CTARC A Very Accomplished Radio Ham! - Jan '20

Dennis ZS1AU

Long-standing CTARC member Dennis ZS1AU recently sent us a list of his many accomplishments in the field of Amateur Radio. In detail below...

ZS1AU's Activities & Achievements
Since 1947 until January 2019:

1. First Mobile-to-Mobile / Continent-to-Continent 1973 Barney Joel Trophy;
2. First Digital Voice in the Southern Hemisphere, on HF, on 20m/15m/10m in August 2004;
3. First & only WAZL award.
   Worked over 1000 ZL’s;
4. First Garden City Award – Christchurch NZ;
5. First & only Calgary Stampede Award VE6;
6. Second ZS1 to achieve DXCC Honour Roll in 2011;
7. First ZS1 to achieve #1 DXCC Honour Roll in 2014;
8. Fourth ZS to reach #1 DXCC Honour Roll;
9. First ZS to reach DXCC Entity Sticker #360 in 2018;
10. First to transmit modulated CW on HF, in 1960’s for CW over-the-air classes. ZS1PF & ZS1YP @ 12 wpm;
11. In 1960’s won the TED BAKER Rally Trophy, held by CTARC;
12. Winner (Division One) SARL SSB Contest 1989;
13. Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy in 2007, held by CTARC;
14. Winner in Mobile section of SARL Annual Contest in 1961;
15. Runner-up Mobile section of SARL Annual Contest in 1962;
16. Runner-up in Annual SARL CW Contest on 80m/40m/20m in 1968;
17. Highest Single Band 20M SARL Contest Joseph White Trophy in 1958, 1959 & 1967;
18. Hunting Lions On The Air 1989, Fifth in the World Plaque;
19. Hunting Lions On The Air 1990, First in ZS, while leading #1 in the World.
    Ruled a "No Contest" due to loss of contest logs in Argentina;
20. Certificates: First WAS all on 20m SSB;
21. SARL Certificates: AAA, WAZS;
22. Awarded Honourary Life Membership from CTARC in 2003;
23. Awarded Honourary Life Membership from SARL in 2005;
24. Luminated Address for Services Rendered & Attendance over 20 years in 1966;
25. One of five Radio Amateurs awarded Officers' Rank in SAPWRR in 1974 to 1980;
26. Served on Cape Town Branch Committee & as Chairman in 1947 to 1966;
27. Served on Oakdale Klub (Amateur Radio) Committee as Vice-Chairman from 1996 to 2008;
28. Awarded Gary Immelman Amateur Radio Heritage Award & Gold Pen in 2008;
29. Served on SARL Council for 3½ yrs 1966 to 1969 HQ Notes & Branch Affairs;
30. Was Pilot for DXpeditions for CT1BWW, ZS1FJ, 7P8DX & 3Y0C;
31. Worked stations on SUNSAT Satellite in 2000/2001;
32. Organised First & thus far the only Satellite contact for 3Y0C Chuck Brady on a 2m Handy to make contact with ZS1DFR & ZS1AAZ in the PARROT mode, SUNSAT foot print over CT & Bouvet Island in 2001;
33. Operator on DXpedition to Robben Island as ZS64RI in 1996;
34. Organised departure & reception for Chuck Brady 3Y0C after he had completed three months on Bouvet Island;
35. ZS1S Paul Johnson & ZS1AU organized reception for VK0EK DXpedition to Heard Island in 2016;
36. ZS1S Paul Johnson & ZS1AU organized reception for 3Y0Z aborted DXpedition to Bouvet Island in 2018;
37. Organised Special Event Station ZS1WPR WP Rugby 100 yrs;
38. Organised Special Event Station ZS03CWC Cricket World Cup in RSA;
39. Took part in operating as ZS….. MADIBA & worked over 1000 stations;
40. On Oakdale Klub (Amateur Radio) Committee, proposed that Mark Shuttleworth be granted ZS1RSA on the International Space Station;
41. Read SARL HQ Bulletins on 40m & 20 m for almost 10 years from QTH in Plumstead CT;
42. Refurbished TH-5 antenna at ZS1CT Club House after a severe Cape Storm smashed the Beam & Tower;
43. Organised a Field Day Weekend on top of Montague Mountain @ 1600 metres ASL in 1984 as ZS1CT/P;
44. In the 1980’s I saved Bertie Reed on SA Yacht “Voortrekker” after his auto-pilot broke & saw him around the World;
45. Did a caravan tour, "The Great Trek" in 1968 as ZS1AU / MOBILE;
46. In 1971 did a caravan tour of Zimbabwe & operated as ZS1AU / MOBILE / ZE;
47. Did a caravan tour of Swaziland & operated as ZS1AU/MOBILE/7P8;
48. In 2008 put together & erected 3x TELREX Beams for 20m 5-element, 15m 5-element & 10m 6-element at 30m on Oakdale Tower;
49. In addition to above I was involved in two MAYDAY calls, the rescue of a Russian boat that was drifting rudderless off coast of Australia;
50. The other MAYDAY call was at midnight when the RSA Base station ZS1ANT called for help via the USA. One of the team on Antarctica had been seriously injured & urgent medical help was needed. Unfortunately the person died during the early hours of the following morning;
    
51. I received a letter of thanks from the Minister of Transport for alerting the high-powered station to SANAE base;
52. Attended many SARL AGM’s - in East London, Cape Town, Pretoria, Stellenbosch and Durban;
53. Took part in operating JOTA from home & at various other locations as ZS1CT/P, & in Bergvliet & Zandvlei Scout camp;
54. Went out 20kms offshore on Robert ZS1FF’s yacht to welcome the aborted Bouvet Island DXpedition Team into Cape Town Harbour in 2018;
55. In 1960’s home-brewed a complete mobile transceiver & centre-loaded whip on a 1954 Hillman & worked DX & many States-side stations on 20m & South America on 40m using 50 watts AM;
56. Home-brewed first 15m ZL Special beam & the rotator;
57. First to contact VK on 15m in 1952;
58. Designed & constructed my 15m tower, still in use since 1980;
59. Played around with RTTY, SSTV & manufactured my morse keys & a “bug” key;
60. Did many construction items for HF to Telephone patching & microphone speech compression audio unit;
61. Did most of my own repairs when things went wrong. HI !!!

Well done, Dennis! An inspiration to all

CTARC Further Club History - 2 Jun '18

Here's another photo, kindly provided by Dennis ZS1AU.

At a JOTA-type outreach activity are, L to R. Ted Baker ZS1RA (former Cape Town Branch chairman) and Sydney Smith ZS1PF at the microphone, along with two avid Lakeside Sea Scouts.

CTARC Club History - 2 Jun '18

Here is some club history, kindly provided by Dennis ZS1AU.

In the photo (right) from (we guess) the 1960's, L to R: Sydney Smith ZS1PF standing, telling us about his homebrew project (it was an electronic keyer), Ray Alexander ZS1IM (then CT Club Chairman) & Jack Meerburg ZS1FM (Secretary) seated. Note the Trophies!
Syd, who was a Mechanical Engineer by profession and who built beautiful homebrew equipment, was the winner in the photo. He also built (for his company, Cape Steel Pty Ltd ) the connecting bridge walk through, over Darling Street, from Cape Town Railway Station to the OK Bazaars/Golden Acre complex.

Sadly, both Syd and Ray have since passed on, but Jack is still around and living in Constantia.

In the photo (right) are Muriel Alexander (Ray's XYL) and Mac Mclure ZS1VN.

Thanks so much, Dennis!

CTARC More Photos of Morningstar Station - May '18

Here are some more photos of the Morningstar Remote Control Station.
Grateful thanks to Dennis / ZS1AU for providing these.

The station's location, sheltered by an aircraft hangar.

The station's mast, Optibeam HF antenna, 6m beam above that,
2x microwave dishes and 2m discone antenna

Fred / ZS1FZ, who concieved and built the Morningstar station

In te background is the Ham Spirit Trophy, which Fred won this year

CTARC Ragchew - December 2017

The December 2017 edition of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre's bi-monthly newsletter "Ragchew" is now published. Grateful thanks once again to our editor, Anne, for all her sterling work!

Download the PDF file [here];

Ragchew is also on our Newsletters Page

 

CTARC Photos of End-of-Year Function of 25 Nov '17

Here are the photos of the CTARC End-of-Year function held on Saturday 25 November 2017.

The written report-back on the meeting is [here].

Setting up beforehand. Grateful thanks to Jon / ZS1AGH and Elsabe
for use of the canopy

Paul / ZS1S sets up the solar powered MW receiver with loop antenna.
Works like a charm!

Left to right: Elsabe, Glynnis / ZR1GW and Anne,
our formidable catering ladies!

Welcome to Ivan / ZR1ICE and Maureen / ZR1MYB

Lem / ZS1LEM and Noel / ZS1FW

Dennis / ZS1AU and Frank / ZS1CM

The three musketeers: Keverne / ZS1ABU, Chris / ZS1CDG
and Lem / ZS1LEM

We had quite a crowd this year - around 65 people in all

Gerald / ZS1GRM

Various goodies (some new, some retro) on the Swop Shop tables

Karl / ZS1KC, Paul / ZS1PXK and Wouter / ZS1KE

Various widgets for disposal

Various handies and chargers...

Rob / ZS1SA considers the purchase of a microphone

This very nice Eton G3 SW multiband Rx (with BFO and ECSSB)
was, sadly, NOT for sale

CTARC Chairman Rob / ZS1SA having introduced Dennis / ZS1AU,
Dennis describes the LWHST to the crowd

Dennis / ZS1AU gives us the history, chapter and verse, of the
Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy's recipients.

3VV

And the winner this 50th anniversary year of the LWHST is...
Fred / ZS1FZ / DJ3VV, who addressed us with a brief
speech of thanks

Fred receives his certificate from Dennis...

...and the Trophy. Well done!

Wolfgang / ZR1WLH won the raffle

The LWHST recipients (such as whom attended): Left to right:
Rob / ZS1SA, Anne, Mike / ZS1FP, Nick / ZS1ZD, Richard  ZS1RIC,
Dennis / ZS1AU, Danny / ZS1BL, Fred / ZS1FZ, Deon / ZS1ZL,
Glynnis / ZR1GW, Paul / ZS1S, Noel / ZS1FW and Hans-Jurgen / ZS1HJH

CTARC Report-back on November Meeting - 26 Nov '17

Photos of the event are [here].

The Cape Town Amateur Radio centre held its end of year function on the afternoon of Sunday 25 November 2017. The weather was mild and just right for the event.

At 12h00 the trusty members of the Committee arrived and started setting up shop. We were gratified to note at the committee meeting on the Monday evening before the weekend that that City Council had kindly removed the broken tree and branch debris left over from the Great Storm of July 2017, since which time what used to be the grass car park next to the clubhouse had been covered thigh-deep in branches and tree debris. After our chairman, Rob / ZS1SA had put in a diplomatic request, the City Council Parks and Forests kindly cleared it all up and we were able to park our cars and hold our end of year function and braai outside the clubhouse.

The tables were set up and and canopies erected. Anne, Elsabe and Glynnis started industriously cutting and prepping burger rolls and salad. The braai fires were assembled, fuelled and fired up. Tony / ZS1TM and Nick /ZS1ZD started cooking the burger patties once the fires were hot enough. Paul / ZS1S set up his finely constructed solar powered MW receiver with a loop antenna, which provided music from Magic 828 throughout the afternoon. Mike / ZS1FP set up the PA system as he kindly does each year. We all unpacked and redeployed the club’s plastic chairs in a ring outside for the benefit of the visitors. The members and guests started arriving.

At around 13h00, the official beginning of the event, the lawn outside the clubhouse was already filling up with members, XYLs, friends and visitors. At the height of the afternoon we were to have an estimated 60 guests in attendance, including new members who signed up to the CTARC. Welcome!

At about 13h45 Rob fired up the PA and introduced Dennis / ZS1AU, who had arrived in his James Bond attire (shaken, but never stirred) to announce the award of the Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy. This being the 50th anniversary of the award (can you believe it?) we had put out a special request for all LWHST recipients who still could to attend the meeting.  What most people hadn’t seen were the efforts by ZS1AU and ZS1ZD beforehand, to get the certificate signed in sticky gold ink without giving the game away.

Dennis gave us a comprehensive account of the recipients of the Award over the past half-century, and finally announced the winner, who this year is Fred / ZS1FZ, who has made a significant contribution to the hobby, to our club and to ham spirit in general, not just this year but throughout the time we have all been fortunate to know him. So it is entirely appropriate that the 50th anniversary award goes to one of such stature in the amateur radio community, both locally and internationally. Fred received both a certificate and the magnificent trophy, and addressed us briefly on receipt of his award. His relationship with South Africa, Cape Town and our club goes back a long way.

That being complete, Rob then did the raffle draw, assisted by Paul / ZS1PXK. Wolfgang / ZS1WLH won that and walked off with two fine bottle of wine that had been donated.

At that point there was a rush on the food tables as hungry hams, whose nostrils had been tantalised by the aroma of roasting burger patties throughout Dennis’s speech, could now satisfy their hunger. Anne and the ladies were hard pressed to keep up with demand and Tony and Nick kept at it with the burger patties and other meats on the braai fires. Liquid refreshments were available and the afternoon continued in its characteristic spirit of conviviality.

Once hungry appetites had been satisfied with a burger or two, we gathered the LWHST members together for a historic photograph of those award recipients we had managed to gather into our midst for the occasion. That photo is [here] at the bottom of the article.

In addition to the chewing of the (proverbial) fat and (literal) animal proteins, there were other items for hungry hams to consume in the form of various bits of hardware that were set up on two tables and various car boots at the venue. As always, a number of hams went home happy with bulging car boots and (moderately) lightened wallets. And a number of forlorn rectangles of hardware flickered their meter needles with joy at the prospect of acquiring a new home and firing up their circuits, even if in modified or component-redeployed form. There were even generous freebies made available by kind courtesy of Deon / ZR1DE, and one individual walked off with bits of a fax machine that might be modified to print out the HydroSan synoptic weather chart broadcasts.

By about 16h00, the event was tailing off and we started packing things away; the chairs inside, the braai coals extinguished, the remaining ice distributed across the lawns. We packed everything away and locked up the clubhouse. Shook hands and wished each other well for the festive break. ZS1ZD was seen trundling off in a small vehicle filled to the brim with empty cooldrink bottles and cans.

That was it for the year of 2017. Once again, the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre chairman and committee wishes all its members and friends everything of the best for the festive season, stay safe (especially on the roads) and we really look forward to seeing you all again next year for an exciting and innovative new year of amateur radio in 2018.

Photos of the End-of-Year function are [here].

CTARC End of Year Function - 25 Nov '17

Your Invitation To

The CTARC’s  End of Year Function!

Dear CTARC Member

Date: Saturday, 25 November

Time: 13:00

Venue: CTARC’s Clubhouse Grounds, Laidlaw Road, Rondebosch Cape Town.

Braai fires will be lit at 13h00 ready by 14h00. Complimentary beef burgers will be served to CTARC members and liquid refreshments will be on sale.

(You are welcome to bring your own meat to braai if you wish.) Spouses / partners are also welcome.

This year The ‘Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy’ turns 50 years old!
We are inviting as many of the past recipients of the trophy as we can find.
Dennis / ZS1AU, will be at the function to meet them all once again.
We would like to arrange a large group photo of all the LWHST awardees.

Do try to join us at this special event!

Regards,

Anne (CTARC Secretary and Ragchew Editor)

Cell: O 7 2 - 2 6 8 - I 2 O 7

CTARC Forthcoming November Meeting - 25 Nov '17

Members of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre are reminded of our forthcoming End-of-Year function, to be held at the clubhouse at 13h00 on Saturday 25 November 2017. This will be our final monthly meeting for the year of 2017. It will, as always, be a social occasion in the form of a braai, with no formal lecture. It is a great opportunity to catch up and chew the fat with old friends. We will also hold the monthly swop-meet for hams to trade their surplus radio gear and widgets.

The club will sponsor beef hamburgers to members, and ice cold refreshments will be on sale, too. For those who would like to provide their own meat, braai fires will be available and will be lit at around 12h30.

At this November meeting, as per tradition, the Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy is awarded to a worthy recipient by Dennis / ZS1AU. This year is a particularly significant one because it is the 50th anniversary of the award. So, all previous recipients of the award, be they members of the CTARC or not, are also invited to attend. We would like to be able to take a group photo of LWHST recipients at the occasion. Please RSVP to our club secretary, Anne, so that she can know the numbers for catering.

Dennis reminds us all that the deadline for nominations for this trophy is the end of October 2017. Prospective recipients (who need not be a member of the CTARC) should have shown some manifestation of True Ham Spirit during the year. A short motivation should accompany your nomination.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

The November End-of-Year braai of 2016...

CTARC Call For Len Wells Trophy Nominations - 20 Sep '17

Following a committee meeting at the CTARC clubhouse yesterday evening, once again the call is going out for nominations for the Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy. This time around it will be the 50th Anniversary of the Trophy, and Dennis / ZS1AU would like to make something of an occasion of it.

The trophy is awarded to Radio Amateurs who are making a real difference to our hobby in a positive way and who by doing so display true Ham Spirit. While the award is handed out by Dennis at the CTARC's end of year meeting at the clubhouse on the fourth Saturday in November, nominees need not necessarily be members of the CTARC. This year, the CTARC's end of year meeting will be held on Saturday, 25th November 2017.

Nominations should be submitted by e-mail to Dennis / ZS1AU, together with a motivation for the nomination, to zs1au@telkomsa.net. Such nominations must please be submitted before the end of October 2017 as Dennis has to make his decision and the winners name has to be engraved.

Last year, the Trophy was awarded to Ettienne / ZS1AX, shown here below with Dennis.

CTARC Joan Wells R.I.P. - 18 Aug '17

It is with regret that we have to report that Joan, the XYL of Dennis / ZS1AU, passed away on the morning of Friday 18 August 2017, following a long illness.

Our thoughts are with Dennis and his daughter Jeanette at this sad time.

CTARC Report Back on November Meeting - 26 Nov '16

The Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre held its final meeting for the year on Saturday 26 November 2016. Committee members arrived at the club house and started setting up the braai fires, tables, chairs and canopies from 11h30, in time for the main crowd to start arriving from 12h00 onwards. The weather was good and the wind not too strong. We were very pleasantly surprised to see how well attended the function was - around 50 people at one stage.

Our chairman Rob / ZS1SA opened the meeting at 13h00 and welcomed the club's members, guests and families. He then introduced Dennis / ZS1AU, who had donned his famous tuxedo for the official announcement of the Len Wells Ham Spirit Award trophy.

Dennis took some care to communicate that the award is not limited to CTARC members alone. A degree of subterfuge had to be employed to enviegle the prospective recipient into attending the meeting without giving the game away!

Congratulations go to Ettienne / ZS1AX, who, with his wife Yolanda / ZS1CX, are this year's recipients of the Len Wells Ham Spirit Award. Dennis told us that there had been seven nominations (and he broke with tradition by naming them), but Ettienne was top of the list for his steadfast sticking to his beliefs throughout a dispute with officialdom, where he even had to appear before a disciplinary committee. In the end, having won his point, Ettienne offered magnanimously to serve on the SARL Committee, which he now does. Ettienne accepted the trophy plus the certificates for himself and Yolanda from Dennis.

Ettienne gave a short speech on receiving the award, and thanked our club for the steadfast support he received throughout his stressful ordeal earlier on in the year.

The official business done, we all settled down to an afternoon of great camaraderie, natter, chewing the rag and meeting up with our friends. We were sustained throughout this by delicious hamburgers, ably cooked by Tony / ZS1TM and served up by Anne, Elsabe and Sandi, who were kept busy for a large portion of the afternoon feeding and watering hungry and thirsty hams.

We were very pleased to see a number of new faces at our meeting - some are radio amateurs who have just qualified, others are interested people from around Cape Town. Three new members signed up at the meeting! Welcome!

Members who had placed their orders earlier were able to collect their fancy gold CTARC Name Badges, which look very classy indeed. So classy in fact, that we suspect another batch of badges will be produced before long.

CTARC A3-sized Year Calendars for 2017, laminated and in glorious technicolor, were also on sale. A few were left over and will be on sale again at our January meeting. These useful calendars list all CTARC Monthly Meetings, Events and Committee Meeting dates as well as the public holidays for the year. They also make interesting table mats!

Paul / ZS1S brought along a beautifully constructed MW receiver - solar powered and with a large square loop antenna. This unique rig kept us freely entertained with music throughout the afternoon.

Peter / ZS1PGC brought along his RigExpert antenna analyser and he and Paul were busy checking Paul's discone antenna later on.

The Bring-&-Buy Swop Shop was also in operation. Tony / ZS1TK, Ian / ZS1SX, and Karl / ZS1KC all brought various items along to swop or sell. Excited clusters of radio hams were to be seen crowding around certain car boots which were opened to reveal their treasures within. These Swop Shops will be a continuous feature of our monthly meetings henceforth, with the Mega-Flea Market on 5 March next year being a major event.

Very grateful thanks must go out to a number of people without who's sterling efforts the meeting would have not been so enjoyable:

Rob and Anne, for organising the food and liquid refreshments, and especially to Anne, Elsabe and Sandi, for serving up the food all afternoon long;

Tony / ZS1TM, for patiently and expertly braai-ing the hamburgers;

Noel / ZS1FW, providing the bags of ice that kept the beers and cool drinks cool throughout the afternoon;

Dennis / ZS1AU, for making it all the way here to deliver the Len Wells award (and for wearing that tux in the blazing heat!). Also Tony / ZS1TK, for providing kindly transport for Dennis to and from the meeting;

All others who assisted with setting up, running the event and cleaning up / packing away afterwards.

The meeting ended at around 16h00. A most satisfying event indeed.

We look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting, which will be at the Clubhouse at 14h00 on Saturday 28 January 2017. More info on this meeting will be published in due course.

Photos of the November meeting are [here].

CTARC Call for Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy Nominations - Sep '16

Dennis Wells / ZS1AU requests all local radio hams to consider putting forward nominations for a worthy recipient of the Len Wells Ham Spirit Trophy, which he manages in memory of his late father.

Prospective recipients of this unique trophy must, of course, be radio hams. But they do not have to be members of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre, though the award is intended for members of one of the four Cape Peninsula area clubs - CTARC, Oakdale, Boland ARC or False Bay ARC. Neither do they have to be technical wunderkinds nor DX-achievers of note. Whom Dennis would really like to know of is radio hams who have recently promoted the characteristic radio amateur spirit of generosity and cooperation in our particular community.

It is requested that such nominations be passed on to Dennis soon (his e-mail address is here), as the recipient's name and call sign need to be engraved on the trophy. Nominations close on 31 October 2016.

CTARC Report Back on 70th Anniversary Function - 26 Jun '16

John / ZS1PM delivers his fascinating account of  the post-war days
of ham radio, and of his work with Dr Wadley

This is a brief first report-back which will be updated presently with a more comprehensive one, along with more photographs.

The CTARC's 70th Anniversary celebratory luncheon was a great success! Members past and present met at the Wild Fig Restaurant in Mowbray from 12h00 on Saturday 25 June. We had the chance to enjoy a flute of champagne in the downstairs bar while waiting for all the guests to arrive.

At around 12h45 we moved upstairs into the function room which had been beautifully laid out in preparation for the event. Once the guests were settled, Danny /  ZS1BL as Master of Ceremonies introduced us to the programme and to our chairman, Rob / ZS1SA. On a projector screen in the background, a presentation (weeks in the making!) by Rob & Anne ran continuously, showing photographs highlighting the history of our club from its founding in 1946.

Rob formally welcomed us to the event and started the meeting with the sad news of the passing of Tippy Marais / ZS1CL /sk. A brief moment of silence was held in his memory. Rob then gave us a concise history of the CTARC (in its numerous manifestations and localities) up to the present day.

The first course was then served.

Speeches and comments were then delivered by:
John Blackman / ZS1PM
Shaun Overmeyer / ZS1RA
Paul Johnson / ZS1S
Deon Erwin / ZS1ZL
Dennis Wells / ZS1AU
and
Bernie Crockford / ZS1BW
(A more comprehensive account of these will be written here shortly)

We were then served the Main Course (where we had a choice of three different options). Towards the end of this, Tony / ZS1TK presented Anne with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for all her efforts and then, being the perfect gentleman, a bouquet for his dear XYL, too.

Later on,  the delicious dessert (Malva pudding) appeared before each one of us.

The afternoon concluded at around 16h30. As guests departed, they were each presented with a commemorative certificate of attendance. Some of us stayed on for coffee at the downstairs patio until around 17h00.

All in all, a great event! All the more so due to the sterling efforts of all those involved, in particular:

Anne (our club secretary), for organising the whole event with her characteristic precision, practicality and common sense. (In addition to all this she also designed and produced the invitations and menu, and with Rob put together the historical slide show!);
Rob / ZS1SA, for his involvement with the slideshow and for chairing the event;
Danny / ZS1BL, for his able role as MC;
All those who kindly prepared and delivered speeches;
Paul / ZS1S, for making videos of all the speeches;
Nick / ZS1ZD, for taking the photographs, and for the certificates, name labels and 70th anniversary logo;
The management and staff of the Wild Fig Restaurant for their superb venue, excellent service, scrumptious fare and also for the kind loan of their video projector;
All the others involved, in various capacities.

Our next meeting will be the important Annual General Meeting, to be held in July. Details will be published in due course.

CTARC Heard Island DXpedition Departs Cape Town - 10 Mar '16

This afternoon, at around 14h30, the m/v Braveheart departed from the Victoria Basin at the Cape Town Docks. Following extensive preparations and final packing, which had already been completed by this morning, the sturdy vessel loaded its crew and passengers for the 10 day journey through the southern Indian Ocean to Heard Island.

A number of South African radio amateurs, as well as harbour officials. were there to wish them well and see them off. Paul / ZS1S, who is on the CTARC committee, has been heavily involved with assisting the team with their preparations. He will now be able to heave a sigh of relief as his duties there (other than working VK0EK, of course) are now complete.

The team have erected a Hustler 4BTV multiband vertical antenna on the vessel, and we expect to hear and hopefully work them as they proceed to Heard Island. The DXpedtition team face a bumpy journey across the ocean, followed by the interesting task of transferring tons of equipment and antennae by inflatable boats from the Braveheart across to the island when they arrive. Followed by the DXpedition itself, removing everything they brought with them back to the Braveheart , and the remainder trip across to Australia thereafter.

Follow the DXpedition's progress and get the latest news from their website: vk0ek.org.

Photos by Nick / ZS1ZD

Bob / KK6EK

Paul /  ZS1S makes his farewells to the team

The m/v Braveheart - loaded, provisioned and ready to go. It was formerly a Japanese research vessel

The team pose for a group photo just before departure