The News l etter of the Ma shona land Br anch of t he Zimbabwe Amateur g~~!~- ~~~ ! ~~~ Pr esently incorporating: 1 The Newsletter of the M atabeleland Branch anti ~~~ - g~~~9~~ ~!~~~- ~~EE!~~~ ~!-~~~~~ ~

March , 1993 on ••••.••• Volume 27 - No. 4 . Editor Molly Henderson (Z21JE) All copy, information and/or quer ies should be sent to "QUA ", P.O. Box 2377, Har ar e • ...... C 0 N TEN T S .

Page 2- Progr am f~ Mash o na l and Br. QUB Supplement . Info . on monthly meetings Page 13 - Bu l letins June Available to Members July&August QSL Bureau Soci al Function All As ian DX Contest Morse Classes. Mo cambique Ca llsigns. Page 3 - Mash.Br. Meeting Reports UK Callsign r eview January Page 14 - Swazi Hams Co nta ct SpPcemen March Ne ws Snippets: April \ J ARL - 8J9SUN Page 4 - contd. Page 15 - J AS - lb - ~irt h d a y May Ha ms in China Page 5 - Repor ter 1}4 Million J ' s Youth on the Air Uganda on str eam Erratum ZL 1 s j oin CEPT Mutare JOTA 1992 Gift from ARRL Page 6 - SAREX Report Page 16 ' ~ 1992/3 President's Report . A Few Smiles . Page 17 - contd. Page 7 - 1992 RAE (Novi ce)Exam Paper Page 18 - contd. Pag e 8 - contd'. 1993/4 Office Bearers 1992 RAE (Full ) Exam Paper Date 1994 AGM Trophy Awar ds Page 9 - contd. Page 19 - contd·. Page 10 - contd. O' Seas News - Eur opean DX Mash .Br .Meeting Re port Co ntest . October. RA DC O~ on ~S L's MATABELELAND BRANCH NEWS LETTl<' R. Page 20 - FINIS. Page 11 - Chairman ' s Re port .1992/3. Page 12 - contd. LIBRARY LIST - Page 3 t o attack May up- date on above to list s ent last issue Dave Drummond ( Z21AR ) SUBS CRIPTION AC COU NTS enclosed. ' QUA ~ Ha ~ch , 1993 on • ••.•••• • •

Pregr amme for Mashonaland Branch . .. -~--~·---~ Inf o rmat~on· on t he Mon~hly"Mee t 1ngs. --.---. · -~---'"'--- The Brandi.. Meeti;:lgs ar~ alw·a:ys · held on the second Tuesday in the mo nth in the .Aud.Horium ... o1.~ the Harare City Museum and- tiie-Hme-is- 7: 45- for- 8- p: rn. Should ther~ ~e · any change you will te notified . Car Park. An attendant i s always on duty in the car park to guard t he Member5·i'-vehicles. Friends/Visitors n To encourage further interest in the hobby, members are asked--to-try-and bring a f riend or a nyone showing an interest in amateur radio, with them to the mee tings ~ Before the mee t ing a \Committee Member :Ls usually in attendance to help any member-who-may-have a pr)blem associ ated with t he hobby . He will be very happy to try and help. you sol ve yours!

•' *. * * * * • • *. *' •• * *. * *. * • * *. Fo:r:_:t'hc_omin~ Meetine;.~·- June Meeting - Tue~day . 8~~~ PRAC TI CAL USE OF PHOTOVOLTA ICS

Speakers E.· Man~6~g~ & A Radley of WRS • •••••••••••

July Meetin~~ues~~J.-~~~~ METE ORO LOGY ~ - ·-----··--- - Speaker- Member of the University Staff. ••••• ** ***** • August Meeti ~.~_:_Tu.e:~~-~. l:-_0.!_1: RAD I O COMJvlUNICATI ON SYSTEI-15 I N ZIMBABWE, ------·· .,. _ -- ··------Speaker -· We hope this wil l be presented by a Membe r of the PTC staff . ) ) ) ·-- ·- ( ( ( )))- --((( NOTE _: the ab.Jve meetings ::... nvoh·e guest speakers a nd therefore PLEASE make an effort t~ atte nd . We a r e sure you will l earn quite a lot from these inter.esting topics ~ •••••••••• ••••••••• ••••••• Social Function: The Branch Committee are looking for itleas r egarding further social get­ toge thers. This ·would cove r venue, the type of social e tc . Some comments pl €ase to Secretary Eric Ch rister (Z21FO) at Tel. 44995 (home) or maybe easier at work 704 ~6 1 Ext 444: Perhaps a little discussion wi th committee members during a· meeting tea break would be useful.

Morse Classes .

It is ~ · elieved there are a number of possible ca ndidates for Horse Classes . Anyone who may be interested ca n you let either Dave Robe rt ~on (Z21HY) kqow at the University - .Te l . 303211 Ext 1466 or Eric Christe r at 44995 or 704461 Ext 444 7 or let one of the committee membe rs know at the next monthly mee tingo .QUA., . Mprch, 1993 on • •. •.• •• . • •. • , • MASHONALAND------BRANCH------MEETING--- REPORTS------. ' JANUARY. The first monthly meeting of 1993, on 12th January~ was very inter esting with · guest speaker Dr. Podmor e from the university talking to us on · Astronomy~ About 25 members and guests listened to his talk entitled "Journey into Space" which was illustrated with slides. Unfortunately he had a problem with his proje ctor so we did not see tHe whole show which was perhaps for tunate as we could have been there until midnight listening a nd being fascinated by the whole presentation. Dr. Podmore wil l come back to us and continue with the talk after the AGM in April a nd he will no doubt summarise what he had already talked about for the benefi t of those who missed the \January show . He talked about the planets, comets, galaxies, the fact that the planets of our sun (or star ) are more or less i n the same plane, what we know is that the Univer se is over 15 000 million light years across and so ~ on! The various groups of stars were described - how they got their names , for instance s~orpio, Orion, artd then more recently Man ' s conquest of space was highlighted with some excellent slides of man on the moon (1969)~ the technology behind it all - the Apollo programme , photographs of Mars and other planets . Radio Astronomy was touched upon with mention that an American Radio Amateur about 1930 ~as the f i rst to plot a noise picture of the sky which is different to what would be produce d optically. We look for war d to the April continuation. •••••••••• ••••••••••• MARCH . At our March meeting, Mike Be r ger (Z21HQ) gave a talk illustrated with slides 6n the techniques of image processing of the signals r eceived from satell ites such as Landsat~ Mike, who wi~l shortly be returning to Germany after a contract in this country with the Nati onal Remote Sensing Facility, also has the callsiga DF2RQ . It was. fascinating to see the detail which can be obtained from satellites and the way a computer can be used to enhance the feature , type of vege­ tation, b uildings etc. which you want to analyse. There were satellite images of the Harare area and it was possible to pick out features such as the Borr owdale race course , Lake Chivero , the built up areas and main thoroughfares . I n particular one area near Harare was highlighted and ver y obvious as an ove r grazed area of land.

~1 ik e pointe<:: out +ha t the i n~ o rm at:.o:- w h~.cb can become a vailable is a tool for deci~ion makers whether government or pri vRte concern ~ . ~y monitoring par t i cul'ar areas, erosion patter ns can be examined a nd even the progress of a bush fire can be determined as well as a r eas being farmed and cr op coRdition. An excellent pr esentation Mike ...... • •••••••••• APRIL.

The Mashonaland Br anch Annual General Mee ting was held on the 20~h Apr il at the Queen Vi ctoria Museum and was not particularly well att ended. This is probably normal for AGMs! · After the AGM, Dr. Podmore from the University, continued with his fascin­ ati :nt: talk on c.str cnomy wb:..ch had be;;n interrupt ed ir. ,January due to the failure of the slide projector he was using. I I .~Y~ , March , 1993 on • •......

As far as the AGM was conce rned , there· was n ot hing c ontraversi al b r ought up. The ChairmaqRowa r d Keame r stood down having served f or four years a nd Bria n Va ugha n a l so r p f used nomina tion. New Memb e r s D~ve Robertson ((Z21 HY) a nd Ed Wright , a lis t e n er membe r,joine d pr evi ou s c ommi t t ee mem b e rs Ben Ri dge (Z21BE) s Mar k Car shalt on (Z21 HA) a nd Eric Christer (Z21 FO) . Eric Christer continues t o b e Secretary/Tr easure r, b ut no de c i s i on could b e made r egar ding a Chairman • (A t the f irst Committee Meeting a fte r the AGM , Be n Ridge (p21BE) agr eed t o ser ve as Cha i r man ) . Tae Chai rman ' .s Re port for the y ear 1992/ 93 commented t hat in gen er a l there s eeme d a certa in a mount of apathy i n the Br a n c h with t he commi t t ee trying t o g uess membe r s ' needs , esp e cially with r e spect t o subje cts for mo n thly t a l k~e Pe r haps YOU could mak e s ome s uggesti ons t o h e lp, e i t he r b y intro­ duc ing t he commi t t ee t o p os s ible speaker s or l e tting u s k n ow wha t you would l ik€ ~ Ther e had been a bit mor e t han nor mal public ity during t he year a nd it was no t ed that some inte r est had been gen er ate d at some high schools . Al so t he Univer s ity, unde r Dr . El Mahdy, was about t o sta rt a r adio club a nd it was hoped t hat with s ome s t ~ ff me mb e r s b e ing licensed op e r ators , a f ully oper a tiona l club s t a tion could b e set up wi t h hopefully some ne w o pe r ators from the s tude nt r a nk s whe n the y get their own oper a t or ' s c ertif i ca t es. .. ** ** *** *** MAY. The May mo n thly mee ting was n ot very well attende d, whi c h was a p ity as the t a l k was very i nteresting a n d i n f ormative , so those who didn ~t attend rea l l y missed out. Dave Rob e rtson (Z21HY) talked about r a dio p r opagati oh. A l i ttl e hist or y i ntrodu ce d t he subje ct a nd r adio wave propagation was even p r e di cted well befor e a nyone k ne w h ow to gen era te a r adi o wave " Ma r con i , however , in 1902 was able to do a pr a c tical demons tration i n the tra ns ­ miss~o n of a message acr oss the Atla nti c Ocea n , bu t one o f the predi cti ons wa s tha t r a dio wa v es t r a vell ed i n str a i ght l i nes - - so h ow did t he signal get across the Atlan tic? Dave showed u s in graph for m various featur es a bout the atmospher e a nd e x­ ~la in e d t o us abou t t h e i onise d l a y er s ~hich a r e a ble to deflec t r adi o wave s . In particu lar, the r e is the ' F2 ' l a yer which var i e s i n height but r eaches about 300 k m abov e t h e earth's surface , the ' Fl ' l aye r wh i ch is normally at about 200 km , the ' E ' l a y e r at 1 00 km a nd t he ' D' l a yer a t about 50km. Th e 'F2' and ' Fl ' l a yer s inte r act duri ng the da y , with the ' F2 ' l a y e r be i ng h ighest a t mi dda y wher ever you ma y be. The ionisation which occur s i s due to r a di ation or emi ssion of electr ons f r om the sun which tra v el at t he r ate of about 7 km/sec . Da ve also me n t i on ed about other i onisation e ffe cts such a,s Aur ora wh i c h" occur n ear the earth ' s pol es . It wa s · also. i n t e r e ~ting t o l earn how the sci e ntists actua lly measur ed such .thing s as the height a bove g r ound of the ionised l ayer.s , a n d ~.0.~ the.y establ ished the yar~a tions wh i ch occur during the cour s e of a aay a nd ov e r . a year . Al so I .h e indicated h ow it was possible to ma k e predi~~~ 9 n~ as to the be s t r adi o f r equencies tb use at differ en t times which to ex perienced DX- ing ha ms come s natu r a lly ! Sunspot a c tiv i ty is import a nt a nd ex cessi ve s unspot a ctiv i t y or f l a res can r e sult i n hi gh r a di a tion l e v els which · a ctua lly d es troy the i onise d l ayer s a nd ca use r adio bla ck - outs . The s un rota tes on i ts a x is ove r a period of a bo~t 27 da ys which a l so r e s ults in a nother ~aria b l e .

To ass ~ o t in r adi o c ommunica tion propagation pre dic tions or stu di es , s tandard fre que ncy s t ati on ~WV provid e s sol a r flux fig ures as well a s the ' A' index f or mag.n e tic fie ld v a r iat ~ o n s . These a r e broadcast a t 18 minutes past each h our o f . the da y . • '· QUA , Ma~ch , 1993 on •••••••• A very interesting talk, Dave, which a lthoug h it could have b e c ome quite complicated, gave a good insight on the propagation of our radio signals • ••••••••••• • ••••••••••• REPORTER . BPanch Secreta ry Eric Christer (Z21FO) ha s provided the four foregoing re­ ports on the Mashona l a nd Br a nch Meeting s. Erioseffort is consistently meticulous a nd gr eatly appr eci a t e d in keeping the activities of the Branch c ircula ted thr oug h the Br a nch Newsletter.

%%~%~%%%%%%%%%%~~%%~?%%oJ%%%%%%i~%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% YOUTH ON TH E AIR. Youth o n the a ir has• n ow b ecome a regular event co- or dinated· by the SARL. The idea is t o encourage y oung people in Africa to get interested in Ham Radi o by t a lking, under i nst ruction, to other y oung people via amateur r adi o .. This y ear we have had two such events, one on the 27th Fe~ rua ry, a nd then o n the 24th April a nd the PTC ha s a llowed our unlice nsed youth to parti­ c ipate in these even ts a n d those to come . Zimbabwe participate d in a small wa y with oper ati ons f r om the shacks o f Howard (Z21 EK) , Bria n (Z21 HB) a nd Mar k (Z21HA) . Young people drawn f r om schools , scouts and guides took part a nd by all accounts, the y thoroughly e njoyed the opportunity to see the hobby in action a n d the ability t o t a lk to some of the ir peers . Mo r e hams a r e•n eeded to promote the interest amongs t y oung people by inviting them to the ir s hacks for such eve nts . If y ou are interested in helping out with Youth on the Air, please c ontact Howard (Z21EK) on Harare 735187 . 73 , Howard (Z21 EK)

%%%%1tPJ.o/o~~%%%%%o/J'Io ~%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ERRATUM . In the SAREX REPORT on P~ge 6 , Howa rd, by mistake , p ut STS- 57 fo r the 26th AP ril launc h - this should have bee n s r s - 55 . I n the fifth par agr aph , he again p ut STS - 57 - which was queried when typing the stencil , but n ot followe d up. So on this case the STS- 5 , should r ead STS- 57. %%%o/J>),%%%%%%%%%%%%%% MUTARE 1992 JOTA. We. r ecently got a b e l ated r eport f r om Geor ge Knc x (Z21 FZ) . Their main activity wa s on the Saturda y . The Man!ca Post photogr apher took a picture of a scout on the mik e , surroun ded by the assembled scouts a nd c ubs. This WRS i n the Manica Post on the fol l ow~ng Friday. It is s uggested t ha t the Vumb a Scout Park mig ht be used for the 1 993 JOTA . It has facilities f or camping , which is not av3ilable at the Scout Ha ll in t own. George me ntions ' l a r ge n umber s •. 'Ve would r emind him tha t the quality n o t the qua ntity that counts . A f e w who know what JOTA a n d r adio are all about is so much b etter than hundr eds i n camp - an d for get' t he c ubs! I %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% - ...... ) a "QUA , MARCH, 1993 on • .•• • .• •

~!!!!~~!=~ - ~~~~~!!~ ..~~!2!2 _ ~~~~8 !~ ::~~ - i~~~~~L~~!:'Q~! :.. So far this year we have had twu Space Shuttle missions with Amateur Ra dio on board. The first, Shuttle STS- 56 was la u nc~ed on the lOth April and t No South schools participated in a question and answer session with astronaut Ken Cameron, KB5AWD. Packet Radio was also carried on board# As far as I k now , only one Z2 ham $ Rod Bater (Z21GO)$ had a successf ul t wo - way packet

a nd voice QSO. Howard ( Z21EK) 1 was h eard by the Shuttle calling mo bile f rom the middle of Hwange game reserve ~ STS- 57 was launc hed soon after the landing of STS-56 , on the 26th April. On e South Africa n a nd one Swazil and school to vk part in the question and a nswe r session, this time with astronaut Steve Na~e l , N5RAW.

The majority of ham operations on t his m~ ~s~ on were r estr icted to sch ool a r ound the world, and unfortuaatelj, there was virtua lly no opportunity for hams in southern Africa to make r.o nt a ct ~ Once again, as far as I know, only Z21EK and Z21AF/R had packet contacts , The disa ppointme nt in not making radio contact was s lightly l esseaed b y some stunning visua l obser­ vations of the Shuttle as it passed o•:er Zimbabwe .

We a r e eager l y a waiting the l a ·.m ch of sn~:ttle STS···5 1 within the next\ f ew

we eks 1 because this mi ght be the chan ce f or Zimbabw ean students to parti­ c ipa t e . Our application to NASA has b eer:. forwarded and acknowledged via the assista n ce of Hans ZS6AKV . Aii.d we ;:ow await confirmation. Th e Posts a nd Te l e communica tions Corporatioa have givea ~s p eimi ssion for unlice ~ed y oung people to take part ~

The Mashonaland Branch has l aun: hed a~ e~say r.ompetit:on for schools in order to selec t three students for pP. rtic;pat~on.

For those inter este d ~ frequen:-·• es .10 ·r:-: :. - Y w=ed C.•; -j ng a SAREX mission a r e , 145 . 550 downlink : and vo~ce i:plir:k 144~950.. Fack;et upl ink, n ormally 144n490. Z~-~~-~~!~~~l1 ~~! ~~2 ~ * * ***'"*** * "' ''"" ****.********"+'*** A F T<.:W SMILES (taken from sti.: cle nts a nswer s t o variou s exam­ .. --· -----~.! :~_!_i_'?_:__ ~.~.~~-:;.:~-~-~t---~~-~ .t~. adjoi.~in'g country . ) 1. Benjamin Fra nklin produced elcc-.:r :.. , . .:..t y by rubbing cats backwards . 2 . A. litre is a nest of y oung a n ~mals. 3 . A vacuum is a tube with a flask at eac~ end . 4 . The cuckoo does n ot l a y its own eggs . ' ) . Al gebra ~as the wife of Euclid. 6 . An a xiom is a thing so v i sible that lt is not nec essary t o see it. 7. A citcle is a line which meets ~ts other end without ending. 8. A s uper - s a turated solution is one which holds more t ha n it ca n hold. 9 . The cerebrum is a cavity in the head. 10. Blood flows down on e l eg and up ; ~e other. 11 . Parallel lines do n ot meet unless you bend one or the other . 12 . A magnet is something y ou f ind l n a bad apple . 1 3 . Geomet ry t eaches us t o bisex a ngels. 1 4 . To r emove dust from the eye , pull the eye o ver the n ose . 1 5 n For h ead colds , us e a n ag o ni~er to spray nose until it drops i nto your throat ,. 16. For fainting , rub a per sons chest~ or if a lady. rub h er arm above the ha nd . QUA , March, 1993 on •••• • •••. 1 1992------Amateu------r Radio------Ce r tificate------(Novice------Class)------Exami------nation. Time allowed - 3 hours . Pass Mark - 4o% . All questions MUST be atte~ted Question 1 . Dr aw symbols for the following: \ ' 1 . Fuse 6. Mictophone 2. Frame or chassis 7. PNP t r ansistor 3 . Variable resistor 8. Diode 4. Electrol~tic capacitor 9. Anetnna (aerial) 5. Loudspeaker 10. Signal lamp (10 marks)

Que stio~ 2 . An amateur stati on shal l be operated only by the licensee, the holder of an Amateur Radio Ope r ators Ce r tifi cate of Competency or, for short period instructional purposes by a person who meets the following 4 requireme nts: 1...... 2...... 3...... 4. ., ...... (10 marks) Question 3. state what is meant by the following ter ms: 1. Broadcasting Sta tion 2 . Hertzian waves 3. Fixed stati on 4. Telephony 5. Assigne d f r equency (10 marks) Question 4. What do the following Q codes mean? 1. QAV 2 . QRL 3. QSP 4. QTR 5. QRT (10 ma rks) Question 5. Draw the response ourves of the followi ng filters ( a & b):

(a) T .. :v--:-~-- 1 t-1-~ i,....._,) 1 . o'~ I (b)

. I .' 7~~1______,~1--~0 . t 2. Identify the two filters . (10 marks) Question 6. Draw a block diagr am of the simplest super heterodyne rece iver. (10 marlcs)

Question 7 • • .• ••• ••• • • QUA ~ ~arch, 19 9 ~ on •• •.••• • •• ••

Question 7 . 27S.. 33 2_ ~ r-,_ i--i-- 1 -- ~--- ~ I 1-. 12o..-.. I .' I_ _f" --~:------1 1--- 1 I .., 6v !.·- -·-···I

(a) What is the va lue of · the current flowing throug h the 27ohm r esistor (b) What is the voltag e across the 33ohm r e sistor ' ( 5 marks) Question 8.

Give the first 10 words of the r ecommended phonetic alphab e t i ~ i . e . A to J. e . g . S = Sierra; V = Victor . (10 marks) question 9. (a) Make ske tches to show the propagation of: -

1 . Ground ~ave over the earth ' s s urface (2) 2 . Skywave via the ionosphere (2) 3 . Space wave by line of sight (2) (b) If a 30MHz carrie r f r eque n cy is amplitude modulated by a modulation fre qu e n cy of 10kHz, calcul ate the output f r equencie s present in both the sidebands (4) (10 marks) Questi on 10. r For a novice cl ass station state : 1 . One , ·fre.quency band shar ed with fixed and mobile services in (MHz)

2 . The typ~ of emission used . 3 . The maximum DC input power in watts . (10 marks) ...... •••••••••••••••

Time allowed - 3 hour s . Pass Mark (Part 1 or II ) - 4o% (Eight questions in all are t o be attempted as follows : BOTH questions in Part I ( which are compulsory) a n d s ix questions from Part II. Fai lur e to a tta in a pass standard in either part will r esult in failur e i n the examinati on as a whol e . ) PART------I. q uestion l. a) Th e lice nsee shall. ke ep a r e cord in a book (not l oose l e af) of the following information: 1 ...... 2...... 3...... 4. 5...... ( 20 marks)

~u est ion 2 •••• ••..• • ··· QUA,- · ·March, 1993 QD •••• • • • •••• •

Question 2 . : b} · · State what is meant by the followi• g types of emissions : 1. K3E Telephony 2. F3E Telephony 3- C3F Television 4. R3 E Telephony 5. H3E Telephony 6. FlA Telegraphy 7. L3E Telephony 8. F3C Facsimile 9. J3E Telephony 10. AlA Telegraphy (20 ma.rke) PART 2 .. Question 3. Draw symbols for the following: 1. Non- Polarized electrolytic capacitor 2. NPN transistor 3. Zener diode 4. Microphone 5. Conductors crossing (10 marks) Question 4. What is the current I (a) o. 25A (b) o.43A (c) 0.5A (d) o. 67A

(10 marks) Question 5. What is the capacitance between terminals A and 13? (a) 37.5pF lOOpF lOOpF (b) 50pF (c) 200pF 0 (d) )50pF A '' ~Jt ~J- B 150pF . (10 !ll{lrks) ·

100 ./--f H 10 J'l ' Or----f~~ I t---·-·r==i- , o . OlA F Calculate the resonant frequency of the above circuit. (10 marks)

Draw a nd label • the block diagram of the simplest superheterodyne receiver.· (10 marks) ~u e sti_?~ • Draw the diagram of a typical common - emitter amplifier (10 marks) ...... QUA , March, 1993 on •• •• • ••• • •• ••• • • Question 9. Draw the theoretical radiation patterns of the following resonant antennas : 1 . Halfwave 2 . Full wave 3. Three half waves 4. Four half waves (10 marks) Question 10.

What is the

5V/div

(10 marks) ... ,...... ,...,...... MASHONALAND BRANCH MEETING REPORT.

OCTOBER. . At the ' October meeting we .brought forward Peter Dale's talk from November, as Paul Howard-Bea.rd who was going to talk on the latest com-puter develop­ ments was involved with business out of the country. Hopefully, the last minute arrangeme~t which was mentioned on the previous Sunday's bulletin didn't upset anyone ! Peter (Z24JC) talked to us about the Hydrological conditions in this part of the world and bow it affects electricity generation now and in the future . He was until recently with the Zambesi River Authority. It was interesting to note where the water flowing into Lake Kariba ·is sourced. Most comes from the Upper Catchment which is a large area covering Angola and Western Zambia. The Lower or Zimbabwe Catchment ~lso contributes an inflow. Another catchment area is for Kafue in Zambia which is a relatively small area but the power generated is nearly as high as Kariba due t ? the high ' head of water which flows through the Kafue power station turbines. (Although not this year as there is no water for generating) . Peter's t a lk was illustrated with graphs and tables showing river flows, annual. r~~~fall figures and so on, which in fact indicated that we hav~ run out of hydro energy, not due to this last year's drought, but the fact that from 1981/82 we have been exper iencing a very dry period and a certain amount of miscalculation has taken place on the effects of this. Peter also ex­ plained that even if there were good rains this year, there is likely to be an energy shortage for another year or two. Also mentioned, was the overall e nergy situation involving Hwange Power Station and also the various short and long term solutions and problems with new power sources. An interesting evening with at times an optimistic as well as a pessimistic outlook!

~ric Christer (Z21F0 )

(Reg ret due to size of the last issue, we had to take out the RAE papers - and this was part of it! Ed . ) QUA, March, 1993 0n •• i•••••••••

MATABELELAND BRANCH NEWSLETTER, Chairma~' s AI\nual Report fo.r 1.992/93. Membership figures continue to maintain a slight inorease on last year. Certainly we conform t o the r e quirements for existence · as a Branch. Equ~lly pleasing is the acquisit ion of call signs by three of the new members mentioned last year and one old member, ~M Valdis. Congratulatione. Whilst figures may look well on paper the real streng th of a n organisation may be better assessed by attendance numb e rs for meetings which are not quite so favoura ble. Regrettably we are losing Maureen Berry to Harare and Wim Harmsen has gone to Holland. Dave Drummond has not been heard f or s ome months and it is not known if he is in Z2, or Zambia. Meetings. 13/5/92 13 attended. Vald.is spoke on "Solar Power". 8/7/92 15 " Alan spoke on"Weather & Propagation". 21/9/92 14 " Video - Hams in Space. 17 & 18/ 10/92 " JOTA 23/11/92 19 II Annual social evening 13/1/93 11 " General - suggestions for future meetings . 10/Cl/93 15 " General. Field Events . We a gain assisted Guides and Scouts in their Jamboree on the Air at Gordon Park. The event may be described as moderately successful and some prun­ ing of numbers by the sco~ts was bene f icial. As of yore it would be b~tter if the Scouts were more invol ved and had mor e pre-planning of activities. On the 14th June 1992 we had a QRP day i~ the grounds of the Technical Col­ lege. This was a failure in that we did not net any students but a suc~ess in that we acquired a l ecturer- OM Vincent! On the 16th August a rather pleasant demonstration took place at st . Joseph's Home for the benefit of t he sea cadets. Again this was mainly QRPbut OM Rodney intrigued with VHF Packe t. QRP. This mode was well supported by OM Roland (Z21HF) and by OM Al a n (Z21HL). Ad ditionally Roland has ha d a numbe r \ of ·a rticles published in the SARL bulletin on this mode . Publications.

Roland was also featured in the Technical Topics se~tion of Radcom, which is no mean feat. (Ther mionic valves). We, have endeavoured to keep a presence in QUA a nd I have already mentioned Radio ZS. I would like to thank Alan (Z21HL ) our branch ~SL manager who has been distributing both cards and correspondence. National Beacon Z21ANB. The external interest in the beacon is unabated . There have been stop­ pages but OM Eric ( Z21BC/R) endeavours to keep the signal constant. As I mentioned last year this service is one which tends to be overlooked by internal stations. External stations continue to evince grest interest in this beacon and I would like to say an especia l thank you to Eric, .the beacon co-ordinator. 2 Metre Re peat e r. I This facility has, in the main, served us well. We must thank OMs Roland and Rodney for this convenience. VHF Activities. Rodney, (Z21AF/R) has achieved some notable DX on 2 a nd 6 and a separa te r .e­ port will be seen shortly in QUA. · .... -~ . .. ~lJA , Ma rch, .1993 on • . .•.• . ••• •• Packet . This mode might be b etter served if mo re stations took part. :I;t is hoped t~at we may have mor e news on this in the near future. A'Nards. The e ntra nce to the shack of Roland (Z21HF)· is now g r aced by the St evenson Shield. Again congr atula tions . Thanks. I would like t o thank the outgoing committee a n d a ll t hose other members Who ha ve contributed much throughout the year. Paddy Ogle Cna irma n. • ••••••• MAY UPDATE in r espect of the above r e p ort. The following is a short revie w of the Branch since the above r eport sub­ mitted in Mar ch . Th e re has been no major change in membe rsa ip. The following were e lected to the committee for the year 1993/4: Paddy (Z21 AY) Chairma n; Verna (Z21GR) Secretary; Rodn e y (Z21AF/R) ; Ad ria n (Z21KA/R) ; Roland (Z21HF) and Todd (Z21HZ/R) . Judy va n Leeuwen was co-opted as Tr easure r a n d Alan , (Z21HL) continues as a press e d volunteer ~SL Ma nager . Eric (Z21BC/R) continues in the vital post of Beacon Co- ordinator . Ther e has b een little trouble with the 2 metre Repeater apar t from one day when we hap a visitor f r om H~rare!! Thi s equipment continues under the care of Roland and Rodney . Two metr es is increasingly active with the new stations maintaining vigorous interest. We have adopted a convention of listening out on 2 at 1900 hrs and 2000 hrs for the convenience and possible assistance t o members . The s ole oper ator on 6 metr es is still Rodney (Z21AF/R) . Rece nt space activity engen2red a lot of e nthus i asm , the main focus being Rodney. A spin off from this is that t h e promised material from Harare will b'e most a cceptable . ' ' The Sa tellite field inte rlocks with Facket a nd in this area we have b een fortunate i n the knowledge gained by Roland (Z21HF) . There are plans afoot, if that is the right t e rm , t o expand in this sphere . YL Judy has given us the opportunity to meet in a new ve nue and it is hoped that the new s ite will prove amenable to members in future. It , t he City Club, is very central. New members have g ive n a fillup to the bra nch and we hope that we will become mor e vibrant in a ll areas of the h obby . Equally we hope that we will influence , in a progressive manner, the Society as a whole . Pad'ny (Z21 AY) .

%%r~%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Dave Drummond (Z21AR)) We a r e sorry to l earn of the acc'i dent which be fell Dave , when s ome unit of equipme n t , which he has ~ = pairing, blew up -- causing inj uries to his face and his arm. He was flown down from 9J2- l a nd t o Bulawa yo for hospitalisati on . We understand he is now much better and will be r eturning to Zambia f or a f ew mo nths , b e for e he r e turns per manently to his r anch at We st Ni cholson . Keep well now; =nave . . .. . :QUB Supple'ment .to QUA ·, March, 1993 on •••••• ' .. ~· suddenly we had two within half an hour of each other. so Maarten Stakesby-Lewis (Z21GY)' is going to give it 'a bash 1 • Mal Geddes was the other volunteer who said he would do it, if no one else ca me forward. Information froi'n He.adquartersy-----

Bull.etins: All As ian DX ContP.st. - Bulletins are broadcast every second The J ARL have advised that the above Sunday in the month by Headquarters Contest t akes place for the 4& hour and both the Mashonaland and Matabele­ period OO~OUTC to 2400UTC as follows: land Branches. These pulletins com­ mence at 07.30 UTC and normally orig­ C~ - Saturday 19th to Sunday 20th inate on 7050 kHz SSB. June, 1993

Wh~n possible relays are given in the Phone - Saturday 4th September to 80, 20 and 2 metre bands as follows: Sunday 5th September, 1993. Harare 8o= · +-3710 kHz AM Further details, if required , may be 20= +-14272 kHz SSE secured from Headquarters. 2= R2 repeater output ••••••••••••••••••••• 145. 650 MH~ FM Mocambique Callsigns. Bulawayo 2= R2 Rep~ater Listen for any announcement on pos­ There has been a change in the call­ signs allocated in Mocambique. sible frequency changes. Ama teurs there have been operating Callsig~s - Headquarters Z21JHQ with the C9 prefix + a 3 letter suf­ Mashonaland Z21JHE fix. Matabeleland Z21JBY This has now been·changed to C9 + a number + g suffix (at present a Bulletin dates: single letter). June 13th C91 is Maputo and environs July 11th C92 is Gaza and Inhambane August 8th September 12th C93 is Sosala and Manica C94 is Nampula and Zambe.cia October lOth · November 14th C95 is Tete a nd Niasa C96 is Cabo ••••••••••••••••• C97, C98, C99 is for VHF only Available to Members . C9¢ is commemorative & special stations (As a matter of interest the ITU ruling Badges @ each , $3.00 is that callsigns must commence with Log Books @ each ~5 .00 one or two characters (a letter fol­ QSL Cards - free - some still lowed by a qigit, or a digit followed available.· by a letter), then a single digit and, Library - Contact Librarian lastly, a group of not more than three Eric Christer (Z21FO) ' letters.) (A supplementary sheet of books available will be attached to this •••••••••••••••••••• issue. Page 3 - please attach it U.K. Callsigns being reviewed. "The to the Library supplement sent to Radiocommunications Agency (the U.K. ydu with the last QUB . ) Licensing Authority) is reviewing its ······~··· ·· ···· · ·· policy on special or personali~ed call­ signs, and may lift the ban on the _qsL Bureau. holding of more than one callsign per In reply to the appeal in the last person. The RSGB has been asked to issue we had two volunteers offer prepa re a paper outlining. the level of the~r services to the Bttreau. When demand for this and what sort of spe­ we thought no one would come forward, cial calls would be required." ...... QUB S upp l ~me n t t o QUA, Ma rc h , 1 993 on ••• •

SWAZI HAMS CONTACT SPACEMEN •

At a b out 7 . 30 on Fri day e vening the 30th Ap r i l , four me mbers of the Si sekelo Hi gh School Amat e ur .Radi o Socie ty mad e con t a ct with t he astr o­ nauts aboard the Ame rica n (NASA) s pac e shuttle " Columbia " . Althoug h r e c eptio n o f the shuttle ' s sig nal was di sappoi nting - on ly on e brief call wa s heard - the c ommande r o f Columbia (St eve Nagel ) repor ted that he had picked up the Sisek el o signals without difficu l ty. Th e atmosphe r e in the cla s sroom adjoining t he Sise k e l o Ama t e ur Ra di o Club ' s " shack" was t e n se t hr ough out the nine - minu t e - l ong "window " during whi ch r a dio c ont a ct wa s poss i ble - g iven the position of t he shuttle ' A specia l c ompute r progr a m was r unning which clea rly showe d the mo ve ­ ment o f Columbia as it a pproached a n d f l e w ove r Swa zila n d - a t an alti t u d e o f 300 kilome tre s : muc h t o the intens e intere st o f t he nearly one hun dred childr e n a nd parents wh o a tte nded the eve nt . J • Th e four op e r ator s invol ved included thr ee of t he thi r t een Sisekelopupils wh o pa ssed the ne w Swaziland Restr icte d Ama teur Ra dio Ex a mi na t i on in December , 1992 : Njabulo S ' gu dl a , Lucky Hl ope, a nd Ni ck Bode n . Cl ub cha i r man Robin Seal was the c ontact initia t or .

The r e l a tive glumn ess with wh i ch t h e qu a lity of the c o n t ~ c t with Columbia was viewed was soon di ssi pat ed wh e n it be came known t hat t here wa s a b a ck- up a rra ngemen t , a nd t hat Mission .Control - St a t esi de - had decided t o a u t horise t he shu ttle to make a second a t tempt t o c on tact Si sekel o . This was a rra ng ed for the following e v e ning . And t h us i t was~ At 15. 58 hrs UCT on Saturday lst Ma y 1993, for s ome e i ght or nine gl orious minute s , Sisek e l o ~ ma t eu r Radi o Cl ub had a first­ r a te QSO with St e ve Nagel (N5RA 1V ) a b oa r d spa c e shuttle Col umb i a . Un ­ f ~ rtuna t e l y Nick a nd Luck y had l e f t on a s ch ool t rip (the School brok e up f or Ma y holidays on the 30 t h Ap ril) a n d wer e una ble to p a rticipate . Thus t he fort una t e trio who actua lly t alk ed t o t he s huttle . we r e : Nja bulo , Pe t e r a n d Robin . History ha s be e n made a t t he Sisekel o Hi gh S chool in Bi g Ben d , a n d t he Radi o Club j oins a s ma ll numb e r o f simila r school s ocie tie s t hr oughout the world which ha v e had t he privile ge of making c onta c t with on e or o the r of t he s pa c e shutt l es . The oper a tion was made pos s i b l e by t he h elp a nd co- ope r a tion of. t h e South Afri ca n Radi o Leagu e , SAREC , t he AARL a nd t h e NASA author itie s at the Joh ns on and Goddard Spa ce Fl i ght Centres in t he United St a tes . M. R. Sea l - ( 3DA¢AJ ) **** * ** * **** ( Tha nks Robin - the ma iled version sti l l n o t to hand . P Our Fax termi na l n ow. working 1000,..6 ,, a n d a plea sure ! Ed. ) %%%%%%%1o 't.%%%%C:~%%% Snippet s of Ne ws t a k en f r om Ove r seas Ne ws She ets . F------r om JARL. 8J9SUN Oper a t ed with Sol a r Ene r gy ·r - An ev e n t celled t he "Gr and Sol a r Chal ­ l e nge in Hokurikm" was hel d f r om A. ug 22 t o Sept 5 l ast ye a r for the purpose o f ~ t u d ying t he p r oblems of e ne r gy a n d t he global e nvironme n t a nd a l s o pro­ posing a f uture en e r gy vi sion . It i s to be not e d t hat J ARL also pur p osely e s tabl ished a special sta­ tion with a c ommemo r ative call s i gn 8J9SUN , oper a ted i n public with a n elec- t r-ic s ol a r e ne r gy s our c e . . Ei ght sol a r pane l s , each measuring 12 ems in lengt h a n d 4o in wi dth, we r e depl oy e d f or the s t a tion a nd r ive r adio ~ ni ts we re used. Ab out 30 vis itor s came by daily a nd communica t e d not o nly with domestic sta t i ons , ' QUD. S uppleme~t to Q~, Mar~h, 1993 oa •• , •••• but also stations overseas in countries such as the U, S .A., canada f1 n-cr ____ ,. A.,~.~t~a.lia _which gave good publi city t o the event. Ha;P'py Birthday J A-S-lb! - Congr a tula tions l Thre e years have passed since · ·· Ama t eur Sa t ellite JAS -lb "Fuji No . 2 " was l aunched and thus f ar, i t ha s gone without a hitch, oper ating continuously. As · th~ r e has no t been any no ticeable det eriora tion of its s ola r battery, i ts oper a tion will be continued f or t he time be ing unless, of eourse , tae p erfor ma nce of the bat~ e r y shows signs of grad u ~ l weakening . Individua l Radi o St a tions in China .-"Opening of individua l amateur radio sfa tions has been per mitted a nd t he f irst such stati ons a re to operate a s from- t en o ' cl ock," the mo rning of Dec ember 22 , 1992 . The pr e fixes o f t heir cal l s i g ns are BA, BD·, BG . 11 Thi s was the t ext of a FAX to JARL f r om CRSA . Ei ght Million Radi o St ati ons in J apan.- Thi s is r evealed in the l a t est (Sept 1992 ) statistics fr om the J apanese Ministr y of Popts & Tel ec omms. Thank goodne s s no t all Amat e ur. Ama teurs come t hird with a count of 1,242,5501 The 1989 count wa s appr ox . 5 mi l lion and has risen by appr ox. l million a year • . From I ARU NE WS . Uganda Reintroduce s Amateur Radi o . - The Uganda P . T. C. ha~ advised I TU & · ~ARU t ha t a ban on Ama t eur Radi o comm unic a t~ o n s, i ciposed in the early - ~970 's, ha s ·be en l i f t ed. Vi s i t ing amateur oper at or s hol ding va lid licenc es . f r om t heir home a dmin­ ist r ati on will on applicati on, be give n a letter of authority t o operate in Uganda for t he dura tion of t heir sta y. Ne w Ze aland Joins CEPT.- Ne w Zeal a nd has beqome the first country outside t he· Euro'pean area t o par ticipate in thP. CEPT Amateur Radi o Common Lieenee arra ngement. Thr ough t he Eu r opean Confer ence of Postal and Te lecommuai• cati ons Adminis tra tions (CEPT) , the amateurs o f mor e than 20 European countries ar e abl e t o obt 0in l i cences f rom their own adminis tra tions tfta t are r e cognized, without the need f or fur t her p~erw o rk, in other partie1~ pating countries ••••••••••.• •• •••••• •• ••• ••• ••••••• LETTER FROM ARRL I NTERNATI ONAL PROGRAMS MANAGER . Na oki Akiyama , NXl L wr ot e on May 6th:-­ De ar Molly, Thank you, first of all, for keeping ARRL on the QUA and QUB maili•g list and informed of how our sister s ociety in Zimbabwe ie doing.

In the supplement to Issue 27-3, we were deligftted t o learn ta~ t ZARS puts QS T and other ARRL publications t o such a good uee. . We aleo n~tioed tha t the ZARS Library has few titles f or the begiftner a~d o~ly Ofte of ARRL OPERAT ING MANUAL. . This mus t s ometimes eause the lt~rartaft a aead. ache since ZA RS members m~ y not only peruse pocks at the Li~rarp b~t ~1so ha ve them mailed to their home f or loa n. ARRL would like to contribu,t e a f ew books to tae ZARS Libl"ary. Please accept the f ollowing which is be ing shipped t o you: I nterna tional "Amateur Rad i o Study Guide Understa nding Basi= El ectronics ARRL Ope r a ting Ma nua l (Fourth Edi tion ) .. ARRL · Ha ndbo ok for Radio Ama t eu rs (1993 Ed i t i on ) If you assure us t hat ZARS has no pr oblems in i mportiftgdonated books• ARRL will be gl ad to send you a few mor e t i tles. - ( . WHAT A WONDERFU'L GESTURE! I . SI NCERE TH ANKS TO ARRL!! ) . %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%?/cP!o%%%%%%% Q.UB Supple ment t o QU ~ ~ t-13. rch, 1993 on • •••• ...... • .·. l:' \.. i. ' ~ ~·. . . . .; PRESIDENT 1 S REPORT FOR THE YE ~ R 1992/93 .

. . • • • I • ; Counci l as usual, held six ti-monthly ~;etings during the year , these were arl = ~eld at czt· H o use~ Att~nd ~ rlce was no( a t all good , an average of sevei-lty·· -f·i:ve per cent at t e ridance of. elected membe r s for t he year at meetings ; some meetings only f our mem~e r s attended out of a possible seven . At the S.e·pt-ember meeting· Counci l used it's power of co-opting a r eplacement member f6llowing the unt i mery · pa~sing of Councillor John Little . Eric Ch r ister was then a Councillor f or the ba lance of the Soci ety year. I will make fu~~her me n t i on of _Councill or John under Silent Keys .

Duri ng t he year 1· as a membe r of I.A.R . U., we were r equired to vote on nine applications for membeTshi p of the Internati onal Amateur Ra dio Uni on. a nd also to agree to a n i ncr ease i n the Executive Commit tee of Regi on 1, a nd the number to eff ect a quorum at its meetings . Of i nterest, one of the new applicants for member ship was T~e Albani a n Amateur Ra dio Associ ation , a nd i n t}lrn they wrote to the Society t o thank us for our sup port. Thi s ~s t~e f~rst time , to my knowledge, tha t we have recei ved correspondence of this· ki nd. I The Society produced a n up dated Call List for 1993 issued licences~ Our thanks for this t o the Se cre t a r y o f Council , Molly. · The society Library oper a ted yery_ successfully by Er ic Christer, has con­ tinued with new edit i o ns ~ A iist of books was c i rculated in a S}lpple­ ment to the January 1993 iss ue. of QUB~ On tehalf of the Society and Mem­ bers , we thank you , Eric, for thi s work a nd stor age of the Society Li brary.

_Mem~-~-r .s.!:_:~F...::. The Me mbership of the Soci ety is as f ollows : L------ast Year This Year Differ e nce ' . ------Li cenced Members 75' 73 2 Members 31 28 3 Associate Members 18 17 1

Total 124 118 6

There are a ~~tal of 9d ~~~t~ur 5tationi licenced , with four Speci al soci ety Call Si gns ~ making a Grand Tctal o£. 94. We cur rently · have . 17 ~icencees that are not membe r s , this is the lar gest number I can r ecall after ser ving on council f or the past twenty three year s . ~~!:1~.-!. r~-~~~~!:!'-~ a nd Ten Metre Beacon·: Z?l'ANB . Bot h the Bulawayo and Harare Repeater s )).ave co~tinued t o operate dur ing t he year •. The S . A. R. L. r equest ed detai1ea ~nf ~~~ation early in th~ year on these repea t er s , for in clusi o n . ~ n the ~r~pting of a Repeater Gui de and . ~r e ­ quencies, for Southern A f r ica ~ jhe ten metre beacon had been operati ng - it had two k nown faults, _a nd. ot_hiers d'!-le : to_electric i ty l oa.d shedding a nd national fault i nterruptions, so caus'i ng many listene rs to b.e c oncerned when it was not heard. · · I was pl8ased to ha ve a r eport 'f r.~~ an ama.teur in the United States who said that Z21ANB is usuall y heard wh en the band appears t o be de~d . As a r esult it has been widely used i n some .class·es on H. F. pr opagation. Our thanks to Eric Cohen f or ke epi ng this beacon on· the airo .~l~~.! . .l<~Y-~ It is with regp.et that I have to r ecord three Membe rtll of the Socie ty passed to the ranks of Silent Keys during the year. J ohn L~ttle (Z~iH I ) A membe r o f Council passed away in J uly 1992. I quote f r om ' "t he -Sec ~ : e t ary- c f Counci l; s l etter 't'o John Is XYL. "It is r are to find .. , ..

.. , ..

.:. QUB Supplement to QUA , March, 1993 on •• • •• 'J 1 someone within ~he r a nks of a hobby who so quickly and willingly steps for­ ward to serve as did J ohn. He did much to assist the Society as a whole in the r elatively short time he was a Council Member, and his help was always greatly appreciated. " Bill Warren (Z21CW) On the 26th December, 1992. Bill was n ot very active fn-recent-years ~ -how e ver h e was a f~ithful Member of the So ciety. H~ qpe rated a fair am (") unt in the past, mainly in the Ct1 Wo rld Wide DX Cont~>ste. · over the year s he c onstructed many la~ce tower s for the amat e ur fra ternity, some o f these are still in u~e today . Ian McGreg or (ZSlA) In J a nuary 1993. Ian was orig ina lly licensed in North­ ern Rhodesia as VQ2, h e was later transfe rred to Southern Rhodesia and held the call ZElAU, until he moved to Cape Town. He ha d to write his R. A. E. in South Africa and became ZSlAU, and later ZSlA. Ian was a ~~ m ber, then an Associate Member of the Socie ty. He was always ready to help any ZARS member if he could. I wish, on behalf of the Socie ty, to exte nd sincere c ondol e nces t~ all their families and friends . Boy S c outs Jambore e-on - the-Air. Once again Jamboree Stations operated from Gordon Park, Bula wa y o , a s Z21JAM, Scout Provincial Head quarte rs Livingstone Scout Hall as Z2 3 J ~M , Marlborough Scouts went to Wor ld's View, Nyanga, to camp f or the weekend, as Z27JAM. Mutare Scout Hall opera t e d as Z25JAM and Hig hlands Scouts as Z24JAM. From reports Gordon Park we nt o ff ve ry well e uen thoug h water was in short supply , and the Nyanga team enjoyed ~ heir excursion. The Harare station was notat all successful as we only had a f e w Cubs at a time, wh o r eally do not understand wha t JOTA is a b out. I do think the Scout Movement should do more to get the Scouts ,. particularly the older members, involved. The Society cannot do any more tha n we currently undert ke without the Scouts , themselves , helping more . Construction Contests 1992.

The N~tional Contest for the Steve nson Shield was won by Roland Martin (Z21HF) for his entry of the Hi gh Frequency Double Sideband Portable Trans­ ceiver. It is worth noting tha t Roland's father was also a recipient of this award many years ba ck f or his Singl e Side Band Transceiver. The Runner- up was Rodney Short ·(Z21AF/R) for his Fre quency Counter and VHF Antenna Construction, for two and six metres~ At this sta ge I would like to mention that the Bob Sutton Novice Cup was given to encourage a first time entrant to the construction c ontests a nd not just for the Novice Amateur Licencee. At one stage the e ntrants were more of a professional class that tended to discourage the first time entrants . · Molly Merit Award. This was presented to Paddy Og l e (Z21AY) for his c onsta nt e fforts to maintain the Matabeleland Branch Membership and encourage new me mb e rs to the h obby of Amate.ur Radio, in 1991 . Runner up was Mal Ge ddes (Z23Jo' ) for his activity and operation on six metres from Zimbabwe during tha t year. A clean swee p o f the awa r ds going t o Mata bele land Branch. Congratulations t o all recipients. Genera! Ope rating on VHF a nd HF Again this year we ha v e had voice and Packet Radi o a c tivity on the United Sta tes Space Shuttle s and from the .Russian Space St a tion M. I . R. on the two me tre band. Packe t Radio activity on VHF in the Ha r a re area s e e ms to have dropped, but HF Packe t gaine d mo re inte rP.st in Bulawayo •• The HF b P- nds have had the ir mome nts of bla ckouts due t o s c lar f lare s, but ha ve . QUB Supplement to QUA , March, 1993 on •••• ...... 1 provided some good operating conditions , with several ·DXpeditions taking place around the world from rar ~ countries and islands .

Our monthly bulletins from H eadquarter~nd our two Bran ches , H~ve continued on the second Sunday each month , with r elays for interested Membe rs and Listeners locally and outside the country. Conclusion. I would like to t ake this opportunity to thank members of Council for their support during the year , and our Secr etary o f Council Molly for the work d on e on our behalf, which included the QSL Bur eau. Also e special thanks to Membe rs from outside Harare who have travelled to at~end this meeting. · I twish you all a successful meeting, a nd the incoming Council of the Radio Soci e ty a good year in office.

D. N. Kaye- Eddi e Pr eside n't Chairman of Council.

HEADQUARTERS OFFICE BEARF.RS FOR 1993/1994 .

· Preside nt & Chairman o£ Council Howar d Krame r (Z21EK) V-Pr esident & V.Chairman of C~uncil Des Sharp (Z21GH) Secretary of Council Molly He nderso n ( Z21JE) Headquarters Tr easure r Mike Goldberg (Z21DB) Council Memb e r s Dudle y Kaye-Eddie (Z22JE) - John Stool e (Z25J S) Mashonaland Br a nch Chair ma n Ben Ridge ( Z21BF.) Matabeleland Br anch Chairma n Paddy Ogle (Z21AY) QSL Mar.ager Maarte n S takes · Lewis (Z21GY) with M~lly Hen derson assisting • ...... • •••••••• Mr. Raymond Mutamb irwa in his capa city as Postmaster Gen eral was re-elected as our PATRON ...... • ••••••••• ~~94 Annual Gene r a l Meeting . The venue elected was Harare for t he third weekend:in May . - Please mark the 1994 AGM date as l5th/16tn May , i994 . ••••••••

Trophies Awarded. Molly Merit Award . This went to Eric Cohen (Z21BC/R) of Bulawayo . Nomination: " To be the recipie n t for 1992, I wish to nominate ERIC CCHEN (Z21BC/R) for his dedication to the maintena n ce of the Zimbabwe 10 metre beacon . ZARS has indeed b e en fortun~te in h3ving Eric as the Beacon Co - Ordinato~ and Custodi a n. His diligent a t ten­ . t ~o n to a ny r eport at a ny t i me , of the failure o( the beacon, would make him .a most worthy winner of ~ the Molly Merit Awa r d , " · · QUB Supplement to QUA , Marcrr, 1993 Qn •.• • •

Construction Contest . Bob Sutton Novice Trophy. Awarded to Alan Tayl or (Z21HL) - 14 MHz Receiver. Ken st·evenson Construct i on Shield . This was also awarded to Alan Taylor .(Z21HL) - 14 MHZ Rec~iv~r. ' Runner-Up - Eric Christer (Z21FO) - 7 MHz VFO . Iva n Wood ·(Z23JJ ) the judge, s a id he had had no hesitation in awa rding both Trophies to the 20 metre Re ceiver and asked for the agreement of the meeting which he r eceived.

Congr a tulations once again to the Matabeleland Br~nch for ma k ing a clean sweep of ALL the Trophies . %0/d%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%0/d'/n%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Mo r e O' Seas News . European DX- Contest . Run by DARC (the German Society) a nd usua lly known as the WAEDC Contest . This takes place as f0llows: CW 14/15 Aug ust 1200 Sat t o /2400 Sun (UTC) SSB 11/12 Sept ditto RTTY 13/14 Nov ditto.. (Dare advise that in 1994, the c ontest period will go back to the 4 8 h our format . ) The rules for this conte st are l ong and complicated a s they include rest periods , QTC- t r affic a nd the stipulated details t herefor;, the WAE c ountr y list and specia l scoring. So anyone wa nting further details should send 55c in stamps to Headquarte rs and a photostat copy will be s e nt to you .

This should also apply t o othe r conte sts mentioned elsewhere in th~s issue • ••••••• •• •••• From the RSGB QS L Column in RADCOM : " It is worth mentioning a few golden .tule s to be observed when using the RSGB bureau. 1. Please sort your outgoing ca rds a lphabetically except for t he ones~ going to the USA . They should be sorted according to call area number, the prefix letter can be i gnor e d . 2 . Use the recommended size of card - 5.5" x 3.5" . 3 . Please mark any • r outeing ' instructions clea rly. Provided these simple guideline s are followed you may rest assured that y our precious cards will b f;l dealt with efficiently. "

(In vie w of the immen ent change in our Bureau, we th~ght it an excellent idea to quot e this a s it has b een s o often printed ~n QUB . ) Also in the s ame column:

"All outgoing c a rds received a t the RSGB Ce n ·~ ral Burea u from UK amate ur~re 1 first checked against t he memb e rship list t o see i f the o riginator is a Member or not , If he is no t we put the cards to one side a nd write and invite the person to join. The Bureau is a j eal ously gua rded membership service and fre e -loaders a r e not e ncour aged. In mo st cases the lapse of memb ership is just a n · oversight gn d the matter is soon put right b ut in those instances whe r e the correspondence is i gnor ed , we destroy the cards . 11

All Bureaus return ~SLs sent for non- members, unless SASE 's a r e l odg ed with the Bureau. QUB Sup.pleme nt to QUA, March, 1993 on •••••

AT TIME OF GOI NG TO PRESS .

Nothing - we have ground .to a halt - see y o ~ next time .

Ex~ept I must say this whole issue has been a pleasure to

do , with a good lot of copy to get going with.

..

/ From: QUA/Bo x 2377/Hre .

TO:-----