Shawn ‘Billy’ Williams, ZS1SBW from Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa and the Roman Rock Radio Club, ZSØRR have added their logs to the MØOXO QSL Service. QSL Cards are currently being printed by UX5UO QSL Print and will be available in a few weeks time (depending on Pandemic postage delays). You can search the logs and request QSL Cards by using the Links on ZS1SBW and ZSØRR QRZ home pages. https://www.qrz.com/db/ZS1SBW https://www.qrz.com/db/ZS0RR Roman Rock Lighthouse in False Bay, is one of the few lighthouses worldwide which is situated on a rock in the ocean and was built between 1861 and 1865. The lighthouse was designed by Alexander Gordon of the British Lighthouse Authority. The cost was to be between £3,000 and £3,500. Cast iron segments were bolted together and the lowest rung secured to the rock. The stone was quarried from Seaforth beach in Simons Town, assembled at the site and numbered, before being ferried out to Roman Rock Reef. In 1857 the ship ROYAL SAXON arrived with the mechanism. The erection of the tower took 4 years as fierce winds and seas allowed only 96 working days during this period. From January 7 to June 8 1861 for instance it was only possible to work on 5 occasions. The Clerk of Works was a Mr. Cousins. This first mechanism had a focal plane of 16,5 m above high water with a range of 19,3 km. It was not a great success as only 1 reflector was visible at a time. There were 8 reflectors in all and they made a revolution every 4 minutes. Two keepers manned the lighthouse and changed over every 7 days. A third keeper remained on shore during that time. It was a boring job and they earned the highest salaries in the service. For instance the first lightkeeper Mr. J. Williams eared £110 per annum and his assistants £95 per annum. Their only pastime was fishing and reeling in the fish in the teeth of a strong South-Easter required skill! In 1914 the mechanism was replaced and thereafter the tower was no longer manned. It was powered by dissolved acetylene gas. The gas cylinders were renewed every 3 to 4 months. The automatic flash occurred every 6 seconds. Part of the 1914 mechanism is on display at the Simon’s Town Museum. In 1992 the South African Navy asked for it to be electrified. Roman Rock Lighthouse ZA0027, was activated for the first time 17-18 August 2019, during the International lighthouse Lightship Weekend. ZSØRR is Active for ILLW, POTA, SOTA and club activity. Walking further afield than my normal territory, my explorations as an 8-year-old boy that day took me over new hills and down new avenues, I was taking in the sights and sounds of this adventure when a particular vision stopped me in my tracks, with eyes widening and excitement growing, all things moved into slow motion as I laid eyes on my first Yagi. With no second thought I knocked on the door of where the Yagi lived, a girl answered. Looking up with awe, I asked her what it was. In no time she had called her Dad, a guy called Buzz, he greeted me warmly and enthusiastically guided me through the house and into his shack, where the valves in his open linear were glowing. Taking a long fluorescent tube, he placed it next to the beam and keyed the transmitter, the tube lit up… I was hooked! Over the months, Buzz encouraged me to learn about amateur radio, happy for me to sit, watch, listen and take in the subtle skills of this activity. That is how it all started, Billy ZS1SBW References : https://www.m0oxo.com/2021/02/09/zs1sbw-zs0rr-south-africa/ https://illw.net/index.php/entrants-list-2021 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Rock_Lighthouse http://www.simonstown.org/roman rock lighthouse.html https://www.simonstown.com/museum/stm_hist_lighthouses.htm Dawid Mocke my neighbour, on the world's most famous downwind paddling landmark.
