SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2012
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. For audio over 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 3,695 MHz SSB. (Other news readers change to suit).
IN THE NEWS TODAY:
BOOK NOW FOR THE SARL NATIONAL CONVENTION
LEARN ABOUT SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO
YOUR LICENCE FEE IS DUE NOW
IMPORTANT LICENSE INFORMATION
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
BOOK NOW FOR THE SARL NATIONAL CONVENTION
Have you booked for the 2012 SARL National Convention? If you have not, do it now. Here are some of the highlights. On Friday evening meet the locals and join an historical journey on "How SA's electronics industry started in Pinetown and the development of SSB in South Africa". On Saturday morning attend the SARL Annual General Meeting and on Saturday afternoon learn about how to build VHF/UHF antennas and get DXing with Log Book of the World. On Saturday evening is the awards dinner with a keynote address by Dr Andrew Collier of SANSA Space Sciences. On Sunday morning the convention is rounded off with a leisurely breakfast in the Japanese Gardens. Full details and a registration form can be found on www.sarl.org.za. Your hosts at the SARL National Convention are the committee and members of the Highway Amateur Radio Club.
SARL AGM DOCUMENTATION
The SARL AGM documentation is now available on www.sarl.org.za. The documents have also been mailed to members for whom the SARL does not have email addresses. Members with email addresses have received a mail and a link to the document. The SARL has received a fair number of undeliverable returns. If you did not receive an email about the AGM, please update the SARL records by sending your name, call sign, full postal address and email details to admin@sarl.org.za.
LEARN ABOUT SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO
Learn about Software Defined Radio with the ABC of Soft Software Defined Radio just released by the ARRL. The 69 page soft cover book is an introductory guide to SDR and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) technologies. Written in a friendly style, it offers a straightforward look inside SDR and provides the foundation for those who want to understand the subject on a more fundamental level. As you read you will discover the basic principles of SDR, advantages to SDR technology and ways to utilise it in Amateur Radio - with the minimum of mathematics. It is available from the SA Amateur Radio Development Trust. Visit www.amateurradio.org.za and select books from the home page.
While talking about books the 2012 ARRL Handbook and the Antenna Books are still available by mail order. Both books are hard cover versions. Another new book available from the website is Basic Radio - Understanding the key building blocks, an ideal book for RAE student who wants to know a little more about receivers, transmitters and antennas.
YOUR LICENCE FEE IS DUE NOW
ICASA has started mailing license renewal notices. The license fee of R120 is due on 1 April 2012. You may also renew for five years at a reduced fee of R501. If you do not receive a renewal notice, the SARL recommends that you pay by using the license number on last year's invoice and your call sign. Also mail the payment notification plus your address to KMashile@icasa.org.za. It is essential that in all payments to ICASA you include your call sign as a payment reference. Also remember to send any postal and email address changes to admin@sarl.org.za
IMPORTANT LICENSE INFORMATION
Approximately 1 700 call signs have been marked by ICASA as “lapsed”. This is as a result of the substantial cleanup that ICASA undertook during the last year. This is a significant number of lapsed callsigns and many Amateurs have sometimes unwittingly allowed their licences to lapse. You may well be affected. As an example there are 43 paid up members of the SARL who no longer have valid licences.
For more information, you are urged to visit www.sarl.org.za where you will find more information and what to do.
RTA DATES FOR 2012 ANNOUNCED
The SARL Radio Technology in Action symposium dates have been announced. This year's RTA programme will be of a more practical nature and is aimed at increasing your amateur radio experience. The programme will be finalised in the next two weeks, still giving you the opportunity to send in your suggestions and speakers proposal. Have you considered being a speaker at an RTA? Send your suggestions to rta@sarl.org.za.
The 2012 RTA dates are: 21 July Durban; 18 August Cape Town; 1 September Port Elizabeth; and 29 September Gauteng.
AMATEUR RADIO TODAY FREQUENCY CHANGE
From Monday (tomorrow) the frequency of Amateur Radio Today will change. The 19:30 CAT transmission will be broadcast on 3 230 kHz. Reception reports are invited to artoday@sarl.org.za.
The Sunday transmission at 10:00 CAT will be on 17 570 and 7 205 kHz.
ICE GOAT 1 APRS BUOY GOES TO SEA OFF ALASKA COAST
A group of Oceanography and Aeronautical engineering students from the US Naval Academy have deployed a radio equipped ocean buoy rigged to monitor weather in the harsh conditions of the arctic. Named Ice Goat 1, the buoy was placed off the coast of Point Barrow, Alaska. Once the winter ice melts the buoy will begin its sea voyage.
In addition to its scientific monitoring gear, Ice Goat 1 carries an APRS beacon operating on 145,825 MHz. The position packets can be relayed via the International Space Station digipeater.
LONDON OLYMPIC COMMEMORATIVE STATIONS ANNOUNCED
Several special event call signs will be activated to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games. The London station, 2012L will be active through the duration of the games. It will be located at the historic Eltham Palace, south-east London and will operate on all modes on 160 through 2 metres. More information about it is on the web at www.2O12L.com.
The Welsh station 2O12W will be operational on all bands from 160 metres through 23 centimetres and all modes including SSTV and satellites. It will be located at Whitmore Bay, on Barry Island. More information on the web at www.2O12W.com.
2O12L and 2O12W will go on the air on July 27th. The Radio Society of Great Britain has been granted use of the games Inspire trademark for these stations. Special QSL cards will be available to all stations contacted.
CONTEST NEWS
SARL 80 METRE CLUB CONTEST, PHONE
The second contest in the series will be run on Wednesday 28 March starting at 17:30 UTC and ending at 18:30 UTC with phone activity between 3 603 and 3 650 kHz and between 3 700 and 3 775 kHz. Single operator or multi-operator stations can participate. The exchange is an RS report and a consecutive serial number starting at 001. One point is earned per contact and log entries must be submitted by midnight on Wednesday 4 April to zs4bfn@netactive.co.za.
CONTESTS IN APRIL
In April, no less than three contests will take place, details appear in the Diary of Events.
SARL OFFICE CLOSED
Remember, the SARL office will be closed during March as Mariska Faasen is overseas on holiday visiting family. Between Henry Chamberlain and Francois Botha they will attend to emails and telephone messages. Please send emails to the usual address admin@sarl.org.za.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the Solar activity is dropping off now that huge sunspot 1 429 has rotated out of view of the Earth. It sure was fun while it lasted.
If you want to do your own frequency predictions the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 57.
All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with even some 6 m openings possible.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
28 March - SARL 80 metre club contest, phone, 17:30 UTC - 18:30 UTC.
4 April - log entries for the SARL 80 metre club contest, phone to be in by midnight to zs4bfn@netactive.co.za.
5 April - SARL 80 m QSO Party 17:00 - 20:00 UTC.
6-9 April - Western Cape Antique Wireless Association Ekspo near Stanford, contact John, ZS1WJ, on 082 673 5337 for more information.
7 April - Autumn RaDAR Contest 12:00 to 18:00 UTC.
14 April the Autumn QRP Sprint 12:00 to 15:00 UTC.
20 - 22 April SARL Convention in Pinetown.
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 17 570 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 17:30 UTC 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 Fritz, ZS6SF.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
