SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 12 JUNE 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 'Amateur Radio Today' 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 regret that we must announce the keys of two radio amateurs went silent recently, they are:

John van Hoogstraten, ZS1CR, on Monday 6 June and

Pieter Smith, ZS6BGX, of Tzaneen and member of the Wolkberg Amateur Radio Club on Wednesday 8 June in the age of 82 years.

Our sincere condolences go to their families and friends.

(PAUSE)

In the news today:

Message re Telescopic masts

TWO MAJOR EVENTS THIS WEEK

FOUR RADIO AMATEURS RECOGNISED FOR THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS

119 NEW AMATEURS GET THEIR CALL SIGNS

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

TWO MAJOR EVENTS THIS WEEK

The SARL is holding two major events this week, Youth Day on 16 June and the Programming in Windows course on Saturday 18 June 2011 at the NARC in Gauteng.

Book for the "Learning to program in windows" before Wednesday to secure your place on the course. The course will only be presented once in each venue. Full details are on www.sarl.org.za. Learn how to produce your own applications in Windows and how to run peripherals from USB ports. An optional USB interface that will switch relays and read push buttons and voltages is available. Design your own shack control program with stand-alone applications. You can do it!

Celebrate Youth Day on 16 June with a series of events starting with monitoring SumbandilaSat, SO67, just before 08:00, a series of interviews with young people about amateur radio at 09:30 on 7 082 kHz, 14 250 kHz and on 145,750 MHz in Gauteng. You can also listen on the podcast and on the web or do you own relay on the local repeater. Get young people talking? Invite them into your shack or set up in a public space. There are many prizes to be won for both the young people and the amateurs hosting them. Get all the details on www.hamradio.org.za.

ICASA has agreed that all radio amateurs who host young people and submit a log are automatically granted "educational station status" which means that you may let unlicensed young people operate your equipment under your supervision. Make this the biggest and best youth day event ever.

The youth day sprint takes place from 10:00 - 12:00 CAT. Get the details from the SARL Contest manual on www.sarl.org.za.

ZS50RSA ON THE AIR DURING YOUTH DAY

The Boland Amateur Radio Club will be using a special callsign, ZS50RSA this coming Thursday, during the Youth Day festivities, from 09:00 till late in the afternoon. The station will mainly be using 40m but will move to other bands as deemed necessary. Make contact with the station and send your QSL via the bureau or make use of SA-QSL.

FOUR RADIO AMATEURS RECOGNISED FOR THEIR ACHIEVEMENTS

This week the South African Amateur Radio Development Trust recognised four radio amateurs for their achievements in the various sectors of the amateur radio service.

Winning the 2011 award for technical innovation, Hannes Coetzee ZS6BZP received the state of the art Icom IC7000 transceiver for his entry in the innovation competition sponsored by Multisource. He designed and developed a software derived receiver for the reception of satellite signals from low earth orbiting amateur satellites operation on 2 m and 70cm. The aim of the competition was to encourage more innovation in amateur radio. The unit he developed is not just innovative but has practical application in amateur radio. The article describing the receiver will be available on www.amateurradio.org.za and be published in Radio ZS later this year.

Nokia Siemens Networks annually sponsors three awards as well as the award function. The Garth Milne Radio Amateur of the Year Award Technology was been bestowed on Hal Lund ZS6WB for his untiring support of amateur radio satellite activity and his encouragement of the amateur community to experiment with space communication. Unfortunately he could not attend the function due to ill health and the award was accepted on his behalf by Pierre van Deventer.

The NSN Radio Amateur of the Year Award - Operational was presented to Johann Du Plessis ZS6PSS for his support of the John Vorster Technology high School Amateur Radio Club and young radio amateurs in general. Under his guidance the club is the largest and most successful school based amateur radio club in South Africa. A model to be followed!

The NSN Radio Amateur of the Year Award - Community Service was presented to Paul van Spronsen ZS1PVS for his support of SARL HAMNET and communication disaster and sporting support communication in the Western Cape. Although relatively new to amateur radio he has made his mark and is recognised for his excellent work.

Congratulations to all winners and thanks to the sponsors Nokia Siemens Networks and Multisource.

HAVE YOU CHECKED THAT YOU HAVE PAID YOUR AMATEUR RADIO LICENCE?

Check that you have paid your license and if you do not have a valid printed license or an official receipt call ICASA at 011 566 3313 or 011 566 3319 between 08:30 - 16:00 Monday - Friday. PLEASE HAVE YOUR LICENSE NUMBER HANDY. If you have not paid, do so now using the information and account number on your last license. The amount is R7.50 for January - March 2011 and R27 for April 2011 - March 2012, a total of R34.50

CHANGING FROM ZR TO ZS?

You don't have to as both are now class A licenses and have full access to HF. In fact a ZR may be more rare than a ZS when it comes to DX. If you however want to change, check out the details on www.sarl.org.za where it spells out what you have to do.

NEW MEMBERS

The SARL welcomes the following new members to its community:
Erik Seather, ZSL1015
Amanda Green, ZSL1022
Wynand Steenberg, ZSL1023
Ockert Strydom, ZSL1024
Marnus Meyer, ZSL1025
Thinus Joubert, ZSL1026 en
Conrad Human, ZSL1027
May your association with the SARL be mutually beneficial.

119 NEW AMATEURS GET THEIR CALL SIGNS

The Radio Amateur Examination results were published over last weekend on the web but were too late to make the SARLNEWS cut off time.

The youngest candidate who wrote the class B exam is 9 years old and the youngest who wrote the class A exam is 11 years old. The oldest person to write is 71 years. The overall pass rate for class A is 79% and Class B 50%.

Examiner Mark Zank, ZS6YES, said that he is concerned about the low Class B pass rate as it seems that candidates did not spend enough time with the study guide which is available free of charge on the web. Every question asked in the examination comes from the guide. "Although this is an entry level examination, care needs to be taken to study the material and to take note of the contents of the study notes", he said.

JG Woodburne, ZS3JW, with 97% scored the highest marks in the Class A examination and J Flemming, ZU3JW, achieved 97% in the Class B RAE. Both reside in the Northern Cape town of Kathu. Congratulations to both candidates and their tutors.

The standard agreement with ICASA is that new amateurs may use their call signs immediately and do not have to wait for the paperwork. Letters and certificates are in preparation and will be mailed soon.

The full list of candidates who passed, as well as an interesting regional analysis is available on www.sarl.org.za.

2011/2012 SUBSRIPTIONS ARE DUE

Please pay your SARL subscription for the 2011/2012 financial year by the end of June. Accounts were mailed to all current members. When making a payment please ensure that your callsign is in the payment reference.

CONTEST NEWS

The Contest committee has released the results of the SARL Digital contest held on 29 May 2011 for which 14 logs were received. A breakdown into frequencies and modes shows:
40 m - 30 PSK contacts and 16 RTTY contacts
20 m - 7 PSK contacts and 5 RTTY contacts
80 m - 6 PSK contacts and 1 RTTY contact

Station participation per division were:
Div 1 - 7
Div 2 - 6
Div 3 - 2
Div 4 - 3
Div 5 - 1
Div 6 - 12
Div 7 & 8 - 1 each

The results are:

1st - ZS6GRL 705 points
2nd - ZS2CR 633 points
3rd - ZS6AKU 606 points

The winner of the "Lucky draw" prize is Derek ZS2J, and many thanks to the stations that submitted logs.

CLUB NEWS

The West Rand Amateur Radio Club is hosting its next flea market at 12:00 on Saturday 25 June 2011 at the clubhouse in Kroton Street, Weltevredenpark, Roodepoort. Everyone is very welcome. For more information, contact Phillip ZS6PVT at 083 267 3835.

CALL FROM KLAUS ZS1QO

Somebody in Div. 6 contacted Klaus, ZS1QO in Cape Town in connection with glass fibre masts. Unfortunately Klaus was admitted to hospital and the details of the person. got lost. This is a call that the respective person. contact the XYL of Klaus, Shireen on Cell 083 628 3437 so that the matter can be resolved.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity was fairly low with a few C-Class flares taking place since the M2.5 solar flare on Tuesday that created a very bright Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Sunspot 1 226 has rotated onto the western limb and out of direct earth view. All remaining sunspots 1 227, 1 228 and 1 232 are small and remain quiet. There is a chance for at least C-Class flares around 1 227 before it rotates onto the western limb as well. New sunspot 1 234 is growing in the southeast but does not yet pose a threat for strong solar flares. For the people doing their own frequency predictions the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be about 30.

With the winter here 20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 30 m and also some sporadic 15 m openings.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

16 June - Transmission of Youth in Amateur Radio at 09:30, but receive beacon signal already on 435,345 MHz at 07:56 and 09:33.
16 June - Youth Day Sprint from 10:00 till 12:00 CAT
16 June – ZS50RSA on the air.
18 June - Programming in Windows course in Gauteng. Book at www.sarl.org.za.
25 June – West Rand flea market starting at 12:00 in Kroton Street, Weltevredenpark.

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 'Amateur Radio TODAY', go down the green column and click on 'LISTEN ON THE WEB'. 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 Gustav, ZS6BWN.

Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX


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