Scientific and Educational Collaboration With Other Organisations
The League participates in an ionospheric research project led by the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory(HMO). The project is to study radio propagation in the 40-m band in the ionosphere.
The project entails a number of 40 milliwatt beacon transmitters at a frequency of 7.023 MHz being operated by amateurs across the country. Propagation data from these beacons is then analysed by scientists at the HMO to reveal details about the structure and behaviour of the ionosphere.
Reception data is collected from reports by other amateurs all over the country. A further educational component of the project is participation by schools.
School children equipped with sponsored simple receivers developed by the SARL, also participate in the project and send reception reports to the HMO. The receivers, supplied in kit form, provide a further educational opportunity as the children will assemble and install them with assistance from local amateur radio clubs. A fun element of the project for the learners is when schools compete to be the first to decode the “secret messages” that some of the beacons transmit.
According to Dr Lee-Anne McKinnell, the HMO Space Physics Group manager, “This project is truly a collaborative project. It will benefit the scientists, the hobbyists, and the schools.”
The project stalled soon after launch due to problems co-ordinating the timing of the transmitters.
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