SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 04 JANUARY 2009
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 transmitted every Sunday at 08:15 CAT in Afrikaans and at 08:30 CAT in English. To listen to a webstream, 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 subscribe to receive future bulletins by e-mail.
Your news reader 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 the news today:
ENTRIES FOR THE 2008 TINUS LANGE 7066 TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS INVITED
NAMIBIAN VHF/SATELLITE DXPEDITION EXPECTED TO BE ON THE AIR ON 9 JANUARY
LISTEN TO AMATEUR RADIO MIRROR INTERNATIONAL ON A PODCAST
HUNTING LIONS NEXT WEEKEND
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these, and other important and interesting news items.
ENTRIES FOR THE 2008 TINUS LANGE 7066 TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS INVITED
Entries are invited for the 2009 Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Excellence Awards. The awards are bestowed annually on persons who submit a technical project in any of the following categories:
Design and/or construction of projects such as a pre-amp, SWR bridge, patching unit, automatic IDer, practical antenna ideas, a mast, portable gear, power supplies or any amateur radio-related software.
There is a junior and senior category. The junior category is for persons under 25 years of age. An award of R350 plus a framed certificate will be presented to the winner in each category.
To enter, submit a complete write-up in article form with illustrations and or pictures ready for publication in Radio ZS. Pictures must be in Jpeg hi-res formatting of at least 300 DPI. Where size and mass allows, the actual item should be submitted for evaluation by the judges. If not practical to submit the actual item, photographs should be submitted. The winning items and photographs will be displayed at the SARL National Convention to be held in Cape Town from 24 to 26 April 2009.
Paper entries should be submitted to the SARL Awards Manager, Tjerk Lammers, ZS6P, by e-mail to zs6p@iafrica.com before 15 February 2009. Arrangements for delivering or couriering the actual entry should be made with Tjerk, ZS6P.
NAMIBIAN VHF/SATELLITE DXPEDITION EXPECTED TO BE ON THE AIR ON 9 JANUARY
Hal Lund, ZS6WB, reports that arrangements for the Namibian VHF and Satellite DX-pedition are on track. There are still a few loose ends that need to be taken care of before the team leaves on Tuesday morning, the 6th of January. This puts the team one day behind schedule for the start but should have little overall impact on the DXpedition.
Based on a two-day drive and one full day to assemble at least part of the equipment, the team should be pumping out some RF on the 9th of January.
SA AMSAT has set up a fund to handle contributions towards the cost of the expedition. Individual radio amateurs and clubs are urged to make contributions to ensure that the Namibian event is a great success. Sponsorships can be paid into the SA AMSAT account at ABSA account number 560 153 171. The branch code is 632 005. All sponsorships will be acknowledged on www.amsatsa.org.za.
The expedition includes operation on a number of VHF bands and modes. The team will be led by HB9CRQ, one of Europe's top EME operators, and will include moon bounce operation on 50, 144, 432 and 1 296 MHz.
January is also one of the peak months for tropospheric ducting propagation in the South Atlantic Ocean and experienced tropo operators will be making a serious attempt to complete the first ever 144 MHz contact spanning the Atlantic Ocean. Dave, N7BHC, a native of Port Elizabeth, runs a 144 MHz beacon from the east coast of the U.S. beamed towards Europe.
Satellite operation is also planned, and even using the low earth-orbiting satellites, the location should give good coverage including all of Africa and much of the eastern portion of South America.
LISTEN TO AMATEUR RADIO MIRROR INTERNATIONAL ON A PODCAST
From today Dick Stratford, ZS6RO, will pilot podcasting Amateur Radio Mirror International.
Podcasting is where one can subscribe and as new MP3 files are placed on the site the subscribed user's program (aggregator) will automatically pull down the latest MP3 file. Of course one can go to the Podcast site and manually listen to the MP3 file using audio-streaming ... But Podcasting is great. For instance one can subscribe and automatically download an MP3 ARMI programme to your cellphone and then listen to the Podcast whenever you choose
To access the Podcast site visit http://www.zs6ro.co.za/podcast. Internet Explorer or other browsers can be used to subscribe to the SARL/ARMI Podcast. Please send us reports about your experiences. Drop an email to armi@sarl.org.za.
NEW IARU REGION 1 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TAKES OFFICE
According to the constitution of Region 1 of the International Amateur Radio Union, the executive committee elected at the Regional conference in Cavtat in November 2008, took office on Wednesday 31 December 2008.
Hans, PB2T, president, and Dennis, ZS4BS, secretary, will be travelling to England in the coming week to finalise the hand over from Ole, LA2RR, and Don, G3BJ, the retired president and secretary respectively. The first EC meeting is scheduled for the end of February.
HUNTING LIONS
The 38th Annual Hunting Lions in the Air contest will take place on the weekend of 10 and 11 January 2009. It is a 48-hour contest on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres using SSB, CW and digital modes. The use of Echolink is also allowed. Participants can be members of the Lions organisation who are radio amateurs or radio amateurs who set up a station on behalf of a Lions club or a SWL.
The complete rules can be downloaded from the HF Happenings page at www.sarl.org.za.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the expected solar activity will be very low. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet levels. The expected effective sun spot number for the coming week will be less than 5.
15 and 20 m will provide best opportunities for DX. There is a possibility of 10, 15 and 20 m openings towards India from about 12:00 CAT. Short contacts with New Zealand are going to be possible on 15 m at 08:00 and on 20 m from 18:00. At 8:00 and at 14:00 weak 20 m contacts may be possible with Australia. Contacts with Peru are going to be highly unlikely. Brazil may be worked on 20 m from 18:00. At 18:00 there may be short, weak 20 m openings towards Europe. Contacts with the USA East Coast are possible on 15 m from 20:00. 10 MHz is looking promising late afternoon and 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 early mornings and late afternoons over the shorter distances, e.g. between ZS5 and ZS6. 30 m may perform well during the middle of the day between ZS6 and ZS1. Even 20 m may perform well over the longer distances before morning teatime. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings. With summer here the thunderstorms and static discharges may cause conditions to be be a bit challenging.
Remember that this is only a prediction and that HF has the capability to pleasantly surprise you in the New Year, 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
10 and 11 January – Hunting Lions on the Air;
16 to 18 January – PEARS VHF-/UHF-competition;
31 January – Last day for submission of motions and agenda items for 2009 SARL AGM;
During January – Submit your nominations for SARL awards;
15 February – closing date for Tinus Lange award entries.
SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners. Submit news items – 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 webstream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, 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.
You have listened to a bulletin of the South African Radio League, which was compiled by Dennis, ZS4BS.
Thank you for having listened, 73.
/EX
