Irish Radio Transmitters Society Radio News Bulletin Sunday 22nd November 2009 ______________________________________________ AREN EMERGENCY NET As a result of the ongoing threat from severe weather events, Aren has been regularly activating their net on 3.660 mHz. plus or minus the QRM. All stations are welcome to call into the net, whether or not you have participated in Aren activities before, but please wait until requested. The net control station will indicate when you should call. Some 2 metre repeaters may also be used by AREN as and when the need arises. Stations are asked to keep clear of frequencies that are been used for emergency traffic and to offer assistance when they are in a position to do so. ______________________________________________ Galway VHF Group 24 hour Radio Operation from RNLI Stations The final operation from the Galway VHF Group will take place from Clifden Lifeboat Station, Ballyconneely, over the weekend of the 28th and 29th of November. The callsign will be EI 185 RNLI All operation will take place on the HF bands with two stations in operation at all times. There will be operation on Phone and Digital Modes with some operation on SSTV also possible. There will be a special QSL card for all contacts made and SWL reports will also be welcomed. Varying types of antenna construction will be used including a Kite antenna for the LF bands. ______________________________________________ Kish Lighthouse Activation Daniel EI9FHB should be active from the Kish lighthouse from Sunday 22nd of November until Wednesday 9th of December. The Kish lighthouse is located about 10 miles east of Dun Laoghaire and marks a sandbank on the route to Wales. The lighthouse was built in 1965 and is undergoing a major overhaul of power systems and navigational aids. Daniel will be operational on HF voice and 2M & 70cm FM. Operating will be mainly on Sundays and after 7pm other days. The worked all Ireland frequencies will be used where possible. ______________________________________________ Cashota-Ireland (castles and stately homes on air) The Cashota-Ireland website may be found at http://cashota-ireland.org Full details of how to activate castles or stately homes and also how to apply for awards may be found at the CASHOTA-Ireland website. To date only 3 castles have been activated in Ireland since the launch of Cashota-Ireland last January. Only 25 castles need be activated or worked in EI/GI to qualify for the Cashota-Ireland award. Castles worked or activated may also count towards the Cashota-UK award where a total of 50 are required to qualify. To date very little interest has been shown in this award. From January 2010 members of the Galway VHF Group will be activating castles on a more regular basis. For those interested in activating or working castles do take a look as the Cashota-Ireland website at http://cashota-ireland.org . Further details may also be obtained from EI5DD at QTHR ______________________________________________ Easter Island XR0Y The XR0Y team completed their expedition last weekend with over 22,000 QSO’s confirmed in the log, Well done to the 24 EI stations that made it through the Hugh pile ups. Top of the EI List was Eoin Fagan EI9O & Fr Niall Foley EI4CF who worked Easter Island XR0Y on 4 bands. ______________________________________________ Happy 35th Birthday to AO-7 Amateur Satellite. Over the past week birthday celebrations have been in place to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Alpha Oscar 7, the Amateur Radio Satellite, which had reached its orbit 35 years ago. Launched in November 1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California U.S.A this Satellite is very fond amongst Amateur and SWL stations alike. To date AO-7 has completed over 160.000 orbits of the Earth. In 1981 it was thought the batteries had short-circuited and AO-7 was off the air. After a QRT period of 21 years its 2m beacon was heard again in 2002. Since then AO-7 is active, but a little whimsical switching to one if its 4 modes during each orbit. Working solely on direct power to its Solar Panels, hence it is not possible to hear or work in periods of darknes. AMSAT the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation is currently involved in testing its new generation of Satellites, and involved with ground stations on the Commissioning of its new addition to the fleet SO-67 which should be complete from its commissioning period in the near future. More information to follow on this when available. ______________________________________________ International Space Station & Space Shuttle Atlantis The STS-129 mission will focus on storing spare hardware on the exterior of the station. The 11-day flight will include three space walks and the installation of two platforms to the station’s truss, or backbone. The platforms will hold spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are retired. This equipment is large and can only be transported using the unique capability of the shuttle. Atlantis is also carrying additional Amateur Radio antennas for the International Space Station (ISS). Astronauts will install and deploy the antennas during the second space walk of STS-129. The radio team will monitor the space walk activity via a NASA real-time teleconference call. The mission also will return station crewmember Nicole Stott to Earth and is slated to be the final space shuttle crew rotation flight. ______________________________________________ Industry News Rowley Shears G8KW who established KW Electronics passed away on Tuesday November 17 at the age of 90 Those Radio Amateurs who joined the hobby in the 1950's or 60's will be familiar with the range of Amateur rigs that KW Electronics produced at the Vanguard Works in Dartford, Kent. During this period KW Electronics was the UK's leading Amateur Radio manufacturer. The 1960's saw the widespread adoption of Single Sideband and for many Radio Amateurs their first SSB radio was a KW. Even after the company stopped manufacturing in the 1970's KW equipment remained popular on the second-hand stands at rallies. Rowley G8KW will be fondly remembered by users of rigs such as the KW Vanguard, KW Valiant, KW Viceroy, KW Vespa, and KW 2000. ______________________________________________ Yaesu Heritage Year 2010 - GS2MP During 2010, Jim GM0NAI and Chris GM3WOJ/ZL1CT will be putting a collection of vintage Yaesu rigs on the air from Inverness in Scotland. Precise details of the event starting in January 2010 are still being worked out - please check for the latest information on http://www.gm7v.com/yaesu2010.htm ______________________________________________ Dundalk Amateur Radio Society The DAR Group have added yet again another interesting link to their website, This enables to view on your PC Monitor ‘live’ Aircraft Traffic. For more information please visit www.ei7dar.com click on the Look – Aircraft ADS-B link for more information. The next meeting of the Society is at 8.30pm Wednesday 2nd December at our clubhouse in Dundalk, all are welcome to attend. ______________________________________________ Shannon Basin Radio Club AGM The Shannon Basin Radio Club will hold its AGM on Friday 11th Dec at 20.30 in Hannons Hotel, Roscommon. All members are asked to attend and new members are always welcome. Festive Refreshments will be available on the night. ______________________________________________ South Dublin Radio Club This year's South Dublin Radio Club Christmas Party will take place on Tuesday the 15th of December. The venue will be the same as last year, "The Morgue", Tempelogue Village from 8.00 pm until late. Members of other clubs and visitors are as usual very welcome to this social event. Limited free food will be available for paid-up members; visitors can choose from the bar menu until 9.00 pm. ______________________________________________ Rallies / Events Dxpedition and IOTA Talk by Declan Craig EI6FR The Mayo Club has organised Declan Craig EI6FR to give a talk the evening before the Mayo Radio Rally, Saturday 21st November. Sunday 22nd November 2009 Mayo Radio Rally Venue: Welcome Inn, Castlebar, Co. Mayo The rally organiser and main contact is Padraic Baynes EI9JA mobile 087 - 695 7154 or email pbaynes1 at eircom dot net Special Accommodation Rates are also available please check the full details on the www.ei7mre.org website For more information on Rallies please check the IRTS website. ______________________________________________ Items mentioned in the IRTS Radio news are of a general, educational or informative nature, there is no guarantee that stations mentioned can be heard or worked 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.