SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 8 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.
In the news, today:
THE SARL NATIONAL FIELD DAY NEXT WEEKEND
ACHIEVEMENTS ON VHF AND HIGHER
and
SOLVING ELECTRICAL MAINS NOISE
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
THE SARL NATIONAL FIELD DAY NEXT WEEKEND
The second leg of the SARL National Field Day takes place from 10:00 UTC on Saturday 14 September to 10:00 UTC on Sunday 15 September with phone, CW and digital activity on 160 to 10 meters. The exchange is the number of transmitters at your station, the Field Day Operating Class and your Provincial abbreviation. An RS or RST report is not required. There are 6 classes of operation to select from. The rules can be found on page 41 of the 2019 SARL Blue Book. The Worked All Europe phone contest and the FOC QSO Party (CW) will also be run on this weekend.
The Bo-Karoo ARC will be operating ZS3VDK from the Rolfontein Nature Reserve, ZSFF-0326 at Vanderkloof, Dennis, ZS4BS will be operating from the Amanzi Nature Reserve, ZSFF-0440 near Brandfort and on Sunday 15 September, PEARS will be operating ZS2PE from the Addo Elephant National Park, ZSFF-0001 between 07:00 and 13:00 UTC. Who else is going to be active from a Nature or Game Park? Contact Dennis on zs4bs@netactive.co.za if you are looking for the ZSFF number of a Park.
MORE CONTESTING IN THE NEXT WEEK
The fourth leg of the SARL Wednesday 80 meter Club Sprint will take place from 17:00 to 18:00 UTC on Wednesday 18 September with phone and CW activity.
The SARL VHF/UHF Digital contest will run from 10:00 UTC on Saturday 21 September to 10:00 UTC on Sunday 22 September with activity from 6 meters and higher. The All Africa DX Contest will start at 12:00 UTC on Saturday 21 September and end 24 hours later with phone, CW and RTTY activity on 160 to 10 meters.
ACHIEVEMENTS ON VHF AND HIGHER
On Thursday 15 August 2019, Allan Saul, ZS1LS in JF96FD had an SSB QSO with Ari Johannesson, TF1A in HP94BS via OA-100 a distance of 11 420,9 km. And on Saturday 24 August 2019, Allan, ZS1LS in JF96FD had a QRA-64 QSO with Eino Metsamaki, OH2DG in KP30CK via EME a distance of 10 473,9 km.
On Wednesday 28 August 2019, Willem de Kock, ZS1WDK in JF96ID had an SSB QSO with Ari, TF1A in HP94BS via OA-100 and improved the distance by 6,8 km - it now stands on 11 427,7 km.
Well done Allan and Willem! Find the latest VHF and higher records at www.sarl.org.za/public/local/VHF_SA_Records.asp
SARL TROPHIES AND AWARDS
The League has trophies and awards not only for contests, but for operating achievements and to recognise individual achievements. The closing date for nominations for these trophies and awards is Friday 31 January 2020 and the nomination forms will be available on the League website from Wednesday 11 September 2019. The League Secretary has already received the first Jack Twine and Hall of Fame nominations.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
ZS SOTA DAY ON 24 SEPTEMBER
Take to the hills on Tuesday 24 September and activate a Summit for the ZS SOTA Day. Will there be summits activated in all nine provinces? More information to follow.
SOLVING ELECTRICAL MAINS NOISE
The next workshop at the NARC on Saturday 28 September starts with a panel discussion about various ways to solve noise coming in through the electrical mains. The panel will present a case study and will show how, with a few simple measures, a reduction in mains noise can be achieved. 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 hand-on session on the deployment and application of dongles to turn your laptop or computer into a powerful receiver and how to identify RF noise sources around your house. Book now, the details and forms are available on www.sarl.org.za. Do not miss this opportunity. After the formal discussion, Anton Janovsky and Brian Jacobs will give hands-on assistance to set up a noise monitoring station.
The registration form includes a list of components you can order and take delivery of at the workshop. You will then walk out with a complete noise monitoring system; all you will need is an antenna and an internet connection.
ARRL 2020 HANDBOOKS
The 2020 ARRL Antenna Book will soon be available in a boxed set of 4 volumes. The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications will be available in a set of 6 softcover volumes. These books can be pre-ordered and the closing date for pre-order is Wednesday 18 September. These volumes are unlikely to be stocked in South Africa. Delivery will be via Postnet towards the end of October. The ARRL will only have limited stock and will likely run out of stock quickly as happened with the boxed version of the 2019 ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications. Details and order form can be downloaded from a link on www.sarl.org.za
CONTEST RESULTS
The provisional results of the SARL HF CW Contest. The Contest Committee received 11 logs for the Contest held on Sunday 25 August 2019. 157 QSOs were made in total, with 16 on 20 meters, 51 on 40 meters and 90 on 80 meters.
1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN 68 points
2nd Hans Kappetijn, ZS6KR 56 points
3rd Barry Nugent, ZS2NF 54 points
The Club Competition
1st the Bloemfontein ARC 108 points
2nd the Pretoria ARC 56 points
3rd PEARS 54 points
The Combined results of all three HF Contests
1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN 349 points
2nd Hans Kappetijn, ZS6KR 168 points
3rd Barry Nugent, ZS2NF 151 points
4th Theunis Potgieter, ZS2EC 122 points
The Club Competition
1st the Bloemfontein ARC 461 points
2nd PEARS and the Pretoria ARC 295 points
4th Bo-Karoo ARC 294 points
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 15 to 30 meter bands will provide some DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
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 and closing date for ordering the 2020 ARRL Handbooks
20 September provincial schools close
21 and 22 September the SARL VHF/UHF Digital contest and the All Africa DX Contest
24 September Heritage Day, national braai day and the ZS SOTA Day
28 September the SARL/AMSAT SA RF Noise Workshop
28 and 29 September the CQ WW RTTY Contest
3 October the SARL 80 m QSO Party
To conclude our bulletin, a quick overview of our main news item:
The second leg of the SARL National Field Day takes place from 10:00 UTC on Saturday 14 September to 10:00 UTC on Sunday 15 September with phone, CW and digital activity on 160 to 10 meters. The exchange is the number of transmitters at your station, the Field Day operating class and your Provincial abbreviation. An RS or RST report is not required.
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 Herman Erasmus, ZS6CTA and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
