Heritage day on Table Mountain

South African Radio League - Heritage Day Sprint
1. Aim
To stimulate activity on 40 m and to promote public relations with respect to the various Heritage sites in South Africa on 24 September  – Heritage Day



Sponsor
The Sasolburg Amateur Radio Club, ZS4SRK.

A quick hike up from the Lower Cable Station via the Contour Path and up Platteklip Gorge to Maclears Beacon.  After taking a few photos of Maclears Beacon, the Mountain Club's War Memorial and the plaque in memory Gen. Jan Smuts I set up my radio station in an isolated area among  the rocks and fynbos on the North Eastern section of the mountain.

(All photographs  taken by Allen Wood on Heritage Day, 2011)
(All the text in italics quoted from "Table Mountain Activities Authors: Shaen Adey and Fiona McIntosh.")

The early explorers

" History records that the first white man to set foot on Table Mountain was Antonio de Saldanha, commander of a Portuguese fleet sailing around the Cape of Storms en route to India in 1503. After becoming separated from the rest of the fleet, his ship took refuge in an unknown bay sheltered by a high, flat-topped mountain. Saldanha, anxious to orientate himself, struggled up the obvious gorge that split the front of the mountain to the summit plateau.

From the top he could see that, as he had feared, the Cape of Storms still had to be rounded before he could reach the safety of False Bay. Nevertheless the trip was a fruitful one, for fresh water cascaded down the gorge through which he climbed. Thereafter Table Bay, known as Aguada de Saldanha (Watering Place of De Saldanha) became a regular stopover for the Portuguese fleets. In 1652 Jan van Riebeeck sailed into Table Bay and under his governorship Cape Town grew into an important, almost self-sufficient outpost of the Dutch East India Company.

Shortly after Van Riebeeck’s arrival he began work on a fort (the Castle of Good Hope) and encouraged settlers to grow crops. Soon the slopes of the mountain were being cultivated, the first Cape vineyards were planted and a European settlement was firmly established in the Cape. However, the industrious Van Riebeeck and his officials apparently never found the time to climb Table Mountain. Since Jan van Riebeeck put the Cape on the map, Table Mountain has been a powerful icon for Cape Town and South Africa, and is now one of the most famous landmarks in the world. A detailed account of all its historical places would occupy more than the entire book, so here are a few snippets to whet your appetite. More information can be found in Cape Town’s museums."

Maclear’s Beacon

" A cairn of rocks nearly 3m (10ft) high and topped with a beacon marks the highest point on Table Mountain, 1 086m (3 564ft). The beacon was constructed in 1844 by the then Astronomer Royal at the Cape, Sir Thomas Maclear, as part of his efforts to measure the arc of the meridian of the earth. "

" Nearby is the Mountain Club of South Africa’s memorial (unveiled and dedicated in 1923 by General Jan Christiaan Smuts), which bears the names of nine  members who died in World War I. One Sunday at the end of February you may chance on a brass band or similar group leading a large group of climbers in refrain."

" The natural amphitheatre below the beacon is the site of the annual memorial service, which was regularly attended by Smuts, a keen climber. A plaque in his memory can be found in the rocks below the beacon."

View of the Eastern section of Cape Town Harbour taken from my radio operating/station position.

I used a "stub matched" end fed half-wave dipole antenna supported in a lazy "L" formation using a light weight sectional fishing rod. The rig used was my FT817 for HF and a VX120 for VHF. Operating time was from approx 10hr00 to 15hr00.