SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 14 October 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. The SARL broadcasts 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 via Echolink, connect to ZS0JPL-R.
You can download this bulletin and previous ones from www.sarl.org.za and also subscribe there to receive future bulletins by e-mail.
Your newsreader this morning is (name), (call sign), on 145,725 from Pretoria, with relays on 7,066 MHz and 3,695 MHz SSB. (Other news readers change to suit).
IN THE NEWS TODAY:
IS YOUR CLUB AFFILIATED TO THE SARL?
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
FOUR CUBESATS DEPLOYED FROM ISS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
IS YOUR CLUB AFFILIATED TO THE SARL?
Recently the SARL invited clubs to affiliate with the South Africa Radio League free of charge. The following clubs have:
Highway Amateur Radio Club - ZS5HAM, Boland Amateurradioklub - ZS1BAK, Midlands Amateur Radio Club - ZS5PMB, Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre - ZS1CT, Border Radio Club - ZS2BRC, Bloemfontein Amateurradioklub - ZS4BFN, Durban Amateur Radio Club - ZS5D, East Rand Amateur Radio Club - ZS6ERB, Kempton Park Amateur Radio Technical Society - ZS6KTS, Pretoria Amateur Radio Club - ZS6PTA, Rustenburg Amateur Radio Club - ZS6RTB.
Affiliation to the SARL offers clubs the privilege of setting up an examination centre, inclusion of news of their activities and events in SARL News and on the SARL website as well as a link from the Club Talk page and access to audio clips form use in club on the air activities.
To visit an affiliated club website visit www.sarl.org.za and click on Club Talk and follow the link.
To join the eleven clubs already affiliated, send an email to secretary@sarl.org.za and an affiliation form will be sent to you.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS
The Honorary Treasurer reports that the membership renewals are currently being processed. Once this is finished, the database of members will be rolled over to 2012/2013. The cut-off date has been set for 30 October 2012. To keep your years of well-earned uninterrupted membership status, contact the office to make the arrangement. A useful option for members and new members wishing to join the SARL, but not able to make a once off payment, is to arrange down payment of membership fees in terms of two, four or six payments between June and February of the next year in order to be eligible to vote at the AGM in April. This arrangement must be made with the office in order to indicate your choice on your record otherwise you may not be a member by the time of the AGM. Join the SARL and protect your hobby against the continuous risk of losing our frequency bandwidth. Full details are on www.sarl.org.za and send your confirmations to admin@sarl.org.za.
FOUR CUBESATS DEPLOYED FROM ISS
Radio amateurs around the world have been listening for signals from the four new amateur radio CubeSats that were deployed from the International Space Station on Thursday 4 October.
FITSat-1 has a CW beacon on 437,250 MHz, 1 200 bps, AX.25 packet radio on 437,445 MHz and a high-speed data transmitter on 5 840,0 MHz.
F-1 has the call sign is XV1VN and the communications subsystem is built around two Yaesu VX-3R amateur radio handheld transceivers. One will transmit 1 200 bps packet radio every 30 seconds on 145,980 MHz while in darkness. The other will operate only in sunlight sending a 20 second FM transmission of a CW tone on 437,485 MHz followed by a 60 second gap.
TechEdSat carries a 1 200 bps packet radio transmitter on 437,465 MHz.
WE-WISH transmits CW and 1 200 bps packet radio on 437,505 MHz. Due to the effects of Doppler shift the downlink frequencies will vary by +/- 10 kHz during an 8 minute pass.
Each could have a life-time of 4 or 5 months before they burn-up on re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere.
AMATEUR RADIO TODAY CHANGES FREQUENCIES ON 28 OCTOBER
From Sunday 28 October Amateur Radio Today will be transmitted on new frequencies.
Sundays 10:00 CAT on 7 205 kHz and 17 760 kHz;
Mondays 18:30 CAT on 4 895 kHz.
Reception reports are invited. We are particularly interested in reports of the 4 895 kHz transmission on Mondays at 18:30 UTC as the frequency is close to the proposed new amateur allocation near 5 MHz. Reception reports from all areas in South Africa would be useful in our bid to ICASA for frequencies pilot studies. Send rapports to artoday@sarl.org.za.
OCTOBER 2012 RAE
In total 169 candidates have enrolled to write the October 2012 RAE. The SARL would like to wish all candidates good luck on Thursday evening while they write the examination.
The normal turnaround time for releasing results after the examination is three weeks and we would request that you exercise patience while the papers are marked and the results collated.
CQ HOU KOERS AND JOTA OPERATION SCOUTS AND VOORTREKKERS
ICASA has agreed, on request from the SARL, that unlicensed youth participating in JOTA and CQ Hou Koers may operate amateur radio stations under the supervision of licensed radio amateurs without the need to register as an educational station.
These two events are ideal opportunities to demonstrate amateur radio to the youth by giving them hands-on operating experience. Show them how to call CQ, and handle a QSO on their own while being guided by a licensed amateur.
This blanket permission will only be valid during the two days, 20 and 21 October 2012. At any other time amateurs must register as an educational station if they are planning to do on the air training and to allow non-amateurs to operate during special events.
The SARL thanks ICASA for their support in making CQ Hou Koers and JOTA a memorable experience for our young people.
NEW BOOKS AND A QRP CW KIT FROM SAARDT
The South African Amateur Radio Development Trust has two new books available: ARRL's Low Power Communication and Short Antennas for 160 Metre Radio.
A small number of 40 Metre CW QRP kits are also available as well as the ARRL Antenna Book and a small number of the 2012 ARRL Hard cover handbook. Get more details from www.amateurradio.org.za.
RTA 2013
Preparations for the 2013 Radio Technology in Action Symposium are already in progress. Do you have a subject that you would like to see on the programme? Send an email to rta@sarl.org.za with your suggestions.
VOLUNTEERS FOR NEWS TEAM
The SARL News Team still needs volunteers for compiling and translating the SARL bulletins. Bulletin compilers will be SARL members, bilingual, with some rudimentary computer and editing skills and will have an e-mail address.
If you might have the necessary skills and be willing to try your hand at this, please send your name and contact details to Fritz, ZS6SF, with email address secretary@sarl.org.za immediately. Without enough volunteers, it will not be possible to keep the Afrikaans bulletin going.
COMPETITION NEWS
The ZS6JVT Youth Sprint took place on 2 September. The judges provided additional time for any late logs. Two logs were received and there were one control log from ZS6JVT itself.
The are as follows:
1st Mitchell Mynhart, ZS6YH
2nd ZS4SRK, Sasol Radio Amateur Club.
Many thanks to the two stations who took the trouble to send in logs as well as the stations dished out points to them.
In view of the poor support the committee has decided to cancel the competition for next year.
CLUB NEWS
The AGM of the Magalies Amateur Radio Club took place on 29 September at which the following members were elected to its committee:
Thys Maree, ZS6MJM Chairman
Brian Jacobs, ZS6YZ Vice Chairman
Anette Jacobs, ZR6D Secretary
Louis Mitchell, ZS6LWM Treasurer
Sam van Zyl,ZS6JZ Technical
Hannes Enslin, ZS6JDE Digital
Marco Nel, ZS6MJ Teenspanning
Gordon Forbes, ZS6FI Social
Johann du Plessis, ZS6PSS Bulletin Coordinator
Johann du Plessis, ZS6PSS Youth Coordinator
Pieter Human, ZS6PA Competition Manager
Chris Smit, ZS6FCS Public Relations
At the AGM of the Bloemfontein Radio Amateur Club, held on Saturday 29 September, the motion to change the name to the Bloemfontein Amateur Radio Club was approved. The following members were elected to serve on the new committee:
Chairman: Warren Riley, ZS4W
Vice Chairman: Brendon Muller, ZS4BM
Secretary: Jenni Riley, ZS4J
Treasurer: Frans Marais, ZS4FM
Members: Andre van Rensburg, ZS4APA, and Dennis Green, ZS4BS.
HF PROPAGATION CONDITIONS
Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, reports that the space weather outlook for the next few days is unsettled. A major C-class flare has been detected. The background X-ray flux is at the upper B-class levels. Geomagnetic conditions are unsettled. Local HF frequencies are unstable but expected to be close to the monthly average predicted values.
A solar wind stream flowing from a geo-effective coronal hole is expected to reach earth today or tomorrow. The magnetic configuration of region 1 585 is growing in complexity and has further potential for flare activity. The current sunspot number is 63.
15 Meters should be providing good DX conditions during mid morning and afternoon with 20 metres looking good later in the day. There will be some 10 metre openings. Give a call on 10 metres and you may be surprised. Share your DX experience this week-end by sending an email to artoday@sarl.org.za.
For up-to-date space weather information visit www.spaceweather.co.za
DIARY OF EVENTS
20 October -Jamboree-on-the-air and CQ Hou Koers.
SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and short-wave 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 17 760 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 transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.
You have listened to a bulletin of the South African Radio League, with translations by Fritz Sutherland, ZS6SF, and compiled George Honiball, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
