• ARISS antenna 41
• Frequency 2.422 GHz
• Symbol rate 1.3 Ms/s

The transmission will start shortly before the pass of the ISS over the Matera ground station in south Italy at approximately 13.29 UTC.The ground station will stream the video over the BATC server http://www.batc.tv/ .Please select Member Streams and ISS.During the pass, different configurations will be tested with ARISS antenna 41.After the pass, the Ham Video transmitter will stay powered on in configuration 1 till the following Commissioning step, which is planned Sunday9  March 2014 at approximately 12.40 UTC.

@ ZS6DN SILENT KEY - It is with regret that the SARL is announcing the passing away of Dave Larsen, ZS6DN. Driving between Pretoria and Johannesburg, many a traveller has been intrigued by a farm of antenna masts on the hill overlooking the main road to the OR Tambo International Airport. Turning off the main road down a narrow farm track one finds the sign "SALBU" the home, the office, the research laboratories of Dave Larsen, ZS6DN,  until recently South Africa's living legend of radio.  His  key has now become silent  on 26 February 2014 at the age of 81. 

MEMORIAL SERVICE: at Salbu at 1pm on Saturday the 8th of March. 

During his life time worked in the interest of Radio and Amateur Radio technology development. He installed and maintained   a 5 five band HF beacon as part of an international Amateur Radio propagation research programme.  The multi-band HF beacon is operational from Salbu, replacing the 14100 kHz beacon of which Dave has been the custodian since the inception of the programme many years ago. The beacon operates on 14100, 18110, 21150, 24930 and 28200 kHz.  (picture shows Dick Kessler (K2SZE) - David Larsen (ZS6DN))

During the seventies Dave and his team evolved an HF frequency hopping system. The concept was initially rejected by the experts at the time. Some 15 years later the authorative publication, Janes Defence weekly wrote in the 11 July 1987 edition : "Frequency hopping is probably the most popular spread spectrum technique. Claimed to have been pioneered in South Africa, it now appears in tactical equipment manufactured by most of the major international radio communication companies."  

In 1989 Dave Larsen, ZS5DN was awarded the Order of the Star of South Africa Grand Officer in recognition of his contribution to electronics.  

@SARLNEWS/NUUS   2 March 2014 Download here Afrikaans English

ESSAY COMPETITION FOR LEARNERS   - ” Young people under age of 20 are invited to put pen to paper, or may be more appropriate today, hands to the keyboard  and explore how amateur radio has shaped the development of radio science and how amateur radio can be a gateway into a career into the engineering and science. 

 @RTA KIT AND CD NOW AVAILABLE- Supplies of the RTA2013 SDR VFO kit and CD are now available for shipping. The kit and CD combo are available at R250 each including packaging and shipping. The CD alone is available at R70. Place your order now. The booking from is available here. There is a premium for non-members,

Lampedusa Island AF-019.  An international team of operators will be active as IG9Y from Lampedusa Island during the CQ WW DX SSB Contest (25 and 26 October) as a Multi-Op entry. Twelve operators are mentioned. Activity outside the contest will be on 160 to 6 metres using CW, SSB, and RTTY, with four stations on the air. QSL via ON4LG. An OQRS will be available for direct and Bureau cards. Visit their Web page at http://ig9y.com 

Download HF Happenings, the free weekly HF Newsletter, from the HF Happenings page on www.zs4bfn.co.za

ARRL Inter. DX Contest, SSB.   Date: March 1-2, 2014 - .Mission: Encourage W/VE stations to expand knowledge of DX propagation on the HF and MF bands, improve operating skills, and improve station capability by creating a competition in which DX stations may only contact W/VE stations.  Definitions:  W/VE stations are those operating in the following locations:  The United States and the District of Columbia with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii,  Canadian provinces and territories with the exception of the DXCC entities St. Paul Island and Sable Island,  DX stations are any non-W/VE station. This includes US possessions and territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.  Objectives:  W/VE amateurs work as many DX stations in as many DXCC entities as possible on the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10 meter bands,  DX stations work as many W/VE stations in as many of the 48 contiguous states and provinces as possible. Contest Exchange:  W/VE stations send signal report and state or province:  DX stations send signal report and power (number or abbreviation indicating approximate transmitter output power).

OPEN UKRAINE RTTY CHAMPIONSHIP 2014:  Date: 01-02 March 2014. The contest consist of two parts: LOW BAND (1,8, 3,5 & 7 MHz) and HIGH BAND (7, 14, 21 & 28 MHz). Time: LOW BAND-part includes 2 rounds: the First round  is 18:00-20:59 UT , the Second - 21:00-23:59 UT (01 March); HIGH BAND-part includes 2 rounds: the First round is 08:00-10:59 UT , the Second - 11:00-13:59 UT (02 March). Bands:  1,8 ; 3,5 ; 7 ; 14 ; 21 ; 28 MHz, in digimodes sub-bands. Mode: RTTY (45 BAUD).

DARC 10m-Contest DIGITAL (Corona): The following DARC RTTY contests performs at the 10-m band in the approved by the IARU band plan frequency ranges. Dates: 2 March from 1100 to 1700 UTC. Participants: All amateur radio stations and receiving stations (SWL) at home and abroad. Call: CQ TEST CORONA. Digits Exchange:  RST + serial number from 001

SARL Hamnet 40 m Simulated Emergency Contest: Aim - 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. Date and Time. First Sunday of March from 12:00 to 14:00 UTC (14:00 to 16:00 CAT). (2 March 2014). Frequencies. It is a phone contest in the band segments 7 063 to 7 100 kHz and 7 130 to 7 200 kHz. Categories. a. Single operator stationary mobile, b. Single operator portable, c. Multi-operator portable, d. Single operator base station

UBA Spring Contest 2014. The UBA section of DST (Diest) invites all radio amateurs to take part in the 31^st edition of the UBA SPRING-CONTEST. Contest dates / Contest parts HF-80m CW: 2 March 2014 (07.00 -11.00 hour UTC), VHF-6m Phone/CW: 9 March 2014 (07.00 -11.00 hour UTC). VHF-2m Phone/CW: 16 March 2014 (07.00 -11.00 hour UTC). HF-80m Phone: 23 March 2014 (07.00 -11.00 hour UTC). Attention: only UTC time in the log is valid.  Contest call. CQ UBA contest. Reports. ON Stations: Report = RS(T) + QSO serial number starting with 001 + UBA section or XXX for ON stations NOT member of the UBA. Ex: ON4DST - rprt given 59(9)001 DST - rprt received 59(9)003 MCL. Foreign stations: Report = RS(T) + QSO serial number starting with 001. Ex.: G3ZZZ - report given 59(9)005 - report received 59(9)019 DST. The QSO serial number must run continuously, regardless of the mode of transmission (VHF). Foreign stations. Only contacts with ON stations are valid.        

The 2014 CQ World-Wide WPX Contest. SSB: March 29-30, 2014  Starts: 0000 UTC Saturday Ends: 2359 UTC Sunday. I. Objective: For amateurs world wide to contact as many amateurs and prefixes as possible during the contest period.  Period of Operation: 48 hours. Single Operator stations may operate 36 of the 48 hours – off times must be a minimum of 60 minutes during which no QSO is logged. Multi-operator stations may operate the full 48 hours. Bands: Only the 1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 MHz bands may be used. Observance of established band plans is strongly encouraged.  EXCHANGE: RS(T) report plus a progressive contact serial number starting with 001 for the first contact. Note: Multi-Two and Multi-Unlimited entrantsuse separate serial number sequences on each band

Battery Clinic Midrand: Car batteries; truck batteries; alarm/gate motor batteries; Intelligent chargers & other accessories; new or ‘Re-new’ batteries. Discounts where possible for Ham Radio operators.  www.batteryclinic.co.za Contact Nigel (ZR6NGB) 011 028 1146, Email: nigel@batteryclinic.co.za 

MEGE electrical control & automation
Mege electrical control & automation is in the business of designing and manufacturing of control panels for the industry. Installation of frequency drives, PLCs, mimic panels. Temperature controllers, thermocouples, RTDs, electric and gas ovens.  Gas detectors, hygrometers. Fire, heat and smoke detectors. Back-up generators. Solar panels, regulators. Earthing and lightning protection. Contact Eddie (ZS6DAY) at 082 330 3558, or megecontrol@gmail.com 

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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