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April–May 2021

A visitor on Olifantskop Pass during the PEARS VHF/UHF Contest

This Newsletter is published by the Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society

P.O. Box 10402, LINTON GRANGE, 6015

Editing by Uli ZR2A

QSX-PE - Newsletter for the discerning Radio Ham

Download QSX-PE from www.zs2pe.co.za/Newsletter/Newsletter.htm or www.sahamshack.co.za

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PEARS Monthly Meeting 19:30h at the Italian Sporting Club, 17 Harold Road, Charlo

20th

of April 2021 Speaker to be announced

15th

of May 2020 PEARS AGM 15h00 (boot sale at 14h00)

15th

of June 2021 Speaker to be announced

DIARY OF EVENTS 1 April SARL 80m QSO Party

3 April RaDAR Challenge

10 April Autumn QRP Contest

17 April ZS4SRK Balloon Contest

17 April SARL AGM

18 April World Amateur Radio Day

18 April ZS4 Sprint

20 April PEARS monthly meeting

25 April Marconi Day

27 April SARL 40m Grid Square Sprint

1 May ZS SOTA Activity Day

1-2 May AWA Valve QSO Party

8-9 May SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest

15 May PEARS AGM

16 May ZS3 Sprint

19 May SARL 80m Club Sprint

22 May May RAE

29-30 May CQ WPX Contest CW

5 June SARL VHF/UHF QSO Party

13 June Hammies Sprint

15 June PEARS monthly meeting

16 June SARL Youth Sprint

19 June SARL 40m Grid Square Sprint

21-25 June Top Band QSO Party

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Minutes of the March PEARS General Meeting Held at the Italian Club on the 16th of March 2021 at 19h30 Welcome: Chairman Gert ZS2GS welcomes everyone present. First meeting in 13 months. Specially Gus, ZS2MC and Aimie Granzier ZS2AD, Barry Bester ZS2BB, at their first meeting… Attendance: Approximately 25 people counted Apologies: ZS2AZ, ZS2VA, ZS2RT, ZS2IW, ZR2CRS. Acceptance of previous meeting's minutes: Proposed: ZS2ECH Seconded: ZS2DL Matters arising: Tower at Hogsback – Contractor has been commissioned to move tower to Slipper, due to happen about in June/July 160m Antenna project – Meeting still to happen, after Lockdown. Events – Tony gave feedback on the Addo Trail Run due in 2 weeks’ time 26-28th March. Tony will send out updated instructions within the next few days. Viewlands repeater is working well, has plenty backup battery power. Finances: Balances were reported at the meeting, and all finances are in good shape. Recent input of funds from the Estate sale items purchased. Subs - Committee has opted to increase from R150 to R200 per annum for a standard member. R250 for standard + spouse, Pensioner R100 and Students R50. Constitution states the general meeting must ratify the subs. Meeting accepted the proposed increase. Awards DF hunt trophy is missing – meeting was asked where is might be. No suggestions forthcoming. AGM awards – proposals or nominations are invited. Self-nomination is certainly in order.

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QSX Editor Uli ZR2A is leaving in July. Suggestions welcome. Volunteers welcome. Editor will compile it, but not only he will call for articles – he needs support from the committee AND members. If the club wants a newsletter, the MEMBERS must provide content. No content = no newsletter. Uli commented that there is a lot happening that doesn’t get captured. Don’t be shy – come forward and write it up! Pictures are great, just add words . HF Operation: (A new standing agenda item). SARL HF Field day was a great success last weekend. 20/40/80m antennas set up, all outdoors, braai in the evening with lots of visitors. Uli worked some CW. 8 pages of 20 contacts per page were logged. Second leg is in September – get involved! New items: ZS2WS – Facebook admin offer to keep it updated. ZS2EHB - Voortrekker CQ hou koers. Ewalt is planning another event this year in October. ZS2DL – please try to pay your license before month end, otherwise it will be cancelled. Register on the new web portal, ensure you update your legacy license, and send proof of payment once paid etc. Guest Speakers: Need suggestions for the year ahead. Beacons is a proposed subject. Who can present a talk? Maybe via Zoom? ZS2DH to investigate. General: Al – ZS2U offered items in the box up front, free for the taking. Tony ZR2TX – AGM? Proposed date 15 May. 14h00 boot sale, 15h00 meeting, Thereafter some form of snacks. Closure: Meeting ended at 20h11 Next meeting is on the 20th April, 2021 CHAIRMAN SECRETARY GJ SCHOEMAN {ZS2GS) CC SCARR (ZS2AAW)

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PEARS subscription fees due / increase The committee decided at its March meeting to raise the fees for a standard subscription by R50 per year. The increase was approved by the March general meeting.

PEARS membership fees are due at the beginning of April Standard : R200.00 Pensioner : R100.00 Spouse of a member : R50.00 Student/scholar : R50.00 Please note that all payments for membership fees that are made direct into the club’s bank account require a reference. This is usually your callsign, or if you do not have one, your name should be used. This helps to identify who is making the payment. Banking details (for subs & donations): NEDBANK SAVINGS ACCOUNT No. 221 252 7594 Bank code 121217 A/C name: Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society. Please use call signs (or name) as a reference.

PEARS Awards to be handed out at AGM 2021 See below the list of PEARS awards available for handing out at the PEARS AGM each year. They each have a description as to what its intent is, or what criteria for the award is. You are welcome to please send details for nominees for these awards (self-nomination is encouraged too) to Chris, ZS2AAW. The committee is not always aware of good work or great achievements happening in the background, and we would like to acknowledge these properly each year. Merit: (Certificate) Made to persons who have made an exceptional contribution to the society. At the discretion of the committee, and presented at the AGM. The recipient must have been a PEARS member during that year. Appreciation Award: (Certificate) Made in appreciation of services rendered to the benefit of the Society or its members, at the discretion of the committee. Can be presented at any appropriate occasion. The recipient need not be a member of PEARS.

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Achievement: (Certificate) Made in recognition of a special or outstanding achievement in the context of amateur radio, at the discretion of the committee. Can be presented at any appropriate occasion. The recipient must have been a PEARS member during that year. Ou Toppie Award: (Certificate) This is to certify that he/she has not only reached the ripe old age of 80 years, but has managed to retain all senses in spite of his/her close and lengthy association, both in person and over the air, with men and women of the Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society and other hams around the world. ZS2OB DX Trophy: (Cup + Certificate) Applications and nominations to be considered by the committee, and awarded to the person whom the committee considers most deserving. ZS2AB Constructor's Trophy: (Cup + Certificate) Applications and nominations to be considered by the committee. In deciding, the committee shall take recognition of the number of construction projects undertaken, their complexity and the quality and appearance of the finished product/s. The recipient must be able to display the items at the AGM where the award is made, or as soon as possible thereafter. The recipient must have been a PEARS member during that year. PEARS Merit Cup: (Trophy + Certificate) A floating trophy initiated in 2001, to replace the certificates. W. Watson VHF Trophy (one for both 2m and 6m) (Cup + Certificate) Awarded by the committee for commendable achievements on VHF. The recipient must have been a PEARS member during that year. Ham Spirit Trophy: (Cup + Certificate - Cup donated my Marge, ZS2OB) The award to be decided by the committee in confidence. The award to be made in recognition of those qualities which make a good all-round Ham, viz willingness to help, activity on the air, friendliness, courtesy to his/her fellows and participation in the activities of the Society.

All members that have club trophies – please return them to any committee member so that we can prepare them for the AGM in May. Please also send nominations for awards!

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Tower installation at the Walmer Scout Hall A team of PEARS members including ZS2JIM, ZS2AAW, ZS2BB, ZS2GV, ZR2CRS, ZS2G, ZS2SG, ZS2DLF and ZS2GS took action on January 22 at the Walmer Scout Club and installed a 6m tall lattice tower. It will serve as the base for HF and VHF/UHF antennas. The goal is to have a reasonable antenna setup so that amateur radio can be demonstrated to the scouts and also for use by PEARS members who do not have access to a good station at home.

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The PEARS VHF/UHF contest 2021, by Dave ZS2DH Many of the regular PEARS events people are feeling the extended claustrophobia of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been way too long since we were in the mountains and the PEARS VHF/UHF contest provided some welcome relief with the opportunity to get out into the mountains and play radio. The PEARS VHF/UHF contest is an annual contest held early in the year and runs over two sessions encouraging QSOs on the 6-, 4-, and 2m bands, UHF and 23cm. Points are per Km from one 6-digit grid locator to another. Stations can be worked once per band per session on analogue and digital. This year the dates fell to Friday 15 to Sunday 17 January, the session crossover being noon on Saturday. Alan ZS2OB and Terrance ZS2VDL (now ZS4VDL) became legends winning the contest for more years than the author has been a ham! They dominated the contest with a great site on the Olifantskop pass. Location, location, location! The unfortunate demise in interest along with the rising cost of fuel made the two decide to call it a day a few years ago and the contest has been poorer for it ever since. The boss, ZS2GS formed a whatsapp group of people interested in putting a team entry into the contest and operating from the famous Olifantskop site. Alan and Terrance were invited to give a hand and impart some of the knowledge they had gained. Alan joined the team and was on the mountain operating “Bundu Operator” style along with Gert ZS2GS, Mike ZS2MIC, Kevern ZR2BK, and yours truly ZS2DH. It was decided that we would operate Saturday from early morning to late afternoon and not camp over. Alan and Terrance used to go in on the Thursday before and leave the Monday after!

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Saturday would be a long day. We planned to leave our respective QTHs at the close of curfew (5am) but the day started much earlier than that! Friday night was windy and the weather looked as though it would not play it’s part. Gert posted on the whatsapp group that we would call it at 5am – but he posted this at 02:40! After a lengthy discussion on the group chat around 04:30 it was decided it was on! The weather was not the only challenge! ZS2GS had issues with his garage doors and was delayed in getting away and Mike discovered that the 4- and 6m yagi he was to bring had been remodeled into a far more compact “folding yagi” design – patent pending! Onward and upward! We met on the top of the Olifantskop pass and then turned left onto the farm road up to the tower and beyond. A short trip (about 2Km) from the tower to the magic spot – KF26xq14hr, “KF26xq” for short. The site is the home of a private repeater showing telltale signs of the challenges we face at our Slipper site! The view was amazing. Cattle manure was readily available, the providers of which monitored our progress throughout the day. The idea was to play radio – clearly enough, but what are the priorities? Set up the antennas or make coffee?

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Both goals were achieved without bloodshed, which was encouraging. A little while after arriving at the site, we had a camp table up next to a bakkie, a mast up sporting a couple of yagis and we all had a cup of coffee. The UHF yagi looked a little “toothless” and was missing 1.5 directors while the 2m yagi looked as though it has partied the night before. Alan sat on his chair and directed us while we rotated the antennas. “PE is that way, East London is over there.” was soon followed by “a little bit more” and other technical measurements and comments. We expected “the usual suspects” and it was no surprise to hear “ZS2 Echo-Charlie-Hotel” calling CQ Contest! The next hour or so was rather quiet with ZS2PE finding all the contacts for ZS2ECH. Eric, for some reason seems to recall this differently – HI. Contacts increased and we managed to work several stations on the VHF and UHF bands. At 10:16 UTC we logged a contact with Andre ZS2ACP who was surprised to hear we were not available on 6m and 4m. He told us that, given the altitude, we should be able to get out “on a wet piece of string” and suggested we make a dipole for 6m. Is it just me or are there others out there who do not have a soldering iron with them when they in the mountains? Well, lucky for us Mike had a gas soldering iron and we quickly measured up some wire and made a dipole for 6m. We hung it up in a nearby tree – rather like you would hang Christmas lights on a Christmas tree. It worked and we had our first 6m contact! Inspired by the success, Mike suggested we expand the horizon and add a 4m element and so the fan dipole came into existence. We worked a few more 6- and 4m contacts but ran into the vertical vs horizontal issue and could not work Eric. We were once again limited - but not for long!

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A spare mast was erected, and the dipole removed from the horizontal “Christmas tree lights” location and taped onto the mast. We managed to work Eric on 6m! Yay! During the morning, the wind in PE was reportedly nearly gale force. We enjoyed a very pleasant morning – about 6/8 cloud cover with an almost unnoticeable gentle breeze. By noon, however, the cloud cover had given way to some sunshine and we were grateful for the slightly stronger breeze. We put up the gazebo and continued operating in comfort. The afternoon session started, ushered in by the wind. By 15:30 SAST the wind was pumping! The gazebo presented more challenges than solutions and we decided to call it a day. We announced that we were going QRT and proceeded to pack up and drive home. We made 58 contacts in total. We were by no means rushed off our feet and the longest contact we made was into Port Elizabeth! Was it fun? Yes! We all enjoyed it and Alan mentioned that participation had been significantly better than when he used to take part. So, PEARS – THANK YOU for stepping up and having some fun! It was indeed encouraging to see how many stations had capabilities of more than just VHF and UHF. 4- and 6m in Port Elizabeth are alive – perhaps not “well” but certainly not completely dead! Some other “rare DX” included ZR2BA, ZS2KC, ZU2NX, and ZS2JO! The PEARS operate weekly nets on 2m, 4m and 6m. Contact Al ZS2U for more details! I believe next year there will be another team on the pass – hopefully, a lot more organized! The recent interest in long distance VHF however makes me wonder about sending a team to Ben McDhui above the Tiffindell ski resort near Rhodes. At a height of just over 3000m I will bet we could make some long-distance records! P.S.: Provisional results are out and ZS2PE reached the top spot for Club Stations and the second highest score of all entries submitted – well done!

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ZS2PE in SARL Fieldday, by Uli ZR2A PEARS members gathered at the Walmer Scout Hall to participate in the SARL Fieldday the weekend of March 13/14.We used mains power for convenience but otherwise, it was a fully portable setup with dipoles for 20, 40 and 80m. Andrew, ZS2G was instrumental in providing most of the HF equipment and antennas and several members engaged in making QSOs on a hot but beautiful late summer day. The bulk of contacts were made on 40m SSB. Uli ZR2A also tried CW and called CQ on 40 and 20m, mostly in vain. Most stations on telegraphy were not even aware of the fieldday going on. Mike ZS2MIC took over the microphone in the afternoon and added some QSOs before the night set in. In the early morning hours of Sunday, Werner ZS2WS topped off our score. A total of 93 valid QSOs were made, but most importantly, it was fun to get out and see the friends again, some for the first time after more than a year.

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ZS2ACP’s award winning article on building a 60m transverter in Radio ZS

Andre Botes, ZS2ACP wrote an article for Radio ZS about building a transverter that allows 60m operation his old FT-101B on the 11m setting (yes, the FT-101B has 11m standard!). His article was published in the February 2021 edition of Radio ZS on pages 21 to 24. Andre has been awarded the SARL’s 2020 Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Excellence Award for his article – congratulations!

ZS2DH’s blog on Baakens River Comms check and ISS SSTV pictures

It is worth checking out Dave’s interesting blog at https://zs2dh.co.za/ from time to time. Latest entries include a check of suitable emergency communication locations in the Baakens Valley and receiving SSTV pictures from the International Space Station ISS.

ZS2WS reviving PEARS Facebook page Werner ZS2WS has volunteered to bring new life to the club’s Facebook page at https://web.facebook.com/ZS2PE/ . Please support his endeavor by sending relevant information to Werner.

PEARS Estate Sale web page In case you have not visited the PEARS website for a while – there is a page where items from Silent Keys’ estates are being offered with some of the proceeds going to the club:

http://peham.co.za/sale/zs2ae_sale_items.asp

https://zs2dh.co.za/https://web.facebook.com/ZS2PE/http://peham.co.za/sale/zs2ae_sale_items.asp

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Tropo propagation on 2m, by Dave ZS2DH PEARS 2m Long Distance Group Andrew Gray, ZS2G started a WhatsApp group for PEARS members interested in long distance VHF work – with a focus on tropospheric ducting. Tropospheric openings between Port Elizabeth and East London have been on the increase, culminating (so far) with the opening between the afternoon of Thursday 21 Jan and early Saturday morning on the 23 Jan 2021. This is more or less how it happened. We checked the Hepburn charts and identified that Thursday through Saturday morning would be great tropoducting along the SA east coast. The best forecast was Friday evening, but the colours along the Eastern Cape coast were all warm and fuzzy throughout the identified period. Thursday evening did not disappoint – there were great openings! 18:23 Andrew Gray, ZS2G notified the group that he could work the East London repeater with 25w. Everyone starts clamouring to get ready. There was some confusion about tones – let me explain. The PEARS have a repeater in Port Elizabeth on 145.650 with the usual negative offset but uses an 88.5Hz tone. The Border Radio Club (BRC) in East London also have their repeater on 145.650 with the usual split but NO tone. This means if you in Port Elizabeth and using tones you are not getting a tail back from the East London repeater – rather from the local PEARS repeater. However, turning tones off means anything heard back would be from the East London repeater. By 19:00 Lunga (ZS2LN) in Bisho reports hearing Shaun ZS2SG and Andre ZS2ZA via the East London repeater. 20:38 ZS2ZA in Port Elizabeth has a good chat with Brendan ZS2BG in East London. Signals from the East London repeater is now topping S7-8 in Port Elizabeth.

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22:00 Jimmy (ZS2JIM) had joined the activities and was also hitting the East London repeater. A few moments later (22:06 in fact) Andre ZS2ZA keys up the repeater in Riversdale and chats to Trevor ZS1TR in Cape Agulhas. 22:40 Lunga reports continued great signals from Port Elizabeth. Just before crawling into bed, I asked if anyone on the group was still awake and Andre was. So off to the shack for me! Late to the party, I was keen to get some signals through to East London. Between 23:30 and midnight, Andre ZS2ZA, Jimmy ZS2JIM, Henning ZS2HK, and yours truly Dave ZS2DH (all in Port Elizabeth) had a ragchew session on the East London repeater. Why? Because we could! Friday late morning I managed to get a tail back from the East London repeater using only 2.5W. It is a weak signal, but definitely coming back from East London. The afternoon was dotted with openings at odd intervals, but nothing really workable. We had already become fussy given the conditions of the previous evening and the promise of what was to come! In a separate event completely, some members of the PEARS met at the Walmer Scout Hall to erect the new tower and to put up an 8 element yagi for 2m. The excitement of the tropospheric ducting was now a hot topic and the tower going up was not the end of the evening – instead of it being a great moment in its own right it became the curtain raiser to the evening's activities. Getting some great signal reports from East London on the newly erected tower at the Walmer Scout Hall was a huge pat-on-the-back for the team erecting the tower. At 19:20 Jimmy ZS2JIM reports having chatted with ZS2DA (oom Dup) in East London. The signals continued to be strong throughout the evening, so much so, that by 21:00 Andre ZS2ZA started to record parts of the conversation and posted it to the WhatsApp group. This was great as it meant you could hear yourself “on the other side”. A group of excited hams chatted for well over an hour – finally pulling the plug with signals still S7 to S9. Those taking part included Lunga ZS2LN, Damien ZS2DLF, Jimmy ZS2JIM, Brendan ZS2BG, Nick ZS2NB, and Shaun ZS2SG. ZS2MIC put through a strong signal but was unfortunately called away from the radio on a personal matter and missed out on the chat. Uncle Nick ZS2NB mentioned the Flower Pot antenna and gave a brief talk about it and how to make it (while most of the rest of us frantically googled about it). A great little antenna and, as it turns out, one that Uncle Nick had made for Lunga for use in his bakkie.

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Lunga switched out his yagi for the Flower pot antenna for his final round and his signal jumped up a few S-points. Some East London stations have joined the WhatsApp group and things look promising with renewed interest in long distance VHF in both Port Elizabeth and East London. It would have been really nice to have had these conditions during the recent PEARS VHF/UHF contest.

Ten PEARS members to receive SARL 2020 Awards and Trophies

Ten PEARS members and the PEARS itself are receiving SARL awards and trophies for 2020! From Radio ZS magazine, March 2021: The Jack Twine Merit Award - to recognise qualities such as unselfishness, clean operating and a genuine interest in Amateur Radio and its affairs. This prestigious Award will be made to SARL members who, in the opinion of their fellow amateurs and the League's Council, exemplify the qualities desirable in a Radio Amateur. Recipients: Andre Shaw, ZS1AN, Andre Fransman, ZS1F, Ulrich Ann, ZR2A, Rory Norton, ZS2BL, Ewald Bouwer, ZS2EHB, Lunga Nqini, ZS2LN, Richard Beavan Gwilt, ZS2RL, Andre Potgieter, ZS2ZA, Corrie de Beer, ZS6CDB, Justin Porteous, ZS6JGP, Michael Spencer Wilson, ZS6MSW, Jaap Lourens, ZS6SAI, Nickus de Vos, ZS6US (ex ZS6J)Beat Streckeisen, ZS1HB; Hugh Young, ZS1YS; Andre Botes, ZS2ACP; Donovan van Loggerenberg, ZS2DL; Glen Cummings, ZS2GV; Cameron Eales, ZS6CYE; Jadranko Davidovic, ZS6DJA; Guy Eales, ZS6GUY; Marinus Willemstijn, ZS6MAW; Alistair Skudder, ZS6S and Louis de Wet, ZS6SK The Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Excellence Award The award is bestowed annually on the League member who submits a technical project in any of the following categories – a) the design and/or construction of projects such as a pre-amp, SWR bridge, patching unit, automatic ID'er, practical antenna ideas, mast, portable gear, power supplies, etc., or b) any software for use in Amateur Radio. Recipient: Andre Botes, ZS2ACP The Silent Keys Memorial Trophy CW - awarded by the Contest Committee to the SARL member who achieves the highest score during the annual HF CW Contest. Recipient: Ulrich Ann, ZR2A The Anon Trophy - awarded by the Contest Committee to the SARL member who achieves the highest score on any one band, during the annual HF CW Contest. Recipient: Ulrich Ann, ZR2A

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The Club Participation Award - awarded by the Contest Committee to the SARL affiliated club who achieves the highest participation in both annual HF CW and Phone Contests. Recipient: The Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society SARL Hammies Youth Development Excellence Award Recipient: Dave Higgs, ZS2DH SARL Certificate of Recognition Recipients: Mrs Mel Gwilt – PEARS, Mrs Santjie White - Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre, Dewald Kuhrau – ICASA, Grant Southey, ZS1GS, Woody Collett, ZS3WL – SA Maritime Mobile Net, Peter Wolf, ZS1CH, Kelvin Killian, ZS5IW, Ludwig Combrinck, ZS5CN, Marjoke Schuitemaker, ZS5V, Johannes Smith, ZS6WZ

Congratulations to our members on the well-deserved awards!

ZS2EC achieved WAZS-1000 PEARS member Theunis Potgieter, ZS2EC made it to the prestigious WAZS-1000 level. He is the 10th amateur in South Africa to achieve it and only the second from Eastern Cape. Well done, Theunis!!

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WAZS and the SARL QSL system, by Dave, ZS2DH WAZS is a great award and a powerful tool to measure your progress working amateurs in South Africa. The award is based on proving two way communications with 100 callsigns in South Africa – over the 6 main ZS zones as stipulated. More information on the exact breakdown below. Multiple bands and endorsements for modes too! Your first award will probably be an all band – all mode award. You can then soldier on to WAZS-200 or start to “clean up” your endorsements. Let’s say you reach WAZS-100 (mixed) with 90 contacts on 40m phone, 5 on 20m digital and another 5 on 80m. You could work another 10 on 40m (perhaps the same callsigns as those on the 20- and 80m band – they count per band!) and then you would have 100 unique callsigns worked – all on 40m and that meet the distribution pattern. This is WAZS-100/7 MHz. A few pointers about the WAZS. The award is available in multiples of 100 (WAZS-100, WAZS-200, WAZS-2000!), per band (WAZS-100/7MHz), and per mode (WAZS-200/SSB) and of course per band per mode (WAZS-800/7MHz/SSB) The only thing you need to know about WAZS is that you need to qualify for the first 100 based on the following distribution pattern: 16 x ZS1, 8 x ZS2, 1 x ZS3, 6 x ZS4, 13 x ZS5 and 56 x ZS6. If you have that for the award for which you are applying then you are off to a good start. Just for clarity, this composition is only applicable for the first 100 of the award type – so if you are applying for WAZS-200/SSB then you need 200 (unique) callsigns all worked on SSB, including those in the required breakdown and then an additional 100 callsigns (which could all be ZS2s!) If you get this award, you might not (yet) qualify for the WAZS-100/7 MHz award so be careful. On the SA-QSL system you can't store DUPLICATE QSOs. Many get confused by this, so here is a bit of clarity. I hope! If you work ZS2DH on 40m SSB then you can't log another SSB contact on 40m with ZS2DH (even on another date/time). You can log a contact with ZS2DH on 40m digital and another on 20m SSB. This will not increase your number of callsigns for the “mixed” award – as they are all ZS2DH, but each one will count towards a band/mode count. You will note that when you log ZS2DH on 20m for the first time, your “number of callsigns” for the 20m award increases – even if you worked ZS2DH on 40m ages ago. The same applies for modes.

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On the SA-QSL system (on the SARL website) you can check your progress in general and also check you progress on a specific band and/or mode (see the left hand side of the screen – about half way down for the part that looks like the image alongside). You can also put in another call sign and monitor their progress too. Really – have a look at ZS2PE for example. If you want to pursue the WAZS – and I think it is great – then the SA-QSL system is by far the easiest way to keep the contacts and your progress up to date. But what if you are not a member of the SARL? The SA-QSL system is not exclusive to SARL members. That’s right – if you are NOT a member of the SARL you can still sign up for the SA-QSL system and get the full benefit of the login and tracking/analysing without parting with a single cent! What about “Before Computer” people or people without access to the internet? You can help someone who does not have a computer by printing their list of QSL and getting them to indicate (on paper) which ones are valid and then sending that (scanned list) to the SARL webmaster who will process the QSLs. Find out more at the bottom of the SA-QSL system home page (link given above). You can find out more about the WAZS award on the official promo page located here: http://www.sarl.org.za/public/awards/wazs_promotion.asp To see where you are with your WAZS progress, visit http://www.sarl.org.za/SAQSL/QSL_WAZS_Rpt.asp once you have logged in. The SA-QSL system home page is available at http://www.sarl.org.za/SAQSL/Default.asp and contains a lot of information – including some QSL-ing tips! The SA-QSL system also has a feature for using a QSL manager, so if you would like to assist with the QSLs for ZS2PE for example, you can. You can also appoint a QSL manager to handle your online affairs as they apply to the SA-QSL system. You can log a single contact, upload a log in CSV or ADIF format, and acknowledge a contact with a simple click. If you really are not interested at all in chasing the WAZS, please consider registering and regularly acknowledging your QSO with others who are chasing the wall paper. Very often people working toward the WAZS will ask you to acknowledge “on the SARL website” or “on SA-QSL”. Please support them by simply logging on and ticking the box for them.

http://www.sarl.org.za/public/awards/wazs_promotion.asphttp://www.sarl.org.za/SAQSL/QSL_WAZS_Rpt.asphttp://www.sarl.org.za/SAQSL/Default.asp

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CONGRATULATIONS

BIRTHDAYS – April

01 Rosalee ZS2DN XYL of Donovan ZS2DL van Loggerenberg 02 Jarrad ZR2JAB Brown 03 Danè XYL of Michael ZS2MIC Steenkamp 03 Theunis ZS2EC Potgieter 05 Hugo ZS2HR Ras 05 Rey XYL of Saney ZR1S Martin 11 Adele XYL of Shaun ZS2L Baumeister 12 Andre ZS2ZA Potgieter 13 Graham ZS2GIB Butcher 13 Michelle XYL of Mark ZD2DW Duppa- Whyte 13 Lizette XYL of Nico ZS4N Oelofse 16 Danie ZS2DRS Steyn 16 Hans ZR2AX Rohwer 18 Annelize XYL of Aldrin ZS2AGB Baker 22 Allan ZS2BO Bowles 24 Deidre XYL of Tony ZR2TX Allen 28 Christopher ZS2AAW Scarr

ANNIVERSARIES – April

03 Hugo ZS2HR and Juan Ras 04 Glen ZS2GV and Vanessa Cummings 06 Wolf ZS2WG and Cathy Gerstle 06 Michael ZS2MIC and Danè Steenkamp 08 Mitch ZS2DK and Colette ZS2CR Rundle 11 Aldrin ZS2AGB and Annelize Baker 21 Rory ZS2BL and Jackie Norton 23 Neels and Patsy ZS2PTY Kruger 27 Albie ZS2AZ and Mia Gibson

BIRTHDAYS – May

03 Anmar Swart 11 Jan Swart 14 Rory ZS2BL Norton 17 Lyn XYL of Les ZS2VA Barker 17 Matthew ZS2SA Saayman 18 Mark OM of Llise ZS2LLD Dodd 21 Cecilia XYL of Jacques ZR2JH van der

Heide 22 Bill ZS2ABZ Hodges 22 Saney ZR1A Martin 24 Les ZS2VA Barker 26 Eugenie XYL of Kevern ZR2BK Burger 27 Mia XYL of Albie ZS2AZ Gibson 27 Lilian XYL of Andre ZS2AL Le Roux 31 Shirley XYL of Stoffel ZS2C Carr

ANNIVERSARIES – May

02 Joe ZS2JO and Daschell Geldenhuys 05 Bennie ZR2BC and Suzette Greyling 16 Peter ZS2PR and Jacqui Ryder 16 Mark ZS2DW and Michelle Duppa-White 25 Neil ZR2NT and Merle ZR2MP Thomas

If you are a member and your birthday or anniversary details are omitted or incorrect, please notify any committee member to update our records

PE-QSX page 21

HAM RADIO OUTLET-SOUTH AFRICA cc “Where Radio is a Passion”

Port Elizabeth’s official distributer of YAESU,Kenwood and ICOM amateur equipment

For all your Amateur needs from plugs to coax...

Give us a call 041 3711425. Speak to Donovan (ZS2DL)

We Ship Country Wide!

Visit http://www.hamradio.co.za

For all your ham radio requirements!

Sunday SARL and Monday Club Bulletins

PEARS provides a local reading of the SARL national bulletins on Sundays in Afrikaans at 08h15 and English at 08h30. The PEARS club bulletins are transmitted Mondays at 20h00. All transmissions are on Lady’s Slipper’s 2m repeater on 145,700 MHz as well as on 70cm / 438.700 MHz. Please consult the PEARS webpage for any changes.

Bulletin Roster http://www.zs2pe.co.za/bulletins.htm

5 April Jimmy ZS2JIM

12 April Beavan ZS2RL

19 April Gert ZS2GS

26 April Tony ZR2TX

3 May Chris ZS2AAW

10 May Mike ZS2MIC

17 May Glen ZS2GV

24 May Jimmy ZS2JIM

31 May Beavan ZS2RL

7 June Gert ZS2GS

14 June Tony ZR2TX

21 June Chris ZS2AAW

28 June Mike ZS2MIC The bulletin readers are

always looking for something to announce. If you have something to contribute,

please forward it to the next reader.

about:blankabout:blank

PE-QSX page 22

Your Society’s Committee for 2019-2020 Chairman Gert Schoeman ZS2GS 082 721 4010 gert1schoeman[at]gmail.com Vice Chairman, Events & Rally organising

Tony Allen ZR2TX 082 956 2920 tony.zr2tx[at]gmail.com

Secretary, Repeaters, Wifi Chris Scarr ZS2AAW 082 925 6367 christopher[at]peham.co.za Treasurer Michael Steenkamp ZS2MIC 082 523 5677 zs2mic[at]igen.co.za Technical/repeaters/SAR & Emergency comms

Glen Cummings ZS2GV 082 411 2743 glenvanessa[at]gmail.com

Socials, Scouts Interface, Container

Jimmy De Scande ZS2JIM 083 650 9422 Jimmy.descande[at]gmail.com

QSX Editor Ulrich Ann ZR2A 079 959 1684 dl2hbx[at]gmx.de

CO-OPTED POSTS RAE Examination Admin.& Classes, HF assessor

Donovan van Loggerenberg ZS2DL

082 852 4885 zs2dl[at]hamradio.co.za

Contest Liaison Officer Theunis Potgieter ZS2EC 064 901 8079 Zs2ec01[at]gmail.com Contest Scoring Dave Higgs 082 387 5657 om[at]zs2dh.co.za

Replace [at] with @ when you want to send an email (this is done to try to prevent spamming).

PEARS' VHF/UHF, Packet & Other Services Local Repeaters: These repeaters form a separate sub-net in the PE - Uitenhage - Despatch area.

Town VHF 145.050/650

88.5Hz, Narrow 12.5k

Longmore 145.025/625

88.5Hz, Narrow 12.5k

Uitenhage 145.075/675

Wide 25k

Town UHF 431.050/438.650

Wide 25k