SARL News – SUNDAY 14 FEBRUARY 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 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 newsreader this morning is (name), (call sign), on 145,725 and 7,066 MHz from Pretoria, with relays on 10,130, 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB.
Due to revised priorities Craig, ZS6RH, and Nico, ZS6AQ, are no longer able to do relays on 28,325, 14,235, 52,750 and 1 296 MHz. The 438,825 repeater is no longer used for relays due to a cooling problem at the high site.
Nico has sold off most of his equipment to move to the Cape and relax in his retirement.
Craig is studying and has "economized" in the shack.
We are most grateful to Nico and Craig for their services which they rendered voluntarily over a long period, it is appreciated by all. May Nico enjoy his retirement in the pleasant Cape and to Craig, Success in your studies.
Should anybody else be willing, able and available to commit to do relays of the SARL bulletins on any of the above frequencies, they are welcome to co-ordinate with Craig, ZS6RH, via e-mail to craigsym@global.co.za.
The news team today also extends a hearty welcome to Leon Swart, ZS4V, presently from Grahamstown, who has volunteered as a member for the team, and who has compiled this bulletin. We trust that Leon will have a happy and long association with the team.
In the news today:
PORT ELIZABETH HOME CONSTRUCTION COURSE GOES AHEAD
NEW 2 METRE TROPO RECORD
ZS10WCS NEWS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.
PORT ELIZABETH HOME CONSTRUCTION COURSE GOES AHEAD
Despite the low number of booked participants to date, the SARL and John Willescroft, ZS6EF, who presents the course, have decided to go ahead and present it on Saturday 20 February 2010.
Bookings can still be made until Tuesday night 16 February 2010. Visit www.sarl.org.za and click on RTA for details of the course and the booking form.
The previous course held in Durban followed the success of those held in Gauteng and Cape Town. One participant wrote that he produced his first successful PC board in a short time on a Saturday afternoon using the knowledge he had acquired at the course earlier that day.
NEW 2 METRE TROPO RECORD
On 9 February 2010 at around 21:00 SAST Andre, ZS2ACP, of Port Elizabeth and Phil, FR5DN, on Reunion Island established a new record on 144,401 MHz, using the JT65b digital mode. The distance is 3 205 km and is a new SARL 2 metre DX digital record. Glenn, ZS2GK, alerted Andre about the opening; the Hepburn Index also indicated excellent conditions across the Indian Ocean.
Congratulations to both Andre, ZS2ACP, and Phil, FR5DN, on their great achievement.
ZS10WCS NEWS
The ZS10WCS call sign is now part of the ARRL's Logbook of the World programme. On Thursday evening 10 February, Dennis, ZS4BS, uploaded 3 588 QSO records to Logbook of the World. The DXCC totals stand at 61 mixed entities, 39 CW entities, 51 phone entities and 13 digital entities confirmed as well as 37 US states confirmed for the Worked All States award.
Also on Thursday 10 February, ZS10WCS qualified for the SARL Worked All ZS award.
At present SARL electronic QSLs for October 2009 cannot be confirmed, as no log has yet been received.
ITU DIGITIZES HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced on February 11 that they have launched the History of ITU portal. This project – the digitizing of the ITU's archive of historical documents – aims to improve access to information on the ITU and chart its evolution since its establishment in 1865, while ensuring the long-term preservation of historic documents. The archives will be freely accessible.
ITU's historical documents digitization programme is an ongoing project to catalogue and scan key ITU documents and outcomes of major conferences and make them available on the Web. The documents are fully searchable thanks to optical character recognition. Documents generated from ITU Plenipotentiary Conferences as well as those from early radio, telegraph and telephone conferences are now available on the portal. It provides background information, key data and links to the documents and other materials for each conference. The digitization programme will continue to make available documents of historic significance, including those related to Radio communication Conferences since 1903.
SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM DATE CHANGED
To accommodate school and university holidays and the availability of the Director General of the Department of Science and Technology, who will be the opening speaker at the symposium, the date has been changed to Saturday 17 April 2010. The closing date for speakers to submit proposals for papers has also been changed. Registration for the conference will open during next week. Visit www.amsatsa.org.za for more details.
BACAR LAUNCH IN THE WESTERN CAPE
The proposed launch of BACAR 2010 on 24 January in the Western Cape was postponed at the last minute due to a misunderstanding of an air traffic rule.
During a subsequent investigation with Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) in Gauteng, a senior official confirmed that BACAR is categorized as a small unmanned balloon or weather balloon. In terms of international air regulations, it is legal for any person to fly a weather balloon in South Africa. No permit or other document is needed. No permission from, or contact with, ATS is required as long as the balloon falls under a certain size and weight limit, which is the case with BACAR.
The BACAR launch in the Western Cape will be held later this year. Two dates are currently under consideration, viz. 9 May and 25 July, following the PIC Course in Cape Town and the RTA. The new launch date will be announced soon.
2010 PIC COURSES - BOOKING HAS NOW OPENED
Details of the 2010 PIC courses are now available on the SARL Web under RTA. The course will be presented in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Durban and Gauteng. Each course is limited to 20 participants.
SARL NATIONAL CONVENTION
Have you registered to attend the SARL National Convention hosted in Port Elizabeth by the Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society? Details are available on www.sarl.org.za. The convention will be held from 23 to 25 April. As it is also the weekend of the Iron Man competition, Port Elizabeth will be a hive of activity, so book early.
CLUB NEWS
The ZS6JVT radio amateur club at the John Vorster Technological High School in Pretoria elected its new committee on 9 February.
The new committee is:
Chair: Jan Smit, ZU6JAN
Deputy chair: Morne Coetzer, ZR6RC
Secretary: Gideon Grobler, ZU6GG
Treasurer: Phillip Cronje, ZS6JPC
RAE training: Phillip Cronje, ZS6JPC
Projects: Phillip Cronje, ZS6JPC
Youth coordinator: Johann du Plessis, ZS6PSS
The new committee extended its gratitude to the previous committee for a job well done over the past three years. ZS6JVT plans a flea market in May at the Radio Training Centre at John Vorster Technological High School, to introduce ZSJVT to the broader amateur radio community.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the Solar Dynamics Observatory was launched during the week, kicking off a five-year mission to study the variability of the sun. It will enhance the way we look at the sun and beam high quality images of our star to earth. The solar activity is still at low levels. Currently, sunspot 1 045 is decaying but sunspot 1 046 is showing some growth. The effective sunspot number is expected to be between 30 and 35 for the coming week. Good news indeed!
20 and 15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoons onwards. During the late afternoons 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 Australia will be possible on 20 m for a short while during the mornings. 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.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
13 and 14 February – SARL National Field Day.
20 February – Home construction course in Port Elizabeth.
28 February – 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.
5 March – Closing date for the Tinus Lange Awards.
31 March – SARL 80 m Club Contest with PSK and RTTY.
17 April – 2010 SA AMSAT Space Symposium.
23-25 April – SARL National Convention, Port Elizabeth.
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 webstream 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 Leon, ZS4V/2, and edited by Hester van der Walt.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
