South African Radio League Celebrates 90 years

From 1 January 2015, the special call sign ZS90SARL will be celebrating the 90th anniversary of the South African Radio League.

The South African Radio Relay League was formed in May 1925.

The name was later changed to the South African Radio League.

From January until the culminations of the celebration at the annual Convention in Bloemfontein in April 2015, Amateur Radio Today will transmit a weekly highlighting the amazing events of the past 90 years.

In addition, the South African Radio League has been given a special call sign by ICASA to celebrate the anniversary. The call sign is ZS90SARL.

It is available to all affiliated clubs on a rotation bases for period on one week (Monday to Sunday). Applications for use of the call sign will be open from Monday and should be sent by email to SARL90@sarl.org.za. Rassie Erasmus, ZS1YT, will coordinate the allocation and from time to time, a schedule will be published on the South African Radio League web.

Clubs applying for the use of the call sign must clearly indicate times and frequency of operation. Logs must be kept electronically, preferably in the N1MM format and forwarded at the end of the week to contest@sarl.org.za for uploading to Logbook of the World.

Special QSL card are being designed and soon be available.

Youngsters On The Air

This December 2014, the UK will be active with a station for YOTA Month for the very first time

The special event callsign G14YOTA and its regional variations will be active for 18 days in December. It is hoped hundreds of youngsters will be speaking on the stations and this will, hopefully, encourage more people to join local radio clubs and sign up on the Foundation course to get their own radio licence.

If you hear a YOTA callsign on the air then please make contact and have a chat with the young people that are on the air.

YOTA continues to grow in popularity, with an additional 35 special callsigns active for 2014, covering Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

RSGB schedule for G14YOTA activation - http://rsgb.org/main/about-us/committees/youth-committee/youngsters-on-the-air/

Twitter - @YOTA_UK

December is YOTA month

During the month of December many countries will be on the air with the YOTA (Youngsters On The Air) suffix. It is being used to encourage young people to get on the air with the help of licensed operators or indeed to use their own callsign to gain experience.

Mentor operators from EI are encouraged to use the EI0YOTA callsign, with a young person to operate. All modes & bands will be used with lots of awards available to stations working the YOTA stations. QSL manager for the event is Brani OM2FY.

If you would like to book a slot to operate EI0YOTA, or need more details, please contact Ger McNamara EI4GXB via email on ei4gxb@gmail.com or 087 2532512.