DXFC Scores for Southern Africans

Last updated: 2024-06-18

Notice: © 2010 to 2024, Chris R. Burger. This document may be reproduced as required for personal use, and may be freely referenced from other Websites. However, publication elsewhere requires express prior written permission from the author.

Introduction

DXFC represents a different kind of DX for radio hams. DXFC stands for "DX Foot Club". It is modelled on the DX Century Club, but instead of radio contacts with each country, you actually have to set foot in each country. No confirmation is required, and you can decide what constitutes a valid visit in your book.

There is also a separate QRV score for each station, to indicate in which countries you have been active on the ham radio bands. Again, you decide what constitutes valid activity.

To participate, go to DXFC, create an account and tick the boxes for all the countries you've been to. The server does the rest. It includes really funky reporting, such as showing which countries a specific person has visited and operated from, which persons have visited a specific country and which countries are rarest. It can also sort the main list alphabetically or by last update, countries visited or countries operated from.

A handful of South Africans have enrolled. Hopefully, the number will grow. This document is an extract of all Southern Africans in the list. I'll also try to retain a list of standings at the end of every calendar year, for archive purposes.

Please let me know if I miss something. Especially if hams from neighbouring countries start participating, I might. I also might not check the standings quite as often as I'd like to, so I might miss a movement. I'd love to know about it, so the list can remain up to date and correct.

Chris R. Burger ZS6EZ
Box 126
Rayton
1001 South Africa

List of Country Scores (DXCC List)

This table lists scores as of the date indicated above, in descending order by scores.

Visited

     113  ZS6EZ  Chris R. Burger
     105  ZS1FJ  Barry Fletcher
      85  ZS1TMJ Sydney N. Smith
      82  ZR6WAB Mark Waberski
      81  ZR6JET Des van Schalkwyk
      71  ZS6JBZ Johann Bezuidenhout
      65  ZS1A   Johan Sevenster
      53  ZS6BK  Bruce Rowan
      49  ZS6RI  Chris J. de Beer
      47  ZS6A   Pierre van Deventer
      43  ZS6P   Tjerk Lammers
      41  ZS6WB  Harold R. Lund
      34  ZS4BS  Dennis Green
      33  ZS6HON Helgard Honiball
      32  ZR6MAR Mario Marais
      31  ZS5J   John Kramer
      29  ZS6MDH Marc d'Hotman de Villiers
      26  ZS4TX  Bernie van der Walt
      23  ZS1ZL  Deon Erwin
      22  ZS1EL  Vidi la Grange
      14  ZS6EGB Emil Böhme
      14  ZS6JPS Jacques Scholtz
      12  ZS1REC Raoul Coetzee
       5  ZR6K   Karel Bezuidenhout
       5  ZU2CS  Claire Scott
       4  ZS2DL  Donovan van Loggerenberg

QRV

      47  ZS6EZ  Chris R. Burger
      28  ZS1FJ  Barry Fletcher
      17  ZS6RI  Chris J. de Beer
      15  ZS4BS  Dennis Green
      12  ZS1ZL  Deon Erwin
      11  ZS4TX  Bernie van der Walt
      10  ZS5J   John Kramer
       8  ZS6WB  Harold R. Lund
       7  ZS6MDH Marc d'Hotman de Villiers
       7  ZS6P   Tjerk Lammers
       6  ZS6EGB Emil Böhme
       4  ZS1A   Johan Sevenster
       4  ZS1EL  Vidi la Grange
       3  ZS2DL  Donovan van Loggerenberg
       3  ZS6JBZ Johann Bezuidenhout
       2  ZS1TMJ Sydney N. Smith

World Leaders: Visited

      297  3Z9DX Dom Grzyb
      285  N7PIB San Smith
      259  AB6BH John A. Fenoglio

World Leaders: QRV

      169  DK7PE Rudolf Klos
      158  UA4WHX Vladimir M. Bykov
      121  OE3GEA Gerhard Elsigan

List of Continent Scores (WAC rules)

This table lists the number of continents visited and activated by each person, with the date on which the last continent was listed on DXFC. The list is ordered by date—first to last.

Number	Visited	QRV
6	ZS4BS Dennis Green 2010-10 ZS6EZ Chris R. Burger 2010-12 ZS6A Pierre van Deventer 2011-11 ZS6BK Bruce Rowan 2014-05 ZS4TX Bernie van der Walt 2014-07 ZS1FJ Barry Fletcher 2020-05 ZS6JBZ Johann Bezuidenhout 2024-04	ZS6EZ Chris R. Burger 2016-04 ZS1FJ Barry Fletcher 2020-05
5	ZS6P Tjerk Lammers 2008-11 ZS6RI Chris J. de Beer 2009-02 ZS1A Johan Sevenster 2011-01 ZS1EL Vidi la Grange 2011-01 ZR6MAR Mario Marais 2011-11 ZS6WB Harold R. Lund 2011-11 ZR6JET Des van Schalkwyk 2012-11 ZS6HON Helgard Honiball 2017-06 ZS1TMJ Sydney N. Smith 2018-02 ZS1ZL Deon Erwin 2020-05	ZS4BS Dennis Green 2011-04 ZS6RI Chris J. de Beer 2014-05
4	ZR6WAB Mark Waberski 2011-02 ZS5J John Kramer 2014-11	ZS4TX Bernie van der Walt 2014-07 ZS5J John Kramer 2014-11

Updating your Totals

Update your total directly on DXFC. If you like, let me know so I won't miss it, and can update the list without delay.

Short Profiles

Here are short profiles of South African participants. You'll notice that few of them are independently wealthy. In most cases, the scores have been built up over many years through a combination of business and personal travel.

Please let me know if you have something to add (either about yourself or about someone else).

ZR6JET: Des van Schalkwyk was a retired business jet pilot. He covered Africa extensively as charter pilot and South African Air Force Reserve pilot on Gulfstream and Hawker aircraft. Des saw more than 40 countries in Africa! He died in early 2023.

ZR6MAR: Mario Marais is a retired researcher from the CSIR, South Africa's national research organisation. He is a chemist by training, but later spent more time thinking about information technology. His travels have come about through a combination of business and personal interests.

ZR6WAB: Mark Waberski is a business jet pilot. His current employer is a major beer purveyor. His duties as a Falcon 2000 captain take him all over Africa and occasionally the world.

ZS1A: Johan Sevenster is retired from the government, where he was involved in supporting foreign diplomatic missions. He is now involved in off-roading and in providing IT services.

ZS1C (ex ZS1REC): Raoul Coetzee is in the electronics business. He markets and supports a range of test instruments and enjoys DXing on 1,8 MHz.

ZS1EL: Vidi la Grange is retired near Cape Town after many years as ZS6AL. His jobs with the CSIR and Iscor took him all over the world in years past. He still travels occasionally.

ZS1TMJ: Sydney N. Smith is a retired maxilofacial and oral surgeon, living near Clanwilliam. He keeps himself busy with ham radio, off-roading, photography, astronomy and hiking. He has collected an amazing array of antique radios.

ZS1FJ: Barry Fletcher's career included accounting and tax consulting. He is of British extraction, and lived in Singapore as 9V1FJ for some years before returning to Cape Town in retirement. He was once an enthusiastic rock climber. He has operated from several locations in southern Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

ZS2DL: Donovan van Loggerenberg is a keen DXer who makes a living in the amateur radio business. Expect Donovan to add several new counters in the coming years, as his 7P8D DXpedition whetted his appetite for more action.

ZS4BS: Dennis Green is a retired military man, who travels internationally through his involvement in IARU politics. He was also once the president of the South African Radio League.

ZS4TX: Bernie van der Walt is in the telecommunications industry. He has seen parts of Africa while supporting customers, has operated in several neighbouring countries and has participated in WRTC on four occasions (Slovenia, Finland and Brazil as participant and USA as referee). He has also seen the Pacific rim while visiting one of his suppliers. Most recently, he has operated as a hired gun at CR2X, one of the world's premier contest stations.

ZS5J: John Kramer is fond of operating outdoors. He holds callsigns in several neighbouring states, including Botswana and Mozambique. He is a former suger cane farmer and business owner, but has been semi-retired since about 2010. He travels regularly to Europe and the USA, and is a regular fixture at the Dayton Hamvention and the Orlando hamfest. Recently, he has been living and operating in Kenya.

ZS6A: Pierre van Deventer is a retired South African Airways pilot. He has been on a mixture of long-haul and freight assignments, enabling him to see a variety of countries.

ZS6BK: Bruce Rowan is a retired South African Airways pilot. His full airline career over varying routes exposed him to a wide variety of countries.

ZS6EGB: Emil Böhme is a medical doctor, who often worked overseas on temporary assignments (Iraq, Ghana and others). He has relocated to Cape Town as ZS1XB.

ZS6EZ: Chris R. Burger has a day job, but occasionally flew as a volunteer Air Force VIP jet pilot and a part-time ambulance jet driver, taking him into more than half of Africa's countries. In a previous job he spent a lot of time in Europe and Asia. He has participated in WRTC four times (USA, Slovenia and Finland as competitor and USA as referee). As a youth, he also organised DXpeditions to most of the neighbouring countries. Some of that effort came to naught (at least from a DXFC perspective), as both Walvis Bay and the Penguin Islands are now deleted entities.

ZS6HON: Helgard Honiball manages a company providing control equipment for industrial motors. After many years of regular travel, he is now a reluctant traveller. For relaxation, he enjoys flying his microlight aircraft.

ZS6JBZ: Johann Bezuidenhout consults for banks in developing nations. He lives mostly in France. He is an active DXer when in South Africa and is also active in the SARL.

ZS6JPS: Jacques Scholtz sells industrial tools. His amateur radio interest revolves around radios that glow in the dark—collecting and restoring them. He is the president of the Antique Wireless Association.

ZS6P: Tjerk Lammers is retired from the automotive climate control business. He was born in Europe and has seen quite a bit of Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. He has also operated from several neighbouring countries. He retired to Cape Town in 2018 and now signs ZS1J.

ZS6RI: Chris de Beer is an advanced life support paramedic. He once spent a year each on Marion Island as ZS8IR and Gough Island as ZD9IR. He then spent several years in central and west Africa and in Asia. For years, he commuted between his home in Pretoria and several exotic destinations, including Mozambique, Zambia, Lesotho, Senegal, Kenya and Iraq. He got on the air from many of these exotic places, and has participated in several DXpeditions (most famously ZK1XXP and C82DX). He now manages a medical rescue helicopter operation in Johannesburg.

ZS6WB: Hal Lund is now a retired businessman. However, he spent many years as a technician for various NASA subcontractors, maintaining radar installations on little islands. Hal was once a famous DXpeditioner in the Caribbean, pursuing DX on his favourite band: 50 MHz. Hal was the first African to earn DXCC on that band, and continued to support many VHF operators from exotic locations with mentorship and equipment. He continued to travel occasionally, especially to his family in the USA. He now lives in a retirement home in Pretoria, without access to radio.

ZU2CS: Claire Scott is in the property business. Her husband is of European origin. She has seen most of the neighbouring states.

Past Records

This site contains historical standings at the end of each calendar year since 2010.

Related Websites

There are many Websites dedicated to serious travellers. Here's one that seems to have wide support:

The Travelers' Century Club, based in California.

Return to ZS6EZ's Rogues' Gallery

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