SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
SARL NEWS SUNDAY JUNE 25 2000

This is Amateur Radio Station ZS6SRL transmitting Amateur Radio News , a service from the South African Radio League for the interest of all Radio Amateurs, Short-wave Listeners and Electronic Enthusiasts. For a complete
list of broadcast times and frequencies please send a SASE to Amateur
Radio News, SARL, P O Box 1721, Strubensvallei 1735.

This bulletin is also available on the SARL's web pages hosted by Intekom
at www.sarl.org.za, as well as the packet radio bulletin board system.
You may also request sarlnuus@mweb.co.za to e-mail it to you in either
text or MSWord 6.0 format.

Here are the headlines of todays news:

QRM ON 7080 kHz

PREPARE FOR COMING TROPO SEASON

MEMBERSHIP DATA BASE

CANDIDATES FOR ICASA COUNCIL FINALISED

NEW SATELLITE FOR SOUTH AFRICA

You are listening to ZS6SRL, the news follows in detail and I start with
items of national origin.

QRM ON 7080 kHz

For some time a commercial AM broadcast signal was being heard on 7080
kHz. Last month Roger Davis, ZS1J, said the following about this signal:

"Radio Namibia, who operate a 100 kilowatt transmitter on 7165 kHz, have a spurious carrier of 85 kHz within their transmission, causing them to
transmit spurious signals on 7165 plus and minus 85 kHz, giving a spurious transmission right in the middle of the 40 metre amateur band on 7080.
This transmitter in Namibia, however, has its antennas placed for North
and South radiation, giving very high interference in the Cape area but
not in the Transvaal. This spurious transmission from Radio Namibia has
been an ongoing problem and this is now the fourth time over the last 6
years that I have intervened on behalf of Radio Amateurs to close down the interfering transmitter."

Recently Servaas, ZS6XL, reported this illegal transmission also to the Councillor in charge of the SARL Monitor Service, Laurie Devereux, ZS5DL.

The Monitor Service contacted the engineer in charge of the NBC
transmitting station and informed him of the problem. The engineer was
most apologetic and acknowledged the fact that this particular transmitter
was faulty and that he would have it attended to as soon as possible.
This was done the following day and from all reports the "intruder" had
gone. (We hope for good).

Laurie thanks all those Hams who tried to contact him but used the defunct devco@global.co.za e-mail address. Laurie's correct e-mail address is: zs5dl@futurenet.co.za . His telephone number is 031 709-1598.

Glen Duffy, ZR5GD, has no computer at the moment but his telephone for the reception of all reports is still 031 462 1218.

PREPARE FOR COMING TROPO SEASON

Mike Bosch, ZS2FM, has the following message for all VHF/UHF enthusiasts:
"It is mid winter and the possibility of tropo openings on VHF and UHF is
rare. However, now is the time to upgrade your 144 or 432 or 1296 MHz equipment for the next tropo seaso. Tropo propagation occurs very
frequently for at least nine months of the year in the RSA which makes
long distance contacts possible on both VHF and UHF. Here are a few
technical tips:

1. Erect a high gain Yagi antenna for your favourite VHF or UHF band and polarise it horizontally. If possible, stack two antennas for better low
angle radiation and additional gain.

2. Fit a low noise amplifier (LNA) to enhance those weak signals
especially on FM. The masthead position will provide optimum results.

3. Add a linear power amplifier to extend the VHF or UHF range up to at
least 2000 km or make communications possible under poor conditions.
Since the 2 m band is the most effective on tropo propagation, distances
of up to 4000 km or greater, could be expected during tropo ducting in December, January and February, but only with efficient VHF equipment.

So keep an eye on weather charts and/or the barometer and take note of any
drop in pressure from about 1020 mb that will indicate an approaching cold front. Such conditions create temperature inversions and if they are
located between 500 and 2000 m above earth, then tropo propagation will
occur. When the pressure reaches 1012 mb or lower, you may forget about
VHF DX for a couple of days.

JUNE RADIO ZS

Wolfy, ZS6BYM, Editor Radio ZS reports:

"The June issue of Radio ZS in now at the printers. I am looking for contributiions for the August issue. Please send your article plus illustrations and a photograph of yourself to radiozs@futurejhb.co.za"

MEMBERSHIP DATA BASE

Wally, ZS6WAL, of HQ bring the following to member's notice: The
Membership Database at HQ is kept as up to-date as you the Member allow.
When you send a change of detail to HQ the database is immediately updated
and the info is sent to the Webmaster on a weekly basis. The Webmaster
then updates the electronic pages.

Member's mail, of any description, is sent out using the database to
produce labels which are then affixed to envelopes containing the mail.
There are complaints that a member receives his/her membership reminder,
or notice of AGM but not the ZS Magazine. Please be aware that the same
system is used for ZS Magazine as for any other mailing. If all others
around you are receiving their ZS Magazine and you arn't then you should
take this up with your local Postal Authority, as the most likely
eventuality is that it is being Liberated, in the system. We do not mail
to some Members and not to other members

ZR5AAD AND SPECIAL USA FIELD DAY STATION

Ken Groom, ex ZR5AAD in Durban, greets us with a /W8 attached to his
callsign from Holland. Michigan,USA, where he now lives and works. Ken
and other members of their Local Amateur Radio Club will be operating a
very comprehensive Field Day station this weekend from Saturday 24 th at
18:00 UTC till Sunday 25 th 18:00 UTC to coincide with the ARRL US Nation
wide Field Day event. It will be a large continuous operation from the
City Park under the call sign K8DAA with all modes on all bands including
QRP and satellite. Ken will be on 6 m. They are keen to contact many ZS stations; so chaps hurry up, there is still some time left.

CANDIDATES FOR ICASA COUNCIL FINALISED

The Portfolio Committee for communications has finalised the list of seven candidates to serve on the Board of the new Independent Communications Authority of South Africa. ICASA will soon replace SATRA and the IBA.
The seven candidates are: Mandla Langa, who is also tipped as the
Chairman, Libby Lloyd, Neel Smuts, Julia Hope, Willie Curie, Langa
Ncethezo and Yasmin Carrim. The committee will forward the seven names to President Thabo Mbeki who should endorse them and appoint the Chairperson
and the deputy Chairperson..

As soon as the final announcement is made, the SARL will arrange to make a presentation to the new Council. Chairman of the SARL SPRC, ZS5AKV said
that changes in staff can also be expected as the staff of the current two bodies are merged. This will place additional responsibility on the SPRC
to start a series of briefings to put the case for Amateur Radio to the
new authority.

He emphasised that the clubs are slow in make nominations to the SPRC to
build a committee with members to represent each province. He said it is
time that clubs take this matter seriously as there are some great tasks
ahead to secure the amateur service for the future. Clubs are urged to
send nominations for the SPRC to sprc@intekom.co.za.

NEW SATELLITE FOR SOUTH AFRICA

A group of scientists have proposed a new educational satellite for South Africa. Tune to Amateur Radio Mirror International today at 10:00 for an exclusive interview with Alan Franszen ZS6BIK. The frequencies are 9750
kHz and 21560 kHz, as well as on many two metre repeaters.

PROPAGATION CONDITIONS

Thanks to Ean Retief, ZS1PR we have the following information:

The past week was characterised by the effects of the big solar flare and coronal mass ejection of the previous week. The ejected mass struck the
earth a glancing blow on Wednesday and caused the earth's magnetic field
to go to unsettled to active levels.

At 14:00 SAST on Friday afternoon an unexpected shock wave occurred in the solar wind. The speed of the solar wind jumped from 450 to 550 km per
second. This helps to keep things unsettled.

Unfortunately things does not look better for the coming week.

On Friday afternoon at 16:31 SAST another solar flare with a coronal mass ejection occurred. The impact of this can be expected tomorrow afternoon.

To complicate matters a bit more a large coronal hole has appeared just
South of the solar equator. This position place it in a very effective position to "throw out" particles to earth that should keep the earth's magnetic field unsettled for the rest of the week.

The only good news is that the solar flux should not decrease below the
160 value and should start rising slowly by Friday.

DIARY OF COMING EVENTS

The June monthly meeting of SAATI takes place tomorrow evening June 26 at
19:30 for 20:00 in the Lyttelton library, Cantonments Road, Centurion.
Johan, ZS6CAQ, will talk about undersea cables. All are welcome and refreshments will be served.

The winter bootsale of the West Rand Amateur Radio Club takes place on 1st
July 2000 at the club house in Kroton Road, Weltevredenpark. The gates
open at 9 am. Vendors are required to pay for stands, therefore prior
booking is essential. Contact Bill van Zyl for more details at: 011
726-6807 (w) and 011 726-6892 (H)

The Kempton Park Amateur Radio Club will hold its Annual General Meeting
on Saturday 1st July at 14:00 at the clubhouse in Gottfriedt Ave. All
amateurs in the East Rand area are welcome. Please phone Dick Busby,
ZS6AQD at 011 973-1616 for more information.

The Alberton Amateur Radio Club will have a club meeting and social
evening on Saturday the 8th of July 2000 at their club house in the Civic Center Alberton. This meeting will include a presentation on packet
radio. They will show some video's and hand out the certificates of all
the successful RAE as well as the new ZS certificates. This promises to
be an afternoon to remember and an evening of fun. There will also be
games for the kids and lots to drink.

They will be serving Vetkoek and Soup at R5 per head.

Activities will start at 14:00 and last until late. Please book before
the 3rd of July with Michelle van der Merwe at 011 723 1722.

The Sandton Amateur Radio Club will be holding their AGM at SARL HQ
Radiokop on Saturday 5th August. The meeting begins at 14:30. All
welcome. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. Please RSVP to Rob
ZS6RAP at 011 708-1875 or 082 567-5649.

The SARL news service invites radio clubs to supply information for
inclusion in the Diary of Events as well as other items of interest to
radio amateurs. Email information to sarlnuus@mweb.co.za with a copy to gth@mweb.co.za at least two weeks before the event. Please submit it in
both Afrikaans and English wherever possible.

The South African Radio League provides this news bulletin as a service to Radio Amateurs and interested listeners on the African Continent. News in
this bulletin was supplied by the SARL news service, individuals, and
amateur radio clubs in South Africa.

Also join us on Sundays at 12:00 for the President's Net on 7082 kHz.
This bulletin was compiled by George, ZS6NE and read by.........

A reminder that the interesting program Amateur Radio Mirror International
is on the air on Sundays at 10:00 SAST on 9750 and 21560 kHz and is
repeated on Mondays at 20:00 SAST on 3215 kHz. These transmissions are sponsored by Sentech, the common carrier for broadcasting signals in South Africa and Telkom who provides the transmission lines. The following VHF frequencies are also used: 145,375 for the Northern Free State and Vaal triangle areas 145,400 for the greater Johannesburg area, 439,100 MHz for
the Johannesburg and Pretoria area 145,650 MHz for the greater Durban area
and if conditions permit in Pretoria on 145,750 MHz.

The address for Amateur Radio Mirror International is armi@intekom.co.za. Include your contact telephone number to allow the producers of the
programme to call you for a possible interview. Send written reports to P
O Box 90438, Garsfontein, 0042 and include a self addressed stamped envelope,overseas stations two IRC's, so that you may receive a QSL card. Please note the new postal address.

Thanks to all who gathered news items and have made contributions to this bulletin, due to the length of this bulletin some contributions have to
wait for later bulletins. We thank all stations who so reliably relay the bulletins. We wish you a pleasant week. ZS6SRL now closes down with
ZS6... at the microphone and.......

Goodbye all.
/EX
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Internet feed from ZS6ZY moved by Richard de ZR6CK

Regards,
Richard.

--- Msged/Q 1.60
* Origin: QTHR KG44DG, Novell User Group, Pretoria, RSA (5:7106/22)