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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday September 21st 2008


Exam Agreement

A meeting was held last Monday between representatives of the Society and ComReg, which satisfactorily concluded ongoing discussions on the renewal of the examinations agreement. The new agreement, which will continue over the next three years, will be signed in the near future.

The formal agreement with ComReg under which the IRTS is responsible for setting, organising and correcting the examination for the Experimenter’s licence has worked very satisfactorily both from the point of view of ComReg and the Experimenter community. The arrangement has made the examination, which is the access point to licensed experimental radio, available on a regular basis. Since IRTS took over responsibility for the examination in May 2005, seven examinations have been held. Almost 150 candidates have sat the examinations and 62 per cent of these obtained the HAREC qualification.


Spectrum Policy

The report of a Working Group on Spectrum Policy established in 2007 was published on Friday 12 September by the Department of Communications Energy and Natural Resources and is open for public submissions until 28 November 2008. The purpose of the report is to review the current system of spectrum management with the aim of developing a national spectrum strategy that will be sufficiently flexible to accommodate technological developments as well as supporting and promoting innovation, research and development. Radio experimenters will be pleased to note that in the context of Drivers of change in Spectrum Management the section on Social, Cultural and Research Factors states “Spectrum reserved for use by amateurs or for scientific research purposes is vital in helping to ensure an ongoing interest in technology and in furthering our understanding of radio propagation and communications.” The Society will, however, be examining the report in detail, particularly in the light of an international trend for a more flexible management of the frequency spectrum, so that an appropriate response may be prepared and submitted before the deadline of 28 November, 2008. Responses may be e-mailed to SpectrumPolicyConsultation@dcenr.ie The full paper is available on the Department’s website at www.denr.gov.ie/communications


Theory Examination

The next Theory Examination for the Experimenters licence will be held on Thursday the 30th of October at 2p.m. in the ComReg Offices in Dublin. Places for the examination will be allocated on a first come first served basis and will only be reserved on receipt of the examination fee.

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 and not to Sean Nolan. When forwarding the exam fee intending candidates should enclose their postal address as well as phone and e-mail contact details.

The closing date for applications to sit the examination, which will be strictly enforced, is Friday the 17th of October. 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" Also available on the 'Where Do I Start' section of the IRTS website are Examination Notes with a sample examination paper as well as a link to the ComReg's Experimenter Pages which contain some very useful data under Licensing Information. Also in the Radio Theory Links section on the website is some very useful information for those studying for the examination.

The examination consists of a question paper of 60 multiple-choice questions divided into three main sections A, B and C and the time allowed is two hours. The pass mark is 60% and a pass is required in each of the three main sections of the paper. We wish all intending candidates the best of luck in the examination.


Talk on amateur satellites

There will be a talk on Amateur Satellites at Trinity on Friday 26th of September

The Centre for Telecommunications Value-Chain Research at Trinity College Dublin invites you to a presentation by Dr. Robert McGwier (AMSAT Vice President for Engineering) on Friday September 26 at 2.30pm in Trinity College Dublin.

Bob's presentation will cover his software-defined radio, networking & AMSAT work.

Dr. Robert McGwier N4HY Center for Communications Research in Princeton, N.J. USA


AREN News

The AREN committee met in Cork on Sunday the 14th of September. Items for discussion included activities since April, new members, the appointment of Assistant Co-ordinators, November SET, winter traning nets, information gleaned from the recent SEVESO Seminar and TrainingDay and planning for next years AREN meeting.

AREN members, Conor EI4JN and Tim EI5GPB, provided radio communications for a walk over the Purple and Twomies mountains on Saturday 13th September in the McGillicuddy Reeks. The almost 8 hour walk passed without incident.


MRG VHF / UHF Challenge 2008

The annual SSB Challenge took place on September 7th 2008. This was the third year the contest was run and many stations were heard and worked during the three hours. Conditions were reasonably good on 2 meters, with conditions on 70cm very weak. The MRG Group are currently receiving logs from participating stations and will announce the winners soon after the final submission date for the logs. The MRG Group would like to take this opportunity to thank all who participated in the contest.

Contest Logs to be forwarded to “ei2mrg at yahoo dot com” arriving no later than 7th October 2008. Logs received after this date will not count towards any award.


DX Bulletins

SOUTH COOK ISLANDS, E5. Bill, N7OU will be QRV as E51NOU from Rarotonga, IOTA OC-013, from September 15 to October 11. He will be active on 40 to 10 meters using only CW. QSL to home call

Swaziland, 18-19 October David GI4FUM / EI4DJ will be active from Swaziland during JOTA using the call 3DA0JOTA . There will be a group of 20 Swazi scouts experiencing JOTA for the first time. QSL via GI4FUM - see 3DA0DJ details on “QRZ dot com”

Swaziland, 25-26 October David GI4FUM / EI4DJ will be active during CQWW SSB from the former IRTS AFRI75 Dxpedition site & antenna farm in Hawane using the call 3DA0DJ. The 3DA0DJ call will be active from 18-28 October QSL via GI4FUM - see 3DA0DJ details on “QRZ dot com”


SPECIAL EVENT STATION

GB2STI ( Steam Trains Ireland ) will be operating 'Railways On The Air' the weekend commencing Saturday 27th September, from the excursion platform of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland Whitehead Co Antrim.

We intend to operate 80/40/20m and will also have a 2m multimode station on air

The station will be operated by members and friends of the Antril & District Amateur Radio Society as part of the celebrations of the first steam passenger train to operate in the British isles.

Start time on Saturday is 10am special QSL Card is available for all contacts made during the event via the qsl manager GI0KPF


IARUMS Region 1

Most member societies of Region 1 have been monitoring the Incursion on this QRG After monitoring UNIFIL voice traffic on 14.055 USB from Lebanon.

Ger EI4GXB our Region 1 Monitoring Team member has filed a complaint to COMREG on 1st September. This issue now seems to be resolved after OD Monitor OD5RI, managed to get in direct contact with the UNIFIL Authorities who have promised to cease operations on this frequency.


South Dublin Radio Club

David Heale G6HGE / EI3IA will give a talk on Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) next Tuesday 23rd of September at 8pm

The SDR Barbeque will take place on Saturday the 27th of September from the QTH of EI3IO in Shankhill but is weather dependant.


Limerick Radio Club

The next meeting of the Club will be on the Thursday the 9th of October at the usual venue, the Limerick Institute of Technology, Moylish at 19:30 local time. All those interested are welcome to attend.


Cork Radio Club, 17th Annual Rally

The Cork Radio Club held their 17th Radio Rally in the new venue at the Montenotte Hotel in Cork, there was a large crowd in attendance and a good days trading was had By both amateurs and traders alike. A video clip of the Rally can be seen on you tube at the following url www.youtube.com/ei5crc It is hoped to use the same venue next year. We would like to thank all those involved in organising and running this successful rally and of course the traders and amateurs alike.


New Radio News Editor

Charlie Carolan EI8JB would like to express his appreciation to the IRTS Committee in his new roll as Radio News Editor. Charlie looks forward receiving material for inclusion in the radio news. He would also like to welcome Gerry Kavanagh EI8GRB from Galway who will be coming on board in the near future as Assistant Editor.


E-mail Address Change

Due to very high volumes of spam e-mail, it was deemed necessary to shut down the "news at irts dot ie" address. Going forward, please send all input for the IRTS Radio News and Echo Ireland Newsletter to the new e-mail address which is "newsteam at irts dot ie". Again, the new e-mail for news input is "newsteam at irts dot ie".

Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be

forwarded to Charlie EI8JB, 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 Friday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin.

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