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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday September 23rd 2007


CQIR

CQIR is just a week away and preparations are well in hand for the event. A large station is being assembled for the Press in the Phoenix Park and EI75IRTS will be QRV before and during the contest promoting the event worldwide. Low frequency operation for EI75IRTS will be from the EI7M site in Cork which will ensure a great signal on those bands. We would again encourage all EIs and GIs to make a big effort to get on the bands for what promises to be a great celebration of Ireland and the Irish wherever they may be throughout the world.

Dont forget that the first Irish entry pulled from the draw will win a long weekend for two in New York City, all expenses paid. You get a free entry for every 75 qsos made in the contest. Prizes are fully sponsored at no cost to the Society. This is a showcase event for the Society and, as always, good operating practice, friendliness and courtesy to other users of the spectrum should be the order of the day.


EI0MAR

EI0MAR will be QRV on Saturday and Sunday the 29th and 30th of September for the CQIR event. On Saturday the station will be active between 1100 and 2200 UTC and also on the following morning. On Saturday evening, the North Dublin Radio Club's weekly meeting will take place at the station. The vintage radio museum in Howth, which houses EI0MAR, is located in the Martello tower in Howth. Access is up a steep pathway opposite the Abbey Tavern. Visitors are welcome and may operate the station using their own or the club's call sign.

Further information on EI0MAR is available on the club's website. This is easily found by googling the words EI0MAR, Martello and Howth. A link to the museum web page will allow downloading of a free 22-page booklet about the tower and the history of wireless.


Logs

Logs for EI75IRTS activity on CW and SSB are required by the QSL Manager, Denis, EI6HB immediately. There are a lot of direct QSL cards after arriving and QSO details must be checked before confirmation is sent out. Logs (preferably in ADIF format) should be sent to “ei6hb at eircom dot net”.

All who participated in the 2 metre counties contest, even those who gave out just a few points, are encouraged to send in their logs to the Contest Manager. The latest date for log entry is this Tuesday, the 25th of September.


Cork Radio Club

At the recent Annual General Meeting of the Cork Radio Club the following were committe was elected: Con EI7DJB Cathaoirleach; Dick EI6HH Cuntasoir; Frank EI6EVB Runai; John EI8HS, Vincent EI7HN, Finbarr EI1CS and Tony EI9ID.


Kerry Amateur Radio Group

The Kerry Amateur Radio Group will hold its annual general meeting on Saturday the 6th of October 2007 at 10 a.m. in the Muckross House Coffee Shop, Killarney. The annual election of officers will take place, and the following incumbents have been nominated: Ron Hahn, EI2JP, Chairman & Treasurer, John Costello, EI9ESB, Vice Chairman Billy O'Connor, EI7CQB, Hon. Secretary.

Ballots will be posted to all current members during the week of the 17th of September 2007. These must be received by the Board on or before the start of the AGM. After the AGM, there will be a more general disussion regarding the Group's activities and direction for 2007/2008. All members are requested to attend, and new members are always welcome.


DXpedition to St Brandon

The 3B7C DXpedition, operating from the Saint Brandon Rocks in the Indian Ocean, is still underway. By Wednesday last, the group had made more than 93,000 QSOs. CW continues to be the dominant mode, accounting for nearly 60% of QSOs to date.

160 metres has been the most difficult band for the group, partly due to the high level of atmospheric noise in the area in which the group is operating. Just 2% of QSOs to date have been on 160 metres. As regards modes, in addition to CW and phone, RTTY was also heard from Saint Brandon during the week. The group is not planning to use data modes other than RTTY.

As of Wednesday, there were 58 EI call signs in the log. Nicky EI9JF, who has worked them on 15 band/mode slots, is top of the list, followed closely by EI7BA, EI2JD, EI9FBB, EI3IO and EI4CF. The majority of QSOs with EI have been on 15, 17 and 20 metres. At the time of writing, there we 48 GI calls in the log, led by GI3OQR, GI4VIV and GI0KVQ.

The DXpedition finishes on Monday the 24th of September.


Short Range Devices (SRDs) on 10 GHz

ComReg is proposing to open the segment 10.4 to 10.42 GHz to licence-exempt Short Range Devices or SRDs. These will be mainly for movement detection in the context of traffic control and will have a power level of 500 milliwatts. There is an experimenter secondary allocation at 10.0 to 10.5 GHz. The EU notification procedure and the standstill period for observations means that a final position on this will not be adopted until early October at the soonest. The relevant document is ComReg 07/37 and is available on the ComReg website at www.comreg.ie Any experimenter having concerns about this proposal can write to Jim Connolly at ComReg.


Winlink and APRS

John, EI7IG, is experimenting/testing a Winlink Telpac Node in the Waterford area. The frequency in use is 439.875 MHz and the callsign is EI3RCW-10. If anyone is interested in participating, please contact him directly at 086-8167310

Experiments in APRS are ongoing around the southeast on two metres using 144.800 MHz. A number of experimental digipeaters and Igates are in operation. The WX station EI2WRC is also using this frequency. For more information on APRS visit www.aprs.org


Limerick Radio Club

The next meeting of Limerick Radio Club will take place on Thursday the 11th of October at the usual venue, the Limerick Institute of Technology, Moylish at 19:30 hrs local time. All those interested are welcome to attend.


Marconi Clifden Celebrations

On the 17th of October 1907 Guglielmo Marconi sent his first commercial message from the then new station at Clifden, Ireland. This October in celebration of this historic event members of the Galway Radio Experimenters Club will be running a special event station from Saturday 13th to Wednesday 17th from Clifden. The club has been issued the call sign EI100MFT for the event, MFT been the last call sign used on the original station.

On the Wednesday they will be making a special linkup with the Marconi sister station in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. Part of this linkup will be an exchange of greetings between President Mary McAleese and Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia the Honourable Mayann E. Francis. The group will also be honoured to have Princess Electra Marconi present as she is coming to Clifden for the festival along with an Exhibit from the Marconi Foundation in Bologna. The Galway Radio Experimenters Club will also be presenting a display of vintage equipment. More details on the festival can be found at www.clifden.ie Visitors to the station are more than welcome and if you would like to participate this can also be arranged. For further information please contact Enda Broderick (II2II) on 086-8676410 or email: “enda dot Broderick at lightnet dot ie”.


Waterford Rally

The Waterford Radio and Electronics Rally will take place on Sunday the 21st of October at the Woodlands Hotel on the Dunmore Road in Waterford. South East Communications and Long Communications will be at the rally. The IRTS, AREN and a bring-and-buy stand will also feature.

Doors open at 11 a.m. and admission is 5 Euro, accompanied children are admitted free of charge. For details including a directions map, visit the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group web site on www.searg.com


Upcoming Rallies

The Foyle and District Rally will take place on Sunday the 4th of November 2007 at the White Horse Hotel, Derry. For more information visit www.mn0aku.org.uk

The Mayo Radio Rally will take place on Sunday the 18th of November in the Belmount Hotel, Knock, Co. Mayo. For more information contact Padraic Baynes, EI9JA @ QTHR.


Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Mark Wall, EI7IS at QTHR or by phone to 051-853806 or 087-6302026. Items for the radio news can also be faxed to 087 5 6302026. News should be submitted via e-mail to “news 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 Friday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin.

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