SARL NEWS SUNDAY 17 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.
SILENT KEY
Daine Pretorius, ZR6DRP, passed away at 03:20 Wednesday morning 13 November 2013. He was 29 years old and will be sadly missed by friends’ family and people that knew the lively person he was.
We extend our sympathy to his family.
(Silence)
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).
IN THE NEWS TODAY:
SARL@HOME FOCUSSING ON SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGY
SOUTH AFRICA'S THIRD SATELLITE DUE FOR LAUNCH THIS WEEK
QSL MATTERS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
SARL@HOME FOCUSSING ON SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGY
Book now for next SARL@home. Conquer your fear for projects using Surface Mount Technology. The project will be presented by Frik Wolff ZS6FZ at the SARL National Amateur Radio Centre on 30 November from 09:00 - 13:00.
Cost is R150 which includes a PC board and components to construct a FM broadcast transmitter (bug). Use it to relay your amateur radio audio around the house on a portable FM receiver or music from an IPod. The fee includes a CD with tutorials, circuits etc. Non Members pay a premium at R250.
Booking is essential and only 20 delegates can be accommodated. You will need to bring your own soldering station with a fine soldering bit, a tweezer, some hand tools and a magnifying glass. The SARL also has a special offer on a magnifying glass should you wish to buy one. Details are on the registration form which is available from the home page on www.sarl.org.za. You can also check the status of your booking.
SOUTH AFRICA'S THIRD SATELLITE DUE FOR LAUNCH THIS WEEK
The first South African CubeSat built by students at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology but South Africa's third satellite will be launched on 21 November and is expected to transmit its first signal when the satellite orbits over South Africa on Thursday morning. Tune your 70cm hand-held or transceiver to 437,345 MHz. If you hear the signals, send an email to saamsat@intekom.co.za.
The launch from Yasny Launch Base in Russia will be streamed live on the CPUT website.
Measuring 10x10x10cm and weighing 1.2kg, this CubeSat is about 100 times smaller than Sputnik, the first satellite launched into space in 1957.
Still known by its engineering project name ZACUBE-1, the single unit is scheduled for launch on a Russian rocket together with the UK FunCube and a number of other CubeSats.
The main objective of the satellite project is the training of post-graduate students in satellite systems engineering. ZACUBE-1 carries a HF beacon payload for characterisation of the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory's dual auroral radar network antenna at the SANAE base in Antarctica. It operates on 14 099 kHz. The beacon may also be used on request to characterise other stations in the SuperDARN network. If such requests are received, the CPUT ground station will schedule a test in the on-board diary to activate the beacon payload over the DARN antenna of interest. The beacon also has several uses for the South African amateur radio community. It can be used to test antenna designs and be used in school projects to teach scholars about space communications and how satellite orbits work.
The spacecraft has a 3-axis control system using a simple magnetic attitude determination and control system developed by the University of Stellenbosch. The payload also includes a command and control transceiver operating in the 70 cm and 2 m amateur frequency bands. A small camera is also included.
South Africa is involved in two other CubeSat projects, the international QB50 Project and the SA AMSAT KLETSkous . Stellenbosch University and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology are building a satellite as part of the QB50 project. The QB50 project is being led by a consortium of organisations under the von Karman Institute (VKI) in Brussels. The project has been underway for more than three years and a number of Working Groups have been active during this time. These have been looking at the selection of the best instruments, orbital dynamics and communication issues.
The first signals of FunCube - 1 will be at around the same time as ZACube-1 on 145,935 MHz BPSK and CW.
"The satellite carries a high frequency beacon that serves as an active radio source orbiting Earth. The radio signal will be received at our ground stations and from interpreting the direction from which the signal is received, we can deduce the propagation properties of the ionosphere," said Professor Robert van Zyl.
ZACUBE-1 will also serve as a technology demonstrator and be placed in orbit at an altitude of 600km.
Running on the same amount of power as a 5-Watt bulb, ZACUBE-1 will orbit Earth up to 15 times a day and its main mission will be to gather data on space weather for SANSA.
On board will also be a 20 meter CW beacon, and Radio Amateurs are urged to record and give feedback on the received time and signal strength of this beacon.
Detailed information regarding passes and transmit frequencies can be gathered from the F'SATI website at www.cput.ac.za/fsati
LEAGUE NEWS
RTA2013 SDR VFO KIT AND CD NOW AVAILABLE
Supplies of the RTA2013 SDR VFO kit and CD will be available for shipping from 2 December. The kit and CD combo are available at R250 each including packaging and shipping. The CD alone is available at R70. Place your order now. The order form is available on the SARL web at www.sarl.org.za
QSL MATTERS
Here is a simple guide for more responsible QSLing:- Ask your contacts "if I send you a QSL card, do you collect and how?" every time.
If you don`t QSL, be polite but honest during your contact, "thanks but no thanks" is all it takes.
Please don`t say you QSL when you don`t, or ignore the other guy`s kind offer, Please make your QRZ.com QSL details very clear, at the top of the page. Keep the details up to date.
There are around 340 "radio" countries in the world but only 178 have recognised IARU bureaux, with 22 of them currently closed. For this reason we ask you to check that the countries you are sending cards to have an operational QSL bureau.
Also ask your contacts if they can receive a bureau QSL card, as this is almost exclusively a "members only" benefit in most countries.
The correct size for a QSL card is 90mm X 140mm and should not weigh more than 4gram.
TRANSLATORS FOR SARL NEWS
Amateurs that are willing to help with the translation of articles for SARL News are requested to contact Louis Kirstein, ZS1LK. E-Mail him at lsk@xnets.co.za.
CLUB NEWS
PRETORIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB MEGA FLEA MARKET 7 DECEMBER 2013
The last ZS6PTA Mega flea market for 2013 will be held on Saturday 7 December at the Pretoria Motor Club in Silverton from 08:00 to 11:00. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information or to book a table please contact Almero, ZS6LDP on 083 938 8955.
WESTRAND AMATEUR RADIO CLUB FLEA MARKET
The Westrand Amateur radio club is hosting its next flea market 12:00 on Saturday 30 November 2013 at their clubhouse in Kroton street, Weltevredenpark, Roodepoort. Everybody is welcome. For more information contact Geoff ZS6GRL 082 546 5546.
CAPE TOWN ARC END OF YEAR FUNCTION
On 30 November at 12:00 noon the Cape Town club will be holding it's annual end of year function at the Rondebosch club house. It will be a bring and braai and the fires will be ready by 13:00. Come and join us for this very social function and don't forget to bring the family.
HF PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the sunspot number at a high value is but that the solar activity at moderate levels is. Sunspot AR1897 has a "beta-gamma-delta" magnetic field that harbours enough energy for M-class solar flares. None of the nine Earth facing sunspot groups is producing strong flares.
If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 120.
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. There may even be some 6 m openings in the early evening.
Please visit the new website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
16 and 17 November - SARL National Field Day
25 November - Last day to submit logs for the National Field Day
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
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
