SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 21 OCTOBER 2018
Good morning and welcome to the weekly news bulletin of the South African Radio League read by ................ [name call sign and QTH]
The South African Radio League broadcasts a news bulletin each Sunday in Afrikaans as well as English, at 08:15 and 08:30 Central African Time respectively, on HF as well as on various VHF and UHF repeaters around the country. The bulletin is relayed via Echolink by ZS6JPL. A podcast is available on the League website. 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 with news of a silent key.
It is with deep regret that we must announce that the key of David le Roux, ZS1DAV went silent on Tuesday 16 October 2018. He was a member of the SARL and the Boland Amateur Radio Club and involved in SARL Hamnet Western Cape.
We extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
PAUSE
In the news, today:
THE OCTOBER RAE RESULTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED
CW INTEREST GROUP
and
SO, WHAT HAS THE IARU EVER DONE FOR US?
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
THE OCTOBER RAE RESULTS HAVE BEEN RELEASED
The results of the October Radio Amateur Examination were released on Friday 19 October and can be found under “Examination Results” on the left hand side of the SARL home page. Congratulations to all the candidates who passed; we hope to hear you on the air. Thank you to the RAE teams across the country who were involved with the exam.
SARL HAMNET DEPUTY NATIONAL DIRECTOR
At the SARL Council meeting held on 9 October, the appointment of Grant Southey, ZS1GS as the new SARL Hamnet Deputy National Director was approved. Grant will also continue as Regional Director for SARL Hamnet Western Cape as well.
SARL News congratulates Grant on his appointment and wishes him all of the best in this new venture.
CW INTEREST GROUP
A new young group of CW enthusiasts is making its mark on the local bands. It all started when a few interested amateurs expressed their interest in CW and Daryl, ZS6DLL sprang into action to encourage them to go ahead and try it and started holding CW lessons on "Hangouts", a google chat function on the internet, to get them going. Today there is a WhatsApp group of 23 old and new CW enthusiasts warming up the ether on a regular basis on 40 and 80 m in the late afternoons. Anytime from around 16:30 on a daily basis, one can hear the tones of CW on 7 020 and 3 550 as the group starts to warm up. CW from 5 to 20 wpm will be found at one or other time on those frequencies or very close to them.
The group has extended an open invitation to all those interested in CW to either come up and join them on frequency or let Daryl, ZS6DLL know about their interest and they too can become part of this revival. Read all about it in the next Radio ZS.
SO, WHAT HAS THE IARU EVER DONE FOR US?
The Radio Society of Great Britain have released the presentation given by IARU Region 1 President Don Beattie, G3BJ to the RSGB Convention in Milton Keynes on 13 October - So what has the IARU ever done for us?
What the IARU is and what it does is not well known to radio amateurs. In this talk, Don describes what IARU is doing, how the challenges of representing amateur radio globally are changing and what the world would be like without IARU.
He explains the work done on current threats to amateur spectrum allocations – including Wireless Power Transmission - and describes some of the “doomsday” scenarios if IARU is not successful.
You with find the URL for the video in SARL Communication dated Friday 19 October 2018. Please have a look at this video and see what the IARU is doing for you.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP
SARL News would like to thank all the radio amateurs who have been involved with JOTA and CQ Hou Koers this weekend. Thank you for your time and equipment to allow the young people to enjoy amateur radio. Thank you that you have been important in the life of a young person.
CONTEST NEWS
The CQ World Wide DX SSB Contest runs from 00:01 UTC on Saturday 27 October to 23:59 UTC on Sunday 28 October. Activity takes place on 160 to 10 metres and the exchange is a RS report and your CQ Zone, for South Africa that is Zone 38. If propagation is good, you can work the world.
The PEARS HF Contest takes place from 12:00 UTC to 16:00 UTC on Sunday 28 October with SSB, CW and digital activity on 20, 15 and 10 metres. You can participate as a Single Operator, Base or Field Station or a Multi Operator, Base or Field station. The exchange is a Call sign and CQ Zone. Log sheets must be submitted by 19 November 2018 by e-mail to contest@peham.co.za.
On Saturday 3 November, the RaDAR Challenge is on the air for the full 24 hours, but you only need to be active for a 4-hour period that you decide on.
The second leg of the SARL VHF/UHF Analogue Contest takes place on the weekend of 10 and 11 November.
The second leg of the SARL Newbie Contest takes place on Saturday 24 November. The CQ World Wide DX CW contest is on the air on 24 and 25 November with activity on 160 to 10 metres and the exchange is an RST report and your CQ Zone.
DO YOU HAVE A STORY FOR RADIO ZS?
Do you have a story about the JOTA Weekend, or the CQ Hou Koers weekend? What about that SOTA you did yesterday or a Club activity. Do you have a nice photo of young people enjoying amateur radio that can be used for the front cover of Radio ZS? Please send your contribution to radiozs@sarl.org.za by Wednesday 24 October.
FREQUENCY CHANGE FOR AR TODAY
From Monday 29 October, the AR Today rebroadcast on Monday evenings at 18:30 CAT will change from 3 230 kHz AM to 4 895 kHz AM. The Sunday frequencies will not change.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at low levels. Currently there are no sunspots visible. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around one. The 10 to 30 m bands may, especially at sunrise and sunset, provide lots of DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
22 October – the closing date for AWA Valve QSO Party logs.
24 October – the closing date for your article for the November Radio ZS.
27 October – the Pretoria ARC Flea Market and the Cape Town ARC meeting.
27 and 28 October – the CQ WW DX SSB Contest.
28 October – the PEARS HF contest.
31 October – your input for the 2019 SARL Blue Book to contest@sarl.org.za.
03 November – the RaDAR Challenge.
10 and 11 November – the SARL VHF/UHF Analogue contest.
11 November – Remembrance Sunday, 100 years since the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918.
23 November – the Cape Town ARC end of the year function.
24 November – the SARL Newbie Contest and the West Rand ARC Flea Market.
24 and 25 November – the CQ WW DX CW Contest.
To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:
The results of the October Radio Amateur Examination were released on Friday 19 October and can be found under “Examination Results” on the left hand side of the SARL home page. Congratulations to all the candidates who passed; we hope to hear you on the air. Thank you to the RAE teams across the country who were involved with the exam.
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, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
/EX
