SARL NEWS - SUNDAY 30 JANUARY 2011

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 for details.
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.

In the news today:

SA AMSAT ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF TWO SATELLITE PROJECTS

NASA's NANOSATELLITE HEARD BY RADIO AMATEURS

ARRL AWARDS TO SA AMATEURS

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

SA AMSAT ANNOUNCE DETAILS OF TWO SATELLITE PROJECTS

SA AMSAT has announced details of two satellite building projects
SAiSAT and Kletskous.

SAiSAT is a longer term project managed by John Willescroft, ZS6EF,
looking at overcoming the power limitations of a small satellite by
introducing fold out solar panels that besides generating power from
sunlight will also host payloads and be used for orbit stabilisation.
The objective of SAiSAT is to involve students at Masters and PhD level
at both academic universities and universities of technology.
Universities and other interested institutions and individuals are
invited to join the project. A detailed document is available on the SA
AMSAT website at www.amsatsa.org.za.

A SAiSAT briefing session will be held at the National Amateur Radio
Centre on 25 March, the day before the SA AMSAT Space Symposium is to
be held at Vodaworld.

The second project is called Kletskous, a hands-on CubeSat aimed at
promoting greater involvement in satellite activity by South African
Radio Amateurs. A preliminary teleconference was held during this past
week reviewing the various options and payload. The first draft of a
project plan will be available on www.amsatsa.org.za later this week.
Regular updates will be posted as the project develops.

The project is managed by Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP. Hannes is inviting
interested persons to join the team. "We are particularly looking for
radio amateurs with RF design experience, antenna design experience and
software writing experience. Send your contact details and a short
description of you technical background to .

SAAMSAT is launching a fundraising campaign and is seeking
contributions to its satellite building fund. Donations can be paid
into ABSA bank. The account details are SA AMSAT, ABSA account number
560 153 171 Branch code 632 005. All donations will be acknowledges on
www.amsatsa.org.za. To ensure acknowledgement please send details of
your contribution to with Satellite Fund in the
subject line.

Invest in the future of amateur satellite communication, support these
projects.

NASA's NANOSATELLITE HEARD BY RADIO AMATEURS

When a NASA nanosatellite -- NanoSail-D -- ejected unexpectedly on
January 17 from the Fast Affordable Scientific and Technology Satellite
(FASTSAT), the agency called upon Radio Amateurs to help track it. NASA
asked radio amateurs to listen on 437,270 MHz for the signal and verify
that NanoSail-D was operating. NASA received almost 470 telemetry
packets from 11 countries.

The NanoSail-D beacon sent an AX.25 packet every 10 seconds; the packet
contained data about the spacecraft's systems operation. Once the
NanoSail-D team received confirmation that the nanosatellite did indeed
eject, NanoSail-D principal investigator Dean Alhorn quickly enlisted
Alan Sieg, WB5RMG, and Stan Sims, N4PMF, to try to pick up NanoSail-D's
radio beacon. Both hams work at the Marshall Space Flight Center in
Huntsville, Alabama.

"The timing could not have been better," Sieg said. "NanoSail-D was
going to track right over Huntsville, and the chance to be the first
ones to hear and decode the signal was irresistible." Right before
23:00 UTC on January 17, they heard a faint signal. As the spacecraft
soared overhead, the signal grew stronger and the operators were able
to decode the first packet: NanoSail-D was alive and well. "You could
have scraped Dean off the ceiling. He was bouncing around like a new
father," Sieg recalled.

According to NASA, the nanosatellite was last heard at 13:54 UTC on
January 21. Telemetry indicates that the sail deployed on schedule and
the satellite is now believed to be out of power, which NASA said was
to be expected.

NASA is now asking for visual tracking and sighting reports of
NanoSail-D, which is about 650 km above the Earth. According to the
agency, when the nanosatellite's sail reflects off the Sun, it could be
up to 10 times as bright as the planet Venus -- especially later in the
mission when the sail descends to lower orbits. You can track
NanoSail-D on the web or on your smart phone. NASA estimates that
NanoSail-D will remain in low Earth orbit (LEO) between 70 and 120
days, depending on atmospheric conditions.

ARRL AWARDS TO SA AMATEURS

Dennis Wells, ZS1AU, today joins the ranks of SA's top DXCC members.

Tjerk Lammers, ZS6P, the SARL Awards Manager, reported that after 60
years of amateur radio Dennis, ZS1AU, finally submitted his first time
ever DXCC application to the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) last
year in December.

Dennis was credited with 337 entities which places him in the number
three spot on the South African DXCC members phone list.

Congratulations Dennis, you deserve it.

FIRST ZS WORKED ALL STATES TRIPLE PLAY AWARD

The ARRL has awarded the first Worked All States Triple Play award to a
South African Radio Amateur. Barry Murrell, ZS2EZ, is the recipient of
Award number 492 issued on 7 January 2011.

The Triple Play Award requires working all 50 US States on SSB, CW and
RTTY (150 contacts) with all confirmations via LoTW. Only contacts from
1 January 2009 count.

Donovan van Loggerenberg, ZS2DL, has also made all the contacts and
received the confirmations, he has submitted his application to the
ARRL.

Well done Barry.

CONTEST NEWS

The Antique Wireless Association CW Activity Day will run from 10:00
UTC (12:00 CAT) on Saturday 5 February to 10:00 UTC (12:00 CAT) on
Sunday 6 February with CW activity on 20, 40 and 80 metres. This
contest is open to radio amateurs interested in CW.

The exchange is a RST report, the operators name and Grid Square
locator. Logs to be sent to Andy, ZSADY, either by e-mail to
or standard mail to A Cairns, P O Box 12320,
Benryn, 1504. Logs must be submitted by Monday 21 February 2001. Find
the rules on page 23 of the 2011 SARL Contest Manual.

The first leg of the 2011 SARL National Field Day will start at 10:00
UTC (12:00 CAT) on Saturday 12 February and it will end at 10:00 UTC
(12:00 CAT) on Sunday 13 February. Participants may use phone, CW and
digital modes on 160 to 10 metres, excluding 30, 17 and 12 metres.

There are five classes of participation catering for multi-operator
(club), single operator and general stations. The exchange is made up
of the number of transceivers, the class of participation and your
provincial abbreviation. Logs must be submitted by Monday 21 February
to the Bloemfontein RAC by e-mail or standard mail.

It is very important that participants will read the rules for this
contest before the start of the Field Day, find the rules on page 25 to
29 of the 2011 SARL Contest Manual.

LAST CHANCE TO MAKE CONTACT WITH ZS85SARL

For the SARL Field Day on 12 to 13 February, members of the Boland
Amateur Radio Club will have the SARL's birthday call sign, ZS85SARL,
on the air and will it offer the last opportunity to radio amateurs,
who have not yet made contact with ZS85SARL, to do so.

An effort will be made to achieve a WAZS 200 via the SA QSL system
under this call sign. Radio amateurs, who have not yet made contact
with ZS85SARL, are thus specially invited to contact ZS85SARL during
the Field Day event and to confirm the contact via the SA QSL system.

Môre detail about the station will be published on the SARL Website
closer to the event.

EAST RAND RADIO CLUB FLEA MARKET

This popular flea market will be held on the 5th February from 12:00 to
15:00 on the sports grounds of the Sel Park Primary school in Pridgeon
Str., Selection Park, Springs.

The coordinates for getting there a S 26° 17 247 & E 28° 27 129
Please come and support us and or bring all your old and new stuff to
sell. There will be something cold and hot to drink and also "lekke"
pancakes and wors rolls, so bring lots of money please.

Contact Francois, ZR6COI, at 079 932 7131 or email to
or Judy, ZR6POP, at 074 177 0395
for bookings of tables or get them on the 145,675
Springs ERB Repeater.

PROPAGATION REPORT

Hannes Coetzee, ZS6BZP, reports that the solar activity is still at low
levels. Sunspots 1 147 and 1 149 are about to disappear out of direct
Earth view. Fortunately a new and as yet unnumbered sunspot is forming
on the eastern limb. The effective sunspot number is expected to be
less than 15 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 on 20 m
at sunrise. 15 and especially 20 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 31 January - Closing date for phase 1 of the
construction competition. 5-6 February CW Activity day of the Antique
Wireless Society. 12-13 February - SARL National Field Day and ZS85SARL
on the air for the last time from Saturday 12:00 CAT to Sunday 12:00
CAT. 21 February - Logs for the SARL field day to be in to the
Bloemfontein ARC.S 25 February - Logs for AWA CW Activity day to be in
to Andy, ZSADY. 28 February - Offers to host a station at Sun City
during IARU Region 1 conference to be in to . 25
March - SAiSAT briefing session at the NARC.

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 date.

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, 7 205 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