SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 22 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 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. 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 a silent key.

It is with deep regret that we must announce that the key of Poppie Meyer, ZS6BCP, has gone silent during the week.

We extend our sincere condolences to her husband Hansie, ZS6AIK, family and friends.

PAUSE

In the news, today:

NEW VENUE FOR CAPE TOWN SDR WORKSHOP

SARL AWARDS

And

THE CQ WW DX CONTESTS

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

NEW VENUE FOR CAPE TOWN SDR WORKSHOP

Due to problems on the CPUT campus, the venue for the SDR Workshop to be held in Cape Town on 4 November has been changed. The workshop will now be held at the Oakdale Club, 80A Bloemhof Road, Bellville, Cape Town. Booking for the workshop closes on 25 October 2017. For details visit www.amsatsa.org.za. Also, coffee will be served and after the workshop the restaurant and bar facilities will be available for lunch. Thanks to Georg and Dirk for organising this alternative venue!

SARL AWARDS

Do you know of a radio amateur who has rendered exceptional or outstanding service to the South African Radio League or to South Africa by means of radio science or to radio science itself or to amateur radio generally or that he or she has been a member of the League for an unbroken period of 20 years and during that time has rendered long and meritorious service to the South African Radio League and has always fully supported the South African Radio League in matters pertaining to it? Well, then how about nominating this radio amateur as an Honorary Life Member of the SARL.

The Willie Wilson Gold Badge is awarded at Council's own instance or by decision of an AGM to a radio amateur for exceptional and meritorious service to the League.

The Jack Twine Merit Award recognises qualities such as unselfishness, clean operating and a genuine interest in amateur radio and its affairs. This award is made to amateurs who, in the opinion of their fellow amateurs and/or the League's Council, exemplify the qualities desirable in a radio amateur. It will be awarded at the Council's own instance, provided that 80 per cent of the councillors present and voting agree; or on a proposal, with full motivation and signed by 10 members of the League in good standing.

The Icom Excellence Award is bestowed annually by Council on the SARL member who through his/her activity in the Amateur Radio Service has brought international recognition to South Africa by either the achievement of a VHF/UHF long distance record which is internationally recognised 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.

The Barney Joel Trophy is awarded by Council to any member of the South African Radio League for the best performance during the year whilst working HF mobile. This award could be made for performance by an individual in rally or another public event communication, etc.

The Arthur Hemsley 2 metre Trophy is 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 for persistence in achieving something special on 2-metres.

The Bert Buckley Six Metre Trophy is 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.

The Radio ZS Four Metre Floating Trophy is awarded by Council to any SARL member for his/her individual achievements with transmissions in the 40 and 70 MHz amateur bands. This award is not for the longest distance worked but for outstanding work or activity.

The Radio ZS Two Metre Floating Trophy is awarded by Council to the amateur who achieved the longest distance on the 2-metre band during the year

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

Your nomination for the above awards must reach the SARL Secretary by 31 January 2018.

NEW FREQUENCY FOR AMATEUR RADIO TODAY

The frequency of the Monday 18.30 local time transmission of Amateur Radio Today will change from Monday 30 October 2017 to 4 895 kHz. The transmissions on Sundays at 10:00 will remain 7205 and 17 760 kHz. Reception reports are invited, send an e-mail to artoday@sarl.co.za.

THE SARL HALL OF FAME AND THE FORGOTTEN SK PIONEER

There are many Halls of Fame in the world including amateur radio, covering the various fields of achievements, where homage is paid to their early pioneers who are now Silent Keys. Eight Silent Keys were inducted in the SARL Hall of Fame during 2016 and 2017, but the first licenced radio amateur and pioneer in South Africa, also a Silent Key, was omitted.

His name is William Edward Dixon Bennett (A3V, ZS4F, ZS4W, ZS5EG) who wrote the first South African history of amateur radio spark transmissions before World War I under the title "Amateur Radio in Retrospect" which was repeated in Radio ZS starting August 1949. He is also featured in the prelude of Part-1 of the new series entitled "History of Amateur Radio from World War I to World War II" in Radio ZS August 2017. Let us honour this old-timer during the next round of the SARL Hall of Fame and show him the respect that he deserved.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT ON BOOKS FOR SARL MEMBERS

Many different ARRL books are available to SARL members at discounted prices. For details visit www.amateurradio.org.za and avoid the delays caused by the Post office and Customs Service.

WORLD RADIOSPORT TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 ANNOUNCED 63 TEAMS TO COMPETE NEXT JULY

World Radiosport Team Championship 2018 (WRTC 2018) organizers have announced the 63 teams that have been invited to compete in the international event next July in Germany. WRTC is a competition among two-operator teams. Team leaders have been selected for each qualifying region based on 2 years of qualifying contest scores. Team leaders may choose any operator as a teammate.

"This will be a very competitive field. The top three teams of WRTC 2014 in Boston will participate once again in the 2018 event!" said Ulf Ehrlich, DL5AXX, who managed the selection process.

WRTC 2018 President Christian Janssen, DL1MGB, said event organizers were pleased to see a mix of WRTC veterans as well as first-time participants among the competitors. "The teams represent over 35 countries and a wide range of personal backgrounds," he said when making the announcement.

While the focus will be on the competition, we are looking forward to hosting the teams and celebrating a week of ham spirit together with competitors, organizers, volunteers and sponsors during the WRTC week.

Five sponsored teams have already been announced. The selection of the youth and wild card teams required a more formal application process and could only be completed recently, WRTC 2018 organizers said. Seven applications came from youth teams, representing contesters younger than age 25. WRTC 2018 takes place the same weekend as the IARU HF Championships.

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

THE CQ WW DX CONTESTS

The CQ WW is the largest Amateur Radio competition in the world. Over 35 000 participants take to the airwaves on the last weekend of October (SSB) and November (CW) with the goal of making as many contacts with as many different DXCC entities and CQ Zones as possible.

The SSB Contest runs from 00:00 UTC on Saturday 28 October to 23:59 UTC on Sunday 29 October (or 02:00 CAT on Saturday 28 October to 01:59 CAT on Monday 30 October). The exchange is a RS report and your CQ Zone. For stations in Swaziland, Bouvet Island, Lesotho, Botswana, the SANAE Base in Antarctica, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Tristan da Cunha and Gough Islands, South Africa and the Prince Edward and Marion Islands, that is Zone 38.

80 METRE QSO PARTY RESULTS DELAYED

Because of the storm and damages to Louis, ZS5LP's property as well as uncompleted or non-readable logs received for the 80-meter QSO Party, there will be an approximate 10-day delay for the final results. A plea to the contestants: Please submit your logs in EXCEL or Word format.

RESULTS OF OCTOBER QRP CONTEST

The results of the Spring QRP contest are as follows:

1st ZS6WR - West Rand ARC - 936 points
2nd ZS6ZU - Hammies ARC - 532 points
3rd ZS4DZ - Johan van Zijl - 252 points

The full results of this contest can be obtained from the Contest Results on the SARL web site.
THE TERAHERTZ SPECTRUM

Most radio amateurs are only active on the bottom 30 MHz of the entire radio spectrum, which covers in total 300 000 MHz (300 GHz). Fortunately, many amateurs also experimented on the VHF and UHF bands, while only a few ventured to explore the SHF and EHF bands up to 241 GHz. Radio astronomy, military, commercial stations either terrestrial or satellite, as well as scientists have investigated and/or occupied frequencies in the microwave spectrum. The top end of Microwave radiation overlaps the bottom end of the Deep infrared radiation, and for years nobody paid much attention to this Terahertz gap that covers 0,1 THz to 10 THz until they stumbled on to the unique properties of this submillimetre radiation.

It was with great difficulty that they first produced a few milliwatts of power on Terahertz. Water vapour in the air normally limits communications to about 10 metres, but it is not a problem in space or from the high-altitude sites, such as the infrared telescope at Alma, Atacama, Peru. Terahertz can see through walls and is a substitute for X-rays without its radiation hazard, including many other uses. Radio amateurs have already pioneered two-way contacts in Germany and the USA above 400 GHz up to a maximum distance of 1,4 km. During the World Radiocommunication Conference scheduled for 2019, frequency bands will be allocated from 275 - 450 GHz to the different radio services including amateur radio.

CHINESE CAS-4A AND CAS-4B AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITE TRANSPONDERS ACTIVATED

The Amateur Radio linear (SSB/CW) inverting transponders on the CAS-4A and CAS-4B satellites were activated on 18 October. CAMSAT's Amateur Radio payloads piggybacked on the optical remote-sensing micro-satellites OVS-1A (CAS-4A) and OVS-1B (CAS-4B), launched on 15 June.

CAS-4A (call sign BJ1SK) has a CW telemetry beacon on 144,855 MHz and 4.8 kB GMSK telemetry on 145,835 MHz. The uplink is 435,220 MHz, the downlink is 145,870 MHz (20-kHz passband).

CAS-4B (call sign BJ1SL) has a CW telemetry beacon on 145,910 MHz and 4,8 kB GMSK telemetry at 145,890 MHz. The uplink is 435,280 MHz, the downlink is 145,925 MHz (20-kHz passband).

PRETORIA AMATEUR RADIO CLUB FLEA MARKET

The Pretoria Amateur Radio Club, ZS6PTA, will be hosting their last flea market for 2017 on Saturday 28 October 2017 at their usual place, at the Pretoria Old Motor Club in Keuning Street, Silverton. The starting time is 10:00. Gates will open at 09:30 for vendors. The well-known boerewors rolls, and drinks will be available again. Everyone is welcome.

For any enquiries regarding the Pretoria Amateur Radio Club Flea Market, please contact Almero du Pisani, ZS6LDP on mobile number 083 938 8955 or send an e-mail to almero@up.ac.za

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to be at low levels. There are currently no visible sunspots. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around eleven. The 15 to 30 metre bands will provide lots of DX fun with some 10 metre openings also possible. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.

Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:

22 October – Jamboree on the Air
04 November – RADAR Challenge and the Cape Town SDR Workshop
05 November – PEARS HF DX contest
17 November – ZS40VDK Bash
18 November – Antique Wireless Ass Museum Open Day, Flea market and AGM.
18 November – Bo Karoo ARC AGM.
25 November – SARL Newbie QSO Party.

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

Due to problems on the CPUT campus, the venue for the SDR Workshop to be held in Cape Town on 4 November has been changed. The workshop will now be held at the Oakdale Club, 80A Bloemhof Road, Bellville, Cape Town. Booking for the workshop closes on 25 October 2017. For details visit www.amsatsa.org.za. Also, coffee will be served and after the workshop the restaurant and bar facilities will be available for lunch. Thanks to Georg and Dirk for organising this alternative venue!

This concludes our bulletin for this morning.

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 program, 'Amateur Radio Today' at 10:00 Central African Time. The program 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 Andy Cairns, ZS6ADY, edited by Dick Stratford, ZS6RO, and read by ..............

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

/EX