental costs at Morningstar.

Once I receive your proof of payment, I will add your name to the list and you will be given access to Morningstar for one year from date of payment.

You will be sent setup instructions for the use of Morningstar once payment is received.

The Club is growing, with many new members joining this past year. Your Club has many exciting and different events planned for the upcoming year so please don't miss out and renew your membership now.

I will see you all on Saturday, 27 July 2019 at the AGM, where you can enjoy some delicious refreshments and socialise with your friends and fellow Amateurs.

kind regards

Anne
(CTARC Secretary :)

CTARC Annual General Meeting - 28 Jul '18

Dear CTARC Member

Notification is hereby given that the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's Annual General Meeting has been called.

Date: Saturday, 28th July 2018.

Venue: CTARC Clubhouse, Round Table (Belvedere) Community Centre, off Laidlaw Road, Claremont.

Time: 14:00.

Social: Join us for afternoon refreshments after the meeting.

PLEASE REVIEW THE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY:

AGM 2018 Agenda

The Minutes of the 2017 AGM

Proxy Form 2018

Regards,

Anne Bareham
(CTARC Secretary and Editor)
Cell: O72 268 I2O7

CTARC A Request From The Secretary About Swops - 15 Sep '17

Our trusty club secretary, Anne, who kindly compiles each edition of the CTARC's monthly newsletter, Ragchew, has a fervent request.

As has been announced for years now, you can advertise your ham radio related equipment for sale (or wanted) in Ragchew. You can mention prices and include colour photos (neither of which can be done on air) in these adverts.

However, such adverts and photos MUST be submitted to Anne as e-mails (with attached photos if needed) ONLY.

Recently, people have been sending the secretary Text messages, SMS's and WhatsUpp messages containing adverts for inclusion in Ragchew. These formats of messaging risk errors of transcription, and Anne cannot transfer multimedia photos sent by smartphone either.

The secretary's contact details are here.

CTARC Report on CTARC AGM - 23 Jul '17

Yesterday at 14h00 we held the CTARC’s Annual General Meeting of 2017 at the clubhouse.
(Photos are here).

The meeting was well attended. We counted over 30 heads in attendance.

The meeting was opened by the CTARC Chairman, Rob / ZS1SA and apologies announced. Then formal confirmation of notice of the meeting was obtained and a quorum confirmed.  A minute's silence was held for those Silent Keys who passed away this year.

Confirmation of Minutes of the previous AGM, held on Saturday, 23 July 2016, was obtained and matters arising from these minutes was briefly discussed

Rob then delivered the Chairman’s Report, covering the events of the last year and some future plans for the clubhouse and infrastructure. Anne then delivered her short but sweet Secretary’s Report. This was followed by the Treasurer's Report,comprehensively covered by Danny / ZS1BL and illustrated with PowerPoint slides of the figures. Approval of the accounts was obtained. A necessary (but moderate) increase in membership fees is taking place. This will be detailed in Ragchew and the Blogspot.
 
Then the pleasant task of presentation of Trophies and Awards was done by our Chairman, Rob. 

The Club Participation Award was given jointly to Hans-Jurgen / ZS1HJH and Wolfgang / ZR1WLH, for their great involvement this year with the club and technical development of its antennas;

The Golden Wellie Award, for attendance of Club Meetings and events through thick and thin was awarded to Richard / ZS1RIC (in absentia);

The CTARC's most prestigious award, the Buck Taylor award, was awarded in absentia to Fred /ZS1FZ, for his enormous involvement (in time, vision and funding) for a big project of huge benefit to our club, that he initiated, steered and is busy building, that will be clarified in greater detail presently;

The Sports Award was awarded by Michael /ZS1MJT, backed up by Davey / ZR1FR, to Hendrick / ZS1EEE, for the quality and depth of his involvement in radio comms for Sports Rallies this last year.

We then proceeded with the formal election of office bearers and activity conveners. Rob stood down as John / ZS1AGH took over as temporary caretaker Chairman to call for nominations. 

Rob / ZS1SA was unanimously nominated and elected as the CTARC Chairman for the period 2017 / 2018. This was followed by the election of a new Working Committee and Bank Signatory Mandates.

The CTARC Committee remains (more or less) as before, with the following portfolios:

Anne is CTARC Secretary & Ragchew Editor;
Noel / ZS1FW is CTARC Vice-Chairman, Clubhouse Manager & Convenor of the weekly ZS1CT Net; 

Danny / ZS1BL is CTARC Treasurer;

Tony / ZS1TK is the new Bulletins Coordinator;

Paul / ZS1S is Western Cape Repeater Working Group representative (he's currently the Vice-Chairman of that organisation). He is also responsible for Clubhouse Security;

Paul / ZS1PXK is Meetings Logistics Coordinator;

Barry / ZS1FJ is QSL Manager - Cards;

Charles / ZS1CJO is QSL Manager - Digital;

Peter /  ZS1PGC is Club Assets Manager;
;
Nick / ZS1ZD is Website / Blogspot Manager & Club Photographer.

The following Committee Members stepped down:
Shaun / ZS1RA (former CTARC Public Relations Officer) has relocated from Cape Town;
Tony / ZS1TM (former Bulletins Coordinator);
and Hylton / ZR1HPC (former QSL Manager).
 
Appointment of Honorary Auditor:
As Barry / ZS1FJ has now joined the CTARC Committee, we require the services of a new honorary auditor. This non-onerous responsibility involves casting a proprietorial eye over the accounting figures of the CTARC's  finances.

With the office bearers duly elected, other business was attended to briefly and the Rob offered a votes of thanks to the committee members, new & outgoing. With that, the meeting was formally ended and refreshments were then served. CTARC Members and visitors had the chance to chat over tubs of delicious soup and the occasional glass of sherry.

Our Club's thanks are due to a number of folk:

• Rob, for his leadership and vision through the past years of chairmanship;
• Rob and Anne for organizing the logistics of the AGM event;
• Special thanks to Anne and Elsabe for feeding us with scrumptious chicken soup, beef consomme and sherry and rolls on the cold winter afternoon; and also to Tony /ZS1TK, who made glasses of red wine available for a nominal contribution;
• Thank-you to the CTARC Committee, for their work, insights and contributions throughout the year. Everyone has a role to play and it’s a great team;
• Lastly, but certainly not leastly, thanks to all the CTARC members, for their attendance, support and contributions that make the CTARC the convivial fellowship that it is.

Things wound up at about 16h30. The following meeting at the CTARC will be the Antenna Work Party on Saturday, 29 July.

Photos of the event are [here].

CTARC Award Nominations for July AGM - 1 June '17

CTARC members have recently been e-mailed the necessary nomination forms to nominate worthy recipients for our club awards, which will be handed out at the July AGM which takes place at the CTARC clubhouse on Saturday 22 July 2017.

A list of these awards appears in the June 2017 edition of Ragchew.

Please ensure that those nominations reach the CTARC Secretary no later than Thursday 15 June 2017.

The CTARC Committee needs time to decide who will get those awards, and (in some cases) engrave the winners name on said award.

Thanking you in advance!

CTARC Report-Back of AGM - 24 Jul '16

On Saturday 23 July 2016, the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre held its AGM at 14h00. In spite of some rather soggy winter weather, the meeting was well attended.

The meeting was opened by CTARC chairman Rob / ZS1SA, who welcomed members and visitors, and then delivered his Chairman's Report for the past year.

This was followed by the Secretary's Report by our well-organised secretary, Anne.

Our vice-chairman, Noel / ZS1FW, then read out the Treasurers Report on behalf of Danny / ZS1BL who was unable to attend the meeting.

Our chairman then had the pleasant job of handing over the Club Awards for the year.

The Golden Wellie Award (the Wellington boot is in fact black in colour), which celebrates that member whose attendance of club events (through rain, hail, sleet, snow, dust storms, hurricanes and other meteorological phenomena) has been most consistent, this year was awarded to Tony / ZS1TK.

The Club Participation Award, which is awarded for significant club involvement, assistance and participation, this year was awarded to Barry / ZS1FJ in absentia.

The Buck Taylor Trophy (the CTARC's top award) was awarded to Davey / ZR1FR for his extremely helpful and generous assistance of our club recently.

At this point, the chairman stood down and handed over the reigns to John / ZS1AGH while nominations for the post of club chairman and the committee were called for. The entire committee was re-elected, with Rob as chairman, for another year. The committee's details are [here].

The formalities now concluded, the club's members and visitors were asked to briefly assemble outside the clubhouse for a group photograph (see below).

Thereafter we returned to the clubhouse for a bowl (or two) of not one but two delicious varieties of hot soup kindly provided by Anne and Elsabe, as well as a glass of warming sherry for those who required a little further warming on that cold afternoon. A good opportunity to catch up and natter with friends then ensued.

Paul / ZS1S later on continued with some repair work to the antenna cable feed-in panel, which has been in need of refurbishment since our recent Antenna Work Party.

By about 16h45 the meeting had run its course and we made our way home.

Below are some photos of the event:

The quiet before the storm...
Anne & Elsabe await the arrival of the hungry masses

Rob / ZS1SA has just acquired a transformer,
Note the unique model of his car (next to the number plate)

Members settle down for the meeting

Rob / ZS1SA reads out the Chairmans Report. Throughout the event
the slide show from the 70th Anniversary celebration was projected

Anne delivers the Secretary's Report

Noel / ZS1FW delivers the Treasurer's Report

Tony / ZS1TK receives the Golden Wellie Award from Rob /  ZS1SA

Rob / ZS1SA announces the Club Participation Award for Barry /  ZS1FJ

Davey / ZR1FR receives the Buck Taylor Trophy from Rob / ZS1SA

John / ZS1AGH takes over as temporary club chairman while nominations
are received for chairman and committee and the voting takes place.

Rob / ZS1SA, our re-elected club chairman commits himself
and the committee to another year at the helm of the CTARC,
in service to the club's members

Group shot outside the clubhouse.
In the foreground is John / ZS1AGH'S prized Dart.

Left to right: Wolfgang /ZR1WHL, Hans-Jurgen /ZS1HJH, Mike /ZS1PE,
Noel /ZS1FW and Richard /ZS1RIC

Anne and Elsabe provided litres of very delicious soup!
(Chicken Noodle on the left, Butternut on the right)

And to keep the chill away there was a glass of sherry

Much discussion taking place after the AGM, as is always the case

Paul / ZS1S and Mike / ZS1FP.
In the background are Tony /  ZS1TM and Rob / ZS1SA

Gerald / ZS1GRM makes an emphatic point to John / ZS1AGH
and Geoff / ZR1GFT

Noel / ZS1FW and Charles / ZS1CJO

Wolfgang / ZR1WLH, Hans-Jurgen / ZS1HJH and Richard / ZS1RIC

CTARC Wild Fig is Fully Booked! - May '16

Please note that all places for the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's 70th Anniversary function at the Wild Fig Restaurant on 25 June 2016 are now fully booked.

If you would like to attend the function, but have not booked and paid for a ticket, you can still put your name on a waiting list. If there is a cancellation you might still be able to attend.

Please send your e-mail request to the CTARC Secretary [here], making the Subject of your e-mail "Request to attend CTARC 70th Anniversary Function".

We thank all those many members and friends of the club who have already committed to attend this signal event in our club's history.

CTARC Feedback from JOTA Station - 31 Oct '15

We received this nice letter today from Kyle Cato about the recent JOTA Station we held in Bergvliet on 18/19 October:

Dear Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre

Thank you the experience with using the radio. I will enjoy coming next year and try meet more people on the air.

Thank you


Kyle Cato
2nd Bergvliet Sea Scouts

Our club's secretary, Anne, wrote back:

Dear Kyle
 

Thank you so much for your e-mail.

We are so glad you enjoyed yourself and are looking forward to the next one.


Best regards

Anne
(CTARC Secretary:)

So, it looks like we might be doing JOTA again, next year! Well done to those dedicated CTARC members who made it all possible.

CTARC Where Are Our Filters??? - 22 Sep '15

Since we assembled our Lighthouse Weekend Field Station, four bandpass filter boxes that we used in the previous (2014) event have gone AWOL. They were all kept in a clear plastic bag in our ham shack, and we are sure they were returned to the clubhouse after the previous event.

If anyone can help shed light on the location or fate of these needed bits of equipment, we would be most grateful. They are small rectangular silver boxes, each about 75 x75 x 50 mm in size and with two SO-239 coax sockets on them.

Please contact the secretary [here] if you can help.

UPDATE: We found our filters at last!

CTARC AGM Report Back - 25 Jul '15

The 2015 Annual General Meeting of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre was held at 14h00 Saturday 25 July at the CTARC clubhouse in the Belvedere Community Centre, off Laidlaw Lane in Rondebosch.


The meeting started at 14h00. Our chairman for 2014 / 2015, Rob / ZS1SA welcomed the assembled throng. We held a brief moment of silence to remember and respect the passing on of former CTARC members Alan / ZS1AAX, Harold / ZS1VW and Paul / ZS1GE, all of whom went Silent Key this year..

Rob then presented the minutes for 2014's AGM, which were confirmed by CTARC members.

Rob read out the CTARC Chairman's report, which listed the activities of the past year and the future plans of our club in the new year. Some very exciting developments lie ahead.

Chairman Rob / ZS1SA

The CTARC's Treasurer, Danny / ZS1BL, then presented the CTARC Treasurer's report, which has been audited by Barry / ZS1FJ. There does not appear to have been an enormous change in our financial status since last year. One notable difference, though, has been the noticeable falling off of contributions to the Repeater Fund.

Treasurer: Danny / ZS1BL

Our very efficient Secretary and Ragchew Editor, Anne, gave her report.

CTARC Secretary and Ragchew Editor, Anne

It was time for the CTARC Annual Awards to be handed out. First on the list went to Hylton / ZR1HPC, who was this year's recipient of the CTARC Wellie Award. This award is for most consistent attendance of meetings and activities; through sun, rain, wind, sleet, snow, dust, hail, earthquakes and other meteorological phenomena. Hylton made it to all the meetings!

 

The annual Club Participation Award went to Elsabe. She is XYL to John / ZS1AGH (see below...)  Elsabe has been steadfast in her involvement with the Centre's activities and a worthy recipient!

 

Mike / ZS1FP received the Buck Taylor Award for his regular assistance with the CTARC Monday Evening Nets, which Noel / ZS1FW has run successfully throughout this past year.

 

The final award had been kept a deep secret throughout the planning stages. Rassie / ZS1YT was invited to make the presentation, which had to be coordinated with the SARL Head Office, in the form of the Jack Twine Award, which this year is awarded to John / ZS1AGH. Very well done, John!

Rassie / ZS1YT reads out the preamble to the Jack Twine Award

The prestigious badge gets pinned!

John / ZS1AGH, is obviously very chuffed at receiving his J T Award!

Next it was time for the election of the new CTARC chairman and committee. Paul / ZS1S took over temporary custodianship of the CTARC while nominations were made. (Up until last year, this task fell upon Alan / ZS1AAX who sadly went SK this year). Rob / ZS1SA was unanimously re-elected as chairman of the CTARC for 2015 / 2016. The CTARC Committee was re-elected en bloc, with the welcome addition of Hylton / ZR1HPC who joins the Committee. Welcome, Hylton!.

 

Rob / ZS1SA, chairman of the CTARC for the new year, thanked the Club's members for re-electing him and the Committee for their continuing commitment to the CTARC. He then declared the meeting formally over and invited all to take part in the refreshments

 

CTARC members and friends could then mingle, chat together and enjoy a bowl of soup and rolls kindly provided and served up by Anne and Elsabe.

 

 

Noel / ZS1FW made an announcement that wew will be holding an antenna work party on Saturday 1 August at 10h00. Also, we will be taking part in the Jamboree On The Air with the Bergvliet Scouts and Girl Guides later on this year. Further announcement will be made about this presently.

Richard / ZS1RIC, Tony / ZS1TM, Gerald / ZS1GRM AND Geoff/ ZR1GFT

Mike / ZS1FP poses wth his Buck Taylor Award

Rassie / ZS1YT, John/ ZS1AGH (winner of the Jack Twine award) and Rob / ZS1SA

Dave / ZS1SG & Paul / ZS1S

Some arrived at the meeting in style!!

Danny / ZS1BL and Tony / ZS1TM enjoy soup and rolls

Anne was presented with some lovely flowers for her kind provision of all the catering!