"Firsts" on 50 MHz from South Africa Last updated 2007-01-13 This list is an attempt to assemble the "firsts" from South Africa with each of the countries (or "entities") on the DXCC list. Because the contacts span more than half a century (the earliest listed contact is in 1947!), many operators have died or otherwise left the scene. I am therefore under no illusion about the completeness or even correctness of the list. Received inputs will be gratefully received, and amended on a continuous basis. I published a first version in 2000-05, based on inputs from ZS6AXT, ZS6WB and others. The first version was a trial run to solicit more definite inputs. Some such inputs did arrive, and many claims have subsequently been updated. Around a dozen countries have subsequently been worked from South Africa for the first time. These claims are obviously a lot more likely to have been accurate. It has been my policy to publish the earliest contact of which details are known, even where it is known that earlier contacts took place. Such cases are marked with "***" or "???". The key is shown at the bottom of this document. I've had insight mainly into contacts by ZS6WB, ZS6AXT, ZS6BMS and ZS6PJS, so their callsigns are likely to predominate. The intention is not to publish false claims, but rather to encourage the true claimants to come forward. There are notes with several entries. In some cases, the existence of a contact has been claimed verbally or in writing, but no date or other information is available. In other cases, contacts are known to have taken place in previous solar cycles, but no information is to hand. Any help with any of these contacts will be especially appreciated. "(DXv)" indicates that the claim has been verified with the DX station's operator or from the original log, to ensure that no other stations made it into that station's log before the claimed one. Clearly, it is possible in some cases that other stations may have been active previously from the country concerned. Please let me know if you spot discrepancies. In the case of the former Yugoslavia, the DXCC start dates for the newly-formed countries are noted. Contacts with YU2, 3, 4 and 5 stations prior to the start dates count as Yugoslavia. No contacts are known to have taken place with YU4 and YU5 stations prior to their prefix changes (to T9 and Z3 respectively). Finally, several countries are known to have produced contacts before legal licencing was introduced. These rogue contacts can only be identified with cooperation from the DX end, and replaced with their legitimate counterparts. Known suspect contacts have been marked as such. In cases where an official start date is known (e.g. Spain), the start date is listed and only contacts after that date are shown. I will continue to make intermittent updates as information is received, and publish the document at the URL listed below: http://zs6ez.za.org/lists/50zs1st.txt Perhaps one fact deserves to be emphasised: The amazing level of achievement of the leading individuals. If one takes into account that this list includes every country known to have been worked from South Africa, and that in several cases the countries were not worked from Gauteng at all, the fact that two stations (ZS6WB and ZS6AXT) have missed no more than 15 of these countries must surely rate as remarkable! Chris R. Burger ZS6EZ chris@zs6ez.za.org Box 4485 Pretoria 0001 South Africa Country ZS stn Date UTC DX Station (operators in brackets) 1A ZS6WB 1990-04-28 11:01 1A0KM (I0JX) 3A ZS6PJS 2000-07-04 16:21 3A/OH2BC 3C ZS6AXT 1998-10-07 19:10 3C5I (KB2WF) (DXv) 3D *** ZS6AXT 1991-03-29 20:21 3D2PO 3DA ZS6WB 1988-12-31 05:00 3DA0/ZS6BCR (ZS6EZ) (DXv) Footnote 1 3V ZS6WB 2000-11-15 17:56 TS7N 4L ZS6AXT 2002-03-13 10:20 4L5O 4U ITU ZS6WB 1991-03-10 11:30 4U1ITU (G3SDL) (DXv) 4X ??? ZS6WB 1991-02-07 18:01 4X1IF 5A ZS6PJS 2000-08-31 17:06 5A1A (DXv) 5B ZS6LN 1979-03-02 16:35 5B4AZ 5H *** ZS6WB 1990-04-29 06:07 5H1HK (JE3MAS) 5N *** ZS6AXT 1989-03-25 14:10 KH6HSS/5N0 5R ZS6WB 2000-10-21 18:?? 5R8FU 5V ??? ZS6WB 1991-09-28 16:15 5V7JG (F2JD) 5W ZS6WB 1992-04-19 20:29 5W1KF (ZL2TPY) 5X ZS6KO 1959-04-15 ??:?? VQ5FS 5Z *** ZS6XJ 1982-03-04 19:39 5Z4CS (JE1JKL) Footnote 6 7P *** ZS6WB 1990-04-22 05:40 7P8EN (ZS4TX) (DXv) Footnote 1 7Q *** ZS6WB 1990-09-10 19:09 7Q7JA (Check date 90-04) 7X *** ZS6WB 1989-08-30 17:20 FD1NLQ/7X 8R ZS6AXT 1991-10-28 16:18 G4SMC/8R1 9A ZS6WB 1991-08-11 18:10 YU2EZA Start date 1991-06-26 9G ZS6AXT 2000-03-27 20:40 9G5ZW (OK2ZW) 9H ZS6WB 1988-03-09 17:32 9H1BT 9J *** ZS6AXT 1991-09-26 15:12 9J2HN (JK1UWY) 9K *** ZS6AXT 1992-03-30 14:58 9K2ZR (WA8MOA) 9Q ZS6WB 1989-10-14 19:34 9Q5EE (WA9INK) 9U ZS6PJS 2000-03-05 16:43 9U5D (SM5DIC) 9X ZS6AXT 1991-10-05 19:22 9X5NH (DK5SY) A2 ZS6WB 1987-07-18 13:35 A22KZ (G4EKZ/ZS4TX/ZS6EZ)(DXv) Note 1 A4 ZS6AXT 2000-11-03 16:20 A45ZN A6 ZS6AXT 1999-02-22 18:50 A61AH A7 ZS6NK 2002-10-30 15:49 A71AW AP ZS6AXT 1999-03-28 12:06 AP2WAP BV ZR1L 2000-04-29 09:30 BV2DP (DXv) C3 ZS6PJS 2000-05-08 15:39 C31HK C9 ZS6WB 1993-07-17 04:45 C93BB (ZR6REV) CE ??? ZS6AXT 1991-04-26 14:32 CE8ABF CN *** ZS6WB 1990-10-26 13:37 CN2CW CP ??? ZS6AXT 1991-04-27 12:55 CP6BY QSOs in cycle 21 CT *** ZS6WB 1988-09-14 16:49 CT1LN Footnote 5 CT3 ZS6BMS 1989-11-15 19:21 W6JKV/CT3 CU *** ZS6WB 1990-09-29 17:22 CU1EZ CX ZS6XJ 1982-04-25 13:23 CX8BE D6 ZS6WB 1991-03-10 19:12 D68KN (JG4CLV) DL ZS6WB 1989-02-23 11:26 DL8HCZ (Legality not confirmed) E3 ZS6WB 2001-10-30 19:07 E30NA (DL5NAM) EA ??? ZS6WB 1992-07-12 15:37 EH3ADW Start date 1992-07-10 EA6 ??? ZS6WB 1992-08-28 17:02 EH6ET Start date 1992-07-10 EA8 ??? ZS6WB 1998-10-16 19:21 EH8BPX Start date 1992-07-10 EA9 ??? ZS6AXT 1992-10-11 12:00 EH9IB Start date 1992-07-10 EI ??? ZS6LN 1980-04-04 11:10 EI6AS EK ZS6AXT 1998-04-06 10:19 EK6AD ER ZS6EZ 1999-05-16 14:40 ER1AAZ ES ZS6LN 1992-05-13 14:42 ES6QB ET ZS6AXT 2000-10-09 17:57 ET3VSC EU ZS6AXT 1999-03-17 11:41 EU5R EY ZS6AXT 2000-03-07 11:45 EY8CQ F ZS6WB 1988-04-21 14:30 F5GZ FM ZS4S 1991-11-23 14:28 FM5WD FR *** ZS6WB 1991-10-15 15:03 FR5QT FR/E ZS6WB 2003-12-?? ??:?? TO4E G ZS1B 1947-11-06 12:30 G5BY GD ZS6BMS 1989-02-25 12:16 GD3AHV GI ZS6XJ 1989-02-22 11:36 GI8YDZ GJ ZS6XJ 1988-08-28 17:17 GJ4ICD GM ZS6WB 1988-10-18 11:51 GM3WOJ GU ZS4NS 1989-03-26 12:33 GU2FRO GW ZS4TX/6 1988-10-08 16:05 GW4EAI HA ZS6NK 2006-12-27 11:41 HA3UU EME by WSJT Footnote 7 HB ??? ZS6WB 1990-03-19 17:07 HB9SJV Footnote 5 HB0 ZS6PJS 2000-08-31 17:12 HB0/DF0FA HV ZS6PJS 1998-11-06 13:05 HV5PUL HZ *** ZS6WB 1990-10-13 17:21 HZ1AB (some doubt about legality) I ZS6LN 1990-04-01 14:26 I0AKP IS0 ZS6WB 1990-06-11 16:03 IM0/IK2GSO J2 ZS6EZ 2000-10-07 18:14 J28NH (DXv) JA ZS1SW 1958-05-15 10:25 JA1AXE JX ZS6NK 2002-02-26 12:11 JX7DFA (LA7DFA) JY ZS6WB 1998-09-06 15:41 JY9NE (N3FNE) K ??? ZS6LN 1980-11-05 16:10 K8EFS QSOs in cycle 19? KH0 ZS6NK 2005-05-16 14:28 KH0/KH2K (JA1JRU) EME by WSJT KH2 ZS6NK 2005-01-02 01:14 KG6DX EME by WSJT KH6 ??? ZS6LN 1981-04-14 07:20 KH6JJL QSOs in cycle 19? KL ZS6NK 2004-11-26 00:15 NL7Z EME by WSJT KP2 ZS6BMS 1989-11-15 15:58 KP2A LA ZS6LN 1989-02-25 11:07 LA8WF LU ??? ZS6LN 1981-04-11 15:35 LU6HFI (possible earlier with LU3EX) LX ZS6PJS 1990-09-21 15:35 LX1JX LY ZS6WB 1999-07-05 16:37 LY2BA LZ ZS6PJS 1998-04-09 14:33 LZ1DP OD ??? ZS6WB 1992-03-06 16:38 OD5SK OE ZS6WB 1990-02-15 12:03 OE6AHD OH *** ZS6WB 1989-02-25 10:55 OH1YP OH0 ZS6NK 2005-08-27 01:16 OH0/SM5HJZ EME by WSJT See footnote 3 OK ZS6EZ 1998-10-10 16:44 OK1FFD OM ZS6AXT 1999-06-03 16:13 OM1TL ON ZS6AXT 1990-02-27 16:57 ON4KST OX ZS6NK 2005-03-28 02:15 OX3LX (OZ1DJJ) EME by WSJT OY *** ZS6WB 1991-08-07 17:21 OY/G4PIQ OZ ZS6AXT 1990-02-24 10:11 OZ4VV (DXv) PA ZS6XJ 1981-03-01 16:24 PA0CRA PJ8 ZS6WB 1991-11-23 13:52 PJ7/W6JKV PY ZS1EK 1991-04-06 11:39 PY5CC (DXv) QSOs in cycle 21? PY0 FdN ZS6AXT 1991-04-28 11:59 PY0FF PY0 Trin ZS6NK 2002-03-03 17:15 PW0T (PY5CC) RA1 ZS6AXT 2000-02-20 10:34 RN6HW S0 ZS6WB 1991-03-29 15:23 S01A Footnote 1 S5 ZS6WB 1991-07-21 16:26 YU3AN Start date 1991-06-26 S7 ZS6WB 1989-03-27 16:37 S79M (JI3ERV) S9 ZS6PJS 2000-03-02 19:41 S92AT (Op?) SM ZS6BMS 1989-03-19 12:28 SM7BAE SP ZS6AXT 1998-08-28 18:45 SP4MPB SU ZS6PJS 2000-09-22 20:07 SU1SK Footnote 2 SV ZS6XJ 1980-05-12 21:14 SZ2DH (SV1DH) SV5 ??? ZS6AXT/WB 1998-08-29 16:51 SV5BYR SV9 ZS6PJS 1993-10-14 16:32 SV9ANJ T7 ZS6BMS 1989-02-25 16:22 T77C T9 ZS6BTE 2000-04-04 : T97V TA ZS6WB 1989-09-29 17:06 TA4/G3SDL (DXv) TJ ZS6WB 1998-09-27 18:39 TJ1GD (SP----) TK ??? ZS6WB 1989-08-02 16:15 TK/PA0ERA (doubt about legality) TL ??? ZS6AXT/WB 1991-02-18 19:45 TL8MB (F1JKK) TR ??? ZS6WB 1989-03-07 19:55 TR8CA TT ZS6WB 2000-11-19 20:04 TT8DX TU ??? ZS6WB 1991-04-05 13:43 TU2MA UJ ZS6WB 2001-02-25 10:41 UK9AA (DXv) UN ZS6WB 1992-04-06 12:00 UL7GCC UT ZS6PJS 1998-05-05 14:36 UR5ZEL V2 ZS6BMS 1989-11-15 16:01 V29OA (W7LUU) V5 ??? ZS6WB 1986-12-28 03:10 ZS3Z (ZS6EZ) (DXv) QSOs in cycle 19 VE ??? ZS6GX 1947-11-13 ??:?? VE1AYL VK ??? ZS6LN 1981-05-15 09:22 VK6RO Footnote 4 VK9X ZS6AXT 1991-04-04 07:15 VK9X/VK6BFV VP8 Falk ZR5ADQ 2000-04-16 13:52 VP8DBL (G3WOS) (DXv) VR ZR5ADQ 2001-03-24 14:?? VR2XMT VU ZS6AXT 2002-02-21 15:06 VU2LO YB *** ZS6WB 1989-04-04 07:05 YC2EMK YI ZS6NK 2002-09-04 15:20 YI9OM YK ZS6WB 2001-02-11 18:50 YK9A (N7RO) (DXv) Footnote 1 YL ZS6PJS 1999-10-16 16:09 YL2JN YO *** ZS6AXT 1990-09-21 19:19 YO2IS YU ZS6WB 1991-03-10 12:00 YU3EA (Now S56A) YV *** ZS6WB 1991-04-27 12:41 YV4DDK QSOs in cycle 21 Z2 *** ZS6BMS 1989-04-01 16:48 Z23JO QSOs in cycle 21 Z3 ZS6AXT 1998-10-17 16:32 Z31JA ZA ZS6WB 1991-10-05 11:21 ZA1A (OH2BH) Footnote 1 ZB ZS6WB 1979-10-16 17:10 ZB2BL ZC4 ZS6XJ 1989-08-25 18:22 ZC4MK (G0KOM) (DXv) Footnote 1 ZD7 ZS6XJ 1982-04-06 19:33 ZD7BW ZD8 ZS6XJ 1982-04-06 21:50 ZD8TC ZL ZS6NK 2002-09-02 05:55 ZL3TY EME by WSJT ZP ??? ZS6AXT 1991-04-27 14:11 ZP6XDW QSOs in cycle 21 ZS8 ZS2BE 1989-12-08 17:04 ZS8MI (ZS6PT) (DXv) Footnote 1 152 countries Deleted: OK *** ZS6AXT/WB 1992-02-04 13:40 OK2PZW ZS0 ZS6WB 1990-12-02 00:00 ZS9Z/ZS1 (ZS6EZ) (DXv) Footnote 1 ZS9 *** ZS6AXT 1990-09-29 18:41 ZS9A (now V51C) 3 countries Key: *** means the claimed QSO might not be the first. ??? means the claimed QSO is definitely not the first--info needed! DXv means the claim was verified with DX (non-ZS) station's operator Leading South African stations ------------------------------ 59 ZS6WB 35 ZS6AXT 22 ZS6NK (ex ZS6PJS) 9 ZS6LN, ZS6XJ 7 ZS6BMS 3 ZS6EZ 2 ZR5ADQ 1 ZR1L ZS1B ZS1EK ZS1SW ZS2BE ZS4NS ZS4S ZS4TX ZS6BTE ZS6GX Thanks for contributions (in alphabetical order): G0KOM (ex ZC4MK), G3HBW (ex ZS6BMS), G3SDL, G3WOS (ex VP8DBL), JI1CQA, JE1JKL, KB2WF (3C5I), ON9BGP, S56A, ZS4NS, ZS5DJ, ZS6AXT, ZS6NK (ex ZS6PJS), ZS6WB, ZS6XJ. ZS6NK (then ZS6PJS) did considerable research in old magazines and in ZS6LN's QSL collection, unearthing quite a few new ones in the process. Thanks, Paul! Footnotes: 1: First ever known 50 MHz QSO with this country! 2: ZR6VE (later ZS6VER, now ZS6DX) claimed an earlier QSO with SU1ER. However, repeated requests for more information from both parties have been fruitless. ZS6DX also claimed contacts with 4J, 4L, 7X, 9K, A7, A9, D2, EU, HB0, HZ, RA2, RA9, UJ, UN and VQ9. He was licenced during the lull between cycles 22 and 23. All of these countries would have been firsts from ZS for this solar cycle, and only four of the 15 countries had ever been worked from South Africa. At least four of these countries might well prove to be world firsts. Unfortunately, despite at least a dozen requests, Rudi has not produced dates, times or callsigns for these contacts, to allow us to show the necessary respect... 3: ZS6YA (now ZS6Y) claimed a much earlier contact with OH0. Unfortunately, no further information could be obtained despite several requests. 4: Information recently (2000) came to light (via VK3OT) about contacts between VK3FA and ZS6 stations in cycle 19. Once dates, times and callsigns have been found, the new claim will be included in the list. 5: CT1CO is known to have been heard regularly in ZS6 in the late Fifties. HB9BZ is known to have worked many ZS6 stations in the same period. Stations who were active in ZS6 include ZS6AJH (now ZS6AK), ZS6APS, ZS6ASO, ZS6AVK, ZS6AVP, ZS6ET, ZS6IO, ZS6JW and ZS6KO. Anyone who can provide some dates and times, or some clarity on the legality of the European stations, must please let me know! 6: JE1JKL reports that there were some contacts before his, notably between 5Z4YV and unknown ZS stations. Further information would be appreciated. 7: ZS6AXT worked HA6ZB on 2001-03-13 at 14:28, but it is most unlikely that this station's 50 MHz operation was legal. [end]