SARL NEWS SUNDAY 10 March 2013
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 and call sign), on 145,725 from Pretoria, with relays on 7,066 MHz and 3,695 MHz SSB. (Other news readers change to suit).
SILENT KEY
It is with regret that we have to announce that the key of Edgar W Abraham, ZS6AFF, went silent recently. He was a past member and Chairman of the old Western Transvaal branch of the SARL.
Our sincerest condolences to his relatives and friends.
(PAUSE)
IN THE NEWS TODAY:
MAJOR BOOST FOR SARL ANTENNA DEFENCE FUND BREAKS THE R50 000 TARGET
ICASA APPOINTS NEW GENERAL MANAGER LICENSING
AFFILIATED CLUBS, INVIGILATORS AND HF ASSESSORS MUST REGISTER FOR 2013
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
MAJOR BOOST FOR SARL ANTENNA DEFENCE FUND BREAKS THE R50 000 TARGET
The SARL defence fund received a 900 Euro contribution from Barry Fletcher, ZS1FJ. In Rand value it equates to R10 270. Thanks to Barry and all the other contributors. The SARL Council set the original target at R50 000 but indications are that more may be needed. Keep your contributions coming. We need your support. Get detail about the campaign and who has contributed from www.sarl.org.za and select Antenna Defence Fund from the left hand menu.
ICASA APPOINTS NEW GENERAL MANAGER LICENSING
ICASA has appointed Ronnie Seeber as general manager licensing. Ronnie Seeber has had many years' experience in the telecommunications industry. Before starting his own Network consulting business a few years ago he was Government Relations Manager for Motorola.
ICASA - SARL LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING HELD LAST THURSDAY
The meeting was chaired by Phil Molefe, who had been the Acting General Manager Licensing .The meeting was also attended by the new general manager licensing.
The establishment of cross border operation in SADC countries is now on the Agenda of the next CRASA meeting on 5 June. The SARL provided a document to ICASA who was tasked to prepare an agenda item for consideration at the next meeting of SADC regulators. There is currently a more cumbersome system in place where any visitor from SADC countries can apply for permission to operate in South Africa by sending a request to ICASA by email with a copy of their license.
ICASA has identified two 5 MHz frequencies for pilot studies by radio amateurs in preparation for the WRC 15 conference. The recommendation will go to the ICASA council for approval. They expect feedback from Council in the next few weeks. The proposal to the ICASA council also includes the allocation of the 479 kHz frequency on a secondary basis to radio amateurs.
A lengthy discussion took place around the possession of continuous tuning equipment. Although the SARL has made several attempts to get this clause removed, ICASA is not convinced. It was agreed that ICASA will have an internal discussion to re-look at the clause and report back to the SARL.
The SARL request for higher power which was tabled at the SARL - ICASA workgroup in December 2012 was reviewed. ICASA was not comfortable about 32 dBW but indicated that 30 dBW, which is 1 kW, on HF bands where Amateur Radio have exclusive use, could be considered. The SARL was asked, in preparation for revision of the regulations, to update the table of radio frequency spectrum for Radio Amateurs showing the higher power on those bands. This is only the start of the formal process and radio amateurs must not expect an early change in the regulations.
The question whether the HF logbook may be kept electronically was also discussed. ICASA was of the same opinion as the SARL that a log is a log and may be kept electronically.
A number of routine administrative issues were discussed. The main one is that ICASA now has three people dealing with amateur licensing, divided by section of the alphabet as shown at the end of this item. The details, email addresses and telephone number are available in the copy of SARL News available on the web at www.sdarl.org.za, look under News.
The SARL was represented at the meeting by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, Francois Botha, ZS6BUU, Fritz Sutherland, ZS6SF, Colin de Villiers, ZS6COL and Jaco le Roux ZS6PX.
NOTE TO BULLETIN READERS: DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING TILL THE END OF THIS ITEM:
A-B-C-D-E-R-S-T
Khutso Mashile
011 566 3313
011 566 3314
Kmashile@icasa.org.za
F-G-H-I-J-K-U-W-X-Y-Z
Petunia Mashile
011 566 3657
011 566 3658
PMMashile@icasa.org.za
L-M-N-O-P-Q-V
Delmar de Witt
011 566 3339
011 566 3340
DdeWitt@icasa.org.za
CLASS B EXAMINATION CHANGES
In line with the Class A radio amateur examination, students who enter the class B examination will be required to study the full set of revised regulations as published on the SARL Web site. The examination paper for the May examination will be based on these regulations. The regulations which apply to both the Class A and B radio amateur examination (RAE) can be downloaded from tinyurl.com/chshfzs or visit the SARL web at www.sarl.org.za and select licensing for full details of the examination process as well as free to download study guides.
AFFILIATED CLUBS, INVIGILATORS AND HF ASSESSORS MUST REGISTER FOR 2013
The closing date for affiliated clubs to register as an examination centre was 1 March 2013. The RAE manager has agreed to extend this date to 15 March 2013. Similarly Invigilators and HF Assessors should also register before 15 March. These registrations will be valid for the May and October 2013 examinations. Details, and the required vorms, can be found on www.sarl.org.za, select licensing and then scroll down to RAE Admin. If you require and further information send an email to rae@sarl.org.za.
VISITING EUROPE THIS WINTER? TAKE IN THE DARC HAMRADO
The 64th Lake Constance and the HAM RADIO 2013 Convention, both organised by Deutscher Amateur Radio Club will take place from Friday, 28 June to Sunday, 30 June 2013 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. This event has long been considered Europe's premiere amateur radio gathering with attendees from around the world. One of the highlights of this year's HAM RADIO gathering will be an informal international meeting for representatives of IARU member societies. It will be held at the Zeppelin Museum on Friday, 28 June. Event planners say that they will provide a shuttle bus that will take those attending from the exhibition halls to the museum. More information on HAM RADIO 2013 can be found at www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de.
ANOTHER CLUB AFFILIATES WITH THE SARL
This week the SARL welcomes the Low Veld Amateur Radio Club with the call sign ZS6LOW as the 35th club to affiliate with the SARL this year. Welcome to you.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS
Applications for membership of the SARL have been received from the following radio amateurs:
Marianne van Dijk, ZS6ANA (daughter of Ton van Dijk who took over her father's old call sign);
Yvonne van Dijk, ZR6TBL;
Michael Wade M0EDU (renewal).
Any objections against the acceptance of the applications must reach the Secretary before or on the Tuesday after this bulletin.
HAMNET WESTERN CAPE
Hamnet in the Western Cape is gearing itself up again for some more important sporting event support. Today, 10th March, sees 8 of our members assisting with the communications along the important and tricky section of the Argus Cycle Tour along the Southern Seaboard at the back of Table Mountain. Communications there are difficult, and the organisers always rely on Hamnet operators to get the message through on that section.
Then, on Easter Saturday, Hamnet will also be activated to man the communications for the entire 2 Ocean's race day. The half Marathon and the 56 km race run simultaneously on that 30th March, and they will have 16 mobile stations reporting to their Joint Operations Centre at Tygerberg Hospital Disaster Ops Room. All vehicles will be tracked, and two repeaters and a simplex frequency used to maintain contact with all the operators.
Yet another example of Hamnet in the Western Cape setting the standard for Community support in our country.
MARION ISLAND
Two radio amateurs will be part of the over-wintering team and will be active on Marion Island from May 2013 to April 2014. ZS8C - Carson, ZR6CWI, has been appointed as the Space Weather Engineer and is employed for the next year by the SA National Space Agency (SANSA). ZS8Z - David, ZS1BCE, has finally been appointed as the radio technician after a delay due to a clerical error.
Important information: Expected modes will mainly be SSB and digital modes, They may only use the existing commercial broadband HF antenna, and their QSL Manager is ZS1HF. More information will be posted on their respective qrz.com sites once they have been created. We expect this information to be made available within the next 2 weeks. All enquiries via ZS1HF at this stage.
CONTEST NEWS
Results of the PEARS VHF/UHF Contest. The Contest Committee received 14 logs, made up of 11 analogue and 3 digital logs.
Analogue results.
In the single operator base class, Nasri, ZS1NAZ, took first place in the 6 m and 23 cm categories;
Ken, ZS2OC, took first place in the 4 m and 70 cm categories and Nico, ZS4N, took first place in the 2 m category.
In the single operator field station class, Terence, ZS2VDL, took first place in the 6 and 4 m categories;
Terence, ZS2ABB, took first place in the 70 and 23 cm categories and Allan, ZS2BO, took first place in the 2 m category.
In the limited period field station class, Al, ZS2U, took first place in the 6 and 2 m and 70 cm categories.
The divisional winners are:
6 m - ZS1NAZ, ZS2OC, ZS2VDL and ZS6A;
4 m - ZS2OC and ZS2VDL;
2 m - ZS1NAZ, ZS2OC, ZS2BO, ZS4N and ZS6PX;
70 cm ZS1NAZ, ZS2OC, ZS2ABB and ZS6PX;
23 cm ZS1NAZ and ZS2ABB.
Digital results.
In the single operator class, Nasri, ZS1NAZ, took first place in the 6 and 2 m categories.
The divisional winners are ZS1NAZ, ZS2ACP and ZS6PX.
Congratulations to the winners.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to continue at low to very low levels. There remains a chance for M-class Solar flares.
If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 59.
All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with 20 m providing the best openings with 15 m not far behind. There will also be 10 m openings on sunlit paths in the afternoons.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
11 March - Logs for the SARL Hamnet 40 m Simulated Emergency Contest must be in to Hamnet Eastern Cape, Al Akers, ZS2U, 53 Clarence Street, Westering, Port Elizabeth, 6025 or by e-mail to contest@peham.co.za.
15 March – Last date for clubs to register examination centres, invigilators and HF assessors at www.sarl.org.za.
16/17 March - SARL VHF/UHF analogue and digital contest 10:00 UTC 16 to 10:00 UTC 17 March.
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 18:30 UTC on 4 895 kHz ((A new time and frequency!). Reception reports are invited. We are particularly interested in reports of the 4 895 kHz transmission on Mondays at 16:30 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 reports to artoday@sarl.org.za.
Sentech sponsors the transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.
You have listened to a bulletin of the South African Radio League compiled and edited by George Honiball, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
