The Telkom line is giving us problems yet again.

SARL NEWS - Listen to  the weekly SARL NEWS on line or download to retransmit on local nets, a SARL service to Radio Amateurs. Get the transmission schedule here .

Sunday 16 September 2018

AMATEUR RADIO TODAY, a weekly actuality programme about Amateur Radio and technology hosted by with Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV Download/Listen .

More details about Today's programme here . Transmissiontimes and frequency details click here

In today's programme from a classical  music to SDR

 Radio ZS September 2018 - The 84 page September 2018 issue of Radio ZS is available for download.

Die 84 bladsy September 2018-uitgawe van Radio ZS is beskikbaar vir aflaai.

Click here to get your copy 

YOTA 2018 WAS A MIND-BLOWING EXPERIENCE - YOTA2018 was a mind-blowing experience, these were the comments from the participants who represented 23 countries in Europe and Africa. It was the first time that the event was held on the African continent and the first time attended by a large group of young people from African countries. Scroll down for more pics

The other first for YOTA was the train the trainer theme. While the participants had fun, learned more about amateur radio and experienced great technology first hand, time was spent on how to take that experience to other young people in their own countries. The future of Amateur Radio is our youth, Nico van Rensburg ZS6QL, SARL President said. “I believe YOTA 2018 made a major contribution to foster that”, he said. “The SARL will not sit back, we will take hosting the YOTA 2018 experience to develop local YOTA events to immerse more of our youth into amateur radio and the great technology that will drive amateur radio forward.” (Photo left the African group attending YOTA2018. Scroll down for more YOTA photos)

A special word of thanks Lisa Leenders PA2LS, the IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group Chairman for choosing South Africa to host YOTA2018 and the trust she placed in us to present the event.  I would like extend a sincere thank you to the organising team, our members and sponsors for their generous contributions to deliver on our promise to make YOTA2018 the best YOTA ever. 

Finally, a word of thanks to every participant for your support and co-operation during the week, you were an awesome group of young people!

YOTA 2018
 

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YOTA2018 Building A BACARSAT

 

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Linking with science - Two South African amateur radio associations, the South African Radio League (SARL) and AMSAT SA, are planning to launch an umbrella association that will link up with scientists in various electronic and physics disciplines to enhance research opportunities. Read full article here 

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The latest VHF, UHF and Microwave Record Table is available from the VHF SA Record page. Click here to get a copy. Compiled by Mike Bosch, ZS2FM (SK) and updated by Paul, ZS6NK - 27 July 2018. Updates to zssixnk@gmail.com   

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FOCUS ON VHF HAS A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS: Share your VHF activity and news with Focuson VHF and above. Brian Jacobs,ZS6YZ welcomes your input on Please send your news snippets and information about activities on VHF and Above to vhfnews@sarl.org.za. Send a photograph of your radio room, and antennas.

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LOW SUNSPOTS TRY 16O M, you cannot be without this book - ON4UN's Low Band DXing -  Dozens of new propagation maps based on DX Atlas, as well as an in-depth analysis of the influence of sunspot cycles on 160-metre ducting. A new discussion of cutting edge technology including Software Defined Radio and the revolutionary LP-500 Digital Station Monitor. Chapters include 

• Propagation
• DXing on the Low Bands
• Receiving and Transmitting Equipment
• Antenna Design Software
• Antennas: General, Terms, Definitions
• The Feed Line and the Antenna
• Receiving Antennas
• The Dipole Antenna
• Vertical Antennas
• Large Loop Antennas
• Phased Arrays
• Other Arrays
• Yagis and Quads
• Low Band DXing from a Small Garden
• From Low Band DXing to Contesting

CD-ROM included! The CD-ROM includes the entire book in a fully searchable PDF format as well as ON4UN’s software (Windows XP only), antenna modeling files, photographs and more.

Now R950.  Delivery via Postnet R120. Special offer  for September and October 2019 free postnet delivery

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AMSAT SA Space Symposium papers - A number of papers are now availble for download. View here 1080

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5 MHz Allocation world-wide in PDF 60 Metre Allocations World-wide

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UPDATE YOUR AMATEUR LIBRARY -  

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Amateur Radio License fee increase

ICASA has informed the SARL that the licence fee will be increased by 5.3% on 1 April 2018. The new fees will be 

1 Year   -              R 141.00

2 Year   -              R 269.00

3 Year   -              R 386.00

4 Year   -              R 492.00

5 Year   -              R 588.00  

ICASA will start the invoicing process for the 2018/2019 period from 5 February 2018. Radio Amateurs are reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure their license is up to date. If for some reason no invoice is received, check that ICASA has been informed of any address changes. 

Avoid the hassles of having to renew each year, opt for a multi-year licence. Simply, when renewing pay the appropriate amount. On the EFT state 5 Year licence and your callsign. Also send an email to dkuhrau@icasa.org.za with a copy of the EFT payment.

ICASA Licence Fees - DO NOT pay the ICASA licence fee into the SARL bank account, all moneys wrongfully paid into the SARL account will be refunded less the bank charges associated with these transactions.

The correct account for your ICASA Licence Fee is NEDBANK Account number: 14 62 00 29 27, Branch Code: 146245 - Corporate Client Services – Pretoria and in the reference field type in your licence number and callsign. 

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2018 Advertising in Radio ZS and the SARL Web site

Radio ZS and the SARL web welcomes advertising. It is a source of information for readers. To place an advertisement in Radio ZS, contact Dennis, ZS4BS, at radiozs@sarl.org.za. To advertise on the League web site, contact Hans, ZS6AKV at artoday@sarl.org.za

Advertising Rates

Display (cameo) on home page and Radio ZS Strip advertisement (10 cm by 2 columns) - R500 pm - R2 500 for 6 months - R4 500 per annum

Commercial Hamad on home page - R60 pm - R300 for 6 months - R500 per annum

Terms and conditions

All contract advertisements content may be changed monthly on 5 working day notice

The rates are based on the complete supply of material in Jpeg unless otherwise negotiated. For artwork additional charges may apply as agreed

The content of the advertisements must comply with regulations and norms acceptable in South Africa

All advertisements are playable in advance by EFT to SA Radio League, ABSA, account no 4071 588 849 branch code 632 005

All correspondence and material must be sent to admin@sarl.org.za with a copy to artoday@sarl.org.za

Get your weekly copy of HF Happenings at www.sarl.org.za/hf_happenings.asp 

Austria, OE. A number of special callsigns with the prefix OE18 will be active between 21 September and 1 October for the UCI Road Cycling World Championships that will take place in Innsbruck-Tirol (Austria). Club stations OE7XKJ and OE7XWI will be active as OE18XKJ and OE18XWI respectively, OE4VIE as OE18VIE, OE1SGU as OE18SGU and OE5EGN as OE18EGN. See qrz.com for QSL routes.

Philippines, DU. Bill, G0CXF will be active as DU7/G0CXF from the Camotes Islands in Central Visayas, Philippines starting around 20 September "for at least 6 months". He will operate SSB and PSK mainly on 80, 40, 20 and 6 metres. The Camotes include the islands of Poro, Pacijan, Ponson and Tulang – all count for IOTA OC-129.

Panama, HP. Hans HB9BXE, Nicola I0SNY, Elvira IV3FSG, Florian OE3FTA and Alexandru YO8SS will be active as H88X from Playa Farallon, Panama from 24 September to 9 October. They will operate SSB, CW and digital modes on various bands. QSL via I0SNY (direct) or 9A5URI (bureau).

Canada, VE. Chris, VE6CMV will be active as VO2VC from Goose Bay, Labrador (Zone 2) from 27 September to 4 October, including an entry in the CQ WW DX RTTY Contest. He will operate SSB, RTTY and FT8 on 80 to 6 metres. QSL via LoTW, or via VE6CMV (direct or bureau).

Viet Nam, 3W. Jacek, SP5APW will be active as 3W9JK/p from Cham Island, IOTA AS-162, until September 22 and then as 3W9JK from Hoi An until September 27. Activity will be on 20 to 6 metres using SSB. QSL to home call.

Maldives, 8Q. Christian, OE3DEC is active as 8Q7EC until September 23 while on vacation. Activity is mostly on 20 metres using SSB. QSL to home call.

Dodecanese, SV5. Alex, SQ9UM is active as SV5/SQ9UM from Rhodes Island, IOTA EU-001, until September 24. Activity is holiday style on 40 to 6 metres and possibly 60 metres, using CW, RTTY, PSK and FT8. QSL to home call.

East Kiribati, T32. Uli, DL2AH is active as T32AH from Kiritimati Island, IOTA OC-024, until 2 October. Activity is holiday style on 80 to 10 metres using SSB, RTTY and FT8. QSL direct to home call.

European Russia, UA. Dima, UA1OLM is active as RK1OWA/p from Solovetsky Island, IOTA EU-066, until the end of September. Activity is in his spare time on 40, 30 and 20 metres using CW. QSL via RZ1OA.

Kosovo, Z6. Max, ON5UR will be active as Z68UR from Gjakove from 20 to 30 September. Activity will be on various HF bands using mainly SSB and FT8. QSL via M0URX.

Antarctica. Adam, ZL4ASC is active as ZL5A from the Scott Base on Ross Island, IOTA AN-011, while on work assignment. Activity is in his spare time. QSL via operator's instructions.

# Link to SARL VHF, UHF & MICROWAVES DX TABLE Click here 

Focus on VHF and Above  16 September 2018

Audio version here 

In today’s tutorial we are going to talk about SSB on the VHF and above bands.

We have been hearing a lot about long range contacts, all being made on SSB. Where do I find a VHF/UHF radio capable of doing SSB? Any new ham looking for a VHF or UHF radio today will find many mobile radios, but they are all FM radios. Why only FM? Well FM is now days the most popular mode and it has become popular as a result of all the repeaters which that work on FM. These repeaters are there to extend the operating range on VHF and UHF and of course FM can also be used to make simplex contacts as well without using repeaters.

Why then SSB? As Bob Witte, K0NR states in his article: Single Sideband on 2 Meters: The Other VHF Mode.

“The main disadvantage of FM is relatively poor performance when signals are weak, which is where SSB really shines. A weak FM signal can disappear completely into the noise while a comparable SSB signal is still quite readable. How big of a difference does this really make? Perhaps 10 dB or more, which corresponds to one or two S-units. Put a different way, using SSB instead of FM can be equivalent to having a beam antenna with 10 dB of gain, just by changing modulation types. So this is a big deal and radio amateurs interested in serious VHF work have naturally chosen SSB as the preferred voice mode. (You will also hear them using Morse code or CW transmissions, which is even more efficient that SSB.)”

So where do I find a VHF/UHF radio with SSB capability?

You need to look for an All Mode radio such as the Kenwood TS2000 or Icom IC-9100 or IC-7000 or a Yaesu FT-857D or Yaesu FT-991.

These radios are of course not only all mode, but multi-band as well and are all expensive radios to purchase. You can even get an option for 23cm on the Kenwood TS2000 and the Icom IC-9100 at an extra cost of course.

There are cheaper options if you look at the older radios available on swop shops. At one stage just about every manufacturer produced an all mode single band radio which you can pick up for a reasonable price.

You will also need a horizontally polarised antenna. The most popular would be a Yagi which could easily be built or you could look on the Internet for omnidirectional horizontal antenna designs.

On which part of the VHF and above bands is the SSB activity on?

The SSB calling frequency on 6m is 50.200 MHZ, on 2m 144.300 MHZ, on 70cm 432.200 MHz is the SSB centre of activity and on 23cm the centre of activity is 1296.200 MHz. The complete band plans can be found on the SARL webpage http://www.sarl.org.za/public/licences/bandplan.asp.

Let us now look at some news about the VHF and Above bands...

From the SARL forums, the conditions still seem to be pretty bad. Peter, ZS2ABF reports “Dave and I tried last Monday on Sked on 144.300 USB, but it was dead.
The following day Dave ZS5DJ sent me an email, saying that a thin Green/Blue narrow strip had appeared on the Hepburn Charts forecast along our East coast, and that we should give each other a call. This we did, starting about 19:45 local time. I sent out a Morse code signal from my Smart phone held close to my microphone. Dave heard me and replied.
I heard his Morse, but it was very low down but readable. I next called him by SSB voice, and Dave also heard me no problem. I had difficulty copying his Voice transmission (No Masthead preamp my side).
The day before the forecasts did not show any possibility of a contact. It again proves that if you wish to succeed in VHF you have to watch the charts on a daily basis, as conditions change very quickly.”

Carl ZS6CBQ responded that the Hepburn Charts do not help the folk who are not along the coast. Carl also said “but we have Aircraft flying all over the whole time and it gives as a few minutes or seconds often enough to keep QSO's going. But we find conditions much better in the mornings before sun rise. The evenings over the past 3 weeks was poor and there was no signals getting through further than about 150km without aircraft scatter.”

Some news from around the world.

Moon bounce on a dipole. On Saturday the 8th of September, the Essex DX Group achieved a world first by making a moon bounce EME contact using nothing more than a dipole. The contact on 432mhz was with super station DL7APV Bernd's 128x11 element yagi array. The antenna used by the Essex DX Group was an DG7YBN 'Blade' dipole. This was in fact the GTV2, 2 element Yagi with its reflector taken out, leaving just it’s dipole.

And here is another EME first. Working Japan on any band from Ireland is pretty good but what about doing it on 432 MHz? That's exactly what Tony EI8JK did on Monday the 10th of September 2018 when he worked Toshia JA6AHB by bouncing 70 cms signals off the moon!

The pair have been trying to make the contact for several weeks with Tony making small incremental improvements to his system to squeeze out every fraction of a dB. In the end, they managed to complete the contact using the JT65 mode on Monday morning during a 2-hour window to make it an EI-JA first on the UHF band. In terms of equipment, JA6AHB was using 500 watts into a 7 metre dish while Tony was using 4 x 21 element Yagis with a medium powered amplifier. 

Jim KH6HTV has released a new book titled Introduction to Amateur Digital Television.This free book pulls together a lot of information previously scattered in over 40 application notes. Download the PDF from https://kh6htv.com/.

Thanks to Southgate Amateur Radio Club for these news items.

Put the date 20 October 2018 in your diaries and don’t miss out on what is going to be a very educational VHF and Above workshop at the National Amateur Radio Centre in Honeydew. There will be a nominal cost of R50 for SARL and AMSATSA members and R150 for non-members. It is planned to make a Skype link available to clubs who are interested in transmitting the event on their local repeaters. Clubs need to register with the organisers by 1 October 2018. Where available, PowerPoint presentations will be made available on the web prior to the start of the workshop.

If you are interested in attending, send an email to admin@amsatsa.org.za and your name will be added to the mailing list to receive information as it becomes available. Registration will open on 20 September 2018.

Well that is all the VHF and Above news for this week.

Please send your news snippets and information about activities on VHF and Above including information for the tutorial to vhfnews@sarl.org.za.

The text version of Focus on VHF and Above is available on the SARL home page as well as this audio file. Focus on VHF and above is edited and presented for Amateur Radio Today by Brian Jacobs ZS6YZ.

WAE DX Contest: CW: August, second full weekend Saturday, August 11, 2018, 0000 UTC until Sunday, August 12, 2018, 2359 UTC, SSB: September, second full weekend Saturday, September 8, 2018, 0000 UTC until Sunday, September 9, 2018, 2359 UTC. Bands: 3.5 - 7 - 14 - 21 - 28 MHz.  Exchange: A contest QSO can only be conducted between a European and a non-European station. The exchange consists of RS/RST and a progressive serial number starting with 001. https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/referat-conteste/worked-all-europe-dx-contest/en/

SARTG WW RTTY Contest: Date: Third full weekend in August 18 - 19 August 2018. Time: Three (3) separate periods: 0000 - 0800 UTC Saturday, 1600 - 2400 UTC Saturday, 0800 - 1600 UTC Sunday. Bands: 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 m. Exchange: RST + QSO number, starting with 001. http://www.sartg.com/contest/wwrules.htm

SCC RTTY CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. OBJECTIVE: For amateur radio stations around the world to contact as many other amateur radio stations as possible on HF bands using RTTY Baudot mode. Date: 12.00 UTC Saturday to 11.59 UTC Sunday (24 hours); in 2017 (26 - 27 August). BANDS: All amateur bands from 3.5 through 28 MHz, except WARC bands (80/40/20/15/10m). EXCHANGE: RST report and four-digit number of the year of operator's first ever official amateur radio licence irrespective from which station operation takes place or which Call Sign is used in the contest. All submitted logs in Cabrillo format must be uploaded from the Log Submission page no later than 48 hours after the contest (Tuesday 11.59 UTC). http://lea.hamradio.si/scc/rtty/rttyrules.htm

Russian "RADIO" WW RTTY Contest: Start: September 1, 00:00 UTC -  September 1,  23:59 UTC Freq: 80 m, 40 m, 20 m, 15 m, 10 m. Exchange: Russian participants consists of RST and two-letter symbol region (Russian Federation), Foreign participants is RST and the WAZ zone.  http://www.qrz.ru/contest/detail/93

ALL ASIAN DX CONTEST: CONTEST PERIOD: Phone: From 00:00 UTC the first Saturday of Sept. to 24:00 UTC the next day (Sept. 1-2, 2018) BANDS: 160m(CW only), 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 10m. EXCHANGE:  For OM stations: RS(T) report plus operators' age, For YL stations: RS(T) report plus operators' age, but if the operator does not want to send her age, RS(T) report plus "00" (zero zero) can be sent. https://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-3_Contests/2018AA_rule.htm

SARL National Field Day: Aim- To work as many stations as possible on all the HF amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17 and 12 m bands). In doing so, to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. Date and Times: 10:00 UTC on Saturday 8 September to 10:00 UTC on Sunday 9 September 2018. Frequencies and Modes: HF amateur bands, excluding the WARC bands. Phone, CW and Digital (PSK, FT8 and RTTY), Phone, CW and Digital modes on a band are considered as separate bands, A station may be worked only once per band under this rule. Exchange: The number of transmitters, the Field Day operating class and the Provincial abbreviation. The sending of a RS or RST is optional – it has nothing to do with the scoring. Logs in ADIF, Cabrillo or MS Excel format with a summary sheet labelled “your call sign NFD,” shall be sent by e-mail to contest@sarl.org.za  .The closing date for log submissions is 18 February 2018 and 9 September 2018. See Blue Book for details

SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest: Aim - The VHF/UHF Digital contest is a test of operator ability and station design. To promote Digital activity on the VHF/UHF and microwave bands. Dates and Times: 10:00 UTC Saturday 15 September to 10:00 UTC Sunday 16 September 2018. Exchange: Contacts must be two-way point to point. Stations shall exchange signal reports as well as their location e.g. (latitude and longitude or full six-digit Maidenhead locator or accurate area/address/location). Log sheets shall be submitted by 8 October 2018 by e-mail to contest@sarl.org.za. See Blue Book for details

Africa All Mode International DX Contest: Aim - The objective of this all mode contest is to stimulate contesting from Africa. All participating stations worldwide may work any country during the contest period. African DXCC entities are defined as those valid per the ARRL DXCC AF listing published at the time of the contest. Date: 12:00 UTC on Saturday 15 September to 12:00 UTC on Sunday 16 September 2018. Both single and multi-operator stations may operate for the entire 24-hour period. Bands: 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metres, in accordance with your country and specific licensing requirements governing the portion(s) of these bands that you may use. No contest QSOs are allowed on 12, 17, 30 or 60 metres. Modes: CW, RTTY and SSB. Contestants may elect to enter a single mode category (where offered – see “Entry Categories” below) or take part as a mixed-mode entrant. Mixed-mode entrants may work the same station once on each mode per band (see “Entry Categories” for more details). Contest Exchange: The exchange is your RS(T) (not checked during the log checking process), followed by an incremental serial number commencing at “001”.  Submissions and Deadlines: No paper entries will be accepted for contest or checking purposes. Entries must be submitted in Cabrillo format only and be received no later than 15 days after the contest – Monday 1 October 2018. Entries must be sent to contest@sarl.org.za. See Blue Book for details

CQ WW RTTY Contest: September 29 - 30, 2018, Starts: 0000 GMT Saturday Ends: 2359 GMT Sunday. OBJECTIVE: For amateurs around the world to contact as many other amateurs in as many CQ zones, countries, and W/VE QTHs as possible. BANDS: Five bands only: 3.5, 7, 14, 21 and 28 MHz.  CONTEST EXCHANGE: RST report plus CQ zone number of the station location (e.g., 599 14). Stations in the continental USA and Canada also send QTH (e.g., 599 05 MA). See IV.C.3. below. http://www.cqwwrtty.com/rules.htm

Direct importer of a wide selection of SWR meters, H.F., V.H.F. and U.H.F. base and mobile antennas. Amateur radio transceivers, antenna analyzers, etc. Affordable shipping costs for out of town customers and subsidized shipping to SARL members. Check out all my amateur radio goodies here. 0720268909.

Light Engineering Works

General engineering, part remanufacturing  turning, milling, drilling.Specialised welding of steel, stainless steel, aluminium and cast iron.Gear repair and remanufacturing.Prototype industrial and automotive  parts and brackets made to specification,  Heavy duty antenna support and Mobile brackets including standoff brackets and antenna parts manufactured.Tower and tower part repairs also undertaken. Contact Willie Wright ZS6WC.0823351356. zs6wc@vodamail.co.za

Tell me more  about Amateur Radio

Radio Amateurs, or "Hams" use two-way radio communication to make contact with other radio amateurs all over the world. They are even able to use satellites and on occasion speak with astronauts. Radio Hams can do this from home or while mobile in cars, boats or on foot.

Radio Hams have a full range or communication modes at their disposal. These include plain voice, Morse code, numerous digital computer modes and even graphical modes like television. As a licensed amateur radio operator you will be able to join in experiments using all these modes.

Amateur radio can be enjoyed by young and old, male and female, even the most severely disabled can make friends around the world from their own home. This hobby knows no boundaries.

www.radioacc.co.za

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