The idea was discussed in an open forum and ideas gleaned from many of the local hams and some prototyping was done and Voila!! The Shack In A Sack was born.

Subsequently it was decided to include the SIAS (Shack In A Sack) in one of the mobile HF Radio  competitions. Some simple ground rules were laid and off everyone went to build and set up a station to operate /ss or portable /p.

The propagation was favourable and signals boomed in from all over the country (ZS5J from Pelican Island). I was only able to work a few stations due to low power, but much fun was had by all the guys and girls and we all look forward to the next opportunity to play radio again.

The team of Shack in a Sack hams who took part are:

Deon ZS1AFU/ss , Johan ZS2CX/ss , Eddie ZS6BNE/ss , Kevin ZS6KMD/ss , John ZS5J/ss , Tienie ZS6MHH/ss , Stephen ZU6ET/ss and Nico ZS6SNH/ss and Charles ZR5CBT/ss, Doug ZS1DUG/ss , Club operator ZS1WRC/ss, Hennie ZS1HR/ss and Renier ZU1RDU/ss.

If your name is missing, please drop me a mail, kevin@zs6kmd.za.net

ZS5J John /ss - Pelican Island

The station with the best view, position and signal.

What was the outcome of this competition? Well for me it may differ from many of the other Hams but here is my opinion...

I now know that I have the capability of walking into an area and maintaining long distance communications, this could be in response to a real emergency or by choice. I also know roughly how far I can communicate, how long the power would last and what the physical requirements would be in getting there etc. A better "Simulated" emergency operation could not have been planned had we tried. Thank you to Eddie ZS6BNE and all who played a part in setting this up.

More information has come in from around the country and Hennie ZS1HR and Reiner ZU1RDU have been wandering around the mountains in Montagu. They've been out there for the last two weekends and Hennie says that he never thought he would do it and now he is out there having fun. Who would have guessed that a bunch of guys and gals would take something like Shack In A Sack, run around the mountains and have so much fun doing it.

ZU6ET & ZU6TAN /ss - Suikerbosrand

 26° 3'25.34"S  28°10'26.69"E

Above is the site I chose in Chloorkop, north west of Kempton Park. The elevation of the site is around 1600m above sea level with a 360 degree open view. There are few sites that could offer a better operating environment. I will definitely be using this one in the future again. I will be building a ready go kit that will suit this environment and topology for next time knowing now what to expect.

The Kachina MP25 Man Pack Radio, notice the "Home Brew" antenna. The original whip antenna never came with the set and I made one myself and this was the ultimate test to see if it would work. SWR was 1:1 on 40m and results to KZN and local showed that.

ZS6BNE Eddie /ss - Lichtenburg

ZS1HR Hennie /ss - Montagu