Durban Radio ZSD

I came across this newspaper cutting from 1999 of the final cw transmission from Durban Radio ZSD. Wish I had a recording.

Hi David

ZSD was the first station I ever worked. I was a 2nd R/O first trip at sea on a coastal tanker called Bufallo/ZSUH. I had to send the TR as we left port bound Port Elizabeth I think. Slow shaky CW, my first message. It is very nostalgic thinking back on those days. The silence on 500 kHz is deafening.

J. Davies said:

Hi David

ZSD was the first station I ever worked. I was a 2nd R/O first trip at sea on a coastal tanker called Bufallo/ZSUH. ... ... The silence on 500 kHz is deafening.

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J. Davies, Neil Purdon started this thread, I loved the old newspaper clipping so much, I used optical character recognition and a publishing program to make it look as "hot of the press" as I could.

I agree with you: The silence on 500 kHz is deafening. The beautiful music died.

73

DR
N1EA

ZSD was really handy in that they had 4 and 8mhz W/T too, so if ZSC was busy you'd often find that ZSD would take you straight in. I don't think I've ever seen a single picture of ZSD though so thanks for this !!

Neil Purdon said:

I came across this newspaper cutting from 1999 of the final cw transmission from Durban Radio ZSD. Wish I had a recording.

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Neil,

Thanks for sharing that cutting.

Have a listen to ZSC on this website Küstenfunkstellen der Welt und ihre Erkennungszeichen / Sylvester Föcking

Below the yellow HELLO click on Kustenfunkstellen (coastal stations)

On map click over area you wish to hear Morse from.

Michael

Michael Kirwan said:

Neil,

Thanks for sharing that cutting.

Have a listen to ZSC on this website Küstenfunkstellen der Welt und ihre Erkennungszeichen / Sylvester Föcking

Below the yellow HELLO click on Kustenfunkstellen (coastal stations)

On map click over area you wish to hear Morse from.

Michael

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Thanks Michael

Lovely to hear Cape Town Radio again and some of the others too, Great site.

Regards, Neil

djringjr said:

CQ CQ CQ DE ZSD ZSD ZSD GE =

Goodbye to Morse our trusted friend,
We've been together until the very end.
Together we covered heavy seas,
Learned to love your A B Cs,
What remains is only 73s.
As W/T goes silent key,
With the very final QRT,
It will be remembered by many a soul,
As it played its vital role,
For those in peril at sea.

+ VA

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Very well written. From Radon's College, my 4 years at sea and until the last time I used morse in the Diplomatic Wireless Service during the invasion of our Embassy in Tehran in 1978, it was my life as i know it was for so many. A great poem, very well written. Thank you! AR VA 73's GWPF, GTKX, GCKR, GBTT, GBSS and finally GMOJ

Somewhere in the early 70's I had 2 QTC for ZSD. I called ZSD in het 16 mHz and ZSD asked for my working frequency and gave me QRY 3. Pretty close to ZSD's freq I could hear a Russian (coastal?) station with the callsign URL, and he was listening in....on my working frequency.....the moment I tuned my transmitter URL came back with 'QRZ QRZ QRZ?' I gave my callsign (PJOB) and it took me a while to explain to URL what was going on . At that moment ZSD called me and I had to explain to ZSD why I had QSO with URL....I wished I had never reacted on the 'QRZ?' from URL

73's by the way from Albert/PA5ABW

ab.woutersen said:

73's by the way from Albert/PA5ABW

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Thanks for the reply Albert.
PJOB - Was that the bulker "Amstellaan" ?

GBSS said:

Very well written. From Radon's College, my 4 years at sea and until the last time I used morse in the Diplomatic Wireless Service during the invasion of our Embassy in Tehran in 1978, it was my life as i know it was for so many. A great poem, very well written. Thank you! AR VA 73's GWPF, GTKX, GCKR, GBTT, GBSS and finally GMOJ

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The standout callsigns there of course are GBTT and GBSS - Queen Mary (and QE2) and the Queen Elizabeth. I was friendly with the head of ZSD (his daughter actually!). His name was Thompson. He and his family were invited on board the QE2 during her first visit to Durban in November 1970. I went with them and gave his wife and daughter a guided tour while he went up to the radio room.
Was GMOJ the Geestbay? - beautiful ship.

djringjr said:

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Hi All,
I used to work at ZSD Durban Radio up at the Kloof transmitter site as a technician.
I wrote an article on the station 10 years ago for the Antique Wireless Association of South Africa (AWASA). Here is the link to the monthly newsletter in which it was written. #94 AWA News Nov 2013 (awasa.org.za)
73's Kevin

Kevin Turner said:

Hi All,
I used to work at ZSD Durban Radio up at the Kloof transmitter site as a technician.
I wrote an article on the station 10 years ago for the Antique Wireless Association of South Africa (AWASA). Here is the link to the monthly newsletter in which it was written. #94 AWA News Nov 2013 (awasa.org.za)
73's Kevin

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Hello Kevin
Thanks for the very interesting article about ZSD. I drive past the old New Germany site regularly and well remember the old aerials and houses there. I knew the O/C in the 70s Colin? Thompson and also one of the operators Athol? Bremner.
Regards, Neil