SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 11 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.
In the news, today:
TODAY, 11 NOVEMBER IS REMEMBRANCE DAY
SUCCESSFUL VHF QSOs BETWEEN ZS1, ZS3 AND ZD7
and
BOOK NOW FOR THE NEXT AMSATSA/SARL WORKSHOP ON 24 NOVEMBER
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
TODAY, 11 NOVEMBER IS REMEMBRANCE DAY
At approximately 05:00 on Monday 11 November 1918, 100 years ago today, the Armistice was signed in a railway carriage of Marshall Foch’s special train located in the forest at Rethondes in France on the western front. At 11:00 on this Monday the 11th November 1918, the roar of guns ceased, peace and silence finally descended on the western front, ending the First World War. It is estimated that close to 9,5 million soldiers, sailors and airmen of all sides died in the Great War.
At 10:45 CAT today, 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.
SUCCESSFUL VHF QSOs BETWEEN ZS1, ZS3 AND ZD7
Kobus van der Merwe, ZS3JPY reported that between 19:45 and 21:45 UTC on Wednesday 7 November 2018, a QSO took place on 2 metres between St Helena Island and the West Coast of the Northern Cape. A distance of about 2 740 km.
The QSO was on 145,500 MHz FM using vertically polarised antennas between Garry Mercury, ZD7GWM and Kobus (ZS3JPY) and Michelle (ZS3TO) van der Merwe in Kleinzee as well as Cobus van Baalen, ZS3CVB in Port Nolloth. They did try a QSO on 70 cm, but the signals did not provide for a successful QSO. They decided to try again on 8 November.
Charles le Roux, ZS1CF in Langebaan reported that from about 19:30 CAT on Thursday evening 8 November, he was listening to Cobus, ZS3CVB in Port Nolloth and Koos, ZS3JPY in Kleinzee calling Gary ZD7GWM on 145,500 FM. Charles listened until 21:50 and decided to go to bed. At 22:00 CAT he received a missed call from ZS3JPY and decided to switch on the radios again. At about 22:10, he started to hear ZD7GWM and then gave his call. Gary came back and gave Charles a 54 report, Charles gave him a 41 report. The QSO took place over a distance of approximately 3 049 km.
Listen to AR Today for a full report on the VHF activity along the West Coast. Congratulations to everybody involved.
BALLOON LAUNCH ON 17 NOVEMBER
BinarySpace will be launching another High Altitude Balloon on Saturday 17 November at the Northwest University’s Vaal Triangle Campus. The payload will consist of a SSTV Camera (built by Ton van den Bon, ZR6TG) that will transmit live images every 5 minutes on 144,500 Mhz. The payload will also contain a repeater (built by Frik Wolff, ZS6FZ) with a 70 cm uplink and a 2 m downlink (the exact frequencies to be confirmed on the BinarySpace Facebook page closer to the launch). APRS will be used for tracking the balloon with callsign ZR6TG on 144,800 Mhz. The final launch is dependent on Air Traffic Control 'go ahead' on the day. All signal reports will be appreciated.
KD2JTX ELECTED AS ITU TELECOMMUNICATION DEVELOPMENT BUREAU DIRECTOR
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, KD2JTX, an ARRL member, has been elected as Director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT). Her election, on the first ballot in a three-way race, came on 1 November at the ITU's Plenipotentiary 2018 Conference in Dubai. Doreen becomes the first woman on the ITU executive team.
Doreen has more than 20 years of experience at the ITU. During the past decade she has headed the ITU General Secretariat Strategic Planning and Membership Department for the Secretary General. Her responsibilities have included developing the ITU's strategic and operational plans in the context of ICT trends and the global information economy, representing the ITU in engagement with other bodies, and directing and managing all ITU global conferences.
(ARRL Letter)
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
BOOK NOW FOR THE NEXT AMSATSA/SARL WORKSHOP ON 24 NOVEMBER
SARL and AMSAT SA will be joining forces and present a workshop on monitoring of the RF noise floor and the impact it has on Amateur Radio. There will also be a major focus on lightning protection. Paul van As of Surgetek will cover two major subjects: The myths about lightning, and practical aspects of how to protect your equipment. Surgetek specialises in all aspects of earthing, lightning and overvoltage protection. During this time, the company has played a major role in drafting relevant SABS earthing and lightning protection codes such as 03A, 03 and 0199. Today, the codes 03A and 03 have been replaced with SANS 0313, which incorporates the whole IEC suite of documents.
Other items on the agenda include: Launch of two automated stations, design review of a Raspberry Pi automated station, troubleshooting the setting up of an RF noise floor monitoring station with Anton Janovsky and Brian Jacobs, review of stored data, trends and analysis, Wireless Power Transfer and the creation of a list of RF friendly devices (energy saving lamps, LED's, etc.), the opposite to a list of products not to buy, and how to do a simple test and check the noise environment around your house.
The detailed programme and registration form are available on www.amsatsa.org.za. Book now. The cost is R50 for SARL and AMSAT SA members, and R150 for non-members.
THE TINUS LANGE 7066 TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Following the publishing of the news item about the Tinus Lange Award in last Sunday’s SARL News, the first entry was received during the week.
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 Award is a framed certificate and a cash award of R1 000.
THE SASOLBURG ARC AGM
The Sasolburg Amateur Radio Club held its AGM on Saturday 27 October in Vaalpark. The new committee elected at the meeting consists of
Chairman: Riaan Greeff, ZS4PR
Vice chairman: Frik Wolff, ZS6FZ
Treasurer: Derick Vorster ZS6DK
Secretary: Henk Kruger, ZS4NT
and co-opted member Ronnél Kruger, ZR6RNL.
The members of the technical committee are Ockerd Taljaard, ZS4LZ, Frik Wolff, ZS6FZ, Tom van den Bon, ZR6TG and Jaco le Roux, ZS6PX. The members of the youth team are Henk Kruger, ZS4NT, Chané Greeff, ZS4CG, and Jaco Delport, ZS6KJ. Erich Jannasch, ZS4VW coordinates the social activities for the Club. Riaan sincerely thanked the outgoing committee for their service to the club. He looks forward to the next year and believes the new committee will take the club to new heights.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at low levels. Currently there is only a tiny sunspot 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 provide lots of DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
Today – 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.
17 November – Balloon launch at Vaal Triangle Campus.
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.
24 November – the Cape Town ARC End of Year Function at the club house.
24 November – the SARL Newbie Sprint, the West Rand ARC Flea Market and the SARL/AMSAT SA Workshop.
24 and 25 November – the CQ WW DX CW Contest.
1 December – the start of the YOTA December activity.
8 and 9 December – the ARRL 10 metre contest.
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:
TODAY, 11 NOVEMBER IS REMEMBRANCE DAY
At 10:45 CAT today, 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. We will remember them!
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 Dennis Green, ZS4BS, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
/EX
