Pic above is of my car with the Webster Bandspanner mounted at the rear.

The Webster Bandspanner on the back of the car. The original blue one in the 1st pic was destroyed

when it was snapped off the back of the car by a trucks load tie downstrap which wasnt properly

secured.

FT100D remote control head installed in the car.

Skype : johnpatricksmith

Blackberry Pin : 26FC6E8A

Twitter : @John_ZS4S

Please take note that from January 2013, I will be moving back to the Johannesburg area. I have asked for my original callsign, which I attained in 1975, to be re-issued to me, which the authorities have approved. I will be signing as ZS6BNS from 1 January 2013.

Held the callsign ZS6AN for a few years, but since my transfer to Bloemfontein (ZS4 call-area) I have changed my callsign to ZS4S (this matches my other old callsigns of ZS9S and ZS3S). My first callsign was ZS6BNS.

I am an officer in the SA Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. I have had a varied and exciting career in the SA Army and have 9 years operational experience in the Mechanised Infantry, Special Forces as well as an Electronic Warfare Officer in Namibia and Angola. I have served as a combat instructor at the SA Army Combat Training Centre as well as a telecommunications instructor at the SA Army School of Signals where I was at one stage the second in command. I have specialised in Mechanised Infantry Warfare, Electronic Warfare (Interception/ Direction Finding and Jamming), Nuclear and Biological Warfare Planning as well as Telecommunication Planning for military formations such as Brigades and Divisions.

I am currently the commander of a Unit in Bloemfontein (the heart of the SA Army Conventional and Airborne Forces), which commands and manages all the telecommunications, information storage and transmission as well as all IT related aspects for the South African National Defence Force in the Free State Province (State) of South Africa.

As a second career, I have also started up my own company catering mainly for photographic and hunting safaris in South Africa. My training in special operations, nature and tracking has bred a deep love for the African bush, which I enjoy passing onto others ( www.mjtourssa.co.za).

As far as my hobby goes, I am running an Icom IC7800 into an Optibeam OB11-3 up at 17m (60ft). Also have 80/40m Trap Inv Vee dipole up at 50ft for local contacts. The linear amplifer in use is a Kenwood TL922. HF Standby radio is a TS450S.

I have restored an old, yet mint twin combination of the Yaesu FR50B receiver and FL50B transmitter(I acquired this recently, purely for sentimental reasons, as they were the first pieces of equipment I ever owned when I got hooked on the hobby as a very young school boy).

Newest "old" acquisition is a Heathkit pair of SB-310 receiver and SB-401 transmitter. They are in excellent condition both cosmetically and operationally. One would never say they were around 45 years old. The receiver is HOT !!.

For mobile use I have aYaesu FT100D running to a Webster Bandspanner for HF.

You will find me mainly on 80m, 40m, 20m and 10m operating SSB and from time to time CW.

I dislike quick report exchanges (except in contests of course) and enjoy chatting and getting to know people.

Together with Bernie(ZS4TX),Ronnie (ZS4RY)and more recentlyShane (ZS4TW) I have helped set up a "super" contest and DX station on the outskirts of Bloemfontein. The callsign for this station is ZS9X. Please take a look at the details on www.qrz.com/zs9x for more information.

To find out more about me, look me up on Facebook under the profile name John Patrick Smith http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=714440518&sk=info

The Pic below shows:

1. Me with the old girl, Sheba (black and white cross Labrador / Boerboer16 years old - Went to the doggy happy hunting grounds on 23 Jan 12 - very sad day for me), Alf (brown cross German Shepherd / Rhodesian Ridegeback and Chad (German Shepherd)whowent to the doggy happy hunting grounds in 2009 after contracting tick bite fever.

Below is a pic of Casper, my White German Shepherd (or Appollonian Shepherd)

Above is a pic of myself and Alf (cross Rhodesian Ridgeback / German Shepherd)

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