SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
SARL NEWS SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18 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.

SILENT KEYS

The life of Gerry Levien, ZS6IK, came to a violent end last Tuesday night.
His house was apparently burgled and the next morning he was found lifeless
and tied up by the occupants of a cottage on his plot. Gerry was
approximately 80 years of age and for 63 years a member of the SARL. He regularly added something extra when renewing his membership. He regularly attended flea markets in his overcoat and with his walking stick.

Paul Malherbe, ZS1JU, a founder member of the old Boland Branch of the SARL
in 1948, and active member of the Boland Amateur Radio Club, passed away in Somerset West on Monday February 5. He was 70 years of age and as far as can be ascertained the honour is due to him that for all of the 53 years that he was an amateur he was a member of ths SARL. He was still active as amateur from Somerset West and from time to time also as VK1JU from Perth, Australia, where he sometimes stayed for long periods.

Our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the deceased.

PAUSE.

Here are the headlines of today's news:

NEWS ON PAST AND COMING RAEÆS

LICENCING AGREEMENT WITH ICASA

LOCAL EXPERT TO JOIN INTECNET DISCUSSION ON SEARCH FOR ET

PROPAGATION FORECAST

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

NOVEMBER 2000 RAE-CERTIFICATES

The RAE examiner of the SARL reports that the RAE certificates issued by
OKASA for the November 2000 examination had been received from them. The 136 certificates were mailed last Friday to the successful candidates.

REGISTRATION FOR MAY 2001 RAE

Registartion for the next RAE on May 10 2001 closes on April 10. Late registration will be accepted till April 17. The fee for early registration
is R135 and late registratio R235.

Clubs who wish to register an examination center must do it via e-mail to rassie@ctech.ac.za. The following details must be supplied: name of chief supervisor, his/her postal address and telephone number, address where the examination papers must be sent by courier as well as the physical address of the examination center.

LICENCING AGREEMENT WITH ICASA

Last week the SARL concluded a new agreement with ICASA regarding the allocation of call signs and issueing of licences.

The SARL has the sole right to run the RAE and morse code tests on behalf of ICASA, to issue the corresponding operator's certificates and to allocate a call sign which may be used with immediate effect. The corresponding licence will however still be issued by ICASA.

Persons who pass their morse test can thus apply for their ZS licence at the SARL and on the same day receive the morse code certificate as well as a new call sign.

The fee for a change in call sign is R35.


LOCAL EXPERT TO JOIN INTECNET DISCUSSION ON SEARCH FOR ET

Prof Alex Antonites of the University of Pretoria who was recently appointed
as the South African representative of the SETI-League will be joining SETI-League Executive Director Paul Shuch when the SARL Intecnet discusses
the search for extraterrestrial intelligence next Sunday evening.

Recently, the notion that we share our universe with countless sentient
species has emerged out of the realm of fiction, into the scientific mainstream. SETI is a science, not a single search. Dr Shuch will be taking us into this part of the science world and talk about how radio amateurs can become involved and use their technical ability to advance SETI. Prof Antonites will look at SETI activities in South Africa.

The SARL Intecnet 2001 will be held on Sunday 25 February 2001. The net will be relayed on 3215 kHz by courtesy of Sentech. Clubs wishing to link their repeaters interactively should book a link on the teleconference port as soon as possible by sending an Email to armi@intekom.co.za giving details of the telephone number to be linked and the frequencies on which the relay will
take place. Bookings close on 23 February 2001. Requests may also be faxed
to 012 991 4662. It should be noted that cell phones and pre-paid phones can not be linked.

There are approximately 6 clubs that regularly link to Intechnet and we would like to get more clubs on the air. If clubs are not sure how to achieve it technically please direct your enquiries to armi@intekom.co.za so that the necessary information can be supplied.

PROPAGATION CONDITIONS

Ean Retief, ZS1PR, reports as follows:

The solar flux did exactly the opposite than forecast last week. It
continued declining and should reach a low point of 130 today. It now seems that a good rise can only be expected towards the end of the week, when the value should increase to 165.

Only two moderate strength solar flares occurred during the past week. This was in the early hours of Sunday and Monday. As a result of these flares the earth's magnetic field was unsettled from Tuesday evening to Thursday
evening.

The low solar flux and to a lesser degree the unsettled magnetic field caused the ionised layers of the atmosphere to form at lower than normal levels.

When ionised layers, especially the F layer forms at lower than normal
levels, the range that a signal can hop is quite drastically reduced. This means that a signal must make more hops than normal for a given distance.
This weakens DX signals and also reduce the transfer rate of digital data.

It is expected that the earth's magnetic field will be unsettled from tonight until Wednesday. From Thursday onward it should be quiet. The expected
higher Solar Flux and quiet magnetic field should bring us better propagation conditions next weekend.

CLUB ACTIVITIES

The West Rand Amateur Radio Club will be holding a boot sale and beerfest on Saturday March 3 at their club house on Kroton Avenue, Weltevreden Park.
Gates open at 09:00. Phone Bill van Zyl during office hours at 011 726 6807 for more information.

The Pretoria Amateur Radio Club will be holding a fleamarket and boot sale on Saturday 31 March at 08:00. This will again be a grand occasion and all are welcome to visit us at the University grounds as usual. Reserve the 31st for
a nice get-together and bargain hunt.

Contact Hans ZS6KR for more information and table bookings at 012 333 2612.

DATES TO REMEMBER

The closing date for nominations for the SARL awards is February 20.

The closing date for registration for the May RAE is April 10 and for late registratio April 17.

The SARL AGM will be held in Cape Town over the weekend of 27-28 April 2001. More details will be announced later.

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, 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 ZS.... in.......

You have been listening to ZS6SRL.

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

Goodbye to all.

/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)