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March - April 2019
Water Point 1 at the Van Stadens Mountain Marathon held on the 27th January 2019.
This Newsletter is published by the Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society P.O. Box 10402, LINTON GRANGE, 6015
Editing by Eric ZS2ECH
QSX-PE - Newsletter for the discerning Radio Ham
Download QSX-PE from www.zs2pe.co.za/Newsletter/Newsletter.htm or www.commco.co.za/pears.htm
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PEARS Monthly Meeting 7:30 pm at the Italian Sporting Club, 17 Harold Road, Charlo.
Sunday 10th of March 2019 PEARS social bring & braai, 11:30 am at the Walmer Scout Hall
Tuesday 19th of March 2019 Air traffic controller, by John Spies
Tuesday 16th of April 2019 The ins and outs of DX’ing, by Barry ZS2EZ
Saturday 18th of May 2019 PEARS AGM
DIARY OF EVENTS 3 March SARL Hamnet 40m Simulated Emergency Contest
2 – 3 March ARRL DX SSB
9 March SARL YL Sprint
9 – 10 March SARL VHF/UHF Analogue Contest
9 – 10 March RSGB Commonwealth Contest
10 March PEARS Bring & Braai, Walmer Scout Hall
19 March PEARS monthly meeting at the Italian Club
30 – 31 March CQ WPX SSB
4 April SARL 80 m QSO Party
6 April RaDAR Challenge
6 – 7 April SARL VHF/UHF Digital Contest
16 April PEARS monthly meeting at the Italian Club
18 April World Amateur Radio Day
19 – 20 April Holyland DX Contest
20 April Autumn QRP Contest
20 April ZS4SRK Balloon Contest
21 April ZS4 Sprint
4 – 5 May AWA Valve QSO Party
18 May PEARS AGM
It’s with sadness that we have to announce the silent key of George Pearson ZS2E. To all family and friends we extend our
sincerest condolences.
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2019/2020 Amateur Radio License fee increase ICASA has informed the SARL that the licence fee will be increased by 4.7% on 1 April 2019. The new fees will be 1 Year - R 148.00 2 Years - R 283.00 3 Years - R 406.00 4 Years - R 517.00 5 Years - R 617.00 ICASA will start the invoicing process for the 2019/2020 period from 4 February 2019. Radio Amateurs are reminded that it is their responsibility to ensure their license is up to date. If for some reason no invoice is received, check that ICASA has been informed of any address changes. Avoid the hassles of having to renew each year, opt for a multi-year licence. Simply, when renewing pay the appropriate amount. On the EFT state 5 Year licence and your callsign. Also send an email to [email protected] with a copy of the EFT payment. The correct account for your ICASA Licence Fee is NEDBANK Account number: 14 62 00 29 27, Branch Code: 146245 - Corporate Client Services – Pretoria and in the reference field type in your licence number and call sign. Note the previous issue of QSX listed the 2018/2019 fees.
All members that have club trophies – please return them to any committee
member so that we can prepare them for the AGM in May.
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SOUTH AFRICAN RADIO LEAGUE
Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology
PROTEA HOTEL TECHNOPARK
STELLENBOSCH 16 April 2019
Organizing the 2019 SARL Symposium has now been underway for some time, and a lot of groundwork has been covered. We are confident that by now you are well aware of the events which constitutes the symposium, which will take place on the 12th and 13th April 2019 at the Techno Park in Stellenbosch. Unlocking Amateur Radio Technology promises to be a very exciting event that Radio Amateurs who want to get more from their hobby should attend. Presentations on how to use your computer to receive radio signals with the aid of a low cost “dongle” plugin, development of a Reverse Beacon Network for determining propagation opportunities in the VHF bands, the workings of the IARU and its importance to Radio Amateurs worldwide, the latest 3U orbiting cubesat built by CPUT, the latest craze, FT8, and much more will be delivered. We are also in the fortunate position to having representation by universities, industry, and research organizations. This is the ideal opportunity for us to get together and share our experiences and broaden outlook in what is happening in other related fields. So do not let this opportunity slip by. Register timeously to ensure your seat and presence at the evening cocktail. To keep Radio Amateurs abreast of developments, updates will be published in News Bulletins, the SARL Website, Newsletters and other media. Deon ZR1DE Hans ZS6AKV [email protected] [email protected]
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Earth’s Shifting Magnetic Pole May be Confusing Your Cell Phone
By Dr. Tony Phillips Pick up your cell phone and look at it. That rectangular marvel of modern technology contains thousands of lines of code. Among them is the World Magnetic Model (WMM)–a program that helps your phone navigate. And it’s in a bit of trouble. Researchers have announced that the WMM needs an emergency update because Earth’s magnetic field is changing.
Savvy backcountry hikers have long known that compass needles don’t really point north. The magnetic north pole is displaced hundreds of miles from the true North Pole and, to make matters worse, it wanders unpredictably from year to year. To find true north in the continental USA, you have to correct compass directions by as much as 20 degrees using a special “declination table.”
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The World Magnetic Model is a computer program that makes this correction for you. It improves the navigation of devices ranging from nuclear submarines to common smartphones. “The WMM is the standard magnetic model used for navigation by organizations such as NATO, the Ministry of Defense, and the US Department of Defense, and also by smartphone operating systems such as Android and iOS,” explains Will Brown of the British Geological Survey’s Geomagnetism Team, which produces the model in collaboration with NOAA of the USA. “When you open your smartphone’s map app, you may see an arrow pointing which way you’re facing, and there’s something quite clever going on underneath,” he continues. “Your phone contains a magnetometer that is measuring the Earth’s magnetic field. In order to make sense of this information, Android and iOS operating systems use the WMM to correct the measurements to true north.” Normally the World Magnetic Model is updated every 5 years. For decades that’s been often enough to track natural changes in our planet’s magnetism caused by fluctuations in Earth’s molten core. But suddenly things are changing faster than before.
Annual rate of change of declination for 2015.0 to 2020.0 from the World Magnetic Model
(WMM2015). This information is about to be updated by a new WMM. “Since late 2014, Earth’s core field has varied in an unpredicted, and currently unpredictable, manner [including a sudden change in declination called a ‘geomagnetic jerk‘ in 2014/2015],” says Brown. “The aim of the WMM is to be globally accurate within 1
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degree of declination, but we were going to exceed that limit in only 3 years.” That’s why, for the first time, they are issuing an update to the WMM before the usual 5 year mark in 2020. The new model is based data from a global network of 160 surface observatories and satellites in low-Earth orbit such as ESA’s Swarm mission. It was supposed to be released on Jan. 15th but has been delayed until Jan. 30th because of the partial shutdown of the US government.
Map of declination (degrees East or West of true north) at 2015.0 Copied from: https://spaceweatherarchive.com/2019/01/16/earths-shifting-magnetic-pole-affects-your-cell-phone/
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JOC at Herald Road Race 24 Feb'19
ZS2JIM at the VOC for the 2019 Herald Cycle Tour road race
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CONGRATULATIONS
BIRTHDAYS – March
01 Rudi ZR2RCG Goosens 01 Wendy XYL of Shawn ZS2SG Gilbert 03 Daphne XYL of Paul ZS2PG Galpin 04 Erika XYL of Gert ZS2GHK Kok 08 Errol ZS2EK Kleinhans 08 Magrieta XYL of Martin ZS2MR Ras 08 Melanie XYL of Charl ZS2CG Gerber 09 Tony ZS2T Dove 10 Michael ZS2MG Gooden 16 Anne XYL of Graham ZS2GIB Butcher 21 Andrew ZS2G Gray 22 Dubennette XYL of Quintus ZS2KU
Moolman 22 Peggy XYL of Viv ZS2VM Moore 29 Allan ZS2R Whitehead 31 Brigitte XYL of Tim ZS2TIM Jones 31 Richard ZS6RX Boatwright
ANNIVERSARIES – March
03 Graham ZS2GIB and Anne Butcher 05 Zack ZS2ZB and Sunell Botes 15 Arno ZS2ABT and Cheryl du Preez 18 Andrew ZS2PA and Roslyn Prideaux 22 Rudi ZR2RCG and Ellie Goosens 29 Shawn ZS2SG and Wendy Gilbert
BIRTHDAYS – April
01 Joan XYL of Barry ZS2H Jackson 01 Rosalee ZS2DN XYL of Donovan ZS2DL
van Loggerenberg 03 Theunis ZS2EC Potgieter 05 Bernice ZS2BD XYL of Mike ZS2MDL De
Lange 05 Hugo ZS2HR Ras 05 Rey XYL of Saney ZR1S Martin 07 Christel XYL of Michael ZS2MD
Opperman 11 Adele XYL of Shaun ZS2L Baumeister 12 Andre ZS2ZA Potgieter 13 Graham ZS2GIB Butcher 13 Lizette XYL of Nico ZS4N Oelofse 16 Danie ZS2DRS Steyn 18 Annelize XYL of Aldrin ZS2AGB Baker 22 Allan ZS2BO Bowles 24 Deidre XYL of Tony ZR2TX Allen 28 Chantelle XYL of Richard ZS2RA
Ashworth 28 Christopher ZS2AAW Scarr
ANNIVERSARIES – April
03 Hugo ZS2HR and Juan Ras 04 Glen ZS2GV and Vanessa Cummings 06 Wolf ZS2WG and Cathy Gerstle 08 Mitch ZS2DK and Colette ZS2CR Rundle 11 Aldrin ZS2AGB and Annelize Baker 20 Mike ZS2MDL and Bernice ZS2BD De
Lange 21 Rory ZS2BL and Jackie Norton 23 Neels and Patsy ZS2PTY Kruger
If you are a member and your birthday or anniversary details are omitted or incorrect, please notify any committee member to update our records
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HAM RADIO OUTLET-SOUTH AFRICA cc “Where Radio is a Passion”
Port Elizabeth’s official distributer of YAESU, Kenwood and ICOM amateur equipment
For all your Amateur needs from plugs to coax…. give us a call 041 3711425. Speak to Donovan (ZS2DL)
We Ship Country Wide!
Visit http://www.hamradio.co.za
For all your ham radio requirements!
Sunday SARL and Monday Club Bulletins
PEARS provides a local reading of the SARL national bulletins on Sundays in Afrikaans at 08h15 and English at 08h30. The club bulletins are transmitted on a Monday at 20h00. All transmissions are on 7098 kHz as well as the 2m linked network that provides coverage from Butterworth to George and up to the Free State and their environs. Please consult the PEARS webpage for any changes.
Bulletin Roster http://www.zs2pe.co.za/bulletins.htm
4 March Glen ZS2GV
11 March Mike ZS2MDL
18 March Michael ZS2MG
25 March Gert ZS2GS
1 April Tony ZR2TX
8 April Chris ZS2AAW
15 April Johannes ZS2JO
22 April Eric ZS2ECH
29 April Glen ZS2GV
6 May Mike ZS2MDL
The bulletin readers are always looking for something
to announce. If you have something to contribute,
please forward it to the next reader.
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Your Society’s Committee for 2017-2018 Chairman Gert Schoeman ZS2GS 082 721 4010 gert1schoeman[at]gmail.com Vice Chairman, Events & Rally organising
Tony Allen ZR2TX 082 956 2920 tony.zr2tx[at]gmail.com
Secretary, Treasurer Bernice de Lange ZS2BD 082 390 6340 bernicedelange[at]outlook.com Repeaters Chris Scarr ZS2AAW 082 925 6367 christopher[at]peham.co.za Technical/repeaters/SAR comms
Glen Cummings ZS2GV 082 411 2743 glenvanessa[at]gmail.com
Meetings & Refreshments, Socials
Johannes Geldenhuys ZS2JO 082 320 3032 johannes[at]s4.co.za
Fundraising, Socials Mike de Lange ZS2MDL 082 705 9161 mike[at]mikedelange.co.za Wifi network Michael Gooden O76 489 1764 me[at]zs2mg.co.za QSX Editor Eric Hosten ZS2ECH 072 841 4693 eric.hosten[at]mandela.ac.za
CO-OPTED POSTS RAE Examination Admin. Donovan van Loggerenberg
ZS2DL 082 852 4885 zs2dl[at]hamradio.co.za
Contest Committee Theunis Potgieter ZS2EC 064 901 8079 contest[at]peham.co.za PEARS VHF/UHF Contest
Replace [at] with @ when you want to send an email (this is done to try to prevent spamming).
PEARS' VHF/UHF, Packet & Other Services
Local Repeaters: These repeaters form a separate sub-net in the PE - Uitenhage - Despatch area. Town VHF
145,050/650 Town UHF
431,050/438,650 Uitenhage
145,075/675 Longmore
145,025/625 IRLP available on this subnet
Cape Linked System Repeaters: These form the PEARS long-range 2-metre repeater system, in conjunction with the Border, Southern Cape and WCRWG
systems. See www.zs2pe.co.za/Repeaters/repeaters.htm for more details. Lady's Slipper 145,100/700
Grahamstown 145,150/750
Cradock 145,050/650
Noupoort (link only) 438,750 / 438,675
Colesberg 431,075/438,675
Kareedouw 145,125/725
Plett 145,175/775
Brenton 145,075/675
Packet network: ZS0NTP-2 Packet Node
Lady’s Slipper
144,800 1200bd 439,850 9600bd
434,800 1200bd APRS
ZS0NTP BBS Lady’s Slipper
On all node frequencies
ZS0GHT-2 Packet Node Grahamstown
144,800 1200bd 434,800 1200bd
439,850 9600bd (to LS)
ZS0CDK-2 Digi Cradock
144,800 1200bd
ZS0KDJ APRS Digi Mount Road
434,800 1200bd
ZS0KDB APRS Digi Longmore
434,800 1200bd
ZS2ABZ-4 WMR918 WX Station
144,625 1200bd
VHF Beacon: 50,007 MHz FSK – ZS2X, 25 Watts into 2 element Yagi beaming north.
Banking details (for subs & donations): NEDBANK SAVINGS ACCOUNT No. 221 252 7594, Bank code 121217, A/C name: Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society. Please use call signs as a reference.
Disclaimer. Note: The Editor, nor any PEARS club member, shall not be held liable for errors and/or omissions in any article and/or drawing contained in this newsletter. Furthermore, any view expressed is not necessarily that of the Editor, any committee member or other members of the Club. The material contained in this newsletter is not meant to defame, purge, humiliate and/or hurt someone's person or feelings. If copyright is unintentionally infringed, we apologise, this newsletter is published as a free service to Amateur Radio operators and friends and is neither for profit nor gain.