SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS SUNDAY 22 JANUARY 2017

Good morning and welcome to the weekly news bulletin of the South African Radio League read by ................ [your name, call sign and QTH]

You may tune in to the South African Radio League news bulletin on Sunday mornings, at 08:15 Local Time in Afrikaans and at 08:30 Local Time in English, on HF as well as on many VHF and UHF repeaters around the country. Echolink listeners may connect to ZS0JPL for a relay.

This audio bulletin may be downloaded from the League website at www.sarl.org.za whereyou will find this as well as previous bulletins in text format under the news link on the left-hand side of the web page. While you are there, you may sign up to receive future bulletins by e-mail.

IN THE NEWS TODAY

COUNCIL DINNER AND AWARDS: DATE AND VENUE ANNOUNCED

NEW ICASA LICENSE FEE STRUCTURE

VHF NEWS

RAE NEWS

and

CONTEST NEWS

Stay tuned for more on these and other interesting news items


** At the Council meeting of 17 January 2017, the Council decided that the 2017 SARL AGM and Awards Dinner would be held on Saturday 6 May 2017 at the Bergvallei Estate on the West Rand. More details to follow.

** In terms of Rule 11.3 of the Constitution and Rules of the League, a call is made to members to submit motions to be discussed at the 2017 Annual General Meeting. Motions should be clear, concise, include a motivation and require a proposer and a seconder.

** In terms of Rule 16.9 of the Constitution and Rules of the League, a call is made to members for nominations to serve on the Council of the League. Four of the present Councilors will retire at the 2017 AGM, but can be re-elected if nominated and seconded.

The following Councilors have indicated that they will retire but are available for re-election.
Rassie Erasmus, ZS1YT
Geoff Levey, ZS6C
Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL
Shane Bailey, ZS6ZSB.

Etienne Naude, ZS6EFN, who was appointed by Council as the League Secretary, has indicated that he is standing down, but has not yet decided if he will be available for election.

The requirements are a nomination form signed either by 10 seconders who are all members of the League or by a Club of which at least 10 members are also members of the League. The closing date for nominations and submission of motions is on or before Tuesday 31 January 2017 and must be sent to the League Secretary at secretary@sarl.org.za or by fax to 086 552 8487. For more information, please refer to the League Constitution and Rules, which is available on www.sarl.org.za.

** Members and Clubs are invited to submit nominations for the following South African Radio League awards. Send your nominations with a motivation to the League Secretary at secretary@sarl.org.za on or before Tuesday 31 January 2017.

** The awards are Honorary Life Membership; the Willie Wilson Gold Badge; the Jack Twine Award; the Arthur Hemsley Two metre Trophy; the Barney Joel Trophy; the Icom Excellence Award; the Joseph White Plaque; the Bert Buckley Six Metre Trophy; the Radio ZS Four Metre Floating Trophy; the SAATI Award and the Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Excellence Award. The relevant information about each award can be found in the SARL Communication e-mail dated 11 December 2016 sent to all members.

** The Editor of Radio ZS requests members to assist him in awarding two of the Radio ZS awards for the 12 issues of the 2016 series of the magazine.

The first is the Gary Immelman RA Heritage Award Floating Trophy for the best article of a historic nature describing an event that occurred more than five years previously or an interesting personality that has played an important part in the development of Amateur Radio in years gone by.

The second is the JJPienaar Trophy for the best article published in Radio ZS during 2016. E-mail your suggestions as to who would be worthy recipients to radiozs@sarl.org.za by Tuesday 31 January 2017.

** The new fee structure for Amateur Radio licences has been announced, by ICASA. The fees for 2017 will come into effect from the 1st April and are as follows:

. 1 year licence R134.00
. 2 year licence R256.00
. 3 year licence R367.00
. 4 year licence R468.00
. 5 year licence R559.00

Please note, that any licence not renewed by 1 April 2017 will lapse and the licence holder will have to re-apply for a new licence, and this will be subjected to extra costs. No fees will be accepted after the 1st April 2017
ICASA has recommended that Amateur Radio licence holders apply for a 5 year licence. This equates to a current saving of R111.00. You will also save the yearly escalations.

You need to apply in writing specifying the licence you wish to apply for. This must be stated in the subject heading of the relevant email to ICASA. For example, the required number of years licence, your seven digit licence number, and call sign. (e.g. 5 year payment, licence number 544-165-1, ZS6ZU)

If you do not notify ICASA of the required term of licence, you will receive a one year licence, regardless of the amount paid.

For all those who have already paid using the 2016 fee structure, the balance outstanding must be submitted to ICASA before the 1st April 2017, otherwise your licence will lapse.

If your surname starts between A to K then you need to email your payment advice to Mr Kenneth Kgwedi: KKgwedi@icasa.org.za
If your surname starts between L to Z then you need to email your payment advice to Mr Pieter Jansen: PJansen@icasa.org.za

All Amateur Radio licence fees need to be paid directly to ICASA and NOT to the SARL.


** The SARL Amateur Radio Hall of Fame honours individuals who have made
lasting contributions to Amateur Radio in southern Africa, and aims to
preserve its history.

SARL members elected nine inaugural members last year. It was decided to
allow another batch of up to ten members this year, after which a
maximum of two members will be inducted annually.

Nominations for this year are now open. The Hall of Fame page is
accessible from the SARL Home Page. The nomination page already shows four
nominations.

Several stalwarts of Amateur Radio did not make it in the initial round,
in some cases because they had not been nominated. Let's ensure that all
those deserving get included, so that their contributions can be preserved
for posterity.

Nominations close in about six weeks, at the end of February. A nomination
template is available on the Web site. The nominations already listed can
be used as an example of what is required.

** South African Radio League Summer QRP Contest. The QRP contest is intended to be a fun activity to promote QRP operation between radio amateurs. Using homebuilt equipment or operating as a portable/field station and using temporary antennas is encouraged, but is not a requirement.

The Summer contest runs from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC on Saturday 28 January 2017 with activity on SSB and CW using 5 watts (PEP) output or less. The first hour is limited to the 40 metre band only and the remaining two hours, the contesters are free to use any HF (non-WARC) band as they see fit.

Comply with the contest-preferred segments as detailed in the general rules. It would be advantageous to use the standard QRP calling frequencies as the starting point. The exchange is a RS or RST report and your grid locator. See the 2017 Blue Book for more details!

** The closing date for your article for the February 2017 issue of radio ZS is Wednesday 25 January and can be sent to radiozs@sarl.org.za. Articles can be submitted in MS Word or OpenOffice.


** The Hammies ARC will be hosting a new Class-B RAE course starting on the 28th of January. If you know of any youngsters who have an interest in electronics, and who would like to become an amateur radio operator, then this is an ideal opportunity. This is a fun-filled practical course for 10 to 16 year olds. The course is held on Saturday mornings at NARC from 9 am to 12 pm.

For further details please contact Noel ZR6DX via email on zr6dx@iafrica.com or Graham ZS6GL on 083 442 7777

** In the Western Cape, at the Oakdale Recreational Club, situated inBloemhof Street, Oakdale, Bellville, a new RAE course will again start at the end of January.
Classes every Tuesday evening 19h00 - 21h00.
Start: 31 January 2017.
All-comers welcome.
Meet Karl ZS1KC on site from 18h30 on 31 January in front of the Radio Shack.

** Build-A-Thon 2017. Following the huge success of the WSPR Beacon Build-A-Thon during 2016, the first Beacon Build-A-Thon for 2017 is planned for Saturday 4 or 11 March 2017 at the National Amateur Radio Centre. We will start the day with a few short presentations by previous builders proudly showing off their soldering skills or giving feedback on how they are operating their setups. To join in the fun, watch the news or contact Leon Uys, ZR6LU, at leonuys@gmail.com for more information closer to the time.


** The PEARS VHF/UHF contest has been active since Friday evening, running throughout Saturday, and will end at 14:00 CAT on Sunday afternoon. Spend the final two hours of the contest looking for possible Sporadic-E propagation from the north, by watching the V51PJ beacon on 50,300 MHz CW at Rosh Pinah, Namibia, or ZSJON/b on 50,050 MHz at Krugersdorp, or ZS5TWB/b on 50,044 MHz at Polokwane. Hoping that you have enjoyed the contest.

** Pieter Jacobs, V51PJ, reported that Marcus Turbo, PY1MHZ, of Rio de Janeiro will be at his seaside QTH from 20 January 2017 to start their Trans-Atlantic tests again. He rebuilt his Yagi antenna and made it shorter for less wind resistance and easier handling. At this stage they are playing digital modes and test Yagi antenna configurations in Brazil. They have started a Brazilian VHF group that side as well.

There are now more than 200 participants 24/7 across Brazil. They are starting to break VHF records with Digital and SSB modes on an almost monthly basis, which is very positive, and they are also changing to horizontal polarization. They are a very active and busy VHF group on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and looking for V5 and ZS contacts in the future.


** Please be advised the East Rand Radio Club will be having a Flea Market on the 4 February 2017 12 am at the East Rand Radio Clubhouse which is situated on Ebenezer Rd in Arrowe Park Benoni. Come and sell any of your excess Radio kit. You can hire a table or sell from your car boot. Taste our famous boerewors rolls or have a cold drink or alcoholic beverage at our Club 675 Bar. Meet all your old friends -it’s a fun social event and a chance to get rid your old kit or have a look at the new items on the market. See you there.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to be at low levels. There are currently two visible sunspots. No major solar flaring is expected.

If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 10.

The 15 to 30metre bands will provide lots of DX fun.

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


Diary of Events

25 January - closing date for articles for the February Radio ZS
28 January - Summer QRP Sprint
31 January - closing date for AGM motions, Council nominations, SARL Awards and Radio ZS awards; the closing date for proposals for papers for the AMSAT SA Conference
4 February - East Rand Branch Flea Market
5 February - AWA CW Activity
11 February - closing date for the SDR Workshop registration
11 - 12 February - SARL National Field Day
18 February - SDR Workshop and SARL Youth Sprint

And that brings us to the end of this rather lengthy bulletin

** Clubs and individuals are invited to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners, if possible, in both English and Afrikaans, by following the news inbox link on the South African Radio League web page. News items for inclusion in the bulletin should reach the news team no later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date.

You are welcome to join us every Sunday morning for the weekly amateur radio magazine programme 'Amateur Radio Today' at 10:00 Central African Time. The programme can be heard on VHF and UHF repeaters countrywide and on 7 082 kHz lower side-band and on 7 205 kHz and 17 760 kHz AM. There is also a podcast available from Dick Stratford, ZS6RO. A rebroadcast can be heard on Monday evenings at 18:30 Central African Time on 3 230 kHz AM.

We welcome your signal reports, comments and suggestions; please send these by e-mail to artoday@sarl.org.za. Sentech sponsors the radio transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.

You have listened to a news bulletin compiled by Dawie Conradie, ZR6DHC, edited by Dick Stratford, ZS6RO, and read by ..............

From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.