SARL NEWS – SUNDAY 08 MARCH 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 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 52,750, 438,825 and 1 296 MHz FM in the Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to suit).
SILENT KEY
Bernard Jorgenoen, ZR6AES, passed away on 1 March due to a heart attack. He was, amongst others, helpful to amateurs, CB operators and truck drivers to adjust their antennas correctly. Due to his unusual previous ZU1 call sign he caused many pile ups with Dxers and local stations. Sincere condolences to his family and many friends.
(PAUSE)
In the news today:
BACAR TEAM MAKES PROGRESS BUT DELAYS LAUNCH TILL JULY
SUMBANDILASAT INTECNET POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ON THE RSGB WEB
HANS KAPPETIJN, ZS6KR, AWARDED THE FIRST SARL 5-BAND CW ALL AFRICA AWARD
CLUBS URGED TO TAKE PART IN THE SARL PIO PROGRAMME
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these, and other important and interesting news items.
BACAR TEAM MAKES PROGRESS BUT DELAYS LAUNCH TILL JULY
The BACAR team has made considerable progress towards the launch of the first mission in many years. The main obstacle was the cost of helium of between R2 000 and R3 000 depending on the size and number of balloons.
While helium is the safe gas that is allowed to be used without permits, it is heavy and does not produce as much lift as hydrogen. The use of hydrogen is heavily regulated and it is only sold for industrial applications subject to a permit.
John Willescroft, ZS6EF, set about investigating hydrogen production at the launch site and built a prototype hydrogen generator. Initial testing showed great promise and a balloon was successfully inflated. During the next six weeks he will be carrying out more tests.
With the current unstable weather conditions it is not opportune to launch BACAR until June/July. Taking all into account the launch date has been set for 25 July 2009 with a pre-flight test with all the components of the payload integrated on 11 July. The pre-flight test will be at the NARC and the eventual launch at the Irene weather station.
SUMBANDILASAT INTECNET POWERPOINT PRESENTATION ON THE RSGB WEB
Ken, ZS2KPB, alerted SARLNEWS about the following news item carried on RSGB news: A PowerPoint presentation on the South African amateur radio satellite due to be launched in the next few weeks is now available. It's a big document, some 12 megabytes, but interesting with some excellent photographs. The 80 kg satellite includes an AO-51 type VHF up and UHF down repeater as a secondary payload. The launch may be as early as the end of March. The web address is www.amateurradio.org.za/Sumbandila_Intecnet.pdf.
As announced last week the launch has been delayed till May. You can save your international bandwidth as the presentation is also locally available. It has been on the SARL web for a few weeks. Visit www.sarl.org.za, select publications and then armi. Thanks to Ken for submitting the news item.
HANS KAPPETIJN, ZS6KR, AWARDED THE FIRST SARL 5-BAND CW ALL AFRICA AWARD
After submitting the required QSL cards for working 25 African countries and one for each of the six ZS call areas per band for 10,15,20,40 and 80 m, Hans Kappetijn, ZS6KR, received the first ever 5-band CW Worked All Africa Certificate from the SARL Awards Manager Tjerk Lammers, ZS6P.
Many of the African contacts were made up to 5 years ago and Hans recently gave himself a wake-up call to complete some of the still-required ZS contacts, which were most difficult under the present propagation conditions.
After appeals on the SARL Forum, amateurs in Div 1,2,3,4 and 5 patiently assisted Hans over the past few months to make contacts on 10 and 15 m, some of which were attributed to HF sporadic E and HF meteor scatter.
Congratulations to Hans, ZS6KR, well done!
MAY RAE NOW ON WEDNESDAY 20 MAY
The National Radio Amateur Examination date for May 2009 has been changed to the 20 May 2009, which is a Wednesday. The reason for the change is that 21 May 2009 is Ascension Day, a very important date for members of Christian belief.
Please communicate this date at club level and to all prospective candidates. The closing date for registration is not affected by this change and will remain 23 April 2009. Please note that no late entries will be accepted. Candidates for the RAE should take note of all the documentation required as set out on www.sarl.org.za. Incomplete documentation or late entries will be returned. For further information contact Mariska at the SARL office at 011 675 2393.
CLUBS URGED TO TAKE PART IN THE SARL PIO PROGRAMME
Clubs and interest groups are urged to participate in the SARL's Public Information Officer Initiative. The objective is the promotion of amateur radio by disseminating information to the media and information about amateur radio to the community at large. The network will have its own Web Pages with lots of information, plus PowerPoint presentations that can be used in presentations to a Lions club meeting or a Rotary lunch or your local school. There will be training sessions via teleconference and a manual will be available. Only two clubs have so far signed up: Boland and West Rand.
Full details and a registration form are available on the SARL web. From the news pages go to ClubTalk or send an email to armi@sarl.org.za and the information will be mailed to you.
CONTEST NEWS
The first leg of the SARL VHF/UHF Contest will take place over the weekend of 20 to 22 March 2009. There are two contests running that weekend, one is an analogue contest and the other is a digital contest.
The first session of the SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest starts at 16:00 UTC on Friday 20 March and ends at 12:59 UTC on Saturday; the second session starts at 13:00 UTC and ends at 12:00 UTC on Sunday 22 March 2009.
Participation can be as a home station, a field station or a rover station and all authorised digital modes are permitted. The exchange is the call sign and a grid sub-square (6 digits).
The SARL VHF/UHF Analogue contest will start at 10:00 UTC on Saturday 21 March and end at 10:00 UTC on Sunday 22 March 2009. Participation can be as a single operator or multi-operator station and only FM and SSB may be used. The exchange is a RS report, call sign and a six-digit grid locator.
The first leg of the SARL 80 Metre QSO Party will take place on Thursday 2 April 2009 from 17:00 to 20:00 UTC.
The complete rules for the three contests can be found in the 2009 SARL Contest Manual available from the HF Happenings page on www.sarl.org.za. Make sure it is version 4 dated March 2009
The Antique Wireless Association CW Activity Day was held on 7 and 8 February 2009. The highest score came from Pierre, ZS6BB, attaining 60 points. Pierre made 30 contacts on 40 and 80 m at 1 point each, and doubled it by operating QRP. Second was Pieter, ZS3AOR, with 18 points followed by Jan, ZS4JAN, with 17 points. There were 28 participants with the majority of contacts taking place on 40 m. Charles, ZS1CF, was nominated as having the best CW during the activity. Congratulations to all those who took the time to take part in the activity day.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP reports that the expected solar activity will be very low. The geomagnetic field is expected to be predominantly at quiet levels. The expected Effective Sun Spot number for the coming week will be less than 5.
The imminent change of season with less energy from the sun reaching the Southern ionosphere is having an impact on propagation as well. 15 and 20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. There is a possibility of 15 m openings towards India from about 14:00 CAT followed by 20 m at 17:00. Contacts with New Zealand are going to be very challenging. 20 m contacts may be possible with Australia at 07:00. Contacts with Peru are unlikely. Brazil may be worked on 15 m from 14:00 till 16:00. At 16:00 there may be 15 m openings followed by short 20 m openings at 18:00 towards Europe. Short, weak contacts with the USA East Coast are possible on 15 m at 19:00.
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. With winter on its way 20 m is preparing for hibernation.
80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings. The thunderstorms and static may still be a bit challenging.
Remember that this is only a prediction and that HF has the capability to pleasantly 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
14 and 15 March – RSGB Commonwealth Contest;
20 March – Closing date for submission of PIC debugger claims;
21 and 22 March – SARL VHF/UHF Contests;
2 April - First leg of the SARL 80 Metre QSO Party;
18 April – World Amateur Radio Day, and
24-26 April – SARL National Convention, Cape Town.
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 Amateur Radio Mirror International programme every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area, with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 860 kHz. There is also a podcast by ZS6RO which can be listened to. 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, compiled by George, ZS6NE, and edited by Hester van der Walt. Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
