No 526 October 2012 The photograph in HF Happenings 525 was taken at the Retief South African Radio League Rock at Kerkenberg near Harrismith (on the R74 past the Suid-Afrikaanse Radioliga Sterkfontein Dam). Debora, the eldest daughter of Piet Retief, Member Society of the In- wrote his name and the date (12 November 1837) on the rock in cele- bration of his 57th birthday. On 14 November 1837, the first 18 wag- ternational Amateur Radio ons descended the Drakensburg into Natal. Union since 1925 www.sarl.org.za; www.iaru.org Scouts and Scouters take to the Airwaves www.iaru-r1.org for the 55th Jamboree on the Air Each year, more than 500 000 Scouts in more than 100 countries take to the airwaves on the third full weekend in October, and this year on 20 and 21 October, it will be no different. The Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) is an annual Scouting and Amateur Radio event spon- sored by the World Scout Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement where Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from all over the world speak to each other via Amateur Ra- dio. Since 1958, when the first Jamboree on the Air was held, millions of Scouts have met through this event. Many contacts made during JOTA have resulted in pen pal relationships and links between Scout troops that have lasted many years. Moreover, the Voortrekkers in South Africa and Namibia will participate in CQ Hou Koers on 20 October. SARL National Field Day The aim of the SARL National Field Day is to work as many sta- tions as possible and in doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the capabilities of Amateur Radio. The second leg of the Field Day will take place between 10:00 UTC on Saturday 17 November and 10:00 UTC on Sunday 18 November 2012 with activity on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres using Phone, CW "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 2 October 2012 HF Happenings and Digital modes. Phone, CW and Digital modes on a October band are considered as separate bands. A station may be worked only once per band under this rule. There is 2 to 7 – Clover Aardklop National Arts festival, Potchefstroom no limitation to the number of transmitters or receiv- 4 – SARL 80 m QSO Party; World ers that may be employed. The use of more than one Habitat Day transmitter at the same time on a single band-mode is 7 – RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest prohibited. 8 – Schools open You and/or your Club can participate as fol- 13 and 14 – AWA Valve QSO Party lows: 18 – Radio Amateur Examination 20 – Spring QRP Contest; National Class A – Field Station –Multi operator: Such Marine Day stations must be located in places that are not regular 20 – CQ Hou Koers – Voortrekkers station locations and must comply with the require- 20 and 21 – Jamboree on the Air / ments of a field station as defined in the general sec- Jamboree on the Internet tion of rules. A single licensee or trustee for the en- 22 and 23 – Rose Festival, Bloem- try is responsible for the group entry. All equipment fontein 26 to 28 – Classic Music Festival, (including antennas) must lie within a circle whose di- Franschhoek ameter does not exceed 500 metres. All contacts 27 and 28 – CQ WW DX SSB Contest must be made with transmitter(s) and receiver(s) op- 27 to 29 – Night Ride and Full Moon erating independent of commercial power mains. Hikes, Stellenbosch Class B – Field Station –Multi operator - QRP: 31 Oct to 3 Nov – Cape Town Mili- All contacts must be made using an output power of 5 tary Tattoo Watts or less. Other provisions are the same as Class A. Class C – Field Station –Single Operator: Such stations must be located in places that are not regular station locations and must comply with the requirements of a field station as defined in the general section of rules. All equipment (including antennas) must lie within a circle whose diameter does not exceed 500 metres. All contacts must be made with transmitter(s) and receiver(s) operating independent of commercial power mains. Class D – Field Station –Single Operator - QRP: All contacts must be made using an out- put power of 5 Watts or less. Other provisions are the same as Class C. Class E - General stations: Stations operating from permanent or licensed station loca- tions using commercial power. Only one call sign per station is permitted. In the case of multi-operator stations using more than one transmitter, all operators shall use the same call sign. Establishment of Stations. Equipment for Field Stations may only be set up in the 24 hours prior to the starting time of the contest. This restriction applies to antennas, masts, tow- ers and transmitting equipment, but excludes accommodation such as a caravan, tent, etc. Once a Field Station has been established at a site, it may not move to an alternative site after the contest starts. The exchange is the number of transmitters, Field Day operating Class and Province. Ex- amples - A three-transmitter class A field station in Gauteng would send "3A GP" on CW or "3 Alpha - Golf Papa" on Phone. A general station using a single transceiver located in Cape Town would give the following exchange “1E WC” on CW or “1 Echo – Whiskey Charlie” on phone. DX stations send operating class and the term DX (i.e. “1E DX”). Refer to general section for two letter abbreviations for South African provinces. Scores are based on the total number of QSO points x the power multiplier x the num- ber of provinces worked x the class multiplier. QSO Points: Each contact with a station from one of the South African provinces counts for five points. Each DX contact counts one point. "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 3 October 2012 HF Happenings Power multipliers: X 6: Power 5 watts or less; X 4: Power 50 watts or less; X 2: Power 100 watts or less or X 1: Power greater than 100 watt. The power multiplier for an entry is de- termined by the maximum output power used by any transmitter used to complete any contact during the event. Provinces worked multiplier: A multiplier of one for each one of the 9 South African provinces worked (regardless of band) and one extra for working any station outside of the 9 provinces i.e. DX. Refer to general rules para. 17 Class multiplier: General stations, class multiplier of 1; Field stations single & multi, class multiplier of 3 Miscellaneous Rules  A person may not contact for QSO credit any station from which they also participate.  A transmitter/receiver/transceiver used to contact one or more Field Day stations may not subsequently be used under any other call sign to participate in Field Day.  Batteries may be charged while in use. The batteries must be charged from a power source other than commercial power mains.  All stations for a single entry must be operated under one call sign Log and summary sheets must be sent by e-mail to [email protected] or by post to the SARL National Field Day, Box 12104, Brandhof, 9324. The closing date for log submissions is 26 November 2012. Make this a Club weekend and set-up in a local park or caravan park or somewhere away from home! My Antenna is BIGGER than yours! Here is something that is both a sight and a sound, Tonno, ES5TV, has finally completed his 5-year project of building a double H-frame 15 metre antenna array http://pontu.eenet.ee/es5tv/. The antenna system has 8 pairs of 5-element Optibeam OB5-15 monoband Yagis, separated by 12 metres horizontally and 14 metres vertically, with the highest at 64 metres above the ground. Are there any bigger 15 metre arrays out there? Tonno is now trying 15 metre EME (no kidding!) but will have to wait when the MUF is low enough for the iono- sphere to pass 21 MHz signals. Operating Tip When you configure your logging software, pay particular attention to your category - any connection to the Internet for spotting information requires you to enter as Assisted or Unlimited. Do not be embarrassed by mistakenly entering the wrong category! Recognising that most casual participants do enter in the Assisted and Unlimited categories, the popular N1MM contest logging software http://n1mm.hamdocs.com/tiki-index.php now uses Single-Op Assisted as its default category. Word to the Wise 90 minutes - this is the length of a typical human sleep cycle from the first loss of con- sciousness, through rapid-eye-movement (REM) deep sleep, and back to shallow sleep. Timing your contest naps to last for about 90 minutes avoids the grogginess of being awakened mid- cycle. This eham.net article http://www.contesting.com/articles/37?cookietest=1 by K5ZD goes in to some detail about how to manage those all-important mid-contest Zs - and we are not talk- ing about South Africa! "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 4 October 2012 HF Happenings African DX Uganda, 5X. Nick, G3RWF, will starting 15 October, be on the bands as 5X1NH for two months from Fort Portal in Western Uganda (WW Loc. KJ50co) on CW only. He is still looking for advice for a 160 m antenna. He has some 12 m masts and can reach a maximum of 15 m. There are no trees, neither space for beverage antennas, e-mail [email protected]. Nick wants to take part in the CQ WW DX CW Contest (24 and 25 November) and the ARRL 10 M Contest (8 and 9 December). QSL via home call, only direct. Morocco, CN. Abdou, CN8VO, Jos, (PD0JOS) CN2OS, and Francois, (ON4LO) CN2LO, plan to be active until 21 October on the occasion of the "Concert for Tolerance" in Agadir with the special call sign 5D7AT. Activities will take place on 80 – 10 m. QSL via ON4LO. Zambia, 9J. Gert, ZS6AYU, plans to be active as 9J2GR between 19 and 22 October 2012 from "Mama Out of Africa", near Livingstone, Zambia. Activity will be on 40 to 10 metre CW with a R7000 vertical and 100 W. Hopefully active from 15:00 UTC on 19 October until 05:00 UTC on 22 October, then onto Zimbabwe. QSL via ZS6AYU, direct or via the SARL bureau. Zimbabwe, Z2 Gert, ZS6AYU, will be active holiday style from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, from 15:00 UTC 22 October till 04:00 UTC 25 October 2012, using the call sign Z21GF. He will be active on 40 to 10 m with a Cushcraft R7000 Vertical, FT857D with linear (400 W), CW only, propagation permitting. QSL via ZS6AYU, direct or SARL QSL bureau. Ceuta, EA9. Mek, SP7VC, will be active as EA9/SP7VC from Ceuta between 22 and 28 October 2012. Activity will be holiday style (he will also be fishing). Operation will be on 160 to 10 m us- ing SSB, including the CQ WW SSB Contest as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. Equip- ment consists of a IC-746, HEX beam by SP7IDX technology, R-7000 vertical, Inv L for 160 and 80 m and a K9AY for receiving. QSL direct and LoTW to home call. Burundi, 9U. With the call sign 9U4U pending, an international team from Belgium, the Nether- lands and Scotland plan an activity from Burundi during the second half of February 2013. They plan for ten operators with four stations on air. A website with full details/plans is expected soon. The DXpedition is organised by the "Belgian Rockall Team". African Islands Canary Islands, EA8, AF-004. Mike, DL3FCG will be active as EA8/DL3FCG from 15 to 28 Octo- ber from Teneriffa (DIE S-012, WLOTA 1276). With a beam and wire antennas for the low bands, he will be on 80 – 10 m using CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK and JT65. He plans to take part in the WAG and CQ WW SSB contests. More information is available on http://dl3fcg.blogspot.de Sindre, LA6OP, will be active from Tenerife, Canary Islands, as EA8/LA6OP from 25 October to 8 November operating holiday style from 20 to 10 metres using SSB and CW. QSL to his home call. [Thanks Tom, LA4LN] Rodrigues Island, 3B9, AF-017. Manfred, HB9ACA, Michel, HB9BOI, Herbert, HB9BOU, Eugen, HB9BQP, Nicolas, HB9CYF, Cedric, HB9HFN, Bertrand, HB9SLO, Fritz, HB9TNA, Alain, HB9TYJ, and Jacky, 3B8CF, are DXpeditioning to Rodrigues Island. With three stations on the air (1 x SSB, 1 x CW, 1 x RTTY and PSK) they plan to give everyone a chance to work them be- "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 5 October 2012 HF Happenings tween 16 and 23 October. The call sign will be 3B9SP. QSL via HB9ACA (OQRS will be set-up). Find more information on http://www.hb9fr.ch/3b9sp Diego Garcia Island, VQ9. Jim, VQ9JC, will be using another special prefix call sign, VQ92JC (nine two), from 20 October to 4 November 2012. The only drawback is that he is still operating Field Day style from a recreational park on Diego Garcia Island (AF-006, WLOTA 1645). His station currently is an FT-857 at 100 watts to a dipole at a height of 10 metres. Jim will be on during the upcoming CQ WW SSB contest, CQ zone 39. Jim is scheduled to return to the States shortly after the contest. QSL via ND9M, direct (QRZ.com). Special Event Stations Hungary. Members of the Hungarian International Police Association are active as HG20IPA un- til the end of November in celebration of the 20 years of the Hungarian section of IPA. Activity is on 160 to 6 metres using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via HA3JB. Belgium. Special Event Club station ON44CLM will be active on all bands and modes from 16 Oc- tober until 15 November 2012. Activity is to commemorate the 31st edition of the Canadian Lib- eration March, the year of liberation of Knokke in 1944. QSL via ON3AIM, direct or Bureau. Egypt. The Egyptian Radio Amateur Society for Development (ERASD) announces a special event "Egypt 2012 with call sign SU55J". This event gathers the Radio Amateurs from all over the world to enjoy the radio activity and the fabulous Egypt. We are waiting you from 18 - 22 Octo- ber 2012 in Cairo. The event is organised by ERASD in cooperation with the Arab Scout Region. The program includes the participation in the 55th World Scout Jamboree on the air (JOTA 55) and Egyptian Radio Amateur Station SU55J will work 24 hours a day; during the event, we make good programs to Exchange Experiences. And a lot of Amateur Radio activities, very nice Tourist program in old Cairo and nice Surprises! QSL SU55J via SM5AQD, direct only. For more details visit www.facebook.com/events/522556857770399/?context=create. To reg- ister please write to the ERASD Secretary, Said Kamel, SU1SK, e-mail [email protected] Contest Calendar This week's contests compiled by Bruce Horn, WA7BNM. The period covered is 8 to 15 October 2012. NCCC Sprint 02:30 - 03:00 UTC 12 October Mode: (see rules) Bands: (see rules) Classes: (none) Exchange: (see rules) Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x total mults Submit logs by: 14 October 2012 E-mail logs to: (none) Post log summary at: http://www.hornucopia.com/3830score/ Mail logs to: (none) Find rules at: http://www.ncccsprint.com/rules.html Makrothen RTTY Contest "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 6 October 2012 HF Happenings 00:00 - 07:59 UTC and 16:00 - 23:59 UTC 13 October and 08:00 - 15:59 UTC 14 October Mode: RTTY Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 m Classes: Single Op Single Xcvr - low or high; Single Op Multi-Xcvr - low or high; Multi-Op Single Xcvr - low or high; Multi-Op Multi-Xcvr - low or high Max power: HP: >100 watts; LP: 100 watts Exchange: 4-character grid square Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: 1 point per km distance between stations for each QSO; Multiply QSO points by 1,5 for 40 m QSOs or 2,0 for 80 m QSOs; 100 points per QSO between stations in same grid square (no other points or multiplier) Multipliers: (none) Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points Submit logs by: 15 November 2012 E-mail logs to: [email protected] Mail logs to: (none) Find rules at: http://home.arcor.de/waldemar.kebsch/The_Makrothen_Contest/TMC_Rules.html Oceania DX CW Contest 08:00 UTC 13 October to 08:00 UTC 14 October Mode: CW Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m Classes: Single Op All Band - low or high; Single Op Single Band - low or high; Multi-One; Multi- Two; Multi-Multi; SWL Max power: HP: 1 500 watts; LP: 100 watts Exchange: RST and serial no Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: 20 points per 160 m QSO; 10 points per 80 m QSO; 5 points per 40 m QSO; 1 point per 20 m QSO; 2 points per 15 m QSO; 3 points per 10 m QSO Multipliers: Each prefix once per band Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x total mults Submit logs by: 12 November 2012 E-mail logs to: [email protected] Web-to-Cabrillo form: http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/oceaniadxcw_cab.php Mail logs to: Oceania DX Contest, PO Box 21088, Little Lonsdale Street, Victoria 8011, Australia Find rules at: http://www.oceaniadxcontest.com/rules.pdf QRP ARCI Fall QSO Party 12:00 UTC 13 October to 24:00 UTC 14 October Mode: CW Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 m Classes: All Band; Single Band; High Bands; Low Bands Max operating hours: 24 Exchange: ARCI: RST, state, province or country and ARCI no; non-ARCI: RST, state, province or country and power out Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: 5 points per QSO with ARCI member; 4 points per non-member QSO with differ- ent continent; 2 points per non-member QSO with same continent Multipliers: States, once per band; VE Provinces, once per band; Countries, once per band "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 7 October 2012 HF Happenings Power Mult: >5 W = x 1, 1 – 5 W = x 7, 250 mW – 1 W = x 10, 55 – 250 mW = x 15, <55 mW = x 20 Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x (state mults and province mults and country mults) x power mult Submit logs by: 28 October 2012 E-mail logs to: [email protected] Mail logs to: ARCI Fall QSO Party, c/o Brian Campbell, VE3MGY, PO Box 135, 46485 Sparta Line, Sparta, Ontario N0L 2H0, Canada Find rules at: http://www.qrparci.org/content/view/8399/118/ Scandinavian Activity Contest, SSB 12:00 UTC 13 October to 12:00 UTC 14 October Mode: SSB Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10m Classes: Single Op Single Xmtr – QRP. Low or high; Single Op Single Xmtr Assisted; Single Op Single Band; Multi-Single; Multi-Multi Max power: HP: >100 watts; LP: 100 watts; QRP: 5 watts Exchange: RST and serial no Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: Scandinavian: 2 points per QSO with EU; Scandinavian: 3 points per QSO with non- EU; EU: 1 point per QSO with Scandinavian station; non-EU: 1 point per QSO with Scandinavian station on 20, 15, 10m; non-EU: 3 points per QSO with Scandinavian station on 80, 40m Multipliers: Scandinavian: Each DXCC country once per band; non-Scandinavian: Each Scandina- vian call area once per band Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x total mults Submit logs by: 28 October 2012 Upload log at: http://www.sactest.net/robot/ Mail logs to: (none) Find rules at: http://www.sactest.net/blog/rules// EU Autumn CW Sprint 16:00 – 19:59 UTC 13 October Mode: CW Bands: 80, 40, 20 m Classes: Single Op - low or high Max power: HP: >100 W; LP: 100W Exchange: your call sign, other station's call sign, serial no and name Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: 1 point per QSO Multipliers: (none) Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points Submit logs by: 28 October 2012 E-mail logs to: [email protected] Mail logs to: Karel Karmasin, OK2FD, Gen. Svobody 636, 674 01 Trebic, Czech Republic Find rules at: http://www.eu-sprint.com/index.php?page=140&lang=g FISTS Fall Sprint 17:00 – 21:00 UTC 13 October Mode: CW Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15, 10 m Classes: QRP; QRO; Club "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 8 October 2012 HF Happenings Max power: QRO: 100 watts QRP: 5 watts Exchange: FISTS: RST, state, province or country, first name and FISTS no; non-FISTS: RST, state, province or country, first name and power Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: 5 points per QSO with FIST member; FIST members: 2 points per QSO with non- FIST member Multipliers: Each US state and VE province once; Each DXCC country once Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x total mults Submit logs by: 12 November 2012 E-mail logs to: [email protected] Mail logs to: Gil Woodside, WA1LAD, 30 Hilltop Ave., West Warwick, RI 02893-2825, USA Find rules at: http://www.fists.org/sprints.html North American RTTY Sprint 00:00 – 04:00 UTC 14 October Mode: RTTY Bands: 80, 40, 20m Classes: Single Op – QRP, low or high Max operating hours: 4 hours Max power: HP: 1 500 watts; LP: 100 watts; QRP: 5 watts Exchange: other station's call, your call, serial no, your name and your state, province or country Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: NA station: 1 point per QSO; non-NA station: 1 point per QSO with an NA station Multipliers: Each US state (including KL7) once; Each VE province once; Each North American country (except W/VE) once Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x total mults Submit logs by: 20 October 2012 E-mail logs to: (see rules, web upload preferred) Upload log at: http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintlogsubmit.php Web-to-Cabrillo form: http://www.b4h.net/cabforms/nasprintrtty_cab.php Mail logs to: Ed Muns, W0YK, PO Box 1877, Los Gatos, CA 95031-1877, USA Find rules at: http://www.ncjweb.com/sprintrules.php SKCC Weekend Sprintathon 00:00 - 23:59 UTC 14 October Mode: CW Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 m Classes: (none) Exchange: RST, name, state, province or country and SKCC no or "NONE" Work stations: Once per band QSO Points: 1 point per QSO Bonus Points: (see rules) Multipliers: Each state, province or country once Score Calculation: Total score = (total QSO points x total mults) and bonus points Submit logs by: 21 October 2012 Post log summary at: http://wes.m0trn.com/submission.php Mail logs to: (none) Find rules at: http://www.skccgroup.com/operating_activities/weekend_sprintathon/ "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 9 October 2012 HF Happenings UBA ON CW Contest 06:00 – 09:00 UTC 14 October Mode: CW Bands: 80 m Only Classes: (none) Exchange: RS and serial no QSO Points: 3 points per QSO with Belgian station Multipliers: Each UBA Section Score Calculation: Total score = total QSO points x total mults Submit logs by: 4 November 2012 E-mail logs to: [email protected] Mail logs to: Leon Welters, ON5WL, Borgstraat 80, B-2580 Beerzel, Belgium Find rules at: http://www.uba.be/en/hf/contest-rules/on-contest Next Week's Contests NCCC Sprint, 02:30 - 03:00 UTC 19 October MCG Autumn Sprint, 14:00 - 18:00 UTC 19 October JARTS WW RTTY Contest, 00:00 UTC 20 October to 24:00 UTC 21 October 10-10 International Fall CW Contest, 00:01 UTC 20 October to 23:59 UTC 21 October New York QSO Party 14:00 UTC 20 October to 02:00 UTC 21 October Iowa QSO Party, 14:00 - 23:00 UTC 20 October Stew Perry Topband Challenge, 15:00 UTC 20 October to 15:00 UTC 21 October Worked All Germany Contest, 15:00 UTC 20 October to 14:59 UTC 21 October W/VE Islands QSO Party, 16:00 UTC 20 October to 23:59 UTC 21 October Feld Hell Sprint, 20:00 - 22:00 UTC 20 October Asia-Pacific Fall CW Sprint, 00:00 - 020:00 UTC 21 October Illinois QSO Party 17:00 UTC 21 October to 01:00 UTC 22 October Run for the Bacon QRP Contest, 01:00 - 03:00 UTC 22 October History This Week A look back at events that made history this week - compiled by the Summerland Ama- teur Radio Club of Lismore, NSW and Dennis, ZS4BS. The week starting Monday 8 October 2012. 1811 - The Juliana, the first steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation 1823 - Charles Macintosh of Scotland begins selling raincoats (Macs) 1825 – (10 Oct) Paul Kruger, Pres of ZAR (1883), Boer leader born 1846 - First public use of ether by Dr William Thomas Green Morton 1847 – (9 Oct) Stephanus J du Toit, South African theologist and journalist born 1865 - John Hyatts patents the billiard ball 1884 - George Eastman patents paper-strip photographic film 1878 - Edison Electric Light Company incorporated 1899 – (9 Oct) 1st British troops reaches Durban 1899 – (9 Oct) ZAR President Kruger routes British authorities’ ultimatum 1899 – (11 Oct) ZAR declare war on Great Britain 1899 - (11 Oct) A L "Oosh" Ochse, cricketer (no relation to A E Ochse, South African fast bowler) born 1899 – (14 Oct) Morning Post reporter Winston Churchill departs to South Africa "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies" Page 10 October 2012 HF Happenings 1902 – (11 Oct) Commencement of 1st Test Cricket between South Africa and Australia 1902 - (14 Oct) Stanley Coen, cricketer (South African batsman in two Tests 1927/28) born 1910 - (15 Oct) Xenophon Balaskas, cricketer (South African leg spinner of 30's), born 1914 - (13 Oct) Pro German Boers begin opposition of British authority in South Africa 1924 - (15 Oct) Nigel Green, actor (Skull, Tobruk, Ipcress File) born 1925 - (14 Oct) Phillip Tobias, palaeoanthropologist and 3 x Nobel Prize nominee (hominid fossil sites) born 1933 - (10 Oct) Gerald Masters, South African/British author (Pan Book of Dates) born 1935 - (9 Oct) Paul Barton, cricketer (NZ batsman in early 1960's, century v South Africa) born 1935 - (11 Oct) Frank Mitchell, cricketer (2 Tests for Eng then 3 for South Africa), dies 1939 - (11 Oct) Franklin A Sonn, union leader born 1951 - (12 Oct) Sally Little, LPGA golfer (1982 Dinah Shore) born 1953 - Samuel Bagno patents burglar alarms using ultrasonic or radio waves 1962 - (8 Oct) Solomon Linda, South African singer and composer, dies 1964 - (12 Oct) Fanie De Villers, cricketer (great South African pace bowler 1993) born 1966 - (10 Oct) Elana Meyer, [van Zyl], South Africa, runner (Olympics 92 silver) born 1982 - Mt Palomar Observatory is the first to detect Halley's comet on its 13th return 1985 – (11 Oct) Pres Reagan bans importation of South African Krugerrands 1989 – (15 Oct) President FW de Klerk frees Walter Sisulu & 4 other political prisoners 1993 – (15 Oct) Nelson Mandela and President F W de Klerk awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Items used with acknowledgement to The ARRL Letter, Amateur Radio Newsline, OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX Bulletin, DXNL Bulletin, ARRL DX News, WIA-News, the RSGB News and Southgate ARC "Amateur radio is the most exciting of all technological hobbies"