SARL NEWS SUNDAY 25 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:
PRESIDENT’S NET TONIGHT AT 19:30
SARL RADIO TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION HEADING FOR PE NEXT SATURDAY
SOME MAJOR CHANGES IN HANDLING OF QSLs
PLT UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
PRESIDENT’S NET TONIGHT AT 19:30
The revised President’s Net and Intecnet Schedule comes into operation this evening. Tonight at 19:30, the President’s Net will be on the air.
Two councillors will join SARL President Rassie Erasmus: Mark Zank will review the RAE examination and Malcolm Kriel will discuss 16 June Youth Day activities. The President’s Net will be streamed on the web and on Echolink. Go to www.sarl.org.za, click on publications and then on ARMI and follow the links.
Clubs wishing to link to the teleconference bridge to connect the net to their local repeater should send their telephone number to armi@sarl.org.za before noon today.
The next Intecnet will be on the air on 22 June at 19:30.
MAY RAE RESULTS
The results of the May RAE are available at www.sarl.org.za. Congratulations to everybody who were successful.
SARL RADIO TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION HEADING FOR PE NEXT SATURDAY
The SARL Technology in Action symposium will be held in Port Elizabeth at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University this coming Saturday 31 May. The event will start off with a technology debate hosted by SARL Vice President Dennis Green. Jan Botha, chair of the Bloemfontein Radio Amateur Club, will join Donovan van Loggerenberg, Ivan Newman and Chris Scarr on the panel.
The programme features presentations on a number of new technologies and activities in amateur radio. All presentations are at a popular level ensuring that everyone attending will enjoy and benefit from the event. The entry fee is R20. Students and learners attend free. There are a large number of attendance prizes to be won including a Yaesu handheld transceiver. The full programme is available on www.sarl.org.za. You can request a copy in PDF format to be sent to your mailbox or fax. Send your request to armi@sarl.org.za.
SOME MAJOR CHANGES IN HANDLING OF QSLs
QSL Manager Francois Botha has announced some major changes in the operation of the QSL bureau. These changes are aimed at streamlining the operation and rendering a better service to members.
As postage rates change annually, most envelopes currently held cannot be used to mail QSL cards. To overcome this problem, members are advised to purchase either DL or B5 envelopes from the post office. These envelopes are prestamped and do not expire when postage rates are increased. Currently the QSL bureau has a few of these envelopes sent in by members which will be used.
For incoming members cards, the new system will work as follows:
Sorting will take place as soon as cards arrive. This may take some time as the QSL bureau only has a few volunteers. Members are entitled to two free mailings of approximately 10 cards each per year. This will be done twice annually. If there are more than 10 cards, members will receive a note in the first mailing indicating how many cards there are waiting to be despatched and request the number of DL or B5 envelopes to be sent to the bureau. Members may send additional envelopes and receive cards more frequently. Please only supply prestamped envelopes purchased from the post office.
The outgoing QSL bureau will operate as before, handling member cards free of charge with a limit of 3 kg weight per annum. After that, additional postage will be charged.
As a large number of QSL cards for non-members have accumulated, an once-off sort will be done and non-members will be advised how many QSL cards are at the bureau and requested to send the required number of prepaid post office envelopes to the bureau plus a specified handling fee which will depend on the number of cards. If after 60 days no response has been received, the cards will be destroyed.
In term of the IARU QSL conditions, the SARL is not obliged to handle cards for non-members and will not do so in future. Cards for non-members will be destroyed on arrival. It therefore in any DXer’s interest to be a member of the SARL and not let membership lapse.
For more information, please contact Francois Botha, ZS6BUU at 011 679-5260.
PLT UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT AT HIGH SPEED ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES CONFERENCE
Power line telecommunication was under the spotlight this week at the third Annual High Speed Access Technologies Conference held in Midrand. Telecoms manager for Johannesburg City power, Teddy Naidoo, addressed the question "Is Broadband over Power Lines still a viable, cost-effective solution considering the state of South Africa's power provision?” He told delegates that PLT has currently reached such high levels of technological development that the interference problem spoken about over the past few years no longer exists. He said that unfortunately there are still some sceptics that insist that there are problems.
In a presentation entitled: "Examining the pitfalls of PLT in South Africa”, Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV put forward the SARL's point of view that any interference to the HF radio spectrum was unacceptable. He said that the draft regulations currently under review were inadequate to protect the HF spectrum and reviewed some of the SARL's objections to the draft regulation. The draft under consideration is based on the FCC standards, which are continually under attack from the ARRL and other national communication entities in the USA. He told delegates that the ARRL had recently won a court case in which the FCC was remanded for not following due process when it reviewed the test results on which the BPL regulations were based. He called on suppliers of PLT equipment to open inference testing on PLT equipment to public scrutiny. The SARL PowerPoint presentation is available on the web at www.sarl.org.za – click on PLC.
SENDING EMAILS TO COUNCIL
The SARL has two email addresses that can be used to write to the SARL. All correspondence to the president and councillors should be sent to the secretary, Henry Chamberlain. The email address is secretary@sarl.org.za. All correspondence pertaining to address changes and other administrative matters should be addressed to admin@sarl.org.za. Other addresses such as president@sarl.org.za are no longer used.
All mail to the secretary will be acknowledged and dealt with by the secretary or forwarded to the responsible councillor. The advantage of the system is that all mail can be followed up and replies speeded up.
AWARDS PRESENTED AT A GALA LUNCH EVENT
The SA Amateur Radio Development Trust Awards were presented at a gala lunch function held in Midrand last Friday. The guest speaker was Colin Smith, who spoke about the generation gap and how to bridge it.
The Garth Milne Technology awards was bestowed on John Willescroft ZS6EF for his development work on the SARL-HMO beacon project and the VHF and HF beacon to fly on the next BACAR later this year. The award was renamed from the Radio Amateur of the Year Award in memory and recognition of the contribution the late Professor Garth Mine made to amateur radio satellites in South Africa.
The Nokia Siemens Networks Radio Amateur of the Year Award was presented to Graham Hartlett ZS6GJH for his promotion of amateur radio during his 5 years as SARL President and government recognition of the SARL as the National Body for Amateur Radio in South Africa.
The Nokia Siemens Networks Amateur Radio Community Service Award was presented to Craig Symington ZS6RH for his work on establishing a wide area repeater network covering the greater Tshwane Metro area using a number of slave receivers in a star configuration.
Visit www.amateurradio.org.za for pictures and more detail.
BACAR POSTPONED
The launch of BACAR has been postponed due to a problem with a launch site and some technical hitches. Visit www.amsatsa.org.za for regular updates and new dates.
CONTEST NEWS
The results of the VHF/UHF Sprint held on 24 February have been amended following the receipt of a log lost in the mail. The results are now as follows: 1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN, 96 points, 2nd Marius Preston, ZS4MP, 52 points, 3rd Dennis Green, ZS4BS, 46 points and 4th Tyron Brown, ZU5T, with 20 points.
The second VHF/UHF Sprint takes place from 16:00 to 17:00 CAT on Sunday 1 June 2008. Activity is on 2 metres and 70 centimetres.
The SARL Youth Day Sprint will take place on 16 June 2008. More details in next week’s bulletin.
The SARL Top Band QSO Party will be on the air from 18:00 CAT on 18 June to 06:00 CAT on Monday 23 June. The aim of this QSO Party is to encourage activity on the 160 metre band and to obtain the SARL Top Band certificate.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the expected solar activity will be very low. The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly at quiet to unsettled 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 north-westerly directions.
15 and 20 m will provide best opportunities for DX. There is a possibility of weak 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. 80 m may perform well during the mornings and late afternoons over the shorter distances. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings, thunderstorms and static permitting! Not too long from now, 160 m will 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
31 May - RTA in Port Elizabeth;
1 June – VHF/UHF Sprint;
8 June - Closing date for entries for the Kempton Park Amateur Radio Technical Society logo competition;
16 June – Youth Day Sprint;
18 to 23 June – SARL Top Band QSO Party
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
