SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER 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 the country. Echolink listeners may connect to ZS0JPL for a relay. A podcast is available from the League’s web site.

Audio and text bulletins may be downloaded from the League website at www.sarl.org.za where you can also sign up to receive future bulletins by e-mail.

We start the bulletin this morning with news of five silent keys.

Craig Smith ZS5AV was murdered in his farmhouse in the district of Mid Illovo in KZN on the night of 14 September. Craig was 62 years old and living alone at the time. He is survived by his two children, Andrew and Laura. Craig was very active on the HF bands in the 1980's and 1990's. He became more active on 6 and 2 meters SSB in the latter period. He had not been very active for the past 10 years. Sincere condolences to his children, Andrew and Laura.

It is with deep regret that the passing of Leon Koekemoer, ZS6LX, on Tuesday 12 September 2017 must be announced.

It is with deep regret that the passing of CTARC member, Hugo Friedmann, ZS1HSF, on 12 September must be announced.

It is with deep regret that the passing of Hans Vorster, ZS6VH 27 September following a stroke, must be announced.

It is with deep regret that the passing of the doyen of VHF and above in South Africa, Ivo Chladek, ZS6AXT, on 28 September must be announced.

We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of these radio amateurs.

PAUSE

In the news today,

THREE LOCAL CONTESTS THIS WEEK

FULL KLETSKOUS CUBESAT TO FLY ON BACAR ON 21 OCTOBER 2017

and

FEEDBACK ON THE 24th IARU REGION 1 GENERAL CONFERENCE

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

THREE LOCAL CONTESTS THIS WEEK

On Thursday evening 5 October, you can participate in the popular SARL 80 m QSO Party which will run from 17:00 to 20:00 UTC. Phone activity takes place between 3 603 and 3650, and 3 700 and 3 800 kHz and the exchange is your call sign, a RS report and your name. Contacts with stations in South Africa are worth 10 points, while contacts outside South Africa are worth 15 points. Log sheets in MS Excel format ONLY must be submitted by e-mail to zs5lp@vodamail.co.za by Thursday 12 October 2017.

The second leg of the AWA Valve QSO Party takes place on 7 and 8 October. The AM QSO Party runs from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC on Saturday 7 October and the SSB QSO Party from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC Sunday 8 October 2017. Activity takes place on 40 metres between 7 063 and 7 100 kHz, and 7 130 and 7 200 kHz, and on 80 metres between 3 603 and 3 650 kHz. The exchange is your call sign, a RS report, a consecutive serial number starting at 001 and the type of radio used. The log sheets must be submitted by 23 October 2017 to andyzs6ady@vodamail.co.za.

The Spring QRP Contest is on the air from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC on Saturday 7 October 2017 with phone and CW activity using 5 Watts or less on the HF contest bands. The first hour is restricted to the 40 metre band. The exchange is a RS or RST report and your Grid locator. Logs, in ADIF, Cabrillo or MS Excel format and labelled “you call sign QRP Contest,” must be submitted by Saturday 14 October 2017 by e-mail to contest@sarl.org.za. Note: A photo(s) of the station operating (JPG format) MUST accompany every log entry.

Get the complete rules for these three contests in the 2017 SARL Blue Book.

While talking about the Blue Book, Geoff, ZS6C and his team are working on the 2018 Blue Book and request any suggestions for changes or improvements to the present contests or suggestions for new contests to be sent by e-mail to contest@sarl.org.za by the end of October 2017.

FULL KLETSKOUS CUBESAT TO FLY ON BACAR ON 21 OCTOBER 2017

The AMSAT SA Kletskous team is putting the final touches on the CubeSat to be tested on the BACAR flight on 21 October 2017. The team is integrating the electrical power system (EPS), the stabiliser board, the on-board computer system, the transponder and antennas into the new space frame. No solar panel will be flown. Kletskous will be powered by a battery. This is a precautionary measure as solar panels are very expensive and could be severely damaged on the landing. BACAR is scheduled to be launched at 09:00 from an airfield near Secunda.

Kletskous is a crowd funded project. Please become part of the project by donating to the Kletskous fund. Details and regular updates can be found on www.amsatsa.org.za. All donors are acknowledged on the website.

The transponder frequencies are as follows: Uplink 435.135 - 435.165 MHz with the downlink on 145.850 - 145.880 MHz. There are many other payloads scheduled to be flown on BACAR.

THE NOVEMBER RADIO ZS

The November Radio ZS is the Youth issue and will include a report back from the YOTA Summer Camp held at Gilwell Park in August and news about JOTA and CQ Hou Koers. The various Hammies Clubs are asked to tell us more about their activities.

During August, many lighthouses were activated for ILLW. What about a story from your lighthouse? Summits on the Air has picked up in South Africa, following additions to the database – where are the photos and stories? Send your contributions to radiozs@sarl.org.za

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

SEVERAL ISLANDS AROUND SOUTH AFRICA ARE LOOKING FOR VHF CONTACTS

There are a number of Islands on the east, south and west coasts of South Africa that are within the 3 000 km distance from the coast and well inside the Tropo Ducting range of 144 MHz, that is, if there are any active VHF amateurs. They are Madagascar, Reunion Island, Marion Island, Tristan da Cunha and St. Helena Island.

FR5DN on Reunion Island is a very active VHF amateur who has been logged for many years from the East Coast on 144 MHz SSB and digital, as well as on 432 MHz SSB, and even as far afield as Port Elizabeth around 3 240 km, on both 144 MHz SSB and digital. ZS8MI on Marion Island was worked from PE on 50 MHz SSB via Tropo Ducting as well as Sporadic-E propagation a long time ago. Over the years the Sporadic-E distance from Marion Island was increased as far as Ramsgate on 50 MHz when ZR1BCE/8 was at the weather station. Recently FR5DN was joined in Reunion Island by another amateur, FR5FC, on 144 MHz.

On the West Coast there is a VHF amateur, ZD7VC, on St. Helena Island who is keen to work Namibia and South Africa on 144 MHz via Tropo Ducting. Who on the West Coast will take up the challenge?

FEEDBACK ON THE 24th IARU REGION 1 GENERAL CONFERENCE

The 24th General Conference of IARU Region 1 opened on Sunday 17 September 2017 with 130 delegates from forty Member Societies as well as officers from the IARU, Regions 1, 2 and 3. Thirteen Member Societies, represented by proxies at the Conference, were there. The Conference was held at the Sparkassenakademie Bayern in Landshut, Germany and hosted by the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club (DARC).

Progress was made at the conference on a number of topics that are of key concern to radio amateurs. These came from getting people together over several days and facing them with the realities that we need to protect our spectrum as well as address the declining numbers of active Radio Amateurs.

The Conference reviewed the strategy of IARU Region 1, its finances and membership. Other matters reviewed included the work of a number of permanent Committees, Working Groups and coordinators, including EMC, Political Relations, Emergency Communications, Youth, ARDF, Development of Amateur Radio in developing countries, Spectrum development and protection via ITU, CEPT, and the World Radiocommunication Conferences (Spectrum and Regulatory Liaison Committee), Intruder Watch, Space and High-Speed Telegraphy.

The Conference also reviewed policy in the key spectrum areas of LF/HF and VHF/UHF/Microwave. Discussions extended over a range of areas, including band planning, contesting, remote working, and innovative developments in the areas of satellites and digital TV. The position on the World Communication Conference 2019 was also discussed.

A full report of the proceedings of the final Plenary has been published on the IARU Region 1 web site at www.iaru-r1.org/index.php/general-conference

A new Executive Committee was elected during the Final Plenary of the 24th IARU Region 1 General Conference. The Executive Committee for 2017 to 2020, who will start their term of office on 31 October 2017, are President: Don Beattie, G3BJ; Vice President: Faisal Al-Ajmi, 9K2RR; Treasurer: Andreas Thiemann, HB9JOE; Secretary: Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T and Members: Oliver Tabakovski, Z32TO; Sylvain Azarian, F4GKR, Alessandro Carletti, IV3KKW, Mats Espling, SM6EAN, and Joerg Jaehrig, DJ3HW. The 25th IARU Region 1 General Conference will be held in September 2020 in Nova Sad, Serbia, hosted by SRS.

The Region 1 Roy Stevens, G2BVN, Memorial Trophy, the highest recognition that Region 1 can award, was awarded to Colin Thomas, G3PSM for his outstanding contribution to amateur radio and the work of IARU over several decades.

At the Gala Dinner held on Thursday evening 21 September many awards were handed over. Retiring HF Manager for Region 1, Ulrich Mueller, DK4VW, received honorary life membership of the DARC as well as the Region 1 Medal for his work as HF Manager of the Region. Graham Shirville, the Region 1 Satellite Coordinator, Greg Mossop, G0DUB, the Region 1 Emergency Communications Coordinator and Lisa Leenders, PA2LS, the Region 1 Youth Working Group Chair received the Region 1 Medal from Don Beattie, G3BJ, Region 1 President. Retiring Region 1 Secretary, Dennis Green, ZS4BS, also received the Region 1 Medal for his contribution to Region 1 as Secretary since 2009. Dennis was appointed as the Region 1 HF Beacon Coordinator for the next three years.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to be at low levels. None of the three visible sunspots poses a threat for strong solar flares. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around twenty-two. The 15 to 30 m bands will provide lots of DX fun with some 10 m openings also possible. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.

Finally, a diary of some upcoming events:

5 October – the SARL 80 m QSO Party
7 October – the East Rand Branch Flea Market
7 October – the SARL Spring QRP Contest
7 and 8 October – the AWA AM and SSB QSO Party
20 to 22 October – Jamboree on the Air
21 October – the Radio Amateur Examination and CQ Hou Koers
28 and 29 October – the CQ WW DX SSB Contest

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

Three local contests this week: On Thursday evening 5 October, you can participate in the popular SARL 80 m QSO Party which will run from 17:00 to 20:00 UTC. The second leg of the AWA Valve QSO Party takes place on 7 and 8 October. The AM QSO Party runs from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC on Saturday 7 October and the SSB QSO Party from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC Sunday 8 October 2017 and the Spring QRP Contest is on the air from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC on Saturday 7 October 2017 with phone and CW activity using 5 Watts or less on the HF contest bands.

This 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 podcast available from Dick Stratford, ZS6RO. A rebroadcast can be heard on Monday evenings at 18:30 Central African Time on 3230 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 Dennis Green, ZS4BS, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR, and read by ..............

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

/EX