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

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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.

Johan ZS1I, Mossel Bay

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