Nico ZS4N visit Mossel Bay for a well deserved Amateur Radio Holiday!!

The title of this article might seem odd to many radio amateurs but through the years when my brother in law, Nico ZS4N visit me we have a tradition which dates back to the early 90's.  We play amateur radio when we get together.  The XYL's and Juniors do their own thing but we play "Draadjie, Draadjie" as the XYL's call it when we get together.  This time it was no different.

Through the years we played radio from:

• Rhodes - Rally and Mountain Excursions
• Drakensberg Mountains - Daily Amateur Radio Excursions
• Barkley East - General Amateur Radio
  
• Aliwal North - General Amateur Radio
• Bloemfontein - SARL AGM, General Amateur Radio and Weather Chasing/Photography
  
• Mossel Bay - General Amateur Radio
• Buffalo Bay, Knysna - Amateur Radio Holiday Excursion
  
• De Rust - Mobile VHF Simplex Experimentation between Mossel Bay and De Rust
  

 Amateur Radio Activities during this latest visit:

• HF Mobile Operation - Screwdriver Antenna
  
• VHF / UHF Operation - Repeaters, Nodes and DMR Repeater
  
• 6m Experimentation with the newly constructed Delta Loop Antenna.  Thank you to Fred ZS5SAM/1 in Barrydale for making all the effort to assist with the experimentation using a 4 Element Yagi and 100 w on 6 Meters.
  
• Homebrew Construction - 49:1 Balun 100 watts - Constructed by Nico ZS4N.
  
• HF Rag Chewing - Yaesu FT450 and Yaesu FT817
  
• Erecting and setting up an HF  Field Station - Rally Trap Antenna / Linked Dipole for 20, 30, 40 and 80 Meters (Link Dipole = 20 + 30 Meters.  Rally Trap = 40 + 80 Meters)  Homebrew Traps using 25 mm PVC former and RG174.
  
• Check all antennas - prune and tune - when necessary - EFHW Dipole Antenna
  
• Playing with a variety of amateur radios, repeaters, nodes, links etc. - ZS Link Network
  
• Antenna Experimentation - EFHW + Delta Loop + Rally Trap + Linked Dipole - 5 to 100 Watt
  
• 6 Meter Beacon Demonstration - Southern Cape New Generation Beacons
  
• Looking into setting up a ProxMox Server - Amateur Radio Dell Server
  
• Traditional Family Braai to "celebrate" the "Draadjie, Draadjie DX-Pedition and Homebrew Indaba" - Family Gathering and Birthday Celebration
  
• Next "Play Amateur Radio" Event - Who knows with the new price of Petrol??
  

Thank you to all the radio amateurs who assisted with all the experiments and also to those who returned our CQ Calls.  Highly appreciated!!

To us amateur radio is not a Hobby but an Obsession when we get together.  Thank you Nico for visiting and for playing amateur radio in Mossel Bay.  We had a ball of a time and I trust that we will continue the "tradition" of "playing" radio every time we get together. 

Images:  Click on images for larger view.

Down Memory Lane: Reboot Amateur Radio Whats App Group Coffee Drink Event – 18 May 2019 9 am STARS Restaurant, Mossel Bay.

Saturday 18 May 2019 at 9am was again an enjoyable and successful Coffee Drink Event for all radio amateurs which took place at STARS Restaurant in Mossel Bay. This group and its activities is open to all radio amateurs and prospective radio amateurs in South Africa.  (Photos at the end of the post!)

After everybody bought the necessary refreshments they took up their seats around the tables and then the lips started flapping about various aspects of amateur radio.

Those present in the flesh:

Photo:  Radio Amateurs Present at the event

• Russel ZS2AHF George
• Mari ZS1MEH Mossel Bay
• Christo ZS6OPC Krugersdorp (Soon to move to George)
• Danie ZS1DBJ  George
• Johan ZS1I Mossel Bay
• Dave ZR1AOC Mossel Bay
• Saney ZR1S Wilderness
• Nick ZS1N Mossel Bay
• Francois ZS1Q George
• Jimmy Haddow (RAE Candidate who paid us a visit before writing the examination @10am)

Those present by way of the mind:

Thys ZS1TBP George, Johan ZS2I Mossel Bay, Hannes Lourens ZS1HCL, Kobus ZS2BBB Sedgefield, Abe ZS1ZS Mossel Bay and Beat ZS1HB Mossel Bay.

All present were welcomed by the administrator of the Reboot Amateur Radio Whats App Group. Unfortunately there were those involved in the RAE, candidates and invigilators who could not attend and they got a big “unwelcome”. However there will always be a next to welcome them back to these events.

Johan ZS1I opened the event by presenting an overview of the following:

• Future Coffee Drinking Events – Dates and Places - The dates will again be published on the group. Please keep these dates open and come and enjoy our future Amateur Radio Coffee Drink Events.
• Ubitx HF Radio 0-30 Mhz 10 watt as a future project – This was mentioned as a possible group project.
• AREDN Mesh Network News – New AP added to the Mesh – New software installed – Emergency Dispatch Software to be tested and the Internet of Things.
• Relay/Broadcast/Streaming of Amateur Radio News/Bulletins to Echolink, Zello and the Aredn Mossel Bay Mesh Network
• Whats App/Zello Amateur Radio News Bulletins - New format for Amateur Radio News Bulletins instead of the conventional bulletins. The Reboot Amateur Radio Whats App Group fulfill the roll perfectly and you get breaking news instantly and on the move via Zello or Whats App. Listen to Amateur Radio News anywhere (Car, boat, plane, ship, shopping centres etc.) where there is cellphone reception.
• The Suid Kaap Amateur Radio Klub was congratulated on their standings after taking part in the second leg of the SARL QRP Contest. Nick ZS1N is the coordinator for contesting events.
• Finally: A request by Johan ZS1I that radio amateurs must please support any amateur radio events in future in any way you can. We need to keep on rebooting amateur radio. It is not up to a few to make a difference. We would like everyone to enjoy and support amateur radio!!

Rondomtalie: “Mini Lectures/ Demonstrations” (Not compulsory, you can just sit and enjoy your coffee. However at this event every single one present joined in.) I am not going to go into great detail here, as we need to use the “Rondomtalie” Lectures/Demonstrations to attract more people to the Reboot Coffee Events. So if you do not attend you will lose out on all the finer details and information. Moral of the story is to attend each and every event.

• Danie ZS1DBJ  George – Demonstrated his DIY small metal bender to make beautiful and useful project cabinets. This project was of great interest to those present as it has always been a schlep to obtain useful project cabinets. He also demonstrated his Real Time Arduino GPS Time Clock / Experimental Test Bed setup which gets its time directly from GPS Satellites. Always good to have time on hand or is it on satellites? Danie also indicated that he will soon leave for Australia and that he will be away for a period of three months. Enjoy your holiday, Danie.
• Russel ZS2AHF George - Demonstrated his DIY Digital Frequency display unit specially built for his Kenwood TS520S radio. The unit also makes use of an Arduino with a top-hat board where the relevant connections to the Kenwood TS520S is made. This project originated from Steve Leander KV6O. Russel built this project without any knowledge regarding Arduino. Remarkable taken into account that Russel is one of our “Senior” Radio Amateurs in this area. Great so see such a project coming from him and that he keep up with new technology!!
• Francois ZS1Q George – Demonstrated his small but powerful DIY Variable Bench Power Supply @ 0 - 35volts 0 - 9 amps. Now this is a very useful power supply to have in the shack. Francois is still busy making mods to the power supply to satisfy his requirements in the shack. The all in one volt and amp meter drew quite a lot of attention. The modules for this power supply is freely available in South Africa and China.
• Christo ZS6OPC Krugersdorp – Christo was visiting this area and plans to settle permanently in George in the near distant future. He gave an overview of his plans and also how he had to dispose of many of his equipment as he cannot cart it all down to George. Christo is an active radio amateur and we looking forward to his activities and to welcome him permanently in the Southern Cape. Christo we hope you enjoyed the Reboot Coffee Drink Event!!
• Mari ZS1MEH Mossel Bay – She gave us an overview of her involvement in Amateur Radio for more than 20 years. She is originally from Cape Town but has settled in Mossel Bay and joined the group a few months ago. Mari indicated that she unfortunately lives in an area where she is unable to use the 145.600 Mhz Danabay Repeater. Danie ZS1DJB gave her hope when he told the group that he is busy with the linking of the 145.700 Mhz George Repeater to the Danabay Repeater. This will definitely solve not only Mari’s “problem” but also a few other radio amateurs requests. She will be able to use the George Repeater to access the Mossel Bay Repeater.
• Saney ZR1S Wilderness - He gave us an overview of his amateur radio operations and non operations. He also indicated that it is very difficult to attend any amateur radio activities on a Saturday or Sunday as these two days pays for his milk and bread. Sometimes he has Monday to Friday available but then there is normally no amateur radio events. He made a request for radio amateurs to assist this year with the Scouts Event. Saney also gave us a rundown of the 40m Beacon currently running from his premises for several years after Mike ZS1RMS migrated to Australia. The frequency of the beacon was changed a while ago after receiving a request from the SARL. Saney indicated that future amateur radio outings/events can also be held on his charter boat on the Swartvlei Wetlands as he caters for a wide variety of clubs and socialites.
• Dave ZR1AOC Mossel Bay - He indicated that he is currently playing around with the aTtiny 8 bit 8pin high performance low power Microchip AVR Microcontroller. This is a tiny chip but with lots of potential uses in Amateur Radio. We are looking forward to further updates and uses of this chip, Dave!
• Nick ZS1N Mossel Bay - He gave us an overview of the Second Leg of the SARL QRP Contest which was held recently. The opportunity was also used for the HF assessment of RAE Candidates. Nick also indicate that he is still working on his new house and garden and that he has not setup his new shack as yet. He extended an invitation to all radio amateurs who experience communication problems with ICASA to contact him as he is willing to assist in this regard. A big thank you to Nick in this regard.

Time was against us as we nearly spend two hours to drink one cup of coffee. I noticed that attendees was far from moving homewards and that they still wanted to chat and discuss various other aspects. Unfortunately the venue is not our own and we must take other patrons into consideration.

I concluded the event by requesting each and every one present to turn Amateur Radio on its head and to properly dust it of. Take part in amateur radio events whether SARL or Club related. Use the repeaters and bands. Call, do not just sit and listen. If we all listen then no one will hear us. Use thos soldering irons and let them smoke! Every one of us need to be actively involved to keep the “Fire” burning. I can at this stage respectfully confirm that the Southern Cape is not the “graveyard” that I thought but rather the “heaven and paradise” of Amateur Radio. We have all the opportunities at hand and live in the most beautiful part of the country, we just need to use every opportunity to promote Amateur Radio!

Finally: A big thank you to every one who made the effort to attend the event. It is not about figures of how many attended the event but rather about camaraderie, friendship and meeting up with good friends. A special word of thanks to Saney ZR1S who came all the way from the Wilderness. Highly appreciated!! Then I would like to thank every radio amateur that willingly took part in the Rondomtalie – Mini Lectures/Demonstrations. Without you participation this event would not have been so interesting!

The next Reboot Coffee Event will be held in George on the 22 June 2019 at 9 am. Venue in George to be announced closer to the date. Talking about venue, if you know of a suitable venue in George please post the information on the WhatsApp group or send me an email at: sawois05 AT gmail DOT com.

73

Johan ZS1I, Mossel Bay

Photos:  All the projects listed here are still work in progress.

Small Metal Bender/Press by Danie ZS1DJB

Side View Small Metal Bender/Press by Danie ZS1DJB

Example of a project cabinet bent with the bender.

Side View of the Real Time Arduino GPS Time Clock by Danie ZS1DJB

Photo of the Real Time Arduino GPS Time Clock by Danie ZR1DJB

Arduino Digital Frequency Display for Kenwood TS520S by Russel ZS2AHF

Top view of the Arduino Digital Frequency Display for Kenwood TS520S by Russel ZS2AHF

Side view of the small DIY Variable Bench/Test Power Supply by Francois ZS1Q

Top view of the small DIY Variable Bench/Test Power Supply by Francois ZS1Q

Front view view of the small DIY Variable Bench/Test Power Supply by Francois ZS1Q

Update: Next Generation Amateur Radio Beacon (s) for the Southern Cape!! (Part 3)

This past two weeks I have been working on two more beacons.  Both beacons are for the 6m Magic Band.  You can read more HERE about the ZS1I 6 Meter Magic Band Project in the Southern Cape Area of South Africa.

Herewith a short update on the progress made with regards to the two 6 Meter Amateur  Radio Beacons: 

1.  Antennas:

The antennas for the 6 Meter CW Beacon and the 6 Meter WSPR Beacon has been built and tested with my SWR Analyzer.  More information available HERE and HERE about the antennas.

The 6m Delta Loop Antenna was installed and is ready for operation.  The 6 m Moxon Antenna is now ready to be installed hopefully in the next few days.  More on this once the Moxon antenna has been installed.

2.  6 Meter CW Beacon:

I have been working on and off on the beacon the last week or two.  I ran into a few software snags one being the fact that no RF power was generated by the SI5351.  Although the Arduino Nano, OLED, LED and Beeper was fully operational I could not get any RF signal from the SI5351.  Fault finding revealed that I had a small solder bridge at CLK0.  I removed the tiny bridge but still no RF signal.  The only other area to look at was the Arduino Sketch (firmware program) installed on the Arduino Nano.  To look at the sketch I had to access it via the Arduino IDE and guess what I ran into port issues to program the Nano.  Well all the issues took some time to fix.  I changed the sketch several times and than ran the beacon.  I managed to get RF output at CLK0 but now the OLED was not working.  This also took some time to sort out.  Eventually "Old Murphy" left the Workbench and Shack and the 6m CW Beacon was fully operational with +- 5 Mw output at CLK0.  Success at last!

3.  6 Meter Low Pass Filter:

As the SI5351 puts out a square wave signal, I needed to construct a 6 m low pass filter to keep the harmonics (if any) at bay.  You will need this filter!  Luckily I had the parts available in my junk box.  So the filter was constructed and tested.  It works as it should and I did not detect any harmonics after testing the unit.

4.  6 Meter Power Amplifier:

The current 5 Mw RF output of the beacon is way to little power and I decided to construct a 6m amplifier designed by the late Doug DeMaw  W1FB.  More on this once I constructed the amplifier.

Well once the amplifier is constructed and working as it should, all the modules will then be built into a cabinet and the beacon will be put on the air.

5. ZS1I 6m WSPR Beacon  (STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION):

I uploaded the firmware (sketch) into the ESP32 S3 N16R8.  Apart from this no other work has been done to the 6m WSPR Beacon.  More information on this beacon will be provided once I finished the CW Beacon Project.

Finally:  

Please take note that these projects do take some time and that I do not work on them all the time.   A lot has been done this far and I hope to have the 6m CW Beacon on the air by the end of next week.  Updates to follow on the Next Generation Amateur Radio Beacon (s) for the Southern Cape.

Images:   (Click on images for larger view)