The enclave

The Walvis Bay enclave was a piece of the RSA located on the west coast of Namibia. It was in size approximately 30km from east to west and about 50km from north to south. To the west, it has the cold Atlantic Ocean, and on all landward sides, was surrounded by the Namib Desert.

The enclave has the picturesque town of Walvis Bay, a buzzing sea fishing town with some other minor industries and a tourist trade, the holiday resort of Langstrand (Long Beach) about 10km north of the town, and the airport and military bases at Rooikop (Red Hill) about 20km east of the town. The remainder of the enclave was a desert with some of the highest sand dunes in the world. The well-known Dune 7 reached a height of about 100m.

 How it started?

The move to have Walvis Bay declared a separate DXCC country began when the South African government decided to adhere to the United Nations Resolution 435 by withdrawing from the then South West Africa / Namibia, and allowing United Nation sanctioned elections to take place in the country, so creating the sovereign country of Namibia, with the call sign prefix V51.

The enclave of Walvis Bay, was always an integral part of the Republic of South Africa, and therefore did not become part of Namibia. The enclave fulfilled all the stipulated requirements for a new DXCC country.

The main role players were Bill KC1AG and Ian who then held the call ZS1C. (Walvis Bay was administered from Cape Town, hence the ZS1 call signs). In November 1989, this authority was granted and the call sign prefix ZS9 was allocated to Walvis Bay.

The Operators

The following were the resident operators in Walvis Bay with some detail on each resident:

 Ian - ZS9A

Ian was possibly the most active operator from Walvis Bay. He was a retired Post Office official who before he retired, was residing in Windhoek, and was responsible for regulating the radio licenses, including Ham Radio licenses.

Ian was active on all HF bands as well as on 50Mhz. He used SSB, CW as well as data type transmissions (packet etc.) and became extremely well known on the various bands.

Ian also had a good station line up featuring mainly KENWOOD equipment with the TS830S being the main stalwart. The antenna system was a KT34 at 13m with a 6-element 50Mhz Yagi at 15m and dipoles at 12m for the lower frequencies.

Ian is today still active on HF, and can be heard using the call sign V51C.

George - ZS9H

George was never really active on the bands, due mainly to his extremely busy work schedules. George was the owner of a couple of fishing trawlers, and spent a great deal of time at sea, or when not at sea, administrating his business from his fish factory. He was also a keen pilot, and had his own private light aircraft based at Rooikop Airport, about 20km east of the town.

George was at times active on HF, using a KENWOOD transceiver (TS430S) both at home and on his trawler. At home he made use of a Cushcraft R7 vertical and on the trawler of a wide band dipole. George was however more interested in VHF, and was regularly heard on 50Mhz as well as communicating via the Oscar satellites.

John - ZS9S

After Ian, John was possibly the most active operator in Walvis Bay. His operating times were often dictated by his career as well as by his other hobby, sea water angling. John was and still is an officer in the SA Army, and arrived in Walvis Bay from the Namibian / Angolan border area when the South African Defense Force withdrew from Namibia. He is an Electronic Warfare specialist, and was the commander of one of the military units based in Walvis Bay.

John was mainly active on the HF bands, but was at times heard on the 50Mhz band. The line up was KENWOOD with a TS830S driving a TL922 amplifier with a TS520S as the standby radio. Antennas included a TH7DX at 12m, a 6-element 50Mhz Yagi at 14m, dipoles for 40m and 80m at 14m as well as a Butternut HF2V with a loading coil for 160m.

John is today living in Pretoria, and is active on HF. He has since the Walvis Bay operation held the call sign ZS3S when he was transferred from Walvis Bay to the South African Army Battle School, located in the Northern Cape Province (about 200km North of Kimberly), as an instructor. He now holds the call sign ZS6AN.

The Visitors

Numerous visits by some well known radio hams took place during the three years of the ZS9 operation, notably the following:

 
 

Bill KC1AG. Bill was the first "official" DX-pedition to Walvis Bay in 1989. He was at the time still signing ZS1, with the understanding that once the authority be given that the ZS9 status would be backdated to the time of his operation. The operation took place from one of the hotels in the town, with the antennas mounted on the hotel roof. The operation proved to be a great success.

Lloyd W6KG and Iris W6QL. The well known travelling Colvins were in Walvis Bay in 1990. They stayed with and operated from the station of John ZS9S, and had a very successful DX-pedition. A unique feature of their visit was that it occurred over the same time as the USA Thanksgiving celebrations. John ZS9S arranged a unique Thanksgiving party at the military base at Rooikop, 20km east of the town, where a traditional Thanksgiving turkey was prepared South African style by John's personnel (in a three legged cast iron pot). A quick ride in a SA Army infantry fighting vehicle (RATEL) into the desert was also arranged. During the time that the Colvins were in Walvis Bay, Marti Lane ON4UN and the other members of the Seal Island DX - pedition also paid a visit to Walvis Bay.

 Chris ZS6EZ and Rad ZS6RAD. Chris and Rad also stayed with John ZS9S, but used their own equipment. Besides the normal HF and 50Mhz activity, use was also made of EME (moonbounce) using a long Yagi on 144 MHz, where one contact was made with the USA. The operation made use of the call sign ZS9Z.

The End

In 1994, after the elections in South Africa, and a new government installed in power, the enclave was handed over the Namibian government, and so became an integral part of Namibia, so ending the ZS9 operation.

It was, while it lasted, a great deal of fun for both the Walvis Bay resident operators, as well as the many DX and local hams that had the opportunity of working that country.

Ten years on, that first contact (and resultant pile up) using the ZS9 call sign still remains fresh in ones mind. QSL cards still seem to be in demand, with the author still periodically receiving requests for cards. One wonders how many went missing over the years in the post. But as the old cliché goes, all good things must at some stage come to an end.

This may have been the end of ZS9S, but it's not the end for John, may ZS6AN just carry on, well into the 21^st century, and one thing is for sure, John will always remember those days spent in ZS9, and may those memories live on and on, especially for you John !