Every 18 April, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris. The IARU has announced that the theme for this year's World Amateur Radio Day will be "A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy". Announced special call signs participating in WARD 2024 include stations from Bahrain (A91WARD), Belgium (OP24WARD and OR24WARD), Croatia (9A24WARD), Cuba (T47R), Czech Republic (OL1WARD), Denmark (5P0WARD), France (TM99WARD), Germany (DA24WARD), Greece (SZ0WARD), Morocco (CN99HR), Netherlands (PA24WARD), Poland (3Z0WARD), Spain (EG5DMR, EG5WRD and EG7DMR), Switzerland (HB9WARD), Turkey (TC3WRD) and UAE (A60WARD).

Motion 2024-01 – Accept the SARL Annual Financial Statements for the year ending 30th June 2023

The Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre (CTARC) will be hosting the 2024 SARL National Convention at the Garden Court Nelson Mandela Boulevard, corner of Melbourne and Coronation Roads in Cape Town.

Register to attend the SARL National Convention by clicking here and stand a chance to win a REDELL UV97 New Generation Dual Band Radio with the programming cable included. Do it today!

Register for the Webex Streaming of the 2024 SARL AGM by clicking here. Please submit a proxy.

The April 2024 Radio ZS and the Radio ZS Index are available for download. Click on Publications in the lefthand menu and select Radio ZS Download.

SARL ON-THE-AIR BULLETINS AND AMATEUR RADIO TODAY PROGRAMME 14 April 2024

Amateur Radio Today - Programme about Amateur Radio and technology hosted by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV . The programme features news about amateur radio, reports on Hamnet, VHF and UHF, Satellites and HF plus technical features. One hour of Amateur Radio bliss. Listen/download here

Transmissions: Sundays at 08:00 UTC on repeaters around South Africa including 145,750 and 145,725 MHZ in Pretoria. On HF 7 115 kHz by Louis, ZR4DJL. Amateur Radio Today on 80 metres on Mondays - On Mondays Amateur RadioToday is transmitted at 19:30 local time on 3 620 kHz by Andy, ZS6ADY.

Note when SARL website is not available programmes will be posted on www.amateurradio.org.za. Reception reports are invited. Please send your report to artoday@sarl.org.za. Please give details of the signal strength antenna and location.

PLEASE take note that it is YOUR responsibility to pay your license fee directly to ICASA.

The new fee structure is: 1 Year - R188,00; 2 Years - R359,00; 3 Years - R515,00; 4 Years - R656,00 and 5 Years - R784,00. The SARL highly recommends that you pay for a five-year license. This ensures you have a valid license for the next five years.

Payment must be made via EFT directly to ICASA using the following account: ICASA, Nedbank Corporate Client services; Account no: 14 62 00 29 27; Branch: 146245. Use your ICASA license number No “******-******” as the payment reference. Do not pay the ICASA fees to the South African Radio League.

If your licence is managed by the SARL, please follow the instructions as e-mailed to you by Noel, ZR6DX, the RAE Manager.

All other license holders must log into their account on the ICASA Customer Portal https://online.icasa.org.za/, click on the “Manage” button and then the “Renew” button; and select the number of years for the license period you want to pay for. The ICASA system will then send you an invoice, or you can click on “Invoice” and the invoice can be downloaded. You can then click on the “Pay” button and pay via you credit card, or you can do an EFT. Note, if via EFT then you must click on the “Upload Payment” button and upload the proof of payment. If the POP is not uploaded, then ICASA will not issue the new license.

The SARL cannot help you if the ICASA Customer Portal is slow or not responding. The SARL has got nothing to do with the ICASA system, which is a government system of the State Information Technology Agency. Be patient and try in the evenings or early mornings.

The SARL– AMSAT SA display at the Science Forum South Africa 2023 was awarded a special mention award for the best display and audience interaction. The award was presented at the closing ceremony of the forum on Friday afternoon. Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV and Brian Jacobs ZS6YZ, who were responsible for developing and executing the display, received the framed certificate from the Dr Phil Mjwara, Director-General of the department of Science and Technology and Innovation. The forum at the CSIR convention centre was attended by over 4000 delegates.

The joint display, with the theme Science in Amateur Rado, featured the AMSAT SA dual band yagi antenna, a proto type of the AfriCUBE satellite, the SARL RF Noise monitoring system and the SARL two metre Karoo beacon project.

The RF noise monitoring system output was displayed on a large screen showing in real time the RF noise level at the convention centre. It was significate to see the drop in the RF noise level at night when all the LED lighting and computers were switched off.

Brian Jacobs manned the stand full time assisted at various times by Hans van de Groenendaal, Cameron Eales , Koos Fick and Ruben Jansen van Rensburg.

The event was a worthwhile experience and a great opportunity to show that Amateur Radio is just not another hobby but a true technology pastime.

The 2024 SARL Diary of Events is available - click on the link in the yellow block on the left.

HOW TO CONQUER THE SARL HF CONTESTS - the presentaton by Chris Burger ZS6EZ is now available on YouTube.Watch it here

Video of contesting with ZS6EZ now on YouTube. A recording of the SARL Contesting with ZS6EZ is now available on YouTube. Click here

Pay your SARL Membership fees online using PayFast. Go to https://mysarl.org.za/shop/ and select your membership category.

Interference from solar installations- As the South African public are realising that they are on their own and facing the many challenges of loads heading, self-generating electricity by households and businesses have become the norm.

Generally, Radio Amateurs should not experience interference on HF or VHF from properly installed solar power installations but unfortunately it does occur when unqualified people do not install the system properly and use poor quality inverters and solar maximisers.

By design solar installations are not expected to radiate radio frequencies (RF) and cause interference as the necessary circuits suppress any RF radiation should be included in the design. There however are suppliers that will install equipment of inferior quality. Solar installers are expected to issue COC’s, certificate of compliance, but these certificates generally only cover the electrical installation.

If a neighbour installs a solar system and it kills HF, there are two approaches. Point out to him or her that the installation is causing radio interference and that he should insist that his installer sorts out the problem. If that fails it is necessary to send a written complaint with details of the interference to the manager of the local ICASA office. ICASA is fully quipped to do the necessary test and advise the owner of the installation to have the problem seen to or switch off his system.

Ethics and Operating Procedure for the Radio Amateur EN IARU ed3 2 Jan 2009 - download your copy here. Ongelukkig is dit nog nie na Afrikaans vertaal nie.

South African VHF, UHF and Microwave Record Table. The latest table of records is available from the VHF SA Record page. Compiled and updated by Paul, ZS6NK - send your record claim to zssixnk@gmail.com

SARL Next Generation Beacon fund stands at R30 150 - The crowd funding initiative to collect funds for the SARL next generation beacon programme was initiated by AMSAT SA. During the past week R2000 was received from two donors. The fund moved f past the half way mark which is still far short of the R60 000 target required to finance a beacon in the Karoo and the Western Cape.

AMSAT SA and the SARL thank all who have thus far contributed. Help us make it happen by making your donation to the fund. Visit www.amsatsa.org.za and make your contribution by clicking on one of the payment buttons for a R50, R250 or R1000 donation. The button will take you to the Payfast website where you need to enter your credit card details. Please also add your callsign after your surname.

Visit the Next Generation Beacon web page for article, videos, updates. and a list of donors Click her e
The SARL Noise Floor Project - The presentation by Hans, ZS6AKV during the C7 - EMC meeting atthe Region 1 Virtual General Conference, can be seen here.

New Satellite Book now available - The new ARRL Amateur radio satellites for beginners is now available in South Africa. With the opening of e-commerce, Postnet is operating again and books can be sent to your nearest Postnet. You can make contacts through amateur radio satellites, and even with the International Space Station, using equipment you probably own right now! All it takes is the right information, which you will find in Amateur Radio Satellites for Beginners by Steve Ford

There are dozens of spacecraft in orbit just waiting for your signals, and more are being launched every year. This book is your guide to a whole new world of operating enjoyment.

Amateur Radio Satellites for Beginners will introduce you to new experiences that you may have thought were out of your reach. Start reading and discover how easy it can be! To order the book visit www.amateurradio.org.za. 115 pages plus index.

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.

Radio ZS and the SARL web welcomes advertising, it is a source of information for readers. Send your advertisement to Dennis, ZS4BS at radiozs@sarl.org.za.

Display (cameo) on home page and Radio ZS: R300 pm; R1 700 for 6 months; R3 000 per annum

Commercial Hamad on home page - R100 pm – R300 for 6 months – R700 per annum

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. A design service is available at R400 per advertisement.

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.

South African VHF, UHF and Microwave Record Table. The latest table of records is available from the VHF SA Record page. Compiled and updated by Paul, ZS6NK - send your record claim to zssixnk@gmail.com

Visit the Next Generation Beacon web page for article, videos, updates. and a list of donors Click here The SARL Noise Floor Project - The presentation by Hans, ZS6AKV during the C7 - EMC meeting atthe Region 1 Virtual General Conference, can be seen here.

Visit the Next Generation Beacon web page for article, videos, updates. and a list of donors Click her e
The SARL Noise Floor Project - The presentation by Hans, ZS6AKV during the C7 - EMC meeting atthe Region 1 Virtual General Conference, can be seen here.