"Firsts" on 430 MHz from South Africa Last updated 2023-11-27 This list is an attempt to assemble the "firsts" from South Africa with each of the countries (or "entities") on the DXCC list. Because the contacts span almost half a century (the earliest listed contact is in 1977!), many operators have died or otherwise left the scene. I am therefore under no illusion about the completeness or even correctness of the list. Received comments and additions will be gratefully received, and the list will be amended on an ongoing basis. I published a similar list for 50 MHz in 2000 and for 144 MHz in 2017. Both those lists have grown substantially over the years, especially with the growing popularity of the WSJT suite of digital protocols. In 2023, I decided that something similar was needed for 430 MHz. I scoured the Internet and came up with a handful of contacts. I've added ZS4TX's personal records and ZS6PT's and ZS6JON's logs to that list as a first attempt. It has been my policy to publish the earliest contact of which details are known, even where it is known that earlier contacts took place. Such cases are marked with "***". The key is shown at the bottom of this document. The intention is not to publish false claims, but rather to encourage the true claimants to come forward. There are many uncertainties, and of course it is likely that prior contacts could have taken place without my knowledge. The most likely candidates are Peter Carey ZS6JT (ex ZE5JJ), who was one of the first to get onto this band on EME, and Ivo Chladek ZS6AXT who came a little later but is known to have worked 152 different stations on this band. Giel van Niekerk ZS6NG was a contemporary of both these gents and is known to have completed a WAC on 430 MHz. ZS6WAB was active later. Please let me know if you are aware of any errors or omissions. Let's see how long it takes before a ZS appears on the DXCC list on this band! I will continue to make intermittent updates as information is received, and publish the document at: http://zs6ez.org.za/lists/430zs1st.txt Chris R. Burger ZS6EZ Box 126 Rayton 1001 South Africa Country ZS stn Date UTC Mode Prop DX Station (operators in brackets) 4U ITU Geneva ZS4TX 2022-09-15 21:58 JT65 EME 4U1ITU 4W Timor Leste ZS4TX 2023-11-18 11:27 Q65 EME 4W8X 4X Israel ZS4TX 2018-10-27 03:17 JT65 EME 4Z5CP 7P Lesotho ***ZS6WB 1990-03-31 SSB LoS 7P8EN (ZS4TX, ZS6EZ) (DXv) 9A Croatia ZS4TX 2021-03-28 17:17 JT65 EME 9A5M (DXv) 9K Kuwait ZS4TX 2023-11-25 15:25 Q65 EME 9K2YM A2 Botswana ZS6PJS 1995-11-26 05:24 SSB Tropo A22BW (DK3BW) BV Taiwan ZS4TX 2022-12-27 11:53 MFSK EME BV3CE BY China ZS4TX 2018-11-20 16:10 JT65 EME BD9BU DL Germany ZS6PT 1996-11-24 19:49 CW EME DL9KR EA8 Canary Islands ***ZS4TX 2019-07-28 06:26 JT65 EME EA8/G4RGK EI Ireland ***ZS4TX 2018-11-23 19:06 JT65 EME EI8JK ES Estonia ***ZS4TX 2018-10-17 19:20 JT65 EME ES3RF EU Belarus ***ZS4TX 2022-11-20 12:13 MFSK EME EW7CC F France ***ZS4TX 2018-11-03 11:08 JT65 EME F6APE FM Martinique ZS4TX 2019-03-17 21:40 JT65 EME TO2MB FR Reunion ZS5Y 2010-02-10 SSB/JT65 FR5DN (DXv) G England ***ZS4TX 2018-11-25 22:13 JT65 EME G4RGK GD Isle of Man ZS4TX 2023-06-10 09:35 Q65 EME GD0TEP GI Northern Ireland ***ZS4TX 2020-05-08 22:26 JT65 EME GI6ATZ GM Scotland ***ZS4TX 2019-11-21 08:51 JT65 EME GM6VXB GW Wales ***ZS4TX 2018-11-04 09:42 JT65 EME GW3XYW HA Hungary ***ZS4TX 2021-05-21 12:42 JT65 EME HA0HO HB Switzerland ZS6AXT 2000-??-?? CW EME HB9Q HS Thailand ZS4TX 2020-12-20 13:18 JT65 EME HS0ZOP I Italy ***ZS6JON 2015-02-28 20:38 JT65 EME I1NDP JA Japan ZS6AXT 2001-??-?? CW EME JA5OVU JD1 Ogasawara ZS4TX 2023-02-11 20:52 MFSK EME JD1YCC K USA ZS6AXT 1990-10-08 CW EME NU7Z KH6 Hawaii ZS4TX 2022-12-26 06:40 MFSK EME NH6Y KL Alaska ZS4TX 2019-11-17 22:33 CW EME KL6M KP4 Puerto Rico ZS4TX 2020-05-26 15:25 JT65 EME WP4G LU Argentina ZS6JON 2015-02-28 20:38 JT65 EME LU8ENU LX Luxembourg ZS4TX 2020-09-19 12:04 JT65 EME LX/PA3CMC LZ Bulgaria ***ZS4TX 2018-10-27 21:27 JT65 EME LZ1DX OE Austria ZS6PT 1996-11-24 21:44 CW EME OE5JFL OH Finland ZS6PT 1996-11-23 20:14 CW EME OH2PO OJ0 Market Reef ZS4TX 2022-07-25 11:35 MFSK EME OJ0DX OK Czech Republic ***ZS4TX 2018-10-27 03:25 JT65 EME OK1TEH OM Slovakia ***ZS4TX 2023-11-20 18:06 Q65 EME OM4EX ON Belgium ***ZS4TX 2018-10-27 21:01 JT65 EME ON4AOI OZ Denmark ZS6AXT 1990-12-02 18:52 CW EME OZ7UHF (DXv) PA Netherlands ***ZS6JON 2015-01-18 11:34 JT65 EME PI9CAM PJ2 Curacao ZS4TX 2020-02-29 16:08 JT65 EME PJ2T PY Brazil ZS6JON 2015-02-08 04:40 JT65 EME PY2BS RA1 European Russia ***ZS4TX 2021-01-23 21:32 JT65 EME UA4AQL RA2 Kaliningrad ***ZS4TX 2020-01-04 19:20 JT65 EME RA2FGG RA9 Asiatic Russia ***ZS4TX 2021-04-25 16:13 JT65 EME UA0ALA S5 Slovenia ***ZS4TX 2018-11-23 19:59 JT65 EME S51LF S7 Seychelles ZS6JON 2015-03-27 14:22 JT65 EME S79EME SM Sweden ZS6PT 1996-11-24 20:28 CW EME SM4IVE SP Poland ***ZS4TX 2020-05-03 19:08 JT65 EME SP1JNY SV Greece ***ZS4TX 2020-08-17 11:36 JT65 EME SV8CS UT Ukraine ZS6PT 1997-10-19 21:55 CW EME UR5LX V5 Namibia ZS1HS 1977-11-05 SSB Tropo ZS3B VK Australia ***ZS4TX 2018-10-27 20:50 JT65 EME VK3NX VP2E Anguilla ZS4TX 2019-04-15 21:38 JT65 EME VP2EMB VP8 Falkland Islands ZS4TX 2021-02-04 04:04 JT65 EME VP8EME XE Mexico ZS4TX 2019-04-14 21:15 JT65 EME XE2AT YL Latvia ***ZS6JON 2015-02-28 21:22 JT65 EME YL2GD YO Romania ***ZS4TX 2020-08-17 11:52 JT65 EME YO2NAA ZC4 UK bases on Cyprus ZS4TX 2022-11-18 07:04 MFSK EME ZC4RH ZL New Zealand ZS6JT 1986-11-01 CW EME ZL3AAD [63 countries, not including ZS] Deleted: OK Czechoslovakia ZS6NG 1982-04-30 CW EME OK1KIR (DXv) [1 country] Key: *** means the claimed QSO might not be the first. DXv means the claim was verified with DX (non-ZS) station's operator as the first ZS worked by that station Leading South African stations ------------------------------ 43 ZS4TX Bernie van der Walt (also participated in a First from the DX side) 6 ZS6JON John Sygo 5 ZS6PT Petr Sykora (now ZL1CX) 4 ZS6AXT Ivo Chladek (SK) 1 ZS1HS F T Cotton 1 ZS6NG Giel van Niekerk (SK) 1 ZS6JT Peter Carey (SK) 1 ZS6WB Hal Lund 1 ZS6PJS Paul Smit (now ZS6NK) 1 ZS5Y Derek Gravett Chronology ---------- Here is an estimate of the number of countries worked per year, and the running total of countries worked. There were probably some contacts with the neighbouring states in the early days, and ZS6JT, ZS6NG and ZS6AXT would have worked many countries that are not listed, so the trend is probably not accurate before about 2010. Year New Total Who? 1977 1 1 ZS1HS 1982 1 2 ZS6NG 1986 1 3 ZS6JT 1990 3 6 ZS6AXT (2), ZS6WB 1995 1 7 ZS6PJS 1996 4 11 ZS6PT (4) 1997 1 12 ZS6PT 2000 1 13 ZS6AXT 2001 1 14 ZS6AXT 2010 1 15 ZS5Y 2015 6 21 ZS6JON (6) 2018 12 33 ZS4TX (12) 2019 7 40 ZS4TX (7) 2020 9 49 ZS4TX (9) 2021 5 54 ZS4TX (5) 2022 6 60 ZS4TX (6) 2023 5 62 ZS4TX (5) Thanks for contributions ------------------------ Bernie van der Walt contributed logs from his own station, ZS6JON and ZS6PT in 2023, and scoured the EME newsletters for older info. [end]