SARL News – SUNDAY 11 APRIL 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 email.

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.

In the news today:

PRESIDENT'S NET TO DISCUSS CHANGES TO SARL CONSTITUTION

NATIONAL CONVENTION – DON'T DELAY BOOKING

CELEBRATE YOUR HOBBY ON 18 APRIL

You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.


PRESIDENT'S NET TO DISCUSS CHANGES TO SARL CONSTITUTION

The President's Net, on the air tonight at 19:30, will review changes to the constitution which are on the AGM agenda. Here is an opportunity to get clarification about the proposed changes and the reasons behind Council's proposal. Join the discussion on a repeater near you. The proposed revised constitution is available on the member section of the SARL web.

NATIONAL CONVENTION – DON'T DELAY BOOKING

Time is running out to book for the various events presented at the SARL National Convention which will be held in Port Elizabeth from 23 to 25 April. The Convention warms up on Friday evening with a spit braai at the Italian Sporting Club where the Annual Dinner will also be hosted on Saturday evening.

The AGM starts on Saturday morning at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. During the afternoon there are a number of activities to choose from, from a forum on Contesting and DXing, to a visit to a game farm or sportscar manufacturing. The popular PIC course, learning PIC programming in 4 hours, is also presented on Saturday afternoon. The cost of the PIC course includes a gift pack of useful programs and products valued at more than the registration fee. See all the details on the web. Participants also receive a certificate from Microchip, which underwrites the course. The convention concludes with a breakfast at Port Elizabeth’s famous beachfront.

If you cannot attend the AGM, please nominate someone to represent you. Complete the proxy form and return as soon as possible. To book, get a form from the web, make a bank transfer or pay by credit card. It can all be found on www.sarl.org.za. Why not do it today?

SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM NEXT WEEK

Next Saturday the SA AMSAT Space Symposium will be held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, another event not to be missed. SARL and SA AMSAT members can still make use of the early bird special booking up to Monday, close of business. Get the details from www.amsatsa.org.za. Learn more about the ins and outs of SumbandilaSat, South Africa's two new CubeSat projects and the around the world balloon project called Lalea. There are plenty more interesting presentations. Get the full programme from the web. There is a link from www.sarl.org.za.

CELEBRATE YOUR HOBBY ON 18 APRIL

World Amateur Radio Day will be celebrated on Sunday 18 April. The theme this year is "Amateur Radio: combining communication experience with modern digital techniques”. What is your club doing to celebrate the day? Drop a line to armi@sarl.org.za and we will share your ideas on the SARL web.

SARL CONTEST MANUAL

Radio clubs and individual radio amateurs are invited to use the 2010 SARL Contest Manual as basis to start the process of creating the 2011 edition. Ideas, comments and suggestions must be submitted to the Contest Manager/Committee by 31 August 2010. From this, a draft 2011 Contest Manual will be created and this document will be circulated for comment. It is planned to have the 2011 SARL Contest Manual ready for publication by 15 December 2010.

CONTEST NEWS

The Autumn QRP Sprint will be run from 12:00 to 14:00 UTC on Sunday 18 April. Stations can participate as portable or fixed stations using CW only, phone only or mixed. There are three power levels to choose from: 5 watt, 1 watt or 100 milliwatt. The exchange is RS(T) and year first licensed (e.g. 59 89). Activity is on 7,000 to 7,025 MHz and 7,060 to 7,100 MHz. Two points are scored per QSO and 2 points per prefix worked. Logs must be submitted by 3 May to the West Rand ARC, PO Box 5344, Weltevreden Park, 1725 or by e-mail to glevey@gmail.com.

SARL NATIONAL FIELD DAY RESULTS

Seventeen logs were received for the February leg of the SARL National Field Day. The results for the three categories are as follows:

Single Operator Field Station:

1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN, 96 120 points
2nd Christo Kriek, ZR6LJK, 13 995 points
3rd Bryan King, ZS2SS, 8 400 points

Multi-operator Field Station

1st West Rand ARC, ZS6WR, 57 970 points
2nd Pretoria ARC, ZS6PTA, 50 750 points
3rd Hibiscus Coast ARC, 34 500 points

General Stations

1st World Cup Soccer, ZS10WCS, 110 160 points
2nd Philip Esterhuizen, ZS4PJ, 40 812 points
3rd Johan Esterhuizen, ZS4PP, 18 630 points

SARL 80 m Digital Club Contest.
Four logs were received for the second Club Contest. The results are:

1st West Rand ARC, 9 points
2nd ZS Contesting Group, 3 points

The full results will be published in HF Happenings.

MAY RAE

The closing date for entries for the May 2010 Radio Amateur Examination is 12:00 CAT on Friday 23 April 2010. Please note that no late entries will be accepted at all. Any queries can be directed to Mariska at the SARL office. Please visit the SARL home page for contact details and the application forms.

CLUB NEWS

ZS6JVT, the Amateur Radio Club at the Technological High School John Vorster, will be hosting a flea market on Saturday 8 May from 08:30 at the ZS6JVT Radio Training Centre. The young members are proud of their radio room and look forward to showing visitors around.

The flea market is an opportunity for acquiring or disposing of any electronic or radio equipment. Tables, stands or boot sales cost R20. Tasty eats, cold drinks and coffee will be available. Ample, safe parking will be provided in the school grounds.

The High School John Vorster is situated at 1072 Meyer Street, Rietfontein, Pretoria. For further information Johann, ZS6PSS, can be contacted on 082 446 1581.

The West Rand Amateur Radio Club is hosting its next flea market at 12:00 on Saturday 24 April 2010 at the clubhouse in Kroton Street, Weltevredenpark, Roodepoort. Everyone is very welcome. For more information, contact Joop, ZS6C, at 082 342 3280.

The Kempton Amateur Radio Technical Society held their AGM on 13 March 2010. At this meeting a new committee was elected.

Chairman: Stephen Stuttard, ZS6SKY
Vice-chairman: Vivian Dold, ZS6VD
Secretary: Clive Reeks, ZS6BT
Treasurer: Barry Els, ZSL470
Additional member: Nico van Rensburg, ZR6QL

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low levels. The face of the sun is nearly blank as only Sunspot 1 061 remains. The effective sunspot number is expected to decline to levels less than 10 for the coming week.

20 and 15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon onwards. During the late afternoons and early evenings conditions will be good towards Europe. Contacts with the USA are once again becoming challenging. Contacts with Australia and New Zealand will be challenging. During the afternoons and evenings good 20 and 15 m contacts may also be possible with Brazil.

17 m is open most afternoons to many parts of the world. Most of the activity is concentrated on Friday afternoons and also over the weekends.

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 during the middle of the day. 20 m is very useful for contacts over the longer distances during most of the day.

80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.

Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.

DIARY OF EVENTS

17 April – 2010 SA AMSAT Space Symposium.
18 April – Autumn QRP Sprint competition.
18 April – World Amateur Radio Day.
23 April – Entries close for the May RAE.
23-25 April – SARL National Convention, Port Elizabeth.
24 April – West Rand Amateur Radio Club Flea Market.
3 May – Logs for the Autumn QRP Sprint competition must be in at the West Rand ARC.
7 May – Closing date for stage 2 of the Construction Competition.
8 May – Technological High School John Vorster Amateur Radio Club flea market.
31 August – Comments to be in on new SARL Contest Manual.

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 17 570 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, and edited by Hester van der Walt.

Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX