Last updated: 2007-08-27

Notice: © 1994 to 2007, Chris R. Burger. This document may be reproduced as required for personal use, and may be freely referenced from other Web sites. However, publication elsewhere requires express written permission from the author.

The tables in the Band Country Survey can be very impersonal. I therefore decided to include a short profile on each of the operators. The intention was not only to put some "faces" to the callsigns, but also to give the reader an indication of how active each of these operators is. Clearly, while a few are retired and have enough time to play radio, the majority hold down jobs, raise families and generally spend time pursuing other interests. The odd spell of DXing certainly doesn't preclude balance!

During 2000, I decided to separate the profiles from the Survey. This document is the result. If you have more information on those listed that we might include, or if you can suggest additions, please let me know.

You'll notice from the descriptions that I know many of these operators personally. This is no coincidence; many years of rubbing shoulders in the pileups must eventually arouse some curiosity to become acquainted. Making the effort to meet the people behind the callsigns has allowed me to meet some of the most interesting people I know.

20 callsigns are listed in the various tables of the Band Country Survey. The resumes are of necessity brief. If you have information that we can include in your own or someone else's paragraph, please let me know.

3DA0CA: Jon Rudy went back to the USA, where he and his wife Carolyn completed their post-graduate studies. They are now in the Philippines, again as missionaries, and Jon is active as DU9/N0NM. During his stay of several years in Swaziland, he racked up respectable scores on each of the bands. He left just as 50 MHz started producing some sparks, and I dropped off a radio lent by Hal Lund ZS6WB. Unfortunately, the radio had a technical problem that prevented Jon from getting in on that action too.

V5/W8UVZ: George Taft operated for only a week or so in 1997, from a lighthouse near Luderitz. Shows what can be done! George is a top-notch low band DXer back home in Battle Creek, Michigan. He is also one of the three volunteers that make the Battle Creek Special antennas available to DXpeditions. Charlie Dewey W0CD and George Guerin K8GG complete the trio.

ZS1EL: Vidi la Grange is an old timer and a FOCer, who prefers CW ragchewing around '025. Most South Africans probably remember his previous callsign, ZS6AL. A concerted nagging effort convinced him to chase some DX, and he is rapidly improving his single band scores. His wife Hester-Ann ZS1ESU is also a keen CW operator. In 2001, they relocated to the Western Cape, where Hester is concentrating on churning out a few novels.

ZS4TX: Bernie van der Walt is my prime DXing and contesting buddy. He has a serious station outside Bloemfontein. The two of us represented Africa at WRTC 2000 in Slovenia in July 2000, and at WRTC 2002 in Helsinki. At WRTC 2006 in Brazil, Bernie lead the African team while I had to take care of other commitments. Bernie's emphasis has moved away from DXing to contesting in the past few years, but he is the only South African currently at the top of the DXCC Honor Roll. Previously, he was mainly active on the low bands. More recently, he has produced some spectacular action in contests on the high bands. Bernie holds DXCC and Worked all States on 1,8 MHz, but his crowning achievement must surely be his Worked All Zones award on that band. Bernie completed all zones within five years of starting on the band, becoming the first African to complete a full house. He is a director of CMS, a telecommunications company.

ZS5K: Greg Smith relocated to New Zealand as ZL3IX during 2000. He now has a reasonable station up and running. He concentrates mainly on 160 m, from an impressive station with only home-built and self-designed equipment. Greg taught me the basics of low band DXing and serious low band contesting in the late Eighties, when he was ZS6BPL. He was the first to show the way in major contest efforts on 7 MHz from this part of the world, using a full-sized Yagi.

ZS5LB: During 1999, Bert Lausecker moved into a retirement home. Bert was the first South African with 5BDXCC, 5BWAS and 5BWAZ. He followed up this feat by being the first to earn DXCC, WAS and even All Africa Award on 1,8 MHz. For the first few years of this survey, Bert was the undisputed leader in the 10 Band and low band categories. As the area around his house has develooped, Bert has had to resort to smaller and smaller antennas. He is now restricted to a small loop antenna with a diameter of about 1 m, below roof level. He has reasonable success on the bands between 10 and 25 MHz, and continues to nibble away at his "wanted list". There is a profile of Bert elsewhere on this Site, listing some of his operating achievements.

ZS6AJD: Tom Curry recently got his Quad back up, and has been chasing DX around the bands again. Tom squeezes his DXing into a busy retirement. Tom's track record includes having been a prime contender (with ZS5LB) for early 5BDXCCs, a quest that was interrupted by a transfer to the then Rhodesia. He is a retired broadcast station engineer, who home-brews most of his station accessories.

ZS6AOO: Jim de Almeida was very active on the five "classic" bands, on SSB only. Some years ago, he emigrated to Portugal with his bride, and his scores have been stationary for some years. Even now, his scores on several bands are not to be sneered at.

ZS6AVM: Norman Scully died in December 1999, after a very successful WARC band DXing career. His scores will stand proud for many years to come. His son Dave now uses the same callsign, and is also fairly active on the HF bands. Perhaps a new ZS6AVM listing will emerge in due course.

ZS6AXT: Ivo Chladek is a retired RF engineer and a UHF moonbounce afficionado, who regularly descends to the depths of LF to make an appearance on 50 MHz. While the solar cycle is up, he is almost always on 50,110, enjoying full time ham radio. Ivo became the second African ever to obtain DXCC on 50 MHz.

ZS6BTE: Despite having a day job, Ian Roberts has entered the 50 MHz listing from scratch during Cycle 23. He is also interested in Moonbounce. I can attest from personal experience that Ian also plays a mean game of squash.

ZS6EU: Franz is now active only with a QRP transmitter, and only on CW. He was once one of South Africa's prime low band DXers, when his callsign was ZS5MY. Franz became interested in radio around 1950. He was an active short wave listener from the early Fifties, and learned Morse in the Austrian military around 1958. After two decades pursuing other interests (of the female persuasion...), Franz was licenced as ZS5MY in 1979. He earned DXCC in 1979, 5BDXCC in 1986, 5BWAS in 1988 and 5BWAZ in 1989. The first half of the Eighties were spent in Swaziland as 3DA0BK, operating 3,5 to 50 MHz and handing out a lot of DX in the process. He moved to Nelspruit in 1995, but only became active again as ZS6EU in 2005. He is now active with an Elecraft K2, a CW-only radio with less than 10 W output.

ZS6EZ: When not entangled in generating amateur radio paperwork like this, I work as engineer and pilot. I spent many years with Nanoteq, an information security systems provider, and am now with the CSIR, our national research organisation. I am also a perennial part-time student, having been enrolled at university for something like 18 years in a variety of fields including engineering, language and psychology. I run a small flying school and fly as a volunteer pilot for the South African Air Force. My amateur radio has had to take a back seat to the grim reality of making a living, but I hope to get back into the odd bit of contesting again one day. My hilltop station is being disassembled, as the site is being developed for a new housing estate. You can find more information about me and my pastimes on my Web site.

ZS6IR: Uli von Aswegen is a German citizen who spent some years in South Africa, and now mainly chases DX during semi-regular vacations in this country. His most recent visits were in July 2000 and March 2002. He is a science teacher, and was recently heard from TF and ZL. Uli sometimes uses my station when in this country. He holds 5BDXCC and a number of other awards.

ZS6KR: Hans Kappetijn runs his own one-man electronics firm, developing various subsystems and gadgets. He claims to be semi-retired. He chases DX mainly on CW, on the "classic" bands. He has achieved excellent results, including 5BDXCC, with a very modest station. Hans is one of the top contenders for CW DXCC in South Africa.

ZS6LW: Until 2002, Van van der Watt was the first South African ever to have worked all countries. He occupied the top spot on the DXCC Honor Roll in the Eighties. Sadly, he died in July 2000. His interest in HF DXing waned in the last years of his life, but he did remain reasonably active on 50 MHz. He retained a Top Six spot on this band until several months after his death. Unfortunately, he did not keep track of his single-band scores on HF. He would surely have been a serious contender on some bands, especially 14, 21 and 28 MHz.

ZS6NK: Paul Smit came out of retirement recently, to resume his duties as a colonel in the Air Force. His station has Moonbounce capability on 50 and 144 MHz. His Pietersburg location is some 300 km north of most of us, just enough to drive us all wild with envy when propagation just doesn't make it down to Gauteng on 50 MHz. Paul was the fourth South African, and the sixth African overall, to claim DXCC on 50 MHz.

ZS6P: Tjerk Lammers runs an Automotive Climate Control Centre ("car air conditioner workshop" to us normal folks), and plays DX from an impressive station near Pretoria. A 5BDXCC hangs on his wall. I have guest-operated his station on 7 MHz, and can testify that the 3 element Yagi at 30 m works. He is mainly on Phone, and also dabbles in contesting. He is active in amateur radio politics, as past chairman of the local radio club and Awards and Contest Manager of the South African Radio League.

ZS6UT: Ed Willers is mainly on CW and on 160 m, but has recently developed an interest in 50 MHz too. He lives near Pretoria, and is retired from Eskom, the national power utility.

ZS6WB: Hal Lund retired in phases starting in 2000. For many years, he worked in the computer consumables and peripherals business. For some time, he ran the SARL's QSL bureau from his home. His main operating interest is 50 MHz, which he monitors continuously during the higher parts of the sunspot cycle. When the solar cycle winds down, he plays on HF too. Indeed, he is now fourth on the all-band listings on the Band Country Survey. Hal is a long-time regular on the 50 MHz band, dating back to many Caribbean DXpeditions in the Sixties. In 1998, he became the first African to obtain DXCC on 50 MHz, despite stiff competition from stations further north. Hal lived on my farm for about five years, and our antennas were separated by only about 50 m. Before that, we spent many evenings planning DXploits over a meal. Hal is a source of equipment and assistance for many 50 MHz operations. In the past, activity has happened in exotic spots like 3DA, 7P, A2, C9, V5, ZD7, ZD8, ZS0, ZS8 and ZS9, mainly through Hal's nagging and assistance. Hal's next target is to see if he can get to 140 countries confirmed on 50 MHz. It's clearly a pathological state he's in: This target was set just a few days after passing his previous target of 130! Nowadays, Hal lives in a small apartment, but occasionally operates from neighbouring countries on VHF. He also runs a Web site devoted to digital-mode EME operations in Africa.

ZS6YQ (later ZS6M): Bushy Roode died in May 2005, a few weeks after a massive stroke. He had spent most of his operating time on SSB. On the 2000 DXCC Honor Roll, he was the top South African on Phone and second on Mixed. He was mainly a 14 MHz specialist, as can be seen from his score--only two countries remained unworked on that band. On SSB, Bushy worked all countries, but never managed to get DXCC credit for his Yemen contact. He was a collector and restorer of Collins equipment, and only started playing with bells-and-whistles Icom stuff in his last few years. Bushy was as active in his church and its welfare programme as he was on amateur radio.

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