LOGO TO CELEBRATE SARL 95TH ANNIVERSARY - the SARL has developed a special logo to celebrate its 95th anniversary. The SARL was founded in 1925 as the South African Radio Relay League but was later renamed as the South African Radio League. 

 The March 2020 Radio ZS is available for download.

SARL ON-THE-AIR BULLETINS AND AMATEUR RADIO TODAY PROGRAMME 23 February 2020

SARLNEWS in English with Dave Reece ZS1DFR  here 

SARLNUUS in Afrikaans met John KeulderZS6BXL klik/luister 

AMATEUR RADIO TODAY,  SARL's weekly actuality programme about Amateur Radio and technology hosted by  Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV  Download/listen  here  

Amateur Radio Today on 80 metres on Mondays - On Mondays Amateur RadioToday is transmitted at 19:30 local time on 3620 kHz by Andy Cairns ZS6ADY. Reception reports are invited. Please send your report to artoday@sarl.org.za. Please give details of the signal strength antenna and location.

Listen to the full Jenis Caron interview on QSO Today here

The 2020 SARL National Convention - AGM Booklet is available on the AGM Documents page or here. The Registration Form for the 2020 National Convention is available for download, click here. The Proxy form 

Electronic Voting for the SARL Annual Financial Statements for the Year ended 30 June 2019

The voting closed at 23:59 CAT on Wednesday 26 February 2020. The result of the vote is as follows:

Eligible to vote: 1 616

Votes cast: 170 - 10,5%

Agree: 164

Disagree: 1

Abstain: 5 

Thank you, Dennis Green, ZS4BS SARL Secretary

2020/21 Amateur Radio License fee increase

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.  

DUBUS Technical Magazine. Pine, ZS6OB says, “For those who receive the DUBUS Technical Magazine - I have finally received all the copies and will be posting it in the coming week.”

Also, those who would like to receive Dubus again for 2020, please send me all your details. The cost for 2020 is R418. Mail money will be slightly more expensive because in the ordinary mail the shipment gets lost, so I want to arrange for it to be sent by courier so that there can be a tracking number. The final edition for 2019 has a very interesting 144 MHz preamp with a very low noise specification. Sorry about the delays with the 2019 issues but Joe had to resend on 2 occasions and then I had to pay extra for shipping again.

Please inform us urgently for the 2020 entries, send your e-mail to pienaarja@gmail.com

The 2020 Secunda ARC Field Day. The Secunda Radio Club, ZS6SRC, will hold its annual Field Day week from 20 – 29 March 2020 (during the school holidays) at the Trichardtfontein Dam, just outside Secunda. This is a perfect opportunity to gain experience in a simulated DXpedition. ZS6SRC plan to operate on HF - 160, 80, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 m and on VHF/UHF – 6 m and satellites (voice and digital) and QO-100 Satellite operation will also be available.

The Club is also in need of sponsors. Please contact Gert, ZS6GC if you know of anyone who can help sponsor the event. If you are planning to attend or can sponsor, contact Gert Botha, ZS6GC on mobile +27 82 771 0663 or e-mail gertb@cybersmart.co.za. More information in the February 2020 Radio ZS 

 AMSAT SA  NEW SPACE SYMOSIUM DATE - The annual AMSAT SA Space symposium   date has changed to Saturday 11 July 2020.  While the call for papers is ongoing till the end of February, AMSAT SA is pleased to announce that Burns Fisher WB1FJ, of AMSAT NA will delivery two papers  at the symposium:  Fox-in-a-box,  Fox telemetry reception using an inexpensive Raspberry Pi and a J-pole antenna including a discussion on the  optimal positioning for a J-pole antenna for satellite reception and an overview of what is in orbit currently and expected in the near future and their features. 

Prospective authors are invited to  propose other  papers by submitting a brief synopsis to admin@amsatsa.org.za before 28 February 2020.

THE BETHLEHEM 2 M BEACON IS ON THE AIR. The Bethlehem 2 m beacon that has previously been reported on, is now on the air. A dedicated group of VHF enthusiasts installed the two 8 element Yagi antennas, splitter and LMR-400 coax on the mast of the Free State Amateur Radio Club on Bird Cage Hill near Bethlehem on Saturday 7 December 2019. After connecting the cable in the repeater hut, the beacon in its box was powered up and within 30 seconds the first message was sent towards Johannesburg and Durban. Not long after that the reports started coming in, S3 to S5 in Pretoria and 3/1 in Edenvale. It is heard softly in Kimberley and Bloemfontein, which are on the back of the antennas. The beacon transmits on 144,425 MHz CW with 25 W into a pair of 8 element Yagi antennas. The message being transmitted to those who cannot read CW is "CQ CQ ZS0BET ZS0BET BEACON KG41DS." 

Well done to the team of Rickus, ZS4A; Charl, ZS4ATZ; Wallie, ZS4LD; Daniel, ZS4DA; Stephan, ZS4SDL and Carl, ZS6CBQ, who installed the beacon in Bethlehem. Listen to Amateur Radio Today for more information about the installation of the beacon. The VHF Work Group will now focus on a 2 m beacon for the Northern Karoo in the new year.

The SARL Novice Award - The Council has approved the SARL Novice Award. This award is available to holders of South African Novice Licence (ZU) and is designed to encourage activity across four designated bands for this licence class. Contacts may be made using CW, SSB or FM modes, as appropriate on 80 m, 40 m, 10 m and 2 m with a minimum of 10 contacts and maximum of 25 contacts per band. Multiple contacts with the same amateur and contacts via terrestrial repeaters do not count for the award. No QSL cards are needed. Get the information HERE 

2020 ARRL Handbook and Antenna book - Limited stock of the ARRL Antenna Book ( 4 volumes in a boxed set) and the ARRL Handbook (6 volumes shrinked wrapped)  are now available. Order while stocks last .

Order form with details can be downloaded here 

Note the address to send orders has changed. If you have sent an order in the past 2 weeks please resend. New address is admin@amateurradio.org.za. Sorry for the inconcenience, but we had to move to a new hosting company as Telkom could not resolve their software issues they have with .org.za addresses.

The 2020 SARL 95 National Convention - The Sandton and Hammies ARCs are hosting the 2020 SARL 95 National Convention over the weekend of 3 to 5 April 2020 at the Wanderers Club in Illovo, Johannesburg. The SARL Symposium will be run on Friday 3 April with the SARL AGM on Saturday morning 4 April. The SARL 95 Celebratory Dinner Dance will be held on Saturday evening with the LM Radio Band and Eddie Eksteen!

Why SARL 95? The SARL will be 95 years old in 2020 and application will be made for a special call sign.

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Report interference and unauthorised use of amateur frequencies - If your transmission or repeater is interfered with by an unlicensed person (s), note as much detail as possible and report the case for investigation to the ICASA  regional office in your area. By policing the amateur bands and reporting transgressions by non-licensed persons we protect the future of the amateur radio spectrum. Send a copy of your email to artoday@sarl.org.za   to allow   the SARL to monitor how wide-spread the problem is.  For a  list of  ICASA Regional managers and contact details visit http://www.sarl.org.za/public/licences/licences.asp  or click here.

Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology - The SARL hosted a very sucessful synposium on 12 April 2019 in Stellenbosch.  It was attended by over 60 delegates. The symposium was supported by contributions from  RF Design, Comtest, F'Sati, Giga Technology and AMSAT SA. The powerpoint presentations are available for download here. Download while still available .

Guidelines for a non SARL member to use the SA-QSL system- Phone Kelley at NARC (011 675 2393) and check that your correct information is on the database – license number and e-mail address are important.

Click on SA-QSL system link (on the left-hand side of the web page) and then click on “Need to Register”. Follow the instructions on the screen. Your username and password will be e-mailed to you which you can use to logon in future.

SARL and not yet SARL Members are requested to check their Electronic QSLs on a regular basis.  

Two New Books and mike kit available from ARD Trust online bookshop - The books are RSGB Shortwave Defined Radio and  Get On The Air with Digital (includes FT8). Also new is a sunstep cordless microphone kit (ideal for kids). Get details here

If you are a newcomer to radio or would like to brush-up on your knowledge you may also like this one 

 Get details here

Get  your antennas ready for the SARL contests. Here is another handy ARRL book: Basic Antennas @ R740 per copy.

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

Daily frequency predications: https://spaceweather.sansa.org.za/products-and-services/frequency-predictions/daily-frequencies Bloemfontein - Cape Town; Cape Town – Durban; Cape Town – NVIS; Cape Town – Pretoria; Durban – Pretoria; Pietersburg – Pretoria; Pretoria - NVIS

7 day frequency predications https://spaceweather.sansa.org.za/products-and-services/frequency-predictions/public-service-information Hermanus – Antarctica; Durban - Cape Town; Port Elizabeth – Pretoria; Pretoria – Auckland; Pretoria - Cape Town; Pretoria – Durban; Pretoria – Frankfurt; Pretoria - New Delhi; Pretoria - New York; Pretoria - San Francisco 

Southern African Fauna and Flora https://zsfaunaandflora.wordpress.com/. 

Contacts with stations on the African continent count towards the SARL’s All Africa Award www.sarl.org.za/public/awards/awards.asp

Worldwide List of HF Beacons https://iaruhfbeacons.wordpress.com/ 

Rodrigues Island, 3B9. David, F8AAN will be active holiday style as 3B9AN from Rodrigues Island (AF-017) between 10 and 19 March. He will operate CW on 80 to 17 metres. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, or direct to home call.

Malawi, 7Q. Pista, HA5AO will be active as 7Q7AO (requested call sign) from Malawi during the second half of September/early October. He plans to operate CW, RTTY, FT8 and some SSB on 80 to 10 metres. Log search and OQRS will be available at https://www.ha5ao.com/.

South Orkney Islands, VP8PJ. The "Braveheart" reached Signy, South Orkney Islands on 20 February. The team reported they had “ice to contend with regarding our planned landing area” and waited for the winds to change and blow the ice out. The following day they were able to get the equipment ashore and move it to their preferred site. The team anticipates that it will take two days (21 and 22 February) to set up camp. So, listen out from today!

DXpeditions on hold. Two DXpeditions are on hold due to the Coronavirus.

Cezar, VE3LYC and Adrian, KO8SCA expected to be active as V62P (requested call sign) from Polap Atoll (OC-155), and as V62S (requested call sign) from Satawal Atoll (OC-299, new one for IOTA) during the first half of May. The project is currently on hold, though, because Micronesia has been placed "under a state of emergency to address the effects of the Coronavirus.

Swains Island W8S. "In close cooperation with Alex Jennings, the representative of Swains Island, the team has decided to postpone the W8S DXpedition to Swains Island to autumn of 2020" (spring of the southern hemisphere), the team announced on 18 February (https://swains2020.lldxt.eu/).

Barbados 8P. Richard, G3RWL will be active again as 8P6DR from Barbados (NA-021) from 8 March to 9 April. He will operate CW and possibly some RTTY on 80 to 10 m. QSL via Club Log's OQRS, LoTW or via home call (direct or bureau).

Maldives 8Q - Noel, F6BGC will be active again as 8Q7NC from the Maldives (AS-013) between 12 and 21 March. He will be active holiday style on 80 to 10 metres SSB, CW and digital modes. QSL via LoTW, or direct to home call; log search on Club Log.

Jersey, GJ. Hans DK8RE, Wolf DL1CC and Wies SP1EG will be active as MH0ESP from Jersey (EU-013) between 7 and 16 March. QSL via SP1EG. M(H)0ESP is the call sign of the British Section of the International League of Esperantist Radio Amateurs (ILERA).

Kuwait, 9K. 9K2HQ and other members of the Kuwait Amateur Radio Society will be active as 9K2F from Faylakah Island (AS-118) between 11 and 15 March. They will operate SSB, CW and FT8 on 80 to 10 metres. QSL via 9K2RA and LoTW.

Andaman Islands, VU4. A team of nine operators - namely VU2ABS, VU2BGS, VU2DED, VU2DSI, VU2GHO, VU2KWJ, VU2NTA, VU2RS (ex VU3RSB) and VU3UFE - will be active as VU4R from Neill Island, Andaman Islands (AS-001) between 20 and 31 March, including participation in the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest. Plans are to operate CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8 on 160 to 10 metres, with three stations and an emphasis on the low bands. QSL via M0OXO's OQRS. See http://vu4r.vu3rsb.org/ for more information.

Christmas Island, T32. Ken, KH6QJ will be active again as T32AZ from Kiritimati (Christmas Island, OC-024), East Kiribati between 4 and 11 March, including activity during the ARRL DX SSB Contest. QSL via home call.

VHF, UHF and Microwave Record Table - the latest table of records is available from the VHF SA Record page. Click here to get a copy. Compiled and updated by Paul, ZS6NK - Send your record claim to zssixnk@gmail.com

Note there will be no Focus on VHF  and above on 16 February 2020

Focus on VHF and Above 9 February  2020 

Audio version 

You will recall during the build up to WRC-19 that one of the issues that was proposed to be put on the agenda for WRC-23 was interference caused to the Galileo GNSS constellation by activity on the 23cm band. 

Bob Atkins KA1GT has documented his recent observations of interference to 1296 EME from the Galileo navigation satellites' E6 mode.Go and take a look at Bob’s observations on his website https://bobatkins.com/radio/galileo-1296.html. 

Previously Peter Blair G3LTF also wrote an article about the potential interference to Galileo from 23cm band operations. Although the article was written in 2006, Peter explains the whole history of the Galileo project, what it is where it stemmed from as well as describing possible interference scenarios. Peter’s article can be found at http://www.southgatearc.org/articles/galileo.htm. Be sure to click on “Continued” link at the bottom of the page to go to the next page. 

After reading both these pieces of information, I now also have a better understanding what the potential issues are and why this item was on the agenda during WRC-19. 

Work will shortly begin with the first preparatory meetings for WRC-23 and we will again need to make sure that we are fully informed and take part in the various meetings and forums to ensure that the interests of the Amateur Service is protected. 

Now on to something more technical. 

I have previously spoken about hand held radios and their rubber duck antennas that are fundamentally dummy loads. I have a requirement next weekend where I will need to use my hand held radio while away from my vehicle when we are busy assisting with a cycle event on the East Rand. 

I have also previously spoken about a simple modification that you can build that will give you a significant improvement on the signal that you transmit from your hand held radio. I’m going to revisit this as I’m now in the process of building another antenna for 70cm as we will be working on 70cm for this event. 

You can go and look at a commercial product called a RatTail Antenna which basically adds a counterpoise to your existing rubber duck antenna. The problem with this design is that it inductively couples to your radio and while transmitting you need to determine where the best place is to attach the device to your radio. This device will set you back 32 USD plus shipping. 

A little research on the internet will bring you to the webpage of Mike KM4FMK. Mike has written an article titled "Tiger tails" - Are they really worth using? The Tiger tail is nothing other than a counterpoise that you add to the radio’s antenna. Based on the measurements that Mike has done on various radios and antennas you can see that there are definitely gains that can be achieved. We are talking in the region of 6db gain over the standard antenna. Of course the gains will vary depending on the radio and antenna that you have. 

There is another article on Hamuniverse.com titled HT Antenna Modification For Increased Performance! written by Edward Harris, KE4SKY. Again interesting reading and you will see the amount of attenuation provided by a rubber duck antenna which varies greatly depending whether the radio is in your hand level with your face or you have it clipped to your belt and use a speaker mic. 

On that same page there is another article written by Dale Kubichek N6JSX which gives a simple method of building a counterpoise and how to attach it to your handheld. There is also a link to a PDF document where Dale provides info on building a brass quarter wave whip antenna. 

This is what I have previously built for 2m, and the tests that I have done on my Icom IC-T70 hand held showed that the whip and counterpoise gave me a signal gain of 6dB over the standard rubber duck antenna. 

I hope to get good results from my new 70cm antenna on the hand held that will allow me to at least get better reception, never mind the significantly improved transmission which may even allow me to use my hand held outside of my vehicle without having to run back to the vehicle every time I am called on the radio. The length of the 70cm antenna will also be smaller and much easier to handle in and out of the vehicle. 

I also need to ensure that the radio is not clipped to my belt, but sitting high up on my body in some form of a harness to ensure that I actually get maximum signal out of the radio. 

Remember, being able to kerchunk the repeater with your hand held, does not mean that you are putting out a sufficiently good signal to be able to have a proper QSO or pass that urgent message that may save a person’s life.

Well that’s all for this week. Don’t forget to send us details of your club or group’s activity on VHF and above or any other news snippets to vhfnews@sarl.org.za.

Focus on VHF and Above 2 February  2020

Audio version   

This week, we again report on activity along the West Coast. 

Charles ZS1CF says “The West Coast Radio Group have their net on Mondays at 19h30 on 145.500 FM simplex. 

The Tropo ducting forecast for Monday 27 January looked fair again, but not as strong as it was the previous Monday.  Charles received Cobus, ZS3CVB with a S9+10dB signal compared to a full scale reception the previous Monday.

On Monday 27 January, a total of 9 stations called into the net and everyone  enjoyed it thoroughly. 

1.         Cobus ZS3CVB in Port Nolloth

2.         Michelle ZS3TO in Kleinzee

3.         Koos ZS3JPY in Kleinzee

4.         Marco ZS6NEU mobile in Saldanha Harbour

5.         Thys ZS1TBP mobile in Saldanha Harbour

6.         Chris ZS1FC in Jacobsbaai

7.         Tienie ZS1HO in Vredenburg

8.         Andre V51LZ in Oranjemund

9.         Charles ZS1CF in Langebaan 

The tropo ducting lasted well for about an hour, after which it faded quite rapidly 

Thank you to all for calling in and participating in the discussions!

West Coast greetings from Charles, ZS1CF in Langebaan.” 

Charles thank you very much for this report. 

We encourage other clubs and groups to also send us information regarding their activities on VHF and above. 

The VHF Workgroup met again on 29 January 2020 for the first time since the installation of the Bethlehem beacon in early December 2019. 

The Bethlehem beacon is operating very well and reports continue to come in, some from unexpected areas such as Charl ZS3K reporting that he  heard the beacon at his QTH at grid KG10wa, which is in the Northern Karoo near Strydenburg. This is an interesting report as it appears that Charl heard the beacon off a side lobe as the antennas are pointing North and East. 

This report prompted Carl ZS6CBQ and Charl to do some tests on 2m CW and Charl could hear Carl’s beacon in and out of the noise. 

There is now a renewed enthusiasm to get the next beacon up and running in the Northern Karoo. 

The hunt is now on to find a suitable location for the beacon. There are also discussions around building a totally self contained beacon that does not require any third party tower or access to electricity to be able to operate. So the beacon will be solar powered with battery backup and on it’s own 6m tower. This idea will allow for a lot more possible sites upon which to locate the beacon. 

Carl ZS6CBQ and Rickus ZS4A have been experimenting with JS8Call on 2m and their findings prompted the question whether the next beacon should be a CW beacon or should the beacon be a digital beacon being able to send and receive a digital signal on 2m SSB. 

Unfortunately load shedding cut the meeting short, however, there are a lot of ideas that need to be explored before the next meeting. A draft budget also needs to be prepared so that funds can be acquired. 

The next meeting of the VHF workgroup will be on Skype at 20:00 on 27 February 2020. If you would like to join the VHF Workgroup, please send your Skype name to vhfnews@sarl.org.za. 

Two amateurs in Germany have achieved a new IARU R1 record on 134 GHz. Michael Kuhne DB6NT and Roland Becker DK4RC exchanged reports on both SSB and CW over a distance of 65 km on 29 December 2019. You can see some photos of Michael’s equipment on his website http://www.db6nt.de.  

Well that’s all for this week. Don’t forget to send us details of your club or group’s activity on VHF and above or any other news snippets to vhfnews@sarl.org.za. 

 The SARL RTTY Contest takes place from 14:00 UTC to 17:00 UTC on Sunday 23 February 2020 with activity on 80, 40 and 20 metres. A station may be contacted on each band.  The exchange is an RSQ report and your grid square (first 4 digits) e.g. KG33. Contacts with stations in South Africa, eSwatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, Zimbabwe, St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Marion Island, Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, Mayotte and the Comoros are worth 3 points. Contacts with stations in the rest of the world are worth 1 point. Logs in ADIF, Cabrillo or MS Excel format with a summary sheet and labelled “your call sign Digital Contest,” shall be submitted by 2 March 2020 by e-mail to contest@sarl.org.za.

The first leg of the SARL 95 40 m Club Sprint takes place from 12:00 to 13:00 UTC on Saturday 29 February with CW activity on 7 000 to 7 040 kHz and phone activity on 7 130 to 7 200 kHz. The exchange is a RS or RST report and 4 character grid square (e.g. KG30). You score 2 points for every QSO and 2 points for the first QSO with each grid square. Log sheets in MS Excel format ONLY shall be submitted by 23:59 CAT on Saturday 7 March by e-mail to zs4bfn@mweb.co.za. When submitting log sheets, it should be renamed by the participant to include his/her call sign. The name of the operators Club must be shown on the log sheet.

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. 

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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.

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