Hamnet Western Cape has been busy this week. Our first report comes from Michael ZS1MJT our Regional Director for HAMNET, who writes that the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) requested HAMNETs assistance at 11h47 on Saturday 17th October, in locating a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) which had been detected as active in the area around Phillippi, Cape Town. HAMNET members were activated and from the locations received, tried tracking the beacon in the Kommetjie area and in the direction of Phillippi. No beacon was heard from either location.
After an hour of waiting at a high site to hear the beacon, a decision was made to move closer to the GPS coordinates received from ARCC. Driving round the area on the R300, we were able to hear the beacon with a strong signal as we approached the Heinz Park area. Some direction findings gave good landmarks to start the search. South African Police Services were called in, and we were then able to start searching in the area we identified as most obvious.
As most of the structures in the area are made from corrugated iron, there were a lot of reflections, and we drove and walked around the area as the signal was extremely strong. As dusk approached, we called off the search and headed home.
On Sunday morning, 18th October, we resumed the search with some more triangulation. This time, all triangulation pointed to a particular double-storey building and we again requested the services of SAPS before entering the area. We went straight to where the signals were strongest and started on foot. Unfortunately, SAPS requested that we make it quick as they had some more urgent calls to attend to. We requested a drive around the block and were then able to locate the beacon. It was found in the glove compartment of a vehicle.
Once we retrieved the unit, we were able to switch it off and then inform ARCC as to the serial numbers and details of the unit.
I would like to thank SAPS for their help in escorting us to the area, ARCC for their patience during the search and Shawn, ZS1LED for his help and time in making this search a success.
Thank you, Michael, for the report and your personal efforts.
Danie ZS1OSS, our HAMNET liaison with Disaster Risk Management in the Western Cape, notes that part of the compliance requirements for the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station (KNPS), 20 km North of Cape Town CBD, includes an annual exercise with all disaster management agencies to show evidence of preparedness for any incident that may require evacuation of residents within varying radii and direction of Koeberg. The purpose of the exercises is:
* for the various agencies to practise the roles they each play
* to test their equipment and processes; and
* to practise their teamwork with the other agencies.
An annual station exercise is held in which only the local agencies take part, under the control of the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC). Eskom’s KNPS feeds in the simulated situation as it unfolds, along with the prevailing weather conditions, while practising its own containment measures. The wind determines which way any simulated radiation plume may be travelling, and disaster management agencies need to plan accordingly. So if the wind is blowing from the NNW side, then a Mass Care Centre (MCC) cannot be set up on the southern side of KNPS. Sites are already identified for MCCs on the northern, eastern and southern directions from KNPS.
On Tuesday 20 October 2026, a biennial NNR exercise was held. This exercise is overseen by the National Nuclear Regulator, and the scenario is controlled by them. So our local teams have no idea when it will actually commence, or even which way the wind will be blowing, until the NNR feeds that information into the exercise. The NNR also determines what sort of incident will be simulated at KNPS. So Eskom and all disaster management agencies have to take their cue from the NNR. Local and international observers also attend NNR exercises.
The wind was simulated to be blowing from the NNW at about 20 km/h and the radiation plume meant that firstly we would have to deploy the new Mass Care Centre at Mamre, which was north of KNPS. Then the evacuation area expanded, and a second MCC was to be opened at Malmesbury to handle the overflow. The second MCC was simulated, which meant it was not physically set up, but each agency had to go through the motions and communicate what they would be doing.
Then came the ultimate curveball… we were informed that the simulated radiation plume was now threatening the area where the Disaster Operations Centre (DOC) was, and we’d have to relocate the DOC as well. We simulated this as well, but that meant estimating the travel time to a backup location at Stellenbosch, and during this time we could only use phones or whatever we’d have in our vehicles.
Although HAMNET has a fully equipped dedicated radio room at the Goodwood DOC, we also have a mobile trailer equipped with VHF and HF radios, digital communications, and APRS location tracking. So in our case we would deploy this trailer with us, as part of our relocation to the backup DOC.
This was definitely one of the more eventful exercises we’ve all had to participate in. But the whole point of exercises is to be prepared and to know how to work together with others. It is all about teamwork and knowing what everyone else does, and what resources are available across the teams. After every exercise there is also a debriefing session with all agencies, where we share challenges we had, and suggestions for improvement. Not a single debriefing has gone by without a few changes or improvements being suggested, and in this way our preparedness improves with every exercise.
Thank you, Danie. It was an interesting disaster-game, and intriguing to watch the heads of each agency present interacting and bringing the impromptu exercise to a successful close.
The stand-down SMS was received from the Duty Coordinator at 14:21 CAT.
The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) reports that the worldwide map of Transient Array Radio Telescopes has expanded with Madagascar being the latest African recipient of the groundbreaking and innovative instrument.
The installation took place during a five-day conference and workshop taking place between 8 and 12 June 2026, held by the Universite d’Antananarivo, that resulted in the installation of a Transient Array Radio Telescope (TART), the first instrument of its kind in Madagascar.
The TART is an open source radio telescope originally developed by Dr Tim Molteno from the University of Otago and the Electronics Research Foundation (ERF) in New Zealand, and students at the University of Otago’s Department of Physics. The TART is a radio-telescope with the capability to observe the entire sky continuously and optimized to detect satellites, near-earth objects and transient events including high-energy cosmic rays. The telescope is also designed to serve as a platform for the development of new imaging algorithms.
As part of an effort to install TART telescope in all the African SKA Partner countries, this workshop followed installations in Namibia (2025), Zambia (2025), Botswana (2025), Hammanskraal, South Africa (2025), Ghana (2025), Mauritius and Kenya (2024).
The initiative to place TART telescopes in SKA African Partner countries was started in 2023 and is a joint effort of the University of Otago, Rhodes University, SARAO, the DARA programme and the Electronics Research Foundation.
This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.