SARL NEWS SUNDAY 19 MAY 2013

You are listening to ZS6SRL, the official radio station of the South
African Radio League, the national body for amateur radio in South
Africa. The SARL broadcasts 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 there to receive future bulletins by e-mail.

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

IN THE NEWS TODAY:

MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD SARL LOGO'S

UPDATE YOUR REPEATER INFORMATION

CHANGES TO ALL AFRICA AWARD

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

SILENT KEY Mike Lauterbach, ZS5ML, secretary of MARC reported that the
key of Fred Straus, ZS5AS, went silent during the previous month. The
SARL would like to offer our condolences to Fred's family and friends.

NEWS FROM THE SARL COUNCIL During a SARL Council Meeting that was held
on the 15th of May a change to the rules for the All Africa Reward was
decided on. This is the topic of a separate item in today's bulletin.

It was also decided that the 2014 AGM will be held on Saturday, 12
April 2014. The 'Magalies Radioamateurklub' (MRK) will be the hosts of
this event. The place and other arrangements will be announced on the
SARL website and on the SARL News Bulletin.

MEMBERS CAN DOWNLOAD SARL LOGO'S A new feature has been added to the
member's only section of the SARL web which will allow members to
download the SARL logo for use on QSL cards and their own stationary or
websites. The download page has logos in various formats with
instructions on how and where the logos may be used as well as
information on preferred type faces. Go to www.sarl.org.za and click on
the member's only button on the top right-hand of the home page and
from there follow the links.

UPDATE YOUR REPEATER INFORMATION The long awaited Repeater Data Base
programme is ready for use by all amateur repeater owners in South
Africa. The problems with the hosting ISP has been resolved and after
extensive on-line testing and debugging of the Data Base the program is
now available to update all the information of repeaters owned by clubs
or individuals. To use the program go to www.zs6fz.co.za/ click on 'Log
In', click on "Create a new user' and follow the instructions to
register. After the registration, log in with your username and
password, claim your respective repeaters and start updating the
information. The next step will be to integrate the facility in the
SARL web system but in the interim please update the information as
soon as possible. All repeater related requests and applications for
repeaters should be addressed to .

CHANGES TO ALL AFRICA AWARD The council of the SARL have accepted a
proposal to allow credits on Logbook of The World (LoTW) to be used
when submitting applications for the All Africa Award. The rules are
currently being modified. Once finalised the new rules and details on
how to use LoTW credits will be published after which applications can
be submitted. Details will be given in SARL News and on the SARL Web
pages.

5 MHZ OPERATION ALREADY SHOWING INTERESTING PROPAGATION PATHS A large
number of SARL members have already registered to operate on the 5MHz
band. The SARL recently purchased licenses for two frequencies, 5250
and 5260 kHz. The two frequencies are only available to SARL members
who have registered. Check the website on www.sarl.org.za and select
'Propagation Research' in the left hand panel and follow the links. If
your name and callsign are not listed you may not operate on the two 5
MHz frequencies. Use by unregistered persons amounts to unauthorised
use and could result being fined by the licensing authority.
Registration is normally completed within 3 days.

The SARL is considering various proposals for propagation experiments
on 5250 kHz and hold a teleconference on Wednesday 22 May at 20:00 to
discuss proposals. Some proposals have already been received and are
being evaluated. If you have ideas, submit a proposal in as much detail
as possible. Include your contact details so that you can be invited to
the teleconference and receive a copy of all the proposals on the
agenda. Proposals should be sent to by Tuesday
afternoon 21 May. Only a maximum of 10 participants can be accommodated
on the teleconference and only landlines can be accommodated.

SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE FOR SKA The first scientific paper based on
observations performed with South Africa's new KAT-7 radio telescope,
has been accepted for publication by the prestigious journal Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomy Society. "This is a significant
milestone for South Africa's SKA project, proving that our engineers
are able to deliver a cutting-edge scientific instrument, and that our
scientists are able to use it for frontier science," says Derek
Hanekom, Minister of Science and Technology. "It bodes well for the
delivery of our 64-dish MeerKAT telescope, currently under construction
in the Karoo, and for our ability to play a key role in building and
commissioning thousands of SKA antennas over the next ten years."

Using the new KAT-7 telescope in the Karoo and the existing 26 m radio
telescope at the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO),
South African and international astronomers have observed a neutron
star system known as Circinus X-1 as it fires energetic matter from its
core in extensive, compact jets that flare brightly. The details of the
flares are visible only in radio waves. Read the full story and watch a
brief video on www.amsatsa.org.za/

RSGB CENTENARY PLAQUE TO BE UNVEILED BY PRINCE PHILIP

2013 marks the Centenary of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB)
the 20 000 strong body that represents Britain's radio amateurs. The
RSGB announced that its Patron, HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh,
KG, KT will be joining the Society for Centenary Day at the National
Radio Centre at Bletchley Park on 5 July 2013. He will meet with
Members and invited guests before unveiling a plaque to commemorate the
Centenary. A number of activities, talks and displays are planned in
which RSGB Members and members of the public can take part during the
day. If you are in the UK on 5 July head to Bletchley Park for a Royal
event!

THE DAY OF YLs 2013 The SA YL Group would appreciate your involvement
in this event which is currently taking place.

For the 3rd time in the world, "THE DAY OF YLs" takes place from 06:00
UTC on 18 May till 18:00 UTC 19 May 2013.

The aim of the days is to promote YL's activity around the world but of
course all OMs are invited to participate. Bands to use a 3,5 - 7 -
14 - 21 - 28 MHz. To help competitors to find each other it is proposed
to use frequencies +/- 10 kHz from the following activity center
frequencies: CW: 3,533, 7,033, 14,033, 21,033 and 28,033 MHz RTTY:
3,588, 7,044, 14,088, 21,088 and 28,088 MHz SSB: 3,733, 7,133, 14,213,
14,240, 14,300, 21,233, 21.400 and 28,433 MHz Exchanges: RS(T) + YL/OM
(e.g. 59(9)+ YL/OM) The same station may be worked once on each band
and mode.

Points accumulate as follows: For OM/YL 2 points For YL/YL 3 points For
YL/OM 1 point.

Mail logs to not later than 26 May.

COMPETITION NEWS The May 2013 issue of CQ Magazine lists the results of
the 2012 CQ WW DX CW Contest held in November 2012. There is a good
showing of stations from Southern Africa.

Congratulations to Bernie van der Walt, ZS4TX, who achieved second
place in the World in the Single Operator High Power 15 metre category.
Congratulations also to 7P8D, who achieved a second place in Africa in
the multi-operator two-transmitter category and 41st out of 72 stations
worldwide.

The second leg of the SARL Digital Contest will be run on Sunday 26 May
from 13:00 to 16:00 UTC with PSK and RTTY operation on 80, 40 and 20
metres. A station my be contacted twice per band, once on PSK and once
on RTTY. The exchange is a RST report and a serial number starting at
001. Log sheets must be submitted by Monday 3 June to
. Find the rules on page 42 of the 2013 SARL Contest
Manual.

The CQ WW WPX CW Contest is on the air from 00:01 UTC Saturday 25 May
until 23:59 UTC on Sunday 26 May with activity on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15
and 10 metres. The exchange is a RST report and a serial number
starting at 001. Single operators may only work 36 of the 48 hours.
Find all the rules at www.cqwpx.com/rules.htm

CLUB NEWS No Club news was received the previous week.

SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit news items of
interest to radio amateurs and short-wave 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.

HF PROPAGATION REPORT Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar
activity is expected to be at moderate levels. The sun is peppered with
several large sunspots but only AR1748 has a delta class magnetic field
that harbours enough energy for X-class flares.

If you want to do your own frequency predictions, the expected
effective sunspot number for the week will be around 89. The
geomagnetic field may be unsettled.

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. There will also
be some good 10 m openings on sunlit paths.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS 25/26 May - CQ WW WPX CW Contest 26 May - Second leg of
the SARL Digital Contest 26 May - Logs for The Day of the YLs to be in
to . 31 May - Last day to submit suggestions on the type
of activity young Amateurs in South Africa would like to see included
in 2014 Youth Week programme. Send your suggestions to
. 31 May - Last day to submit logs for the Antique
Wireless Association AM/SSB Valve QSO Party to
. 2 June - Deadline for submitting SARL Digital
Competition logs. 15/16 June - First weekend of International Museums
Weekend special event, register your museum station at
www.ukradioamateur.co.uk/imw. 22/23 June - Second weekend of
International Museums Weekend special event.

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, 7 025, and 17 660 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 16:30 UTC on
3 230 kHz. The website also lists various other retransmissions.
Reception reports, comments and suggestions are invited. Send an email
to . Sentech sponsors the transmissions on the
non-amateur frequencies.

You have listened to a bulletin of the South African Radio League
compiled and edited by Louis Kirstein, ZS1LK.

Thank you for listening, 73.

/EX

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