SARL NEWS – SUNDAY 17 MAY 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 bulletin and previous ones 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
It is with regret that we have to announce that the key of J H Fuller, ZS6JHF, became silent on 25 April due to a stroke. To his wife Elise, Chantelle, other relatives and friends, our sincerest sympathasies.
(PAUSE)
In the news today:
TAKING AMATEUR RADIO INTO GAUTENG SCHOOLS
SOME PROGRESS ON EXPANSION OF THE 40 METRE BAND
NEXT RTA IN DURBAN
YOUTH DAY SPRINT TO GET THE YOUTH TALKING
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
TAKING AMATEUR RADIO INTO GAUTENG SCHOOLS
The SARL is working with the Sci Bono Science Discovery Centre and the Gauteng Provincial Department of Education to take amateur radio into technology high schools and by overlapping the Class B syllabus with the Grade 10 and 11 Electrical Technology curriculum. The project will involve 82 schools and 88 teachers in the province.
The plan is to train teachers to qualify as radio amateurs by the end of the year and to introduce the revised Electrical Curriculum to Grade 10 learners from 2010.
The SARL Council at its recent strategy indaba agreed with the concept in principle and appointed a subcommittee to study the proposals and implications. On the subcommittee are the councillor for youth activity and education Gerhard Coetzee, ZS3TG, the RAE Manager, Mark Zank, ZS6YES, and the councillor for Regulatory Affairs and Marketing, Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV. The subcommittee met this week with Chris Gryffenberg, ZS6COG, DCES: Electrical Technology of the Gauteng Education Department. The first step is to prepare a memorandum of understanding which is expected to be discussed at the next Council meeting in early June.
SOME PROGRESS ON EXPANSION OF THE 40 METRE BAND
There was some progress on the expansion of the 40 metre band. ICASA confirmed this week that the final document is now ready to be tabled at the Council meeting on Tuesday. If approved, it will be published in the Government Gazette shortly thereafter.
Keep an eye on the SARL web pages for the latest.
NEXT RTA IN DURBAN
Positive comments about the 2009 RTA programme are still being heard on the bands in Gauteng. Comments vary from “awesome” to “best ever”. Arrangements for the Durban RTA symposium on 30 May at the University of KwaZulu-Natal have been finalised. There are some great attendance prizes sponsored by Coast to Coast. Join us for an exhilarating Saturday.
Arrangements for the RTA in the Eastern Cape in Port Elizabeth are in the final stages. The event will be held at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on Saturday 20 June.
All the RTA programme details are on www.sarl.org.za.
PIO PROGRAMME WILL START SOON
The SARL Public Information Programme will start soon. Only a few clubs have sent in the names of their candidates, which is a great pity as clubs stand to gain as much from the programme as the SARL and Amateur Radio in general do. The PIO programme is aimed at training a club member to be a PIO and providing publicity and support material. Currently, the following clubs have nominated their delegate: Boland Amateurradioklub, Westrand Amateur Radio Club, Magalies Radioamateurklub and Sasolburg Amateur Radio Club.
Get full details in the news section on www.sarl.org.za under ClubTalk.
SUPPORT SCIENCE AND THE YOUTH
The Sci Bono Science Discovery Centre Science Festival will be held throughout the week and features amateur radio as one of its focus areas. Look for ZS6SCI during the mornings and a make a young person's day.
YOUTH DAY SPRINT TO GET THE YOUTH TALKING
The Youth Sprint on 16 June 2009 is aimed at getting the youth talking to each other, but you can be the catalyst to make it happen. The event will run for two hours from 10:00 to 12:00 CAT on the 40 metre band. Set up a station in a public place or invite some young people into the shack. The exchange is an RS report and the operator's age.
The point structure is 5 points for contacts between two operators under 25 years, only 2 points if one of the operators is 26 and older and one point if both operators are 26 years or older.
There are some fun prizes to be won by participants under 25 years old, not only for the highest score but also on a lucky draw basis, together with a certificate for every participant under 25.
To facilitate the promotion of amateur radio to the youth and to encourage hands-on activity, the SARL President, Rassie Erasmus, ZS1YT, said that all stations who are hosting unlicensed young people under 25 years of age during the Sprint will automatically be regarded as educational stations. These stations are, however, obliged to assist their young operators to submit logs in the sprint contest.
The call sign (individual or Club) that brings the most unlicensed youth on the air during the contest will receive one year’s SARL membership for free. Please contact Gerhard Coetzee, ZS3TG, for any other details.
CONTEST NEWS
The results of two local contests have been released for publication. There was a lot of activity on the 40 metre band for the Autumn QRP Sprint, but only 7 logs were received.
1st Andre, ZS2AC,P 15 120 points (1 watt);
2nd Jan, ZS4JAN, 4 648 points (5 watts);
3rd Johan, ZS1I, 1 628 points (5 watts);
4th Pierre, ZS6BB/5, 1 520 points (5 watts);
5th Bill, ZS6KO, 684 points (3 watts);
6th Dylan, ZU6D, 672 points (5 watts);
7th Dirk, ZS1X, 504 points (5 watts).
Only four logs were received for the SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest and only activity on 50 and 70 MHz bands was reported.
Overall Winner – Andre, ZS2ACP, 33 996 points;
Division 1 Winner – John, ZS1AGF, 13 224 points;
Division 2 Winner – Andre, ZS2ACP, 33 996 points;
Division 6 Winner – Bert, ZS6HS, 8 780 points with Paul, ZS6NK, in second place with 7 686 points.
Andre, ZS2ACP, achieved the highest score on 50 MHz and shares top honours on 70 MHz with Paul, ZS6NK.
Four South African stations appear in the results listing of the 2008 CQ WW RTTY DX Contest. Donovan, ZS2DL, Thian, ZS2Y, and Jacques, ZS1JY, participated in the single operator category and Barry, ZS2EZ, participated in the single operator assisted category.
Thank you to all the participants and well done to the winners.
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. A sunspot has at last appeared that belongs to the new solar cycle, although it is a very small one. Solar cycle 24 is expected to peak during May 2013. Start planning those 10 and 6 m antennas in the mean time.
The imminent change of season with less energy from the sun reaching the southern ionosphere is having an impact on propagation as well. 15, 17 and 20 m will provide best opportunities for DX. Conditions to the east and the west will be good from the early afternoon onwards. During the late afternoon and early evenings it will be good towards the north. The north-easterly, north-westerly, south-easterly and south-westerly paths will be challenging. Long path propagation towards the USA is also possible. 10 MHz is looking promising in the late afternoon and after dark for the CW and digital enthusiasts.
Local conditions are going to be good on 40 m during the day time. 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 but may still give surprising results up to lunchtime. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings. Unfortunately, the static noise levels are still rather high, making contacts over the longer distances 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
18 to 22 May – Special Event Station ZS6SCI, Sci Bono, on the air;
20 May – Radio Amateur Exam;
24 May – ZS4 Sprint;
26 May – Sandton ARC technical meeting at the NARC;
30 May – Pretoria Mega Flea Market and RTA in Kwazulu-Natal;
16 June – Youth Sprint.
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 17 570 kHz. There is also a podcast by ZS6RO. 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 Dennis, ZS4BS, and edited by Hester van der Walt. Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
