SARL NEWS SUNDAY 3 NOVEMBER 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 MHz from
Pretoria, with a relay on 7,066 MHz SSB. (Other news readers change to suit).
SILENT KEY
Johan Roos (ZS4KB) passed away on 30 October 2013 and left his wife, children
and grandchildren behind.
We extend our condolences to his family.
(PAUSE)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
NEW E-PUB TO TAKE UP WHERE MONITORING TIMES LEAVES OFF
60 METRE ACTIVITY WEEKEND
SARL NATIONAL FIELD DAY
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other
important and interesting items.
INTECNET TO RETURN
Starting January 2014 the SARL Interactive Technical Net returns but on a
weekday night. The next Intecnet will air on the second Tuesday or Wednesday
night of January 2014. Listeners are requested to indicate which night they
prefer Tuesday or Wednesday.
Send us an email to artoday@sarl.org.za and indicate which night you prefer
Tuesday or Wednesday?
NEW E-PUB TO TAKE UP WHERE MONITORING TIMES LEAVES OFF
When Monitoring Times publishes its final issue in December, a new electronic
publication, The Spectrum Monitor, will follow in its footsteps. Monitoring
Times announced earlier this year that it was ceasing publication after a 33
year run and the retirement of its publisher, Bob Grove, W8JHD.
Monitoring Times Managing Editor Ken Reitz, KS4ZR, will helm The Spectrum
Monitor, which will debut in January. He explained that the new publication,
"will carry virtually all of the current Monitoring Times columnists and
feature writers." Reitz said The Spectrum Monitor will be available only in
Adobe PDF format.
For details go to: thespectrummonitor.com/
60 METRE ACTIVITY WEEKEND
The SARL is holding a 60 Metre activity weekend starting at 00:01 on Saturday
9 November and ending at midnight on Sunday evening 10 November. The
activities will be on 5260 KHz. The objective is to study propagation
conditions between as many stations in as many areas of South Africa and
elsewhere as possible.
Make at least one contact in as many time slots as possible. The time slots
are as follows: Saturday and Sunday: 00:01 - 06:00, 06:00 - 10:00, 10:00 -
15:00; 15:00 - 18:00 and 18:00 - Midnight. Please keep an accurate log,
recording both your and the locator of the station you worked and an accurate
signal report.
Please at the top of your log give details of your station and the antenna and
power used. Please mail the log to propresearch@sarl.org.za before Thursday 14
November. All logs received will go into a lucky draw with lots of prizes to
be won. Only stations registered for 5 MHz operation may participate. Do your
bit for propagation research. The information is required to prepare a report
for ICASA.
NEXT SUNDAY IS REMEMBRANCE DAY
On Sunday 10 November the SARL will transmit the annual Remembrance Day
Service as part of Amateur Radio Today starting at approximately 10:40 local
time. All radio amateurs are requested to observe radio silence during the
service as a mark of respect for those who lost their lives in service of our
country. The service will be conducted in English and Afrikaans by Dominee Jan
Kramer ZS6JRK.
Clubs wishing to retransmit the service on their local repeater, may download
the audio file from www.sarl.org.za. A link will be activated on Sunday 10
November.
WATCH OUT FOR SPORADIC-E DX FROM ZIMBABWE AND FURTHER NORTH
Many SPORADIC-E openings were recorded from Zimbabwe, Zambia and further north
from the old Band 1 TV stations during the months of November to February
around midday. The sound channels were copied around 53,750 MHz FM at S9+
levels; when these TV stations closed down we lost valuable VHF beacons.
Fortunately we now have three DX beacons with which to observe possible
openings north of our borders, and call on 50,200 MHz SSB. They are: Z21SIX on
50,0016 MHz at Harare, V51YJ on 50,028 MHz at Windhoek and Q9ID on 50,021 MHz
at Kinshasa, DRC.
Another DX beacon to look for is VK0RTM at Mawson, Antarctica on 50,300 MHz
via multi-hop Sporadic-E propagation. Hal, ZS6WB, is currently in the process
of erecting a number beacons on 50,450 MHz especially for the detection of
Sporadic-E openings.
LEAGUE NEWS
MEMBERSHIP
Application for membership of the SARL have been received from Ivor Westwood -
ZS1WY.
Any objections against the acceptance of the application must reach the
Secretary before or on the Tuesday after this bulletin.
RAE RESULTS
Congratulations to all the candidates who passed the October RAE.
A total of 118 candidates wrote the exam and a 100 passed. The ones that have
not made it must try again and register in time for the May 2014 RAE. The
highest marks obtained is 100% for both Technical and regulations. Do you want
to know who it is, come and attend the AGM in 2014 in Pretoria.
The people that have received their call signs may go on air. All problems
will be sorted out as soon as possible by the RAE team.
All RAE enquiries must be send to the RAE Manager Gideon Jannasch. Email:
rae@sarl.org.za Cell no: 072 601 0058.
DID YOU OVERLOOK PAYING YOUR SARL SUBSCRIPTION?
If you did not renew your SARL membership by 31 October you will no longer
have access to the member's only section of the web and will not receive Radio
ZS and other services. Pay now to be reinstated. If you need details about
how much to pay and how to pay, call Mariska on Monday at 011 675 2393.
Supporting the SARL with your membership is supporting Amateur Radio. It's
worth doing.
CLUB NEWS
60 METRE ACTIVITY WEEKEND
The Kempton Park Amateur Radio Technical Society (KARTS) will be running a 60
meter Beacon operating on 5.250 MHz over the weekend of 9-10 November 2013 in
support of the SARL 60 meter activity weekend.
Details pertaining to the digital modes and related information will be made
available on the SARL Forum including the KARTS website.
Please visit www.zs6kts.co.za for detailed information regarding the clubs
beacon and 60 meter activity planned for next weekend.
CONTEST NEWS
SARL NATIONAL FIELD DAY
The aim of the SARL National Field Day is to work as many stations as possible
on all the HF amateur bands (excluding the 30, 17 and 12 m WARC bands) and in
doing so to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal
conditions. A premium is placed on developing skills to meet the challenges of
emergency preparedness as well as to acquaint the general public with the
capabilities of Amateur Radio.
The contest will take place on 16 and 17 November, between 10:00 UTC on
Saturday to 10:00 UTC on Sunday (12:00 to 12:00 CAT) with phone, CW and
digital activity on all the HF amateur bands, excluding 30, 17 and 12 metre
bands. Phone, CW and Digital modes on a band are considered as separate bands.
A station may be worked only once per band under this rule.
Participation can be as Class A - Field Station - Multi operator, Class B -
Field Station - Multi operator - QRP, Class C - Field Station - Single
Operator, Class D - Field Station - Single Operator - QRP, Class E - Ultra
Light Portable or Class F- General stations. The exchange is the number of
transmitters, Field Day operating Class and Provincial Abbreviation.
Log/summary sheets must be sent by e-mail to zs4bfn@netactive.co.za by 25
November 2013. An action photo(s) of the station (JPG format) MUST accompany
every log entry.
HF PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that after a week of high solar activity some
more moderate levels can now be expected. There is a possibility of M or even
X- class flares.
If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective
sunspot number for the week will be around 75.
All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with 15 m providing
the best openings with 20 m not far behind.
Please visit the new website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further
information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
09/10 November - 60 m Activity weekend.
14 November - Last day to submit logs for the 60 m activity weekend.
30 November - High Altitude Balloon launch from Klerksdorp airport between
06:00 and 08:00.
30 November - SARL@Home at the National Amateur Radio Centre.
31 December - Last day to submit amateur radio video; get details from
www.amateurradio.org.za.
28 February 2014 - Closing date for Youth Essay Competition.
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 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 16:30 UTC on 4 895 kHz. The website also lists
various other retransmissions. Reception reports, comments and suggestions are
invited. Send an email 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 Louis Kirstein, ZS1LK.
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
