CTARC DXpedition to Tristan da Cunha - 4 Sep '14

At 14h00 S.A.S.T on Thursday, 4 September 2014, OM's Paul / ZS1S (CTARC Committee Member) and Nigel / G3TXF departed Cape Town Harbour on the SA Agulhas II, bound for Tristan da Cunha. They are planning to be active there from Wednesday 10 September to Friday 3 October 2014 as ZD9ZS and ZD9XF respectively.

Accompanying them on board is OM David / ZS1BCE who is going down to Gough Island to replace OM Pierre / ZS1HF who has been on duty there for the past year.

NOT accompanying them will be two gentlemen from Somalia, who had planned to travel on the vessel without the inconvenience of formal documentation!

You can follow the progress of the Tristan da Cunha DXpedition on Nigel's website, http://www.g3txf.com

The Tygerburger newspaper has a video interview taken at their departure from Cape Town harbour [here].

OM Dennis / ZS1AU is acting as "pilot" for this DXpedition, and kindly requests that radio hams keep an ear open for these ZD9 callsigns on the 20m and 40m bands. Dennis can be contacted on (RSA mobile phone number) 083-450-5232.


We wish all of the best to all involved in this DXpedition!

Left to right: Dennis / ZS1AU, Nigel / G3TXF and Paul / ZS1TF

 

 

The well-equipped traveller, complete with portable loop antenna!

Grateful acknowledgement to ZS1AU for sending the above photos.

Grateful acknowledgement to Mike /ZS1FP for the above four photos

CTARC Forthcoming Meeting on 27 Sept '14

Club members and friends are reminded that the following meeting of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre will take place on Saturday 27 September 2014 at the clubhouse in Rondebosch at 14h00 S.A.S.T.

Further details of the meeting will be announced on the Sunday morning bulletins broadcast by ZS1CT via the Tygerberg Repeater on 145.750 MHz at 08h30.

See you there!

CTARC Ragchew - Aug '14

The August 2014 edition of Ragchew has been published. You can access it directly [here] or on the CTARC Newsletters page [here].

Grateful thanks to Anne for another excellent newsletter!

The following CTARC newsletter will be published in October 2014. Articles must please be submitted to Anne by 15 October 2014.

CTARC Lighthouse Weekend Photos - Aug '14

Here are some photos of the International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend field station event that the CTARC held at Mouille Point Lighthouse in Greenpoint, on 16 / 17 August 2014. As can be seen, the weather was excellent and the company convivial:

The event provided a good opportunity to show the flag of Amateur Radio to the public.
The 80m sloping dipole we put up can be seen running off to the right

Sean / ZS1RA installs a multiband vertical with AT-120 ATU and radials

A closer view of the business-end of Sean's vertical antenna

Noel / ZS1FW assembles the beam antenna

Paul / ZS1S and Matt / ZS1MTF fit the rotator to the top of the mast prior to it being raised.

Each year the rotatable beam's mast is raised by way of a gin pole

The mast is ready to be raised. To prevent damage to the beam, the mast is rested on a ladder.

Hams and bystanders watch with interest as a loyal club member is hoisted and flung
by the gin pole, using the lever principle, into the ocean some 300m distant.
(Seriously, the antennae were erected and later taken down afterwards without incident.)

Danny / ZS1BL setting up the shack in the Conference Room, kindly provided by Portnet.

No time was wasted in getting the station on air.
From left to right: John / ZS1AGH, Rob / ZS1SA, Danny / ZS1BL and Elsabe

Rob / ZS1SA logs the first official contact of the event

 

 

Deon / ZS1ZL makes an emphatic point in a discussion with Rob and Danny.
Deon has been in the white house recently and we all wish him a speedy recovery.

Evidence of the steam-powered wireless station that used to operate at the lighthouse
in days gone by, in the form of a pneumatic SWR meter...

This cable-firing projectile would prove most useful in getting antenna wires over tall trees...

Members of the public showed great interest in our station.
Here Rob and Paul are happy to explain to the young ladies
that our antennae will not, in fact, fry their poodles.

The view from the Lighthouse's upper balcony is spectacular.
Here, looking East gives a great view of the new Green Point Park

The Mouille Point location, being generally without obstruction and close to the sea, is ideal for propogation of radio signals.

CTARC International Lighthouse Weekend - 16/17 Aug '14

The CTARC field station for the International Lighthouse / Lightship Weekend was a great success. On the morning of Saturday 16 August, members collected the beam antenna and gin pole from the clubhouse in Rondebosch and gathered at Green Point Lighthouse to assemble the station. The antennas went up, the station operated by various members throughout the 24-hour period. A convivial braai was held on the Saturday evening. At 12h00 on Sunday the station closed down and was dismantled by arond 16h00. Thanks to all who participated to make the event one of this year's highlights.

Photos of the event are in a new article [here].

In the mean time, a PDF file of a relevant article that appeared in the Atlantic Sun community newspaper can be downloaded [here].