Subj : SA Radio League news Bulletin for Sunday 18 March 2001
To : SA Radio League
From : Richard Peer
Date : Sat Mar 17 2001 02:27 pm
SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
SARL NEWS SUNDAY MARCH 18 2001
This is Amateur Radio Station ZS6SRL transmitting Amateur Radio News, a
service by the South African Radio League, the National Society for Amateur
Radio in South Africa, for the interest of all Radio Amateurs, Short-wave
Listeners and Electronic Enthusiasts. For a complete list of broadcast times
and frequencies please send a SASE to Amateur Radio News, SARL, P O Box 1721,
Strubensvallei 1735.
This bulletin is also available on the SARL's web pages hosted by Intekom at
www.sarl.org.za, as well as the packet radio bulletin board system. You may
also request
[email protected] to e-mail it to you in either text or MSWord
6.0 format.
Here are the headlines of today's news:
SARL CONVENTION 2001 TO BE HELD IN THE WESTERN CAPE
BACAR TO FLY ON MAY 19
RAE QUESTION POOL NOW AVAILABLE ON SARL WEBSITE
SARL HAMNET 40-METRE SIMULATED EMERGENCY CONTEST
SARL 80 M QSO PARTY.
PROPAGATION REPORT
You are listening to ZS6SRL. The news follows in detail.
SARL CONVENTION 2001 TO BE HELD IN THE WESTERN CAPE
The South African Radio League Annual General Meeting branded as SARL ICOM
Convention 2001 will be held at the Oakdale Recreational Club in Belville on
April 27 and 28.
This is the first SARL convention to be held outside the Gauteng area after a
membership decision to rotate venues around South Africa. Convention 2001
opens with a welcoming braai at 19:00 on the Friday evening. While bookings
are essentials convention goers may bring their own meat or purchase a braai
pack at R25 per person.
On Saturday April 28, registration will start at 07:30 with the AGM
commencing at 09:00. Lunch will be serviced at 13:00 on a pre-ordered basis
at R20 per person while fast foods will also be available. Refreshment will
be available from the club bar at club prices.
At 14:00 sees the start of several parallel session:
14:00 - 15:30 The VHF/UHF workshop will be presented by John Fielding ZS5JF.
Discussions will include the VHF Bandplan, CTCSS and 12,5 kHz channel spacing
In parallel the SARL Mentorship Programme will be presented by Hans van de
Groenendaal ZS6AKV. This programme is aimed at helping amateurs to mentor
school teachers to take Amateur Radio into the classroom through the ARISAS
programme.
After a tea break at 15:45 Dennis Green ZS4BS will moderate an HF workshop
with discussions on 10MHz day/night operation and 300 kHz 40 metreband. In
parallel Hans Potgieter ZS6ALJ will present a workshop on Antenna, Tower and
interference Legislation.
At 19:00 the SARL ICOM Convention 2001 Dinner will be held. Booking is
essential. The cost is R50 per person.
In addition to the scheduled events the SARL Icom Convention 2001 features a
bootsales, displays and a book sale by the SARL Bookshop.
All SARL members will shortly receive the program together with Radio ZS. It
has already been sent by e-mail to all recipients of the SARL bulletin as a
special bulletin.
The registration date for all the booked events is 20 April. Visit the SARL
web from next week at www.sarl.org.za for a full programme and booking
details or send an SASE to the SARL, P O Box 1721, Strubenvallei 1735 and a
programme will be mailed to you.
BACAR TO FLY ON MAY 19
BACAR will fly on May 19 with a Mode J payload, a telemetry and recovery
beacon and an APRS transmitter. The uplink will be on 70cm and the downlink
on 2 metres. With the expected height of 100 000 feet above sea level a
coverage of some 700 km is expected. The BACAR launch is part of a day long
event at the SARL National Amateur Radio Centre which features the SARL
Mentorship programme, showing of the film frequency, a sun telescope to look
at the sunspots, a undercover fleamarket and lots of other fun for the
family. Make a note of the date: May 19.
The next Bacar discussion meeting will be held at the NARC on 9 May at 18:30
80 METRE QSO PARTY
The first leg of this contest will be held on Thursday 5 th April 2001. from
19:00 to 22:00 SAST. Frequencies to be used: 3600 to 3650 kHz SSB Single
operator only. Exchange. Callsign, RS and serial number commencing with
001, grid locater and location. Scoring. 10 points for South African
contacts. 15 points for contacts outside South Africa.
Log sheets to be sent to: Contest Committee, P.O. Box 21762, Bluff 4036, or
e-mail to
[email protected]. Entries close 21 days after close of
contest. All other details as per the Blue Book
RAE QUESTION POOL NOW AVAILABLE ON SARL WEBSITE
The RAE moderated question pool is now available on the SARL website. These
questions are an indication to the RAE candidates what type of questions may
be expected in the RAE. For more information visit: www.sarl.org.za.
SARL HAMNET 40-METRE SIMULATED EMERGENCY CONTEST
This SSB Contest is open to all Radio Amateurs in South Africa, Namibia,
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mozambique, Lesotho, Marion Island and South
African Antarctica. Only contacts with these areas will count. The contest
takes place on Sunday 08 April 2001 from 14:00 to 16:00 SAST and as the name
indicates on the 40-metre band.
Amateurs may participate in one of four categories and there are eight call
areas to work. The exchange will be the signal report followed by a serial
number depending on the category of participation. Scoring will also depend
on the category of participation, plus a multiplier of the number of call
areas worked and the power output. The address for Contest Entries is Hamnet
40 m Simulated Emergency Contest, PO Box 50115, Colleen Glen, 6018.
Visits the SARL website at www.sarl.org.za and download the SARL Contest
Manual for the complete rules.
THE SARL VHF/UHF CONTEST ENDS TODAY
The SARL VHF/UHF which started yesterday at 12:00 SAST ends today at 12:00
SAST. There are still a few hours left for those who would like to give
points to the stations taking part and who wish to squeeze in the last number
contacts. Get on the air and don't disappoint them.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Ean Retief, ZS1PR, reports as follows:
During past week the Solar Flux declined to lower values than expected. It
is now expected that value will be in the 130 to 140 region during the coming
week.
With the quiet Sun the Earth's magnetic field was also very quiet and
amazingly good conditions occurred on the higher end of the HF spectrum.
The 10-metre band remained open as far south as Cape Town until 20:30 in the
evening. Friday afternoon at 18:30 the Ionosonde at Grahamstown indicated
that the Maximum Useable Frequency over distances of 3000 km was still 35
MHz.
It is expected that these good conditions will continue in the coming week.
The Earth's magnetic field is expected to be quiet most of the week.
The only dark horse at this stage is Sunspot group number 9373. This group
of spots is busy getting quite complex and may give rise to a fairly large
Solar Flare, but nothing more than an M-class flare is expected.
LAST SIGHT OF MIR
The Russian space station MIR will plunge into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday
after 15 years service. The last chance that we in Southern Africa will see
this station is Monday evening at 19:08 SAST when MIR should be very bright.
MIR will come from the North-East and move to the South/South- West. At
19:11 SAST it will be virtually overhead.
CLUB ACTIVITIES
ZS2VHF BEACON NOW BEAMING NORTH
The PEARS ZS2VHF beacon is once again transmitting in a northerly direction
and will remain in that position until further notice. It radiates 160W
horisontally polarised FSK signals on 144,415 MHz. The effective areas
covered by the beam are, Bloemfontein, Welkom, Johannesburg, Pretoria,
Pietersburg and Durban. Signal reports will be appreciated and if any
openings occur, please alert Mike ZS2FM via cell: 082-654-0623
MORSE CODE CLASSES IN WESTERN CAPE
On Tuesdays at 19h00 SAST morse code classes are conducted in the Western
Cape on the 145.700 MHz repeater by ZS1B of the Cape Town Amateur Radio
Centre assisted by ZS1RON, ZS1CS and ZS1VT.
RAE CLASSES IN THE WESTERN CAPE
Under the auspices of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre, with the assistance
of guest lecturers from the Boland Amateur Radio Klub, Herman ZS1HZ presents
RAE classes every Tuesday evening at 19h00 at 71 Signals Unit in Goodwood.
Anyone interested is requested to contact Herman at 021-592-3529.
The Bloemfontein Amateur Radio Club will be holding a flea market on Saturday
07 April 2001 starting at 09:00 at The Shack at the Air Force Base
Bloemspruit. Contact Dennis ZS4BS at 082 770 9126 for information and to
book a table. The Club will also be on the air for the Hamnet 40-metre
Contest on 08 April 2001 using the call ZS4BFN/P.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Isaac Greeff, ZS2ZG, of PEARS club will start presenting morse classes over
the air from Monday 19 March 2001 in the 80 metre band on 3640 kHz.
Centurion Amateur radio Club will hold its AGM on 24 March 2001 at 15:00 SAST
at the club house on the corner of Duncan and Prospect Streets. Potjiekos
will be the special dish.
The Pretoria Amateur Radio Club will be holding a fleamarket and boot sale on
Saturday 31 March at 08:00. Contact Hans ZS6KR for more information and
table bookings at 012 333 2612.
The next Intecnet 2001 on Sunday 1 April at 20:00 will discuss radio
propagation. A panel of local and international experts will be looking at
the current cycle. Have we reached mid point? How fast is the decline
likely to be and what is in store after that?
The Coalfields Radio Club invites all Radio amateurs and clubs to participate
in a food making contest and get-together day that will take place in Witbank
on Saturday the 7th of April 2001 at 15:00 till late.
The closing date for registration for the May RAE is April 10, registration
fee R135, and for late registration April 17 with registration fee R235.
NOTE: THE CALLSIGN OF THE PRESIDENT OF SARL INDICATED IN THE SARL AGM PROGRAM
ITEM 4 MUST READ ZS6ALJ AND NOT ZS6AJL
The SARL News Service invites Clubs and individuals to contribute information
regarding Amateur Radio to
[email protected] with a copy to
[email protected].
Please submit in Afrikaans and English wherever possible.
Also join us in the following activities:
The President's Net on Sundays 12:00 on 7082 kHz. Amateur Radio Mirror
International Sundays at 10:00 on 9750 and 21560 kHz which is repeated
Mondays at 20:00 on 3215 kHz. Relays on various 2M repeaters can also be
heard.
Correspondence for Amateur Radio Mirror International is via
[email protected]. Include your telephone number to allow the producers to
call you for a possible interview. Send written reports to PO Box 90438
Garsfontein 0042 and include a self-addressed envelope and sufficient postage
so that you may receive a QSL card.
These transmissions are sponsored by Sentech, the common carrier for
broadcasting signals in South Africa and Telkom who provides the transmission
lines. Various local repeater frequencies on 2 metres and 70 cm are also
used in your area.
We thank all contributors, individuals, clubs and other organisations to this
bulletin and all stations who so reliably relay these bulletins. This
bulletin was compiled by Marten, ZS6ZY and read by ZS.... in.......
You have been listening to ZS6SRL.
This bulletin now ends and Sarlnews wish you a pleasant week.
Goodbye to all.
/ex
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Internet feed from ZS6ZY moved by Richard de ZR6CK
Regards,
Richard.
--- Msged/Q 1.60
* Origin: QTHR KG44DG, Novell User Group, Pretoria, RSA (5:7106/22)
