SARL NEWS – SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2009
You are listening to ZS6SRL, the official radio station of the South Afri-can 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 web-stream, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links for details. PLEASE NOTE: for audio via Echolink, con-nect 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 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 52,750; 438,825 and 1 296 MHz FM in the Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to suit.)
SILENT KEY
It is with deep regret to announce the passing away of Alan Martins, ZS6AUH, on 10 October 2009. We extend our sincere condolences to his wife Eunice, his sons and daughter, family and friends.
PAUSE
In the news today:
SUMBANDILASAT BEACON ELUSIVE
ESSAY COMPETITION FOR LEARNERS
RADIO ZS IS IN THE MAIL
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR COUNCILLORS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
SUMBANDILASAT BEACON ELUSIVE
At some stage, since launch, the SumbandilaSat beacon was copied by the ground station in Stellenbosch but it seems to have disappeared. The reason seems unclear. It may have accidentally happened by someone sending the in-correct CTCSS tones, wiping the audio. Time is being scheduled in the acti-vation programme to reload the audio.
Testing of various other payloads is continuing. It is however ex-pected that the amateur payload will be made available in-between other op-erations. Where possible, details will be placed on the SA AMSAT website at www.amsatsa.org.za.
An Intechnet is being planned for Sunday 22 November at 19:30 CAT where various participants will be invited to discuss their experiences and share operating procedures.
ESSAY COMPETITION FOR LEARNERS
Have you passed on the information to your local high school? Learners in grades 8 to 12 are invited to take part in an essay competition to cele-brate the launch of SumbandilaSat. The main prize is an Acer Notebook PC. There are also many other prizes to be won, including Symantec software as well as electronic and radio construction kits. The closing date for the competition is 30 November.
The essay should be between 1 000 and 1 500 words about the subject "How will South Africa benefit from space projects”?
Learners are urged to do some Internet research about space projects and how other nations have benefited and in their own words describe how South Africa can benefit from its entry into the space arena. Full details on how to enter can be found on www.amateurradio.org.za .
SUNSPOT 1 029 ON ITS WAY OUT
According to amateur astronomer Jimmy Eubanks of Boiling Springs, South Carolina, the past week was a marvelous week to study the sun: "Sunspot 1 029 has put on a show every day”! Unfortunately, the show is about to end. The sunspot is moving toward the sun's western limb where it will soon dis-appear.
"As the sun rotates sunspot 1 029 towards the limb, it appears fore-shortened," notes astrophotographer and schoolteacher John Stetson of South Portland, Maine. "Foreshortening was one way Galileo proved sunspots must be on, or near the sun's surface." 400 years ago, some observers thought sunspots might be silhouettes of transiting planets or interplanetary clouds, "but transiting objects appear to be the same size and shape throughout a transit."
As sunspot 1 029 approaches the sun's limb, it could erupt and throw hot plasma into the black void of space.
RADIO ZS IS IN THE MAIL
The September/October edition of Radio ZS was mailed on Friday and is available to members on the SARL website. Join James Durand, ZR6JBD, for a visit to Museum Jan Corver in the Netherlands. Read more about the contro-versy of vertical vs. horizontal antennas by ZS6DV and Unified Amateur Ra-dio by ZS6EA. Then there is the Hallicrafters story by ZS1PR, and an ar-ticle on Radar Rapid Deployed Amateur Radio by ZS6BNE. Fred Scheepers looks at protection of radios and part two of calculating a link budget.
If you are not a member of the SARL and would like a trial copy, send an e-mail to armi@sarl.org.za and a PDF copy will be mailed to you for your perusal. Please mark the subject line, ‘Radio ZS.’
If you have not paid your subscription yet, you will be without Radio ZS. To rectify that, renew immediately by calling Mariska at 011 675 2393 or make an electronic transfer. The current rate is R340 for ordinary mem-bers.
The editor of Radio ZS is in need of material for the next issue which will be mailed by the end of November. Suitable articles can be sent to ra-diozs@sarl.org.za to reach the editor by 9 November 2009.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR COUNCILLORS
At the AGM of the South African Radio League all Councillors retire and a new council has to be elected. Currently serving Councillors may be re-elected if nominated. Nominations are now called for and close on 30 Novem-ber 2009.
Nominations must be submitted in writing to the secretary and signed by a Proposer and Seconder – both must be members of the SARL in good standing. The document must state the full names, call sign and address of the candidate nominated and a statement from the nominee that he or she is willing to serve on the Council if elected. A statement containing details of the specific qualifications, abilities and membership of any related Amateur Radio organizations of the candidate must also be included. Only SARL members in good standing may be nominated.
Nominations must reach the secretary by not later than 30 November and may be faxed to 088 011 675 2793, or signed documents may be scanned and sent by e-mail to secretary@sarl.org.za.
AMATEUR RADIO MIRROR FREQUENCY CHANGE
Last week the 16 metre band frequency for the Sunday morning transmission of Amateur Radio Mirror International changed to 17 860 kHz. Reception re-ports are invited. Please e-mail reports to armi@sarl.org.za.
CONTEST NEWS
The second leg of the SARL HF Field Day will be run over the weekend of 21 and 22 November 2009 with phone and CW activity on 10 to 160 metres. Sta-tions can participate as a single operator or multi-operator field station or as a general station. More information can be found in the 2009 SARL Contest Manual.
Only six logs were received for the the Spring QRP Sprint. The results are:
1-Watt Class:
1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN, 16 380 points;
2nd Pierre van Deventer, ZS6BB, 7 680 points;
3rd Dennis Green, ZS4BS, 420 points.
5-Watt Class:
1st Andre Botes, ZS2ACP, 4 288 points;
2nd Tienie Herbst, ZS6MHH, 1 144 points;
3rd Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE, 864 points.
Work on the 2010 SARL Contest Manual has started. Suggestions for new con-tests, possible changes to existing contests and Radio Clubs wanting to host contests are invited. Send your submission to the Contest Manager by e-mail to hfcontests@netactive.co.za by Sunday 15 November 2009.
Thank you to the Port Elizabeth ARS who have provided the updated informa-tion for the contests they host.
ZS10WCS – THE 2010 WORLD CUP SOCCER SPECIAL EVENT STATION
From 1 November, members of the North West Amateur Radio Club will operate the 2010 World Cup Soccer special event station. The call sign will be on the air over weekends as propagation conditions allow.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low le-vels. There was a sunspot cluster visible during the week, but it is now rotating out of view.
20 and 15 m will provide best opportunities for DX with 10 m showing signs of also livening up in the afternoons. Conditions to the east and the west will be good from the afternoons onwards. During the late afternoons and early evenings, it will be good towards Europe. In the mornings it may be possible to make contacts with Australia on 20 m. In the afternoons there are a good possibilities of contacts with the USA on 15 m. Contacts with New Zealand are going to be challenging. During the afternoons and evenings, 15 and 20 m contacts may be possible with Brazil.
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. 30 m will perform well over the longer distances during the middle of the day. With summer here, 20 m is also once again becoming very useful for local, longer distance contacts. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
November – ZS10WCS on the air by the North West Amateur Radio Club;
9 November – closing date for Radio ZS articles;
15 November – closing date for 2010 Contest suggestions;
21 November – Home Construction course in Gauteng at the NARC;
21-22 November – Second leg of the SARL HF field day;
22 November –Intechnet with SumbandilaSat as subject;
30 November – Closing date for essay competition and closing date for SARL Council nominations.
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 only to www.sarl.org.za/newsinbox.asp, not later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date.
The SARL also invites you to listen to Amateur Radio Mirror Interna-tional 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. For a web-stream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on 'ARMI' and follow the links. A repeat transmission can be heard on 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. The editor was Jannie, ZR6PHD.
Thank you for listening, 73.
