SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS SUNDAY 2 AUGUST 2015

Good morning and welcome to the weekly news bulletin of the South African Radio League read by ………………………………………… [your name, call sign and QTH]

You can tune in to the South African Radio League news bulletin on Sunday mornings at 08:15 Central African Time in Afrikaans and at 08:30 Central African Time in English on HF and on many VHF and UHF repeaters around our country. Echolink listeners can connect to ZS0JPL for a relay. A podcast is available from the League web site.

This audio bulletin can be downloaded from the League website at www.sarl.org.za. You will find this bulletin and previous bulletins in text format under the news link on the left-hand side of the web page. While you are there, you can sign up to receive future bulletins by e-mail.

In the news today

THE SARL HF PHONE CONTEST THIS AFTERNOON

A CALL FOR YOTA STATIONS FOR DECEMBER

and

THE AUGUST RADIO ZS IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

Stay tuned for more on these and other interesting news items.

** This afternoon from 13:00 to 16:30 UTC, you can participate in the South African Radio League HF Phone Contest with activity from 14 125 to 14 300 kHz, 7 063 to 7 100, 7 130 to 7 200 kHz, 3 603 to 3 650 and 3 700 to 3 800 kHz. You can participate as a Single Operator Single Band, a Single Operator All Band; a Multi Operator Single Band or a Multi Operator All Band station. Individual competitors and club stations are encouraged to compete.

The exchange is a RS report and a consecutive serial number starting at 001. Phone contacts count 1 point. Count 2 points for each call area worked on each band and count 2 points for each station contacted on all three bands. Log must be submitted by midnight on 9 August 2015 by e-mail to zs4bfn@gmail.com. Please consult the 2015 Blue Book for the detailed rules.

** You can become the lucky owner of a copy of the 2014 ARRL Handbook, celebrating the centenary of the American Radio Relay League. It is simple, take part in one or all of the SARL HF contests in August and submit your log with at least 10 contacts and you will be entered into the lucky draw. There is one additional condition, you have to be a fully paid up member of the South African Radio League at the time of submitting your log.

** Koos Fick, ZR6KF, the League’s Youth Coordinator says that from 1 August he will start accepting applications for the YOTA 2015 December competition. Koos says, “I really want us, South Africa, to be a success this year! I ask that only serious competitors apply, but all applications will be considered to try to help as many people as I can. Mainly you need a proper radio station capable of working far DX stations such as Europe and America without any problem. If you are at all interested and sure that you will be able to commit to it, or in need of more information, please send me an email to koosfick096@gmail.com or send a message via the SARL Youth Facebook page. I would like to finalise this before the end of October to set up the timetables and organise the "Topgun-stations" for centralised teams! Please try to spread the word about this to all youth stations in South Africa!”

** Book now for the ARiA in Gauteng. Following popular requests, it has been decided to expand the frequency counter kit by including a frequency pre-scaler. Provision for the chip is already on the board. The chip can be ordered as an optional extra item and costs R100 when ordered with the main kit. The booking form on the web has been amended to include space to order the chip. People who have already booked for ARiA can use the form to add the chip to their order.

The ARiA kit is a frequency counter, which is an essential item that every amateur should have in his radio room. It is a regulatory requirement to have an accurate frequency-measuring device. It should be noted that attendance at ARiA is a prerequisite to order a kit. However, the kit will be available to persons not attending ARiA, but only after 10 October. An exciting programme has been arranged. One of the key subjects being addressed is Space weather and the influence it has on communication. There is also a paper on how to build an inverted V for NVIS communication.

Amateur Radio in Action or ARiA, as it is now known, is the new name for the RTA. Book now for the 2015 Amateur Radio in Action symposium in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Details of the programme and booking forms can be downloaded from www.sarl.org.za. The ARiA programme for Cape Town will be available in the next few weeks.

** Cost savings for the South African Radio League. Little more than a decade ago, the meetings of the League Council and of its subcommittees were still face-to-face and held at the NARC. Councillor travel became more and more expensive, especially for councillors based far from Gauteng. To save costs, council decided to have their meetings by teleconference. To make further cost savings the League's teleconferencing was recently moved to Skype. The conference is on audio only, but works very well and is completely free of charge.

Some clubs have also moved their club committee meetings to Skype; this is advantageous especially for clubs that cover a wide geographical area. In addition to the cost savings, this enables club members from outlying regions also to serve as committee members.

South African Radio League members are reminded to ensure that they have a valid e-mail address on the League database, as from the end of 2015 no snail mail will be sent by the office. E-mail addresses are available free to anyone with Internet access. Please check that the e-mail address in the database is correct - you can do this by looking up your own call sign in the electronic call book.

You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.

** The August 2015 issue of Radio ZS is available for download from the League's web site. In this issue, Ron, K8HSY, talks about “Ham Friendships Span Time and Space,” while Kevin, ZS6KMD, tells more about some Arduino projects. Rory, ZS6RBJ, tells about his hand held go-bag and you can read about the 5 MHz beacon that has been set up in Bloemfontein. There is an article about LiPo batteries and their use in amateur radio and you can build a 4 metre yagi and a J-Pole for 17 to 10 metres. In addition, there is more in this issue of Radio ZS.

If you wish to contribute to Radio ZS, please submit your article by the 20th of the month before the publication date and the editor will endeavour to have Radio ZS on the web site by the 1st day of the publication month.

** A new e-mail address for SARL secretary. Just a reminder that due to excessive spam the e-mail address of the SARL secretary has changed to sarlsekretaris@sarl.org.za. In future, address all correspondence to the new address. It should be noted that other channels like the forum will not be responded to. By sending mail to the secretary, you will ensure that it is recorded and followed up. Change of address and payment queries should still be addressed to admin@sarl.org.za

** The News Team would like to correct an error from SARL News of 26 July. The source information provided had an incorrect date. Dennis, ZS1AU, was licenced on 26 July 1950 and not in 1951. Therefore, Dennis is in his 66th year as a licenced radio amateur and he has been a member of the League for 68 years.

** The South African Radio League YL Sprint will be on the air on Sunday 9 August on 40 metres from 09:00 to 10:00 UTC.

** The 69th Annual General Meeting of the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre (CTARC) was held on Saturday 25 July at its Clubhouse in Rondebosch, Cape Town. The following trophies were presented.

The South African Radio League Jack Twine Award. Rassie Erasmus ZS1YT, handed over this prestigious award in person to John Haycox ZS1AGH, a long time member of CTARC. John is a past Chairman and Committee member of the club and whose outstanding support over the past 40 years, through some very tough times for him and his family, continued with his duties as a key member of the CTARC, and continues to do so today without reserve.

The Wellie Award - for outstanding attendance was awarded to Hylton Conacher, ZR1HPC, for attendance at Club Events and meetings and his support of all Club activities.

The Club Participation Award was awarded to XYL, Elsabee Haycox, for her ongoing support at Club Events and Meetings, assisting with catering and for her dedication to the CTARC.

The Buck Taylor Trophy - for outstanding service to the Club by a member. This year the trophy was awarded to Mike Schumann, ZS1FP, for his continued support on the Club Net every Monday evening.

At the AGM, the election of the new Committee for 2015/16 took place and the following members were elected:

Chairman - Rob Bareham, ZS1SA
Vice chairman and Clubhouse - Noel Futter, ZS1FW
Treasurer - Danny Blanckenberg, ZS1BL
Secretary and Newsletter Editor - Anne Bareham
WCRWG Representative - Paul Johnson, ZS1S
Bulletins - Tony McEwen, ZS1TM
Meeting Logistics - Paul Kennedy, ZS1PXK
Public Relations - Shaun Overmeyer, ZS1RA
Webmaster and Club Photographer - Nick Curwell, ZS1ZD
QSL Manager - Hylton Conacher, ZR1HPC
Honorary Auditor - Barry Fletcher, ZS1FJ

** In the propagation report, Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at very low levels. None of the visible sunspots is actively flaring. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around 43.

The 20 to 15 m bands will provide lots of DX fun, especially during the late afternoons and in the evenings. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information.

And now for the diary of events

2 August, this afternoon – the South African Radio League HF Phone Contest
9 August – the South African Radio League YL Sprint
15 and 16 August – the International Lighthouse and Lightship weekend
16 August – the South African Radio League HF Digital Contest
20 August - closing date for material for the September Radio ZS
22 August – Amateur Radio in Action at the NARC
30 August – the South African Radio League HF CW Contest

To end this bulletin, a recap of our main news item this morning.

This afternoon from 13:00 to 16:30 UTC, you can participate in the South African Radio League HF Phone Contest with activity on 20, 40 and 80 metres. The exchange is a RS report and a consecutive serial number starting at 001. Log must be submitted by midnight on 9 August 2015 by e-mail to zs4bfn@gmail.com. Please consult the 2015 Blue Book for the detailed rules. Submit your log and stand a chance to win the 2014 ARRL Handbook.

** Clubs and individuals are invited to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners, if possible, in both English and Afrikaans, by following the news inbox link on the South African Radio League web page. News items for inclusion in the bulletin should reach the news team no later than the Thursday preceding the bulletin date.

You are welcome to join us every Sunday morning for the weekly amateur radio magazine programme ‘Amateur Radio Today’ at 10:00 Central African Time. The programme can be heard on VHF and UHF repeaters countrywide and on 7 082 kHz lower side-band and on 7 205 kHz and 17 760 kHz AM. There is also a podcast available from Dick Stratford, ZS6RO. A rebroadcast can be heard on Monday evenings at 18:30 Central African Time on 3 230 kHz AM.

We welcome your signal reports, comments and suggestions; send these by e-mail to artoday@sarl.org.za. Sentech sponsors the radio transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.

You have listened to a news bulletin compiled by Dennis Green, ZS4BS, edited by Dave Reece, ZS1DFR, and read by ……………..…………………

From the entire news team, best wishes for the week ahead.

73's and thank you for listening

/EX