SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 24 JUNE 2012

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. 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 MHz FM
from Pretoria with relays on 7 066 and 3 695 kHz SSB. (Other news
readers change to suit).

SILENT KEYS

It is with regret that we have to report that the keys of two radio
amateurs became silent recently.

On Thursday night, Abe Grové, ZS6BMX, became silent key after long
illness. He was 77 years old.

Richard L. (Dick) Baldwin, W1RU, IARU President Emeritus, passed away
on Thursday morning, 21 June. He was 92 years old. As American radio
Relay League (ARRL) Assistant General Manager, Dick was primarily
responsible for initiating preparations for the 1979 World
Administrative Radio Conference. He was one of the key players in
formulating the objective of obtaining new amateur HF bands at 10, 18
and 24 MHz. As ARRL General Manager from 1975 to 1982 he played an
essential role in turning that objective into reality.

Following his retirement from the ARRL staff, Dick was elected
President of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), which he had
served as Secretary from 1976 to 1982. He served as President for 17
years, managing the transition to a new Constitution that made the IARU
a more representative body. Upon his retirement from that volunteer
position in 1999, he was named President Emeritus by the IARU
Administrative Council. Dick Baldwin was a great friend of South Africa
and visited this country several times during his tenure as IARU
President.

We extend our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the
deceased.

(PAUSE)

IN THE NEWS TODAY:

CLUBS TO GET FREE AFFILIATION TO THE SARL

RTA IN DURBAN

IARU HF CHAMPIONSHIP ON JULY 14 - 15

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

CLUBS TO GET FREE AFFILIATION TO THE SARL

The council of the SARL has agreed to offer free affiliation to radio
clubs in South Africa whose activity supports the SARL's vision and
objectives for amateur radio. To apply for affiliation, clubs must
complete the standard membership application vorm. They must include a
copy of their constitution, a list and contact details of committee
members and a brief report of the club's amateur radio related
activity. This could be a chairman report or copies of newsletters.
Clubs who have already paid for the 2012/2013 year will be refunded

RTA IN DURBAN

The first Radio Technology in Action (RTA) of 2012 will be held in
Durban on 21 July at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The programme is
very different to those of previous years and includes several
innovations.

The keynote entitled "Tuning into Nature" will be delivered by Tony
Voorveld, ZS6CCD. This is a presentation on various electromagnetic
phenomena that appear in nature. Tony will explain by discussion and
demonstration how phenomena such as Solar Flares, Cosmic Rays and
Lightning may be detected by amateur radio and amateur scientific
equipment. He will also be discussing radio astronomy for the amateur.
If you have seen Tony in action before, you know that you do not want
to miss it and if you haven't, make sure you do attend this year.

The opening address will be given by SARL President, Rassie Erasmus,
ZS1YT. Rassie will talk about how radio amateurs can contribute to the
development of a knowledge economy for South Africa.

Then we come to the practical aspect of the symposium. Frik Wolff,
ZS6FZ, will demonstrate the building and operation of a software
defined radio for 40 metres. A kit of components will be on sale at the
RTA and will cost under R100,00.

Riaan Greeff, ZS4PR, will talk about and demonstrate how to interface
Hamradio Deluxe with radio equipment and antenna rotators. He will
concentrate on the practical aspects and will use various models to
demonstrate the operation.

There will also be a demonstration on how to install and use a logging
programme.

All persons attending the RTA will receive a CD that will contain the
various programmes demonstrated. When you get home after the event, you
can start having more fun.

The full programme will be available on www.sarl.org.za early next
week. In the meantime if you live in KwaZulu-Natal, take note of the
date Saturday 21 July. If you live a little distance from Durban, why
not make arrangements with your club members to travel together.

SKA INTECNET WAS POPULAR CHOICE

The Intecnet held last Sunday evening with Prof Justin Jonas, talking
and answering question about the Square Kilometer Area (SKA), was very
popular, both by the audience and the guest speaker. Prof Jonas said he
enjoyed the questions from the listeners. He said it was refreshing
talking with people who had a good grasp of technology. He added: "I
wrote down the questions, as they make an excellent resource for future
talks I have to deliver".

The SARL has had many requests for the audio file to be made available
for download. An edited version will be available on www.sarl.org.za
from today.

For the next intecnet the SARL hopes to have Adrian Tiplady of the SKA
project as guest speaker. He will be talking about radio interference
mitigation on the SKA site and how services like radio and TV will be
delivered to local residents. Watch future editions of SARL-NEWS for
details.

IARU HF CHAMPIONSHIP ON JULY 14 - 15

The International Amateur Radio Union sponsors the High Frequency World
Championship 2012. It will take place on Saturday July 14th beginning
at 12:00 UTC and ending at 12:00 UTC on Sunday July 15th. The objective
of this contest is to contact as many amateurs around the world as
possible, especially IARU member society Headquarters stations. The
160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands will be used. The rules for this
year are available on line at tinyurl.com/iaru-hf-championship.

The SARL would like to put its station on the air at the NARC and is
looking for volunteers to man the station for the full period. This
would be a great opportunity for experienced contesters to show
newcomers how much fun contesting is. If you are interested, drop a
line to this week and you will be contacted.

YASME FOUNDATION ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Awards and an expanded list of eligible call signs.

The Yasme Foundation currently offers two awards. The Yasme Award, in
the form of a handsome plaque, is offered to those radio amateurs who
submit proof of 30 QSO's with Yasme officials and DX-peditions that
have at least one Yasme official as a participant.

The Yasme Supreme Award is in the form of a representation of the YASME
boat used by Danny Weil in his around-the-world DX-pedition. It is
available to those who submit proof of 60 QSO's with YASME officials
and DX-peditions with a Yasme official as a participant. These awards
are available to qualifying applicants at no cost. After a year-long
evaluation of the rules, the Yasme Board of Directors has revised the
rules for those call signs that may be used to qualify for the two
awards, with many new ones added to the list. The Yasme Foundation is a
non-profit corporation organized to conduct scientific and educational
projects related to Amateur Radio, including DXing and the introduction
and promotion of Amateur Radio in underdeveloped countries. Get details
from www.yasme.org.

Danny Weil was a pioneer of what is now known as the 'DX-pedition'.
While not the first to DX-pedition, Danny was one of the first to
travel to more than one location to operate, and to travel from place
to place - often solo in a sailboat and lugging hundreds of kilograms
of radio equipment - specifically to provide DXers with a 'new one'.

Lloyd and Iris Colvin perfected the DX-pedition and took it into the
modern age in the 1970's and 1980's, with operations from more than 100
countries, using modern transport methods and state-of-the-art radio
equipment. Lloyd and Iris Colvin have operated several times, as guests
of the SARL, from the Johannesburg Amateur Radio Centre, which was then
situated in Louis Botha Avenue in Johannesburg.

YASME was both the name of Danny Weil's boat, and the name of the
non-profit foundation that was created in 1959 to provide financial and
logistical support for the travels of Weil, the Colvins, and others.

HF PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the week's expected Solar activity
will be at low levels. Major Sunspot 1 504 is rotating out of view and
only a few minor sunspots are now visible.

If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected
effective sunspot number for the week will be around 47.

All the bands from 20 to 10 m will provide lots of DX fun with 15 m
providing the best openings with 20 m not far behind. 10 m openings
will be much less frequent due to the lower solar activity and then
mostly on east-west paths.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

14/15 July - The IARU HF Championship on all the bands. Rules are
available at tinyurl.com/iaru-hf-championship. 21 July. - The first
Radio Technology in Action (RTA) of 2012 in Durban at the University of
KwaZulu-Natal. The full programme will be available on www.sarl.org.za
early next week.

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 17 760 kHz. There is also a podcast by Dick, 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 17:30 UTC
on 4 895 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 Flip Britz, ZS4GE/6, and edited by George Honiball, ZS6NE.

Thank you for listening. 73.

/EX

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