SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 4 NOVEMBER 2018
Good morning and welcome to the weekly news bulletin of the South African Radio League read by ................ [your 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 on 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 begin this news bulletin with news of two silent keys:
It is with deep regret that we must announce that the keys of Johan Smit, ZS3AAK and Howard Ware, ex-ZS6ZS went silent on Thursday 01 November 2018.
Johan was a founder member, first chairman and honorary member of the Northern Cape Amateur Radio Club, ZS3NC. We extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
Howard was a pivotal member in the forming stages of SARL Hamnet Gauteng South. We extend our sincere condolences to Melanie, Jono and Matt, family and friends.
PAUSE
In the news, today:
SUNDAY 11 NOVEMBER IS REMEMBRANCE DAY
THE SARL VHF WORKGROUP SELECTS A COORDINATOR
and,
A CHANCE TO WIN R1 000
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
THE AMATEUR RADIO TODAY PROGRAMME ON A DIFFERENT REPEATER TODAY
Amateur Radio Today will be transmitted on 145,725 MHz on the Pretoria Club repeater today Sunday 4 November and not on the 145,750 MHz repeater which will be used by SARL HAMNET to support the Pretoria Cycle race.
SUNDAY 11 NOVEMBER IS REMEMBRANCE DAY
At 10:45 CAT on Sunday 11 November 2018, Amateur Radio Today will broadcast a Remembrance Day message by Rev Jan Kramer, ZS6JRK. As a mark of respect and in memory of those who lost their lives in service of their country, you are requested to observe radio silence from 10:45 to 11:00 CAT.
THE SARL VHF WORKGROUP SELECTS A COORDINATOR
Dick Coates, ZS6BUN was selected as the Coordinator for the SARL VHF/UHF/Microwave workgroup. The formation of the workgroup resulted from discussions at the recent joint SARL/AMSATSA workshop held at the NARC. The workgroup met on Skype this week and agreed on two main initial initiatives to get the promotion of activity on bands above 30 MHz off the ground.
As a number of beacons are already operating in South Africa, it was agreed to prepare a comprehensive list and publish the information on the SARL web and in the news. Dick is calling on beacon operators to send all the information to vhfnews@sarl.org.za.
The second initial initiative is to set up a two-metre beacon in the upper Karoo area. The workgroup will meet again on 15 November at 20:30. This is an open invitation to join the discussion. To participate make sure you have an updated version of Skype. If you have a proposal that you would like to discuss, please send it to vhfnews@sarl.org.za and it will be distributed to all participants prior to the skype meeting. Please also include your Skype name so that you can be connected.
AN SDR CUBESAT ON THE CARDS
AMSAT SA has announced that parallel to its analogue Kletskous CubeSat, the group is working on a digital project featuring a Software defined transponder. Called AfriCUBE, the CubeSat will use the same space frame as KLETSKOUS. Anton Janovsky is current building a prototype transponder. AMSATSA is inviting persons interested in becoming part of the development team to send their details to admin@amsatsa.org.za.
Meanwhile the development and final construction of the AMSAT SA KLETSKOUS is plagued by electronic component obsolescence. This forces unwanted design changes to be made to ensure that when the time comes to construct the final launch unit, the main components are still available. The KLETSKOUS team decided to freeze the design of KLETSKOUS and purchase a quantity of devices to proactively mitigate future obsolescence. This decision will also speed up the process of putting a final satellite on the table. "Every time we change designs to mitigate for the discontinued components, it is like starting the design afresh, often creating new problems that have to be solved", Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP said. "By freezing the design, in other words making a final decision on the main specialised devices to be used, we will be able to speed up the process of putting a flight ready unit on the table." KLETSKOUS is not a textbook design. Most of the sub-components that will make up KLETSKOUS are designed and being built by the volunteer team. "We do not have the finances to go out and purchase sub-units and simply wire them up," Hannes said.
AMSAT SA is holding its 2019 Space Symposium on Saturday 16 March 2019 in Gauteng. The theme of the conference is "Space Science with Amateur Radio." Paper proposals are invited. Send your synopsis to admin@amsatsa.org.za.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
THE SECOND LEG OF THE SARL VHF/UHF ANALOGUE CONTEST
The second leg of the SARL VHF/UHF Analogue Contest takes place from 10:00 UTC on Saturday 10 November to 10:00 UTC on Sunday 11 November 2018 with FM, SSB and CW 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 or field station or a limited 4 hour station. Get all the information on page 45 of the 2018 Blue Book.
HERE IS A CHANCE TO WIN R1 000
Do you enjoy building pieces of equipment to use in or outside the Shack? Or writing software to use for amateur radio? Well then how about entering for the Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Excellence Award? The award is bestowed annually on the League member who submits a technical project in any of the following categories; a) the design and/or construction of projects such as a pre-amp, SWR bridge, automatic ID'er, practical antenna ideas, mast, portable gear, power supplies, etc.; or b) any software for use in Amateur Radio.
The submission must include the actual items (if size and mass allow) or photographs (particularly in the case of antennas, masts, etc.), and a complete write-up in article form with illustrations/pictures, ready for publication in Radio ZS. All entries are to be displayed (where practical, otherwise in photographs) at the SARL National Convention and the Award will be presented at the Annual Awards Dinner. The Award is a framed certificate and a cash award of R1 000. The closing date for entries is Thursday 31 January 2019 and must be sent to secretary@sarl.org.za.
THE RESULTS OF THE SARL VHF/UHF DIGITAL CONTEST
The results of the SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest held in September 2018 have been released. The full set of results are available on the SARL website under Contest Results.
1st Andre Botes, ZS2ACP - 42 038 points
2nd Pieter Jacobs, V51PJ Pieter Jacobs - 38 409 points
3rd Carl Minne, ZS6CBQ and Rikus de Lange, ZS4A - 4 264 points
THE OVERBERG ARC END OF YEAR FUNCTION
The Overberg Amateur Radio Club will be holding their end of the year function on Saturday 10 November at the QTH of John, ZS1DI, at Stanford. There will be a short meeting and then the fun begins with a mini flea market and other activities. This is the usual bring and braai and visitors are welcome. You can camp over if you are so inclined. Contact Andre, ZS1AZ, at 072 729 1680 or 028 514 2018 for further details.
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 15 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:
5 November – 5 GHz input to sarlregwg@sarl.org.za
10 November – the AWA AGM and the closing date for RaDAR logs.
10 and 11 November – the SARL VHF/UHF Analogue Contest.
11 November – 10:45 to 11:00 Remembrance Day message on AR Today - 100 Years since the end of WW1. Please remember to maintain radio silence during the service.
19 November – the closing date for PEARS HF logs and the VHF/UHF contest logs.
22 November – the closing date for the December Radio ZS.
23 November – the Cape Town ARC End of Year Function at the club house.
24 November – the SARL Newbie Sprint and the West Rand ARC Flea Market.
24 and 25 November – the CQ WW DX CW Contest.
1 December – the start of the YOTA December activity.
15 December - Proposal for papers and presentations for the February 2019 VHF/UHF Workshop to vhfnews@sarl.org.za.
To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:
At 10:45 CAT on Sunday 11 November 2018, Amateur Radio Today will broadcast a Remembrance Day message by Rev Jan Kramer, ZS6JRK. As a mark of respect and in memory of those who lost their lives in service of their country, you are requested to observe radio silence from 10:45 to 11:00 CAT.
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 4 895 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
