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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday April 29th 2001


IRTS Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Radio Transmitters Society will be held at the Lakeside Hotel, Ballykeeran, Athlone on Saturday May the 26th at 1430.

The venue is just outside Athlone on the Cavan Road. Full catering facilities will be available. There will not be a trade show associated with the AGM.

Nominations are still being sought for the following awards: Pat Conway Cup, Arup Cup and the Collins Cup. These are awarded for service to the Society or the hobby. Send your nominations to Peter Grant EI4HX at QTHR. Entries for the construction awards will be accepted up to 1400 on the day.


Six Metre Awards

There is some confusion about the year 2000 six metre activity award. Points will be awarded as follows, 1 point per each unique QSO. Multiplied by the total number of locator squares worked (first four characters only). And again Multiplied by the number of DXCC countries worked. Completed logs with cover sheets should be sent to the contest manager John McDonnell EI6IR ei6ir@eircom.net or Phone 094-60127.


IATV and Microwave Convention

Due to the foot and mouth situation, the Irish Amateur Television club in association with the Microwave Society of Ireland will unfortunately not be able to hold their second annual convention as planned. This event will be deferred to a later date, possibly around September. The new date for this event, when it is scheduled, will be announced in the radio news. The e-mail address of the Irish Amateur Television Club is iatc@eircom.net.


CW Field Day

The CW field day due to be held on the June Bank Holiday Weekend, will go ahead as planned this year.


Dayton Hamvention On-Line

Kenwood Communications plans to put the 2001 Dayton Hamvention live on the Internet. At least it will be putting a small part of it into cyberspace in Real Audio thanks to an idea from Charlie, WB6CIY from California. Listen on May 18th, 19th and 20th at www.kenwood.net ARNewsline are also planning a live two hour Real Media netcast of their Ham Radio Town Meeting.


TVI legislation in the UK

In Britain, neighbours who complain about TVI will be charged a 50 pound call-out fee if it turns out that their equipment is at fault. The Radiocommunications Authority will not charge if the interference is found to arise from faulty or illegal equipment outside the complainant’s premises.


Solar News

NASA scientists said the most powerful flare erupted Thursday, March 29th, rated a class X, the most potent category. The eruptions on the sun triggered a brief radio blackout to some short-wave and low-frequency navigational aids. The solar activity also produced an aurora in the night sky over northern latitudes that lead to the strange, watery sounding DX signals on the VHF bands.

In addition to radio disruptions, charged particles from solar flares can bombard satellites and orbiting spacecraft and in rare cases, damage industrial equipment on the ground.

Amateurs on the VHF bands welcome these flares. While it may hinder propagation on the HF bands, the VHF operators know that excellent conditions can be expected on 6 or 2 metres. DX News 8Q7KK will be operational in the Maldives until May 4th on 160 through 10 metres using CW, RTTY, PSK31, and SSTV skeds by special request. QSL to Peter Kalocsa, MARKO, Bakonyi ut 20, H-8441, HUNGARY.

9Y4/N2IM, will be operational in Trinidad and Tobago from April 26th through May 4th on 20, 15, 10 and 6 meters. QSL direct to N2IM.


Items for inclusion in Echo Ireland should be forwarded to Dave Moore EI4BZ at 021-4353853 in the evenings or at 021-4823172 during office hours. Items can be submitted to Dave by e-mail at ei4bz@eircom.net and you can fax him at 021-4354113. Items for inclusion in the Radio News should be forwarded to Mark Wall EI7IS at QTHR or via e-mail to ei7is@qsl.net or cyberis@e-merge.ie. Items can also be sent to Mark over the phone at 087-6302026. News can also be submitted via e-mail to news@irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both news services.

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