• SA Radio League News Bulletin for Sunday 15 April 2001

    From Richard Peer@5:7106/22 to SA Radio League on Sat Apr 14 10:55:00 2001
    SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
    SARL NEWS SUNDAY APRIL 15 2001

    This is Amateur Radio Station ZS6SRL transmitting Amateur Radio News, a
    service by the South African Radio League, the National society for Amateur Radio in South Africa, 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 today's news:

    NEW REGULATIONS HELD UP BY LEGAL DEPARTMENT

    WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY BROADCAST

    IARU REGION 1 CHAIRMAN CALLS FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY

    SARL CONVENTION BOOKINGS DUE DATES

    NEWS FROM ZIMBABWE

    HAMNET NEWS

    PROPAGATION REPORT

    You are listening to ZS6SRL. The news follows in detail.

    NEW REGULATIONS HELD UP BY LEGAL DEPARTMENT

    The promulgation of the new Amateur Radio regulations making provision for a new HF access licence requiring only 5 words per minute Morse code and the
    new Amateur Radio Learners Licence have been delayed due to a wording disagreement between the Department of Communications and ICASA legal
    councils. It is expected that the two teams will discuss their differences soon and that the process of promulgation can continue.

    The problem arose when the DepartmentÆs legal advisers wanted to make minor changes, but because ICASA is the only regulatory body, the Department's
    legal team could not make changes without ICASA's involvement. While this is causing a further annoying delay, it does however safeguard against arbitrary legal changes, which could inadvertently change the intent of the
    regulations. The SARL is keeping in touch with both ICASA and DOC to resolve the problem as speedily as possible.

    WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY BROADCAST

    On April 18 Amateur Radio Mirror International will be broadcasting a special programme to the world to celebrate World Amateur Radio Day. The 50-minute broadcast will be dedicated to the theme for 2001: ôProviding Disaster Communications: Amateur Radio in the 21 st centuryö

    The special World Amateur Radio Day programme will be broadcast worldwide at the following times:

    14:00-14:55 UTC to India/Pakistan Frequency: 21725 kHz (13 metre band) Transmitter 250 kW

    18:00-18:55 UTC to Southern Africa Frequency: 3215 kHz (90 metre band) Transmitter 100 kW

    19:05-19:55 UTC to Central and North Africa Frequency: 17590 kHz (16 metre band) Transmitter 250 kW

    20:05-20:55 UTC to Europe Frequency: 15475 kHz (19 metre band) Transmitter
    500 kW

    02:00-02:55 UTC on 19 April (18 April in North America) Frequency: 9585 kHz
    (31 metre band) Transmitter 250 kW

    Please send comments and reception reports to armi@intekom.co.za or QSL to P
    O Box 90438, Garsfontein 0042 South Africa. To receive a return QSL card, please include a self-addressed envelope and 2 IRCÆs.

    IARU REGION 1 CHAIRMAN CALLS FOR YOUR SUPPORT ON WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY

    Lou van de Nadort PA0LOU, Chairman of IARU Region 1, in the March edition of IARU Region 1 News calls on all radio amateurs to promote Amateur Radio on April 18. He says in an editorial: In Dutch we have a well known saying "onbekend, onbemind", directly translated into English meaning that if no one knows you, no one can love you. Is that not more and more the case with Amateur Radio? Our service has to compete with so many other activities that unless we make a concerted and co-ordinated effort our voice will be lost in the noise.

    The population at large does no longer have short-wave radios in their homes, instead FM radios built-into hi-fi sets, home theatres and other
    entertainment gear. We seldom transmit on AM, so the chances that some one picks up a radio amateur on his home radio are very remote.

    Yet Amateur Radio has kept up with new developments. Radio Amateurs all over the world are still the back-rooms boys that develop new technologies and techniques, the only difference is that not many people hear about these achievements. Just think of the many new digital techniques, satellites and the ongoing work in propagation studies.ö

    He suggested some ideas individipate on April 18:

    Here are some ideas:

    ? Send Emails to as many people you have on your records to focus on World Amateur Radio Day.

    ? Arrange to talk on local community radio stations. We have included so www.iaru-r1.org.ange as much activity on the air as possible. Hold an QSO party on the night of April 18. invite a friend into the shack.

    Visit the IARU website for more information the url is www.iaru- r1.org

    AMATEUR RADIO SCHOOL EVENT MOVED TO 17 MAY

    The SARL school event has been moved to 17 May, World Telecommunication Day.
    A number of schools in rural areas are preparing to take part which poses a challenge to engage radio amateurs to set up stations at these schools. As most schools only return from their Easter holidays on World Amateur Radio
    Day. April 18, the date provides too many logistical problems.

    Radio Amateurs are required for the following schools:

    High School
    Province(loc)
    Letebele
    Marishane
    High
    Northern
    Province - Nebo
    William
    Prescod High
    Northern Cape
    Kimberley
    Moletsane
    High
    Gauteng -
    `Soweto
    Nottingham
    Road High
    KwaZulu-Natal
    Nottingham Road
    Thlabane
    High
    Technical
    North West
    Province
    Rustenburg

    The following Radio Amateurs have taken their own initiative to set up stations:

    Willie Axford ZS5WI Eshowe High
    Lucas Swart. ZS6ACT Hoδrskool Oosterland Secunda
    Henry Rood ZR6IIX Protea Primary School

    This event will be the first in a series of YARIA û Youth for Amateur Radio
    in Africa. More details about YARIA will be released soon.

    If you can assist in to taking Amateur Radio in to a local school on May 17, please send mail to arisas@intekom.co.za or fax your details to 012 991 5651.

    SARL CONVENTION BOOKINGS DUE DATES

    The due date for bookings for participation in the social functions related
    to the SARL Multisource-Icom Convention 2001 over the weekend of April 27/28
    in Bellville, is April 20.

    The welcoming braai is at 19:00 on the Friday evening. While bookings are essential convention goers may bring their own meat or purchase a braai pack
    at R25 per person.

    The cost for the dinner Saturday night is R50 per person. Please mail your cheque or postal order, made out to BARK, to P O Box 2105 DENNESIG 7601.
    Direct payments can be made into the ABSA Account No: 420 720 955, Branch
    code: 33 43 12. Please fax your deposit slip and form to 021-948 0186. This number will also be active during the weekend. A booking form can be found
    on the SARL web. Full details have also been mailed to all members.

    SARL Members who can not attend the AGM are requested to nominate a proxy by sending an Email or fax to the SARL at the National Amateur Radio Centre stating for example ô I appoint the SARL President to represent me at the
    AGM. Members may appoint any other member who is attending the AGM as their proxy.

    The Email address is sarl@intekom.co.za and the fax number 011 675 2793.

    Regarding the ladiesÆ program please communicate with Bud ZS1PDF- leser er E-Mail to QRM@intekom.co.za before April 18 and indicate which of the
    following tours your lady would like to participate in:

    a) a visit to Table Mountain by Cableway or;
    b) a visit the winelands or;
    c) a visit the world famous Waterfront and it's aquarium.

    If no replies are received, it will be assumed that the visitors would prefer to make their own arrangements.

    NEWS FROM ZIMBABWE

    Sarlnews is pleased to include some news items received from Fred Wilkinson Z21KJ/R who is a member of the the Zimbabwe Amateur Radio Society council.

    The AGM of the Mashonaland branch on April 8 had a problem in obtaining nominations for a new committee, so the next branch meeting will be a general meeting to discuss this and resolve the issue as most of the present
    committee have been in service for a few years and feel they need some
    change.

    Council have set May the 27th as the date for the society AGM.

    With the new licence authority set-up to take on the licensing of radio spectrum from the PTC, who are being privatised, the new fee structure had
    been published in January this year. The fee for an amateur radio station
    has been increased to US $50 per year. Discussions are under way by the Council with the new authority to appeal against this huge increase as it
    will damage their initiatives to open ham radio to a wider group of people.

    They have a radio club operating at the local Prince Edward School with
    special call sign Z21PES. This club has a core of enthusiastic youngsters
    and has during the last two years managed to get 21 new licensed hams through the RAE exam. They hope to continue the success and nurture the activity for the future.

    The society is also looking at changing the RAE to the same format used in
    the RSA. That project is being held back a bit waiting for the new licence authority to settle in.

    HAMNET NEWS

    Francois Botha - ZS 6BUU reports af follows:

    The cut-off date for those who wish to remain members of Hamnet is 30 April 2001. Thereafter, the database will be scrutenised and those who did not respond, will be deleted from the list. Current ID cards will no longer be valid after a date still to be announced but thereafter, a new card,
    currently being formulated, will be issued to all members. The e-mail
    address for those who wish to respond is francois@overflow.co.za or if you
    wish to respond by fax to is 011 475-5946. This is a 24 hour number.

    The Easter weekend is upon us, and to complicate matters, this year April/May offers 2 long weekends - the latter falling over the weekend of 27 April to 1 May. To crown it all, there are also the school holidays inbetween. We
    again ask all Hamnet members to please monitor our emergency frequencies, especially in the 40 metre band on 7,070 MHz and to act on emergency calls.

    The Hamnet restructuring committee will have a meeting shortly to request
    names to be put forward for a new national coordinator, but more about this later.

    RADIO-ZS TO BE MAILED ON WEDNESDAY

    The first edition of the RADIO-ZS newsletter will be mailed starting
    Wednesday this week. The edition is already available on the memberÆs
    section of the SARL Web in PDF format. There is also a link to download a
    PDF reader.

    The next newsletter is already in production. Clubs are invited to send
    their news items to sarl@intekom.co.za. Please send all contribution in
    plain ASCII or word format with no enhancements. Pictures and drawings
    should be in bitmap or jpeg format. The next edition will be published
    shortly after the SARL Annual General Meeting and SARL-Multisource-Icom Convention 2001.

    NEXT INTECNET TO BE HELD ON MAY 20

    The next SARL Intecnet will be held on May 20. The SARL will bring you
    another interesting topic and speaker. Full details in next weekÆs bulletin. Last Sunday the topic of propagation was discussed. If you missed it, listen to Amateur Radio Mirror International today at 10:00 for Gary Heckman US
    Space Weather ForecasterÆs view on what the next few years will hold for
    Dxing.

    NEW OAKDALE RADIO CLUB COMMITTEE

    The OAKDALE Amateur Radio Club is pleased to announce that a new committee
    was elected to serve the club for the ensuing year. The members are:-

    CHAIRMAN Dave Perry ZS1SG;
    DEPUTY CHAIRMAN Bernie Crockford ZS1BW;
    SECRETARY/TREASURER Dennis Maastricht ZS1DTM;
    SOCIAL & CATERING Herbie Evans ZR1ABV;
    CLUB ACTIVITIES & NEWS Dennis Wells ZS1AU.

    The OAKDALE CLUB, together with the Boland Radio Klub and Cape Town Amateur Radio Center will host the first SARL AGM in the Cape for many years.

    Thanks to the retiring committee and best wishes for a successful year to the new committee.

    SAATI APRIL MEETING CANCELLED

    SAATI wishes to announce that the April meeting is cancelled due to the holidays and alternative venues being unavailable on other days.

    PROPAGATION REPORT

    Ean Retief, ZS1PR, reports as follows:

    The past week was again a fairly mixed bag as far as propagation was
    concerned.

    Six big solar flares occurred. The accompanying shock waves drove the
    earth's magnetic field to storm levels on Wednesday.

    Before the effects could subside completely a further shock wave hit the earth's magnetic field on Friday morning and another one during the course of Friday night.

    The effects will still be felt today and tomorrow and then propagation should hopefully return to near normal.

    The sunspot region responsible for the larger solar flares has started to
    turn away and is no longer directly in line with the earth, so major flares from this group should not have such major effects.

    At the moment the solar flux is relatively low and it is expected that it
    will rise slowly from Wednesday.

    The 10 metre band should give good contacts, while the 80 metre band should
    be very good from Tuesday evening onwards.

    ACTIVITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN

    The SARL AGM on 27/28 April in Belville, Western Cape.

    A BACAR flight will take place on May 19 with a mode J transponder, telemetry and recovery beacons and an APRS transmitter on board. The uplink will be on 70 cm and the downlink on 2 m.

    The SARL News Service invites Clubs and individuals to contribute information regarding Amateur Radio to sarlnuus@mweb.co.za with a copy to gth@freemail.absa.co.za. Please submit in Afrikaans and English wherever possible.

    Also join us in the following activities:
    The President's Net on Sundays 12:00 on 7082 kHz.
    Amateur Radio Mirror International Sundays at 10:00 on 9750 and 21560 kHz
    which are sponsored by Sentech, the common carrier for broadcasting signals
    in South Africa and Telkom who provides the transmission lines. Relays on various 2m repeaters can also be heard. This transmission is repeated
    Mondays at 20:00 on 3215 kHz.

    Correspondence for Amateur Radio Mirror International is via armi@intekom.co.za. Include your telephone number to allow the producers to call you for a possible interview.

    Send written reports to PO Box 90438 Garsfontein 0042 and include a self-addressed envelope and sufficient postage so that you may receive a QSL card.

    We thank all contributors, individuals, clubs and other organisations to this bulletin and all stations who so reliably relay these bulletins. This
    bulletin was compiled by George, ZS6NE, and read by ZSàààà.

    You have been listening to ZS6SRL.

    This bulletin now ends and Sarlnews wish you a pleasant week.

    Goodbye to all.
    /ex
    --------------------------------------------------
    Internet feed from ZS6xNE moved by Richard de ZR6CK

    Regards,
    Richard.

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