Elephant's Eye detour (Saturday 23rd July, 2011)

Approaching Elephant's Eye from the Silvermine side

Just a quick note on my SOTA activation of Constantiaberg Peak (ZS/WC 047) this last Saturday. I started at the Silvermine dam and did an counter clockwise route via Elephant's Eye, Constatiaberg Peak and Noordhoek Ridge (19km).

A closer look at the cave's entrance.

View from within the Elephant's Eye !

Kites......as a "sky hook"

 I use a Delta Sled single line kite that was initially put into service as a "sky hook" for supporting various antennas and soon discovered that it makes a very good platform for aerial photography !

My  'GoPro HD' camera hanging in a diy 'Picavet' which keeps the camera horizontal and very stable.

(Click on any pic for a larger image.)

These two pics ( a residential building site and the Koeberg Conference and Sports Centre) were taken with the above rig hanging approximately 60m above them.
(Click on any pic for a larger image.)

Constantiaberg Peak.... SOTA ZS/WC-047

SOTA actvation of Constantiaberg Peak 928m 

(SOTA link)

Constantiaberg peak is the second highest peak in the Table Mountain chain, Maclear's Beacon on Table Mountain being the highest. Dennis, Grant and I hiked up here to activate ZS/WC-047 in May, 2008.

We started at the dam in the Silvermine nature reserve, hiking up to Elephant's Eye,then further up to the peak itself, passing the transmitting mast on the way up. Our route down was via the steep South Western slope to the view point above Blackburn ravine and then onwards back to the parking lot at the dam.

(click on any pic to get a larger image)

Dennis, ZS1TC, and Grant dressed against the bitterly cold wind on top of the Constantiaberg.

 In the background are three SOTA  peaks (Upper Steenberg, Muizenberg and Kalkbay peaks)

Looking Eastwards over the Cape Flats and False Bay with the Hottentotsholand Mountain chain  and Cape Hangklip in the distant background.  In the center foreground is the "Sentek" TV and FM transmitting station. Out of site, just to the left of the camera, is the weather service's radar site.                                   

A portrait shot of myself on the North Western slopes of Constantiaberg with Houtbay fishing village and the Sentinel Peak in the background.

The three of us taking a well earned rest on the way down from the peak. ( taken from the same location as the previous pic)

QRP/Emergency Communications in the great outdoors (by KF8GR)

This is an extract from KF8GR / QRP web page ..........

http://www.qsl.net/kf8gr/qrp.html

QRP/Emergency Communications in the great outdoors

QRP operation in the wild is one of the best ways to renew the soul, increase your operating skill, make sure you have all the cables you need, and prepares you for operating under the most difficult conditions.

It is unfortunate that many hams think Field Day is the only training they need for emergency operations.  Field Day is the WORST training possible for emergency operations.  The entire design of Field Day is to get lid operators doing ANYTHING to run up the score.  If you doubt me, listen to the idiots trying to talk over the SSTV frequencies on any contesting weekend.  Now don't get me wrong, contesting CAN be a great way to get set up for emergency traffic handling, etc.  It is just not normally used that way, it is just the excuse used to contest.

Using a QRP rig, a laptop computer, and the best antenna setup you can find, and working on a day when no one even knows you are out there is how you test your true skills.  If you can fill a logbook from a rustic park or woodland setting, you can work emergency operations almost anywhere.  Every day you spend in the wild is a true test of your operating skill, band conditions, and camping knowledge.  Couple this with Adventure Radio, and man.... that's living.  Any jerk can spend a weekend in June pretending to be an emergency communicator.  As the good book says, by your works you shall be known.

If I have offended any hams, good.  Maybe they will get out and REALLY start to learn how to be an emergency communicator.  

"You are 60db over nine,

turn down your power, stupid!"

Noordhoek Peak ...... SOTA ZS/WC-055

Noordhoek Peak 123m

(SOTA link)

This video was shot on a cold, blustery and overcast morning.................. gale force winds and in heavy cloud !

( In the vid my 20m telescopic vertical on the left, the rock cairn, and Dennis erecting his 20m inverted "V" on the right. The wind is howling and the clouds are swirling around us)                      

 ( click on any pic to get a larger view )

Blowing in the wind while hanging onto a rock to keep my footing !

Dennis snuggled down behind a rock operating his radio. A FT 857D on top of a LDG tuner and a 7a/h gelcel next to it.

The wind has moderated and the cloud cover is starting to lift.  Over looking Hout Bay with the "Sentinel" and Karbonkelberg in the background.

The same view with the weather much improved, but still bloody cold  !

The following group of pictures were taken on my most recent hike up to Noordhoek Peak on the 12th of June, 2011. What a contrast, a perfect calm and warm day with a clear blue sky !

Iris, Gladioli' or Watsonia ? Waiting for ID

An interesting rock with pools of water..........a perfect bird bath !

An "Orangebreasted Sunbird" perched on the stone cairn at Noordhoek Peak.  This little fella was very tame and looked happy to sit not more than two metres from me ! A number of "Cape Sugarbirds" were seen foraging(?) in the protea thickets but were too active to get any good pics.

A rather untidy outdoor radio shack !

The QSL (confirmation of contact) card I use for my Noordhoek Peak activations.

(note the QrangeBreasted Sunbird   perched on top of the cairn)

Chapman's Peak as seen from the beacon on the Southern end of the Noordhoek ridge.

jjj

Portable Hex beam

Sunday morning..........no wind, no rain and beautiful blue sky, a perfect day to test the portable hex beam that I have built over the last few days. A 20m mono-bander that will later be adapted for 15 and 10m bands as well.

For the tests today I pushed her up to about 5-6m on a un-stayed, glass fiber telescopic mast and was very happy with the results. An SWR of between 1.5 and 1.8 across 14.150 / 14.350mhz without any adjustments from the design specs. With a bit of trimming to the tip spacing I'm sure this can be improved to below 1.5 across the working range.

North American stations were heard at S7 to S8 consistently and the local noise level was about S2. Off the back of the beam these station could not be heard !

SARL QRP contest 16th July 2011

Another beautiful day down here in the Western Cape, a perfect opportunity to set up a field station on the beach.

I decided to use my RACAL PRM4051 rig with NVIS horizontal dipole and a long wire kite antenna.













Here the station with the horizontal antenna set up at about 2.1m high and just on last night's high tide level.

Drama, drama, drama ! Don't try a kite antenna in dry air "berg wind" weather conditions without a static discharge system ! The long wire antenna was disconnected very quickly after a couple of hefty shocks !

The kite shackled to the rig, I had to drop the long wire because of the static build-up .