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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday 15th June 2014


CW Field Day

We heard only two EI portable stations operating in last weekend's CW Field Day: Avondhu Radio Club operated from a tent at Caherdrinna Castle, just west of the Glocca Maura, in County Cork, and kept going despite torrential rain and strong gales, while Shannon Basin Radio Club was at its usual QTH in Ballinasloe, County Galway and experienced somewhat better weather.

Both stations report that band conditions were generally disappointing, although there were some brief openings on 10 metres on Saturday and Sunday. While the focus in this contest is on working other portable stations in Europe, QSOs with DX stations are also welcome: the Shannon Basin group had a good run on 15 metres on both days, attracting some DX callers including VK (Australia) and VP8 (Falkland Islands).


IRTS Contests

The IRTS 80m Contest takes place June 22nd and the closing date for submission of logs is 6th July 2014. Full details are available from irts.ie/contests


Tipperary Amateur Radio Group EI7TRG

The TARG now have their website back up and running again. You can follow TARG on www.ei7trg.ie, new and interesting information on what’s happening in Tipperary is posted to the site on a regular basis.


South Eastern Amateur Radio Group

The members of SEARG would like to congratulate 3 club members who passed the Harec exam. Joe Cluney, Eoghan Kinane and Noel O’Loughlin sat the exam on the 22nd May and all 3 got the good news recently. Well done to all who passed the exam and we look forward to having a QSO with all of you soon.

The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will be QRV as EI2WRC/P from The Promenade Festival in Tramore Co. Waterford over the weekend of Friday, Saturday & Sunday the 4th, 5th & 6th July. A huge variety of exciting attractions & family friendly activities including sand art, street entertainment, a regatta, maritime heritage events, stalls along the prom, performances & light shows have been organised over the course of the weekend.

The festival also celebrates the work of the Emergency Services who will showcase their skills to the public with exciting displays & demonstrations. SEARG will also be there with a station set up from the event displaying the great hobby of Amateur Radio. For more information about the festival please see www.thepromenadefestival.com and for updates on our participation see www.searg.com .

The June meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford on Monday the 30th May at 8.30 p.m. Please note the change of time from 8 to 8.30 pm. This meeting will be preceded by a committee at 8.00 p.m. sharp. New members and anyone interested in learning more about amateur radio are very welcome to attend.


DX News

Take JG8NQJ is returning to Minami Torishima and will be active as JG8NQJ/JD1 until mid-August. Take operates only CW and is employed at the local weather station while on the island. Minami Torishima counts as OC-073 for the Islands on the Air Award as well as being a separate entity for the DXCC programme.

An expedition to the South Kuril Islands takes place from 18 – 25 June. The callsign will be RI0F and the actual location will be Anuchina Island. The IOTA reference is AS-062 and QSL Manager is RX3F.

Gerry 7P8CC has now gone QRT from his QTH in Maseru, Lesotho. He thanks all the EI/GI operators for their calls over the past four years and hopes to get his EI8CC station up and running again before long.

An unusual callsign will be aired from 19 – 22 June. Look out for VX9MOSKVA which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the forced landing on Miscou Island of an Iluyushin bomber which was attempting a non-stop flight from Moscow to New York in connection with the 1939 World’s Fair. QSL manager for this special event station is VE9GFD.

Members of Papa Lima DX-Group plus Guest Operators will be active from Great Blasket Island EU-007 for IOTA Contest 2014 as EJ1Y and from 26-31 July 2014 as EJ0PL. QSL via EI5JQ (QRZ.com).


NOAA-16 Decommissioned

Launched in September 2000 NOAA-16 completed 70655 orbits and over thirteen years of service to the weather and forecasting communities. NOAA-16 was decommissioned on June 9, 2014 at 14:23 UTC due to major spacecraft anomaly. The satellite cannot be recovered.


WRTC2014 Chase

Everyone is encouraged to work the World Radiosport Team Championship teams on as many bands and modes as possible. All contacts with WRTC2014 stations will be confirmed by QSL card via the bureau for DX stations and direct to US stations. All contacts will also be confirmed through ARRL’s Logbook of the World. As an added incentive, each QSO with a WRTC team counts 5 points for the ARRL Centennial QSO Party. The “WRTC2014 Chase” will run concurrently with the IARU HF Championship beginning on July 12 at 1200Z. Any station that appears in all 59 WRTC team logs will be able to download a certificate from the WRTC2014 Web site after the contest. Complete rules for the WRTC2014 activity award program are available at www.wrtc2014.org/competition/participation-awards/


Brendan Trophy Challenge

Transatlantic 2m attempt by VC1T Canadian amateurs July 4 - 12, 2014.

The final updated operating schedule of the 2m Transatlantic Brendan Trophy attempt from Pouch Cove Newfoundland this summer by station VC1T can be accessed on www.brendanquest.org/ Many mission critical changes are included. VC1T will be using WSJT modes, CW and SSB. It is necessary that EU operators follow the operating protocol closely to enhance the chance of success. Other information sources, such as Facebook, are specified through the webpage. Continuing updates and operating information during the attempt will be found on the Brendan Quest webpage and realtime on ON4KST 144/132 chat.


Items for inclusion in next week’s Radio News can be submitted via e-mail to “newsteam /at/ irts / dot / ie” for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. Urgent news items for the radio news maybe telephoned to the radio news editor, Aidan, EI7JC on 085 7100511.

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.

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