The SARL/AMSAT SA VHF/UHF workshop will be held at the SARL National Amateur Radio Centre on Saturday 9 February 2019.

Some of the discussions and presentations include: the cost of a decibel on two metres; VHF and UHF propagation forecasting; a discussion of the various modes of VHF/UHF propagation, and methods that can be deployed to predict the likelihood of such conditions.

If a long-distance VHF/UHF contact is made, what were the prevailing conditions, and the use of this information in building a better forecasting system; developing a reverse beacon network - the Reverse Beacon Network has evolved to become a powerful tool with many Amateur Radio applications, mostly on the HF bands. The RBN concept also provides unique opportunities for real time propagation awareness on VHF and UHF.

This presentation looks at how beacons and spot VHF/UHF calling frequencies can be monitored from different sites, how to generate alerts when an opening occurs, an update on currently operating beacons, and a planned 2m beacon mid-way between Gauteng and the Western Cape.

The workshop will end with an open discussion on: could multiple AMSATSA dual band Yagis be used to monitor beacons from various areas at the same time to provide a real time opening report; how to get clubs more involved in promoting VHF/UHF activity; will regular short burst competitions promote more activity; and a propagation alert message system using Telegram.

More Information - http://www.sarl.org.za.