SARL NEWS – SUNDAY 20 DECEMBER 2009
You are listening to ZS6SRL, the official radio station of the South African Radio League, the national body for amateur radio in South Africa, with a news bulletin every Sunday at 08:15 CAT in Afrikaans and at 08:30 CAT in English. To listen to a web-stream, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links for details. PLEASE NOTE: for audio via Echolink, connect to ZS0JPL-R.
You can download this bulletin and previous ones from www.sarl.org.za and subscribe to receive future bulletins by e-mail.
Your newsreader this morning is (name), (call sign), on 145,725 and 7,066 MHz from Pretoria, with relays on 28,325; 14,235; 10,130, 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB, as well as 52,750; 438,825 and 1 296 MHz FM in the Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to suit.)
In the news today:
RADIO AMATEUR TO MANAGE THE HERMANUS MAGNETIC OBSERVATORY
LEARNERS AND TEACHERS INVITED TO "FLY A FILE" ON ARISSAT-1
OPPORTUNITY TO DO SPACE WEATHER RESEARCH AT SANAE
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and other important and interesting news items.
RADIO AMATEUR TO MANAGE THE HERMANUS MAGNETIC OBSERVATORY
Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell, ZS2LAW, has been appointed as acting Managing Director of the HMO during the absence of the current MD, Sandile Malinga who has been seconded to the Space Agency. Sandile Malinga was appointed by the Minister of Science and Technology to serve as caretaker Chief Executive Officer of the South African Space Agency for a period of 18 months from 1 January 2010.
Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell is well known for her participation in the SARL Radio Technology in Action programme where she has made many presentations over the past three years. Lee-Anne, despite her busy schedule will again be joining the RTA in 2010. Congratulations to both Lee-Anne and Sandile.
LEARNERS AND TEACHERS INVITED TO "FLY A FILE" ON ARISSAT-1
Learners and teachers are invited to have their work flown in space in a new satellite project called ARISSat which replaces the originally SuitSat 2 project which was a disused spacesuit fitted with amateur radio equipment.
“The ARISSat-1 Team wishes to include a memory stick of files prepared by learners," explained Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) International Chairman, Gaston Bertels, ON4WF. "This should be a .jpg or a PDF of things the student has prepared." He gave such examples as a paper or a study done on a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) topic, a drawing of spacecraft or a schematic, a journal kept on a STEM topic, a story or news article about a STEM subject or a photo of the class doing a hands-on STEM activity. Having the students' work be a part of ARISSat-1 means the student is a part of the satellite project and along for the spacewalk and deployment of ARISSat-1."
"The quantity of files and the size of a file are unlimited, since memory sticks provide for a very large amount of file space." Bertels said that files must be either in .jpg or PDF format -- no Microsoft Word documents will be accepted. Files can be in any language, as long as an English translation is also included as a text file.
South African entries will be coordinated by SA AMSAT and also placed on a local website. Entries should reach youth@sarl.org.za by 28 February 2010.
IF SPACE WEATHER RESEARCH IS YOUR INTEREST, HERE IS A CHANCE OF A LIFE TIME
The Hermanus Magnetic Observatory in collaboration with several other research institutions and universities in South Africa, will be responsible for the execution of several experiments related to Polar Space Weather studies. The experiments will be conducted on board the SA Agulhas, at the South African National Antarctic Programme’s (SANAP) base in Antarctica and on the South African Bases at Marion Island and Gough Island.
The HMO requires a suitably qualified (B.Eng, B.Tech or equivalent) Electronic Engineer with at least two years relevant experience or a M.Eng, MSc or M.Tech degree for a two and a half year contract appointment in the South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE 50) team to Antarctica for 2011. The minimum contract period will be from 1 May 2010 to 30 September 2012, but may commence sooner and extend later if necessary. The applicant will be trained at the HMO and may also be involved in short-term expeditions to Marion Island and Gough Island to set up instrumentation for the HMO during the training period at the HMO.
Applicants should complete the required HMO application form, submit a detailed CV together with the names and contact details of three referees, and covering letter summarizing the reasons for applying to The Antarctic Officer at info@hmo.ac.za to reach the HMO before 1 January 2010. For more information call 028 312 1196.
ARE YOU UNDER 18 AND LICENSED?
If you have a callsign and are under 18, share with us your experience what it is like as a radio amateur. Write a short story of how you became interested in amateur radio and how it is helping you in your schoolwork and everyday life. We will record the best stories for a new website dedicated to promote amateur radio to young people. There are big prizes to be won so get cracking. Email your story with your name, callsign and telephone number to youth@sarl.org.za.
CONTEST NEWS
The contest committee received 13 logs for the November leg of the SARL HF Field Day made up of 12 contest logs and a check log. The provisional results of are:
Field Stations
1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN, 116 412 points;
2nd West Rand ARC, ZS6WR, 77 712 points;
3rd Boland ARC, ZS1TB, 71 504 points;
4th Highway ARC, ZS5HAM, 61 048 points;
5th Sandton ARC, ZS6STN, 31 120 points;
6th Pretoria ARC, ZS6PTA, 30 488 points;
7th Hibiscus Coast ARC, ZS5HAC, 24 072 points;
8th Zululand ARC, ZS5ZLB, 19 542 points;
9th Oakdale ARC, ZS1OAK, 16 632 points;
10th Bloemfontein RAC, ZS4BFN, 2 760 points.
General Stations
1st Pieter Jacobs, ZS6XT, 41 172 points;
2nd Theunis Potgieter, ZS2EC, 3 972 points.
Check log - Stephanus Blignault, ZS6XB.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low levels. An impressive sunspot cluster made its appearance on Wednesday. The solar flux level reached a new high of 83 for the current solar cycle. From another source it was learnt that about two days ago sunspot 1 035 was as wide as seven planets Earth. The fast-growing active region burst into view on 14 December with a magnetic polarity that clearly identifies it as a member of new Solar Cycle 24. If the expansion continues apace, it could soon become the largest sunspot of the year. Check http://spaceweather.com for movies, photos and updates.
20 and 15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoons onwards. During the late afternoons and early evenings it will be moderate towards Europa. In the afternoons there are good possibility of contacts with the USA on 15 m. Contacts with New-Zeeland will be possible for a short while on 15 m during the mornings. Contacts with Australia will be possible on 20 m during the afternoons. During the afternoons and evenings 20 and 15 m contacts may be possible with Brazil.
Local conditions are going to be good on 40 m during the day time. 80 m may perform well during the early mornings and late afternoons over the shorter distances. 30 m will perform well over the longer distances during the middle of the day. With summer here 20 m is also once again very useful for contacts over the longer distances, especially during the mornings. On Wednesday, when the new sunspot cluster made its appearance, propagation was experienced on frequencies as high as 15 m between Pretoria and Hermanus.
80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
1 January - Final date to apply to do polar weather research at SANAE for the HMO, obtain information from info@hmo.ac.za;
1 January - Straight key night on OSCARs;
15 to 17 January 2010 – the PEARS VHF/UHF Contest;
23 January - Home Construction course in Cape Town;
31 January – President’s net at 19:30;
28 February – New closing date for the Sumbandilasat essay competition;
28 February – Final date for entries in the ARRISSSAT project to be submitted to youth@sarl.org.za.
SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners. Submit news items, if possible, in both English and Afrikaans only to www.sarl.org.za/newsinbox.asp, not later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date.
The SARL also invites you to listen to Amateur Radio Mirror International every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria-area, with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 860 kHz. There is also a podcast by ZS6RO. For a web-stream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on 'ARMI' and follow the links. A repeat transmission can be heard on Mondays at 21:00 CAT on 3 215 kHz.
Sentech sponsors the ARMI transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.
You have listened to a bulletin of the South African Radio League, compiled by George, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
