SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS SUNDAY 30 APRIL 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 Central African Time in Afrikaans and at 08:30 Central African Time in English, on HF as well as on many VHF and UHF repeaters around our country. Echolink listeners may connect to ZS0JPL for a relay. A podcast is available from the League’s web site.

This audio bulletin may be downloaded from the League website at www.sarl.org.za where you 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:

SARL AGM ON SATURDAY 6 MAY

CANCELLED LICENCES

and

A DXPEDITION TO BAKER ISLAND

Stay tuned for more on these and other interesting news items.

** Notice is hereby given in terms of Rule 11.4 of the Constitution and Rules of the South African Radio League, that the 2017 Annual General Meeting of the South African Radio League will be convened at Bergvallei in Muldersdrift on Saturday 6 May 2017 commencing at 09:00. Registration and submission of proxies will commence at 07:30. All the relevant documentation for the AGM can be found in the Members Section on the League web site.

There is a motion from Council relating to authorisation of electronic voting as discussed on the SARL Forum will be tabled and voted on at the AGM.

The challenge is to have the 15% required attendance of members to accept and carry the motion. This motion, once accepted and implemented will allow for electronic voting to take place at any time during the year and no need to wait until the next years AGM. This motion will change the way in how the League is being managed and is therefore most important to be accepted in taking the League and its members into the future.

Without a quorum at the AGM, no voting can be conducted. If you cannot be at the AGM, it is important that you submit your proxy vote before 07:30 on Saturday 6 May 2017.

The Annual Awards Dinner will also be held at Bergvallei in Muldersdrift on Saturday evening.

** ICASA has cancelled over 2 000 amateur licences and a substantial amount of commercial licences as well. The South African Radio League has sent out several cautionary notices since last year indicating that ICASA was embarking on a programme to cancel all licences that are in arrears. Cancellations are either because the licences were not pay last and previous years or because individuals paid without a proper reference number or because they short paid. Furthermore, many of these licenses cancelled are dormant and are an accumulation of non-payment over many years. The League have e-mailed the members directly to inform them, including information on the way forward to rectify the problem. It must be reiterated that the primary responsibility rests with the licensee to renew their licences annually.

Many people are complaining that they are getting no response from ICASA. This may be because ICASA is totally snowed under with renewals and queries, both commercial and from amateurs.

Please note that if the cancellation was because of an ICASA error – they will re-instate the licence. If not – the person must re-apply for a new licence. If your licence was cancelled, you need to re-apply for your licence. This requires the following:
a. Complete the ICASA licence application form. It is on the League web site and can be found at http://www.sarl.org.za/public/ICASA/ICASA_Docs.asp
b. A copy of your ID.
c. A copy of either your operator certificate or HAREC certificate, (not required if it is a club). If you have mislaid this, the League can assist to provide a duplicate certificate.
d. Payment of the application fee of R140 and the current year’s licence fee of R134.00
e. Submission of documents and proof of payment to ICASA, together with a request to re-issue your old callsign.

Please note that only ICASA can answer any questions you may have. The League does not have any information relating to why your licence was cancelled. The people to contact at ICASA are - Dewald Kuhrau at e-mail dkurau@icasa.org.za or Daleen Bence at e-mail dbence@icasa.org.za. It is highly recommended to use e-mail rather than the telephone.

As a member of the South African Radio League – we will be happy to assist you with any unusual difficulty you may have regarding any of the above. But as a first step you must please contact ICASA to establish the full nature of the problem.

** Now for beacon news. This week we activated three new beacons. Bradley Glen, ZS5BG, started to beacon regularly on 250 mW using an Off-Centre Fed Dipole and he is getting many spots on 40 metres as well as 20 and 10 metres. The Jeugland Radio Club, ZR6JRC, beacon also became live pushing 250 mW into a 40 metres inverted Vee and it has already reached as far as Cape Town and Durban. Finally, the beacon kit that was donated to the Hammies a few weeks ago was constructed in record time and set up by Nic van Duffelen, ZR6AEZ, and it is currently active using the Hammies callsign ZS6ZU on 5 MHz using a centre fed folded dipole.

We welcome all the new Beaconeers on board and wish you a lot of fun with many exciting spots. Any amateurs who are interested in setting up an HF beacon please contact Leon Uys, ZR6LU on 082 573 5580 or on e-mail leonuys@gmail.com.

You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.

** The May issue of Radio ZS will be available for download from the League’s web site this evening. The Editor is busy with the final touches. In this issue Leon, ZR6LU, discusses ‘Amateurs in The Modern World’ and would love your comments. Andy, ZS6ADY, asks is if CW is a dying mode of communication? Angus, ZS6GOO, Steve, ZS6XU and Leon, ZR6L, team up to give us the birth of a Noise Cancelling Unit in South Africa and Mike, ZS2FM, gives us the VHF and above news. And there is more in this issue.

** WRTC 2018 Plans Call for Greater Participation by Young Contesters. The 8th World Radiosport Team Championship, WRTC 2018 in Germany next July, will offer seats on three teams for contesters who are 25 or younger at the time of the event. Prospective participants need only to apply. The international event running from 12 to 16 July 2018, will feature 42 competing teams. This will mark Germany's first time hosting WRTC, which takes place in conjunction with the IARU HF Championship event on 15 and 16 July 2018. The IARU contest provides a framework for the WRTC; the rules for each event differ.

Managing preparations for this WRTC is a 12-member organizing committee, headed by Chris Janssen, DL1MGB. The WRTC 2018 sites, all in the relatively flat Jessen-Wittenberg region south of Berlin in the former East Germany, have yet to be evaluated, but organizers aim to offer comparable operating sites for all participants. (ARRL Letter)

** Seven logs were received for the February leg of the SARL Digital contest which included one check log. Results are as follows:

1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN - 525 points
2nd Johannes Louw, ZS4WW - 504 points
3rd Allan Saul, ZS1LS - 414 points

Congratulations to Jan!

** The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) appears open to a DXpedition to Baker Island in the Pacific, which has not been activated for 15 years. Baker and Howland Islands (KH1) is the fourth most-wanted DXCC entity, according to the Club Log DXCC Most Wanted List. On 24 April, the FWS released a ‘Draft Compatibility Determination for Amateur Radio Operation’ for public review and comment. The comment period ends on 8 May. Public access to the Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is managed through a special use permit. Baker and Howland Islands are part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, created by former President George W. Bush under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The monument was expanded by former President Barack Obama. (ARRL Letter)

** Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to be at low levels. All the visible sunspots are currently stable with nearly no chance of major solar flares. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around six. The 15 to 30 m bands will provide lots of DX fun. With the effect of the equinox still lingering, the 10 m band will also hold some surprises on sunlit paths in the early afternoons. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.

** Let’s look at some upcoming events:

6 May – SARL Convention and AGM
13 May – AWA Valve AM QSO Party
14 May – AWA Valve SSB QSO Party
20 May – May Radio Amateur Examination
21 May – ZS3 Sprint
25 May – closing date for articles for the June Radio ZS
28 May – SARL Digital Contest

** To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:

Notice is hereby given in terms of Rule 11.4 of the Constitution and Rules of the South African Radio League, that the 2017 Annual General Meeting of the South African Radio League will be convened at Bergvallei in Muldersdrift on Saturday 6 May 2017 commencing at 09:00. Registration and submission of proxies will commence at 07:30.

And that brings us to the end of this 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 pod cast 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 Emile Venter, ZS6V, edited by Dennis Green, ZS4BS, and read by ..............

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

/EX