Following my announcement that several changes will take place from 1 May 2026 regarding the operation of the ZS1I HUB in the Mossel Bay area, it seems that there is some uncertainty about what will actually happen. I have received several requests to not close the AllStar and Echolink HUB in the Mossel Bay area. Several radio amateurs use the HUB on a regular basis and it will mean that they will be left out in the cold if I close the HUB.
I have therefore decided not to remove the HUB from the air, but that there will be changes is assured. The changes will not be of a significant nature and will only mean that I do not have to spend as much time managing and intensively monitoring the HUB.
The following changes apply to the ZS1I HUB, DMR Bridge and DMR Repeater from today, 1 May 2026:
1. The HUB, DMR Bridge and DMR Repeater will no longer be connected to the Aasvoelkop Repeater full-time, but only during the "Sonsopkoms" Net (06h00) and "Sonsak" Net. (16h45)
2. The HUB, DMR Bridge and DMR Repeater will be connected to various other repeaters, nodes, reflectors and networks from 1 May 2026. These connections will occur automatically without any announcement.
3. The SARL Bulletin, Amateur Radio Today and Australian Bulletin will only be broadcast on the HUB and DMR Bridge. Should any Group, Club or Radio Amateur wish to listen to the broadcasts on their repeater or nodes they are welcome to connect and disconnect their repeater to the HUB or DMR Bridge. This is how a HUB is supposed to function. Stations connect and disconnect themselves to the HUB, DMR Bridge and DMR Repeater. This is the norm worldwide.
4. The ZS1I HUB will from time to time switch to International Amateur Radio News broadcasts. No local Group or Club News Bulletins will be allowed on the HUB, DMR Bridge or DMR Repeater except for other nets such as AWA Net, ZA DMR Net or the Sandton Power Hour Tech Talks. My previous announcement regarding the broadcasting of Club bulletins still applies. Announcements about these and future activities mentioned will be made via the Amateur Radio Activities / Aktiwiteite Whats App Group.
5. The Australian Weekly News will now be broadcast at 9am on a Sunday morning and no longer in the afternoon. This will allow participants to continue participating in competitions and other activities on a Sunday afternoon without interruption and will they also be able to listen to other broadcasts on other networks should they so choose.
Enough for now. Should any entity feel that they do not wish to be connected to the ZS1I HUB for any reason whatsoever, then they are welcome to contact me in this regard. I will make the necessary changes to the system that will effect any connections and disconnections in order to cease broadcasts.
The above arrangements will make things much easier for me in order to spend more time on activities as previously mentioned. There are of course still changes that will occur but from now on I will refer to the Amateur Radio Acivities / Aktiwiteite WhatsApp Group or the ZS1I Amateur Radio Projects/Activities-Mossel Bay Blog. If you want to join the WhatsApp Group you are very welcome. Feel free to contact me directly on WhatsApp or shoot me an email by clicking HERE.
If there is still any uncertainty, questions or suggestions I will be happy to answer them. Please feel free to connect to the ZS1I HUB in Mossel Bay. As already mentioned there will be further changes to enhance the ZS1I HUB in Mossel Bay. These changes will be to the benefit of radio amateurs connected to the system.
