SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
SARL NEWS SUNDAY 10 JUNE 2007
You are listening to Amateur Radio Station ZS6SRL of the South African Radio League, the National Body for Amateur Radio in South Africa, with a news bulletin that is broadcast every Sunday at 08:15 CAT in Afrikaans and at 08:30 CAT in English. This broadcast can also be heard on Echolink by connecting to ZS6FCS. To listen to a web stream go to www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links. This, and previous bulletins, can be downloaded from the web site of the SARL i.e. www.sarl.org.za. You can also read or download previous bulletins from there and subscribe to receive future bulletins by email.
This transmission is by Hans, ZS6KR, on 145,725 and 7,066 MHz from Pretoria with relays on 3,695, 10,135, 14,235 and 51,400 MHz as well as 438,825 MHz in the Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to suit).
In the news today:
GET READY FOR YOUTHDAY 2007
CALL FOR BURSARY APPLICATIONS
LAST CHANGE TO ENTER THE 2007 CONSTRUCTION COMPETITION
SARL FAX NUMBER
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
GET READY FOR YOUTHDAY 2007
Is your club and are you ready for Youth Day 2007? The objective of this year's June 16 activity day is to get as many young people to experience amateur radio by operating an amateur radio station under your supervision and talking to other young people on the air.
The emphasis should be on operating an amateur station, not on just handing the microphone to your young guest to say a few words.
Spend some time, showing how to operate the transceiver and how to go about calling CQ or another station. After that you sit back and keep a watchful eye on the operation and give guidance as required. Don't take over.
To make it all legal, simply complete the registration for an educational station. It is available on the web at www.sarl.org.za, click on SARL forms and download the registration as an educational station form, complete the form and fax the completed form to the number on the form. The next step is to send an email to youth@sarl.org.za and give details of the youth day activities you or your club are planning.
The SARL is also planning a special event where the youth can talk to an interesting personality. It was planned to have Mark Shuttleworth as the guest, but due to last minute changes in Mark's travelling schedule he had to pull out. The SARL is talking to other personalities and once finalised details will be available on the web. The special event will be between 10 and 11:30 CAT and to ensure that your group is given an opportunity, it is advisable to register by sending an e-mail to youth@sarl.org.za. Although there will be some open time, there is a better opportunity if you have a booked slot so you don't have to compete with other stations.
Guidelines on how to make Youth Day 2007 a great success will be available on the web from tonight at www.sarl.org.za, click on youth activity at the bottom of the left hand side column. Also look for regular updates.
CALL FOR BURSARY APPLICATIONS
The Itchen Valley Radio Club has made three bursaries available for Students under the age of 25 to become radio amateurs. The bursaries are each valued at R650 and will assist students to enter the October 2007 Class A Radio Examination. The bursaries are known as the Itchen Valley Radio Club YARP 2007 Bursaries and cover the examination enrolment fee and one year's junior membership of the SARL upon passing the examination and R150 towards tuition costs levied by local clubs teaching the RAE. The tuition manual is available free of charge from the SARL web at www.sarl.org.za
"We decided that as part of our outreach we would make a contribution to the development of amateur radio in South Africa, particularly amongst the younger generation", Quentin Gee, the Itchen Valley Radio Club Secretary, told SARL News.
The SA Amateur Radio Development Trust administers the bursaries. The closing date for applications is extended until 30 June 2007. Applications forms are available on www.amateurradio.org.za.
NEXT PRESIDENT’S NET AND INTECNET ON 1 JULY
The next President’s Net and Intecnet will be held on Sunday 1 July starting with the President’s Net at 19:00 followed by the Intecnet at 20:00. The subject for discussion on the Intecnet will be about home construction. Stay tuned for more details.
SARL FAX NUMBER - PLEASE CHANGE YOUR RECORDS
Some time ago the SARL fax number at the NARC was converted to a faxmail system which allows faxes to be received on the office PC with the facility to email the fax to councillors if the fax requires their attention.
The new number is the old number with a 088 prefix. The full fax number is thus 088 011 675 2793.
Please use the full 13-digit number, failing to do so means that your fax will no longer arrive at the NARC.
LAST CHANGE TO ENTER THE 2007 CONSTRUCTION COMPETITION
The closing date for entries is Monday 11 June. The competition is an open competition where the entrant decides what he or she would like to enter. Once all the paper entries are received, the judging committee will meet to evaluate all the paper entries and select five finalists.
Each finalist will have up to R1 000 at his/her disposal to construct the project.
The closing date for the completed project is 31 July 2007 and the prizes will be presented at the SARL RTA in Johannesburg on 18 August. Verstay, Yaesu distributors in South Africa, will present the two overall winners with a Yaesu 2 metre mobile transceiver. Full details on www.amateurradio.org.za.
YOUTH DAY ACTIVITIES
The Magalies Radio Amateur Club invites everyone to the official opening of the new radio centre at The John Vorster Technological School situated in Meyer Street, Rietfontein, Pretoria. Activities commence at 08:30 with the official opening of the radio centre by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, where after the new ZU licensees will operate their own radio station under the call sign ZS6JVT. All radio amateurs are invited to make contact with the youngsters on 40 and 80 metres as well as on VHF.
Call-ins for directions to the school will be available from 08:00 on the 145,750 repeater. Please visit us on youth day and experience the excitement displayed by the young radio amateurs, it is contagious.
The Alberton Amateur Radio Club (AARC) will be setting up a special event field station at the Dalview Primary School in Brakpan as part of the Youth Day festivities. A station will be active on HF, VHF and UHF from Friday 15 June and again from 08:00 to 12:00 on 16 June. An APRS station will be on show and a foxhunt will form part of the activities.
CLUB NEWS
ZS6PTA Mega Flea market. The Pretoria Amateur Radio Club wil be hosting their winter flea market on 30 June 2007 at the South Campus of the University of Pretoria, on the corner of Lynwood and University roads. The starting time is 09:00 and all are welcome. There will be the usual tasty eats and drinks available. For more information, or to book a table, contact Almero, ZS6LDP, on 012 567 3722 or on 082 908 3359.
Website of ZS6POT. It is with pleasure that the Potchefstroom Amateur Radio Club announces that it now has its own website, www.zs6pot.za.org. The webmaster is Mike Brink, ZR6BRI, and the management of the club and all its members thank Mike for his outstanding effort. Please visit this exciting new website and give your comments!
CONTEST NEWS
The SARL Digital Contest will be run on Sunday 24 June 2007 from 15:00 to 18:00 CAT. Following a suggestion from the SARL VHF Manager, the contest has been changed to include 6 and 2 metres as well. The rules can be found in the 2007 SARL Contest Manual.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the expected solar activity will be at low to moderate levels with a slight chance of high activity. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet. The expected Effective Sun Spot number for the coming week will be less than 15. The higher sun activity in conjunction with a quiet geomagnetic field may lead to a bit of excitement.
20 and 40 metres will provide best opportunities for DX. There is a possibility of 20 metre openings towards India from about 16:00 CAT. 20 metre may open towards Australia from 07:00. From about 17:00, there may be 20 metre openings towards Europe. At about 16:00 short 20 metre openings towards the West Coast of the USA are possible. Otherwise, contacts to the USA are going to be very challenging. For the CW and digital enthusiasts, it may also be worth monitoring 10 MHz.
Remember that HF always has the capability to surprise you. You will never know what you are missing unless you switch your rig on, listen and call CQ.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
16 June - SARL Youth day;
24 June – SARL Digital Contest;
30 June - Closing date for updating of SA DX Survey; ZS6PTA Flea Market
1 July – President’s Net and Intechnet;
2 August - Class B RAE;
18 October - Class A RAE.
SARL News depends on clubs and individuals for news items of importance and interest to radio amateurs. The one and only way to ensure that your contribution will reach the SARL News team, is to place it in www.sarl.org.za/newsinbox.asp not later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date. It will be appreciated if you will do it in both Afrikaans and English.
The SARL also invites all listeners to listen to the program Amateur Radio Mirror International this Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 695 kHz. Audio is also streamed on www.zs6mrk.org and on Echolink from ZS6FCS as for this bulletin. A repeat transmission takes place on Mondays at 21:00 on 3 215 kHz. Telkom and Sentech sponsor the ARMI transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.
You have been listening to a news bulletin by the South African Radio League, which was compiled by Dennis, ZS4BS.
A prosperous week to all, 73.
/EX
