SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 3 JUNE 2012
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. 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 FM from Pretoria with relays on 7,066 MHz and 3,695 MHz SSB. (other news readers change to suit).
SILENT KEY
Neville de Gruchy - ZS6AON, of Florida became silent key on Saturday the 12th of May. He was a long time amateur with also an interest in the solar system and aircraft. He is survived by his XYL Sylvia, to whom he was married for 63 years. His son Aubin, is currently living in the UK and his daughter Lynn, is with her mother, Sylvia.
Our sincere condolences to his relatives and friends.
(PAUSE)
In the news today:
TONY VOORVELD ZS6CCD AT THE RTAs
YOUTH DAY EVENT
SKA TO FEATURE ON THE NEXT INTECNET
REPEATER WORK GROUP MEETS ON 23 JUNE
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
TONY VOORVELD ZS6CCD AT THE RTAs
Tony Voorveld, ZS6CCD, well known for his animated presentations, will this year speak at the Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg Radio Technology in Action (RTA) symposiums. Unfortunately he is not available for the Port Elizabeth leg of the event. Radio Amateurs in the Eastern Cape should stay tuned to SARL NEWS, we will have a surprise in store for your RTA. Tony will talk and demonstrate "Sounds from Nature" and no, it is not about wildlife, but something more scientific but yet fun. You don't want to miss it!
The Durban date announced last week was incorrect. It will be held on Saturday 21 July. Here are the dates for the other centres as well: Cape Town 11 August, Port Elizabeth 1 September and Johannesburg 29 September.
YOUTH DAY EVENT
The SARL has an agreement with ICASA that will allow unlicensed persons to operate an amateur radio station under the supervision of a licensed radio amateur without the need to register as an educational station. Here is further incentive to set up a demonstration station, involve the youth in the youth day sprint and show the man in the street how great amateur radio is.
Clubs and individuals setting up a demonstration of amateur radio in a public area as part of National Amateur Radio Day are invited to order brochures from the NARC. A new metal pin badge is also available in limited quantities to be handed to young people visiting and operating a special event station. Visit www.sarl.org.za for more details. Please send details of what you or your club are planning for 16 June 2012 to artoday@sarl.org.za so that it may be included in the media releases and radio interviews.
In keeping with the spirit of National amateur Radio Day, Peter Davies, ZS6IQ, will be braving the cold and will operate from his boat "Jokerman" on the Vaal Dam near Deneysville. The location will change from time to time but the boat can be tracked on www.aprs.fi lookup the callsign ZS6IQ-9. All contacts will receive a special QSL card and will be logged on qrz.com. 40 m will be the preferred band. Look up ZS6IQ on qrz.com for info on the day.
SKA TO FEATURE ON THE NEXT INTECNET
Prof Justin Jonas of the SKA team will be the guest on the next Interactive Technical Net (INTECNET) on Sunday 17 June 2012. The net will start at 19:30. Prof Jonas will talk about what part of the SKA will come to South Africa and highlight the science that will be done. He will also participate in an interactive session and answer questions from radio amateurs around the country.
Clubs wishing to link their repeater to the Intecnet interactive audio stream are invited to send details of their landline number to artoday@sarl.org.za.
REPEATER WORK GROUP MEETS ON 23 JUNE
The SARL Repeater manager, Frik Wolff, ZS6FZ, invites all division 6 clubs to send their representative to the repeater work group meeting to be held at the National Amateur Radio Centre (NARC) at 09:00 on Saturday 23 June 2012. The representatives are requested to bring the following documentation:
1) All technical reports of tests done on 14,76 5 MHz and 145,687 5 MHz repeaters as discussed and agreed at the January 2012 meeting and contained in the minutes.
2) The 2012 paid ICASA licence of all the unmanned equipment under the club's control;
3) New proposals for new unmanned station installations;
4) Proposals for any current or planned future unmanned station.
ICASA has made it very clear that documentation for any and all temporary repeater installations should be submitted to the SARL. Should they find any repeaters active on air that do not correspond to their database, or the official SARL listing, ICASA will cancel the license. Information should sent to vubandplanning@sarl.org.za.
To assist with catering arrangements, please send details of who will be attending to vubandplanning@sarl.org.za.
RSGB BACKS OFCOM
The Radio Society of Great Britain has offered a formal response in support telecommunication regulator Ofcom's inquiry on proposed new anti-interference regulations. The laws are to provide the telecommunications regulator with powers to take action in cases of interference from non-wireless telecommunications apparatus.
The RSGB says that the immediate proposal is to implement the new regulations in time for the upcoming Olympic Games. It adds that this action by Ofcom highlights the point that the RSGB has advocated on many occasions that being the need for Ofcom to have statutory powers in cases of serious interference to the spectrum from non-wireless apparatus.
Ofcom has indicated that it intends to prepare these regulations for ongoing use after the Olympic Games. Part of the RSGB response emphasizes the need for such regulatory enforcement powers.
LICENSE FEE
The fee to keep your call sign should have been paid by 30 April. If you forgot, please do so now.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the Solar activity is at moderate levels. The sun's surface is peppered with small but quiet sunspots.
If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 56.
All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with 15 m providing the best openings with 20 m not far behind. 10 m openings will be less frequent and mostly on east-west paths.
Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
16 June – Youth Day event. Remember to be on the lookout for Peter, ZS1IQ, on the Vaal Dam.
16 June – Intechnet at 17:30 with Prof Justin Jonas about the SKA.
323 June – Repeater work group meeting at 09:00 at the NARC. Send information to vubandplanning@sarl.org.za.
Pay your license and save a lot of paper work!
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 17:30 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 Flip Britz ZS4GE, and edited by George Honiball, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
