SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 02 MAY 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 also subscribe there 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:

THREE-HOUR SPRINT TO CELEBRATE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SARL

SUMBANDILASAT SOON BACK IN AMATEUR RADIO MODE

LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE FOR THE NOKIA-SIEMENS AMATEUR RADIO AWARDS

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

THREE-HOUR SPRINT TO CELEBRATE 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SARL

On Sunday 16 May, 4 days before the actual day, a three hour sprint
contest will be celebrating the founding of the SARL on 20 May 1925, 85
years ago. The special call sign, ZS85SARL, will also be used for the
first time during the contest.

The Sprint will run from 12:00 to 15:00 UTC (14:00 to 17:00 CAT) on the
20, 40 and 80 metre band. There are a large number of prizes to be won
for individual achievements. In addition, all logs with more than 10
contacts will go into the lucky draw for an ARRL Handbook while the
participant under 18 years of age on the day of the contest who
achieves the highest score will also win an ARRL Handbook.

A special 85th Anniversary QSL card will also be available for stations
who work ZS85SARL.

Full details are on www.sarl.org.za and have been published in SARL HF
Happenings.

SUMBANDILASAT SOON BACK IN AMATEUR RADIO MODE

SA AMSAT announced that SumbandilaSat will soon be back in the Amateur
Radio Mode. Currently Sunspace will re-program CTR2 with a fix for the
SA AMSAT PTT problem. This is expected to be completed by mid May.

The CSIR Satellite Application Centre at Hartebeeshoek will in future
carry out programming of the Amateur Radio Payload. SA AMSAT will work
with SAC to coordinate operational requests. More details on how to
request operation will be announced in the next two weeks and published
on www.amsatsa.org.za.

As an early notice, start planning to include SumbandilaSat operation
in your youth day activities

LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE FOR THE NOKIA-SIEMENS AMATEUR RADIO AWARDS.

The final closing date for nomination will be at close of business on
Monday 3 May. There are three awards: the Garth Milne Award for
technical innovation, the Radio Amateur of the Year Award for the
promotion of Amateur radio and the Amateur Radio Community Service
Award. Full details can be found on www.amateurradio.org.za. The
winners will be receiving their awards on 17 May at a gala lunch, which
will be addressed by Clem Sunter.

LAST CHANCE TO BOOK FOR THE PIC COURSE IN CAPE TOWN

Want to learn how to program a PIC microcontroller in 4 hours? Here is
the last chance to book your place at the Cape Town Course on Saturday
8 May 2010. The course fee is R300 for members and R450 for non
members. The course includes a CD, a learner board and a host of other
useful items valued in access of the course fee. This has been made
possible through sponsorship of Microchip. Each participant also
receives a certificate from Microchip.

The closing date for the course is Monday 3 May at midnight. No late
entries can be accepted. Full details on www.sarl.org.za, click on RTA
and follow the links.

RADIO ZS IN THE MAIL NEXT WEEK

Radio ZS will be in the mail next week and available on the web this
weekend. It is again filled cover to cover with interesting reading
material. Victor du Preez, ZS6EA, shares his thought on Amateur Radio -
the most versatile hobby on earth - Proudly Amateur Radio. Andre Botes
ZS2ACP's, winning project in the Tinus Lange Technical Excellence Award
competition is fully covered in an article entitled "The PW MEON 70 MHz
Transverter revisited". Get more information on the WIA Centenary
Award, read about the new antenna onboard the International Space
Station, Radio Amateurs set sight on 500 kHz and The G3EJS 2-Tuner by
Steve Warwick-Oliver, G3EJS / ZS5WO. There are also the regulars:
Amateur Radio in Space and the Museum column and more interesting
reads.

If you are not a member yet, get a sample copy by sending a request to
with RZS April 2010 in the subject line.

ZS10WCS FROM GAUTENG/MPUMALANGA

The Rietkol Amateur Radio Club from Gauteng/Mpumalanga is operating the
World Cup Soccer special event station, ZS10WCS, for the month of May.
Listen out and work the station.

The Northern Cape Amateur Radio Club is thanked for their operation of
the call sign during April 2010.

CONTEST NEWS

Geoff Levey, ZS6GRL, has been appointed as the SARL Contest Manager and
will be co-ordinating SARL and Club contests on HF and VHF.

The annual ZS3 Sprint takes this afternoon from 14:00 to 15:00 UTC.
This is a fun activity to promote contacts between radio amateurs in
the Northern Cape and radio amateurs in Southern African countries. It
is a phone and CW contest on the 40-metre band. The exchange is a RS(T)
report and provincial or country abbreviation.

Log sheets shall be submitted within 15 days after the contest and can
be sent by e-mail to zs3tg[at]vodamail[dot]co[dot]za or ZS3 Sprint, PO
Box 1049, Kathu, 8446. The closing date for log submissions is 17 May
2010. A certificate will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in
the competition.

The Antique Wireless Association Valve QSO party will be held on the
weekend of 8 and 9 May running from 13:00 to 17:00 UTC on both days.
The AM QSO Party will be run on Saturday 08 May and the SSB QSO Party
on Sunday 09 May. Contest activity on 40 m - 7 053 to 7 100 kHz and 80
m - 3 603 to 3 650 kHz. The exchange is a call sign, RS and consecutive
serial numbers starting at 001, plus the type of radio used, e.g. HT37
Tx. The scoring is All valve radios - 3 points per contact; Hybrid
(valve and solid state) - 2 points per contact, and Solid State Radios
- 1 point per contact.

Log submissions must be sent to the Southern African Antique Wireless
Association, PO Box 12320, Benoryn,1504 or by e-mail to
andy[dot]cairns[at]xsinet[dot]co[dot]za. The closing date for log
submissions is 28 May 2010. Certificates will be awarded to the first 3
places in each category.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at
very low levels. The micro-sunspot 1 063 does not help matters much.
Officially, the sun remains blank for now more than thirteen days in a
row. The effective sunspot number is expected to be less than 10 for
the coming week. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is doing more
than just taking crisp pictures of the sun. It is revealing our star as
a place of intense and sometimes even alien beauty. To have a look go
to www.spaceweather.com.

15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 17 and 20
m. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon onwards. During
the late afternoons and early evenings, it will be good towards Europe.
Contacts with the USA are once again becoming challenging. Contacts
with Australia are possible at around 08:00 in the mornings while
contacts with New Zealand will be challenging. During the afternoons
and evenings, good 15 m contacts may also be possible with Brazil.

Local conditions are going to be good on 40 m during the daytime. 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.
With the change of season, the noise levels are also decreasing and
some top band activity will once again become possible.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

Today - ZS3 Sprint, 14:00-15:00 UTC; 3 May - Closing date for the Nokia
Siemens Amateur Radio Awards; 3 May - Closing date to book for PIC
programming course in Cape Town; 7 May - Closing date for stage 2 of
the Construction Competition. 8 May - Technological High School John
Vorster Amateur Radio Club flea market; 8 and 9 May - AWA Valve QSO
Party; 16 May - SARL 85th Anniversary Sprint, 12:00-15:00 UTC; 29 May -
RTA symposium in Durban; 24 July - RTA symposium in Cape Town; 21
August - RTA symposium in Port Elizabeth; 31 August - Closing date for
submission of proposals for the 2011 SARL Contest Manual; 18 September
- RTA symposium in Gauteng; 30 September - closing date for phase 1 of
the Innovation project.

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 17 560 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.

I cannot say for sure whether it has happened previously, but today you
have listened to a bulletin which has been compiled by a President of
the SARL. Quote from George, ZS6NE:"I phoned Dennis, ZS4BS, yesterday
and after congratulating him on his election as President, I told him
that I "fire" as bulletin compiler. Dennis, many thanks for the service
which you also rendered as a member of the news team, but, you may of
course still contribute news items. The news team whishes you a
successful and fruitful term of duty as President. Be assured of our
support."

Thank you for listening, 73.
/EX