Irish Radio Transmitters Society Radio News Bulletin Sunday 31st May 2009 ______________________________________________ Lifetime Licence Regulations The Regulations for the Lifetime Licence are available on the ComReg website at www.comreg.ie Go to Publications and then to Regulations/Statutory Instruments on the sidebar. The title of the regulations is Wireless Telegraphy (Amateur Station Licence) Regulations 2009. The Statutory Instrument Number of the Regulations is 192 of 2009 and they come into effect from tomorrow 1 June 2009. From that date all licences issued will be lifetime licences with a fee of €100 for new licences and €30 at the next renewal date for licences which were in force immediately before the new Regulations came into effect . The Explanatory Note to the Regulations states that the Regulations provide for the licensing of apparatus for wireless telegraphy forming part of an Amateur Station used for the purpose of conducting experiments and self-training in wireless telegraphy and for the regulation of such apparatus. "A letter has been sent to ComReg about the introduction of amateur licences as set out in last weeks bulletin and some anomalies between the situation here and in the UK were pointed out. The necessary forms and a Guidelines document in relation to Amateur Licences were put on the ComReg website on Thursday evening last they are in the latest publications section. A quick look at the frequency allocations section of the Guidelines document shows that that the need for extra authorisation has been removed in the case of 135.7 to 137.8 kHz, 2300 to 2400 MHz, 5650 to 5680 MHz 10 to 10.5 GHz and a new all mode segment, including Fast Scan TV, has been introduced at 5570 to 5650 MHz. In addition the attenuation for spurious emissions, about which we had written to ComReg some time past, has been reduced to comply with the revised requirements for Amateur stations following on WRC'03. These improved facilities which have come with the introduction of Amateur licensing are welcomed." ______________________________________________ Theory Examination There are now only two weeks left to the closing date of 15 June for applications to sit the theory examination to be held on Tuesday 30 June. This date will be strictly enforced, as some people connected with the examination will be attending the Friedrichshafen Rally towards the end of June. All of the administrative tasks in relation to the examination must be completed well before then. Intending candidates should forward the appropriate fee to Sean Nolan EI7CD, 12 Little Meadow, Pottery Road,Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin in order to reserve a place for the exam. The fee is 50 Euro or 25 Euro for full-time registered students, repeat candidates and those who are retired, unemployed or have a disability. Cheques and Money Orders should be made payable to the IRTS. When forwarding the exam fee intending candidates should enclose their postal address as well as phone and e-mail contact details. Intending candidates should note that anyone who fails to produce a photo identity on the day of the examination will not be allowed to sit the examination. The photo ID can be a driving licence, a passport, an employment photo identity card or a student card containing a photograph. A national Garda photo ID would also be acceptable. Sean EI7CDs address can also be found in the IRTS call book or in the call book section of the IRTS website at www.irts.ie. Sean’s e-mail address for any further enquiries is"ei7cd at gofree dot indigo dot ie" ______________________________________________ Useful Exam Text We would like to bring to the attention of those studying for the theory examination a new revision text published by the RSGB. The book is titled 'Amateur Radio Exam Secrets' and is written by Alan Betts G0HIQ who is also the author of two other exam-oriented publications - 'Foundation Licence Now' and 'Advance - The Full Licence Manual'. The most recent publication is a revision text for examinations rather than a basic textbook but it would be very useful for pre exam exercises. The book has 13 Chapters, 10 of which deal with specific aspects of the exam syllabus. Each of the Chapters has a brief introduction to the subject matter covered at each of the three levels of the UK examinations and a range of sample questions at the three levels on the subject of the Chapter. There is also a sample paper at each of the three levels Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced at the end of the book. The cost of the publication is £12.99 ______________________________________________ 80m Counties Contest The Summer 80m Counties Contest takes place on Sunday 21st June from 1400 to1700utc (note 1500 to 1800 local time). As part of a demonstration exercise AREN will locate a station at the new Civil Defence Headquarters in Roscrea for the duration of the contest. The station will demonstrate to various government Departments and Agencies our ability to establish a nationwide HF radio network. Operators are encouraged to participate in the contest in the normal fashion, if not for all then at least for part of the afternoon. Stations working the Roscrea station will score contest points in the normal way, though we would ask that you give your nearest town as well as your county. The callsign of the Roscrea station is not available at the time of going to print but will be published on the Radio news. It would assist with the evaluation of the exercise if some stations could call Roscrea at the end of the contest and give their claimed QSO numbers and number of counties. Note that the Roscrea station will not submit an entry to the contest but will provide a check log to the contest manager. ______________________________________________ Crossakiel Amateur Radio Association CARA Have begun Radio Theory classes, theory classes are held each week as per the club’s meetings. The Location is ‘The Welcome Wagon’ in Crossakiel for more details please contact John EI6GHB via Mobile at 087 6805663, Guests and new members are always welcome. ______________________________________________ South Eastern Amateur Radio Group SEARG operated the Special Event station EI2GEO from Tankardstown, Bonmahon on the Copper Coast Geopark in Co. Waterford over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of May as part of the Geopark Communications Weekend which runs as part of European Geopark Week. Many stations were QRV from various locations throughout the world over the weekend and the event was co-ordinated from GB6GEO at the English Riviera Global Geopark. Anybody who made contacts with Geopark stations during last weekend may be eligible for an award. More information is available from Martin Foster, G3VOF and Martins details are available on QRZ.com. The Copper Coast is an outdoor geology museum with geological heritage that reflects a variety of environments under which the area has evolved over the last 460 million years. Sedimentary and volcanic rocks illustrate the closure of the Iapetus Ocean, the resulting volcanic activity, evidence of the collision of two continents leading to the creation of Ireland and finally the effects of glaciation from the Ice Age. Cross-sections of these are exposed on the many spectacular cliffs along the Co. Waterford coastline. SEARG would like to thank everyone who participated, provided equipment,erected antennas, those who visited over the weekend, the Copper Coast Geopark management and notably Jim Farrell, EI8IG who supplied a camper van to use as a portable radio shack for the event. A very successful Geopark weekend was enjoyed by all involved and South Eastern Amateur Radio Group are looking forward to taking part again next year.. ______________________________________________ Shannon Basin Radio Club The Shannon Basin Radio Club are having their next meeting on Thursday night next the 28th May at 20.30 in Hannons Hotel, Roscommon Town. Non-members are also welcome to attend. ______________________________________________ Mayo Radio Experimenters The next meeting of the Mayo Radio Experimenters will be held on Wednesday next, June 3rd in The Welcome Inn Hotel, Castlebar at 9.30pm. The demonstration on balun building and dipole nests, given by John, EI7IQ, at the last meeting, proved very popular and another demonstration is planned for the June meeting. The club publishes a monthly members' newsletter, edited by David, EI3ECB, which is now in its ninth year. The club will be active once again this year, at the Hollybrook Vintage Rally on the first Sunday in July. Hollybrook is located between Claremorris and Hollymount on the R331, and the club uses this event annually, to demonstrate the hobby to the large crowd who attend this family event. The eighth Mayo Rally takes place on Sunday November 22nd at The Welcome Inn Hotel, Castlebar, once again under the directorship of Padaric Baynes, EI9JA. ______________________________________________ South Dublin Radio Club On 9th June John EI7BV will give a talk titled "A Historic overview of ITU world radio conferences and their impact on amateur radio, How Amateurs got their bands, Part 1" Presentations from previous talks at the club can be found in the talks section of the southdublinradioclub website ______________________________________________ Volvo Ocean Yacht Race The Galway Radio Experimenters Club has a Special Event call sign for the Volvo Ocean Yacht Race, which visits Galway from May 23rd 2009 to June 6th 2009. E I 0 9 V O R (Echo India Zero Nine Victor Oscar Romeo) will be on the air through out the festival from the old lighthouse on Mutton Island, the finish line for stage 7 of the race. They will be QRV on HF, SSB and CW also monitoring the local repeater R1 (145.625mhz, IRLP Node 5682). Mutton Island lighthouse was built in 1817 and was in operation until December 1977. Recently a restoration project was undertaken by Galway Civic Trust with the help of FÁS to preserve this wonderful landmark. The Galway Radio Experimenters Club would like to thank Mr Jim Higgins, Heritage Officer with Galway City Council, for his help and support. ______________________________________________ Tipperary Amateur Radio Group The monthly meeting of the Tipperary Amatuer Radio Group will take place on Thursday next the 4th of June, in Raheen House Hotel ,Raheen Road Clonmel .at 8.00 pm All are welcome . ______________________________________________ Stolen Radio An IC 7000 serial number 1001743 has been reported stolen, any details on the above radio please pass onto Derek EI7GLB at 0879049023. ______________________________________________ Rallies Bangor and District ARS - Radio and Computer Rally The 2009 rally is to be held on Sunday 14th June 2009,At 12 Noon in "The Country Club", Crawfordsburn. ADMISSION £2 INCLUDING 2 RAFFLE TICKETS ! The all new RSGB GB4FUN ! Trade Stands ,Bring and Buy ,BDARS Slide Show A good selection of radio and computer traders will be in attendance Special interest groups will have their own stands .The ever popular FREE bring and buy will be running as normal Contact Bill GI4AAM for further details: Tel: 028 9181 6707 Email: bill.langtry /at/ btinternet.com Website www.bdars.com ______________________________________________ Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Charlie EI8JB, preferably via e-mail to “charlie dot Carolan at gmail dot com” Or by phone to 087-6265418 News can also be submitted via e-mail to “newsteam at irts dot ie” for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. Please note that items for the radio news should reach the editor no later than midday on Thursday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin.