SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE

SARL NEWS SUNDAY 01 JULY 2007

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 that is transmitted every Sunday at 08:15
CAT in Afrikaans and at 08:30 CAT in English. To listen to a web stream
or Echolink by ZS6FCS visit www.sarl.org.za, click on ARMI and follow
the links for details.

This, and previous bulletins, can be downloaded from www.sarl.org.za
and you can also subscribe there to receive future bulletins by email.

This transmission is by Hans, ZS6KR, on 145,725 and 7,066 MHz from
Pretoria with relays on 3,695, 10,135, 14,235 and 51,400 MHz as well as
438,825 MHz in the Pretoria area. (Other newsreaders please change to
suit).

In the news today:

SARL PRESIDENT TO DISCUSS SOME MAJOR CHANGES ON TONIGHT'S NET

SA AMSAT CHANGES ITS CONFERENCE DATE AGAIN

HELP US SAVE ON OUR TELEPHONE BILLS

GET READY FOR THE IARU HF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, JULY 14-15

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

SARL PRESIDENT TO DISCUSS SOME MAJOR CHANGES ON TONIGHT'S NET

At last weekend's strategic session the Council of the SARL agreed on
some major changes that will enhance the development of Amateur Radio
and increase the benefits that will accrue to members. Graham Hartlett
will during this evening's President's Net discuss the new proposals
and implementation dates. Some changes will be implemented almost
immediately while others will be phased in over the next 6 - 9 months.
Join Graham at 19:00 this evening on a repeater near you.

The President's Net will be followed at 20:00 by the INTECNET featuring
a discussion on the SARL transceiver project by Andrew Roos. The
objective is to design and industrialise an entry-level HF transceiver
that can be produced at low cost to facilitate access to HF by new
amateurs, including the youth. Join Andrew as he takes the lid off this
exciting project.

Visit www.sarl.org.za and click on ARMI for full details, frequencies
and a link to internet streaming and echolink. Clubs are encouraged to
link up to the conference bridge. Send telephone number and details of
the repeater to be used to by not later than noon
today, 1 July.

SA AMSAT CHANGES ITS CONFERENCE DATE AGAIN

Due to venue constraints SA AMSAT had to change the date of its 2007
Space Symposium. It will now be held on 6 October. More details can be
found on the web at www.amsatsa.org.za. The September date announced
last week clashed with another conference being held at the Sentech
venue.

A synopsis for proposed papers are invited and should be of a technical
or operational nature and cover any of the following subjects:
satellite communication, weak signal communication, orbital mechanics,
software applications and exploration of space such as SETI. Other
related subjects will be considered. The deadline for the submission of
a synopsis is 15 August 2007.

HELP US SAVE ON OUR TELEPHONE BILLS

The SARL Treasurer has highlighted the dramatic increase in our monthly
communications cost which on analysis points to outgoing cellphone
calls. Please, when leaving a message at the NARC, leave your landline
number or if it is a request for information your email address. The
saving is almost three fold per call which, when calculated over a
month, amounts to a substantial sum of money which could be better
utilised for other amateur radio projects and member services.

The office telephone is answered between 09:00 and 13:00 Mondays to
Fridays which are our public office hours. The rest of the time the
office administrator is attending to administrative matters. Emails and
faxes can be sent at any time, day or night. Also remember to use the
full 13 digit number 088 011 675 2793 when sending a fax.

GET READY FOR THE IARU HF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, JULY 14-15

According to the Secretary of the IARU, Dave Sumner, participation in
the IARU HF World Championship has grown steadily over the past four
years, despite solar activity trending in the wrong direction. The
creation of Low Power and QRP categories has contributed to increasing
both the popularity and the competitiveness of the event.

The ARRL administers the HF World Championship on behalf of the IARU.
At its May 2007 meeting the IARU Administrative Council discussed
various issues related to the event and asked that the ARRL devote the
resources necessary to maintain a high standard of adjudication.

A condition of entry in the IARU HF World Championship is that each
entrant agrees to be bound by the provisions of the announced rules, by
the regulations of his/her licensing authority and by the decisions of
the ARRL Awards Committee acting for the IARU International
Secretariat. Leading competitors should expect their entries to be
carefully scrutinized. If exceptional results are claimed, entrants
must be prepared to explain how they were achieved.

Reminder: In addition to the zone and "HQ station" multipliers there
are four additional multipliers available per band by contacting
members of the IARU Administrative Council and the regional IARU
executive committees. Administrative Council members may send "AC"
instead of their zone, while regional executive committee members may
send "R1," "R2" or "R3" as appropriate.

CONTEST NEWS

The Durban ARC Midwinter 80 metre Sprint will be run on Wednesday 4
July 2007 starting at 19:00 CAT and ending at 20:00 CAT. It is a phone
and CW/PSK sprint and the exchange is a RS or RST report and your age,
ladies may use 21.

Contacts with stations in the same ZS call area or Southern African
country is worth 2 points and contacts with stations in different ZS
call areas or Southern African countries are worth 4 points. Log sheets
must be sent by e-mail to or by snail mail to the
Durban Amateur Radio Club, 17 Brownlee Place, Bluff, Durban, 4052.

On Sunday 22 July, the Boland ARC 40 Metre Contest will be on the air
from 15:00 to 18:00 CAT.

The SARL HF Phone Contest will be run on Sunday 5 August 2007.

Provisional Contest Results:

The 80 Metre QSO Party Contest Committee has notified SARL News that
the name of Jan, ZS1VDV, must be added to the results of the April leg
of the 80 Metre QSO Party. Jan made 480 points which places him in
second place with the East Rand ARC.

There was a typing error in the English results of the SARL Hamnet
Contest. For the Single Operator Stationary Mobile category, Theunis,
ZS2EC, and not Barry as reported took the second place. The results in
the Afrikaans version are correct.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the expected solar activity will
be at low to very low levels. The geomagnetic field is expected to be
quiet in general while reaching active levels on 11 till 12 July. The
expected Effective Sun Spot number for the coming week will be less
than 10.

20 m and 40 m will provide best opportunities for DX. There is a
possibility of 20 m openings towards India from about 15:30 CAT. 40 m
may open towards Australia from 18:00. From about 17:00, there may be
20 m openings towards Europe. At about 16:00 short 20 m openings
towards the West Coast of the USA are possible. Otherwise contacts to
the USA are going to be very challenging. For the CW and digital
enthusiasts it will also be worth monitoring 10 MHz.

Locally 40 m is going to be the band to be on for the PSK31 contest
with good propagation throughout South Africa till at least 16:00. It
is once again time to work on your 80 m WAZS award in the evenings.
Remember that HF always has the capability to surprise you. You will
never know what you are missing unless you switch your rig on, listen
and also call CQ.

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

CLUB NEWS

The Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society (PEARS) held its AGM on
Saturday 23 June, and the following members were elected to the
committee:

Chairman: Donovan, ZS2DL; Vice-Chairman: Chris, ZS2AAW; Treasurer:
Clive, ZS2RT; Secretary: Beavan, ZS2RL; Members: Anthony, ZS2BA, Barry,
ZS2EZ, Bill, ZS2ABZ, and Eric ,ZS2ECH.

The meeting was followed by the traditional bring-'n-braai,

The Hibiscus Coast ARC also held the AGM recently and the following
members were elected to serve on the committee:

Chairman: Garnett, ZS5ZT; Secretary /Treasurer: Brian, ZS5AZH;
Committee Members: Jan, ZR5JAN, Sid, ZS5AYC, Peter, ZS5SK, Gawie, ZS5R,
Mervyn, ZS5QI and Rob, ZS5XS.

DIARY OF EVENTS

1 July, tonight - President's Net and Intechnet; 4 July - Durban ARC
Midwinter 80 m Sprint; 14 - 15 July - IARU HF World Championship; 22
July - Boland ARC 40 m Contest; 5 August - SARL HF Phone contest; 15
August - Last day to submit synopsis of proposed papers for SA AMSAT
Space Conference; 23 August - Class B RAE; 6 October - SA AMSAT Space
Conference; 18 October - Class A RAE.

SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news stories of
interest to radio amateurs and shortwave listeners. Submit news stories
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 the programme Amateur Radio
Mirror International, on the air every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on
145,750 MHz in the Pretoria area with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 695
kHz. For the web stream and echolink by ZS6FCS visit www.sarl.org.za,
click on ARMI and follow the links. A repeat transmission can be heard
Mondays at 21:00 CAT on 3 215 kHz. Sentech sponsors the ARMI
transmissions on the non-amateur frequencies.

Today's South African Radio League news bulletin was compiled by Roger
Conroy, ZR3RC ,and transmitted by (your name and call sign)

Thank you for listening. 73.

/EX

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