SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
SARL NEWS SUNDAY OCTOBER 1 2000

This is Amateur Radio Station ZS6SRL transmitting Amateur Radio News, a
service by 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.

SILENT KEY

Louis Cornelius Blom ZS6AOB passed away on Sunday the 20th of August from cancer that was diagnosed just a few months earlier. Louis was a member of Sasolburg Radio Club. To his family and friends our sincere condolences.

PAUSE

Here are the headlines of today's news:

ANOTHER AMATEUR KILLED IN WEST TIMOR

PHASE 3D LAUNCH CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY

GB3CJ REPEATER OPERATIONAL ON 10

SPACE WEEK OCT 4 - 10

NEXT RAE TAKES PLACE ON 9 NOVEMBER

SARL. 80 m QSO PARTIES

SUNSAT OSCAR 35 NEWS

PROPAGATION REPORT

The news follows in detail.

ANOTHER AMATEUR KILLED IN WEST TIMOR

Last week RSGB News carried the tragic news about Pero Simundza, 9A4SP, and 4W6SP, who was one of the three UNHCR relief workers stabbed to death in
West Timor on the 7th of September. It now transpires that one of the other murdered UNHCR workers was also a radio amateur, Carlos Caceres, KD4SYB. In his final e-mail, forwarded by Peter Casier, ON6TT of the UN, and quoted by '425 DX News', Carlos wrote: "The militias are on the way, and I am sure
they will do their best to demolish this office. We are waiting for this enemy, we sit here like bait, unarmed, waiting for [the] wave to hit. I am glad to be leaving this island for three weeks. I just hope I will be able
to leave tomorrow."

PHASE 3D LAUNCH CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY

The launch campaign for the next-generation Amateur Radio Phase 3D satellite has begun at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, where the satellite has been in storage since spring. Phase 3D is tentatively set to
go into space aboard an Ariane 5 rocket no earlier than November 4. A
specific launch date has not yet been announced.

"P3D is doing just fine!" AMSAT-NA President Keith Baker, KB1SF, enthused
this week. "Things are going well, and there are no significant issues."
Baker said the primary task of the P3D advance team which arrived in Kourou
on 9 September is to coordinate with the launch agency, Arianespace.

AMSAT News Service says the team has pronounced Phase 3D in excellent condition. The satellite's batteries have been recharged, and RF testing of transmitter and receiver systems has gone smoothly. The team earlier
carried out propulsion system pressure tests.

AMSAT and Phase 3D officials were encouraged by the September 14 Ariane 5 launch that they'd been keeping an eye on as a bellwether for the
next-in-line Phase 3D launch. The Ariane 5 successfully delivered a pair of communication satellites into the desired geostationary transfer orbit after what was called "a spectacular launch" from the European Spaceport.

A launch contract accepting Phase 3D as a payload for the first suitable
Ariane 5 launch vehicle was signed last fall.

GB3CJ REPEATER OPERATIONAL ON 10 m

The UK's first 10 metre repeater, GB3CJ in Northampton, came into service
the 23rd of September. It transmits on 29,640 and receives on 29,540MHz,
and requires a 77Hz CTCSS access tone. The Radiocommunications Agency has indicated that it is prepared to consider further applications for UK
10-metre repeaters once GB3CJ has proved itself, so it will be interesting
to see the results.

SPACE WEEK OCT 4 - 10
IDEAL OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE AMATEUR RADIO

The UN General Assembly in resolution 54/68 recently decided to celebrate a
UN Space Week from 4 to 10 October each year at the international level to recognise the contributions of space science and technology to the
betterment of humanity.

Clubs are urged to use this as an opportunity to highlight the contribution
of Amateur Radio to satellite technology by arranging some space-related activity at local schools. The activity can include a demonstration of the parrot repeater in SUNSAT, visual tracking of satellites across the night
sky and other on the air amateur radio events.

Thursday 5 October and Tuesday 10 October around 17:30 CAT are the best two days for SUNSAT when the satellite is in a high elevation over South Africa.

See the news item on SUNSAT later in this bulletin for details of passes.

Radio Clubs are requested to advise ZS5AKV of their planned activity so that maximum publicity can be given in the media.

Please e-mail information to arisas@intekom.co.za.

DATA BASE OF HAMNET MEMBERS

Magiel, ZS6BML, requests Hamnet members to again please forward their
details to update the data base. Planning for the restructuring of Hamnet
is at hand and the following information is required:

Full Name
Address
Tel No
e-mail address

Details can be sent directly to the SARL or by e-mail to: Francois Botha, ZS6BUU, to overflow@global.co.za.

The closing date for the submission of details is October 30.

The identification cards have already been mailed of persons whose
applications had been received by Magiel.

NEXT RAE TAKES PLACE ON 9 NOVEMBER

Registration forms for the November RAE examination can be offloaded from
the SARL website. After the form has been fully filled in post it to the
SARL at the NARC at P.O. Box 1721, Strubensvallei, 1735. A photostat of
the first page of your ID book must be included. In the case of minors, a photostat of the parental guardian's ID book is required. The cost to
register for the examination is R95-00.

Payment can be made by credit card: provide the SARL Administrator, Wally
Sime, with name, credit card number and expiry date, you may also attach
these details to the registration form. Payment can also be made into the
SARL bank account at Standard Bank, Killarney Branch, account number
001682059 . The deposit slip, application form and ID copy must be faxed to the SARL at 011 675-2793.

The closing date for registration is 9 October and the examination will be conducted on 9 November 2000. Dont delay, act now and get everything done.

SARL. 80 m QSO PARTIES

Mally, ZS5LZ, of the Durban Amateur Radio Club invites RSA amateurs to join
in the fun by taking part in the next 80 m QSO party which takes place this Thursday evening, October the 5 th.

1. Aim:
The aim of these contests is to create an interest in, and an
interest in activity on the 80m band.

2. Dates and times:
The first Thursday in April and October, from 19:00 to 22:00 CAT.

3. Frequencies:
Only frequencies in the 3600 to 3650 kHz segment may be used.

4. Exchange:
Callsign, RS signal report, serial number commencing with 001 and
grid locator or QTH (location).

5. Categories:
This is an SSB contest.

6. Scoring:
10 points for every contact with a South African station.
15 points for every contact with a station outside South Africa.

7. Sponsor:
Durban Amateur Radio Club.

8. Address for Contest Entries ie log sheets:
The Contest Committee
PO Box 21762
Bluff
4036

9. Closing date, for submission of logs:
14 days after close of contest.

E-mail enquiries: mally@eastcoast.co.za

SUNSAT OSCAR 35 NEWS

Sunsat will be in its Parrot Repeater Mode for voice passes during the UN
World Space Week from 4 to 10 October 2000. In this mode Sunsat
continuously cycles through a 10 second recording (single tone to indicate
the start) and playback (double tone) period. The up and downlinks will
both be 145,825 MHz.

At all other times Sunsat will digipeat AX.25 UI packets in Mode B. The
uplink for both 1200 bit/s and 9600 bit/s data is 436.291 MHz. Data from
both uplinks are digipeated at 9600 bit/s on the 145,825 MHz downlink. Set your unproto paths to SUNSAT or APRSAT.

Please note that the voice passes just prior to the parrot operations (on
the 2nd and 3rd of October) may also be changed to Mode B (uplink 436,291
MHz, downlink 145,825 MHz). The parrot repeater schedule for Southern
Africa is attached below (all times are UTC and Azimuth and Elevation in degrees):
DATE TIME AOS Az MAX El LOS Az
04/10/2000 16:04 344 25 206
05/10/2000 15:24 8 79 191
06/10/2000 14:44 32 32 177
07/10/2000 15:42 356 42 199
08/10/2000 15:02 20 59 185
09/10/2000 16:01 343 24 207
10/10/2000 15:21 7 76 192

PROPAGATION REPORT

Ean Retief ZS1PR reports:

The past week saw fairly good propagation conditions.

The huge sunspot region shrank and should disappear from the visible disc today.

As expected the Solar Flux stayed above the 200 value for most of the week
and only slipped below the 200 on Friday evening's reading.

It is expected that the slow decline will continue and that by next weekend
the value will be around 155. Hopefully that will be a low point.

Very quiet Geomagnetic conditions is expected for today and tomorrow, so tonight and tomorrow evening the 80 metre band should be exceptionally good.

The higher bands like 10 and 12 metres will now start to become less good.
Even on 17 and 15 metres the signals will become weaker, but the quiet conditions will enable one to copy very weak signals quite well on these
bands.

Lastly, do try the "long-path" over the Indian and Pacific oceans to the
west coast of the USA this afternoon from 15:30 SAST onwards.

DIARY OF COMING EVENTS

The Secunda Amateur Radio Club will be running a special event station from
25 September to 6 October to celebrate Sasol Coal's 50 th birthday. A
special QSL card will be sent to all stations worked during this period.
The Callsign will be ZS50SAS indicating SASOL STEENKOOL. For more
information please contact Sid Tyler by e-mail srtyler@mweb.co.za or cell
082 461 3279.

Sasolburg Radio Club will be on the air from this weekend onwards with a special event station. This is to commemorate the 50th anneversary of Sasol Chemical Industries. All bands from 2 meter to 80 meter will be used. The callsign ZS50SCI will be used. QSL cards will be sent to stations from whom cards are received

Sasolburg Radio Club is holding their Annual General Meeting on Saturday the 7th of October. This important event off the Club starts at 16:30 at the Technical College in Vanderbijlpark. New committee members for next year
will also be selected. After the proceedings a three coarse meal will be served. Interested persons, who want to attend the meeting, can phone the secretary, Marina Viljoen, after 19:00 at 016-9763547.

The Voortrekkers are holding their annual CQ Hou Koers gathering on the air
on 14 October and request that radio amateurs who are willing to assist the commando in their town or city to contact one of the following persons

Louis Kruger ZR6ABC Cell: 082-336-2597
Willy Wilson ZR6CY Tel: (012) 343 7176
Gustav Snyman ZS6BWN Cell: 083 254 1150

The SARL News Service invites Clubs and individuals to contribute
information regarding Amateur Radio to sarlnuus@mweb.co.za with a copy to gth@mweb.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 is repeated
Mondays at 20:00 on 3215 kHz. Relays on various 2M repeaters can also be heard. 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.

These transmissions are sponsored by Sentech, the common carrier for broadcasting signals in South Africa and Telkom who provides the
transmission lines. Various local repeater frequencies on 2 metres and 70
cm are also used in your area.

We thank all contributors, especially clubs, to this bulletin and all
stations who so reliably relay these bulletins. This bulletin was compiled
by George,ZS6NE, and read by ZS.... in ....... You have been listening to ZS6SRL. This transmission now ends and we wish you a pleasant week.

/ex
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Internet feed from ZS6NE moved by Richard de ZR6CK

Regards,
Richard.

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