SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE NEWS FOR SUNDAY 18 AUGUST 2019
Good morning and welcome to the weekly news bulletin of the South African Radio League read by ................ [your name, call sign and QTH]
The South African Radio League broadcasts a news bulletin each Sunday in Afrikaans, as well as in English at 08:15 and 08:30 Central African Time respectively on HF as well as on various VHF and UHF repeaters around the country. The bulletin is relayed on Echolink by Johan, ZS6JPL. A podcast is available on the League website. Audio and text bulletins may be downloaded from the League website at www.sarl.org.za where you can also sign up to receive future bulletins by e-mail.
In the news, today:
THE SARL HF DIGITAL CONTEST THIS AFTERNOON
SARL RF NOISE WORKSHOP TO BE HELD ON 28 SEPTEMBER 2019
and
THE BISHO HAMMIES PROVIDE COMMUNICATION
Stay tuned for more information on these and other interesting news items.
THE SARL HF DIGITAL CONTEST THIS AFTERNOON
The second contest in the SARL HF Contest series is the Digital Contest taking place from 14:00 to 17:00 UTC this afternoon with RTTY and PSK activity on 80, 40 and 20 meters. The exchange is an RSQ report and a serial number starting at 001. There are two trophies to be won for this contest. Submit your log in ADIF or Cabrillo with a summary sheet, or use the MS Excel spreadsheet and label your log “my call sign HF Digital” by Monday 26 August by e-mail to zs4bfn@mweb.co.za. Find the rules on page 38 of the 2019 SARL Blue Book. The HF CW Contest will be run on Sunday 25 August.
YOUNG RADIO AMATEURS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ENJOYED THE YOTA SUMMER CAMP
The ninth annual Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) Summer Camp opened on 11 August in Bankya, Bulgaria, under the sponsorship of the Bulgarian Federation of Radio Amateurs (BFRA), Bulgaria’s International Amateur Radio Union member-society. After the welcoming words from the BFRA and IARU Region 1 representatives, the YOTA participants joined local residents and a performing troupe in dancing to traditional Bulgarian folk music. Approximately 80 young radio amateurs from 28 countries have been engaged in activities ranging from operating the camp station LZ19YOTA, to kit building and antennas, sightseeing and getting acquainted.
“There is, unfortunately, no team from Region 2 (the Americas) taking part this year,” IARU Region 1 Youth Working Group Chair Lisa Leenders, PA2LS, said. “Most participants are from Europe, but also South Africa, Algeria, Tunisia and New Zealand (Region 3).” Participants all are under the age of 26. Given the international nature of Amateur Radio, cultural exchange was not in short supply, with attendees sharing national cuisine and wearing their respective traditional dress. A YOTA intercultural evening, group work and the Train the Trainer (TTT) programme, instituted at the 2018 Summer Camp in South Africa, have been among the activities. TtT is aimed at imparting skills, ideas and knowledge that attendees can use to initiate similar youth activities back home. As they assemble circuit boards, participants learn how to use test equipment. More experienced youngsters help those with less soldering experience. Operating the camp’s LZ19YOTA ham station has been part of the mix.
Youth teams from Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Lithuania, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Tanzania, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey and the UK attended the Summer Camp which ended yesterday 17 August.
SARL RF NOISE WORKSHOP TO BE HELD ON 28 SEPTEMBER 2019
The SARL RF Noise workshop will be held at the National Amateur Radio Centre on Saturday 28 September. This workshop is presented in partnership with AMSAT SA. The agenda will include a review of the SARL RF Noise monitoring programme, updates on the Noise monitoring software, an active antenna design and review of on-the-air test results, a hands-on session on the deployment and application of dongle to turn your laptop or computer into a power receiver. Other subjects to be covered are how to reduce mains noise and how to identify RF noise sources in your house. Full details and registration forms will be available on the SARL and AMSAT SA website from Monday.
A paper authored by the SARL entitled “RF Noise can kill amateur radio” is being distributed to Region 1 IARU Member societies by the secretariat for publication in local journals. You can download the paper from the SARL home page.
You are listening to a news bulletin of the South African Radio League.
THE BISHO HAMMIES PROVIDE COMMUNICATION
Sunday 11 August saw the latest running of the King Williams Town Adventure Race. This challenges participants to a series of fun activities including mountain biking, walking, running, kloofing and puzzle solving.
The Bisho Hammies, under the leadership of Lunga Nqini, ZS2LN and Enkosi Madlingosi, ZS2EM, provided the logistics and emergency communications for the event. A vehicle performed a patrol function while others were based at strategic points along the route and VHF simplex communications were used. Rising above the challenges associated with a severe lack of equipment, the Hammies in Bisho have hoisted their flag and intend to do more such events.
According to the event organiser, Mike Webb, the kids did a great job earning them a follow-up invitation - they will be in action again on 7 September at the East London version of the event. The Hammies not only impressed the organisers, but they impressed the members of the public as well. One family in particular, the Squire family, gave them a bicycle as an encouragement to get more kids involved in cycling.
AMSAT SA ANNOUNCES THEME FOR 2020 SPACE SYMPOSIUM
The theme for the AMSAT SA 2020 space symposium is “Amateur Radio in Space - exploring VHF, UHF and Microwaves.” The symposium will be held on 18 July 2020 in Midrand, Gauteng. Proposal for papers are now invited and should be sent in the form of a short synopsis to admin@amsatsa.org.za.
CONTEST RESULTS
The provisional results of the SARL HF Phone Contest have been published in HF Happenings 860. The Contest Committee received 36 log sheets and 1 check log for the HF Phone Contest held on Sunday 4 August 2019. 1 302 QSOs are recorded in the log sheets – 14 QSOs on 20 meters; 629 QSOs on 40 meters and 659 QSOs on 80 meters.
1st Jan Botha, ZS4JAN – 163 points
2nd Schalk van Vuuren, ZS1LL – 146 points
3rd Marinus Willemstijn, ZS6MAW – 115 points
4th Hans Kappetijn, ZS6KR – 112 points
Club Competition:
1st Bo-Karoo ARC – 440 points (5 logs)
2nd Pretoria ARC – 239 points (3 logs)
3rd PEARS (3 logs) and Bloemfontein ARC (5 logs) – 207 points
PROPAGATION REPORT
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to remain at low levels. There are currently no sunspots visible. If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected effective sunspot number for the week will be around one. The 18 to 30 m bands may provide some DX fun. Please visit the website spaceweather.sansa.org.za for further information including a daily as well as a 7-day propagation report.
Finally, a Diary of some upcoming events:
Today – the SARL HF Digital Contest and the closing date for Youth Sprint logs
25 August – the SARL HF CW Contest
26 August – the closing date for HF Digital logs
2 September – the closing date for HF CW logs
7 September – the West Rand Flea Market
7 and 8 September – the Region 1 SSB Field Day and RSGB SSB Field Day
14 September – the Boland ARC AGM
14 and 15 September – the SARL National Field Day
15 September – registration for the October RAE closes
17 September – the Highway ARC monthly meeting
18 September – the SARL Wednesday 80 m Club Sprint
20 September – provincial schools close
28 September – the SARL/AMSAT SA RF Noise Workshop
To conclude our bulletin, a quick overview of our main news item:
The second contest in the SARL HF Contest series is the Digital Contest taking place from 14:00 to 17:00 UTC this afternoon with RTTY and PSK activity on 80, 40 and 20 meters. The exchange is an RSQ report and a serial number starting at 001. There are two trophies to be won for this contest. Find the rules on page 38 of the 2019 SARL Blue Book.
This concludes our bulletin for this morning.
Clubs and individuals are invited to submit news items of interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners, in both English and Afrikaans if possible, 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 program, ‘Amateur Radio Today’ at 10:00 Central African Time. The program can be heard on VHF and UHF repeaters countrywide and on 7 082 kHz lower side-band. A rebroadcast by Andy, ZS6ADY can be heard on Monday evenings at 19:30 Central African Time on 3 620 kHz. We welcome your signal reports, comments and suggestions; please send these by e-mail to artoday@sarl.org.za.
You have listened to a news bulletin compiled by Dennis Green, ZS4BS, edited by Herman Erasmus, ZS6CTA and read by ..............
From the news team, best wishes for the week ahead.
