SARL NEWS SUNDAY 12 JANUARY 2014

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).

IN THE NEWS TODAY:

INTECNET TO EXPLORE THE IMPACT OF SPACE WEATHER ON RADIO COMMUNICATION
YOUTH WEEK DEBATE FOR UNDER 20’S
SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP ON 18 JANUARY

You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.

INTECNET TO EXPLORE THE IMPACT OF SPACE WEATHER ON RADIO COMMUNICATION

Join Dr Pierre Cilliers for the first INTECNET of 2014 on Tuesday 21 January 2014 at 19:30. Pierre is a research physicist at the Space Science Directorate of the South African National Space Agency (SANSA). A set of PowerPoint slides will be available on the web for download a few days before the presentation. Note the new day of the week. The Intecnet moves from a Sunday to a Tuesday evening.

Clubs wishing to carry the net on their local repeater should send details of their landline number and coverage area of their repeater to artoday@sarl.org.za by Thursday 16 January to be included in the teleconference bridge. The net will also be carried on echo link and on 80 metres. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

YOUTH WEEK DEBATE FOR UNDER 20’S

If you are a young radio amateur under 20 years of age, we invite you to join in the debate during Youth Week which runs from 10 -15 February 2014. The debate will be held on Tuesday evening 11 February starting at 19:30. The topic of discussion is: "What does amateur radio offer young people?" To be considered as a panellist in the debate send your thoughts about the subject and contact details including a telephone number to youthweek2014@sarl.org.za by 21 January 2014 and we will contact you. A telephone briefing session will be held a few days before the event. Here is a great opportunity to develop your debating skills and to share your ideas of where amateur radio should be heading. For more on Youth Week 2014 visit www.hamradio.org.za

SURFACE MOUNT TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP ON 18 JANUARY

Book now for the 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 18 January from 09:00 - 13:00.

Cost is R150 which includes a PC board and components to construct a very low power FM transmitter. 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. Bookings close on Monday 13 January 2014

120th ANNIVERSARY OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, SP3RN

January 8th was the 120th birthday of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, SP3RN, who is the Catholic Churches Patron Saint of amateur radio operators. Mark Abramowicz, NT3V sent us this story about a truly amazing man:

Father Maximilian Kolbe became fascinated by the mass media in the 1920s and 1930s. He established printing plants in Poland and Japan for his Franciscan Order publications distributed in the tens of thousands to the faithful. When he was on a mission to Japan, China and India he became acquainted with both broadcasting and amateur radio. Upon his return to in Poland in the 1930s, he applied for a broadcasting license. At that time, radio was considered to be a strategic medium and only the Polish Radio and a military radio station were permitted to broadcast.
But in 1938, Father Kolbe was granted permission to do test transmissions close to the 40 meter amateur radio band. He chose the SP3RN callsign for his on the air experiments.

On August 14, 1941, Father Kolbe was murdered in the German Nazi Auschwitz Concentration Camp after he had volunteered to take the place of another prisoner who was randomly selected by camp guards for a group to die by starvation because another inmate had escaped.

Father Kolbe was Beatified by Pope Paul VI on October 17, 1971 and Canonized as St. Maximilian Kolbe, Apostle of Consecration to Mary and declared Martyr of Charity by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982. In addition to being embraced by amateur radio, Saint Maximillian Kolbe is also recognized as the patron of journalists and political prisoners. His feast day is observed by the Roman Catholic Church on August 14.

IARU PRESIDENT APPOINTED QUEEN'S COUNSEL

ARRL reports that the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, was among those appointed Queen's Counsel in the Canadian Province of Alberta

Attorney General Jonathan Denis, QC, announced the names of 114 lawyers to be admitted as Queen's Counsel for "outstanding contributions to legal and public life." The list includes both public and private sector lawyers who have practiced in communities across the province.

"The Queen's Counsel designation recognizes the exceptional capabilities and talents of this year's impressive group," said Jonathan Denis, Alberta's Minister of Justice and Solicitor General. "These lawyers are a credit to their profession and to their province."

The history of Queen's Counsel dates back to the 16th century. The practice of appointing Queen's Counsel was continued in Canada and predates Confederation. The first Queen's Counsel appointees were admitted in Upper Canada in 1841.

Read the full ARRL story at
www.arrl.org/news/iaru-president-appointed-queen-s-counsel-in-alberta

LEAGUE NEWS

Members and clubs are invited to submit nominations to Council for the following SARL awards. These nominations are to reach the SARL Secretary at before 14 February 2014.

Honorary Life Membership
The SARL's highest honour

Willie Wilson Gold Badge
Awarded by Council to the amateur that gave exceptional and meritorious service to the League.

Jack Twine Award
To recognise qualities such as unselfishness, clean operating and a genuine interest in Amateur Radio and its affairs. This prestigious Award will be made to Amateurs who, in the opinion of their fellow amateurs and the League's Council, exemplify the qualities desirable in a Radio Amateur.

Arthur Hemsley 2 metre Trophy
Awarded by Council to a Radio Amateur for his/her individual achievements with transmissions in the 2 metre amateur band. This award is made for extraordinary performance on EME or modes such as tropospheric propagation. It is not for the longest distance worked but rather for persistence in achieving something special on 2 metres.

Barney Joel Trophy
Awarded by Council to any member of the SARL for the best performance during the year whilst working HF mobile. This award could be made for performance by an individual in rally or other public event communication etc.

Icom Excellence Award
This award is bestowed annually by Council on the amateur who through his/her activity in the Amateur Service has brought international recognition to South Africa by either the achievement of a VHF/UHF long distance record which is internationally recognized by the IARU, or by service to the Republic of South Africa or the SARL in the field of scientific research using the amateur spectrum, or in promoting the amateur service internationally or as Council may determine from time to time.

Joseph White Plaque
Awarded by Council to any member of the SARL for exceptional achievements in the 432 MHz band during the past year. This is not awarded for the longest distance worked, but for all round achievements.

Bert Buckley Six metre Trophy
Awarded by Council to any radio amateur for his/her individual achievements with transmissions in the six metre amateur band. This award is not for the longest distance worked but for outstanding work or activity on six metres.

Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Exellence Award & Tinus Lange 7066 Junior Technical Excellence Award

The awards will be bestowed annually on the persons who submit a technical project in any of the following categories:

Design and-or construction of projects such as a pre-amp, SWR bridge, patching unit, automatic ID-er, practical antenna ideas, mast, portable gear, power supplies etc.

Any software for use in Amateur Radio

The submission must include the following:
The actual items (if size and mass allows it) or photographs (particularly in the case of antennas-mast etc)
A complete write-up in article form with illustrations-pictures ready for publication in Radio ZS

The Awards

Junior Technical Achievement Award (under 25 years old)
A framed certificate and a cash award of R350

Technical Achievement Award
A framed certificate and a cash award of R350

All entries to be displayed (where practical, otherwise photographs) at the AGM and the award to be presented at the annual dinner.

Entries close each year on January 31.


SAATI Award

Awarded by Council to a South African radio amateur who has made an exceptional contribution in the field of digital communication in either the development of hardware or software. This is an award for development work, not for operating achievements. It is not limited to members of the SARL.

CONTEST NEWS

THE PEARS NATIONAL VHF/UHF CONTEST NEXT WEEKEND

At 18:00 CAT on Friday 17 January 2014, switch on your VHF or UHF equipment, listen for distant stations and try and establish contact with them. This is the first session that continues until 16:00 CAT on Saturday, when the second session commences and ends at 14:00 CAT on Sunday 19 January.

At night there should be quite a lot of Tropo activity especially on 144 MHz, while Tropo Scatter contacts on 50 MHz have been made even around midnight between ZS1NAZ and ZS5QM - now is Tropo weather time!

The first hour or two after sunrise could provide excellent country-wide contacts on both 50 MHz and 144 MHz via Tropo Ducting. Sporadic-E could appear in the mornings and/or afternoons on 50, 70 and 144 MHz, so watch for these unexpected Es openings.

There should be activity on all the other bands too throughout the two days. Keep a special look out for Rover stations, who could hop from one high site and grid square to another and provide everybody with extra multipliers.

The rules have been posted on the SARL VHF Forum as well as on the 2014 SARL Contest Manual. Good luck, have fun and enjoy the VHF/UHF contest!

SARL SUMMER QRP CONTEST

The first QRP Contest of 2014 will be run from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC on Saturday 25 January. The first hour is limited to the 40 m band only, the remaining two hours the contesters are free to use any HF (non-WARC) band as they see fit. SSB and CW are the modes to use and the exchange is a RS(T) report and a 6 character grid locator.

The weekend of 8 and 9 February will be busy with the running of the SARL National Field Day as well as the SARL VHF/UHF Contest. Yes, it has been decided to run these two contests together, so you and your club can participate in either the Field Day or the VHF/UHF contest or why not try both?

Once again find all the rules in the 2014 SARL Contest Manual.

HF PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is declining after the excitement of the X-class flare during the week. Giant Sunspot AR1944 has an unstable "beta-gamma-gelta" magnetic field that harbours enough energy for X-class solar flares so the fun may not be over yet.

If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 110.

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 during the early evenings.

Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.

DIARY OF EVENTS

12 January - Hunting Lions in the Air
17 to 19 January - PEARS National VHF/UHF Contest
18 January - SARL@Home
21 January - Last day for prospective youth week panellists to submit their contact details to youthweek2014@sarl.org.za
25 January - SARL Summer QRP Contest
31 January - Last day to submit amateur radio video
31 January - closing date for nominations for SARL Councillors and motions for the AGM
28 February - Closing date for Youth Essay Competition
15 March - Last day to submit proposals for papers for the 2014 SA AMSAT space symposium to saamsat@intekom.co.za

The 2014 SARL Diary of Events is available for download from www.sarl.org.za. Get a copy and keep it handy in your radio shack.

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