SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 25 MARCH 2018
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 ZS6JPL for a relay. A podcast is available from the Leagues 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 two silent keys.
It is with deep regret that we announce that the key of Christi van Zyl, ZS1CVZ, a member of the Winelands ARC, went silent on Friday 16 March 2018. One of the tyres on his vehicle had a blow-out causing it to roll, he passed away five days later.
We extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
It is with deep regret that we announce that the key of Jan Coetzee, ZS5JC, went silent on Thursday 22 March 2018 after losing the fight against cancer. Jan was instrumental in installing and maintaining the South Coast repeaters and he was a member of SARL HAMNET and the NSRI.
We extend our sincere condolences to his wife, Lolleigh, daughter Esmeralda Botes, ZS5EB, family and friends.
PAUSE
In the news today:
THREE CONTESTS TO START THE MONTH OF APRIL
CHINESE OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR APPEARS ON 40 METRES
and
RADIO AMATEURS ARE INVITED TO UPDATE THEIR RECORDS ON THE SARL VHF DX TABLE
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
THREE CONTESTS TO START THE MONTH OF APRIL
The first leg of the popular SARL 80 metre QSO Party is on the air from 17:00 to 20:00 UTC on Thursday 5 April 2018 with phone activity between 3 603 and 3 650, and 3 700 and 3 800 kHz. Please note that the segment 3 651 to 3 699.99 KHz is contest free. The exchange is your call sign, a RS signal report and your name. You can participate as a Single Operator station or as a Short-Wave Listener. You score 10 points for every contact with a South African station and 15 points for every contact with a station outside South Africa. Log sheets in MS Excel format ONLY must be submitted by 12 April 2018 by e-mail to zs5lp@vodamail.co.za
The first RaDAR Challenge for 2018 takes place on Saturday 7 April 2018 from 00:00 to 23:59 UTC. All amateur bands are allowed including cross band contacts via amateur radio satellites will all modes CW, SSB, FM or any legal amateur radio digital mode. The RaDAR challenge requires more than a minimalistic information exchange. Accurate information exchange is considered more important than a large QSO count. Call sign, name, RS (T) report and grid locator. The grid locator of six characters is acceptable but should preferably be accurate to 8 or 10 characters for higher position accuracy (especially for moving RaDAR stations). Log sheets must be submitted by 14 April 2018 and sent by e-mail to edleighton@gmail.com. A photo of the station should accompany every log entry including each new location that moveable RaDAR stations visit. The results and photos are used to promote RaDAR and amateur radio.
The first SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest using RTTY/PSK/WSJT but not limited to these modes, takes place from 10:00 UTC Saturday 7 April 2018 to 10:00 UTC Sunday 8 April 2018 with activity on 6, 4 and 2 metres, 70 and 23 cm and higher. You can participate as a Single Operator station, a Multi operator station, a Portable/Field Station or a Limited 4 Hour station. Contacts must be two-way point to point. Stations shall exchange signal reports as well as their location e.g. (latitude and longitude or full six-digit Maidenhead locator or accurate area/address/location). Copies of the VHF/UHF log sheet and summary sheet is available in MS Excel format on the League web site. Log sheets must be submitted by 16 April 2018 by e-mail to contest@sarl.org.za.
Please consult the 2018 SARL Blue Book for all the information on these three contests.
CHINESE OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR APPEARS ON 40 METRES
The International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Monitoring System (IARUMS) reports that one of China's over-the-horizon radar (OTHR) installations has been causing interference in the Amateur Radio 7 MHz band. The IARUMS February newsletter reports on that intruder and others.
Other Top 5 intruders include a "single-letter beacon" transmitting either the letter "K" or the letter "T" on 7 039.3 kHz. The source is believed to be in the Russian Pacific, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. A Russian F1B teleprinter signal (RDL) has appeared on 7 193 kHz, with an encrypted frequency-shift-keyed (50-baud) signal, originating in Kaliningrad. Authorities in Germany and Switzerland have filed official complaints.
A Russian orthogonal frequency-division multiplex OFDM 60 signal has been showing up on 14.235 MHz, covering nearly 3 kilohertz. It is said to be in Moscow. Three Russian OFDM 60 signals were active at the same time on 13 February. A Russian F1B signal has been observed on 14.308 MHz, 50 baud, 500 Hz shift, also reported to be in Moscow.
In the "miscellaneous or bad news" category, IARUMS Region 1 Coordinator Wolf Hadel, DK2OM, reports Spanish-speaking "fishermen" on 3 560 kHz (USB), heard daily at 16:00 UTC or later. These signals have been heard on other 80 metre frequencies. Broadcaster Radio Hargeisa in Somaliland continues to be reported on 7.120 MHz (AM) daily.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
A FREQUENCY CHANGE TO AMATEUR RADIO TODAY
The frequency for the rebroadcast of Amateur Radio Today on Monday evenings at 18:30 Central African Time will change on Monday 26 March 2018 to 3 230 kHz AM.
RADIO AMATEURS ARE INVITED TO UPDATE THEIR RECORDS ON THE SARL VHF DX TABLE
All amateurs are invited to update or correct their records on the SARL VHF, UHF and Microwave DX Table as soon as possible. The latest SARL VHF, UHF and Microwave DX Table for 31 January 2018 is now being prepared. Please send your updated information to Mike, ZS2FM by e-mail to mikecbosch@gmail.com
WHAT LIES ABOVE THE RADIO SPECTRUM: THE TERAHERTZ SPECTRUM
The top end of the microwave spectrum overlaps into the Deep Infrared spectrum but is separated by a narrow Terahertz gap covering 300 GHz to 3 000 GHz (3 THz), i.e. a wavelength from 1 - 0,1 mm (100 micrometres). It manifests very unusual characteristics, such as X-ray qualities without any dangerous radiation, can detect pipes in concrete, see through walls including people inside the room, and will all form part of the new allocations.
The World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) is considering new allocations in the 275 GHz to 450 GHz spectrum with its lower atmospheric attenuation for land-mobile and fixed services. The IARU feels that we have already staked our claim as the earlier WRC-15 has already recognized the presence of the amateur radio operation above 275 GHz with contacts as high as 403 and 411 GHz.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at very low levels. There are currently no sunspots visible and no flaring activity is expected. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around one. The 15 to 30 m bands may provide lots of DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
Today until midnight UTC the CQ WPX SSB Contest
26 March the closing date for articles for the April Radio ZS, and the AR Today frequency change
28 March Provincial schools close
30 March Good Friday/Pesach
31 March - the Two Oceans Marathon
02 April Family Day
5 April the SARL 80 m QSO Party
7 April the RaDAR Challenge
7 to 8 April the SARL VHF/UHF Digital Competition
13 to 15 April the SARL National Convention in Pretoria
To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:
There are three contests to start the month of April. On Thursday 5 April you can participate in the SARL 80 Metre QSO Party and over the weekend you can participate in the RaDAR Challenge and the SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest. Consult the 2018 SARL Blue Book.
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 Dennis Green, ZS4BS/6, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR, and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
/EX
