SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 02 MAY 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 also subscribe there 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:
THREE-HOUR SPRINT TO CELEBRATE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SARL
SUMBANDILASAT SOON BACK IN AMATEUR RADIO MODE
LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE FOR THE NOKIA-SIEMENS AMATEUR RADIO AWARDS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.
THREE-HOUR SPRINT TO CELEBRATE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SARL
On Sunday 16 May, 4 days before the actual day, a three hour sprint contest will be celebrating the founding of the SARL on 20 May 1925, 85 years ago. The special call sign, ZS85SARL, will also be used for the first time during the contest.
The Sprint will run from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC (14:00 to 17:00 CAT) on the 20, 40 and 80 metre band. There are a large number of prizes to be won for individual achievements. In addition, all logs with more than 10 contacts will go into the lucky draw for an ARRL Handbook while the participant under 18 years of age on the day of the contest who achieves the highest score will also win an ARRL Handbook.
A special 85th Anniversary QSL card will also be available for stations who work ZS85SARL.
Full details are on www.sarl.org.za and have been published in SARL HF Happenings.
SUMBANDILASAT SOON BACK IN AMATEUR RADIO MODE
SA AMSAT announced that SumbandilaSat will soon be back in the Amateur Radio Mode. Currently Sunspace will re-program CTR2 with a fix for the SA AMSAT PTT problem. This is expected to be completed by mid May.
The CSIR Satellite Application Centre at Hartebeeshoek will in future carry out programming of the Amateur Radio Payload. SA AMSAT will work with SAC to coordinate operational requests. More details on how to request operation will be announced in the next two weeks and published on www.amsatsa.org.za.
As an early notice, start planning to include SumbandilaSat operation in your youth day activities
LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE FOR THE NOKIA-SIEMENS AMATEUR RADIO AWARDS.
The final closing date for nomination will be at close of business on Monday 3 May. There are three awards: the Garth Milne Award for technical innovation, the Radio Amateur of the Year Award for the promotion of Amateur radio and the Amateur Radio Community Service Award. Full details can be found on www.amateurradio.org.za. The winners will be receiving their awards on 17 May at a gala lunch, which will be addressed by Clem Sunter.
LAST CHANCE TO BOOK FOR THE PIC COURSE IN CAPE TOWN
Want to learn how to program a PIC microcontroller in 4 hours? Here is the last chance to book your place at the Cape Town Course on Saturday 8 May 2010. The course fee is R300 for members and R450 for non members. The course includes a CD, a learner board and a host of other useful items valued in access of the course fee. This has been made possible through sponsorship of Microchip. Each participant also receives a certificate from Microchip.
The closing date for the course is Monday 3 May at midnight. No late entries can be accepted. Full details on www.sarl.org.za, click on RTA and follow the links.
RADIO ZS IN THE MAIL NEXT WEEK
Radio ZS will be in the mail next week and available on the web this weekend. It is again filled cover to cover with interesting reading material. Victor du Preez, ZS6EA, shares his thought on Amateur Radio - the most versatile hobby on earth - Proudly Amateur Radio. Andre Botes ZS2ACP's, winning project in the Tinus Lange Technical Excellence Award competition is fully covered in an article entitled The PW MEON 70 MHz Transverter revisited". Get more information on the WIA Centenary Award, read about the new antenna onboard the International Space Station, Radio Amateurs set sight on 500 kHz and The G3EJS 2-Tuner by Steve Warwick-Oliver, G3EJS / ZS5WO. There are also the regulars: Amateur Radio in Space and the Museum column and more interesting reads.
If you are not a member yet, get a sample copy by sending a request to armi@sarl.org.za with RZS April 2010 in the subject line.
ZS10WCS FROM GAUTENG/MPUMALANGA
The Rietkol Amateur Radio Club from Gauteng/Mpumalanga is operating the World Cup Soccer special event station, ZS10WCS, for the month of May. Listen out and work the station.
The Northern Cape Amateur Radio Club is thanked for their operation of the call sign during April 2010.
CONTEST NEWS
Geoff Levey, ZS6GRL, has been appointed as the SARL Contest Manager and will be co-ordinating SARL and Club contests on HF and VHF.
The annual ZS3 Sprint takes this afternoon from 14:00 to 15:00 UTC. This is a fun activity to promote contacts between radio amateurs in the Northern Cape and radio amateurs in Southern African countries. It is a phone and CW contest on the 40-metre band. The exchange is a RS(T) report and provincial or country abbreviation.
Log sheets shall be submitted within 15 days after the contest and can be sent by e-mail to zs3tg[at]vodamail[dot]co[dot]za or ZS3 Sprint, PO Box 1049, Kathu, 8446. The closing date for log submissions is 17 May 2010. A certificate will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in the competition.
The Antique Wireless Association Valve QSO party will be held on the weekend of 8 and 9 May running from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC on both days. The AM QSO Party will be run on Saturday 08 May and the SSB QSO Party on Sunday 09 May. Contest activity on 40 m - 7 053 to 7 100 kHz and 80 m - 3 603 to 3 650 kHz. The exchange is a call sign, RS and consecutive serial numbers starting at 001, plus the type of radio used, e.g. HT37 Tx. The scoring is All valve radios - 3 points per contact; Hybrid (valve and solid state) - 2 points per contact, and Solid State Radios - 1 point per contact.
Log submissions must be sent to the Southern African Antique Wireless Association, PO Box 12320, Benoryn,1504 or by e-mail to andy[dot]cairns[at]xsinet[dot]co[dot]za. The closing date for log submissions is 28 May 2010. Certificates will be awarded to the first 3 places in each category.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at very low levels. The micro-sunspot 1 063 does not help matters much. Officially, the sun remains blank for now more than thirteen days in a row. The effective sunspot number is expected to be less than 10 for the coming week. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is doing more than just taking crisp pictures of the sun. It is revealing our star as a place of intense and sometimes even alien beauty. To have a look go to www.spaceweather.com.
15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 17 and 20 m. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon onwards. During the late afternoons and early evenings, it will be good towards Europe. Contacts with the USA are once again becoming challenging. Contacts with Australia are possible at around 08:00 in the mornings while contacts with New Zealand will be challenging. During the afternoons and evenings, good 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 during the middle of the day. 20 m is very useful for contacts over the longer distances during the majority of the day. 80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings. With the change of season, the noise levels are also decreasing and some top band activity will once again become possible.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
Today ZS3 Sprint, 14:0015:00 UTC;
3 May Closing date for the Nokia Siemens Amateur Radio Awards;
3 May - Closing date to book for PIC programming course in Cape Town;
7 May - Closing date for stage 2 of the Construction Competition.
8 May - Technological High School John Vorster Amateur Radio Club flea market;
8 and 9 May AWA Valve QSO Party;
16 May SARL 85th Anniversary Sprint, 12:00-15:00 UTC;
29 May - RTA symposium in Durban;
24 July - RTA symposium in Cape Town;
21 August - RTA symposium in Port Elizabeth;
31 August - Closing date for submission of proposals for the 2011 SARL Contest Manual;
18 September - RTA symposium in Gauteng;
30 September closing date for phase 1 of the Innovation project.
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 17 560 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.
I cannot say for sure whether it has happened previously, but today you have listened to a bulletin which has been compiled by a President of the SARL. Quote from George, ZS6NE:I phoned Dennis, ZS4BS, yesterday and after congratulating him on his election as President, I told him that I fire as bulletin compiler. Dennis, many thanks for the service which you also rendered as a member of the news team, but, you may of course still contribute news items. The news team whishes you a successful and fruitful term of duty as President. Be assured of our support.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
