JOTA 2008

About 80 Scouts took part in the 51^st JOTA which was successfully organised at 2 separate locations on October 18^th. 

9V1SJ operated from St Andrew's Secondary School from 0100 to 0800Z and later at the S'pore Scouts Association Campsite in Sarimbun for the BSA from 1000 to 1300Z.

Despite a low Sunspot Number, the St Andrew's Station, using a 2 band wire dipole, managed to contact scouts in Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan. 

The Sarimbun Station, using a 8 meter length of cheap wire strung up a tree, was able to make QSOs into Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Bulgaria.

Special thanks to Ron 9V1RJ, Gim 9V1OO, Perry 4F4PA and Toon 9V1HO for helping out in this event. 

Also thanks to Philip Brennan, the Boy Scouts of America Coordinator and Alex Choo, the S'pore Scouts Coordinator.

The Infocomm Development Authority (iDA) may issue a Temporary Amateur Station Licence to hams visiting Singapore which can be valid for up to 3 months. Application must be made online in the iDA website at least 3 weeks prior to arrival. 

The station callsign will be 9V1/homecall.

Approval has been given by the iDA for SARTS members to use the callsign 9V1F1 to commemorate the Formula 1 Races which will be held in downtown Singapore, at night, from September 26^th to 28^th.

SARTS members may use the callsign from Aug 26^th until Sep 30^th 2008 (UTC).

Outward QSLing will be 100%. Members using this callsign will be responsible for printing the QSL labels and sticking them onto the QSL cards, which will be provided by SARTS.

Members using this special event callsign are required to maintain a computer log and submit a copy in ADIF format to a to-be-appointed co-ordinator. 

In order to prevent confusion amongst DX stations arising from multiple 9V1F1 stations operating on the same band, in the same mode, at the same time, members are required to book their operating slots with Darryl 9V1DE. A timetable will be drawn out and will be published on the web. Booking of slots will commence after National Day. 

This slot booking system will also facilitate distribution of incoming QSL cards. 

The SARTS Field Day and BBQ will be on 6^th October 2007. The location is at Aloha Resorts, Changi Fairy Point Chalet 3. This will be an overnight event.

The Field Day callsign, S61FD, will be activated.

Tune in to The Living Room this Thursday, 12 July, 10:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.  A couple of SARTS members will be on the show, just after the sports news, to talk about Amateur Radio in Singapore. 

The Living Room is a live radio chat show on Radio Station 938Live. It is hosted by Stanley Leong and Mahesha Thenabadu and can be heard on 93.8 MHz and 6150 kHz on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon with an encore broadcast from 10 p.m. to 12 midnight.

Listen to a Mid-Operation interview via satellite phone with James 9V1YC, on Scarborough Reef. This was recorded yesterday. 

http://dokufunk.org/upload/BS7H.MP3

SARTS member James Brooks, (9V1YC) together with a team of about 17 other hams from around the world will be operating BS7H from Scarborough Reef. They are expected to be QRV this weekend. 

More details on http://www.scarboroughreef.com/

The photo appearing on the Lion City Award has been updated to reflect modern day Singapore. The old style appears on the left.

SARTS member Barry Fletcher, (9V1FJ / ZS1FJ) together with 2 other hams from the Cape Town Amateur Radio Club are currently operating 7P8DX from 5 - 12 April 2007. 

More details on http://www.qsl.org.za/7p8dx/index.html

We had to remove the UHF repeater atop the Furama Riverside Hotel. This was due to circumstances beyond us. If anyone knows of a suitable site which is available for free or a low fee, please let the SARTS' council know.

The VHF repeater at Bukit Tinggi is still in service: 145.625 Tx / 145.125 MHz Rx, no tone.

The iDA has announced that as from 1 May 2006, SARTS will be responsible for conducting the Radio Amateur Examination (RAE) in Singapore.

The examination will be held on a monthly basis on the morning of the second Saturday of the month.

Candidates should still book via the iDA.

This year's Field Day will be on July 8 to 9 at the Aloha Resorts Changi Chalet G. The BBQ party will be on Saturday evening.

The Field Day callsign, S61FD will be activated. As this is also a contest weekend, the Contest Station, S65X will be activated. We hope to have at least 2 stations running.

Singapore Hams now have access to the 7.0 MHz to 7.2 MHz band. Effective 29 Sep 2005, iDA has approved the allocation for the 7.1 - 7.2 MHz band for Singapore amateurs with immediate effect on a secondary use basis.

The maximum transmit power allowed in the 7.1 - 7.2 MHz portion is 100 Watts ERP. The use is on a non-interference and non-protection basis.

Spot frequencies of 7.135, 7.160 and 7.170 MHz are to be avoided      

The Singapore authorities have confirmed that this band will be allocated to the amateur service on primary basis with effect from 29 March 2009.

The iDA has approved portable operations on the HF bands with the condition that the transmit power should not exceed 5 watts.

The iDA should be informed at least 7 days in advance, either by email or fax by using the notification form.

In conjunction with Singapore's 40th year of Independence, the iDA is allowing local hams to use the prefix 9V40, followed by the two suffix letters of you regular callsign. 

This special event call is valid for the month of August 2005 only

iDa has announced that as from 15 Sep 2004, the requirement for a Morse Code exam for HF operating privileges in Singapore has been removed.

Effective 16 Sep 2004, all current and future licences will be convertible to General Class with full HF privileges.

Singapore is thought to be the first country in Asia to adopt the recent amendments of Article 25 of the ITU Radio Regulations.

The SARTS' 5 wpm Morse Tests are still available but not required for licensing purposes.

iDA announced that type approval for amateur rigs has been simplified. All that is needed is proof that rig has been tested previously by a competent test house (e.g. ARRL) and a subsequent on-station physical inspection

New Ham licensees can now work with full 200 watts on HF. Prior to July 2004, new ham licensees were allowed only 25 watts for the first 12 months.

We are pleased to announce some positive results to SARTS Council's recent correspondence with iDA

As of 2 July 2004, iDA has increased the maximum permissible output power for General Class licensees on the HF bands to 200 watts CW RF output