SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 05 DECEMBER 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. (Other
news readers change as applicable).

In the news today:

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR 2011 SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM

TONIGHT'S INTECNET WILL FOCUS ON INNOVATION IN AMATEUR RADIO

SARL PRESENTATION AT THE ICASA HEARING WELL RECEIVED

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

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR 2011 SA AMSAT SPACE SYMPOSIUM

The 2011 SA AMSAT Space Symposium will be held in Gauteng on Saturday
26 March 2011 at Vodaworld in Midrand. This is the first call for
papers. Authors are invited to submit a synopsis in a MSWord document
not exceeding 300 words. The synopsis should be mailed to
with Space Symposium 2011 in the subject line.
The theme of the conference is Innovation in Space Communication.
Closing date for paper proposals and a synopsis is 20 January 2011. For
more details visit www.amsatsa.org.za.

TONIGHT'S INTECNET WILL FOCUS ON INNOVATION IN AMATEUR RADIO

Join Hannes Coetzee ZS6BZP and John Willescroft as they debate whether
Amateur Radio needs innovation or not! It is on the air at 19:30 on
various repeaters around South Africa and on 3 718 HF. It can also be
heard on a webcast and Echolink by courtesy of Chris Smit ZS6FCS. Visit
www.asrl.org.za and select armi for details.

Clubs wishing to set up a link should send a mail to
before noon today, Sunday 5 December 2010.

SARL PRESENTATION AT THE ICASA HEARING WELL RECEIVED

The SARL presentation to ICASA at the public hearing was well received.
The Chairperson, Dr Marcia Socikwa, thanked the SARL for the input
which she described as of being of great assistance in preparation of
the final regulations.

ICASA did not confirm nor deny if only the Amateur section and the
general section applied to radio amateurs, the SARL is therefore
preparing a supplementary submission to ensure that other sections of
the draft regulations do not adversely impact. The SARL will submit the
supplementary submission on Wednesday 8 December. It will be available
for comment on Monday 6 December.

To download the SARL presentation visit www.asrl.org.za and you will
find a link in the news item.

SARL WEB MOVED TO A NEW SERVER

Continuing problems with the SARL web has prompted the ISP, Imaginet,
to move the SARL website to another server. It is still too early to
judge whether this has improved the situation. Comments can be sent to
.

24 CPUT STUDENTS PASS THE RAE

24 Students, of which 22 are part of the Cape Peninsula University of
Technology, passed the class A Examination and the HF assessment test
and are now the proud owners of brand new ZS1 call signs.
Congratulations. A special examination and HF assessment sessions were
arranged at the University.

HABEX 3 TO FLY ON 18 DECEMBER 2010

On 18 December the HABEX team will be launching a third high altitude
balloon, carrying various payloads in preparation for a schools launch
in 2011 consisting of about 8 schools. The Sci-Bono discovery centre in
conjunction with the Gauteng department of education initiated this
project to support the Electrical Technology Curriculum and provide
expanded opportunities to learners in this field.

The payload is made up of 4 separate modular units. The primary part of
the payload is the controller board which has been locally designed and
built and contains an APRS unit which will provide the balloon location
during the flight.

Also on the board are 8 inputs and outputs that can be configured for
analogue or digital operation. This will allow various sensors to be
attached and monitored as well as certain actions to be taken. An
example is activating the release mechanism which will separate the
payload from the balloon. All the data will be transferred via the APRS
packets.

Also in the payload will be a beacon transmitting a message in CW on 7
023 MHz. Listeners are encouraged to send QSL cards to ZS6SCI if the
beacon was heard.

A Parrot repeater on 438,500 which includes a backup APRS unit is also
onboard. During the flight, if the parrot repeater is not in use, the
APRS unit will transmit its data.

Lastly, a GSM APRS unit will also be flying at the bottom of the
payload string. If listeners are interested, there are a number of
activities they can partake in. Firstly, the balloon can be tracked
live via the internet. Go to "aprs.fi" and type in ZS6SCI-3 into the
"track callsign" box. By clicking on the "Google Earth KML" URL, the
flight can be monitored in Google earth and the listener is allowed to
not only track the balloon over the ground, but to also tilt the axis
and watch the altitude at the same time.

The Habex team is finalising the data sheet and listeners are
encouraged to visit the HABEX web site at www.habex.za.net.

THE PEARS HF QSO PARTY

The annual PEARS HF QSO Party will be run this afternoon from 12:00 UTC
to 16:00 UTC. It is a SSB only contest with activity on 3 603 - 3 650
and 3 700 - 3 800 kHz and 7 060 - 7 100 and 7 135 - 7 200 kHz.

There are four entrance categories: Novice - Stations in South Africa
with ZU prefixes; Restricted - Stations in South Africa with ZR
prefixes; Unlimited - Stations in South Africa with ZS prefixes and; DX
- stations outside of South Africa.

There are no limitations on the power of stations, or the number of
operators, or the location of station equipment except that all
operators shall operate within the limits of their licenses at all
times.

The exchange is call signs, signal report and the operator's names.
Logs must be sent to PEARS QSO Party, PO Box 10402, Linton Grange, Port
Elizabeth 6015, South Africa or via email to
. The closing date for submission of logs
is 31 December. The complete rules can be found on page 38 of the 2010
SARL Contest Manual.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low
levels. New sunspot 1 131 is big but so far quiet. The effective
sunspot number is expected to be less than 25 for the coming week.

15 m will provide the best opportunities for DX followed by 20 m.
Conditions to India will be good from the afternoon till after sunset.
During the afternoons conditions will be fair towards Europa on 15 m,
later to be followed by fair 20 m openings. Early evening 15 m contacts
with the USA are possible. Contacts with Australia are possible at
sunset on 20 m. 15 m openings to Brazil and South America are possible
during the afternoons. With the 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 is 40 m the work horse for contacts around the country with 20
and 30 m also being very useful 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 FOR THE WEEK

5 December - PEARS HF QSO Party from 12:00 UTC to 16:00 UTC; 5 December
- Tonight, Intechnet at 19:30 - debate on innovation in amateur radio
on repeaters and 3 718 kHz; 18 December - Launch of third HABEX high
altitude balloon, parrot repeater on 438,500 MHz and CW beacon 7 023
kHz; 31 December - Closing date for submission of los for the PEARS HF
QSO Party to ; 20 January 2011 - Closing
date for submission for application for the May 2011 RAE bursaries;
visit www.amateurradio.org.za for application forms; 20 January -
Closing date for submission of proposals and synopsis of papers for
2011 SA AMSAT Space Symposium to ; 30 January 2011
- Closing date for phase 1 of the construction competition.

SARL News invites clubs and individuals to submit terms 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 George, ZS6NE.

Thank you for listening, 73.

/EX