SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 23 JUNE 2019
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 Johan, 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:
NEW DISTANCE RECORD VIA AO-91
LOGGING WORKSHOP SATURDAY ON 29 JUNE
and
NEXT SUNSPOT CYCLE MAY BE 50% LOWER
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
NEW DISTANCE RECORD VIA AO-91
Paul, ZS6NK, the VHF/UHF and Microwaves Records Manager has informed SARL News that a news distance record was set via the AO-91 satellite. On Friday 21 June at 12:07 UTC Andre, ZS2BK in grid KF26SB made a FM QSO with Richard, 9G5AR in grid IJ95VN and the distance is 5 243,9 km. Well done to Andre and Richard!
HISTORIC TRANS-ATLANTIC CONTACT MADE ON 144 MHZ
A historic contact was made on Sunday 16 June 2019 when the Atlantic was spanned for the first time on 144 MHz. The Monteverde Contest Team Club, D41CV on the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Africa managed to work Burt - Bertrand Demarcq, FG8OJ in Guadeloupe on 144,174 MHz using the FT8 digital mode. The distance was an incredible 3 867 km. To put that into context, the distance from the west coast of Ireland to Newfoundland is 3 000 km. Tropo prediction maps show a path right across the Atlantic and suggest that even more incredible contacts may be possible.
LOGGING WORKSHOP SATURDAY 29 JUNE
The Sandton ARC will once again be offering a logging workshop for all the newbies or any interested radio amateur on Saturday 29 June from 09:00 to 12:00 at the National Amateur Radio Centre. This is open to all radio amateurs and all clubs. Please RSVP to zr6dx@iafrica.com. We will be covering the following topics - Reason for Logging; Legal requirements for Logging HF contacts; Paper logs; Electronic logging Software; Online logbooks/databases; Online Electronic QSL card Centres; LoTW and DXCC; SARL QSL system; Computer and Radio interfacing and Useful tools
THE SARL 2019/2020 FINANCIAL YEAR STARTS ON 1 JULY
The SARL has sent out membership invoices for the new SARL Financial year which starts on Monday 1 July 2019. If you are not yet a member of the SARL, now is the time to join. Visit www.sarl.org.za/public/membership/join.asp and fill in the on-line application form.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
NEXT SUNSPOT CYCLE MAY BE 50% LOWER
NASA report research now underway may have found a reliable new method to predict this solar activity. The Sun's activity rises and falls in an 11-year cycle. The forecast for the next solar cycle says it will be the weakest of the last 200 years. The maximum of this next cycle, measured in terms of sunspot number, a standard measure of solar activity level, could be 30 to 50% lower than the most recent one. The results show that the next cycle will start in 2020 and reach its maximum in 2025.
The new research was led by Irina Kitiashvili, a researcher with the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute at NASA's Ames Research Centre, in California's Silicon Valley. It combined observations from two NASA space missions, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory and the Solar Dynamics Observatory, with data collected since 1976 from the ground-based National Solar Observatory.
Kitiashvili's method differs from other prediction tools in terms of the raw material for its forecast. Previously, researchers used the number of sunspots to represent indirectly the activity of the solar magnetic field. The new approach takes advantage of direct observations of magnetic fields emerging on the surface of the Sun, data which has only existed for the last four solar cycles.
CONTESTING IN JULY
July is a busy month with seven contests. The month starts off with the SARL Newbie QSO Party on Saturday 6 July and on Sunday 7 July, the ZS5 Sprint. On Saturday 13 July you can participate in the RaDAR Challenge and the IARU HF Championships takes place on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July. the Winter QRP Contest is on the air on Saturday 20 July and the ZS2 Sprint on Sunday 21 July. The month ends with the RSGB Islands on the Air Contest on Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 July.
The object of IARU HF Championships is to contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU Member Society HQ stations, around the world as possible using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands. The contest runs from 12:00 UTC on Saturday 13 July and ending at 11:59 UTC on Sunday 14 July 2019 with CW and phone activity. The SARL HQ station, ZS9HQ is looking for amateurs to make up a team to participate.
EAST RAND BRANCH WINTER FLEA MARKET
the East Rand Radio Club will be holding its winter flea market starting at 12:00 on Saturday 29 June 2019 at Ebenezer Road, Arrowe Park, Benoni. Contact Judy, ZS6JDY on mobile 079 730 2030 to book a table at R20 per table. Bring all your unwanted stuff and turn it into cash. Come and enjoy the best boerewors rolls ever with a nice cold or hot beverage. Hope to see you there.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at low levels. There have now been no sunspots visible for more than 32 concurrent days. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around one. The 18 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:
Today - the ARRL Field Day
24 June – the last day of the SARL Top Band QSO Party
29 June – the Logging Workshop at the NARC and the East Rand Winter Flea Market
1 July – the start of SARL Financial Year and Membership payments are due; the closing date for SARL Top Band QSO Party Logs
06 July – the SARL Newbie QSO Party
07 July – the ZS5 Sprint
13 July – the Radar Challenge and the registration for the October RAE opens.
13 and 14 July – the IARU HF Championships
To conclude our bulletin a quick overview of our main news item:
Paul, ZS6NK, the VHF/UHF and Microwaves Records Manager has informed SARL News that a news distance record was set via the AO-91 satellite. On Friday 21 June at 12:07 UTC Andre, ZS2BK in grid KF26SB made a FM QSO with Richard, 9G5AR in grid IJ95VN and the distance is 5 243,9 km. Well done to Andre and Richard!
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. A rebroadcast can be heard on Monday evenings at 19:30 Central African Time on 3,620 kHz. We welcome your signal reports, comments and suggestions; please send these by e-mail to artoday@sarl.org.za.
You have listened to a news bulletin compiled by Andy Cairns, ZS6ADY, edited by Dennis Green, ZS4BS and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
/EX
