CTARC All Club Meetings & Events Cancelled - 23 Mar '20

Dear CTARC Members

Reminder: This Saturday, 28 March, Monthly Meeting Cancelled.

I am sure you will have heard by now either on the Sunday bulletin or on our blog spot that this Saturday's meeting has sadly been cancelled due to concerns over the current Covid-19 virus outbreak.

The Chairman and his Committee have decided that all CTARC events, workshops and meetings will be cancelled; this will include Committee meetings and work parties, until this current crisis is over.

Update: With the recently announced national lock-down from 26 March to 16 April, any club-related activities that would take people out of their homes are restricted anyway.

We wish you all well and please be safe, looking forward to chatting with everybody over the air.

Kind regards & 73

The CTARC Committee

CTARC Report on Meeting of Saturday 22 Jun '19

On Saturday 22 June 2019, the Cape of Storms strutted its fury across the City with high winds and lots of rain. However, this didn't deter the CTARC from going ahead with the monthly meeting! We had a very well-attended social afternoon with braai fires ablaze under an umbrella where some members chose to keep warm and dry around the fire. Simultaneously, the special Fox Hunt antenna building event took place inside the club house.

28 members and guests attended and socialised while 7 members constructed the portable tape measure fox hunt antenna and will soon join the growing ranks of club fox hunters. These antennas are very portable, being fold-able, which makes them ideal for packing into and taking out of a vehicle. These antennas are highly directional and ideal for finding hidden transmitters in the field. They also function well as transmitting antennas for portable and field operations. The cost to construct these antennas is well under R100 each.

Fox hunting is a growing interest at the CTARC. Perhaps one day we may well do inter-club fox hunting competitions followed by a bring-and-braai. These would be fun social events for everyone, including families.

Photos of the Saturday event will be posted here in due course.

Rob ZS1ZA
CTARC Chairman

CTARC Welcome Bring 'n Braai & Antenna Building Party - 22 Jun '19

REMINDER : TOMORROW - Saturday 22 June 2019:
The RAE Welcome Bring 'n Braai & Antenna Building Party: Read on......

We are aware of the weather situation for Saturday [rain forecast]. However, we have decided to go ahead with the events as planned. We will endeavour to keep the braai fire dry, so we can all have an enjoyable afternoon.

See you all tomorrow!

THIS SATURDAY,  22 JUNE

The Monthly Meeting is a Workshop and Bring ‘n Braai

Hi Everyone

Come along this Saturday for the ‘Fox Hunt’ Antenna Building Party run by Chairman, Rob ZS1SA,

Also come along to meet and congratulate the Candidates that recently wrote the RAE course, and introduce them to our friendly Club.

Bring your own meat and all your preferred accompaniments. Certain refreshments will be available and the fire will be sponsored by the CTARC.

The Antenna Building Workshop will start at 14h00 and braai fires will be lit at 14h30, to be ready by 15h30.

Come along and enjoy an interesting afternoon.


CTARC Fox Hunt Antenna Building Day Requirements

We have stripped it down to the absolute basic requirements.



All you will need to bring:

• Two 20 mm PVC 4-way conduit boxes (about R7 each)
• One 2 0mm PVC conduit Tee (sometimes called an Inspection Tee (about R8)
• One 5 metre long tape measure. 19mm width preferred (about R35)
• Plus whatever coaxial connector which mates with your radio.

Pick up these four items at any Buco or hardware store for well under R75 and come and build your own three-element Fox Hunt Yagi antenna at CTARC this Saturday afternoon. We will supply the remaining pieces and help you to put it all together. This directional antenna is also suitable for transmitting on and ideal for field operations in addition to fox hunts.

The only other item you will need to purchase is a suitable coax connector which fits your hand held radio. Alternatively we will have a few BNC connectors available for sale at the club for R30 each or you can purchase a suitable connector at a later time and install it on the coax cable yourself at home. In order to save some time, if you already have a connector for your radio and about 1.5 metres of RG-58 cable you can fit the connector to one end of your coax cable and bring it along on the day to attach to your new Yagi.

Regards,

Rob, ZS1SA.
(CTARC Chairman)

Anne
(CTARC Secretary and Editor)
Cell: 072 268 1207

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NB: This event has now taken place. Read the report [here]

CTARC June Meeting - 22 Jun '19

Coming up in June, in place of our regular meeting we will be having an antenna building session for those of you wishing to build a fox hunt antenna.

We need commitments from those wishing to build the hand held tape measure antenna in order to buy the parts. Estimated cost will be under R200 for everything.

Please let myself or the Secretary know by the end of April if you wish to join in and build this small Yagi antenna.

73

Rob ZS1SA

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NB: This event has now taken place. Read the report [here]