SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 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 in 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.
We start the bulletin with news of a silent key
It is with deep regret that the Border Radio Club announce that the key of Clarence Coetzer, ZS2CDC went silent on Sunday 25 August 2019.
We extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
PAUSE
In the news, today:
THE SARL ATTENDED APM19-4 IN EAST LONDON
MORE ON THE SARL/ICASA LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING
and
BOOK NOW FOR SARL RF NOISE WORKSHOP
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
CONTEST ACTIVITY IN SEPTEMBER
Each weekend in September has some contesting activity to keep you busy. On 7 and 8 September, you can participate in the Region 1 SSB Field Day – it uses the same rules as the SARL Field Day. On the weekend of 14 and 15, you can take part in the SARL National Field Day and it is also Churches and Chapels on The Air. On Wednesday 18 September, the fourth leg of the SARL 80 m Club Sprint is on the air. The weekend of 21 and 22 is the All Africa DX contest; the SARL VHF/UHF Digital contest and Railways on the Air. The month closes with the CQ WW RTTY contest on 28 and 29 September.
THE SARL ATTENDED APM19-4 IN EAST LONDON.
The fourth and final African Telecommunications Union WRC-19 Preparatory Meeting was held in East London from 26 to 30 August 2019. This meeting was attended by Brian Jacobs, ZS6YZ who represented the SARL and the IARU Region 1 as part of the South African Delegation led by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies. At this meeting representatives from all the regions and countries in Africa meet to decide what the Common African Proposal will be on resolutions that will be discussed and passed at the World Radio Conference that will take place at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt from 28 October to 22 November 2019.
The importance of this meeting is significant to the amateur community in the whole of Region 1, as this is the last chance that we have to be able to influence any decisions regarding the much sort after frequencies that we as radio amateurs are privileged to have available to us. Matters like the harmonization of the primary allocation of the frequency band 50 to 54 MHz and the 47.0 to 47.2 GHz band that is being requested for IMT 2020 or 5G were finalised. AMP4 supported the SARL and IARU proposal to promote worldwide 50 - 54 MHz and agreed that 47.0 - 47.2 GHz should not be considered for IMT, and that studies are to be carried out. Here is an opportunity for the amateur radio fraternity to look at projects for this band. At the same time this is where one gets to know about the agenda items that will be put forward for the next World Radio Conference in 2023, and which regions in the continent are spearheading the proposal, so that we can start as soon as possible to build the arguments to defend our frequency allocations.
MORE ON THE SARL/ICASA LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING
Type Approval. The revised type approval process was intensively discussed at last week's ICASA/SARL liaison meeting. ICASA and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications (NRCS) are in the process of setting up a memorandum of understanding which will clarify each organisation’s areas of responsibility which, as a result of rapid convergence of technologies, overlap and create unnecessary duplicate type approval processes. This will be a major step forward in the way control can be exercised over the import of goods that do not meet specification.
As far as communication equipment is concerned, the type approval regime is still under review and currently requires certificates from accredited laboratories, even if the equipment has already been type approved in other jurisdictions, such as Europe and the USA. ICASA expects this review process to be completed by early 2020. The SARL indicated to the committee that it will launch a petition to the Chairman of the ICASA Council to consider accepting type approval documents from the FCC and CEPT organisations, to facilitate type approval of new amateur radio models in South Africa
On a positive note, it was in December last year that ICASA agreed that Amateur Radio home constructed equipment within the realms of the amateur radio licence does not require type approval.
The unauthorised sale of radios. On the question of unauthorised sale of radios that require a license, ICASA is acting against persons who sell, and persons who are in possession of, such radios, and use them. Radio Amateurs are requested to monitor the 2 m and 70 cm band for such unauthorised illegitimate use, and direct a complaint of interference to ICASA.
If you experience interference on VHF and UHF amateur radio frequencies caused by non-licensed persons or groups, lodge a complaint with ICASA. Complaints must be in writing and can be lodged on the ICASA website at www.icasa.org.za, or a complaint form can be completed and mailed to consumer@icasa.org.za. Give as much detail as possible, including any reference as to the nature of interference and information that can lead to the identification of the interfering person or system. Send a copy of the complaint to the ICASA Regional Manager. The SARL has requested ICASA to supply an updated list of regional managers and their contact details. Once the regional information becomes available it will be posted on the SARL website. For good measure also copy admin@sarl.org.za.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
NEW MEMBERS
The SARL welcomes the following new members - Johan Russouw, ZS1JRR; Werner Vermaak, ZS1MED; Roger Davis, ZS2RD; the Midlands Amateur Radio Club, ZS5PMB; André Brink, ZS6DIL and Denise van Vuuren ZSL1210.
BOOK NOW FOR SARL RF NOISE WORKSHOP AND LEARN HOW TO SET UP A MONITORING STATION
Registration for the SARL RF Noise workshop to be held at the National Amateur Radio Centre on 28 September is now open. As part of the registration you can order a complete monitoring station including a raspberry Pi, a dongle and a SD card with the complete station and reporting software. Order as soon as possible to ensure that you receive and put together your RF Noise monitoring station at the workshop.
The workshop is presented in partnership with AMSAT SA. The agenda features a panel discussion on how to resolve mains noise including a practical case study. The agenda will also feature a review of the SARL RF Noise monitoring programme, updates on the Noise monitoring software, active antenna designs with reviews of on the air test results, a hands-on session on the deployment and application of dongles to turn your laptop or computer into a powerful receiver, and how identify RF noise sources around your house. Book now, the details and forms are available on www.sarl.org.za
CONTEST RESULTS
Here are the provisional results of the SARL HF Digital Contest. The Contest Committee received 5 logs for the HF Digital Contest held on Sunday 18 August 2019. 61 QSOs were made with 13 on 20 m; 22 on 40 m and 26 on 80 m.
1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN – 118 points
2nd Theunis Potgieter, ZS2EC – 34 points
3rd Bernie vd Walt, ZS4TX – 28 points
4th Hennie Marais, ZS6HM – 24 points
5th JJ Botes, ZS6GAZ – 12 points
The Club Competition
1st Bloemfontein ARC – 146 points
2nd PEARS – 34 points
3rd Magalies ARC – 24 points
4th Coalfields ARC – 12 points
CLUB NEWS
The West Rand Amateur Radio Club is hosting its next flea market at 12:00 on Saturday 7 September 2019 at their clubhouse in Kroton street, Weltevreden Park, Roodepoort. Everybody is welcome. Bring your surplus equipment and support the vendors on the day. For more information contact Phillip, ZS6PVT on mobile 083 267 3835.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at low levels. There are currently 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 18 to 30 m bands may provide some DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information as well as a daily and a 7-day propagation report.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
2 September – the closing date for the SARL HF CW contest logs
7 September – the West Rand Flea Market
7 and 8 September – the Region 1 SSB Field Day and RSGB SSB Field Day
14 September – the Boland ARC AGM
14 and 15 September – the SARL National Field Day
15 September – registration for the October RAE closes
17 September – the Highway ARC monthly meeting
18 September – the SARL Wednesday 80 m Club Sprint
20 September – provincial schools close
28 September – the SARL/AMSAT SA RF Noise Workshop
To conclude our bulletin, a quick overview of our main news item:
Each weekend in September has some contesting activity to keep you busy. You can choose between the Region 1 SSB Field Day; the SARL National Field Day; Churches and Chapels on The Air; the SARL 80 m Club Sprint; the All Africa DX contest; the SARL VHF/UHF Digital contest; Railways on the Air and the CQ WW RTTY contest.
This concludes our bulletin for this morning.
Clubs and individuals are invited to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners, in both English and Afrikaans if possible, 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 by Andy, ZS6ADY 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 Dennis Green, ZS4BS, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
