SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 01 MAY 2011
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 KEY
We regret to announce that the key of Jan, ZS6DDK went silent on 7th April. He had not been in best of health for some time. Our sincere condolences to his wife Dot, other relatives and friends.
(PAUSE)
In the news today:
RADIO TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION SYMPOSIUM FOR CAPE TOWN NEXT SATURDAY
SOUTH AFRICANS MAY NOW OPERATE IN RUSSIA
DO NOT CONFUSE THE SARL WEB WITH THE FORUM
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.
RADIO TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION SYMPOSIUM FOR CAPE TOWN NEXT SATURDAY
The South African Radio League will present the first of its annual series of Radio Technology in Action Symposiums in Cape Town on Saturday 7 May 2011. The event will be held at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
The programme features presentations for persons interested in radio and satellite technology as well as those who are just technology curious. The symposium starts at 09:00 with a presentation highlighting Amateur Radio as a valuable resource for young people as a primer for a career in communication and electronics, it affords older people the opportunity for further education to enhance their enjoyment of the Amateur Radio, which is generally accepted as the most rewarding of all scientific hobbies. For technicians in Industry it is a valuable resource for experiential learning. The presentation will be followed by a panel discussion on how amateur radio can benefit older persons when they retire from full time work.
The first technology presentation will focus on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) devices including a simple explanation, its advantages, where it is used and how radio amateurs and electronic hobbyists can incorporate these devices in their projects.
A student presentation will focus on the development of two student satellites at CPUT including a visit to the laboratory areas where the satellites are being constructed. The project includes the building of two CubeSats, one measuring 10x10x10 cm and a three unit CubeSat.
Rapid Deployment of Amateur Radio, also called RaDAR, will focus on the deployment of amateur radio in field conditions focussing on how amateur radio can be deployed to provide communication when a disaster strikes.
There will also be an update on KletsKous and SAiSAT, two satellite projects recently launched by the South African Satellite Association (SA AMSAT).
Get the full programme on www.sarl.org.za and select RTA. Watch the promotional video clip from the same page of the home page at sarl.org.za.
SOUTH AFRICANS MAY NOW OPERATE IN RUSSIA
Russia has become the latest nation to sign onto the pan-European CEPT licensing agreement. According to the IARU Region 1 website, the Russian State Radio Frequencies Commission decided on 10 March that the Russian Federation would join both the CEPT and ECC Recommendation. This makes it possible for every CEPT license holder, which includes ZS and ZR licences, to operate on the territory of the Russian Federation.
There are a few caveats. Among them is that Russia will only permit such CEPT operation by a foreign station for a limit of three months, without any additional permission needed. Also, the call sign to be used in CEPT operations will be RA followed by the foreign amateur’s personal call letters.
DO NOT CONFUSE THE SARL WEB WITH THE FORUM
The SARL web has two sections, an open section which can be viewed by anyone world-wide and carries most of the news items and articles. This part of the web has a very large national and international following. The members' only section is available to members only and carries membership benefit items such as Radio ZS. This section is in the process of being expanded.
The forums are exactly what the word means, a discussion place where people share technical information and comments about the operational side of amateur radio. It is this section, the forum, which will from 1 July be limited to members only. Nothing else has changed or is changing.
Interesting technical and amateur radio operational articles are invited for publication in Radio ZS or on the SARL web pages. Please send articles and news items for Radio ZS to radiozs@sarl.org.za or, if more suitable for publication on the SARL web, to artoday@sarl.org.za.
COMPETITION NEWS
MARCH 2011 VHF CONTEST RESULTS
Congratulations to the following:
Divisional winners, digital.
ZS1LS
ZS2ACP
ZS3SVD
ZS5Y
ZS6A
Divisional winners, analog.
ZS3SVD
ZS5Y
ZS6A
Overall results, digital.
1) ZS5Y 143 223 points
2) ZS2ACP 138 856 points
3) ZS6A 113 758 points
4) ZS1LS 101 352 points
5) ZS3SVD 82 328 points
Overall results, analog.
1) ZS5Y 6 471 points
2) ZS6A 1 979 points
3) ZS3SVD 470 points
4) ZS6HS 248 points
Longest distance worked.
2 m ZS1LS 1 301 km
4 m ZS1ACP 1 183 km
6 m ZS1LS 1 537 km
EME during the contest.
(Ps. EME is not counted towards the main contest).
ZS1LS worked on 2 m raw score 788 923 points with longest distance QSO 13 976 km
ZS5Y worked on 23 cm raw score 2 910 222 points with longest distance 10 428 km
The winner of the "Lucky Draw" prize is Pierre, ZS6A.
SARL QRP CONTEST HELD ON THE 16TH APRIL 2011
5 logs were received. The following statistics were derived from the logs:
Number of stations who participated - 56
Number of QSOs made - 85
Number of prefixes worked - 12
Number of phone QSOs made - 74
Number of CW QSOs made - 11
Number of home stations - 3
Number of field stations - 2
A special word of thanks to Eddie, ZS6BNE, who interrupted his journey back home from the AGM, to setup a field station next to the road and managed to make a few contacts.
The results are as follows:
1st ZS6XT - Pieter Jacobs 924 points
2nd ZS6A - Pierre van Deventer 300 points
3rd ZS2EC - Theunis Potgieter 210 points
4th ZS3AOR - Pieter Bosman 160 points
5th ZS6BNE - Eddie Leighton 36 points
The winner of the Lucky Draw prize is ZS3AOR - Pieter Bosman.
HF PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is at moderate levels. New sunspots 1 202 and 1 203 were numbered on Thursday and it looks like 1 202 has already faded away. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory is monitoring a hole in the sun's atmosphere -a "coronal hole." Coronal holes are places where the sun's magnetic field opens up and allows the solar wind to escape. A stream of solar wind flowing from this coronal hole is expected to reach Earth on April 30th-May 1st. NOAA forecasters estimate a 35% chance of geomagnetic activity at that time. For the people doing their own frequency predictions the expected effective sunspot number for the week is about 50.
With the increase in the solar flux the improvement of the DX conditions are also very noticeable. DX openings are now once again occurring on a daily basis and even 6 m is showing signs of life.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
1 May - ZS3 Sprint a phone and CW contest on the 40 metre band runs from 14:00 to 15:00 UTC.
7 May – RTD in Cape Town.
18 to 22 May – Follow Dayton Hamvention via W5KUB.com.
25 May – Closing date for nominations for NSN awards, visit www.amateurradio.org.za.
18 June – Programming in Windows course in Gauteng. Book at www.sarl.org.za.
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 Today every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area, with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 750 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 18:30 CAT on 3 230 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
