Boehner, bain of the recovery

For some time now prospects for global equities have steadily ticked up. The first signal was the significant fall in volatility in the Euro as Eurozone leaders coordinated various moves to allay investors' fears that the whole edifice would crack and collapse. Another key was the dawning perception that US housing's long slump was over. Now it is common to read about how the number of new homes built is outstripped by household formations. In reality this is a big pendulum swing that's been under way for some years. If we look at the four major economic zones, US, Eurozone, China and Japan it is possible to paint quite a positive synchronised recovery picture for 2013 - not stellar but moving in the right direction, and still accompanied by very low global interest rates. In such a world, where do you wanna be? In equities, has been my call and still is. Enter stage right, the dysfunctional US political system led by the Republicans under John Boehner. Fiscal cliff is all you've been reading about for weeks and they are still bickering more than ever. If I was American I'd vote Republican, but this is ridiculous. America needs to avert the cliff now and restructure it's entire tax system shortly thereafter. It's simple arithmetic, stupid. The clock is ticking on the national debt, fast. But they continue to play silly brinkmanship. Obama won the election, move on. The QSL is from WCKY, Cincinnati, Boehner's home town, heard on AM 1530 in Cape Town way back in 1968.

Makes you want to run the red light

Traffic lights drive you mad. Or robots, as they are quaintly called in South Africa. Sometimes the whole intersection is idling, waiting for pedestrian lights even though there aren't any pedestrians. Or the lights are green for the cross road but no cars are there, meanwhile there's a bunch of cars waiting on your side. Tests are now being conducted in Harris County, Texas to combine smart lights with vehicles' new anti-idling systems to calculate the flows at intersections. This system also makes use of drivers' cellphones, like Waze does for traffic densities. Already in place is the Scoot technology used on many of the 4000 traffic signals in London and 250 of the 1200 lights in Cape Town. Cape Town Council claims its Scoot system saves motorists R30 million in 'operating and time costs'. That may be so but I can think of loads of intersections where there seems to be a lot of pointless idling and waiting, burning up gas and time. And it's often for those invisible pedestrians. I can remember in Cape Town years ago a system of rubber strips on the road that recorded flow and sent this to the light, which would then react. Many lights had them and they seemed to work pretty well. They've gone now. A case where new technology has retrogressed from old technology. The QSL is from KYOK, Houston in Harris County Texas. They were using just 5 kW on AM 1590, heard in Morgan Bay, South Africa in 1993.

Dak down in the Drak

Cape Town's excellent V&A Waterfront was the scene for Red Bull's Flugtag today and 40+ aircraft of all shapes and sizes strutted their stuff. These events never fail to impress with their ingenuity and pure sense of fun. Some of the planes were destined from the start to plunge straight into the water, from the 6-metre high ramp protruding off Jetty 1. And so it was with concoctions that paid barely no attention to basic aerodynamics but were still propelled into the abyss with great abandon. My son Matt's plane was a serious effort by the Cape Town Flying Club with an 8-metre wingspan and a rear flap that enabled them to get some lift. For pilots, this week has been tragic with the SA Air Force 35 Squadron (based near Cape Town) C-47 going down over the Drakensberg with 11 on board. This was a modified Dakota, basically a DC-3 with turbo engines. The Dak is an amazing survivor, the first being built in 1935 and widely used ever since for many purposes. They were built in plants in California as well as Oklahoma City, 10 000 in all over the years. I had quite a few flights in Daks during the 1970s, mainly in what was then South-West Africa, flown by young pilots who used to throw the planes around like toys. They were built to take punishment, which makes the 35 Squadron loss all the more mysterious. It will be hard to determine just what went wrong because there was no black box on board. The QSL is from KOMA Radio in Oklahoma City, heard on a trip to San Francisco in 1993. One of the great US AM stations.

Sierra Leone swings through the cycle

Sierra Leone is a poor country, with GDP of just $2.2bn and a population of around 6 million. By comparison, London has a population slightly larger at 8 million and a GDP of over $750bn. But Sierra Leone is on a roll with real growth running at around 6% in recent years and a huge surge likely this year with the flow of iron ore production hitting full stride. The country was devastated by a terrible civil war which ended in 2001, infamous for 'blood diamond' atrocities. This was the third election since then and the first to be run by the country itself. Incumbent president, Ernest Bai Koroma  was elected to a second term with a convincing majority of 59%, enough to avoid a second round vote, while the ruling party, All People's Congress, increased its majority in parliament. The opposition has alleged irregularities and stuffed ballot boxes but is unlikely to resort to violence and the international observer community has given the thumbs up. So yet another west African state passes more or less smoothly through an election cycle and the region's growth continues to hum along. The QSL is from Radio Sierra Leone, heard on 90mb short-wave in Cape Town in 1969. It has the distinctive Africa-shaped Sierra Leone human rights stamp on the postcard. What a nice surprise in the mailbox, long ago

Kellogg's is a waste of space

In this consumer's world we chow through huge amounts of stuff, probably a lot more than we need. Over the years economists have reminded us that having things doesn't necessarily mean happiness, and can even mean unhappiness. The latest on this theme is Robert Skidelsky's 'How Much is Enough?' which draws on a theme of Maynard Keynes in the 1930s, where he imagined that as the human race grew richer it would seek more leisure. Eventually we'd only be working 15 hours a week. But that simply hasn't happened and the desire for more is a strong as ever. Pity then that Kellogg's, the famous branded cereal provider continues to rip us off and that we continue to fall for it. A box of Kellogg's All Bran Flakes here is smartly packaged but the contents are way less than the box. Kellogg's might argue that the contents 'settle' in transit but even the packet itself inside is a lot smaller than the box. This is waste, a lack of economic efficiency and deludes an easily-deluded public. Each box takes up more space in the truck, in the trolley and on the shelf. Well, it's a free market (sort of) and if Kellogg's gets away with it, well so be it. Kellogg's sure is big business, with 3rd quarter sales of $3.7bn and operating profit of nearly half a billion. It's a brand that's been around for over a century, not many like it. The QSL is from WKAR Radio broadcasting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan just a few miles up the road from Kellogg's HQ in Battle Creek, MI. It was heard on a trip to Chicago in 1992.

Jain mutinies save insects

Relative to insects we are gigantic. And we have god-like control over them in one-on-one situations. Take this little ant that was caught on the lid of a pot on the stove. As it heated up the ant started running about crazily to get away. I blew it onto the kitchen dresser and off it scampered. Then there was this little spider which had crept into the folds of the pool cover. As I pulled the cover over the pool some water seeped on to the top, trapping the little creature. Every now and again it would make a dash in one direction or another looking for a way out. This would only last a second or two. I guess instinct was telling it not to move for too long so as not to be spotted by a  predator. I left the cover to dry so the spider would find a path to freedom. Sure enough it was gone a couple of hours later. In VS Naipal's book India - a Million Mutinies Now, he talks about a Jain who is unwilling to walk outdoors for fear of treading on insects scuttling in the street. I can't say I'm that freaked out but I don't like to hurt little creatures if I can possibly avoid it, drawing the line at mosquitoes, which deserve termination with full prejudice. Of course, were the human race to decide to wipe itself out in a nuclear war insects would most likely have the best chance of surviving. The QSL is from All India Radio, Kurseong in the north-eastern corner of India, near Bhutan. This is another classic, signed by AK Bhatnagar and heard in Kent in 2001.

Guatemala sways Obama's ticket

After a lot of jawboning about swing states, Obama won the lot, with the exception of North Carolina. Much of this was due to the Latin American vote which swayed most of the southern swing states Obama's way. Hispanics made up 10% of the national vote and this is sure to rise in the years ahead. The population is growing (up 43% in the past decade) and the turnout is still only around 50% compared to well over 60% for other groups. In Florida, it was close with only 74000 votes separating the candidates out of over 8 million cast, razor-thin on any measure. Hispanics made the difference and these days Cuban-Americans are rivalled by voters from other parts of Central America, like Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador. America is changing colour and language so any party that wants to count will have to take heed. Notions of building electric fences across the Mexican border are unlikely to be winning strategies! The election was yet another example of America's thriving democracy, with all its flaws, not least of which is the absurd amount of money spent by candidates. We have to see now whether the newly-elected politicians are capable of mature compromise on the deficit and long-term national debt. So far children have been at play in Washington. The QSL is from R Maya de Barillas in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, on the Mexican border. This 1 kW station was heard on 90 mb in London in 1995. Station chief José Castañeda sent a lovely typed letter including congratulations on my Spanish! Actually my Spanish is very rudimentary but I had the use of a translator to put my letter together.

Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, gone in a flash

Just back from another rush trip to western Europe. On one day we flew - London to Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Stockholm and even managed to see some clients! It was a pity the Copenhagen visit was so brief as I had no chance to meet again with Anker Petersen and Kaj Bredahl Jorgensen, stalwarts of the Danish Short Wave Club International, which has been going for over 50 years. I had a delightful meeting with them in a Copenhagen hotel last year which ended up with a picture of us on the DSWCI magazine - fame at last! The club bills itself as 'DX Club that  had  global  membership 30 years  before "Globalization" ' and it's true. In my early teens I knew where every country in the world was and most capitals, even the islands in the Pacific and tiny places like Belize (British Honduras) and San Marino, to say nothing of little dots like Tristan da Cunha and Cape Verde Islands. It always amazes me when people talk about 'visiting Africa' as if it was one homogeneous place rather than a continent with over 50 countries, easily spanning both sides of the equator. Denmark itself is quite a small country with a high standard of living. I believe Scandinavia to be probably the most civilised region on the planet. The QSL is from Radio Denmark heard on long-wave in Kent in 1996.

A tale of two Argentine naval vessels

While the Argentine navy's corvette, Espora (ARA P-41), has calmly rested in Simon's Town harbour over the past two weeks, another of its ships, the Libertad, is clogging up Tema, Ghana's main port. This 100-metre long tallship is a training vessel and was seized on 1 October under a court order relating to Argentina's brutal debt default in 2002. Elliott Capital Management, which still owns a piece of Argentina's defaulted debt, has steadfastly pursued a payout despite the exchange into new debt that was effected in 2005. And now, in New York, the US Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Argentina is barred from giving priority to bondholders who accepted the 2005 debt exchanges that flowed from Argentina's massive sovereign debt default at the beginning of the decade. This is not the end of the saga by any means as Argentina will surely appeal this ruling. But in the meantime, Libertad is blocking berth 11 at Tema and the Ghanaian Ports Authority wants to move it to a quieter part of the harbour. Down in Simon's Town, the P-41 has idled on the outer wall of the harbour and is blocking nobody. In fact it didn't even participate in the latest exercise which involved warships from Brazil, India and South Africa. The QSL is from WPTR in New York, heard on 1540 AM in Cape Town back in 1968.

Kagame and Kabila - could they ever be a dream team?

Much of sub-Saharan Africa is high-growth GDP territory these days, eclipsed only by Asian economies. Rwanda is right up there with the highest, seemingly capable of growing at a 7-8% clip, versus around 5% for the region as a whole, and with only modest inflation to boot. This is a  far cry from the country ravaged by the appalling civil war in 1994 when something like 20% of the population was wiped out. In the aftermath millions more were killed in eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after Laurent Kabila (father of current DRC president, Joseph Kabila) came to power. Rwanda has gotten great press in recent years, billed by some as 'Africa's greatest success story'. Under the rather authoritarian government of Paul Kagame the economy has made great strides, pursuing a kind of command and control strategy reminiscent of Singapore. It is very strong on regulatory overhaul: it now takes just one day to register a new business. Unfortunately, the conflict in neighbouring DR Congo continues, with the UN now accusing Rwanda of supporting rebels in eastern DRC. This area is immensely rich in minerals and it's likely that the lure of profits in tin, tungsten and tantalum mined in the region is behind the funding for this rebel activity. The potential for these two countries in the next century is potentially enormous if only they could cooperate. Kigali, Rwanda's capital could become the service hub for DRC's eastern mineral wealth, to the benefit of both their populations. The QSL is from Radio Rwanda, heard in Johannesburg in 1992 on the 49mb where it is still active today.

When Irish oil is smiling

Ireland consumes about 140k barrels of oil a day, all imported, so this week's announcement of an offshore field in the Celtic Sea could turn the country into an exporter. A platform in the Barryroe field, 50km off the Cork coast could produce as much as 100k bpd and a number of platforms are possible if Providence Resources can get backing. The discovery is likely to inspire further exploration as well as downstream development and oilfield services. Currently there is only one refinery, fortunately in Cork, close enough to pipe the Barryroe oil. Irish real GDP peaked in 2007 and is still running some 8% shy of that, having flatlined for the past year, so any boost from the oil industry would be welcome. Ireland runs a current account surplus with the latest data showing exports up 18% year-on-year. Imports are running at about EUR 4bn per month with oil making up one-twelfth, about EUR 4bn per annum. So Barryroe would add to the surplus or increase capacity to import other stuff. The positive balance of payments factor distinguishes Ireland from its Eurozone peripheral partners. The Irish 10-year bond yield has fallen dramatically over the past year, from a high of nearly 15% to under 5%, almost identical to Italy's. Economic woes have pushed emigration to the highest for years, especially among the young. But the economy is gradually self-medicating after years of pain and the oil boost (with the potential for more to come) is a sweetener. The QSL is from Radio Telefis Eireann broadcasting on AM. The transmitter on 729 kHz was in Cork, using 10 kW and heard in London in 1996. Both these transmitters have since shut down. 

Gambling on the unemployment conspiracy

The US unemployment rate has dropped below 8% for the first time since 2009. Some suspect a conspiracy to artificially massage this number down prior to the presidential election next month. If you believe it, you're going to see spooks in all sorts of corners. In any case, people don't vote on the basis of a statistic they see on TV, rather it's whether they are feeling good about themselves and the economy. The monthly payrolls data is a mine of information and a spider's web of confusion. For one thing, prior-month data is often revised a lot - in this case another 80k plus jobs were reported for July and August. For another, there are two surveys, covering companies and households. The latter is smaller and far more volatile and the main reason for the decline in the unemployment rate last month. It showed an 873k spike in jobs compared with a 368k dip in August. You can't do much with data like that unless you smooth it (say a 6-month moving average) and even then it's iffy. Anyway the underlying tone of the data wasn't too bad with the employment-population rate for the key 25-54 year old group pushing up to a post-recession high. Also the drag from public sector job cuts appears to have ceased. None of this will tip the balance for Obama on its own. Gamblers' paradise Nevada has the highest unemployment rate of the 50 states by some distance (12.1%) - a boom-bust economy if there ever was one. The QSL is from KROW in Reno, Nevada heard in San Francisco in 1993 on a business trip. The chief engineer, Martin Stabbert, points out in his very nice letter that the beam was to the west so never to be heard from South Africa.

Senkaku may be tense but it's jolly in False Bay

While naval activity may be getting a bit tense around the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands, the latest war games in False Bay are much jollier. Simon's Town is hosting Atlasur IX with corvettes and frigates from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay participating alongside the SA Navy. Monday saw the arrival of the Latin American ships to the thump of 11-gun salutes from the lower North Shore battery. Even the upper North Shore gun let off a noon-day blast. This was all happening while a big yacht regatta was underway in the bay, part of the annual Simon's Town festival, with over 50 boats displaying their colours and weaving around the warships. The next few days saw loads of receptions and the sounds of numerous national anthems drifting up the hill, while in the main street quite a bit of broken Spanish and Portuguese was attempted by the village traders. On Friday the ships all nipped out across the bay and did a few manoeuvres before returning line astern before sunset, anchoring just beyond the harbour wall, neatly spaced as if on show for the locals. On Saturday they made a leisurely 1000 start (quite different from the army, which is all 0530 on the double) and headed out to sea. It'd be interesting to know what the Armada Argentina thought about the British nuclear sub and supply ship that stopped off here earlier in the year en route to the Falklands. The QSL is from Radio Maldonado in Punta del Este, Uruguay, my first AM QSL from there, heard at dawn in Johannesburg in 1987, using only 2 kilowatts.

Bank fraud: all aboard for Devon

Card fraud is rampant and the banks continually fight a battle to stay ahead of the crooks. Now for each card transaction we get a text message from the bank detailing the vendor and amount. This can be quite disconcerting. You think you're really popular with friends and family, just queuing up to text with you, meanwhile it's just the bank tolling your expenditure, day-in, day-out. SA banks haven't heard of free checking accounts so there are plenty of charges for the pleasure of keeping your money there. And although interest rates are low here, they are far from near-zero as in some countries, so the bank makes a nice turn on your current account. You must also put your pin number into the machine each time. The convention is for the staff of the restaurant or shop to hand you the machine and then turn aside while you type in your pin. It's always a very deliberate physical gesture, like: 'Don't worry, I'm definitely not trying to read your finger movements so that I can hack into your account...' We've had a few card frauds. Once somebody managed to charge up a trip on South West Trains to Devon to my wife's debit card. We knew she hadn't made the trip but the bank initially made us feel like the criminals rather than the victims. It took it a couple of weeks to accept our story. I guess they had to make sure we weren't pulling a fast one. The QSL is from BBC R Devon broadcasting from Exeter with 1 kW on 990 kHz heard in Kent in 1996. UK AM stations have been great QSLers over the years.

Jackass penguins make Boulders no go

Just outside Simon's Town is what used to be one of the world's  best beaches - Boulders. These days it's infested with African 'jackass' penguins. They have been allowed to take over this haven of bright sand and granite, offering shelter from the wind and a beautiful mix of colours: white, azure, green and grey-black. Bordered mainly by indigenous bush above the high-water mark on the one side and the clear water of False Bay on the other, the area comprises a number of small sheltered bays, partially enclosed by granite boulders that are 540 million years old. When I was a kid we used to play in the sea, run along the sand and climb the rocks, sit on top and gaze out over the bay. But the penguins are now everywhere. They make this rather unpleasant baying sound and stink the place up something horrible. Sure, they are a threatened species and in reasonable numbers are rather cute. They strut around in their 'tuxedos' and can swim a treat. Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage called countershading – white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water. They were originally described in 1758 by the famous Swedish botanist Linnaeus, although he didn't actually visit SA.  Boulders attracts loads of tourists who come for the penguins and I guess that's good for the economy. But for locals they are a pain - you even have to pay to go on to the beach! The QSL is from a Swedish pirate radio station, Radio Pandora, heard one Sunday in Kent in 1996, using just 20 watts. It  was set up by Steve St John in 1993. Up on the 49mb many pirates were active on Sundays and quite a few of them were good QSLers.

Draghi gets out the dragster

Remember 'Whatever it takes' ? Well it's back.  The European Central Bank is to put its foot on the gas. Markets were thrilled on Thursday to hear Mario Draghi announce his programme to 'provide a backstop to remove tail risk from the Euro area.' Tail risk is that dreaded part of the probability curve that is too large for comfort. Tail risk is what hit financial assets after the collapse of Lehman Bros in 2008, creating price movements that weren't statistically possible, or only once every few million years, somewhat longer than the existence of civilised humanity, let alone financial markets. And the same tail risk has threatened to erupt from the Eurozone ever since. Several bouts of frightening volatility have occurred continually, forcing many investors to seek the safest possible havens for their cash. Interestingly, though, the volatility spikes have been declining. This could mean two things: one, investors are learning to live with the dangers, which could be a form of 'disaster myopia' where people simply cease to be able to imagine a major meltdown; two, the perception that Euro policy-makers are gradually getting a grip on things. It's probably a bit of both. One of the first beneficiaries of Draghi's largesse may be Portugal which is putting the finishing touches to yet another bout of austerity. It's already in a bail-out programme and its determination to comply could well receive the ECB's blessing. You might make some money in Portuguese bonds if the yields track down to the levels of Ireland and Spain, or lower. The QSL is from Rádio Renascença a 10 kW station operating on AM from Coimbra, Portugal, heard in Kent in 1999.

Paddleskiing in whale country

The link shows a 4-minute video of yours truly out at Muizies catch waves and getting wiped out on my paddleski.   Graham paddleskiing at Muizenberg, Cape Town   I used GoPro camera mounted on the nose, pointing forwards and backwards. The video was edited by my son, Matt, and is up on Youtube. It's that time of the year again when the southern right whales come and flop around in the bay. While making this video a pair of them was cavorting only 100 metres beyond the surf-line. Later in the day we saw a number of pods from our house in Simon's Town with one particularly energetic soul leaping out in a full breach before rolling over and re-entering the sea with a huge splash. Further up the coast here the town of Hermanus has established a whole service industry of whale-watching with numerous B&B's offering views. But False Bay is just as good and the sea is often calmer. The whales come every year from late-August and are often seen close into shore which is then lined with watchers, some armed with immensely long camera lenses trying to get the ultimate shot. But up in Muizies corner we just combine a bit of great surfing with casual whale-watching, feeling at one with nature and not too exercised about the perfect pic. The whales come north to SA from Antarctica and have unique technique of 'sailing' - using their elevated flukes to catch the wind. The QSL is from the British Antarctic Survey for reception of its Faraday Base in Antarctica in contact with the supply vessel RRS Bransfield, heard in Johannesburg in 1986.

That's Miami, spelt with a V

The US housing market is gradually picking up steam. It looks like the recovery has a long way to go. My index of household formation to housing starts has run in positive territory for several years, quite the opposite of its performance in the years prior to the bust. To me this is a pendulum that is swinging back or a tanker starting to turn. It takes time for the forces that drive prices to build up but once they get going it becomes a self-feeding loop. As prices bottom sellers hold back to see if they can get more; better prices mean more willing lending by the banks; as prices rise more people come out of negative equity enabling them to sell; successful sellers are freed up to move to other cities to find jobs; consumer confidence builds as people perceive their net worth rising again. House prices are now rising at a faster pace than the 30-year mortgage bond rate, something that we haven't seen for some time. This creates positive leverage for buyers and affordability is at the highest level for just about ever. Sure getting a loan is hard but bank credit committees are gradually chilling out and in due course competitiveness will drive them to extend more credit. The recovery is by no means universal with some cities still in the doldrums. But places like Miami and Phoenix are seeing V-shaped bounces. The QSL is from Radio Miami International, signed by the founder, Jeff White. It was heard in London in 1995. For quite a few years I used to travel to Miami on business and always liked the place.

The curious case of Curaçao

The London Olympics are done and dusted and countries have welcomed home their medalists as heroes, including SA. The Brits did very well, having spent their lottery money wisely upgrading the national sports effort. Not all athletes competed under a national flag, however. In three Olympics, Barcelona 1992, Sydney 2000 and the latest in London some athletes were allowed to compete as independents. In 1992 Yugoslavia was under UN sanctions and Macedonia did not yet have an Olympic committee so their athletes were allowed in without a flag. In 2000 it was the turn of East Timorians as their country's independence was not complete while in the latest show it was the athletes from the recently-dissolved Netherlands Antilles. Only Yugoslavians have won medals as independents, for shooting. The Netherlands Antilles break-up is a little complicated. Three islands, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba became  special municipalities of the Holland proper, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Go figure what that all actually means! The QSLs are 1) from Curaçao Radio, a utility broadcaster using just 1 kW and heard in Johannesburg in 1993 and 2) Radio Republik Indonesia, broadcasting from Dili in East Timor on 90 mb heard in 1992, one of a bunch of RRI QSLs I'm so pleased to have.

From suckuz to Manila

'Suckuz, does anybody here wan' ice-col' suckuz?' calls the frozen lolly man as he sidles through the compartment before the train leaves the station. The Metrorail from Cape Town to Simon's Town is a unique experience. You have to know the route because you can't see very well out of the windows, smothered in graffiti. In any case even if you could see out there are few signs on the station platforms and they're easy to miss, especially if the trains are full. The 39 km ride is scheduled to take about 70 minutes but it's pretty variable. A sign on the station wall states that 78% of the trains make it on time. Sometimes the scheduled train simply doesn't show up; at other times several arrive within a few minutes. The best section is the leg from Muizenberg to Simon's Town, along the edge of False Bay. I love this bit. At Muizies I can check the swell and surf, especially if the wind is right and see how many guys are out there catching waves. The stations have these names from SA's past: Dutch like Muizenberg, mixed Dutch and English like Fish Hoek and Kalk Bay, Scottish like Glencairn. The very last bit has several twists and turns and the old carriages creak, squeak, screech and squeal at a snail's pace. Then it's Simon's Town at the end of the line, back in the Deep South. Kalk Bay is a fishing harbour with an interesting connection to the Philippines. In the 1840s a Filipino ship was wrecked off Cape Point and the survivors settled at Kalk Bay to be joined by others over the years. Being Catholics they established the nearby St James church and their descendants still live in the area today. The QSL is from the Far East Broadcasting Co in Manila, heard on shortwave way back in 1966, one of my very first.

Breathe deep in the Deep South

Back in Simon's Town after 11 months in London. Friday afternoon a steady north-wester blew, with a medium swell at Muizenberg, water temperature around the ambient air temp of 15 degrees, cold but no problem with a wetsuit. It was great to be back on the paddle-ski for the first time since April. Working out hard at the back you start panting a bit and that's when you notice the richness of the air. Sure Cape Town gets its fair share of smog but the brisk winds blow it away pretty quickly and compared to London the air is so-oo clean. It's like drinking babbling mountain brook water vs the stuff out of the tap. There's an extra deliciousness to it. In the World Bank's Air Pollution index Cape Town scores 15 against Greater London's 23, the highest in the UK. But in the 'Deep South' of Cape Town (e.g. Simon's Town) I'm sure the index is much lower given our proximity to the sea, exposure to breezes and lack of industry. The UK's overall ranking of 19 is actually below SA's of 24. SA burns a lot of coal for its power stations and also in urban areas for cooking. Topping the pollution country list are a number of African countries like Sudan, Mali, Niger, Chad and Egypt. The QSL is from Chad National Radio, received way back in 1969 and heard on 60mb broadcasting on the odd frequency of 4904.5 kHz. In those days the Francophone broadcasters were pretty reliable QSLers.

Central Africa shows up at Olympics

When I see a long list of countries I find it irresistible to check it off against my 200 + country QSL (station verification) list which I've collected over the past 45 years. And so it was with the Olympic Games ceremony on Friday night in London. Among the 201 countries filing past that aren't on my QSL list is the Bahamas. ZNS-1 from the Bahamas Broadcasting Corporation on 1540 AM has been audible in Cape Town for decades and I must have sent a dozen reports but with never a squeak back. I know some DXers have got one so there's always a hope. It struck me how many countries have attended the Games over the years without winning a single medal. It is a tribute to human striving that they keep coming back with athletes who have made the qualifying standard in the hope of one day breaking their duck. The South African team is targeting '12 medals in 2012' but the London bookies are putting the odds on quite a bit less than that. Most of the athletes are camped in the Olympic village with its thin walls and cramped conditions, not ideal for being at your best on race day, so anything can happen. One country at the Games that I do have on my QSL list is the low-profile Central African Republic. Like South Africa, this country tells you exactly where it is! It was heard on 60mb in French in Cape Town in 1971. The form letter apologises for not having a QSL card.

The Gold just keeps on Roving

Back in Simonstown after nearly a year in London. We flew on the same night on three different aircraft.  Just logistical, not because we're the royal family! My son wanted to fly on an A380 so took a separate flight on Emirates. Coincidentally our two aircraft took off one behind the other from Heathrow and I saw him bank off into the clouds before disappearing. Our first three days were in bright sunshine with 20 degrees plus, a nice change from the torrents of rain in London. In the Mike-Lima outer basin at the naval harbour in Simonstown is the RFA Gold Rover, en route to the South Atlantic. This Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment ship is no spring chicken (built in 1973) with functions like patrolling, oiling and provisioning. Although  given a low profile the visit is probably part of the British response to the tension with Argentina surrounding the Falkland Islands. A few weeks ago HMS Talent, a nuclear-power sub armed with Tomahawk's also stopped by in our little harbour, en route to the Falklands area. The Gold Rover has spent plenty of its time sailing African coastlines, especially the Gold Coast of west Africa. Its last port of call was Ghana. The QSL is from the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, heard on 17megs in Cape Town way back in 1966.

A380 Toulouse in Farnborough

My son and I took in the Farnborough Airshow yesterday, in Hampshire. True to form in this year's English summer, it rained almost all day and the sun failed to show. For a joke we asked the hotel receptionist when the British summer was due to start, as if we were tourists. The low cloud cover meant that many of the flypasts had to restrict their routines which was disappointing, in most cases. But for the A380 it was perfect. The giant plane made a huge spray on the runway as it took off and then as it rapidly canted away into the cloud it trailed a huge stream of vapour. We last went to Farnborough in 2006 when the A380 made its debut and it was stunning then with its quietness and manoeuvrability. It was no less spectacular now despite its familiarity. The show appeared to suffer from the recession with fewer aircraft on view and in the flypast. We sat and shivered in the grandstand with the stoic crowd in the teeth of a chilly, wet north wind. Late in the day an F-18 Hornet did some spectacular angle-of-attack flying accompanied by massive noise volume. Thrilling, but I always wonder when one of these fighter jets points towards me at an airshow how I would be feeling if it was flown by an enemy. You are just so small and powerless on the ground. We were glad to make it back indoors after a freezing day. The QSL is from Sud Radio, Toulouse (where the A380 is assembled in a huge plant), heard in London on AM 891 kHz in 1995.

Angola's oil - not Dundo yet

If you cast an eye over a map of the Atlantic Ocean you will see how snugly Brazil might have fitted into the armpit of west Africa and down the western coast of the continent. And so it was about a 300m years ago. This was the supercontinent of Pangaea. We keep on hearing how Brazil has discoverd these great oil fields in the pre-salt sub-ocean depths in the Campos Santos basin. And no surprise that right across the other side of that same ocean another Portuguese-speaking country is busy auctioning off licences in its own pre-salt oil fields in the Kwanza basin. Angola, which already produces 1.6m barrels per day is set to boost that a lot over the next decade as it brings the next generation of oil discoveries into production. Some say that the convection currents in the earth's mantle will move the continents together again but in the meantime the Angolans are going to make off like bandits. The QSL is from Radio Diamang heard on 60mb and 31mb way back in 1968 when I was a schoolboy in Cape Town. What a nice full-detail card in Portuguese, French and English and a pic of a cool marimba band. The station is named for Companhia de Diamantes de Angola which controlled the gem-quality diamond fields discovered near Dundo in north-eastern Angola 100 years ago.

Who goes after Hugo goes?

Venezuela's presidential election campaign starts today. Incumbent Hugo Chavez is again front runner looking for re-election to a third term. In 2003 he won a vote to abolish term limits thus setting himself up to become an African-style 'sit-tight' president, in office for the foreseeable future. But it looks unlikely to work out that way. One way or another Venezuela is probably going to be looking for a new president before the next cycle is done, for Chavez is seriously ill. There is no Plan B within his party for succession so if he wins it's anybody's guess as to what will happen when he goes. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles appears to be closing in the polls but Venezuela has a history of very spotty polling. In the 2004 'recall' referendum Chavez was said to be losing by 20 points but ended up winning by about that margin. It's hard to imagine him losing, with the economy having had a good run off the back of last year's strong oil price. That's set to change with the sharp fall in oil in recent months. Global oil excess demand has contracted at one of the fastest rates for ages. Venezuela's economy will head into reverse following the inevitable overspend triggered by the last surge in oil. It's been that way for decades. Already the currency is trading in the black market at less than half the official rate. The QSL is from Radio Capital in Caracas - a smart card in English and Spanish, full details, signature, logo, the lot - heard in Johannesburg early in the morning in 1986.

Paraguay not so peachy for Lugo

Paraguay’s Congress ditched Fernando Lugo as president in an impeachment vote called over his handling of a fatal land eviction. The vote in the Senate was passed by 39 to 4, bringing to a dramatic end the lightning two-day impeachment. According to the constitution, deputy president, Federico Franco, was sworn in until presidential polls in April 2013. Lugo's election in 2008 ended one-party rule by the Colorado party, which had been in power for 61 years, leaving a trail of corruption. Lugo has branded the move “an express coup d’état” and a number of LatAm countries have come out in protest. But the decision was pretty overwhelming within Paraguay with a 76-1 vote in the lower house and even the Bishops urging Franco to quit (Lugo comes from their ranks). Fathering two children while he was a priest probably didn't help. Lugo is now hoping that popular support may return him to power. Paraguay is the world’s fourth biggest soya exporter but the economy lags way behind its continental peers. Over the past two decades per capita GDP has risen just 11% against 129% in Chile and a doubling in both Argentina and Peru. Paraguayan AM stations are heard from time to time, some of them playing the beautiful Paraguayan harp music. They are hard to QSL (I have sent reports to Radio Nanduti on 1020 several times) and the only one I have is from Radio Nacional de Paraguay heard on short-wave in Johannesburg in 1987.

No whining in Vienna

There are 7 billion people in the world and just 1.7 million of them live in Vienna. The place is absolutely crawling with stately buildings and museums. In the Kunsthistoriches Museum there is a coin collection going back to 600 BC. Some of the most ancient are Ionian (Greek), stunning to behold. Interestingly, the oldest coins are made of quite thick chunks of metal while many of the more modern ones are terribly thin. This is an age old tradition, reducing the metal content as much as possible and relying increasingly on the faith of the market to accord value to the currency in circulation. As we know, this has often led to dislocations. Ironically, although Greece is one of the oldest coin users it is now going through an intense financial crisis which is wiping out huge chunks of wealth. In the meantime Austria chugs along. Real GDP per capita is up 42% since 1990, a lot more than France or Germany and way more than Italy. Pedestrians obey pedestrian lights, motorists are cautious and polite. We felt a bit guilty crossing the street when the red man was flashing! The public gardens are slightly unkempt, not as Teutonically manicured as their English counterparts. The QSL is from an FM station - Blue Danube Radio - heard on a flight across Europe in 2000. In those days if you asked permission from the flight deck you were allowed to listen to ground FM stations on the radio. I used to track the flight's course this way and occasionally write to stations heard. Here is a link to the coin collection:  http://www.khm.at/en/collections/coin-cabinet/

Oh English garden, sweet 'n noisy

How many kinds of sweet flowers grow in and English country garden? So goes the song. And even in the London suburbs the gardens are bursting with the colour of a very wet spring. From both sides of our flat we look out on scintillating greens, reds, yellows and blues. This is the time for growth and bloom. And in all this growth lies the problem. No doubt 20 years ago, trusty gardeners would do the rounds with their clippers and brooms trimming, shaping and tidying up. But these days in the well-heeled suburbs it's the garden service. Suddenly, our morning peace  is shattered by a cacophony of petrol-driven hedge-trimmers. Once a week these guys patrol the suburb, obsessively boxing hedges and cutting back wisterias. Then out comes the petrol-driven blower to gather the clippings and trimmings. And of course each household has a different gardening service on different days. The one we see most often is represented by a doleful chap with long locks and moustaches who looks like he is in serious need of exercise despite his outdoor existence. The 'English Country Garden' song was a hit in the UK and also in South Africa in 1962 when I was a kid. Funnily enough, the singer was an American, Jimmie Rodgers, from Camas, WA. The QSL is from KLB Seattle Marine Radio. Seattle is about 200 km north of Camas. I heard this utility station in Joburg in 1988 on USB using 2kW and a 1.5 wave quad loop antenna beamed in the opposite direction into the north Pacific.

International Labour rumbles Rumsfeld

You've heard of Donald Rumsfeld's 'unknown unknowns' of course? You know, the things we do not know we don't know? Well the International Labour Organisation in Geneva is way out ahead of him. Here is how the ILO defines the informal sector of an economy, one that in many emerging economies provides hand-to-mouth jobs for millions. Here goes: Persons in informal employment (a job-based concept) represents the sum of informal jobs in formal enterprises, informal sector enterprises, and households producing goods for own consumption or hiring paid domestic workers (cells A+C in the matrix). Persons employed in the informal sector (an enterprise-based concept) include the informal jobs in informal enterprises plus formal jobs in informal sector enterprises (cells A+B in the matrix). Persons employed in informal employment outside the informal sector (i.e., those employed in the formal sector and households producing goods for own use or employing paid domestic workers) corresponds with cell C in the matrix. Good luck figuring that one out!  In South Africa 'persons in informal employment' make up about 1/3 of all the employed population. There is a raging, at times vitriolic, debate about how to get more people, especially youngsters into work. In India it's over 80% and even in tiny Panama, over 40%. The QSL is from the US Albrook Air Force Station in Panama heard in Joburg, South Africa on USB in 1988. This was another of my self-made cards, sent to the station along with a reception report. The Station was closed in 1997 and is now a civilian airfield.

Marlon's a marvel

In the second cricket test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham the West Indies were on the rack at 136/6 with Shivnarine Chanderpaul,  in my opinion the best batsman in the world, already out. Then for the next 42 overs Marlon Samuels from Jamaica and Darren Sammy from St Lucia made the highest score ever for the seventh wicket at the ground and they're still there. For ages cricket-lovers around the world have prayed that West Indian cricket would rise again. I'm a big fan of the idea that the wheel goes around and the pendulum swings back but the long slide of Windies cricket has put the theory to a very stern test! There have been signs recently that mean reversion may be starting and yesterday's fightback was a marvel to behold. Chanderpaul, born in Guyana, consistently makes runs batting for a team where no one else has. It's one thing playing in a side where a number of players can step up to the plate when needed but Shivnarine has had to do it on more or less on his own. South Africans are watching this series with interest as we are next, with a tour to England starting in July. This will be a battle for No. 1 in the test cricket arena. I'm in two minds about the West Indies tour: on the one hand I'd love to see the Windies return to their best, on the other I'd like England to win easily so they get a bit overconfident. The QSL is for a utility test loop transmission from Jamintel, Kingston, Jamaica using a 1kW transmitter and heard on shortwave, upper side band. 

A Chile wave hits Quebec

Quebec has reacted to student protests against fee increases by passing an emergency law. It restricts demonstrations and imposes fines on protesters who block students from going to classes - up to $35000 for student leaders. Some of the demonstrations have turned violent, with Molotov cocktails being thrown. The name Molotov cocktail was coined by the Finns as an insulting reference to the Russian foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov at the time of the Russian invasion of Finland in 1939 which ultimately cost Finland  11% of its territory. (And the same Molotov of the eponymous Molotov-Ribbentop non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany in 1939). The quebecois student wave follows in the wake of extended demonstrations by students and high school pupils in Chile. The unrest has contributed to a precipitous decline in the popularity of President Sebastian Pinera. Following the dramatic San Jose mine rescue in 2010 his rating has plunged from 63% to just 26% recently. In the UK university fees for citizens have risen sharply. They were first introduced at 1000 quid p.a. in 1998 and recently have rocketed from 3000 to 9000 pounds. Foreign students in the UK pay much more - closer to 14000 quid. There are two forces at work here. One is the dissatisfaction that many feel about economic inequality - a narrow elite with unfair advantages. The other is the raw fact that the welfare state has become unaffordable. The QSL is from Radio Presidente Balmaceda in Santiago using 10kW on 31mb and heard in Cape Town in 1969. Tucked away behind the Andes, Chile is not easy to hear on AM and harder to QSL.