Well, I’m not really a VHF person, but the thought of a field station with some of my good mates had me excited in November last year already! After the festive season, the wheels of industry slowly start to grind again and when we wipe out our eyes it is days to go, with nothing organised.
Plans were in the pipeline to have a base on Vermaakskop near PE, but this fell through with Glen (ZS2GV) working and no comment from Colin (ZR2CSR) or any of the others. My good mate Andre (ZS2ZA) had plans to go the the toposcope near Grahamstown, Alex (ZR2T) had booked a site in the Zuurberg, and the Bundu operator (ZS2BO) and Terrance (ZS2VDL) were on the top of Olifantskop. And so, nothing to do for the weekend – well for me at least.
Andrew Gray (ZS2G) said he was going to be a rover in the contest and see if he could get some points between KF26 and KF25 – the two grids that divide the PE area. I thought about it – I’m very shy of VHF/UHF equipment, but what the hay!
And so I started with my 5w HT – a little Baofeng UV-82. A dual bander with VHF and UHF and a dual PTT. The little radio is awesome when it comes to VHF/UHF as it can monitor either and simply press the top of the PTT to transmit on one frequency or the bottom of the PTT to transmit on the lower frequency. Even if the frequencies are different bands. And so I set off on my quest to rule the VHF/UHF air waves.
It was 23:19 (local time) when I made my first contact – ZS2G on VHF. Shortly after that I had ZR2T on VHF and UHF and then called it a night.
Saturday started with my XYL wanting to know what we were going to do. I knew what I wanted to do, but …
I made a few contacts and then mentioned that I was going to go accross town to another grid square and make some more contacts. I cunningly mentioned that the next nearest square would be Alexandria/Port Alfred. Well I left for the Southern suburbs and KF25sx is just outside the Mount Pleasant School – on a nice hill and I made some quick contacts there. One of the last ones was Wolf – ZS2WG. I had not made a contact with Wolf while in KF26, so I did so on my way home!
Arriving back at the QTH the XYL said “How about we take the kids to Port Alfred?” and I nearly did a back flip. “Oh well, if we must ;)”.
Soon the car was loaded and my radio, charger, etc. was all in the boot of the car. I planned on taking my HT and a yagi I borrowed from Tony (ZR2TX). Tony said the yagi was tuned low, but I thought I’d give it a try. Well the yagi got to see Port Alfred and then stayed in my boot! The other radio I grabbed at the last minute was my “Army radio” – one on loan from the local Hamnet guys (so that I can join in their 6m net on a Wednesday evening). I grabbed it and the 6m vertical antenna I was given (thanks to the Zulu!).
So the car is all loaded and ready to go when I realise that the fitting on the antenna is not the same as on my radio. So I called GV (and logegd the contacts – VHF and UHF) and popped by his QTH on the way out of town. Thanks Glen – you are a true gentleman!
Now I don’t have a bakkie, I have an Etude. An Etude with “Atitude”. One of the few 4×4 Mazda Etudes ever built. The car is a legend and has been part of our family since my son was in a baby seat. He is now in matric! Anyway, you can just imagine the car – loaded up with the antenna sticking miles out the back window, and we’re off!
Nanaga make great pies and so it was decreed that we should stop there. Eager to try get the Zulu (who was operating in Grahamstown and I had not managed to get him from the QTH) I could not resist giving a shout.
Well, I would probably have had as much chance without the radio! I called and noone could hear me (or they had all conspired against me!). But really, looking at the topography, 5w – well I was taking a chance, I knew that!
Leaving Nanaga, heading for Port Alfred we soon entered KF36. I resisted the urge to stop by the side of the road, and we pushed through to Port Alfred – to the B&B my XYL had organised. She is a legend too!
Just before we got into town, we thought we would stop at the Rosehill Mall for a cooldrink. We can’t close the car window (because someone has a large stick thing sticking out) so I opted to wait at the car while they went in to browse, strech legs, and spend money.
The time was not to be wasted, though. I started calling and soon got the big one! ZS2ZA gave me a booming signal report on both VHF and UHF and the trip suddenly was all worth while!
The Coral Cottages is on the east bank – on the hillside just off Ferndale Road. I thought I might get some contacts and so I set up my 6m mast, poured myself a Scotch and sat on the stoep calling CQ.
Then I called CQ again some more. I then took a break and we headed off to the beach with the XYL and the Bravo-Romeo-Alpha-Tango’s. One thing Port Alfred is NOT short of is pot holes!
Back at the B&B I called CQ again and just managed a QSO with the Zulu, but by now it was the second session and so it counted for points.
No point staying up late when you have a beautiful XYL, a pleasant B&B, and the weather outside turns cold and windy 😉
Sunday morning the XYL and I woke up hours befor the boys, and opted for an early morning stroll on the beach. Of course I took my HT – now fully charged after a night on the charger. Ever the optimist, I called CQ on the beachfront. Then I called my mate Hennie (ZS2HC) in East London (on my cellphone) and asked him to come up and see if I could get through to East London. I knew it was a push on 5w, but I had managed Grahamstown and that was about half the distance! I could not get Hennie on the radio, but he also said it was worth a try.
Back to the B&B. The boys are awake and we organise the breakfast. I can recommend the Coral Cottages for fine accommodation, but their breakfast was WOW!
After breakfast we said our good-byes to the hostess (Cynthia) and I dropped the family off at the puzzle place in Port Alfred. They all puzzle mad (I am what you might call puzzle sane). It was agreed that I could drive out towards Alexandria to see if I could make some more contacts.
I found a nice picnic spot on a rise and thought it would make a nice spot to get some contacts. I parked the car and started to setup the 6m rig. Antenna taped to the plastic tube and held in place by the car window, I opened the bonnet of the car and connected the radio up to the car battery. Although I got ZS2VDL and ZS2BO on VHF and UHF, I could only hear ZS2VDL on 6m. He could not hear me, so the QSO was not logged.
I packed up and headed back to Port Alfred to collect the family. They were at the Wimpy enjoying a cooldrink and we were soon on our way back to Port Elizabeth.
When you have friends like I do, they find out that you are going past Nanaga and you get a pie request. Or two, or three!
Nanaga was another stop on the way home. I’m the only one watching the clock – the contest is ending soon!
To cut a long story short, we eventually got home just after 13:30. My sons took the luggage into the house while I stood in the drive way and called CQ on my handheld.
I hit ZS2VDL, ZS2BO, and ZS2U – and because I was now back in KF26 they were all valid contacts. Al (ZS2U had packed up his UHF rig, but I got the others on UHF and VHF.
“What about 6m and 4m?” I was asked. Really! At this stage there was about 20 minutes left for the contest.
RADAR is in my blood, so I was up to the challenge. I setup my 6m rig (roadside-style) in about 2 minutes and gave them a call. I hit the Olifantskop pass with a 59 from ZS2VDL and ZS2U (in town).
Now you must image the next few minutes! I am lying on the ground in my driveway talking on the old Army radio when Terrance asks about 4m. I look at the dial and I see it can be set to 70MHz, so I ask AL if it would work and if I’d do any damage trying it on the 6m vertical antenna. Deciding it was worth a try (and with Al on standby) I set the radio to 70.200 and called Al.
There was a lot of interferance and he could not hear me. Oh well, it was worth a try! “15 minutes left” I heard Terrance say over the VHF (the handheld was on the car roof). I wonder if I could cut a dipole for 4m and get it up in time? The XYL and I opened the shack and frantically started measuring and cutting wire. Ok, I estimated the length required (not even a calculator, let alone a websearch!) and we taped it up to the top of a piece of plastic tubing. A wire dipole made up – under 10 minutes!
Now to connect it to the radio. RATS! I only have one barrel connector and that is needed to join the BNC “flylead” I have (the radio takes BNC). I don’t have a barrel connector to join the dipole to the other end of my coax. I remember thinking “If only Hennie was here – he would know what to do!”.
Think little Noddy was my next thought. What if I did it without the long piece of coax? Don’t laugh!
I set the radio up on my car roof – power wires extended to reach the battery. The BNC flylead (about a foot long) connected to the plug I’d put on the dipole with the only barrel connector I had. This meant my dipole was now all of about 2 foot above my car roof – wires dangling over the windscreen and boot and a long piece of PVC piping leaning against the car to hold it up.
I called Al on VHF to ask for another try on 4m.
He heard me! Ok, Terrance could not hear me, but Al heard me enough to make a QSO!
I was so over the moon that in my excitement I bumped the PVC piping which in turn brought the dipole crashing down. I grabbed the radio and that was that. I would have loved to take a photo, but I was to tired to set it all up again! But, QSO on 4m done. Very chuffed!
Later in the afternoon I emailed off my log (with 46 contacts) to Mike Bosch, the organiser. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to next year! Anyone wanting to donate radios, antenna, batteries, or solar panels please get hold of me. I promise I’ll give them a good home with lots of outdoors and fresh air!
Opearing from the stoep at the Coral Cottages
Mike, Bev, Me, and Graydon.
