SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 1 August 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. 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 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 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB.
SILENT KEYS
It is with deep regret that we must announce that two radio amateurs went silent key during the past week. They are:
Bennie Schoeman, ZS6ABS, on Tuesday 27 July, five days after his 95th birthday on the 22nd July and,
Craig Bergsteedt,ZS6CKB, on Thursday 29 July after a long battle with cancer.
We extend our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased.
(PAUSE)
In the news today:
RULES FOR CONTESTS
YOU FORGOT TO PAY YOUR SUBSCRIPTION?
ARRL CEO CALLS FOR AMATEURS TO OBSERVE AND RECORD PROPAGATION ANOMALIES
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.
RULES FOR CONTESTS.
As mentioned before a revised draft version of the Blue Book for 2011 needs to be completed by the end of August 2010. This is an appeal for all interested parties to go through the present Blue Book V2 2010 and highlight any rules / statement that need to be changed / modified.
The main area of focus should be Section 1 "General Rules"
Please send suggestions to Geoff Levey, ZS6GRL ,to email address glevey@gmail.com.
This is the only way that transparency can be achieved.
YOU FORGOT TO PAY YOUR SUBSCRIPTION?
If you have not yet paid your subscription for the 2010/2011 year please do it now. By the end of August members who have not renewed will lose their benefits and we are sure that you do not want to be one of them.
We hear so often what does the SARL do for me? There are a few actions we would like to remind you of. It was the SARL's interaction with ICASA that gave us access to a bigger slice of the 40 metre band ahead of many other countries. It was the SARL that recently had an intruding repeater removed from the 70 cm band.
Our voice needs to be strong, only your membership can do that. Let's turn the question around and ask ourselves "what can I do for the SARL and Amateur Radio? The answer is obvious, join the National Body for Amateur Radio, support SARL events and initiatives. Get full details on www.sarl.org.za or call 011 675 2393. If you are already a member and have paid, thank you for doing the right thing. We value your support.
ARRL CEO CALLS FOR AMATEURS TO OBSERVE AND RECORD PROPAGATION ANOMALIES
In an his editorial in the August edition of QST the ARRL Chief Executive Officer, Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, called on radio amateurs to continue to observe and record propagation anomalies. He wrote "we are about the only people who still are. There was a time when anyone with a TV set could view the effects of sporadic E, whether they wanted to or not; it's what interrupted the baseball game when the picture from your local station was knocked out by one from Miami or St Louis."
In every generation there are people who seek a better understanding of natural forces that shape life on our planet. For more than a century, amateur radio has provided an outlet for such curiosity. It still does today - and it will tomorrow.
The SARL is working with the Hermanus Magnetic observatory to have space weather conditions streamed in real time. The first step is to set up a display at the NARC in time for the September Radio Technology in Action 2010, after that it will also become available on the SARL web.
The SARL will also be setting up a reporting system to record unusual propagation conditions. If you experience an unusual propagation condition, record all the details and mail a report to unsualprop@sarl.org.za.
IARUMS TO CONCENTRATE ON CLEANING UP METRES
The SARL's councillor for the IARU Monitoring System (IARUMS), Fred Scheepers, ZS1FCS, invites radio amateurs and shortwave listeners to join a campaign to remove non amateur stations from the 40 metre amateur band. It requires many persons to monitor the band from 7 000 - 7 200 kHz for intruders and record their details such as the station ID, the frequency and time. Many intruder broadcast stations will broadcast their ID on the hour and half hour. If you cannot understand the language make an mp3 recording or a wave file and add it to your report. Fred has set a special email address that is easy to remember. It is intruder@sarl.org.za.
COMPETITION NEWS
CLOSING DATES FOR LOG SUBMISSIONS
Clubs and individuals who host their own contests, can you please let Geoff, ZS6GRL, know if you are prepared to change the closing date for log submissions from 15 days to 7 days after the contest. The UHF/VHF contest is not included in this change.
At the moment the results of the contests are coming out once everyone has forgotten about them. The following email address can be used glevey@gmail.com.
SARL HF PHONE CONTEST 1 AUGUST 2010
The aim of the SARL HF Phone Contest is for participants to contact as many amateurs in Southern Africa as possible on the 20, 40 and 80 m bands. The HF Phone contest takes place on Sunday 1 August 2010 from 13:00 to 16:30 UTC.
The following frequencies may be utilized - 14 125 to 14 350 kHz; 7 060 to 7 100 and 7 130 to 7 200 kHz; 3 603 to 3 650 and 3 700 to 3 800 kHz. There are four categories of participation a) Single Operator Single Band; b) Single Operator All Band; c) Multi Operator Single Band or d) Multi Operator All Band.
The exchange is a RS report and a consecutive serial number starting at 001. A multi-operator station transmitting on several bands simultaneously may at their discretion use separate number sequences for each band. Each contact counts 1 point, each call area worked on each band counts 2 points and each station contacted on all three bands counts 2 points. Contacts with stations outside these areas are allowed, QSO points may be claimed but no zone or three-bander points may be claimed.
More details including the call areas are available in the contest manual, which can be downloaded from www.sarl.org.za. There are trophies and certificates awarded for the highest overall score as well as the highest score on a single band. Logs must be submitted within 15 days to the Bloemfontein Radio Amateur Club, Box 12104, Brandhof, 9324 or sent by e-mail to zs4bfn@netactive.co.za. The closing date for the log submissions is 16 August 2010.
Participants under 18 years old and participants over 19 years old will take part in two separate draws for a 2010 ARRL Handbook and an ARRL Antenna book respectively. Get those antennas in order and get radio active in the SARL HF Phone contest on 1 August.
RESULTS OF THE 2010 WINTER QRP:
1st ZS3Y - Volker 460 points;
2nd ZS2ACP - Andre 414 points;
3rd ZS4JAN - Jan 390 points;
4th ZS6BB - Pierre 264 points;
5th ZS2J - Derek 210 points;
6th ZR1AAH - Allen 208 points.
The full results will be published in HF Happenings.
CLUB NEWS
At the AGM of the Zululand Amateur Radio Club, held on the 11h July 2010 in Richards Bay, the following Committee members were elected to serve the members of the club for the forthcoming year:
Chairman: John Kramer, ZS5J;
Vice Chairman: Andrew Jansen ,ZS5AND;
Treasurer: Willie Axford, ZS5WI;
Secretary: Dawn Snyders, ZS5ME;
Members: Jo Snyders, ZS5PO, News Editor;
Thys v Rensburg, ZS5ZS;
Warren Snyders, ZS5WOZ;
Brian Utterson, ZS5AE.
We wish them well during their term of office, and thank the outgoing members for their hard work during their term of office.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low levels. Sunspot 1 089 is decreasing in area but hopefully the new Sunspot 1 092 will contribute to higher solar activity. During 2009, 71% of the days were without sunspots. For 2010 up to now 17% of the days were sunspot free. The effective sunspot number is expected to be less than 20 for the coming week.
20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 40 m. Conditions to India will be good from the late afternoons till after sunset. During sunset it will be good towards Europa. Contacts with the USA are still challenging. Contacts with Australia and New Zealand are possible at sunrise on 20 m and on 40 m after sunset. Weak 15 m openings to Brazil and South America are possible during the afternoons.
For the CW and digital enthusiasts 30 m may be very rewarding with openings to many parts of the world.
For the SARL's contest this afternoon 20 m will produce the best results at the start of the contest, especially over the longer distances. Propagation on 40 m will be good during the a long part of the afternoon. 80 m will take over near sunset.
80 m is the frequency of choice during the evenings.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
Today 1 August - SARL HF Phone Contest 13:00 to 16:30 UTC;
2 August - Closing date for PIC course in Pretoria on 14 August;
2-7 August - National Science Week at Sci Bono and ZS6SCI on the air from 09:00 till 14:00 CAT;
9 August - SARL YL Sprint on 40 m 09:00 to 10:00 UTC;
12 - 14 August - International EME Conference, Dallas, Texas;
14 August - PIC course in Pretoria;
16 August - Logs for SARL HF phone competition must be in;
21 August - RTA symposium in 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 17 560 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 22:05 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 Gustav,ZS6BWN, and edited by George, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
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