Latest News
2023 NARL AGM
25 September 2023
The annual NARL AGM meeting was held on 23 September 2023.
Thank you very much to Sat-Com for providing the venue and Internet acess. Also thank you to all who helped making the AGM possible.
Thank you very much to Sat-Com for providing the venue and Internet acess. Also thank you to all who helped making the AGM possible.
Walvis Bay RAE Exam Center
09 March 2023
The Radio Amateur's Exam (RAE) can now also be written in Walvis Bay. Please contact Heinrich (V51HZ) or Werner (V51JP) for more details.
Field Day IARU Region 1 2022
14 November 2022
The Namibian radio amateurs once again took part in the IARU R1 Field Day (3th & 4th September 2022) in Windhoek.
The venue for the event was on the plot of Robert Schenk (V51RS) where the antennas were set up. Power was supplied by a petrol-powered generator. The radio and the amplifier were made available by the company, Sat-Com. This year the callsign V55V was chosen. Many hams will remember this callsign being used from the farm of Martin (V51W) and was last activated in 2014.
The venue for the event was on the plot of Robert Schenk (V51RS) where the antennas were set up. Power was supplied by a petrol-powered generator. The radio and the amplifier were made available by the company, Sat-Com. This year the callsign V55V was chosen. Many hams will remember this callsign being used from the farm of Martin (V51W) and was last activated in 2014.
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Field Day IARU Region 1
20 October 2021
The Namibian radio amateurs took part in the IARU R1 Field Day (4th & 5th September 2021) in Windhoek.
The venue for the event was on the plot of Robert Schenk (V51RS) where the antennas were set up. Power was supplied by a petrol-powered generator. The radio and the amplifier were made available by the company, Sat-Com. Testing of the radios was completed the Friday before Field Day.
The venue for the event was on the plot of Robert Schenk (V51RS) where the antennas were set up. Power was supplied by a petrol-powered generator. The radio and the amplifier were made available by the company, Sat-Com. Testing of the radios was completed the Friday before Field Day.
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With the callsign V51NAM, the club callsign of the NARL, we started punctually on Saturday. Saturday turned out to be extremely difficult, as a strong wind started blowing at the start of radio operations, which only subsided towards the evening. A lot of sand was blown up by the wind, which in turn regularly brought the computer keyboard to a standstill. So the keyboard had to be thoroughly de-sanded from time to time before it could continue to operate.
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When the wind finally subsided, the "braai" (BBQ) could begin. While the friends of the Namibian Amateur Radio League and the radio amateurs devoted themselves to the more relaxed part of the evening, radio operations continued uninterrupted. The young radio operators who enjoyed the contest were also given the opportunity to assert themselves at the station. To some hardcore contesters, this led to a bit of resentment, but it was important to us that everyone who dared got the chance to use the microphone.
After a hearty breakfast on Sunday, the last contacts were logged in. The Field Day ended with 444 contacts all over the world.
V51NAM obtained 10th place in the world for the category and 1st place in Africa.
After a hearty breakfast on Sunday, the last contacts were logged in. The Field Day ended with 444 contacts all over the world.
V51NAM obtained 10th place in the world for the category and 1st place in Africa.
Erongo Repeater
06 March 2020
Friday afternoon 14h00 on 21 February 2020 a small group of four Radio Amateurs started their journey from Windhoek to the Erongo Mountains in Namibia. They planned to overnight at the Ombu Hunt & Guestfarm near the base of the mountain. It finally started raining in Namibia and they witnessed a few rivers running along the way.
The group consisted of (from left to right) Stefan (V51SH), Guido (V51GK), Robert (V51RS) and Olaf (V51OB).
The group consisted of (from left to right) Stefan (V51SH), Guido (V51GK), Robert (V51RS) and Olaf (V51OB).
First challenge was to cross a small running river safely that feeds into the bigger Omaruru river. Seen from the photo below that were not the only ones facing this challenge.
The crossing turned out fine with no one left behind and the team reached their destination before sunset.
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They were met early Saturday morning by Johan (V51JH) who drove all the way from Omaruru. The team then started the drive up the Erongo Mountain to install a new repeater.
Honors went to Stefan (V51SH) for designating the exact spot for the new repeater. Construction of the foundation kicked of with the hard labor of mixing cement, sand and water.
Honors went to Stefan (V51SH) for designating the exact spot for the new repeater. Construction of the foundation kicked of with the hard labor of mixing cement, sand and water.
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With the foundation completed the repeater box was put in place. Preparation for the mast followed with some welding and fastening of bolts.
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The repeater was installed and tested. The team departed late Saturday afternoon and reached the camp by 21h00. A warm shower and Namibian braai (BBQ) helped celebrated the success of the day.
Robert (V51RS) reported that he didn't experienced great teamwork like this in a long while. Everyone seemed to just know what to do and did what was needed to complete the task at hand. Well done!!
On Sunday they drove back home via Omaruru to witness the Omaruru river in full flood, past the town it got its name from (or was it the other way round), with water from the weekend's rain showers. Yes rain is big in Namibia. You will reroute your drive to see water.
The Erongo 2m repeater can be accesses by setting up your radio to RX: 145.650 TX:145.050 with a PL Tone of 88.5Hz. More photos can be seen on the Repeater Gallery. Also please visit the Repeater Map to see the current repeater network in Namibia.
The NARL would like to thank everyone involved in this project. Especially the team that did the hard labor as well as the sponsors of the equipment.
Author: Fritz Weinrebe (V51WF)
Robert (V51RS) reported that he didn't experienced great teamwork like this in a long while. Everyone seemed to just know what to do and did what was needed to complete the task at hand. Well done!!
On Sunday they drove back home via Omaruru to witness the Omaruru river in full flood, past the town it got its name from (or was it the other way round), with water from the weekend's rain showers. Yes rain is big in Namibia. You will reroute your drive to see water.
The Erongo 2m repeater can be accesses by setting up your radio to RX: 145.650 TX:145.050 with a PL Tone of 88.5Hz. More photos can be seen on the Repeater Gallery. Also please visit the Repeater Map to see the current repeater network in Namibia.
The NARL would like to thank everyone involved in this project. Especially the team that did the hard labor as well as the sponsors of the equipment.
Author: Fritz Weinrebe (V51WF)
First QSO over Es-hail QO100 sattelite between Namibia and the World
22 December 2019
Yesterday night the first QSO over the new Es-hail QO100 satellite between Namibia and the World was made.
Derek (V51DM) and Chaly (DK3ZL) have been in contact for some time now getting all the technical gremlins of Derek's station under control. At 23h00 Derek started calling and Charly answered. They where joined by Martin (DL1ZU) and a short while later Garry (ZS6YI) also joined the QSO. I was not long and everyone on the bird was tuned in on the frequency and started calling Derek. He will have a busy time on satellite in 2020 and I know he will enjoy every moment. Congrats to Derek and thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen.
Derek (V51DM) and Chaly (DK3ZL) have been in contact for some time now getting all the technical gremlins of Derek's station under control. At 23h00 Derek started calling and Charly answered. They where joined by Martin (DL1ZU) and a short while later Garry (ZS6YI) also joined the QSO. I was not long and everyone on the bird was tuned in on the frequency and started calling Derek. He will have a busy time on satellite in 2020 and I know he will enjoy every moment. Congrats to Derek and thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen.
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Charly will visit Namibia and southern Africa from middle January to March 2020 and he will be operating a mobile QO100 station during his visit. He will use the special event call V55QO for this visit. He will be the QSL manager for all Namibian stations working QO100. Please see the V55QO qrz.com page for contact and QSL details.
Author: Werner Muller (V51JP)
Author: Werner Muller (V51JP)
Waterberg Repeater
29 November 2019
A new repeater has been installed on the Klein-Waterberg near the town of Otjiwarongo on the 23rd of November 2019. The mountain is located in the district of Otjiwarongo and has a elevation of 1891m.
Karsten (DK1SW) with Susanne (photo below), Olaf (V51OB) and Robert (V51RS),on the tower, was the team present.
The repeater consists of a radio link to Windhoek with a thee element Yagi for 2m, and for 70cm a 6 dBi omni-directional antenna.
The transmit and receive frequency is 438.875 RX and 431.275 TX Tone 88.5.
The road (B1) from Okahandja towards Otjiwarongo and partly to Otavi will be covered. The road to Outjo (C38) will have some cover-edge spots.This enables mobile operators repeater coverage almost everywhere on the route from Windhoek to Etosha.
More photos on the Repeater Photo page.
The transmit and receive frequency is 438.875 RX and 431.275 TX Tone 88.5.
The road (B1) from Okahandja towards Otjiwarongo and partly to Otavi will be covered. The road to Outjo (C38) will have some cover-edge spots.This enables mobile operators repeater coverage almost everywhere on the route from Windhoek to Etosha.
More photos on the Repeater Photo page.
Etosha Repeater
18 October 2019
A new repeater has been installed near the Anderson Gate on the southern border of the Etosha National Park.
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NARL members Derek (V51DM), Louw (V51LG), Robert (V51RS), Olaf (V51OB) and Golden, with a team from Ongava, installed a 2m (VHF) repeater on the 11th to 13th October 2019.
The repeater system has a split site meaning, the 2m signal 145.175 (Tone 88.5) is received on one mountain then transmitted on 51.510 MHz (Tone 88.5) to another site, where it is received and transmitted on 145.775 MHz (Tone 88.5). The two sites are 4 km apart. The second mountain received the 6m signal. The repeater runs on 12V solar power and battery. The 2m RX and TX antennas have a 12dBi gain and are from Diamond. The antennas are installed on a tower at 15m.
The repeater will cover an area from Outjo to Okaukuejo, Halali and surrounding area. The Etosha repeater is linked with the Windhoek repeater via Echolink (Node #316799 - Callsign V51DM-R).
The NARL wants to thank Derek (V51DM) for the sponsoring the repeater system and site.
Please see the Repeater Info page for the frequencies and PL tone. More photos on the Repeater Photo page.
The repeater will cover an area from Outjo to Okaukuejo, Halali and surrounding area. The Etosha repeater is linked with the Windhoek repeater via Echolink (Node #316799 - Callsign V51DM-R).
The NARL wants to thank Derek (V51DM) for the sponsoring the repeater system and site.
Please see the Repeater Info page for the frequencies and PL tone. More photos on the Repeater Photo page.
Lighthouse 2019 - Pelican Point
23 September 2019
The annual lighthouse event took place from 17 to 18 August 2019. The NARL activated the Pelican Point Lighthouse (grid: JG77fc) located near Walvisbay again this year.
To see the full story open the PDF extract from the September 2019 Radio ZS magazine below.
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Credits: SARL Dennis Green (ZS4BS) with permission.
DK3ZL Dr. Karl-August Eichhorn im HR-Fernsehen 2019
20 September 2019
NARL member Dr. Karl-August (Charly) Eichhorn (DK3ZL) appeared in the above-mentioned YouTube video. He included a video clip of his recent trip to Namibia.
St Helena Island contact by V51JH on VHF FM
20 May 2019
On Wednesday the 15th of May 2019 Johan du Plessis (V51JH) installed his new 16m tower and a new X700H Diamond Vertical Antennae with half inch low loss coax.
He started testing the antennae signal strength around 14:00 UTC time using an ICOM 7100 Radio (50 Watt) by making test calls to Dawid Koen (V51DK). Dawid was at that stage mobile traveling to Swakopmund. While conducting the tests Johan heard Garry Mercury (ZD7GWN) calling
him at 15:30 UTC time. Johan was very excited in making his first long distance contact on the VHF band (145.500 MHz). Garry Mercury is stationed on St Helena Island which is approximately 2252 km on a bearing of 286 degrees from Swakopmund, Namibia. The signal strength was at 5/9 for both.
Johan also asked Garry to stay on frequency as Dawid (V51DK) is mobile towards Swakopmund indicated that he would also like to try to make contact with Garry, which he was able to do.
him at 15:30 UTC time. Johan was very excited in making his first long distance contact on the VHF band (145.500 MHz). Garry Mercury is stationed on St Helena Island which is approximately 2252 km on a bearing of 286 degrees from Swakopmund, Namibia. The signal strength was at 5/9 for both.
Johan also asked Garry to stay on frequency as Dawid (V51DK) is mobile towards Swakopmund indicated that he would also like to try to make contact with Garry, which he was able to do.
NARL President visit the DARC, Germany
25 January 2019
The NARL President, Werner Muller (V51JP), visited Germany during the Namibia holiday season. One of the highlights of his visit was at the Deutscher Amateur-Radio-Club (DARC) HQ and the DARC QSL bureau.
Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt
Please click here to see the full news bulletin as well as a downloadable PDF full report on his visit.
Please click here to see the full news bulletin as well as a downloadable PDF full report on his visit.
Namibia Awards (in Germany)
25 January 2019
During his visit to Germany the NARL President, Werner (V51JP), had the honour to hand out 2 Namibia Awards. The Namibia award can be obtained by working 5 individual V5 stations from outside Namibia or by working 10 individual V5 stations from within Namibia. http://www.narlnam.com/awards.html
The first Award went to ... Read More
The first Award went to ... Read More
Lighthouse Event - V51NAM
22 August 2018
The annual lighthouse event took place on 18 & 19 August 2018. The NARL activated the Pelican Point Lighthouse (grid: JG77fc) located near Walvisbay this year. Derek (V51DM), Raymond (V51RAY) and Robert (V51RS) drove through the thick sand to setup their station next to the lighthouse.
Below is a Google Map insert showing the position of the lighthouse. A 4x4 is definitely a required piece of equipment to get there. Towing the cherrypicker also didn't make it easy for the team.
Due to the delay in getting to the site, Robert (V51RS) immediately activated the Lighthouse with a portable radio while the others installed the rest of the antennas.
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The rest of the action kicked in when all the antennas were up. Bands operated were 80-, 40- and 20m as well as some satellite contacts via VHF / UHF.
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A total of 476 contacts, of which 22 were other lighthouses, have been made with the trio at the Pelican Point Lighthouse using the callsign "V51NAM -Lighthouse". A total no of 3 contacts were made via the birds (satellites) flying overhead.
A few Namibian Radio Amateurs walked away with a 2018 Southern African Lighthouse Award:
Werner (V51JP)
Pieter (V51PJ)
And also for the operators of the Lighthouse station:
Derek (V51DM)
Raymond (V51RAY)
Robert (V51RS)
More photos can be viewed in the Lighthouse Gallery.
A few Namibian Radio Amateurs walked away with a 2018 Southern African Lighthouse Award:
Werner (V51JP)
Pieter (V51PJ)
And also for the operators of the Lighthouse station:
Derek (V51DM)
Raymond (V51RAY)
Robert (V51RS)
More photos can be viewed in the Lighthouse Gallery.
More information about the V5WAGS award can be found here.