SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER 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. 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 e-mail.

Your news reader this morning is (name), (call sign), on 145,725 and
7,066 MHz from Pretoria, with relays on 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB. (Other
news readers change as applicable).

SILENT KEYS

It is with regret that wê have to announce that the keys of two radio
amateurs became silent recently, that of: Hill Mason, ZS5HL, on Sunday
3 October 2010 after having been very ill for the past nine weeks, he
is survived by his XYL Iona. The second one was Nick van Zyl, ZS6BOM,
in the age of 78 years after having suffered from cancer for a number
of months on Tuesday 5 October. Hê leaves his XYL, Tina, ZS6BVG, and a
son.

Our sincerest condolences to their relatives and friends.

(PAUSE)

In the news today:

IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL REVIEWED ITS STRATEGY FOR WRC-12

SARL CONSTRUCTION KITS AVAILABLE SOON

PRESIDENT'S NET ON THE AIR NEXT SUNDAY

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

IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL REVIEWED ITS STRATEGY FOR WRC-12

In light of developments since the 2009 Administrative Council (AC)
meeting, the Council reviewed and updated International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU) positions on relevant agenda items for the 2012 World
Radio Communication Conference (WRC-12), as well as desired agenda
items for future WRCs.

The AC reviewed the progress on the action plan for developing support
for amateur radio frequency allocations, and the plan was updated for
the period through WRC-12. The AC of the IARU held its annual meeting
on October 1 and 2 in Salinitas, El Salvador.

The AC is responsible for the policy and management of the IARU and
consists of the three IARU international officers and two
representatives from each of the three IARU regional organizations.
SARL President, Dennis Green, attended in his position as IARU Region 1
Secretary. The AC also identified the upcoming meetings of the
International Telecommunication Union meetings where IARU
representation will be required, and reviewed the plans for
representation at these meetings, as well as at WRC-12.

The AC reviewed and updated the working document that sets out the
spectrum requirements of the Amateur Radio and Amateur Satellite
Services. They identified the need for a new strategy with regard to
retaining access to bands above 148 MHz and agreed that a committee of
experts will be formed to develop recommendations for the AC.

The full report of the AC meeting will be available for download on
www.sarl.org.za from Monday morning.

SARL CONSTRUCTION KITS AVAILABLE SOON

Shortage of supply of some critical components is one of the main
reasons for the delay in the supply of the SARL construction kits.
These problems have now been overcome and packaging of the kits has
been started. As some of the components have to be individually
packaged for easy identification by the constructor, this process will
take considerable time. It is now expected that the first kits will be
available for shipping in early December. As soon as supplies arrive,
the pre-paid orders on hand will be shipped first. Once this has been
completed will an announcement be made and new orders will then be
accepted. SARL NEWS will keep listeners informed. The SARL apologizes
for the delays.

PRESIDENT'S NET ON THE AIR NEXT SUNDAY

The SARL President's Net is on the air next Sunday at 19:30. Dennis
Green will report back on the IARU Administrative Council meeting and
discuss the proposed Radio Regulations which have been posted on the
member's section of the SARL Web.

Judging from comments received by the SARL, it appears that many do not
understand the process of how regulations are developed and
implemented. ICASA follows a process of consultation. It starts with
the development of regulations by an ICASA Committee. Once the first
draft is compiled it is vetted by the ICASA Legal department and once
the legalization has been sorted out, the draft is submitted to the
ICASA council. After approval by the ICASA Council the draft
regulations are published in the Government Gazette for comment. This
is the stage at which we are at now. It is now the opportunity to make
comment and raise objections to any of the provisions in the draft
regulations.

As some of the proposed new regulations change the composition of
licenses the SARL has received many questions. What happens to current
ZU licence holders who are over 25? Will they lose their licence? The
SARL cannot answer this question and will raise this issue in the
submission that will be made to ICASA and at the next liaison meeting.

Another misconception is the question of ZRs being converted to ZS and
the access to high power. Currently there is a marginal difference in
the transmit power of a ZR licence holder and a ZS licence holder.
Currently a ZR is permitted 29 dBW and a ZS 26 dBW. The major
difference is access to the full amateur radio frequency spectrum. If
there is any issue then it is in the area of operating procedure; an
issue that has long been discussed for both ZR and ZS licensees.
Instructors should perhaps spend more time on operating procedure and
perhaps the HF assessment should be sharpened up. All these are issues
to be discussed next Sunday evening.

If your club wishes to link the local repeater to the network, please
send a request to by Monday afternoon including
details of the telephone number and repeater frequency and area. Only
Telkom landlines can be connected.

If you cannot take part in the discussion on the President's net, you
are invited to submit your views and concerns by email to
. Please raise issues in global manner and not personal
issues.

OCTOBER 2010 RAE CANDIDATE NUMBERS PUBLISHED:

The SARL is pleased to publish the October 2010 RAE candidate
examination numbers on the web.

In total there are 122 candidates that have enrolled for the
examination.

Your examination number can be obtained by following the links on the
SARL web page to the RAE Examination and then click on the link to
Candidate Examination Numbers.

Any queries must be directed to the SARL office for assistance.

CONTEST RESULTS

SARL 80 m Club Contest. The committee received 5 logs for the 80 m
digital club contest held on 29 September.

1st West Rand ARC, 31 points 2nd Cape Town ARC, 7 points

The results of the past 5 contests a

1st West Rand ARC, 331 points 2nd ZS Contest Group, 186 points 3rd
Antique Wireless Association, 154 points

SARL HF CW Contest. The results will be released in next week when
Dennis, ZS4BS, is back in South Africa.

The last Club Contest is the CW contest on Wednesday 24 November 2010.

CQ Hou Koers, the Voortrekkers' radio communications day, will take
place from 08:30 until 12:00 (CAT) on Saturday the 16th of October.
Please support this event and have a few QSO's with the young people.
The calling frequency will be 7,070 MHz. Echolink will be available by
connecting to ZS0JPL-R and IRLP 8719.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low
levels. The sun is currently blank of sunspots, but that could change
soon. Old sunspot region 1 106 is about to rotate back into view on the
eastern limb. The effective sunspot number is expected to be less than
20 for the coming week.

20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 15 and 10
m. Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon till after
sunset. During the afternoon conditions will be good towards Europa
firstly on 10 m, later followed by good 15 and then 20 m openings.
Early evening 15 m contacts with the USA are at last happening again.
Contacts with Australia and New Zealand are possible at sunrise on 20 m
and on 40 m after sunset. 15 m openings to Brazil and South America are
possible during the afternoons. With the good 15 and 20 m openings 17 m
will also be full of surprises.

For the CW and digital enthusiasts 30 m may be very rewarding with
openings to many parts of the world.

Locally is 40 m the work horse for contacts around the country with 20
and 30 m also being very useful for contacts over the longer distances.
80 m will be best during the early mornings and late afternoons as well
as over the shorter distances.

80 m is the frequency of choice during the evenings.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

10 - October Antique Wireless Association AM/SSB Valve QSO Party; 10
October - Last day to submit comments on draft radio regulations to
; 15 October - Last day to enter your photos taken at
"Take your hand-held to Work Day"; 16 October - CQ Hou Koers; 17
October - President's Net at 19:30 on draft radio regulations.

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.

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 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 22:05 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