SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 17 JANUARY 2010
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 web-stream, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links for details. 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 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 KEYS
It is with deep regret that the passing of two radio amateurs must be announced.
Meyer Koch, ZS5MK, became a silent key on 13 January. Meyer had been a staunch member of Midlands ARC and served on the Committee for several years. Our sincere condolences are extended to his wife Norma and family.
Maurice Dobson, ZS5BCA, of Margate passed away in July 2009. We extend our sincere condolences to his wife Nell and family.
PAUSE
In the news today:
BACAR TAKES TO THE AIR NEXT SUNDAY
BOOK EARLY FOR NATCON-2010
SARL HELD WORKSHOP WITH ICASA
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
BACAR TAKES TO THE AIR NEXT SUNDAY
BACAR 2010 will be launched from the Worcester Airport on Sunday 24 January at 11:00 CAT. The duration of the flight will depend on the direction of the prevailing upper air wind. Spectators are welcome to join the launch at the airport. Commentary of the launch will be covered on 7 082 kHz. More frequencies will be announced in next week's SARL News.
BACAR 2010 has an extensive payload:
A 5 W FM parrot repeater 145,550 MHz FM working with a rubber duck antenna. The repeater receiver and transmitter use the same frequency. Transmit simplex and listen to your signal returning. The beacon is activated if the repeater is not used for a period of one minute. The beacon sends the following in voice: ID, GPS location, altitude and temperature.
The 20 m transmitter operates on 14,285 MHz SSB at 0,5 W peak envelope power (or PEP).
The 40 metre transmitter operates on 7,090 MHz SSB at 0,5 W PEP.
The 2 Meter SSB transmitter operates on 144,350 MHz SSB at 0,5 W PEP.
The 2-, 20- and 40 m transmitters will – for test purposes – send a DSB-suppressed carrier transmission in order to evaluate its use with simple receivers. The transmitters will transmit every three minutes with the following information in voice: ID, location, altitude and temperature.
For more detail about the GPS and camera on board, visit www.amsat.org.za. Monitor the website during the flight for updates and pictures. The website will be updated as new information becomes available.
BOOK EARLY FOR NATCON-2010
Full details of the SARL National Convention to be held in Port Elizabeth from 23 - 25 April have been published on the web, as well as a downloadable booking form. Early birds will be entered into the draw for an ARRL Handbook. Book accommodation and flights early, as Port Elizabeth is also hosting the Iron Man competition over the same period.
SARL AWARDS
Have you considered nominating someone from your club for one of the SARL annual awards? Full details can be found on the SARL website at www.sarl.org.za. Click on ‘News’ and then ‘Clubtalk’. Nominations close on 31 January.
THE BPL WAR: SWEDEN WITHDRAWS SOME BPL/PLT MODEMS
The score is 1-0 for amateur radio in the BPL war. The latest issue of the EUROCOM newsletter has a welcome item on the withdrawal by Sweden of polluting power line adapters.
The 5 January edition notes that Sweden has withdrawn some broadband–over–powerline (or PLT) modems from the nation’s market. The Swedish administration argued that the devices did not meet the protection provided by the harmonized standard. It also noted that in many cases, harmful interference could actually be measured. It said that in those cases, reception in accordance with the ITU Regulations was no longer possible and therefore, the essential requirements violated.
Locally, there is still no news about the interim PLT regulations, which are awaiting approval by ICASA.
SARL HELD WORKSHOP WITH ICASA ABOUT LICENSING
On Friday last week, the SARL presented a workshop on "What is Amateur Radio?" at the head office of ICASA in Sandton. The aim of the workshop was to give the licensing staff insight into the various aspects of Amateur Radio. The two-hour workshop was lead by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, and Francois Botha, ZS6BUU. Francois used the opportunity to explain the importance of amateur radio during major disasters and used the Haiti earthquake as an example. Mark Zank, who could not attend, provided valuable input Power Point to presentation, covering the examination process.
LICENSE RENEWAL NOTICES NOT IN THE MAIL YET
ICASA has not yet mailed the amateur radio license invoices. The invoices are currently being printed and should be in the mail soon.
CONTEST NEWS
The 2010 Diary of Events and the 2010 SARL Contest Manual (both in PDF format) and the 2010 Log and Summary Sheets (a zipped file) have been uploaded to the Contest page on the SARL website.
The first of six SARL 80 m Club Contests will be run on Wednesday 27 January from 19:30 to 20:30 CAT. This will be a phone-only contest; the exchange is a RS report and a consecutive serial number starting at 001. Each contact counts one point and stations may only be contacted once during the session. The individual scores count towards a radio club’s overall score.
In March, the SARL 80 m Club Contest will feature PSK and RTTY.
CLUB NEWS
The West Rand Amateur Radio Club is busy compiling a history of the club since its establishment in 1938. If you have any information, stories and photographs regarding the history of the club, please send it to Willem, ZS6WWJ, whose e-mail address is willem@zs6wwj.co.za. Your contribution will be acknowledged in the book the West Rand ARC intends publishing at the end of 2010.
PROPAGATION
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low levels. 2010 started with a useful amount of sunspot activity. Currently sunspot region 1 040 is exciting HF enthusiasts. A new record solar flux of 95,4 for Cycle 24 was reached on Tuesday. The effective sunspot number is expected to be between 20 and 30 for the coming week. Overall conditions are on the rise.
15 and 20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon onwards. During the late afternoon and early evenings, it will be moderate towards Europe. In the afternoons there are good possibilities of contacts with the USA on 15 m. Contacts with New Zealand will be possible for a short stint on 15 and 20 m during the mornings. Contacts with Australia will be possible on 20 m for a short spell during the mornings and the afternoons. During the afternoons and evenings, 20 and 15 m contacts may also 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 very useful for contacts over the longer distances, especially up to two o'clock in the afternoons. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.
Visit www.spaceweather.co.za for detailed predictions.
DIARY OF EVENTS
15 to 17 January 2010 - PEARS VHF/UHF Contest;
23 January - Home Construction course in Cape Town;
24 January - BACAR launch in the Western Cape;
27 January - SARL 80 m Club Contest;
31 January - President's Net at 19:30;
31 January - Closing date for AGM motions;
6 and 7 February - AWA CW Activity Day;
28 February - New closing date for the SumbandilaSat essay competition;
28 February - Final date for entries in the ARRISS-SAT project to be submitted to youth@sarl.org.za;
27 March - 2010 SA AMSAT Space Symposium.
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 Amateur Radio Mirror International 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 bulletin editor was Jannie, ZR6PHD.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
