Toni A.Latz ("Tony"), P.O.Box 2081, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Please note that I am in LAOS from June to October 2000. Should I be succesfull in the attempt to get a XW-license, your call will be greatly appreciated!
[email protected]
or
[email protected]
thank you for being visitor number:
Contents
Z21KD
.....happily survived the white-waters of the raging Zambezi (1997)......
PERSONAL BENCHMARKS
Born and grown up in "SAARLAND", the vivacious south-western province of Germany in the vicinity of France and Luxembourg
my native home: htttp://aweb.de/berschweiler
While it was my initial intention as a young telecommunications engineer to design microwave circuits in the laboratories of the renowned German telecommunications firm TELEFUNKEN, actual life developed in a different direction....
An infact crucial benchmark was created when that company offered me to execute a field survey for a microwave transmission line within Mesopotamia, the historically significant region between the biblic rivers of Euphrat and Tigris. I agreed instantly and once in that area, I was amazed by ubiquitous signs of early human civilisations and besides this I found that the spirits of Harun al Rasheed were still evident. Whenever the professional challenge allowed it during these days, I spent my free time within the ruins of the ancient metropoles of Assur, Ninevah, Nimrud and Babylon, highly fascinated by the cuneiform inscriptions which could be found everywhere. Then, one year after the finalisation of this mission, the company sent me in to this region again as a chief engineer for the implementation and commissioning of the mentioned microwave-link and at the end of the day, I did spent a total of about 2 years, not only in Mesopotamia but virtually everywhere between the Iraqi capital of Baghdad and the Turkish Iskenderun.
After such experiences it was no longer imaginable for me to spent my life in laboratories or offices from morning till night. Infact, whenever I had a look at the world map the question rose, how could a life be satisfying if one had not breathed the humid air of the Borneo jungles or not been splashed by the muddy floods of the Amazon river. Accordingly it was a matter of great fortune when the next challenge followed immediately. I became envolved in a huge telecommunications project, runned by the Indonesian State Railway 'PJKA' . The project streched over most areas of the fascinating island of Jawa, from Jakarta in its west to Surabaya in its east, a 30 minutes flight away from the paradise island of Bali. During the run of the project - which took about three years - I had the unique opportunity to venture on various private expedition to those magical surrounding islands. At first it took me to Central Kalimantan, the very heart of Borneo. By means of riverboats, canoes and sometimes by muddy jungle-walks I moved upstream the immense Mahakam river where I spent a few weeks together with the Dayak 'headhunters'. Infact, a couple of smoke-dried human skulls were still grining from the roof-trees of their traditional longhouses, called a 'lamin'. The next expedition (which required special permits from the indonesian government) went to the mangroves and jungels of Irian Jaya, the western part of New Guinea. At that time this area was almost unexplored and I had spend various weeks together with the Asmat and Dani tribes, living in the swamps of the so called Casuarine (or Captain-Cook) coast and the Baliem valley of the central highlands respectively. In spite of the fact that canibalism was an important part of their animistic belief until recent days, it was most impressing to observe the balance and harmony they maintained, not only with their ancestral spirits, but with nature as well.
It may be of interest for "hams" that during the same time period I also investigated the history of the legendary radiostation "Malabar", formerly transmitting from the Malabar mountains, 30km south of the jawanese town Bandung. It was absolutely exciting to realise that TELEFUNKEN, at that time still my employer, had more than 60 years earlier been involved in the construction of this extremely powerful spark transmitter. Subsequent reports have been published in the German Ham Magazines 'CQ-DL' and 'Funk'.
Once this project was finalised, I returned to the Indonesian archipelago again and again, either to meet the Torajas of Sulawesi, the mysterious Badui tribes, in the then almost inaccessible hill forests of West-Jawa, or in order to join the native crew of a traditional Makassar-sailor on their trip from the ancient harbour of Batavia (Plabuan Kelapa) towards Sumatera.
There were various further assignments in the years after, e.g. in Turkish Kurdistan, Libiya, Israel, Mexico and Paraguay, however, it would exceed the scope of this homepage to get into the details. Only to state that I seriously considered the possibility to settle down in Paraguay on a permanent basis, particularly due to the undisturbed and fascinating wilderness of the Gran Chaco! Last but not the least, Paraguay was the country, where I obtained "wings" and an aeronautical patent.
On numerous occasions I interrupted my professional life in order to realise private journeys to destinations all over the world, e.g. to the Sahara desert, South America, South-East Asia or the Indian sub-continent. In South-America I have been almost everywhere between the dumpy jungels of the Amazon river in the north and "Tierra del Fuego" in the south. In Asia there was almost no country left out. Including China, which I had visited just after it was opened for private individuals. Unforgettably the non ending trips by railway or Yang-Tse river-boats. And then India of course where I backpacked more than half a year between the chilly Ladakh and the tropical Goa and where the incredibly rich avifauna made me a passionated birdwatcher. So far I have spent more than 20 years in more than 70 countries and I am in good hope that the magic "100" will be reached at a certain day....
The present "home" in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is somewhat special since I have settled down there to an extent that I am thinking on the possibility of making this country of friendly people and natural beauty my African "base camp", if not my permanent home. Arrival in Zimbabwe was in 1993 as a Consultant for the Zimbabwe Posts and Telecommunications Corporation. The background for this assignment was the provision of a telecommunications infrastructure for the rural areas of Matabeleland which is the country's western province and stretches to 800km between the Zambezi in its north-west and the Limpopo, the country`s borderstream to the RSA in its south.
Zimbabwe (together with Zambia) is host to the famous Victoria Falls and is an excellent starting point for journeys to many sub-sahara destinations and to the nearby islands of the indian ocean. So far we have made numerous trips either by 4x4-vehicle or as backpackers to various destinations within the RSA, the Okavango Delta and the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, to Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Mauritius and Madagascar.
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This homepage was specifically designed for radio amateurs who ar familar with the utilized terminology. However, for all other visitors, a brief introduction in Amateur Radio shall be given as follows:
A Radio-Amateur (or "Ham") is a person who is fascinated in radio technique or communications by means of radio and holds a transmission licence, issued from his relevant telecommunications authority. Amateur Radio is probably the only hobby in the world to be governed by an international treaty. Amateurs follow their hobby for self development, international communication, service to the community in the form of providing emergency communications and fellowship in the sharing of knowledge and meeting of new friends. Restrictive rules apply "on the air" and the promotion of politics, religions and business interests are forbidden; the latter by law trough the rules and regulations laid down by the telecommunications authorities.
Once the theoretical exam has been passed, a personal radio amateur callsign is issued. For the full license (which entitles for the utilization of shortwave frequencies for direct worldwide radio contacts), the amateur has to pass an additional morse test as well.
The callsign consists of two parts, the prefix and the suffix. The prefix identifies the country the radio amateur is calling from while the suffix is the individual ID for that "radio-ham". For instance: In my personal callsign "Z21KD", the prefix "Z2" indicates that this is a Zimbabwe station while "(1)KD" is the suffix. In my German callsign "DK4XJ" is "DK" the prefix which stand for Germany and "(4)XJ" is the suffix.
Hamīs have a sort of "language" which may appear a bit enigmatic to persons which are not familiar with amateur radio. For instance: Hamīs are calling each other either an OM (Old Man) or a YL (Young Lady) and the radio station they are running is a Rig. A heartily lough is expressed by an "hi hi..". At the end of a QSO (radio-contact) they exchange their "73" (best regards) or their "88" (love and kisses) if an OM had a QSO with a charming YL . Before they are going QRT (terminating the radio-contact) they will promise to send their QSL (the QSL-card, to confirm that QSO).
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Z21KD: the present Zimbabwe callsign, issued in 1993 (member of ZARS, the Zimbabwe Amateur Radio Society)
Other or previous callsigns:
DC6KQ: first German callsign (restricted class), from 1966 to 1969, QTH:Berschweiler (Saar)
DK4XJ: German callsign, from 1969 to date (member of DARC, DOK PØ1), QTH:Backnang
ZP5XDK: Paraguay callsign, issued in 1986, ex QTH: Asuncion
YB1ADU: Indonesian callsign, 1979 to 1982, ex QTH: Bandung (West-Java)
YB1ADU/P9: callsign from the island of Bali, 1979 to 1982, QTH:Kuta
YI1BGD: occasional use of this Iraqi callsign as a "guest operator" in 1984, QTH: Baghdad
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RIG
TRX (HF): IC 720A, TS 820, TS 50
PA: FT 2277
ANTENNA I: 3-el./3-band beam (FB33, Fritzel) on top of a 15m guyed lattice mast
ANTENNA II: FD4 by Fritzel (Windom-type antenna for all bands from 80 to 10, incl.WARC)
Hardware for PACKET, RTTY and AMTOR is available but presently not installed
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I occasionally participate in:
- HF World Championship (1st.place Zimbabwe and zone winner in 1997)
- ARRL 10-Meter Contest (1st.place Zimbabwe, continental leader and 9th place world in 1997)
- WAG (1st.place Zimbabwe in 1997)
Favourite Contest: "Hunting Lions in the Air"(to commemorate the birthday of Melvin Jones, the founder of Lionism)
Representing the Khumalo-Lions of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, District No.412.
Results (worldwide, category A, Single Operator):
- 1997: 8th place
- 1998: 4th place
- 1999: 2nd place
- 2000: This contest took place on the weekend 15./16. January 2000. I tried my best to comply to the mathematical logic which means, looking for place No.1 (hi, hi). However, my computer decided to shut down at the second day of the contest and the majority of the entries became lost. But there is another chance in 2001.....
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QSL INFO
I sincerely regret the delay in responding of QSLs which is due to a stay in LAOS (from June to October 2000)
direct
P.O.Box 2081, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
please enclose an addressed AIR-MAIL-envelope of SUITABLE size (QSL size is 14cm x 8,5cm)
and return postage e.g. 1(valid) IRC or "green stamp"
via Z2-Bureau (ZARS)
(ca. 4-6 months)
via DK4XJ (DARC)
(depending on circumstances, up to 1 year)
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FURTHER INTERESTS
- Aviation: owning and operating the Zimbabwe registered single engine aircraft Z-YTT (CESSNA 150J)
- Birdwatching: a total of about 900 recorded species worldwide; member of the Ornithological Assoc.of Zimbabwe
- Ethnology: thanks to the tribes who granted me their time and allowed me invaluable experiences, particularly the Asmat+Dani (Irian Jaya), Badui (West Jawa), Chulupi+Guarani (Gran Chaco), Dayak (Mahakam River, Kalimantan), Jesidi (Mesopotamia), Kalinga (Luzon), Meo+ Shan (Opium Triangle), Minangkabau (Sumatera), Torajas (Sulawesi), Tuareg (Sahara) and others. Not to forget the people I met in southern Africa: the Ndebele, Shona and Tonga (Zimbabwe), the San (Kalahari), Herero (Namibia), Zulu (SA), Sakalava (Madagascar) etc.etc.
- Archaeology/History: particularly interested in prehistory and the celto-roman time period of my native home area
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GUESTBOOK
Please don't forget to sign the Z21KD-guestbook
Đ Z21KD
Stand: 31. Mai 2000.to:
[email protected]
or:
[email protected]