SARL NEWS – SUNDAY 05 DECEMBER 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. 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. (Other news readers change as applicable).
In the news today:
CALL FOR PAPERS FOR 2011 SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM
TONIGHT'S INTECNET WILL FOCUS ON INNOVATION IN AMATEUR RADIO
SARL PRESENTATION AT THE ICASA HEARING WELL RECEIVED
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.
CALL FOR PAPERS FOR 2011 SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM
The 2011 SA AMSAT Space Symposium will be held in Gauteng on Saturday 26 March 2011 at Vodaworld in Midrand. This is the first call for papers. Authors are invited to submit a synopsis in a MSWord document not exceeding 300 words. The synopsis should be mailed to saamsat@intekom.co.za with Space Symposium 2011 in the subject line. The theme of the conference is Innovation in Space Communication. Closing date for paper proposals and a synopsis is 20 January 2011. For more details visit www.amsatsa.org.za.
TONIGHT'S INTECNET WILL FOCUS ON INNOVATION IN AMATEUR RADIO
Join Hannes Coetzee ZS6BZP and John Willescroft as they debate whether Amateur Radio needs innovation or not! It is on the air at 19:30 on various repeaters around South Africa and on 3 718 HF. It can also be heard on a webcast and Echolink by courtesy of Chris Smit ZS6FCS. Visit www.asrl.org.za and select armi for details.
Clubs wishing to set up a link should send a mail to armi@sarl.org.za before noon today, Sunday 5 December 2010.
SARL PRESENTATION AT THE ICASA HEARING WELL RECEIVED
The SARL presentation to ICASA at the public hearing was well received. The Chairperson, Dr Marcia Socikwa, thanked the SARL for the input which she described as of being of great assistance in preparation of the final regulations.
ICASA did not confirm nor deny if only the Amateur section and the general section applied to radio amateurs, the SARL is therefore preparing a supplementary submission to ensure that other sections of the draft regulations do not adversely impact. The SARL will submit the supplementary submission on Wednesday 8 December. It will be available for comment on Monday 6 December.
To download the SARL presentation visit www.asrl.org.za and you will find a link in the news item.
SARL WEB MOVED TO A NEW SERVER
Continuing problems with the SARL web has prompted the ISP, Imaginet, to move the SARL website to another server. It is still too early to judge whether this has improved the situation. Comments can be sent to armi@sarl.org.za.
24 CPUT STUDENTS PASS THE RAE
24 Students, of which 22 are part of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, passed the class A Examination and the HF assessment test and are now the proud owners of brand new ZS1 call signs. Congratulations. A special examination and HF assessment sessions were arranged at the University.
HABEX 3 TO FLY ON 18 DECEMBER 2010
On 18 December the HABEX team will be launching a third high altitude balloon, carrying various payloads in preparation for a schools launch in 2011 consisting of about 8 schools. The Sci-Bono discovery centre in conjunction with the Gauteng department of education initiated this project to support the Electrical Technology Curriculum and provide expanded opportunities to learners in this field.
The payload is made up of 4 separate modular units. The primary part of the payload is the controller board which has been locally designed and built and contains an APRS unit which will provide the balloon location during the flight.
Also on the board are 8 inputs and outputs that can be configured for analogue or digital operation. This will allow various sensors to be attached and monitored as well as certain actions to be taken. An example is activating the release mechanism which will separate the payload from the balloon. All the data will be transferred via the APRS packets.
Also in the payload will be a beacon transmitting a message in CW on 7 023 MHz. Listeners are encouraged to send QSL cards to ZS6SCI if the beacon was heard.
A Parrot repeater on 438,500 which includes a backup APRS unit is also onboard. During the flight, if the parrot repeater is not in use, the APRS unit will transmit its data.
Lastly, a GSM APRS unit will also be flying at the bottom of the payload string. If listeners are interested, there are a number of activities they can partake in. Firstly, the balloon can be tracked live via the internet. Go to "aprs.fi" and type in ZS6SCI-3 into the "track callsign" box. By clicking on the "Google Earth KML" URL, the flight can be monitored in Google earth and the listener is allowed to not only track the balloon over the ground, but to also tilt the axis and watch the altitude at the same time.
The Habex team is finalising the data sheet and listeners are encouraged to visit the HABEX web site at www.habex.za.net.
THE PEARS HF QSO PARTY
The annual PEARS HF QSO Party will be run this afternoon from 12:00 UTC to 16:00 UTC. It is a SSB only contest with activity on 3 603 - 3 650 and 3 700 - 3 800 kHz and 7 060 - 7 100 and 7 135 - 7 200 kHz.
There are four entrance categories:
Novice - Stations in South Africa with ZU prefixes;
Restricted - Stations in South Africa with ZR prefixes;
Unlimited - Stations in South Africa with ZS prefixes and;
DX - stations outside of South Africa.
There are no limitations on the power of stations, or the number of operators, or the location of station equipment except that all operators shall operate within the limits of their licenses at all times.
The exchange is call signs, signal report and the operator's names. Logs must be sent to PEARS QSO Party, PO Box 10402, Linton Grange, Port Elizabeth 6015, South Africa or via email to contest@pears.ham-radio-op.net. The closing date for submission of logs is 31 December. The complete rules can be found on page 38 of the 2010 SARL Contest Manual.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low levels. New sunspot 1 131 is big but so far quiet. The effective sunspot number is expected to be less than 25 for the coming week.
15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 20 m. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon till after sunset. During the afternoons conditions will be fair towards Europa on 15 m, later to be followed by fair 20 m openings. Early evening 15 m contacts with the USA are possible. Contacts with Australia are possible at sunset on 20 m. 15 m openings to Brazil and South America are possible during the afternoons. With the good 15 and 20 m openings 17 m will also be full of surprises.
For the CW and digital enthusiasts 30 m may be very rewarding with openings to many parts of the world.
Locally is 40 m the work horse for contacts around the country with 20 and 30 m also being very useful for contacts over the longer distances. 80 m will be best during the early mornings and late afternoons as well as over the shorter distances.
80 m is the frequency of choice during the evenings.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS FOR THE WEEK
5 December – PEARS HF QSO Party from 12:00 UTC to 16:00 UTC;
5 December – Tonight, Intechnet at 19:30 – debate on innovation in amateur radio on repeaters and 3 718 kHz;
18 December – Launch of third HABEX high altitude balloon, parrot repeater on 438,500 MHz and CW beacon 7 023 kHz;
31 December – Closing date for submission of los for the PEARS HF QSO Party to contest@pears.ham-radio-op.net;
20 January 2011 – Closing date for submission for application for the May 2011 RAE bursaries; visit www.amateurradio.org.za for application forms;
20 January - Closing date for submission of proposals and synopsis of papers for 2011 SA AMSAT Space Symposium to saamsat@intekom.co.za;
30 January 2011 - Closing date for phase 1 of the construction competition.
SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit terms 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.
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 George, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
