SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2011
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 'Amateur Radio Today' 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 also 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 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB.
In the news today:
DOC WITHDRAWS PROPOSED ECA AMENDMENTS
NOMINATIONS FOR SARL AWARDS INVITED
RADIO AMATEURS ASKED TO HELP IN ISS PLASMA EXPERIMENT
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
DOC WITHDRAWS PROPOSED ECA AMENDMENTS
The Department of Communications has withdrawn the proposed ECA amendment bill for further consultation with Government. The amendments to the Electronic Communications Act would have diminished ICASA's authority on several fronts including frequency allocation and management and could have given the Minister more power over these issues. There was widespread opposition to the proposed amendments. It was high on the SARL agenda to be raised in the SARL feedback on the proposed amendments. It is not certain when DOC will publish revised changes to the ECA. To date the SARL received only comments from two radio amateurs. As matters currently stand no further action is required.
NOMINATIONS FOR SARL AWARDS
Members and clubs are invited to submit nominations to Council for the following SARL awards.
Honorary Life Membership - the SARL's highest honour.
Willie Wilson Gold Badge
Awarded by Council to the amateur that gave exceptional and meritorious service to the League.
Jack Twine Award
To recognise qualities such as unselfishness, clean operating and a genuine interest in Amateur Radio and its affairs. This prestigious Award will be made to Amateurs who, in the opinion of their fellow amateurs and the League's Council, exemplify the qualities desirable in a Radio Amateur.
Arthur Hemsley 2 metre Trophy
Awarded by Council to a Radio Amateur for his/her individual achievements with transmissions in the 2 metre amateur band. This award is made for extraordinary performance on EME or modes such as tropospheric propagation. It is not for the longest distance worked but rather for persistence in achieving something special on 2 metres.
Barney Joel Trophy
Awarded by Council to any member of the SARL for the best performance during the year whilst working HF mobile. This award could be made for performance by an individual in rally or other public event communication etc.
Icom Excellence Award
This award is bestowed annually by Council on the amateur who through his/her activity in the Amateur Service has brought international recognition to South Africa by either the achievement of a VHF/UHF long distance record which is internationally recognized by the IARU, or by service to the Republic of South Africa or the SARL in the field of scientific research using the amateur spectrum, or in promoting the amateur service internationally or as Council may determine from time to time.
Joseph White Plaque
Awarded by Council to any member of the SARL for exceptional achievements in the 432 MHz band during the past year. This is not awarded for the longest distance worked, but for all round achievements.
Bert Buckley Six metre Trophy
Awarded by Council to any radio amateur for his/her individual achievements with transmissions in the six metre amateur band. This award is not for the longest distance worked but for outstanding work or activity on six metres.
LoTW DELAYS DIMINISHING
Logbook of The World (LoTW) is continuing to accept and process logs. Currently, the processing delay is at 30 hours, down from 45 hours last week. As of November 23, there are approximately 857 000 QSOs in 3 335 logs still waiting to be processed. If you have already uploaded a log, please do not upload it again; by doing so, you will only add to the queue. Do not send entire logs that contain previously uploaded QSOs; use the date range option when signing logs, selecting only those QSOs in a specific date range to upload to LoTW. By following these guidelines, you'll help LoTW process the backlog at a faster pace. The ARRL thanks LoTW users for your patience.
RADIO AMATEURS ASKED TO HELP IN ISS PLASMA EXPERIMENT
The Central Research Institute of Machine Building in Russia has proposed an test using the worldwide amateur radio community to receive a VHF packet downlink on 145,825 MHz from a new plasma space experiment on the International Space Station.
The Central Research Institute is conducting a series of space plasma experiments in order to evaluate the shape of previously observed "dead" zone, or shadowing due to the firing of an onboard arc jet plasma source. Radio amateurs are invited to participate in this space plasma experiment known as Shadow. More on this experiment and how to participate is on-line at tinyurl.com/plasma-in-space.
SA QSL
Peter Hers reports that when he experimentally placed the SA QSL system back on the web, it adversely affected the overall stability of the web thus he removed it again for further testing. He is continuing work on the system.
FREE SSTV ONLINE BOOK
This item was obtained from WIANEWS.
Martin, OK2MNM, has made his new book "Image Communication on Short Waves" available free on the web.
You can either read it online or download the chapters in PDF format.
The book can be found at
http://www.sstv-handbook.com/.
You can join the MMSSTV Yahoo Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MM-SSTV/
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is declining with only a few C-class flares produced during the week. Sunspot 1 356 has however a "beta-gamma" magnetic field that harbours enough energy for M-class solar flares. The sun's surface is still peppered with smaller sunspots promising exciting HF conditions.
For the people doing their own frequency predictions the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 88, down on last week’s value of 103.
All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with the higher bands typically opening first and the lower bands opening later during the day. 6 m is also waking up with some very nice TEP openings.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
27 November - Digital competition.
30 November - Last day to submit logs for Pears HF DX-expedition.
03 December - Flea market of the West Rand Amateur Radio Club at 12:00.
31 January 2012 - Last day for submission of nominations for Council members and also for submission of motions for the 2012 SARL AGM.
31 January 2012 - Closing date for submitting papers for SA AMSAT Space Symposium.
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 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 Today every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area, with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 760 kHz. There is also a podcast by ZS6RO. For a web-stream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on 'Amateur Radio TODAY', go down the green column and click on 'LISTEN ON THE WEB'. A repeat transmission can be heard on Mondays at 16:30 UTC on 4 895 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, Z6SNE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
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