Visiting Cape Town area - ZS/WC

Calling participants in ZS/WC…

I’ll be arriving at Cape Town early on Sunday 1st March. I’m hoping to get in at least one activation before making my way to the hotel. Currently I plan on taking the gondola + hike to ZS/WC-043. If this goes well maybe I’ll then do e.g. ZS/WC-058. Any tips on this please?

I’ll most likely take my 817. Perhaps the summit is a bit busy for the 80m dipole, so likely 40m I think, and roll-up Slim JIM for 2m.

I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to activate again during the week (it’s a working visit). Even though my hotel is not so far from ZS/WC-931 it sounds like this one might not be such a great opportunity (for a postprandial expedition at least).

My flight out on the Saturday is late in the afternoon, so I might have a chance for a quick one.

One concern is that this might stymie my chances in the Challenge DV week. I’ve a feeling DMR and D-Star are the favoured digital modes in ZS. But if anyone has C4FM I’d very much like to get them into my log to claim any summits for the multiplier.

Any suggestions / advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Simon

Here’s an update before I head for the airport.

Baseline plan now is to grab a hire car and drive down the cape. I’m warned of queues to get into the park, so alerted time is very approximate. Intended summit is ZS/WC-965. Presuming the summit is not busy I’ll do >1 HF band, but I’ll also be looking for C4FM (and FM) on 2m.

Presuming the WX forecast is good I’ll head up the Table Mountain cable car on the day I fly out, Saturday 7th, to activate ZS/WC-043. If the WX is marginal when I get there I might stick at the edge of the AZ and just try for 2-m QSOs. I’m hoping for takers especially at the CTARC Mega Flea Market.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks to folk yesterday for getting me qualified on the summit. It was a fun day. I enjoyed some beautiful scenery and had a quick exploration of the old radar site. Only slightly pestered by the baboons at the car park!


Thanks to Sid et al. for coordinating on WhatsApp.

I’m now back in G. I did the second summit, ZS/WC-043, Maclear’s Beacon.

I’ve written two blog postings:

Many thanks to the ZS ops who helped me out so much, especially Sid and Adel.

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