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VW Rally

July 18, 2016 / zs2dh

Possibly the last VW rally as we know it, but an event well worth the effort. A firm favourite with the Eastern Cape Hamnet team and the members of the PEARS.

Months of planning go into these events and as Tony Allen ZR2TX (EC Hamnet deputy director) will attest, the radio communications take a lot of planning too. Tony gets involved early in the process and plans the deployment based on the stage routes, potential dangers, mobile support required, and terrain.

In short, use was made of the clubs Lady’s Slipper and Longmore repeaters for general VHF coverage. JOC was for the most part inside the Bay West Mall and using UHF cross-banding to a vehicle in the parking lot. Due to the general coverage of the repeaters very little relaying was required.

The rally this year was Friday 15 and Saturday 16 July and based in and around the Bay West Mall with 12 stages ranging from a few kilometres around Bay West Mall (a crowd pleaser) to a 43Km stage in the Longmore forest.

Mobile stations included Clerk of the Course, Deputy and Assistant Clerk of the Course, the Chief Marshal and his deputy, the equipment logistics coordinator, Car 0, Car 00, Medics, crowd control, sweep, and the PA van. All these functions are vital and constant communications are required throughout the event. These radio operators had to get their rigs installed into the marshal’s vehicle prior to the start of the rally, and retrieve them again after the event.

In addition to the mobile radio operators, PEARS members also manned the start and end point of each stage and even manned mid points on the longer stages. This made for a massive deployment involving some 30 hams and their friends. Most hams covering more than one stage during the weekend.

Tony operated the JOC with Patsy ZS2PTY and as usual kept all the balls in the air. Stage operators were responsible for notifying the JOC of asset movements (such as Medics), car start/end times and any team withdrawals. Emergency traffic was given priority.

Once again the organisers thanked EC Hamnet and PEARS for our continued support over the years – this being our 34^th year!

A special note should be made that Bill Hodges, ZS2ABZ, has provided communications support for all the VW rallies with the exception of last year when he was ill.

As part of our growth and sustainability practice, some of the hams deployed were new hams, having passed the RAE earlier this year.

A point worth mentioning is that the final stage was at the Oval race track and done ona course – racing two at a time. This was the only stage where there was more than one at a time. It made for some dust I can assure you! Below are some pics and a video of some of the dust at the final stage.

Cockscomb. A bucketlist item marked off!

July 13, 2016 / zs2dh

My mate, Andrew Gray belongs to Voetsak, the Mountain Club, and of course our little club ZS2FUN! Andrew and Mandy had the Cockscomb climb on the Voetsak calendar noted and slipped me an invite.

Cockscomb – our destination for Sunday morning!

It was the weekend of 9/10 July – and the Knysna marathon – another thing on my bucket list, but a chance like this I could not miss. Treffor Lloyd held the pre-hike meeting at the German Club and then we were all set. Saturday early morning saw a bunch of crazy people meeting up at the parking lot of the local ULTRA bottle store and heading out to climb Cockscomb. I went with them because it seemed like the right thing to do 😉

One thing no one tells you about the climb is that it is miles away! Pass Uitenhage and then onto the gravel. Something like 70Km of gravel, dust, and anticipation.

The next thing they don’t really make sure you understand (it was mentioned at the pre-hike meeting) is that you have to carry the firewood up from the bottom! We were each given some wood to carry. A big group means many carriers and so this was not a big problem. Go in a small group and I’m sure you feel the pain!

Treffor “I’m scared of heights” Lloyd.

We climbed up onto the top of the ridge by lunchtime. This was a great view and with most of the work done, a pleasant walk from there to the cave. Don’t get me wrong – you are climbing all the way, but the climb is more gradual from here and often you are basically contouring.

Afternoon tea in a cave – where I took the pic to the left of Treffor Lloyd. As we head up the ridge, across the valley we can see the other cave – perhaps the more famous cave – with build-in cabin.

Up onto the saddle and a quick look at the climb to the summit – work for tomorrow morning, but an intimidating view to be sure! A 5 minute walk from the saddle to the cave and we pass the “drip tank” system everyone talks about. I had been told there was water at the cave and then when we arrive they say “hope there’s water there” and I start to panic. There was water there -and pretty much plenty of it too.

If you ever stuck here without water, the other cave is about an hour away and has water.

The fire in the cave that evening was pleasant and informative too. My plans for a “big trek” in “the berg” next year took a big step forward thanks to Serge and his idea for power!

Sunday morning started off with a trip to the “loo with a view”. On the hillside is an all-but flushing loo! From there the day just got better!

We made our way back to the saddle where we stashed our gear and started up the seemingly impossible trail to the top of the summit.

There is a ‘ledge’ you need to look out for! I was worried about it – and nearly did not go on the hike because of the dreaded ledge. I had heard so much about it and never actually saw it! By the time we were about half way up I asked Treffor where the ledge was (secretly hoping we had passed it) and he told me well, that we had passed it. (His choice of vernacular being unsuitable for a family blog like this one lol)

Arriving at the top of the summit is always a moment to be cherished. You can stop for a moment and reflect on your accomplishment before the fear of “how the hell do I get down again” kicks in.

There is something about the summit of a mountain – something almost distinctly common to summits: They have rocks on top – but this one has a rock taller than me! I know the entire mountain was taller than me! But when you get to the top of the climb and look for the trig beacon only to find it “one more story up” on a large rock that is something else!

Andrew, Serge, Mandy, and I eventually got everything needed up to the top and set the mast up against the trig beacon in a style that is becoming predictable. Andrew played around and we found some contacts.

Now, just because I like the Zulu so much, I feel I must put this piece in…

When you need to break into a QSO to make a contact one normally does it between overs – hoping not to offend the parties concerned.

However, when ZA is talking you actually have time to leave him a voice mail message saying that you are trying to break in and could he please STFU 🙂 ‘nuf said. We made our contacts and 4 more points in the bag! Yay for us.

Back down the mountain was not nearly as daunting a task as I had imagined it was going to be. Lifting yourself up vertical “cliffs” of 2m to 3m at a time takes effort. Fortunately on the way down, gravity has its way with you and you get down a lot easier than you get up. Of course if you miss your footing then … OK – I can’t resist: A quote from Space Quest 3 – “gravity has it’s way with you and you assume the dimensions of a manhole cover” If you don’t know Space Quest then you won’t get it.

The saddle was a welcome break and one where we gathered up again before starting off on the trek back to the cars. The path back was via the “other” cave and the ridge next to the one we had followed up. We could have gone back the way we came up, but this was different and different was good.

We followed the ridge for most of the afternoon until finally dropping down a steep path into the river bed below. From here it was a few minutes and we were back at the cars.

I’d have to say the climb was not nearly as bad as I had been lead to believe. I’m not saying it was a walk in the park – but I’ll do it again.

SARL Top Band QSO Party

July 4, 2016 / zs2dh

The South African Radio League Top Band (160m) QSO party was held 23 to 27 June this year and I wanted in on the action. I mentioned this to a few people and received mixed reactions.

Hennie was just not interested. Which was interesting, because there is not a lot that does not get the rock spider going, but this was something that did not seem to excite him at all.

Andrew Gray – my other SOTA partner in crime – and Hamnet director for the Eastern Cape was keen and said he would think about it.

I spoke to Al Ackers (ZS2U) about an antenna and he got excited. A few phone calls, a trip to the hardware store, and a few test-deployments and the antenna was there. An inverted L with a matching unit.

I mentioned it to Andrew Gray and it was on. So, after the Hamnet Field Day we set off to the park in Lorraine where we normally deploy.

160m is a nighttime band. A lot like the Rolling Stones – unpredictable, but better at night! As a nighttime band (ok, maybe I could have made a plan) we did not take ANY photos 🙁

In my normal, loud mouthed approach to these sorts of events, I told everyone where we would be and invited everyone. Andrew and I managed a contact each and that was it – slim pickings.

Sunday saw the news bulletin and we pushed it again there. Sunday evening saw more contacts. Many more, but not enough for the SARL TOP BAND AWARD. I was missing a ZS5 contact and had a ZS1 contact that was probably not going to confirm on the SARL site, so I needed an insurance contact there as well.

A bunch more people visited: Andre (ZS2ZA AKA The Zulu) returned from his roadtrip to find us knee deep in something again. Bevan (ZS2RL) also popped out. Al was planning to, but caught short with car problems and so did not manage to join us.

At the end of the Top Band QSO Party I was just missing ZS1 and ZS5 in terms of confirmations of the website.

Well, having fun is the main idea right? Bull! We started something so we will finish it. The following weekend was the Hammies Boot Camp and Andrew and I would, once again, be out in the sticks playing radio. Not a lot of arm twisting was required to get Andrew into redeploying the tiny little dipole antenna again the following weekend so that I could get my remaining contacts.

The week was full of all sorts of work which seems to intefere with my radio activities on a regular basis. I did however manage to send off a few targeted emails to 160m-capable stations and get some interest in coming up for the QSO the following weekend. Obviously wx dependant and being off the grid at the Hammies Boot Camp, meant I was not able to put in the exact time for the QSO. Hit and miss is how it will have to be.

Saturday evening, once the day time activities were over, I made my way down to the edge of the gauge and got ready for the final straight (so to speak). Andrew and I had hung the dipole (Andrew made a dipole, Al made an inverted V which we used the previous weekend) earlier in the afternoon and dropped the battery off under some trees. I carried in the radio and hooked it all up.

It only took about 3 minutes to make the contacts, but I was there in the bush until after 10pm! Lloyld (Juanita’s husband) accompanied me – with a few little faces who faded early. As all good things must end, I eventually signed and we carried the battery and radio back to the hall.

Andrew and I are not known for doing things in small doses – Andrew was reading the PEARS news bulleting on the Sunday morning (just before the Hammies wrote their exam). On the news bulleting Andrew mentioned that the Hammies were about to write and that I had completed my Top Band Award. Talk about breaking news!

Hamnet/Hammies Field Station in the Flower Reserve

June 27, 2016 / zs2dh

25 June 2016

Van Stadens flower reserve

The weekend of the 25^th of June fell squarely in the middle of the SARL Top Band QSO party and overlapped with our plans to deploy for the Top Band QSO party. It also clashed with another of the ZS2Fun projects – Hammies. As if that was not enough, it was also Andrew’s turn to read the PEARS news bulletin on Sunday morning, so a full weekend!

Not to be deterred, however, a plan was made to operate a field station from the famous Van Stadens Flower Reserve during the normal Hammies time slot – 14:00 to 16:00 SAST on the Saturday.

Having never actually been to the flower reserve myself I was looking forward to it. Incidentally, this is only a few Km from the venue we used for the “Hamnet Blackout” last year.

Living in town has it’s disadvantages from a ham perspective and one of the main disadvantages is the electrical noise. Andrew and I both have S-9 level noise at our respective QTHs. In the Van Stadens area this drops away a lot! So much so, that when Andrew set the radio up he thought it was broken until we found a talking station!

ZS2DH operating the field station.

The plan to get out there and set up for a 14:00 start was thwarted somewhat with a variety of challenges, but we managed to be on the air by 14:10 SAST. Setting up the “SOTA-style” station was nothing new to us and even the Hammies can do it with their eyes closed now. The inverted-V hanging from an “improved commercial swimming pool mast”-about 6m off the ground, the Kenwood TS-50 running off the good old faithful 100AH battery and we were on air pumping out about 80W of Hamnet Awesomeness!

The Hammies had come along as well and Ashton, in particular, needed to run around a bit. Andrew set up the GPS points and hid some point markers. The Hammies were given the coordinates, along with a brief explanation of how the GPS works, and told to get the code words which had been hidden with the point markers. They had to radio these back to “base control” as they found them. This was a great activity for the Hammies as they got to report over the radio, but also explore the reserve and improve their mountain rescue skills. We had to eventually cut the activity short as the park was closing and we had to get back to town! This proved even more popular than the fox hunt we did some time ago.

Andrew running the field station

Taking turns between operating the field station, operating “base control”,and chatting to our guests, kept us all busy. Juanita and Thato (one of Andrew’s students from work who had joined us for the day) were a great help. I think they enjoyed it at least as much as the kids did – if the laughter was to be believed!

Our guests included a few passing tourists and Treffor Lloyd from the Mountain Club Search and Rescue team.

Our field station made a good impression too – hitting ZS1 through ZS6 as well as making contact with Athol Masdoll, Z21LV in Zimbabwe, Vince, 3DA0VV in Swaziland, and Dieter Hoffman, A25RX, a local lad currently working in Botswana.

Naturally, as man cannot live on radio alone, we had a fully catered service with tea, coffee, hot chocolate, cooldrink, and biscuits. By the time we had to leave, there were still some supplies, but the cooldrink and biscuits just seemed to have evaporated!

In short, we got out into the open air, played radio, practised our skills, gave the Hammies a good afternoon of fun, and all went home a little more tired.

Some of our guests - Treffor Lloyd and Gert (ZS2GS)

Our guest – Treffor Lloyd and Gert (ZS2GS) and Andrew (ZS2G)

The Hammies with the Hamnet guys

Gauteng SOTA Trip 2016

June 22, 2016 / zs2dh

The Salt mine had a trip planned to Johannesburg for the week of 13-17 June 2016. Now I normally run a pretty full calendar, but never really check personal vs salt mine as they seldom overlap. Mistake! After realising that I would be killing an entire public holiday in Vereeniging of all places, the mind started to think out of the (box) office and soon got onto SOTA. I’d need a car anyway, so perhaps we could pencil something in there after all.

Getting the car meant I could do SOTA, but flying to JHB meant no SOTA mast and my radio or laptop would need to go into the luggage hold. Not good, but what was the alternative? Hey, I know (can I say, can I, can I, please pick me!!!) I could drive to JHB. Clever boy!

The car rental has unlimited mileage, so that was not a problem. The petrol would be cheaper than the flight tickets, so a saving there 🙂 In fact the ONLY down side was that I’d have to do the driving on the Sunday before and return after the SOTA on Saturday. Snarf!

I called Hennie and said what about you get your ass to JHB for the public holiday and we do some SOTA. A plan was hatched and Hennie would come up on the bus and I’d drive him home afterwards. Done.

Do you know what is on Sunday? I was asked. No. The Hammies sprint. @$#%!

I picked up the car, bid farewell to the family and off we went.

The Hammies Sprint was going to be covered by Andrew Gray, so I knew the kids were in good hands, but it kept playing on the back of my mind (which was good as there was not a lot of brain activity at the time).

The sprint was to start at 15:00 UTC. I crossed over into ZS6 country moments before it started. In fact as soon as the clock struck 15:00 UTC I pulled over to the side of the N1 and did what I do best. I put up a portable station and called in – making a few contacts, but I got the one that really counted – I worked ZS2ZU!

Very happy with myself (and my totally awesome little X1M 5W radio) I set sail for my overnight spot (Aviators B&B) on my way to Hartbeespoort where I was needed 9am Monday morning.

Sunday evening was spent having a fat chat on the local repeater with Michael ZS6MSW and later Dave ZS6TBV. Dave and I chatted about a lot of things including sand bag houses and log cabins!

I love going to this particular client in Hartbeespoort because they are good Scouting people and live in paradise – Lakeland, a property where buck wonder through the yard, there are no fences around the properties inside, and they are on the bank of the dam. All the houses are thatch roofs too – which also helps 🙂

I left there Tuesday midday, planning to go to the Magalies (ZS/GP-008) site for a quick activation on my way to Vereeniging. Not quite on the way, but when you come from PE to JHB, now is a good time to do it.

I followed the road around the dam, found the turn off and drove up to the gate. An ominous sign threatened anyone wanting access and offered a contact number for permission to enter. Expecting some sort of “professional courtesy”, I called the number, explained I was a radio ham wanting to make a SOTA activation and eagerly awaited a response. “No!”. I tried to explain again, until I was eventually told,in not uncertain terms, and with an accent that suggested limited schooling, that I should leave. I left, disappointed and angry, for Vereeniging.

The Salt mine had arranged accommodation in Vereeniging at Bloekompoort Resort, just outside town. A little disorganised, but friendly enough and the accommodation was adequate for what I needed, so no complaints there.

Wednesday was spent working and driving around trying to find where I was to be on Friday morning. And where to pick up Hennie when he arrived on the bus at some ungodly hour of the morning.

Thursday morning was an early start, picking Hennie up in Van Der Bijl Park way before sunrise! I found him outside the police station (not inside the police station!) and took him “home for breakfast”.

Let the SOTA begin!

We headed off to Hout Heuwel (ZS/GP-010). Hennie had plotted the points on his fancy dangly new GPS so getting there was a breaze. We were met by a friendly security guard and put our case to him. He directed us to the office when a car pulled up – it was the boss HERself. A quick chat to a young lady and we were all system go. I could not help but think it was handled so much better that the twit on the phone two days earlier!

We parked the car and walked the few Kms to the summit. It is a pleasant walk, passing wild animals along a very good jeep track. Enroute to the summit (a bit of a joke really) we passed what looked like a school of sorts. Getting to the top really meant we ran out of Jeep track – there really was not much of a climb. We set up our station a little away from the big commercial towers – so we did not swamp their signals with our 5watts of SOTA awesomness!

Placing an “advert” on the Facebook page for SA SOTA really pays off – all the big guns were there waiting for us: ZS2ABF, ZS2G, and of course, ZS5AYC, and ZS5APT. We also had a chat with ZS6FDX and ZS6OPS before packing up and heading back to the car.

Back at the car we pondered Gatsrant. We started driving there, but as we got closer we felt less safe and decided 4 points or not, we’d rather skip it. We turned around and headed for the Suikerbosrant nature reserve and our next two points.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll just put up some and give you the low down on the rest of the day.

Suikerbosrand (GP-002) – normal easy activation with nothing but some nice views to mention. The normal gang were waiting for us and the activation went without incident. Syd Tyler did mention we could do a S2S with this summit and Perdeberg (also in the reserve). The reserve itself has a 60km circular track, so “going back” is not always an option. I thought about it. We did have some extra time due to not climbing Gatsrant, so…

Perdekop (ZS/GP-001) – also in the Suikerbosrand Reserve, and also nothing to climb. Contacts included some normal ones and some new ones – ZS6MAX, ZS6JKL, ZS6JFW, ZS6BWZ.

I decided to backtrack to Suikerbos and effect a S2S. This took some time and we ended up rushing through to get out in time 🙂

Back home at Blompoort resort we decided to braai and set up a VHF radio. We battled to get out at all and only made one contact on simplex and two on the local repeater.

Friday was work again – boring, but it pays the bills! Hennie worked some HF stations and kept himself entertained.
We decided to leave early on Saturday and do some SOTAs on the way home. In the Free State there are some nice ones, Hennie informed me. His GPS would take us there.

Saturday morning came far too quickly. This might have been due to the volume of
Saturday leave early heading for the FS,Mist everywhere!

Wolhuterskop (ZS/FS-014) in the reserve – breathtaking views and a very pleasant drive through, passing a lake with camping facilities which is now on my bucket list!

ZS2NB, ZS2ABF, ZS6ANO, ZS2MSW, and ZS6MAX all contributed to the activation and a thank you all round for that.

Then on to Oorsprongberg (ZS/FS-005) in the middle of nowhere! Here we relied on the old faithful GPS to get us there and then the old ZS2 crowd to make the trip worth while.

Hennie commented on the lack of Wattle trees, until we spotted some just down the road – and then they were everywhere!

And finally we set sail for Bloemfontein and Naval Hill, which we activate just before 3pm local time.

Now hit the road home. Well to Aliway North to sleep over and then on to East London to drop off Hennie. I spent a few hours with Hennie in East London – looking at my bike he is fixing for me and the boat he is rebuilding and then the final stretch home to Port Elizabeth, the best place in the country!

Queenstown Repeater Repair Trip

May 12, 2016 / zs2dh

Whenever Glen (ZS2GV) asks if I want to go on a “field trip” I know I am in for something special.

I know the Queenstown repeater has been a problem for some time (Eskom redid the site and we needed to send a ham in to rewire a few things). PEARS maintain the network of repeaters with a shoestring budget and the kindness of volunteers. The network is quite extensive and you can find more information on the PEARS repeater page or on this site about another section of the network.

Queenstown you say? What is near Queenstown? Hangklip AKA ZS/EC003 to SOTA peeps around the world.

Game On! Call Hennie, he is keen and will drive through from East London and meet us there. A three day round trip is planned. GV had some work to do in Lady Grey (North of Queenstown) so things started to line up. GV & I would drive through from Port Elizabeth to Queenstown. He would check in on his salt mine repeater on Mount Shepstone on Monday. Tuesday GV would go to Lady Grey while Hennie (ZS2HC) and I did the Hangklip activation. Wednesday would see GV and I attending to the Queenstown (ham) repeater and then returning to Port Elizabeth.

I contacted Andrew (ZS2G) to ask if I could borrow his portable 20m antenna with the hope of working some DX in the evenings. No problem – he even delivered it to my door!

Monday (9th May, 2016): The drive to Queenstown was uneventful – which is something for a GV trip 🙂 We arrived in Queenstown just after noon and went straight up Mt Shepstone to the repeater site.

Hangklip as seen from Mount Shepstone.

A few minutes at it and GV was all done and up to date. It was then that we had some Sentech technicians pop around.

After some professional chat (jargon way over my head!) they offered us a trip of their “repeater shack” in the same enclosure. “Rooms with air conditioners!” was the first impression, but then Oh My Word!

TV and Radio transmitters with coax the size of my QRP radio! They have transmitters putting out more Mega Watts than my rig puts out Watts! Heat sinks bigger than I’ve ever seen! It was something to see! I simply (and politely) pointed out that it must be compensating for something.

That evening we met up with Hennie in the camp ground 10km outside of Queenstown. Eager little rock spider had the braai fire going and after a few minutes it was like we had never been apart!

Our plans for DX were thwarted with power problems. It all seemed fine until a little rain fell and suddenly we had no lights, and no radio either. Tough in Africa!

Tuesday morning Glen picked us up from the camp site and dropped us off near the foot of Hangklip. About an hours walk and we were at the foot of Hangklip and rearing to go.

Hennie with Hangklip in the background

The climb was from the Eastern side and I think a better way up than the one we used previously. We basically followed the fence all the way up to the rock outcrop just below the summit.

We activated with contacts into ZS1, ZS2, ZS4, and ZS6 on 40m and into town and to GV on 2m 🙂

The threatening rain (which had been around since our attempted DX the night before) encouraged us to get off the mountain as soon as we could. Glen was to pick us up at the bottom of the mountain when he returned from Lady Grey. If I had to wait in the rain, I’d still rather do it at the bottom of the mountain than at the top!

A better view of Hangklip 🙂

We made it off the mountain and started back towards the collection point – this time with the benefit of a route planned with the advantage of a high ground perspective. Put another way, from the summit we planned the easiest route back to the collection point.

As we got closer to the collection point, the sun setting in our eyes, we could not find Glen.

A few calls on what was left of the battery in my trusty little 3W Baofeng and we had him travelling towards us and soon he came over the rise on the same jeep track we were on. Hitching a ride seemed over the top, but we did and he obliged.

Now, I’m not the smallest guy on the planet, but then neither is Hennie nor Glen, so the three of us in the cab over 4×4 terrain was interesting.

In hindsight, I think the easiest way is from the Eastern side, but going as far South as possible and climbing up from the South East (we sort of hit it from the East, fairly far North,if that makes any sense)

Back at the camp site it was braai time again, this time without charcoal! I picked the proverbial short straw and was sent (in the dark) to collect firewood from some nearby trees. Armed with a head torch and a burning (sorry) desire to braai, I headed out into the darkness.

I approached the trees and started looking around for some small branches when I noticed something that looked a bit like a small wood pile a few meters over to my left. I turned and took a few steps closer. As the light of my headlamp came into focus I realised it was not firewood. It was,in fact, (drum roll please) a Puffy!

Not nearly so keen to scratch in the undergrowth, I decided on plan B. We would braai with the neighbours!

Some other campers (signage guys on a work trip in Queenstown) had used an entire bag of charcoal on their fire and intended to braai two small steaks. It was our duty (in terms of global warming for starters) to make maximum use of their fire.

The electricity was still avoiding us, so the DX expedition was not a major success at all.

Wednesday morning saw Hennie off early back to East London, leaving me to help GV fix the club repeater at Mt Shepstone. Glen was fortunate enough to have a second breakfast and then like the seven dwarfs, “’twas off to work we go”

Up at the repeater site again, we called in for a code and then opened the gate. The work we needed to do was to connect three antenna lines into the shack and connect up the power. Our repeater uses a positive ground which was, well, different. GV climbed the tower so we could trace which leads went to the various antennas. We found one cable connected directly to a sky hook! What started out as a little job soon grew into moving antennas on the mast, a bit more involved than we had anticipated.

GV knows what he is doing – which made one of us. I managed to make some coffee, pack a bag of tools and hoist it for him and very little else.

Once inside the shack, we needed to make some fly-leads to connect up the cables from the outside to the equipment on the inside – via the lightning arrestors. One thing that struck me was the neatness – almost OCD in nature. Everything not just on it’s place, but exactly on it’s place.

We connected everything up (GV connected everything up while I supervised) and then after some tests with Terrance, ZS2VDL it was clear something else was not optimal. We tried for a while, but we needed to move off – already a few hours later than anticipated.

The trip home was full of good ideas, quality discussion, and a lot of random mumblings usually directed at fellow road users.

Thank you GV and Hennie for another great trip. I’m not sure how GV can even call this work!

Connect three wires and the power – how hard can that be!

A look up the Scotsman’s Kilt

Catering department.

Another S2S contact for ZS2FUN

May 3, 2016 / zs2dh

Andrew and Mandy had said they were going to climb Strydomsberg the hard way – a three day round trip hiking and sleeping over at Eel cave. Day one would be hiking to the cave, day two would be the summit and descent and then out again on the third day. It is 15Km across Groendaal to get to Eel cave. Just saying.

A summit-To-Summit (S2S) is a special QSO made between people on different SOTA peaks. A bit like an activation and a chase all in one. I had agreed that, even though I’d get no more activator points, I’d climb the Slipper and make a S2S chance to coincide with their planned summit on Sunday 1 May, 2016. That is just how I am – don’t judge!

Well the bad weather warning came loud and clear. Thinking Andrew and Mandy were smart, I naturally assumed they would be at home. Well they were not put off by the threat of bad weather. I suppose they decided to go whatever the weather, whether it rained or not!

Sunday 1 May was a beautiful day and the XYL and I went out for a walk. Suddenly a surprise call from Andrew to say “So, how are you doing? We about an hour from the summit.” slapped me in the face! It dawned on me that these two had gone hiking. I was about an hour away from home (by foot) and then 45 minutes by car to the Slipper and then a climb. An hour was going to need some planning and a lot of luck.

First call was for a lift home. One call to Rachael (Graydon’s girlfriend) and we were soon on the way home. I rush into the shack, grabbed my bag (almost completely ready to go – I just had to add the battery which had been on charge.) **Shameless HAMNET punt here!!!

And so with the time marching on, I mounted my trusty steed (the only 4×4 Mazda Etude ever built) and set a course for Ladies Slipper. I decided to try from the back as I thought I could get up the tar access road easier.

It was now almost an hour since Andrew’s call and I needed to rush. The weather was not wonderful and they were not known for camping on the top of summits!

I connected the radio up to the battery and the antenna and with the radio in the backpack and me waving my “ZS2U-2m” antenna (another shameless plug) I started to jog up the road. The road is definitely the easier way up. My bag has two compartments, so battery in one (wires held on with duct-tape) and the radio in the other compartment, mike in a side pocket for easy access.

On the way up I kept calling but was getting the feeling I had missed them. I had a good chat to both Al – ZS2U and to Ted – ZS2TED – between gasping for air that is!

I reached the summit and climbed to the trig beacon where I set-up as a SOTA station in the traditional ZS2FUN way – antenna strapped to the trig beacon. I called ZS2G a few more times, but without success. Ted suggested I call Mandy as perhaps Andrew was now deaf! A few calls to ZS2AV disappeared into the ether and I decided to take a few pics and then head on down, sorry I had missed them.

Well step away from the radio at your peril Higgs! “ZS2DH this is ZS2AV, are you there Dave?” crackled the radio (as if in some Hardy Boys novel). Well Of course I was!

Mandy often makes me smile, but today her comment made me laugh! “Well I am buggered. Oh, am I allowed to say that on air?”. Andrew also reported being buggered, so I guess you can say it on air!

By now the S2S was in the bag and my job was almost over – I just needed to get two more contacts for Andrew and Mandy (I did not need to activate but they did). I called on the local repeater and lined up Al and Ted who had been waiting in the wings. Tada – job done.

To say the way down was easier than the way up would seem like an understatement, but not only was it easier, there was no pressure for time and my mood was high with another 3 S2S points under my belt.

Thank you Andrew and Mandy for having the guts to go in the bad weather! Oh, yes, and for not dying on the mountain!

Me in front of the trig beacon and antenna

See the wind farm in the distance?

The long and winding road…

Iron Man 2016

April 28, 2016 / zs2dh

Iron man is an expensive event – especially for Radio Hams!

My brother is a nutjob. There I said it! In 2016 he did the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon, Comerades, and Iron Man! Now I am not THAT far behind him – as a nutjob anyway. I did the Two Oceans HALF marathon, watched parts of the Comerades and assisted with the radio communications for the Iron Man event.

As always (this is not my first Iron Man) PEARS set everything up to cover the course as adequately as possible. This involved deploying stations at strategic points along the route and deploying a temporary repeater on top of the Radison Blue hotel on the famous Port Elizabeth beach front.

Cross banding was done to handle the beach front and the club’s lady’s slipper and mount road repeaters were linked providing a VHF channel for the distant stations.

Upon arrival at my base (the University Way/Marine Drive corner) at the usual ungodly hour (5am I think, but way before sunrise anyway!) I was asked if I could redeploy to the beach front to cover the swim. It is not far from where I was stationed to the Shark Rock Pier where I was needed, but traffic was such that going on foot was the only option. Time restraints meant this would not be walking. Apparently one of the VOC members was late getting to the party and Tony ZR2TX (aka bossman) had to make a plan.

After a swift jog down to the Pier, a quickbriefing on the job at hand, and I was a working man. The beach front was jammed full of athletes, spectators, pick pockets, journalists, medics, and me. Two helicopters hovered just off the end of the Pier is a threatning “Vietnam” pose – and this made me think: If a known criminal can get to stand next to Obama on a South African stage, how sure are we that these pilots are not about to open fire? Now that would have put PE on the map!

As luck would have it, they didn’t open fire and I got to see my brother standing in the massof athletes in the “tube” to the start line. Andrew finished his swim, followed by a few others and I was free to return to the corner, my base, and my partner Jimmy. There was only one drawback – my handheld was now flat! Only a few hours, but the noise had me using the radio of full volume and well it was now moeg!

So, what makes Iron Man so expensive as a ham? Well when I got back to the base I put my radio on charge in Jimmy’s bakkie. Not sure what happened, but I no longer have a radio. Battery will not charge and so I am one HT down. It was a Baufeng UV-82. A wonderful radio that, until this point, had not given me any grief at all. A dual bander, 5W, DTMF tones, the works. RIP my little friend!

We set up a gazeebo, table, chairs, antenna, radio, battery, and then put the kettle on for some coffee. The plan for food was to have something light at lunchtime and then braai in the evening. Iron Man is a LOOOONG day from before sunrise until after midnight. Not all stations are needed all the time, but as a nutjob, I sign up for the suicide squad.

About mid afternoon the “helicopter incident” happened. It was the same helicopter that was involved with the incident with the leading lady cyclist getting to taste the tarr. This helicopter – under the direct instruction of a competitent pilot – hovered over my gazeebo, blowing the living crap out of it and breaking the plastic corner pieces. The gazeebo is now unpitchable and I am a gazeebo down too!

The evening braai was a treat. We fed the refs who were allcycling around and getting hungry. Colin ZR2CRS was one of them and we fed him anyway!

My brother, doing his first ever Iron Man was toward the back of the field and so we could spot him when he came past our point. He looked so fresh though, that I thought of slapping him! Unfortunately I was not able to see him finish, but the rest of the family was there and he was treated to the famous redcarpet treatment and to hear those words they say at the end of “Iron Kids” – you know “Your and Iron Kid son!”

Jimmy and I packed up just after midnight and were home by 1 am. A long day by all accounts, but enjoyable and it only cost me a radio, a charger, and a gazeebo!

While I was not involved in deploying the temporary repeater on the Radison roof, I was asked to help remove it. Pictured to the right is a look into the box (for those iof you who are into that sort of thing) and below are some event photos, photos of the beach front and the Port Elizabeth skyline as seen from way up there!

Enjoy.

No, I’m not dead!

April 27, 2016 / zs2dh

I realise that I have not posted much in a while, ok – quite a while! But I have been doing so on the ZS2FUN page.

Here are some articles you might like:

A report on a Hogsback expedition in February and the Hamnet 40m contest in March.

I am also actively involved in getting the local Hammies off the ground.

You can read about the Hammies first meeting, our field station and our visit to the PEARS repeater!

I have also been doing some more DXing with Andrew Gray (ZS2G) and this now includes the following entities:
SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND
GABON
GUERNSEY
JUAN DE NOVA, EUROPA

with VKOEK yet to QSL. Not much, but some pretty good ones 😉

I also worked Bruce Salt on St Helena, but unfortunatly Bruce does not QSL on LOTW. You can read about it here in an article about how Mandy worked a SOTA pileup!

So, I’m not dead – thanks to all those worried soles who thought I was 😉

Operating 6m, VHF, and UHF roadside style near Alexandria (KF36gi).

PEARS VHF/UHF Contest 2016

January 17, 2016 / zs2dh

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.

ZS2DH

Page 5 of 8

VW Rally

Cockscomb. A bucketlist item marked off!

SARL Top Band QSO Party

Hamnet/Hammies Field Station in the Flower Reserve

Gauteng SOTA Trip 2016

Queenstown Repeater Repair Trip

Another S2S contact for ZS2FUN

Iron Man 2016

No, I’m not dead!

PEARS VHF/UHF Contest 2016

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