SARL NEWS SUNDAY 04 MAY 2008
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. To listen to a web stream visit www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links for details. PLEASE NOTE! For audio via Echolink, connect to ZS0JPL-R.
You can download this and previous bulletins from www.sarl.org.za and you can subscribe there to receive future bulletins by email.
Your newsreader this morning is (name), (call sign), on 145,725 and 7,066 MHz from Pretoria with relays on 28,325, 14,235, 10,130, 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 today's SARL News:
SARL RTA IN DURBAN – WILL YOU BE THERE THIS SATURDAY?
ARRL WINS OVER FCC IN PLT CASE
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
SARL RTA IN DURBAN – WILL YOU BE THERE THIS SATURDAY?
The annual SARL Radio Technology in Action Symposium will be held in Durban this week Saturday 10 May and in Port Elizabeth on 31 May. Here is an opportunity to get in tune with the new technologies and interesting activities that will take amateur radio to greater heights than ever before. The Durban event is being held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Howard College Campus which is the main Durban campus and hosted at the School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering.
Learn about spread spectrum with John Willescroft, a hands-on practical demonstration of how to get working with spread spectrum communication.
Join in the debate with local club chairmen when they look at where amateur radio will be going in the next 5 years. The debate is chaired by SARL President Rassie Erasmus, ZS1YT.
Space weather and HF propagation is another topic that will come in handy as the new solar cycle gets under way.
Find out all about the SARL Beacon Project and how you can get involved from the comfort of your own radio room. This project has a wide appeal. Encourage your shortwave listenig friends to join you at the RTA.
WiFi is no longer limited to the shopping centre coffee shop. It is finding its way into amateur radio, connecting club members at high speed and provides inexpensive access to the internet. Chris Scarr of the Port Elizabeth Radio Amateur Society will show you how they have achieved this and how your club can do the same.
From the USA the RTA is joined by Rick Hambly with an eye opening presentation of where Amateur Radio satellites are going. This teleconference will keep you talking for a long time.
There is a new craze using GPS’s, it is called geo caching. It has taken Durban by storm. Join Peter Dryer of the Astronomical Society to get the lo down how you can use a GPS to hunt for hidden objects.
The attendance prize is a comprehensive toolkit donated by Northside Electrical Wholesalers plus many other prizes. The attendance cost is only R20, payable at the door. Students and Learners attend free of charge.
Visit www.sarl.org.za for additional venue information and directions.
ANTENNA EXPERT L. B. CEBIK, W4RNL, SILENT KEY
L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, ARRL Technical Adviser and antenna authority, passed away last week. He was 68. An ARRL Life Member, Cebik was known to many hams for the numerous articles he wrote on antennas and antenna modelling. He had articles published in most of the US ham journals. Larry Wolfgang, WR1B, QEX Editor, called Cebik "probably the most widely published and often read author of Amateur Radio antenna articles ever to write on the subject”. Frank, VK2AKG, said "It is to be hoped that Cebik's website, of assistance to amateurs and professionals alike, remains on line for years to come”, it is www.cebik.com/.
ARRL WINS OVER FCC IN PLT CASE
The ARRL has scored a significant victory in its fight to minimise the impact of broadband over power line systems, known as PLC in South Africa.
The US court of Appeals ruled that that the US licensing authority, the FCC, had not fully disclosed for public comment the technical studies on which it relied, and which the ARRL's technical team refuted. The FCC must now revisit the technical basis on which it set the rules for BPL.
A detailed report is available on the ARRL's web site at www.arrl.org.
RSGB HQ RELOCATED
The RSGB has completed its relocation to Bedford and is fully operational. The Bedford office is purely administrative and will not be open to visitors. A purpose-built visitors' centre, the RSGB Pavilion, will be set up at Bletchley Park. It will include the National Amateur Radio Library and Museum and the GB3RS shack.
CONTEST NEWS
This afternoon the ZS3/ZS4 40 Metre Sprint is on the air from 16:00 to 17:00 CAT. The ZS3 / ZS4 40 Metre Sprint is a fun activity to promote contacts between radio amateurs in the Northern Cape and Free State provinces and radio amateurs in Southern African countries. It is a phone and CW / PSK 31 contest and the exchange is RS(T) and province or country abbreviation.
The Antique Wireless Association Valve QSO Party is a phone only contest on 40 and 80 metres. Preferably, valve radios or radios with valves in them may be used. The AM QSO Party takes place on Saturday 10 May from 16:00 to 18:00 CAT and the SSB QSO Party takes place on Sunday 11 May also from 16:00 to 18:00 CAT.
Full details of both contests are available in the 2008 SARL Contest Manual and HF Happenings 300.
CLUB NEWS
The Durban Amateur Radio Club held its AGM recently and the serving committee was re-elected for the next year. The members are as follows:
Chairman Louis de Bruin, ZS5LP;
Vice Chairman Dave Long, ZS5FR;
Secretary Laurie Devereux, ZS5DL;
Treasure Louis de Bruin, ZS5LP;
Members Dave Smith, ZS5LPT, Harry Houlihan, ZS5H, Glen Duffy,
ZS5GD, and Neil Slogrove, ZR5NAS.
Many thanks to the committee for the work done during the previous years and strenth for what lies ahead.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP reports that the expected solar activity will be very low. The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly at unsettled to active levels. The expected Effective Sun Spot number for the coming week will be less than 5. DX conditions will generally be good to the North and poor in the general Northwesterly 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. Conditions to Australia will be very challenging. From 15:00, there may be good 15 and 20 m openings towards Europe. Contacts with the USA are going to be very challenging. 10 MHz is looking promising after dark for the CW and digital enthusiasts.
Local conditions are going to be good on 40 m during the daytime. 30 m may perform well during the middle of the day over the longer distances. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings, thunderstorms and static permitting! Not too long from now 160 m will start be quite useful again. Remember that this is only a prediction and that HF always has the capability to surprise you, but you will never know unless you switch your rig on, listen and also call CQ.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
4 May - ZS3 / ZS4 40 Metre Sprint on the air;
5 May - Logsheets for the Autumn QRP Sprint to be in.
10 May - RTA in Durban;
10 May - 40 and 80 m AM QSO Party;
11 May - 40 and 80 m SSB QSO Party;
31 May – RTA in Port Elizabeth;
8 June - Closing date for entries for the Kempton Park Amateur Radio Technical Society logo 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. For the web stream and Echolink by ZS0JPL-R visit www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links. 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.
Dennis, ZS4BS, compiled today's South African Radio League news bulletin.
Thank you for listening. 73.
/EX
