AMSAT NA Software Developer visits NARC - On Saturday 20 July AMSATSA and the SARL hosted Burns Fisher from AMSAT NA who was visiting South Africa on  a Church choir outreach tour. Burns had requested to meet with the  AMSAT SA AfriCUBE development team during his visit. This was an ideal opportunity to exchange ideas and discuss development trends.

Burns was presented with a certificate of appreciation for his support of the AMSAT SA Space Symposiums.

Read more about his visit in Focus on VHF and Above 

Become part of the Next Generation Science Beacon Project by making a contribution to the beacon fund. The fund is administered by AMSATSA as their contribution. Click Here  to go to the easy credit card facility. It is handled  by payfast, a secure paymentplatform. You contribution will be acknowledged.(pic SARL Karoo beacon site)

 SARL sets up a Spectrum and Technology Workgroup  -With the publication of various Spectrum Policies and the imminent publication by ICASA of the equipment type approval policy, the Council of the SARL has decided to establish a Spectrum and Technology Workgroup which will be known by the acronym SARL STW.

The STW will coordinate the various previous initiatives such as the Technology Workgroup. The first tasks of the STW will be to develop a document to highlight opportunities for Amateur Radio in the recent gazetted Spectrum Policy for Economic Development. The STW will also coordinate the SARL’s participation in the SABS TC3 and TC74 EMC and Telecommunications technical committees, the WRC27 National Preparatory Workgroup (NPWG) and the IARU Region 1 EMC and Noise Monitoring (NMC) committees.  Another task of the Spectrum and Technology Workgroup will be to set up technology webinars.

The STW is inviting interested SARL and AMSAT SA members with an interest in the technology issues confronting amateur radio to join the STW.

The first meeting will be held on the AMSAT SA Webex platform on Thursday 4 July at 20:30.

Two SARL councillors, Karel Bezuidenhout (Jnr), ZR6K and Guy Eales, ZS6GUY are joining the STW as well as Brian Jacobs, ZS6ZY and Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV. The first meeting will be a general discussion, finding an administrator/ coordinator and developing a business plan.

Here is a real opportunity for the younger generation to contribute to Amateur Radio’s future and to gain valuable personal experience. Send an email with your contact details and your area of interest to sarlstw@amateurradio.org.za

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

SARL ON-THE-AIR BULLETINS AND AMATEUR RADIO TODAY PROGRAMME 21 July 2024 

SARLNEWS  with Rory Norton ZS2BL Listen or download here

SARLNUUS  met Hannes Enslin ZS6JDE Laaiaf/luister hier

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. 

Text bulletins from 1 March 2020 to today can be found at https://sarlnewsbulletin.wordpress.com

ICASA LICENCE FEES

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.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE AWARD PRESENTATION HERE 

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 

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.

Often fitting ferrite beads and basic filters will solve the inference problem.

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.

The addresses of the local ICASA managers can be found on http://www.sarl.org.za/public/licences/licences.asp. Please your copy your letter to the SARL at secretary@sarl.org.za and Chris, ZS6GM at chris@crturner.net and keep the SARL informed of progress of the complaint.

A Template - Constitution and Rules for an Amateur Radio Club - get a copy here

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.

The IARUMS Region 1 Newsletters are available on iaru-r1.org and read it!

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.

2024 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. Send your advertisement to Dennis, ZS4BS at radiozs@sarl.org.za. 

Advertising Rates (effective 1 January 2024) 

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

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. 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.

All correspondence and material must be sent to radiozs@sarl.org.za