YOTA 2018: Day 5

Trips to local companies

Our penultimate day of activities included two group outings, one to a local PCB manufacturer, Bosco. Their website can be found at: http://www.bosco.co.za/

The second group went to a military company, GEW, which specialises in direction finding and radio jammers. Their website can be found at: http://www.gew.co.za/

Myself and Peter went to Bosco, where we had a brilliant tour and we were told all about the company history and how the company recycles most of their waste products, so they stay as environmentally friendly as possible. They showed us all their processes, which was fascinating to watch, especially the machine which drills the holes for the PCB’s and the continuity checker later down the production line, both fantastic machines and mesmerising to watch. 

Ben was in the group which went to GEW and apparently it was an amazing experience, but some of the details of their visit are better off being kept ‘Top Secret’! I have been told that they had a brilliant time and the tour they were given was very interesting, especially seeing how radio is used to help protect countries from harm. 

HAREC Revision and Exam

While we were all off having fun, the HAREC exam students (including Mike) were busy studying hard for their exam which would take place later that day. They had a total of around four hours to prepare for this exam, (which is equivalent to a Full exam remember!), they all put in the hard work and were frantically reading their notes all day, cramming as much information into their heads as possible. Not so long after the revision session, it was time for them all to sit their exam. Most of the people who sat the exam were happy enough and had expected it to be difficult, while some thought it was easy, and others thought it was hard. A bit like any exam then I suppose!

The Miraculous Bell at the Villa Griffone Talk

We were given an amazingly enthusiastic presentation about the life of Marconi and how he explored wireless telegraphy. Lots of practical demonstrations were used during this talk to make it very engaging and one we will not forget soon! A very interesting life story, which showed us how pioneering Marconi was for his time. 

Final Train the Trainer Talk

As we were told the previous day, all the teams gave a short presentation, outlining how they will encourage youngsters to get into amateur radio once they get back to their home country. The UK presentation was given and many good ideas were talked about, which will be implemented in the next few months. We also took notes from the other countries, which we could also use to improve the numbers of young people being introduced into the hobby. 

We were given some free time at the end of day five, but most either went back to finish off building their kits or went outside to work some satellites. We all tried to make the most of our limited time remaining in South Africa, as tomorrow would be our last day of activities and we knew we would miss South Africa once YOTA was over.

73
Nathan, MI0NPR

Team UK: YOTA 2018
Peter MØSWN, Mike 2EØMLJ, Ben MØNBA and Nathan MIØNPR

Category: YOTA 2018