SARL NEWS SUNDAY 9 DECEMBER 2007
You are listening to ZS6SRL the official Radio Station of the South African Radio League, the National Body for Amateur Radio in South Africa, with a news bulletin that is transmitted every Sunday at 08:15 CAT in Afrikaans and at 08:30 CAT in English. As ZS6FCS is currently in the process of upgrading his station there will unfortunately be no Echolink or Internet streaming available from today 9 December till 23 December. The full service will again be available as from 24 December.
You can download this and previous bulletins from www.sarl.org.za and you can also subscribe there to receive future bulletins by email.
Your newsreader this morning is Hans, ZS6KR, on 145,725 and 7,066 MHz from Pretoria with relays on 28,325, 14,235, 10,135, 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB as well as 51,400, 438,825 and 1 296 MHz FM in the Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to suit).
In the news today:
AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE ACCOUNTS ARE IN THE MAIL - PLEASE PAY WITHOUT DELAY
GO SARL BEACON HUNTING THIS HOLIDAY
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
AMATEUR RADIO LICENSE ACCOUNTS ARE IN THE MAIL - PLEASE PAY WITHOUT DELAY
ICASA has advised that license renewal invoices will be posted to the respective licensees starting on Monday, 10th December. License fees are due for payment on or before 31 December each year with a grace period to 31 January.
Licensees are encouraged to ensure that their current postal address is correctly reflected on the 2007 license as this is the address which is being used for mailing. If your postal address is incorrectly reflected, or has changed during the past 12 months, please ensure that you have advised ICASA accordingly and that the required amendment has been made.
If any license account reflects an outstanding balance as of 31st July 2007 no renewal invoice will be printed as the license will be considered to have expired on 31 December 2006. Should this be the case it effectively means that you are no longer licensed to operate as a radio amateur and will have to re-apply for a new license. You remain liable for the outstanding amount. It is not guaranteed that a new license will be issued nor that your existing callsign will be re-allocated. It is in your own interest to ensure that the above scenario does not occur.
Confirmation of your license particulars with respect to postal address, account status, etc, may be obtained from any ICASA Regional office or the Johannesburg Head Office by telephonic enquiry to the numbers listed below, quoting your license number and/or callsign. For those who have the facility, you may also e-mail enquiries to Peter Leonard at pleonard@icasa.org.za.
Telephone numbers:
Johannesburg Head Office 011-3218200 (ask for Spectrum Licensing section);
Regional offices:
Bloemfontein 051-447-3001; Cape Town 021-595-1640; Durban 031-275-6410;
Port Elizabeth 041-396-2500
If you are in any doubt about the status of your license, don't run the risk of it being cancelled or suspended, query it ASAP.
GO SARL BEACON HUNTING THIS HOLIDAY
Whether you are staying home this holiday season or going away and taking an HF rig with you, you are invited to take part in the SARL - HMO Beacon report competition. Three of the beacons ZS6SRL, ZS1HMO and ZS2LAW will be transmitting a special message. Decode the Morse messages and send reports to bcn@sarl.org.za. There are three Shortwave DX handbooks to be won and one 2007 ARRL Handbook. The competition will be in four sections, one section for each beacon and an overall section for all three beacons. On 21 January a winner will be selected for each section. If you have entered all three sections you will automatically take part in the draw for the 2007 ARRL handbook.
How to enter: Listen on 7 023 kHz to each of the participating beacons and decode the message sent in Morse code. Mail your message to bcn@sarl.org.za in the following format: beacon call sign, date and time followed by the message, signal report, your callsign or name if you are not licensed, QTH where you received the beacon signal and full postal address. Only send one beacon report per email. If you have no access to email, post your entries to ARMI, PO Box 90 438, Garsfontein, 0042.
For the period of the competition, the three participating beacons will transmit more frequently. A schedule can be found on www.sarl.org.za click on services and select Beacon Project.
2008 CONSTRUCTION COMPETITION
Enter the 2008 Construction Competition. You could win a Icom ID-1 transceiver featuring D-Star Digital Voice and Digital Data.
The South African Amateur Radio Development Trust has announced the final details for its 2008 Construction Competition. This is an open competition inviting constructors to put forward ideas of what they would like to construct for the competition.
The item must have use in amateur radio and the design must be such that it can be home constructed. Designs using leaded components and Vero board or similar will have an advantage.
Three entries will be chosen and will receive each up to R2000 to develop and construct a prototype for evaluation. The entries will become the property of the Trust. The final value of the project must not be more than R500 and components must be readily available. The project must be in a suitable enclosure.
The final entries will be placed on the web and each receive an 2008 ARRL Handbook.
The overall winner will be awarded an Icom ID-1 sponsored by Multisource Telecommunications. The Icom ID-1 is a state of the art digital transceiver supporting both D-Star digital Voice and Digital Data.
How to enter?
Complete the entry form in as much detail as possible and mail the entry form to saardt@intekom.co.za. The closing date for the first phase is 31 March 2008. The three winners will be advised by end April and the final prototypes must be submitted by 31 July. The three prototypes must be fully operational and be accompanied by a detailed description, and a circuit diagram. If use is made of a pc board, artwork must be submitted. The winner will have the right to develop and market a kit for his or his club’s gain.
Visit www.amateurradio.org.za for full details of the competition, an entry form and read about the D-Star ID-1 and all its features.
NEW SARL RAE STUDY GUIDE NOW ON THE WEB
The revised SARL Study Guide for the class A Radio Amateur Examination is now available on the web. The web section on the RAE has also been updated with details on how to register for the examination as well the 2008 dates. From the May 2007 examination candidates are required to pass the Operating Assessment prior to the exam and submit the Operating Assessment certificate at the time of registration or at the latest on the day of examination.
Clubs are reminded that they are able to arrange their own ZU examinations. Clubs affiliated to the SARL are invited to register. Full details are available on the members' section of the web. Go to www.sarl.org.za, click on members at the top right hand of the home page and enter your PIN. The Highway Amateur Radio Club became the first club to make use of this facility and will be holding the exam for their ZU students next week. We wish their students well in the exam.
NARC CLOSES FOR THE HOLIDAYS
The SARL National Amateur Radio Centre will close for the holiday season on Friday 14 December and open again on Monday 7 January 2008. No licence or other applications can be processed during this period. For emergencies send an email to secretary@sarl.org.za.
PEARS HF QSO PARTY
This afternoon, the PEARS HF QSO Party will be on the air from 14:00 to 18:00 CAT. It is a phone only contest on the band segments 7,043 to 7,100 and 3,603 to 3,800 MHz. The exchange is call sign, a RS report and the operator's name. There are four classes of participation, namely Novice for stations with a ZU call sign; Restricted for stations with a ZR call sign; Unlimited for stations with a ZS call sign and DX for stations outside South Africa.
The complete rules have been sent out with HF Happenings 279 and are available for download on the PEARS website at www.zs2pe.co.za click on contests.
PROPAGATION CONDITIONS
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the expected solar activity will be at very low levels. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet in general increasing to active levels during 17 till 19 December. The expected Effective Sun Spot number for the coming week will be less than 5. DX conditions are generally good on the East-West paths and poor in the general Northerly directions.
15 m and 20 m will provide best opportunities for DX. There is a possibility of 15 and 20 m openings towards India from about 14:00 CAT. There may be 15 m openings to Australia during the mornings and 20 m during the afternoons. From 14:00 there may be short, weak 15 and 20 m openings towards Europe. From 18:00 there may be 15 and 80 m openings towards the USA.
For the CW and digital enthusiasts it will also be worth monitoring 10 MHz.
Locally conditions on 40 m is going to be good during the day. 30 m may perform well over the longer distances. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings, thunderstorms and static permitting!
Remember that this is only a prediction and 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 also call CQ.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
09 December - PEARS HF QSO Party;
14 December - NARC closes for holiday period;
7 January 2008 – NARC reopens;
31 March – Closing date for first stage of 2008 construction competition.
SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news stories of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners. Submit news stories if possible in both English and Afrikaans to www.sarl.org.za/newsinbox.asp not later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date.
The SARL also invites you to listen to the programme Amateur Radio Mirror International, on the air every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 590 kHz. A repeat transmission can be heard Mondays at 21:00 CAT on 3 215 kHz. Sentech sponsors the ARMI transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.
Today's South African Radio League news bulletin was compiled by Gustav, ZS6BWN and transmitted by (your name and call sign).
Thank you for listening. 73.
/EX
