SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 10 JULY 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 'Amateur Radio Today' 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.

In the news today:

HABEX A SUCCESS REPORTS TEAM

ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER FEATURES AMATEUR RADIO

DURBAN RTA TO FEATURE AN UPDATE ON ARISSAT

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

HABEX A SUCCESS REPORTS TEAM

The High Altitude Balloon Experiment launched from the Klerksdorp
Airfield on 2 July was a great success. The balloon lifted off shortly
after 08:00 CAT and headed in an easterly direction. All payload
systems operated successfully with all the chase vehicles being able to
track the APRS packets being transmitted from the respective units.
During the early part of the lift, the balloon averaged an ascent rate
of 16,2 km/h slowing to a more pedestrian speed of 11 km/h for the
remainder of the flight. Horizontal ground speeds peaked at 183,59 km/h
with a final altitude recorded on ZS6ERB-9 of 33 661 m.

Overall the launch was a success with the team very happy with the
results. There are some issues to be rectified and the team will be
back in the not too distant future to test those. The launch was part
of the Klerksdorp Hamfest activities.

The payload consisted of 4 independent units. First in line was a
controller board which was specifically designed and built by the HABEX
group. The controller is able to accept a combination of either 8
inputs or outputs in either digital or analogue mode. Also built onto
the board is its own APRS tracking unit and PIC unit which can
communicate with ground stations via an on board VHF radio.

Next in the payload string was a second APRS tracking unit and Cross
Band repeater which was used extensively during the flight for both
team contact as well as general contacts. Below the repeater was a CW
beacon transmitting on 7,020 and lastly a video camera with a third
APRS unit.

The main objective of the 2 July launch was to establish that the APRS
components being used on the controller board functioned properly at
altitude. In previous flights, the GPS unit stopped operating around 12
000 m due to restrictions in its operating altitude.

Once the controller has proven itself, various experiments can be taken
to altitude without the additional weight of back up APRS units which
have been used in the past.

More information, photographs and a video can be found on
www.habex.za.net.

ANOTHER HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTER FEATURES AMATEUR RADIO

Super 8, a film set just outside Dayton, Ohio in 1979 -- uses Amateur
Radio in a crucial scene. The story revolves around a group of six
middle-schoolers who witness a mysterious train crash in the fictional
town of Lillian. Soon after the crash, the Air Force arrives and
strange things start happening in the small town. The kids, a group of
young film makers (hence the title of the movie) begin to investigate
the creepy phenomena.

One of the kid's dad is Deputy Lamb. After the Sherriff mysteriously
disappears, Deputy Lamb takes over and holds a town-wide meeting to
help allay the fear. One woman thinks that all the strange goings-on
are the work of the Soviet Union. But when Deputy Lamb calls on Mr
McCandless to ask a question, the man complains that he is hearing
strange transmissions on his amateur radio. As soon as Mr McCandless
mentions amateur radio, the residents at the meeting just ignore him.

But when Deputy Lamb privately questions Mr McCandless, he tells the
deputy that he can no longer listen to 13,201 (no reference is made to
kHz or MHz) due to the strange noises he is hearing. Deputy Lamb
mentions this to another deputy, and that deputy says he can bring in
his scanner and voice inverter from home so they can monitor the
frequency. After the rigs are set up, the deputies overhear vital
information about what the Air Force is trying to hide.

While credit has to go to Super 8 set decorator Fainche MacCarthy for
finding a radio of the right era, the "scanner" that the deputy brings
in is a Heathkit Seneca VHF-1, a 2 and 6 metre CW and AM transmitter.
Introduced in 1959, this rig complemented Heathkit's TX-1 Apache
transmitter, RX-1 Mohawk receiver and KL-1 Chippewa linear amplifier.

Super 8 premiers in South Africa at Sterkinekor cinemas on 29 July
2011. To watch a trailer visit
http://www.sterkinekor.com/#/trailer/3125/Super 8/.

DURBAN RTA TO FEATURE AN UPDATE ON ARISSAT

The programme of the Radio Technology in Action Symposium scheduled for
Durban on 30 July will include an update on ARISSAT, the replacement of
SuitSat 2. ARISSAT is expected to be launched from the International
Space Station at the end of July or early August during a spacewalk by
the Russian Cosmonauts on the ISS. Eddie Leighton, ZS6BNE, will present
on RaDAR, a presentation that attracted a lot of interest at the RTAs
in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. In the technology slot John
Willescroft, ZS6EF, will talk about FPGA's and their application. The
full programme is available on www.sarl.org.za, select RTA from the
left hand menu.

NEW MEMBERS

The SARL welcomes the following new members: ZSL1028, Hendrik du
Plessis, ZS6XXX, Andries Nortje and ZSL1029, Nico Coetzee.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS

707 Members have thus far renewed their membership. Membership became
due on 1 July 2011. Members are urged to pay their fees as soon as
possible. If making a bank transfer or bank deposit please ensure that
you indicate your name and callsign. We value your continued support.

COMPETITION NEWS

ZS4 SPRINT RESULTS UPDATED

The ZS4 Sprint results made available last week has been queried and
updated by the competition committee of ZS4SRK. Congratulations to
Pieter Human, ZS6PA, for the third place which he now occupies due to
his confirmed 62 points.

RESULTS OF THE TOP BAND CONTEST held from the 23 - 27 June 2011.

It is still clear that amateurs do not read the contest rules before
taking part in contests. Apart from wrong call signs, some did not
change frequency after making a contact.

8 logs and 1 check log were received. Stats from the logs show that 43
stations were on the air. No contacts were made from Div 3. There were
6 stations that operated CW and SSB.

The results are as follows

1st ZS6LH - Lukas Holtzhausen 145 points 2nd ZS6UT - Ed Willers 127
points 3rd ZS6PVT - Phillip van Tonder 118 points

The winner of the Lucky draw prize is Keith Liddle, ZS6AGF.

Congratulations to the winners. The full results will be published in
HF Happenings.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is expected to
be at very low to low levels. Sunspot 1 243 is producing B-Class and
C-Class flares as it continues to rotate across the visible solar disk
in the northern hemisphere. A couple of new sunspots have formed
towards the northeast limb and one of these was numbered 1 245 on
Thursday. There is not yet a chance for strong solar flares around this
region.

For the people doing their own frequency predictions the expected
effective sunspot number for the week will be less than 25.

With the winter here 20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX
followed by 30 m. There will be little chance of 15 m openings.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

16 July - 3rd leg of SARL QRP Competition. 27 July - 4th leg of SARL
Club Competition. 30 July - RTA in Durban. 07 Aug. - SARL HF Phone
Competition. 09 Aug. - SARL YL Sprint. 21 Aug. - 3rd leg of SARL
Digital Competition. 28 Aug. - SARL HF CW 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 Today every Sunday
morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area, with relays
on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 750 kHz. There is also a podcast by ZS6RO. For a
web-stream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, visit www.sarl.org.za, click on
'Amateur Radio TODAY', go down the green column and click on 'LISTEN ON
THE WEB'. A repeat transmission can be heard on Mondays at 18:30 CAT on
3 230 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
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