SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 30 DECEMBER 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:
AMSAT SA SPACE SYMPOSIUM, A FEW DAYS LEFT TO SUBMIT PAPER PROPOSALS
THE 2019 WORKED ZONE 38 AWARD
and
AMSAT SA DUAL BAND VHF/UHF ANTENNA NOW AVAILABLE
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
AMSAT SA SPACE SYMPOSIUM, A FEW DAYS LEFT TO SUBMIT PAPER PROPOSALS
Some interesting subjects will be presented at the 2019 AMSAT SA Space Symposium to be held on Saturday 16 March 2019 in Gauteng. Already on the programme are: How to work DX on Es'hailSat, build your own satellite ground station and join the SatNogs community and build an educational CubeSat that can be used for experimentation and teaching in the classroom. The final closing date for proposals for papers to be presented is Tuesday 15 January 2019. More details can be found on www.amsatsa.org.za
THE 2019 SARL DAY OF THE RADIO AMATEUR
The following members of the Council will stand down at the 2019 AGM - Nico van Rensburg, ZS6QL; Etienne Naude, ZS6EFN; Cliff Smythe, ZS6BOX; Geoff Levey, ZS6C and Leon Uys, ZR6N. Nominations to serve on Council are thus called for. The retiring Councillors may be nominated.
Nominations for the following awards and trophies are called for – Honorary Life Membership, the Willie Wilson Gold Badge, the Jack Twine Merit Award, the ICOM Excellence Award, the SAATI Technology Award, the Barney Joel Trophy, the Bert Buckley Six Metre Trophy, the Radio ZS Four Metre Floating Trophy, the Arthur Hemsley 2 metre Trophy, the Radio ZS Two Metre Floating Trophy, the Joseph White Plaque and the Brian Jones, ZS6BV SOTA ZS Award.
The Gary Immelman RA Heritage Award Floating Trophy is for the best article of an historic nature of an event that occurred more than 5 years previously or an interesting personality that has played an important part in the development of Amateur Radio in years gone by. The JJ Pienaar Trophy is for the best article published in Radio ZS during the past year. On pages 14, 15 and 16 of the December 2018 Radio ZS, you will find all the information about the SARL Awards and Trophies. The Tinus Lange 7066 Technical Excellence Award has R1 000 prize money.
Motions for discussion at the 2019 AGM are also invited. Nominations for these Awards and Trophies, nominations for Council and motions for the AGM must be submitted to the SARL Secretary by midnight on Thursday 31 January 2019 using the e-mail secretary@sarl.org.za. Nomination templates and a template for motions can be found by following the link in the 2019 Day of the Radio item in the Member's Only section.
THE 2019 WORKED ZONE 38 AWARD
According to the CQ Magazine’s Worked all Zones award programme, Zone 38 is known as the South African Zone. The following entities are in Zone 38: Eswatini (Swaziland), Bouvet Island, Lesotho; Botswana, Namibia, Tristan da Cunha and Gough Island, Zimbabwe; South Africa; Marion Island and some Antarctic stations. To obtain the 2019 Zone 38 Award, radio amateurs must provide evidence of working 38 stations in Zone 38 starting from 1 January 2019. Get all the information in the January 2019 issue of Radio ZS.
THE JANUARY 2019 RADIO ZS
The January 2019 Radio ZS will be available for download from the League web site on Monday 31 December 2018. Are you looking for a clock for your shack? Henry, ZS1AAZ gives you an idea. Paul, ZS1S tells us who Barney Joel, ZS1AB was. Eddie, ZS6BNE writes his first RaDAR News column and in the Museum Piece you can see some QSL cards from the SARRL we have some questions about and you can join the resistance. We also look at a DIY Battery Level Indicator and more in this issue.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
AMSAT SA DUAL BAND VHF/UHF ANTENNA NOW AVAILABLE
The AMSAT SA 2 m/70 cm dual band Yagi is now available. The Yagi has a unique element called an 'Open Sleeve' which is a director very close to the driven element. The driven element is sized for 2 metres. When operating on 70 cm the 'Open Sleeve' acts as part of the driven element on 70 cm (Third harmonic of 2 m). The AMSAT SA version is based on a design by Martin Steyer, DK7ZB with modifications by the late Larry Brown, WB5CXC. The first South African version was a collaboration between Guy Eales, ZS6GUY and Gary Immelman, ZS6YI. It was developed for YOTA 2018 where young people successfully used the antenna operating satellites using hand-held transceivers.
The mechanical structure of the AMSAT SA version was redesigned by Gary, ZS6YI. A choke around the boom was added to isolate the antenna from the coax and reduce the effect human contact has on the antenna. A handle was added on the boom end which makes it more comfortable to hold and further isolates the antenna from the handler. The antenna is plug and play. No tools are needed except for soldering on a connector to suit the application. It comes complete in a carry bag with full instructions. This antenna can be assembled and dissembled in minutes. For more details and how to order, visit www.amsatsa.org.za. SARL and AMSAT SA members get a discount.
CONTEST NEWS FOR JANUARY
The ARRL Kid’s Day activity takes place from 18:00 - 23:59 UTC on Saturday 5 January while the ARRL RTTY and FT8 Roundup will be on the air on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 January. Visit the ARRL web site for more information. The Hunting Lions in the Air takes place over the weekend on 12 and 13 January and involves radio amateurs and members of the LIONS organisation.
The first 22-hour session of the popular PEARS National VHF/UHF Contest starts at 16:00 UTC on Friday 18 January and closes at 14:00 UTC on Saturday afternoon 19 January. The second 22-hour session commences immediately after 14:00 UTC on Saturday and ends at 12:00 UTC on Sunday 20 January 2019. The Summer QRP Contest is on the air from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC on Saturday 26 January 2019. Find the rules for these two local contests in the new 2019 Blue Book.
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 provide some DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
31 December – End of the YOTA 2018 month, the 2018 CQ DX Marathon and the ARRL International Grid Chase.
1 January – New Year’s Day and the start of the 2019 Worked Zone 38 Award, the CQ DX Marathon and the Canadian National Parks on the Air.
5 January – the Pretoria ARC Flea Market and the ARRL Kid’s Day.
5 and 6 January – the ARRL RTTY and FT8 Roundup.
9 January – all provincial schools re-open.
12 and 13 January – Hunting Lions in the Air.
15 January – the final date for proposals for papers for the Space Symposium.
18 to 20 January – the PEARS National VHF/UHF Contest.
26 January – the Summer QRP Contest.
31 January – the closing date for Council nominations, motions for the 2019 AGM and nominations for the SARL Awards and Trophies.
To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:
Some interesting subjects will be presented at the 2019 AMSAT SA Space Symposium to be held on Saturday 16 March 2019 in Gauteng. Already on the programme are: How to work DX on Es'hailSat, build your own satellite ground station and join the SatNogs community and build an educational CubeSat that can be used for experimentation and teaching in the classroom. The final closing date for proposals for papers to be presented is Tuesday 15 January 2019. More details can be found on www.amsatsa.org.za
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 …………… and read by ..............
From the news team, a Prosperous 2019 and best wishes for the week ahead.
/EX
