Q. I forgot my members only password. What must I do?
Q. How do I choose my Members Only Password?
Q.
How do I update my information on the SARL call book from the website?
Q.
How do I add
my QTH Locator to my call book entry?
Q.
May I use my two way radio when mobile?
( Cell phone
laws )
Q. When may a ZR station operate on HF?
Q. Why does my name not appear in the Call book, or why are my details incorrect?
Q.
When will the Electronic Call book be updated, and why
can’t I edit my Electronic Call book.
Q. Why must a BBS have a ZS0
call sign?
Q. Does a Weather Satellite / Fax Relay station need to be licensed?
Q. Why do members pay less for books than non-members?
Q. Why is the SARL necessary to communicate with the Radio Regulatory
Authorities?
and why can't I
talk to them directly?
Q.
Why should I help support the QSL Bureau through
my membership if I don't use it?
Q.
How does the SARL protect the Ham in matters of
interference and EMC?
Q.
Why is the Radio ZS magazine printed on "expensive" glossy paper?
Q.
Your Question is
not listed here... Help?
Q.
How do I upgrade my ZR
licence to a full ZS licence?
Q.
Where can I get a list of repeaters and
other unmanned devices for South Africa?
Q. I forgot my members only password.
What must I do?
Don't worry, help is at hand. All you need to do is type in your Call sign
as your username and the word HELP as the password. This will instruct the
system to lookup your password and send it to your registered e-mail
address. Once you've sent HELP and its confirmed that you are a member and
that your password has been sent to you, then all you need to do is check
your e-mail in a few minutes and get your password.
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Q.
How do I choose my Members Only Password?
Very easy... Click
here and simply
supply your old password and the new one you'd like.
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Q.
How do I update my information on the SARL call book from the website?
Step 1: Look your call sign up in the online
call
book.
Step 2: If your details are displayed, you may click the green
"Update"
Step 3: Now use the convenient form to make the necessary changes.
Step 4: Click Update to finish.
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Q. How do I
add my QTH Locator to my call book entry?
Step 1: Look your call sign up in the online
call
book.
Step 2: When your details are displayed, follow the link to add
a your locator.
Step 3: Now use the convenient form to add or update
your locator.
Step 4: Click Submit to finish. Your locator will
now be saved to the database.
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Q. May I use my two way radio when
mobile? ( Cell phone laws )
The short answer is yes. Click
here to read more about
these regulations.
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Q. When may a ZR station operate on
HF?
In terms of the radio
regulations a ZR licence holder may operate on the band segments
allocated to such licence holders. Click
here to download the new
regulations.
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Q: Why does my name not appear in the
Call book, or why are my details incorrect?
There are two sources for Call book data:
-
The ICASA database. Theoretically this database should be the
source of reliable data. In practice this is not the case. ICASA has
experienced much turmoil during its various changes of identity and
administration of its database has suffered.
The SARL managed to obtained a copy of this database and found it
almost unusable due to the numerous errors and corruption's found. A very significant number of licence renewal forms were
returned as Address Unknown, illustrating further problems. A further complicating
issue is due to the fact that this database is now administered by an outside agency. As a
result of this the SARL would have to purchase this data in future.
-
The SARL maintains its own
database for the purposes of membership services and administering the
South African Call book. The data for this database is provided by Radio
Amateurs themselves. If they are SARL members their details would be
captured and updated through normal interaction with the HQ office.
Non-members can also submit their information for the call book using the
website or by contacting the office of the SARL directly. ( Your entry
into the call book is a free service to all South African radio amateurs.
) Due to the excellent co-operation from hams all over the country, this
database is the most accurate record of Amateur Radio that we have at our
disposal.
In order for the SARL to maintain the
integrity of the Call Book database we rely on YOU to keep us informed of
changes of address, silent keys from your area, changes of call signs and
new Radio Amateurs licensed in your area. Please remember also to update
ICASA with in two weeks of changing address.
Finally the SARL admin staff are not infallible, and finger troubles can also cause
problems. We urge all hams, both members and non members, check their
details on the SA Call book and if there are
changes it will only take
5 minutes on the web to ensure that the correct data is sent in.
At present there are over 6000 records in the database and any assistance
would be appreciated in weeding out records of those who may have gone
silent key or might have left the country.
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Q: When will the Electronic Callbook be updated, and why
can’t I edit my Electronic Call book.
With regards to incorrect data in the
electronic call book, please see the FAQ above re: incorrect data in the Call book.
The SARL office submits a copy of its database for conversion to the
Electronic Call book format
once a week. This ensures that the data that members have access to is as up
to date as is possible.
As for editing the records in the Electronic
call book. In order to maintain the integrity of the data this option is not
enabled in the software for the SARL database. How ever a personal database
is included in the software package where you can make your own entries.
This database is much like other electronic call books which also don't
permit the distributed data to be changed.
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Q: Why must a BBS have a ZS0
call sign?
- A BBS provides community service for the radio amateurs who operate packet radio.
Therefore many amateurs can access the BBS either to download various messages and also
upload messages containing general information for the amateurs at large. Messages to a
specific amateur may also be stored in the BBS for onward transmission to the destined
amateur. From the foregoing it can be seen that a BBS is very different from a mailbox.
- Like a voice repeater the BBS is able to repeat packet signals which are received from a
radio amateur. Since the BBS, like the the voice repeater, is an active unit, its location
and custodian particulars must be known to the authorities in case of interference
problems. Also, frequency co-ordination must be carried out to avoid clashes with other
BBS's.
- In the Radio Regulations the licence fee for a BBS is indicated under the heading
"licences" and is the same as for voice repeaters.
- Therefore all BBS's must be licensed and a ZS0
call sign will be allocated.
In a letter from the then Post Master General, dated 30 August 1991 the following
statement is included: (Translated from Afrikaans):
"I wish to draw your attention that the annual licence fee for a digipeater and
bulletin board are R24.00 respectively."
Note from the
editor: R24.00 was way back in 1991, consult the latest list of
license fees available from ICASA for the current fee.
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Q: Does a Weather Satellite / Fax Relay
station need to be licensed?
The short answer is YES. The long answer is that all stations that run
Un-Attended need to be licensed with ICASA. Such a license needs to be
applied for with the SARL band planners, who process the applications and
forward them to ICASA for licensing. This way the interference can be
avoided. Click here for the license
application form.
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Q: Why do members pay less for books than non-members?
The SARL bookshop was established as a service to its members and
operates on a non-profit basis to members. The bookshop will supply books to anyone, but
obviously can not allow members to subsidise non-members. For this reason a service charge
is added to the price of books which is then ploughed back into the SARL to keep member
subscriptions down.
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Q: Why is the SARL necessary to communicate with the Radio Regulatory
Authorities? and why can't I talk to them directly?
Individual Hams can communicate directly with the Radio Regulatory
Authorities, (ICASA) on matters related to their particular circumstances. Individuals
however have almost no influence over policy making decisions and matters of an
international nature. Government, Regulators and International organisations generally
only take notice of representative organisations. The SARL is recognised as the
representative of the Amateur Radio Service in South Africa and has the necessary status
to influence decision makers where it affects Amateur Radio.
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Q:
Why should I help support the QSL Bureau through
my membership if I don't use it?
The QSL Bureau is a membership service provided by the SARL.
Members who use the Bureau contribute financially to its operation. All members of the SARL are
entitled to receive incoming QSL cards as part of their membership. In any organisation
such as the SARL it is impossible to decide who derives exactly what benefit from any
particular activity, but in the end ALL members derive benefit from their membership and
overall it would be difficult to say that one member actually receives a greater benefit
than another. Lastly the portion of your subscription that goes to the
running of the bureau is very small indeed.
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Q:
How does the SARL protect the Ham in matters of
interference and EMC?
The SARL plays an active role in the S.A.Bureau of Standards activities.
An EMC committee under the authority of the council analyses proposed legislation and
through their representatives on the SABS technical committee helps shape new regulations
in a manner which protects radio Hams. Without this participation legislation would be
passed that permits much higher levels of emissions from computers and other equipment.
The committee also negotiates with the Regulator to ensure that the interests of Hams are
protected. In a recent case, the SARL succeeded in having the Regulator overturn one of
its own decisions which would have had a detrimental effect on the use of transmitting
equipment in residential areas.
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Q:
Why is the Radio ZS magazine printed on "expensive" glossy paper?
Its actually a misconception that the paper used for printing the Radio
ZS is expensive. Actually the method used is the most cost effective to
print the volume of copies we print. This is also on of the most
commonly used printing styles available with commercial printers, hence its
good "cost per copy".
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Have a Question?
Before phoning or e-mailing someone at the SARL please first
check to see if your question has not already been answered on the SARL
website
or in the last news bulletin. 99% of answers can be found on the SARL
website.
Please check the SARL forum,
Site index, Home page and
SARL news.
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