SARL NEWS SUNDAY 18 AUGUST 2013
You are listening to ZS6SRL, the official radio station of the South African Radio League, the national body for amateur radio in South Africa. The SARL broadcasts 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 there to receive future bulletins by e-mail.
Your newsreader this morning is (name and call sign), on 145,725 MHz from Pretoria, with a relay on 7,066 MHz SSB. (Other news readers change to suit).
IN THE NEWS TODAY:
SARL RADIO TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION SYMPOSIUM
AUSTRALIAN AMATEURS TO LOOSE TEMPORARY HIGH POWER PERMISSION AT THE END OF AUGUST
THE VHF PROPAGATION SEASONS
You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more details on these and other important and interesting items.
SARL RADIO TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION SYMPOSIUM book now and win a digital multimeter
The RTA will come to Gauteng on 31 August 2013 and will be held at the Innovation Hub, Pretoria. It is very modern venue easily accessible from the N1 Highway. Take the CSIR turn off and you will find the access road is opposite the CSIR entrance. Booking for this event is now open. Get all the detail from www.sarl.org.za, select the Radio Technology in Action link on the left hand side of the home page.
Delegates stand to win one of 5 digital multimeters in the attendance draw at the end of the symposium.
Diarise 14 September for the RTA in Durban. Booking for the Durban event will open next week. The event in Cape Town will be held in early October.
AUSTRALIAN AMATEURS TO LOOSE TEMPORARY HIGH POWER PERMISSION AT THE END OF AUGUST
Radio amateurs in Australia have learned that their temporary high power authorization will end on Sunday August 31st and for now will not be renewed. The Australia Communications and Media Authority says that this is because the radio amateurs in that nation are not properly aware of RF exposure requirements.
At a meeting between the WIA and the ACMA on Monday 5th August, the ACMA told the Institute that the arrangements put in place to authorize the use of higher power will not be made permanent.
The ACMA revealed that its decision was reached after reviewing data it obtained during an assessment process that began back in March this year. According to the ACMA, the trial demonstrated a lack of awareness by some Advanced Licensees of their license conditions.
Of particular concern to the ACMA were issues related to compliance with electromagnetic energy requirements and that this lack of awareness is not confined to the use of higher power than the 400 watts already permitted.
The ACMA said that the results of the trial demonstrate there is a need to raise awareness among licensees of their license conditions, and that this should not be confined to Advanced Licensees, adding that the ACMA looks forward to working with the WIA to achieve that objective.
It is important to realize that radio amateurs are not being singled out here. Compliance with electromagnetic energy requirements applies to all apparatus licensees, including broadcasting, maritime services and others. The ACMA also remarked on the lack of awareness of electromagnetic energy compliance generally among other licensees.
To address this issue, and to prepare for another approach to the ACMA next year, the Institute has begun implementing plans to promote widespread awareness of the necessary compliance with electromagnetic energy requirements for amateur stations.
SARL MEMBERSHIP AND CLUB AFFILIATION
The following clubs renewed their affiliation to the SARL during the past week:
Hibiscus Coast Amateur Radio Club (ZS5HAC)
Overberg Amateur Radio Club (ZS1OAR)
Noord-Wes Amateur Radioklub (ZS6RWT)
Rustenburg Amateur Radio Club (ZS6RTB)
Wesrand Amateur Radio Club (ZS6WR)
Sasolburg Amateur Radio Club (ZS4SKR)
Up to Friday 16 August 1 255 individual members renewed their membership.
Leon Jerling and Ulrich Reinhard Weiler applied for membersip as listener members.
THE VHF PROPAGATION SEASONS
We are now exiting the first Meteor Scatter season of the year and entering the very long Tropo Enhancement and Tropo Ducting season of the southern hemisphere that will last at least until April next year. The second Meteor Scatter season starts in mid October and ends in the beginning of January. A short F2 propagation period appears between mid September and mid October during the peak of the Solar Cycle, and TEP season starts during this period and continues until the end of November. We have a summer Sporadic-E season in South Africa that peaks during the months of December and January, followed by the second TEP season that runs through to the short F2 propagation period in mid March to mid April. Year round propagation is possible on VHF, UHF and SHF via Aircraft Scatter and the country-wide Tropo Scatter mode.
TAKE PART IN THE SARL HF CW CONTEST
The SARL CW HF Contest will be run on 25 August from 13:00 to 16:30 UTC (15:00 to 18:30 CAT). The bands that can be used are 80, 40 and 20 metres. This contest is not only aimed at the individuals but Clubs can also participate. This is an ideal opportunity to get your Club members involved and turn these occasions into a Club event.
There are various trophies that are presented at the AGM for the winners of the individual contests in the various categories.
There will also be a lucky draw prize for each contest. The winner of the draw will be drawn from the logs that are submitted, so even if you have made only a few contacts submit your logs. That is the only way that you stand a chance of winning the prize. The prize is a 2013 ARRL Antenna handbook.
If you use a logging program, which you should be currently, it is so easy to submit your log in Cabrillo or ADIF format. An Excel spreadsheet is available for those who do not use a logging program.
If you are a paper chaser or would like to become one, then these contests will help you to achieve your WAZS certificates. So uncover your rigs, or blow the dust off them and come and join in the fun of contesting.
SUMMITS ON THE AIR
Congratulations to Lucas Swart, ZS6ACT, for gaining 101 SOTA points as an activator. Lucas is the first Radio Amateur in South Africa to gain more than 100 SOTA points as an Activator.
Thank you to all the Radio Amateurs who help the SOTA activators to get contacts.
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that an exciting new spaceweather website was launched by the South African National Space Agency, SANSA. The new website is available at http://spaceweather.sansa.org.za and is really worth a visit.
Solar activity for the week: The solar activity is expected to remain at low levels despite some minor flares.
If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 69.
All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with 20 m providing the best openings with 15 m not far behind. There can also be some short 10 m openings on east-west sunlit paths.
Please visit http://spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.
DIARY OF EVENTS
18 August – Last day of the International Lighthouse weekend.
30 August - East Rand Radio Branch AGM at 14:00.
31 August - Gauteng Radio Technology in Action symposium at the Innovation Hub, Pretoria.
07 September – West Rand spring boot sale at 12:00 at Kroton Street, Weltevreden Park.
14 September - Radio Technology in Action symposium in Durban.
SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and short-wave 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 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 17 660 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 3 230 kHz. The website also lists various other retransmissions. Reception reports, comments and suggestions are invited. Send an email to artoday@sarl.org.za. Sentech sponsors the transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.
You have listened to a bulletin of the South African Radio League compiled and edited by George Honiball, ZS6NE.
Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX
