I was asked to write a CV of my amateur radio career in less than 500 words so here goes, I hope I can remember the important details! Maybe I should write it as “the third person”.
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Eddie Leighton took interest in amateur radio way back in 1974 and, after many weekly night classes, wrote the November written technical and regulation RAE. Morse code was required for an unrestricted ZS licence and, although largely self taught, Eddie managed to pass the 12 w.p.m. test. Eddie was issued with the call sign ZS6BNE in February 1975. He was still in high school until he matriculated at the end of 1976.
Eddie was called up to do national service in 1977. It was not until basic training was completed was he transferred to Wits command signal unit in the middle of 1977 where he spent another 18 months as a signaller also manning the Hamnet military station ZS6VT. On clearing out at the end of 1978 Eddie joined the Post Office as a pupil telecommunications technician. He was married in 1980.
Eddie was for many years the chairman for the Lichtenburg amateur radio club. On a few occasions he presented the RAE and morse classes in Lichtenburg where he stayed. When his own son was old enough he also became a ham and was issued with the call sign ZU6AAI. Eddie spent many hours in the “shack” with his son which proved quite beneficial in later years.
From the year 2000 Eddie actively wrote articles for the SARL’s publication, Radio ZS. This included general stories and later articles on digital modes, satellite communications and Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio.
Since attending the first “Radio technology in action” presentations of the SARL, Eddie decided to give something back in the form of touring South Africa firstly giving satellite communications presentations and the following year presentations on RaDAR which has become his passion from the year 2007 till now.
In 2010, Eddie earned the radio amateur of the year award.This award recognises someone who has made a major contribution to promoting activities and technical excellence. Eddie received the award on two counts. He promotes amateur radio satellite operation through articles in the South African Radio League’s publication Radio ZS. His second project is the development of Rapid Deployment of Amateur Radio (RaDAR).
RaDAR was recently presented and accepted at the IARU region 1 meeting. Eddie continues to promote amateur radio and especially the rather unusual concept of RaDAR in the form of short promotional video content and Blogs. He is in constant contact with interested hams via the various social media.
ZS6BNE's Blog 