SARL NEWS – SUNDAY 07 JUNE 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 KEYS
It is with deep regret that the passing of two radio amateurs must be announced this week. They are:
Peter Liebenberg, ZS2PL of Jefferies Bay on Sunday 31 May 2009
Dick Busby, ZS1AQD of Kraaifontein on Tuesday 2 June 2009.
We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the deceased.
(PAUSE)
In the news today
RADIO AMATEUR EXAMINATION CANDIDATES JUBILANT
SUMBANDILASAT ON ITS WAY TO THE LAUNCH SITE
SARL’S HAMNET ON STANDBY IN GAUTENG
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR CLUBS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
RADIO AMATEUR EXAMINATION CANDIDATES JUBILANT
The wait is over and for 98 candidates of the 125 who entered and passed the RAE Examination. Congratulations to all successful candidates. If you did not pass the exam this time, do some revision work in the next few months and enter the October examination.
The oldest candidate was E Smook, ZR2ES, from Port Elizabeth who is 74 years old. The youngest candidate was R Preston ZU4RP from Vanderbijlpark who is 9 years old. The highest class A score was achieved by L Mitchell, ZS6LWM, from Pretoria who achieved 97% and the highest class B score was achieved by H Botha from Bultfontein with 98%.
The youngest Class A person to successfully pass the examination is Mitchel Mynhard who now boasts the call sign, ZS6YH. Mitchel managed to complete an immediate upgrade due to his Worked All ZS. Well done Mitchel, you have now set a challenge to your sister Melinda to beat you! (Melinda, ZU6MM, has successfully achieved her WAZS200).
There are still a number of outstanding items which are preventing the SARL from issuing call signs, please ensure that you check on the web what documentation is outstanding and submit it to the SARL office without delay. All queries should be directed to Mariska at admin@sarl.org.za.
The SARL has an agreement with ICASA that as soon successful candidates have been issued with their call sign, they may immediately start transmitting. Your letters and certificates will be mailed in due course
Listen out for the new call signs and extend a warm welcome to all the new operators.
SUMBANDILASAT ON ITS WAY TO THE LAUNCH SITE
SumbandilaSat is on its way to Russia. The satellite left on Thursday and is expected to arrive on 10 July in Moscow. It will be shipped to Baikonur on 17 July for integration onto the Soyuz launch vehicle. The launch window is between July and August 2009.
STILL NO GAZETTE WITH REGULATION CHANGES
Friday has come and gone but no Government Gazette with Amateur Radio Regulation changes appeared. There is still some hold-up at ICASA to get the changes published. The problem appears to be administrative in placing the order for publication in the Government Gazette before the Gazettes publication deadline. The SARL web site will be updated as and when information is received.
SARL’S HAMNET ON STANDBY IN GAUTENG
As strike action by employees of the Johannesburg Emergency Services does not show signs of an early resolve, Disaster Management has called on Hamnet to mobilise its members to be on standby.
Gauteng South Hamnet members were called upon by SMS to be available. At the time of publication of SARLNews no further details about the strike were available. However Hamnet National Director, Francois Botha said that response from Hamnet members was good and that Hamnet could swing into action at short notice if the situation worsened.
SARL WEB ERRATIC
For the past few days the SARL web has been erratic. The ISP is working on the problem and doing all they can to resolve it as soon as possible. The problem appears to be server related.
IMPORTANT NEWS FOR CLUBS
Following the discussion on a recent President’s net on how to forge closer relationships between the SARL and Clubs; the SARL Council has adopted a new affiliation scheme which holds both financial and operational benefits for clubs. Full details are included in the SARL letter for clubs which will be emailed this weekend. The SARL letter for clubs will early next week also be available for download from www.sarl.org.za. Select news from the side panel on the home page and click on Club Talk.
PE GEARS UP FOR THE RTA ON 20 JUNE
The SARL’s Radio Technology in Action symposium will come to Port Elizabeth on 20 June 2009. It will be held at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
The full programme is now available on the web or a copy can be requested by sending an email to armi@sarl.org.za. Please put PE RTA in the subject line.
Pears have arranged refreshments and a finger lunch as well as a competition in which an ICOM IC-2200 two metre mobile transceiver can be won. All this plus a ticket in the attendance prize draw is in included in the R50 registration fee.
GET OUR YOUTH TALKING ON 16 JUNE
The SARL annual Youth Day sprint will be bigger and better this year with lots of prizes and lucky draws. Have you geared up to impress young people with Amateur Radio? Get the details from www.sarl.org.za or send an email to youth@sarl.org.za for an information pack.
CLUB NEWS
Notice is herewith given of the change in the date and venue of the next ERB club meeting. The new date is on 16 June 2009 and the venue is Arrowe-Park in Benoni. The club meeting is to coincide with the Youth Day sprint. The club meeting will follow the sprint at noon and this will be followed by a family bring and braai.
The ERB will host the Youth Day sprint at Arrowe-park and invites all amateurs as well as non amateurs under 26 years to come and partake in the Youth Day sprint. This will run from 10:00 till noon on Youth day (16 June 2009). Come and see what amateur radio is all about.
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 levels. The expected Effective Sun Spot number for the coming week will be less than 5. This past weak there was a small group of sunspots dubbed 1019 visible but they declined towards the end of the week.
With the change of season less energy from the sun is reaching the Southern ionosphere and it is having an impact on propagation. 15, 17 and 20 m will provide best opportunities for DX. Conditions to the East and the West will be good from the afternoon onwards. During the late afternoon and early evenings it will be good towards the North.
Early in the morning it may be possible to make contacts with Australia and New-Zealand. During the evening 40 m contacts may be possible with Brazil. The North Easterly, North Westerly, South Easterly and South Westerly paths will be challenging. Long path propagation towards the USA is also possible during the afternoons.
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 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.
80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings. Unfortunately the static noise levels are still a bit 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
8 June – Closing date for the ZS4 Sprint logs;
16 June – Youth Sprint and ERB club meeting;
17 June – World QRP Day;
17 to 21 June – SARL 160 m QSO Party;
20 June – RTA in Port Elizabeth;
27 June - Magalies Radio Amateur Club flea market;
28 June – Digital competition.
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. Please do not send news items to the Office Administrator or one of the bulletin compilers – an item sent that way might be missed and not be included in a bulletin.
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 George, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
