SARL News - SUNDAY 21 MARCH 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 webstream, visit
www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow the links for details. PLEASE
NOTE: 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 email.

Your newsreader this morning is (name), (call sign), on 145,725 and
7,066 MHz from Pretoria, with relays on 10,130, 7,066 and 3,695 MHz
SSB.

In the news today:

GAUTENG PIC COURSE FULLY BOOKED

SARL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

MEMBERSHIP BREAKS THE 1 400 BARRIER

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

GAUTENG PIC COURSE FULLY BOOKED

The "learn to programme a PIC microcontroller in 4 hours" course for
Gauteng is now fully booked. The course will be held next Saturday at
the NARC. If you have booked please check the details on
www.sarl.org.za, click on RTA and follow the links to the various
PIC2010 pages. A map to the NARC is also available from the PIC2010
pages.

You can still book for the Durban, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth course.
If there is no course near you, why not attend the SARL National
Convention In Port Elizabeth and take part in the course on Saturday
afternoon 24 April. You won't regret it.

LIGHTNING PREDICTOR KIT AGAIN AVAILABLE

The SA Amateur radio Development Trust has the popular Lightning
Predictor kit again in stock. The kit is an ideal Saturday afternoon
construction project and the predictor is a useful instrument to have
in the shack or around the house. It will alert you when a lightning
storm is approaching. The cost is R130 including postage and packing.
Full details and how to order is available on www.amateurradio.org.za.

SARL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Members of the SARL are reminded that all the AGM documents are
available on the member's pages of www.sarl.org.za. Click on the
members button on the top right of the home page and enter your call
sign and PIN. There are two documents available, the AGM notice and
Agenda and the proposed revised constitution.

If you cannot attend you may appoint any member who is attending to
represent you. The person you appoint can vote on your behalf. You need
to brief your proxy holder on how he or she should vote. It should be
noted that how the proxy holder votes is between you and the proxy
holder. It is a matter of trust between you and the person you appoint
to represent you.

A proxy form is included in the AGM notice package. Please ensure you
follow the instructions and send in the form before due date.

MEMBERSHIP BREAKS THE 1 400 BARRIER

The membership of the SARL broke the 1 400 barrier last week. The SARL
is well on track to reach its target set for this year. If you have not
yet joined, do it now. Details are available from the SARL Web Pages.

We welcome the following new members and wish them a long and fruitful
association with the National Body for Amateur radio, the SARL: ZR6DEK
- Andrew Dekenah; ZS2BK - Andre van Deventer; ZR6JJP - Jean-Pierre
Jordaan; ZS1L - Alex Smith; ZS6GRT - Gert Visser; ZS1HNM - James Hayes;
ZR6IF - Francois Massyn; ZR5DB - Tyron Brown; ZU5K -K Brown; ZS3EY -
Colonel J W Papenfus; ZSL610 - Graham Lambrechs; ZS6BZT - Gideon
Bothma; ZR1FDT - Francois Du Toit; C9IPAM - Pieter Myburgh; ZS6-6000 -
Andreas Raftopoulos.

PRESIDENT'S NET 11 APRIL 2010

This is an early notification for the next President's net. It will be
held on Sunday 11 April at 19:30. The main discussion point will be
explaining the proposed changes to the constitution and a report back
on the Strategy Indaba of Council.

DRAFT REVISED REGULATIONS - PUBLICATION NOT IMMINENT

From a discussion with a senior executive of ICASA on Friday last week
it appears that the information that publication of the draft radio
regulations pertaining to Amateur Radio was imminent is incorrect. The
draft regulations are still being reviewed by ICASA's legal department
and at this stage there is no indication when the draft will be
published in the Government Gazette. SARLNEWS will keep listeners
informed.

FREQUENCY CHANGE FOR ARMI

On 28 March the 17 860 kHz frequency for Amateur Radio Mirror
International will change to 17 560. Amateur Radio Mirror will be on
the air on Sundays at 10:00 CAT on 7 205 kHz and 17 560 kHz (this week
still on 17 860kHz) with a repeat on Mondays at 21:05 CAT on 3 215 kHz.
Receptions reports are invited, send them to .

SARL OFFICE CLOSED

The SARL office is closed and will reopen on Tuesday 23 March.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low
levels. Sunspot 1054 remains quiet as it transits the northern
hemisphere of the sun. In the region towards the eastern part of the
sun has finally formed a few sunspots and was numbered 1 056 on
Wednesday. The effective sunspot number is expected to be between
twenty and twenty-five 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 fair towards Europe. In the
afternoons there are good possibilities of contacts with the USA on 15
m. Contacts with Australia and New Zealand will be challenging. During
the afternoons and evenings good 20 and 15 m contacts may also be
possible with Brazil.

Most afternoons 17 m is open to many parts of the world. The majority
of activity is concentrated on Friday afternoons and also over the
weekends.

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 during the middle of the day.
20 m is very useful for contacts over the longer distances during the
majority of the day.

80 m is the frequency of choice in the evenings.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

19/21 March - SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest. 20/21 March - SARL VHF/UHF
Analogue Contest. 20 March - HABEX information meeting at 09:00 at the
Sci Bono centre. 27 March - Pretoria Amateur Radio Club Flea market at
08:00. 27 March - PIC programming in 4 hours course at the NARC. 31
March - SARL 80 m Club Contest with PSK and RTTY. 31 March - Closing
date for stage 1 of the Construction Competition. 11 April -
President's net at 19:30. 17 April - 2010 SA AMSAT Space Symposium.
23-25 April - SARL National Convention, Port Elizabeth. 24 April - PIC
programming course in Port Elizabeth. 7 May - Closing date for stage 2
of the Construction Competition.

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 webstream 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 and edited by George, ZS6NE.

Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX