SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 9 JANUARY 2011

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 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 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 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB.

SILENT KEYS

It is with regret that it has to be announced that the keys of two
radio amateurs became silent recently, they a Flip Louw, ZS6BSI,
brother of Willem, ZS6BPD, early on Monday 3 January 2011. Flip leaves
his YL Poppie. J Theron, ZS6JMT, of the East Rand Radio Club, also on 2
January 2011 in Springs.

To their relatives and friends, our sincerest sympathies.

(PAUSE)

In the news today:

JOIN THE SARL FOR ONLY R200

SA AMSAT CUBESAT PROJECT NEEDS PROGRAMMERS

AMATEUR ACTIVITY MORNING AT THE NARC

HOST AN AMATEUR RADIO STATION AT SUN CITY

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

JOIN THE SARL FOR ONLY R200

We invite non-members to get six months' membership of the SARL for
only R200. All new applicants will also receive the November/December
issue of Radio ZS. Download application forms from www.sarl.org.za.
Applications will be processed from 12 January when the national office
reopens. Persons who have not renewed their current membership are
excluded from this offer.

All applications received by 15 January 2011 will be entered into the
Lucky Membership draw for the chance of winning one of two 2011/2012
SARL memberships. The draw will take place at the NARC on 15 January at
noon. Get your applications in or bring them on Saturday 15 January
2011.

SA AMSAT CUBESAT PROJECT NEEDS PROGRAMMERS

The development team for the planned South African CubeSat project is
taking shape nicely. Amateurs with diverse specialist skills are
offering their expertise from all over. "However, we still need a
person with experience in programming PIC or 8051 microprocessors,"
Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, told SARL News.

"This person will be a critical member of the team and will be
responsible for the development of the onboard controller software.
Other amateurs who are interested in the development of the satellite
and would like to join the development team are still welcome to send
their Amateur Radio CVs to ," Hannes said.

There will be an informal discussion at the SA AMSAT Satellite Forum at
the NARC on Saturday 15 January at 10:00. The team will meet for its
first formal teleconference on Wednesday evening 26 January 2011 at
20:00. Team members will receive a formal notification. Eddie, ZS6BNE,
will show how to build a simple satellite antenna.

AMATEUR ACTIVITY MORNING AT THE NARC

There will be a number of events at the NARC on Saturday 15 January
2011 from 10:00. Besides the Satellite Forum, you can come and look at
the Space Weather Monitor or try out D-STAR communication with the
D-Star repeater being installed at the NARC. A number of books on
amateur radio will also be on sale. To see a list of available books,
go to www.amateurradio.org.za/books.htm. Books can be ordered online
and paid for and collected at the NARC on Saturday or can be purchased
in cash. No card facilities are available for book sales.

If you are not a member of the SARL yet, use the opportunity to sign up
for R200 and enter a competition in which free memberships can be won.

HOST AN AMATEUR RADIO STATION AT SUN CITY

Radio clubs are invited to submit proposals to set up an HF and VHF
amateur radio station at the IARU Region 1 Conference at Sun City. The
conference will run from 11 to 19 August 2011 with delegates arriving
on 12 August. The special call sign will be ZS11IARU and will be
operational for the week.

The hosting club must provide a portable tower with an HF beam complete
with rotator and cables, inverted V antennas for 40 and 80 metres, 70
cm and 2 m antennas, and at least one full-time operator to oversee
activity. All delegates who are licensed in their own country will
receive automatic permission to operate while in South Africa for the
conference. Radio equipment will be supplied if required.

Full board and accommodation for two persons sharing will be provided
for the duration of the event.

If your club can undertake the project, please email details of how you
will execute the project, experience of the operator or operators and
the person who will oversee the project to by 28
February 2011. Please include contact telephone numbers.

CONTEST NEWS

The PEARS National VHF/UHF contest will take place on 21 to 23 January
2011. It is open to all licensed amateurs in South Africa and the
neighbouring states of Namibia (V5), Botswana (A2), Zimbabwe (Z2),
Mozambique (9), Lesotho (7P), and Swaziland (3DA). Only contacts with
these states will count.

The aim of a VHF/UHF contest is to make many long-distance contacts,
establish new records, encourage the improvement of equipment and have
fun. This is a 44-hour dual contest for digital and analogue modes.
Amateurs are requested to participate in both contests if possible and
thus keep the bands alive. Activity will take place on 6, 4 and 2
metres as well as on 70 and 23 cm using FM, SSB and digital modes.

The first 22-hour session of the VHF/UHF contest starts at 18:00 CAT on
Friday 21 January and closes at 16:00 CAT on Saturday 22 January. The
second 22-hour leg starts at 16:01 CAT on Saturday 22 January and ends
at 14:00 CAT on Sunday 23 January.

A valid contact consists of an exchange of call signs, signal reports
and location such as the six-digit Maidenhead Locator or co-ordinates.
Participation can be as a Base station, a Field station, a Club or
Multi-Operator station or a Limited Category station. The complete
rules can be found in the 2011 SARL Contest Manual and on the PEARS
website at www.zs2pe.co.za/Contests/vuhf.htm.

SARL 80-METRE CLUB CONTEST

Only four logs were received for the November leg of the SARL 80 metre
Club Contest. The Antique Wireless Association submitted two logs and
12 points, taking first place, the West Rand ARC submitted two logs
with 10 points.

The overall results for all six legs a 1st West Rand ARC, 341 points
and 32 logs; 2nd ZS Contest Group, 186 points and 7 logs; 3rd The
Antique Wireless Association, 166 points with 15 logs.

SARL NATIONAL FIELD DAY

The contest committee received 19 logs for the November SARL National
Field Day made up of two single operators, 11 multi-operators and six
general stations. The results are as follows:

Single operator 1st Johan de Witt, ZR5JF, 17 520 points 2nd Eddie
Leighton, ZS6BNE, 6 075 points

Multi-operator 1st West Rand ARC, ZS6WR, 72 180 points 2nd Sasolburg
ARC, ZS4SRK, 71 060 points 3rd Sandton ARC, ZS6STN, 65 900 points

General 1st Philip Esterhuizen, ZS4PJ, 62 010 points 2nd Pierre van
Deventer, ZS6BB, 50 112 points 3rd Anton de Beer, ZR6ATN, 22 752 points


The complete and combined results will be published in HF Happenings
during the week.

YOUNG AMATEURS CONTEST

YACHT, the Young Amateurs Contest Ham Team, once again invites all
South African radio amateurs, especially young people, to participate
in their weekly Echolink Youth Roundtable. From the 9th of January the
new time is 21:00 CAT on Sundays, Echolink node 481872, the W8PIF
repeater in Menominee, Michigan.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low
levels. Sunspots 1 140 and 1 142 remain visible although Sunspot 1 142
is rapidly fading away. The effective sunspot number is expected to be
less than 25 for the coming week.

15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 20 m.
Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon till after sunset.
During the afternoons conditions will be fair towards Europe on 15 m,
later to be followed by fair 20 m openings. Early evening 15 m contacts
with the USA are possible. Contacts with Australia are possible on 20 m
at sunrise and during the afternoons. 15 and especially 20 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, 40 m is the workhorse 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 and
also 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

15 January - Satellite forum and other activities day at the NARC,
starting at 10:00. 20 January 2011 - Closing date for submission for
application for the May 2011 RAE bursaries; visit
www.amateurradio.org.za for application forms. 20 January - Closing
date for submission of proposals and synopses of papers for 2011 SA
AMSAT Space Symposium to . 20 January - Cubesat
project team teleconference at 20:00. 21/32 January - PEARS VHF/UHF
contest. 30 January 2011 - Closing date for phase 1 of the construction
competition. 28 February - Offers to host a station at Sun City during
IARU Region conference to be in to .

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 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 Hester van der Walt.

Thank you for listening, 73.

/EX