SorSry, here is the right bulletin!
SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 19 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.
In the news today:
SCIENTISTS SAY SOLAR CYCLE HEADED INTO LIMBO
WHAT DO YOUNG PEOPLE THINK ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO?
IARU REGION 1 CONFERENCE
CELL PHONES ARE SAFE AFTER ALL
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting news items.
SCIENTISTS SAY SOLAR CYCLE HEADED INTO LIMBO
For years, astronomers and space scientists have been predicting the Sun would move into solar maximum by around 2012. During this period there would be many intense flares and lots of sunspot activity. Now they are thinking that the opposite may be happening.
Newsline reports that according to three studies released in the United States on Tuesday 14 June experts believe the familiar sunspot cycle may be shutting down and heading toward a pattern of inactivity unseen since the 17th century.
According to experts from the National Solar Observatory and Air Force Research Laboratory, the signs of this include a missing jet stream, quickly fading spots, and slower activity near the poles.
At a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Frank Hill, the Associate Director of the National Solar Observatory's Solar Synoptic Network said that the fact that three completely different views of the Sun point in the same direction is a powerful indicator that the sunspot cycle may be going into hibernation.
According to Hill, the current cycle, number 24, may be the last normal one for some time but the next one, cycle 25, may not happen for some time. He adds that this is important because the solar cycle causes space weather which affects modern technology and may contribute to climate change.
Read more about this on www.sarl.org.za and select Amateur Radio Today.
WHAT DO YOUNG PEOPLE THINK ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO?
In an interview with 5 young radio amateurs between the ages of 11 and 17, they shared their views about amateur radio. It was transmitted in a special youth day broadcast which was on the air just before the Youth Day Sprint on 16 June. You can listen to it on www.hamradio.org.za, the new website the SARL is developing with the focus on young people.
SARL WEBSITE
The SARL is in the process of moving its website to another provider. The process is expected to cause little or no disruption. We will however keep you up to date with developments and inform you when the move has been completed.
SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE NOW DUE
As the end of June approaches please pay your subscription for the 2011/2012 financial year as soon as possible. Invoices were mailed a few weeks ago. When making electronic transfers or bank payments, please make sure you give your name and callsign on the payment slip or electronic payment notification. If you have already paid your subscription, thank you we value your continued support.
IARU REGION 1 CONFERENCE
Although the SARL Council have appointed delegates from its ranks to represent the SARL at the conference, individual amateurs may attend as observers. The full registration details are on www.iaru2011.org.za. Accommodation at Sun City is limited. If you like to attend as an observer at either the conference, or the GAREC meeting, please get you registration in as soon as possible but by not later than 24 June as after that date accommodation may not be available.
WINNERS OF PRIZES IN SARL CONTESTS
If you are one of the lucky winners in any of the recent SARL contests the good news is that the book prizes have been mailed to the winners. The SARL apologizes for the delay which was caused by a short supply of the various books selected as prizes.
CELL PHONES ARE SAFE AFTER ALL
The Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, better known as the CTIA, has ripped into a recent United Nations' report that claims cellphones can cause cancer.
The World Health Organization recently issued a report stating that radiation from cellular telephones can possibly cause cancer. It said that based on the U.N.'s International Agency for Research on Cancer working group, and in reviewing peer-reviewed studies, that it found some evidence of an increase in Glioma and acoustic Neuroma brain cancers among mobile phone users. As such, the agency now lists mobile phone as a carcinogenic hazard.
Now the CTIA has issued a broad based rebuttal that begins by quoting previous studies by the US Federal Communications Commission that concluded there is no scientific evidence that proves that wireless phone usage can lead to any form of cancer. The cellular lobby group also quoted the Food and Drug Administration as stating that the weight of scientific evidence has not linked cellular phones with any health problems.
In its rebuttal barrage, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association also pointed out that the World Health Organization made no effort to conduct its own scientific study of cellular telephone use. Instead, it only reviewed previous studies made by other investigators over the years in reaching its conclusion.
Before its announcement on Tuesday, May 31st the World Health Organization had assured consumers that no adverse health effects from cellular telephones had been established. Now the WHO and the CTIA are on opposite sides of a public relations battle over the still unknown effects of cellular telephone radiation effects on the human body.
So should you use your VHF/UHF handheld transceiver? Yes! It is most likely safer than crossing the street.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels. Currently the visible solar disk consists of two big sunspot groups 1 234 in the south and 1 236 in the north. Both are producing C Class flares and there is a chance for another M Class event. A third sunspot group will soon rotate into view on the southeast limb and was the source of another C Class flare early on Thursday. For the people doing their own frequency predictions the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be about 40.
With the winter here 20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 30 m and some sporadic 15 m openings may also appear.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
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 George, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
======================= Message Ends =======================
To edit or remove your entry from this mailing list go to www.sarl.org.za/members/admin/maildat.asp.
