SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 19 SEPTEMBER 2010

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 'ARMI' and follow the links. PLEASE NOTE: 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 and
7,066 MHz from Pretoria, with relays on 7,066 and 3,695 MHz SSB.

SILENT KEYS

It is with regret we announce that on 9 September, the key of Johan
Koster, ZS3JMK, and that of Rennie van Rensburg, ZS6REN, on 12
September, became silent. Our sincerest condolences go to their wives,
children, other family and friends.

(PAUSE)

In the news today:

THE SARL CREATES AN ENGLISH - AFRIKAANS GLOSSARY

AMATEUR RADIO MIRROR INTERNATIONAL NOW ON FM IN NEW ZEALAND

TAKE-YOUR-HANDHELD-TO-WORK-DAY

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

THE SARL CREATES AN ENGLISH - AFRIKAANS GLOSSARY

At a meeting of the Editors of SARL News, it was decided to create an
English - Afrikaans glossary which will also be available on the Web.
The list will primarily focus on the translation of English technical
terms into Afrikaans. The SARL News's Web page will also include
guidelines on how to submit news items for inclusion in the SARL's news
bulletins. The new pages are expected to become available in the next
few weeks. Contributions to the English - Afrikaans glossary are
invited and should be sent to .

AMATEUR RADIO MIRROR INTERNATIONAL NOW ON FM IN NEW ZEALAND

From this week Amateur Radio Mirror International will be on the air
weekly in Tawa, a suburb of Wellington, in New Zealand. WorldFM will
broadcast the programme at 16:00 on Tuesdays and 21:00 on Thursdays,
local NZ time (that's 04:00 UTC and 09:00 UTC, until they switch to
summer time). WorldFM can be heard on 88,2 MHz. The station is also
streamed on the Internet at www.worldfm.co.nz.

TAKE-YOUR-HANDHELD-TO-WORK-DAY

As announced last week, Friday 1 October is
"Take-you-handheld-to-work-day". The idea is to demonstrate the magic
of amateur radio to your colleagues during your tea- and lunch breaks.
A new brochure about amateur radio is being edited and will be
available for download from the Web before the event.

To make the "Take-your-handheld-to-work-day" successful, it is
important for radio amateurs who are retired, or who work from home, to
create lots of activity on your local repeaters.

The SARL has also linked a photo competition to the event entitled
"Amateur-radio-in-action". Take your camera to work and ask one of your
colleagues to snap the activity. Then, after the event, e-mail a
high-resolution picture to with a short description.
All entries will be entered into a lucky draw for a new ARRL book,
"Basic Antenna - understanding practical antennas and design". The
closing date for your Amateur-radio-in-action photographs is 15 October
2010.

NEW EUROPEAN SYSTEM ISSUES WARNINGS OF SOLAR STORMS

Researchers at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom report
that a new method of predicting solar storms, that could help to avoid
widespread power and communications blackouts, has been developed.

Up to now, solar weather prediction has been done by experts looking at
2D-satellite images of the sun, and then assessing the likelihood of
future activity. A team from the Centre for Visual Computing has now
created the first online automated prediction system, using 3D-images
generated from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (or SOHO)
satellite.

Already in use by both NASA and the European Space Agency, the Bradford
Automated Solar Activity Prediction system (also known as ASAP)
identifies and classifies sunspots and then feeds this information
through a model which can predict the likelihood of solar flares. The
system is able to accurately predict a solar flare six hours in
advance. The team is now working to achieve a similar accuracy for the
prediction of major solar eruptions in the near future.

Solar storms are the releasing of huge amounts of hot gas and magnetic
forces from the surface of the sun into space at around a million miles
per hour. The next major solar storms are expected in 2012 - 2013 as
part of the sun's 11-year weather cycle. An US National Academy of
Sciences report, published in 2008, estimates that confidence in modern
electronics and satellite communications means that a major storm could
cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

Although major solar eruptions and coronal mass ejections normally take
several days to reach the earth, the largest recorded, in 1859, took
only 18 hours. Solar flares, which can also cause significant
disruption to communications systems, take just a few minutes. Because
of this, advance warning is of vital importance, to enable steps to be
taken to avoid the worst effects of such solar activity. (With thanks
to Newsline.)

COMPETITION NEWS

RESULTS OF THE ZS6JVT HF 40 m YOUTH SPRING COMPETITION

The group above 26 years:

1. ZS1OB - Neels van Eeden 2. ZS2EC -Theunis Potgieter 3. ZS2J - Derek
Stuart.

Younger than 25:

1. ZU6JAN - Jan Smit 2. ZS6JPC - Philip Cronje 3. ZU6GG - Gideon
Grobler 4. ZU6GVS - Gerdie van Staden

Your certificates will be sent to you via e-mail shortly.

The winner of the lucky draw is Jan Smit, ZU6JAN. Congratulations Jan.

Here are the results of the Boland Amateur Radio Club 40 m sprint:

Highest points achieved:

1. ZS2A - 121

2. ZS4JAN - 77

3. ZS1CF - 63

Highest points per division:

1. ZS1CF - 63

2. ZS2A - 121

4. ZS4JAN - 77

5. ZS5C - 17

6. ZS6APT - 49

The Pretoria Amateur Radio Club, ZS6PTA, is participating in the SARL
VHF/UHF contest from Gemsbokberg. Look for them at grid locator KG42RM.
ZS6PTA will also participate in the upcoming SARL Heritage Day Sprint
from Fort Skanskop, KG44CF.

CLUB NEWS

The Highway Amateur Radio Club invites all radio amateurs and
interested parties to join them at 11:30 on 25 September for their
swopshop. The venue is at the home of John Fielding, ZS5J, at St.
Andries Street, Monteseel. If you do not know the venue, talk-in will
be available on 145,600 MHz via the Alverstone repeater. Tables will be
available to display your items and braai facilities will also be
available. We hope to see many of you there on the day.

The West Rand Amateur Radio Club is hosting its next flea market at
12:00 on Saturday 2 October at the clubhouse in Kroton Street,
Weltevredenpark, Roodepoort. Everyone is most welcome. For more
information, contact Phillip, ZS6PVT, on 083 267 3835.

The Pretoria Amateur Radio Club has elected their new committee for
2010/2011:

Chairman - Pierre Holtzhausen, ZS6PJH Vice Chairman - Almero du Pisani,
ZS6LDP Secretaries - Richard Peer, ZS6UK, and Graham Reid, ZR6GJR
Treasurer - Richard Peer, ZS6UK SARL Liaison - Pierre Holtzhausen,
ZS6PJH Rally Coordinator - Johan de Bruyn, ZS6JHB Contest Co-ordinator
- Pieter Human, ZS6PA Technical matters and repeater maintenance -
Craig Symington, ZS6RH Web Co-ordinator- Graham Reid, ZR6GJR Social
Co-ordinator - Willie Greyling, ZR6WGR, and Doreen de Bruyn, ZR6DDB
Training Co-ordinator (co-opted) - Fritz Sutherland, ZS6ASF Flea
markets - Almero du Pisani, ZS6LDP Public Relations Officers - Willie
Greyling, ZR6WGR, and Almero du Pisani, ZS6LDP

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that solar activity is still at low
levels. Sunspot 1106 persists in the southern hemisphere, but remains
fairly quiet. The new Sunspot, 1108, is crackling with B- and C class
solar flares and some exciting HF openings can be expected during the
week. The effective sunspot number is expected to be less than 25 for
the coming week.

20 m will provide the best opportunities for DX; followed by 15 m.
Conditions to India will be good from the late afternoon till after
sunset. During the afternoon conditions will be good towards Europe on
15 m, followed by good 20 m openings. Contacts with the USA are still
challenging. Contacts with Australia and New Zeeland are possible at
sunrise on 20 m and on 40 m after sunset. 15 m openings to Brazil and
South America are possible during the afternoons. With good 15 and 20 m
openings, 17 m will also be full of surprises.

For the CW and digital enthusiasts 30 m may be very rewarding with
openings to many parts of the world.

Locally 40 m is the workhorse for contacts around the country with 30 m
also being very functional for contacts over the longer distances. 80 m
will be best during the early mornings and late afternoons, as well as
over the shorter distances.

80 m is the frequency of choice during the evenings.

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

DIARY OF EVENTS

Today, 18 - 19 September - SARL VHF/UHF competition; 20 September -
Morse code classes by ZS6APS start at 19:30 on the 145,775 MHz repeater
in Pretoria; 24 September - Heritage day sprint; 24 September -
Enrolments for the October RAE close; 25 September - Launch of HABEX at
the Klerksdorp aerodrome; 25 September - Special event station at
Hermanus Primary School to coincide with the Whales and Wheels
Festival; 25 September - the Highway ARC Swopshop 11:30 at the QTH of
John Fielding, ZS5JF; directions on 145,600 MHz; 29 September - SARL 80
m digimodes club competition; 30 September - Closing date for entries
for Phase 1 of the Innovation project; 1 October - Take-your-handheld-
to-work-day; 2 October - West Rand ARC flea market at the club house in
Weltevreden Park. Contact Phillip, ZS6PVT on 083 267 3835.

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.

The SARL also invites you to listen to Amateur Radio Mirror
International every Sunday morning at 10:00 CAT on 145,750 MHz in the
Pretoria area, with relays on 7 082, 7 205 and 17 560 kHz. There is
also a podcast by ZS6RO. For a web-stream and Echolink by ZS6FCS, visit
www.sarl.org.za, click on 'ARMI' and follow the links. A repeat
transmission can be heard on Mondays at 22:05 CAT on 3 215 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 Gustav, ZS6BWN, The bulletin editor was Jannie, ZR6PHD.

Thank you for listening, 73.

/EX

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