SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 07 FEBRUARY 2010

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 'ARMI' and follow the links for detail. For
audio via Echolink, connect to ZS0JPL-R.

You can download this bulletin and previous ones from www.sarl.org.za
and 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 28,325; 14,235; 10,130, 7,066
and 3,695 MHz SSB, as well as 52,750; 438,825 and 1 296 MHz FM in the
Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to suit.)

SILENT KEY

It is with regret that we must announce the passing of Neville
Swanepoel, ZS6AQX, on the 25th January. Sincere condolences to his
family and friends.

(PAUSE)

In the news today:

PE HOME CONSTRUCTION COURSE IN THE BALANCE

BOOKINGS FOR THE PIC COURSES NOW OPEN

POOR OPERATING A CAUSE OF CONCERN

You are listening to ZS6SRL. Stay tuned for more detail on these and
other important and interesting news items.

PE HOME CONSTRUCTION COURSE IN THE BALANCE

Bookings for the Home Construction Course planned for Saturday 20
February in Port Elizabeth are low which may cause cancellation of the
event. In both Johannesburg and Cape Town delegates had to be turned
away. The course in Durban yesterday was attended by 15 delegates which
is the minimum to make the course viable.

Bookings for Port Elizabeth are still open till Thursday 11 February
when a final decision will have to be made. For details visit
www.sarl.org.za and select RTA.

BOOKINGS FOR THE PIC COURSES NOW OPEN

Within minutes of posting the announcement on the SARL web, the first
booking was received. PIC courses will be held in Gauteng, Cape Town,
Durban and Port Elizabeth.

The course fee is R300 for SARL members and R650 for non-members. The
fee includes: tuition, required software on a CD, a demonstration board
with a PIC and 2 project PC boards.

Full details on www.sarl.org.za. Click on RTA.

POOR OPERATING A CAUSE OF CONCERN

Participants in the President's Net last Sunday voiced their concern
over poor operating procedures and the use of inappropriate language on
the air. While these unacceptable practices are carried out by a small
number of radio amateurs, it tarnishes the image of the hobby. Another
issue raised by several speakers was the abuse of power by ZU license
holders who do not adhere to the 20 Watt power limit as specified for
their class of license. ZU licence holders can face fines or even
cancellation of their license if they do not adhere to the condition
laid down in the regulations.

The use of inappropriate language on the air is a serious offence and
can lead to cancellation of the culprit's license.

These and several other operational issues will be discussed when the
SARL Council meets in early March.

76 Radio Amateurs reported in after the President's net, no doubt there
were many more listeners. The lucky winner of the memory stick is
ZS1BFE. It will be in the mail soon.

SARL MEMBERSHIP CLOSER TO THE 1 400 TARGET

This week the SARL gained 18 members. The membership now stands at 1
370. We welcome the following new and re-instated members to the SARL:

ZR1PN - Paul Le Roux ZR6JA - Jacques van der Merwe ZS6BJ - Gabriel
Joubert ZS6FOX - MW van Alphen ZS1CD - Barrie Evrard ZS6BCI - Wally
Moll ZR2JG - Johannes Geldenhuys ZS2MR - Martin Ras.

We welcome the following newcomers to the SARL and Amateur Radio. They
will receive listener call signs during this coming week:

Kevin Smith Graham Lambrechs William Wright Barry Els Vincent Molly
Desmond Mullen.

ZS10WCS OPERATION MOVES TO THE FREE STATE

The Bloemfontein Amateur Radio Club will be hosting the ZS10WCS special
event callsign during February. Thus far the record number of QSO's and
DX locations worked is held by the Boland Amateurradioklub. Will the
Bloemfontein club members beat Boland? One thing they have in their
favour, conditions are currently far better than what it was in
September.

CONTEST NEWS

Some 78 stations participated in the first SARL 80 m Club Contest held
on Wednesday 27 January. Nineteen logs were submitted.

The results are as follows:

1st ZS Contest Group, 3 logs, 93 points; 2nd Port Elizabeth ARS, 2
logs, 63 points; 3rd West Rand ARC, 7 logs, 59 points; 4th Antique
Wireless Association, 4 logs, 59 points; 5th Sasolburg ARC, 1 log, 31
points; 6th Lichtenburg ARC, 1 log, 17 points; 7th Secunda ARC, 1 log,
4 points.

The SARL's next 80 m Club Contest will be run on Wednesday 31 March and
is a digital contest with PSK and RTTY.

CLUB NEWS

On Monday evening 8 February ZS6JVT, the radio club of the Higher
Technological School, John Vorster, in Rietfontein, Pretoria, will hold
an information meeting at the school for young people interested in
amateur radio. The proceedings will include:. 1. A Power Point
presentation of about 45 minutes which will tell and show what amateur
radio is. 2. A discussion about the presentation of RAE classes for the
Class A and B licenses. 3. A discussion about competitions, building
projects and outings.

Parents and learners are invited to attend the meeting which will
commence at 19:00 in the Electronics Centre of the school. It will be
appreciated if amateurs will also attend so that informal discussions
can take place afterwards with interested people.

For môre information contact Johan, ZS6PSS, at 082 446 1581 during
office hours.

The Sandton Amateur Radio club will be starting their first Class A RAE
lecture series for the year on the 10th February 2010 at 19:00 at the
NARC in Honeydew.

Any person interested in joining the lecture series, is more than
welcome to join them this Wednesday or for more information they can
contact Mark Zank ZS6YES ,on his cell which is 083 367 8943 or
alternately email him to .

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low
levels. Currently sunspot 1 043 is still the only active region on the
visible surface of the sun. The effective sunspot number is expected to
be between fifteen and twenty for the coming week.

20 and 15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX. Conditions to
India will be good from the afternoons onwards. During the late
afternoons and early evenings it will be moderate towards Europe. In
the afternoons there are good possibilities of contacts with the USA on
15 m. Contacts with Australia will be possible on 20 m for a short
while during the mornings. During the afternoons and evenings 20 and 15
m contacts may also be possible with Brazil.

Local conditions are going to be good on 40 m during the day time. 80 m
may perform well during the early mornings and late afternoons over the
shorter distances. 30 m will perform well over the longer distances
during the middle of the day. With summer here 20 m is also once again
very useful for contacts over the longer distances, especially up to
two o'clock in the afternoons.

80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.

Please visit www.spaceweather.co.za for further information.

DIARY OF EVENTS

7 February - AWA CW Activity still on today; 8 February - Information
meeting for young people interested in amateur radio at the Higher
Technological School, John Vorster at 19:00; 10 February - Start of RAE
classes at the NARC at 19:00; 13 and 14 February - SARL National Field
Day; 20 February - Home Construction course in Port Elizabeth; 28
February - New closing date for the SumbandilaSat essay competition; 28
February - Final date for entries in the ARRISS-SAT project to be
submitted to ; 5 March - Closing date for the Tinus
Lange Awards, and 27 March - 2010 SA AMSAT Space Symposium; 31 March -
SARL 80 m Club Contest with PSK and RTTY.

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 Mirror
International every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the
Pretoria-area, with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 860 kHz. There is
also a podcast by ZS6RO. For a web-stream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, visit
www.sarl.org.za, click on 'ARMI' and follow the links. A repeat
transmission can be heard on Mondays at 21:00 CAT on 3 215 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, ZS6NE.

Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX