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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday, February 6th 2022


Club News

The February meeting of The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will be held on Monday, the 7th of February, at 8:00 p.m. sharp at The Sweep Bar, Adamstown, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, Eircode X91 H588. This will be the first physical meeting of the club since February 2020, so we are looking forward to seeing many familiar faces and also some new club members who we have never met in person. Any non-members who are interested in finding out more about the hobby or the group are also very welcome on the night. There will be a lot to discuss on the night including plans for the year ahead with some exciting new activations in the pipeline, so we look forward to seeing a big crowd in attendance.

The 89th Irish Radio Transmitters AGM weekend will take place over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of April 2022 in the Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Kilkenny Road, Carlow. Hotel rooms are almost all gone so if you want a hotel room, please book it immediately. Tickets for the Gala Dinner can now be pre-booked from John EI7IG for collection on arrival at the event.

Any IRTS affiliated radio club or group are very welcome to attend the SEARG Radio Rally on the 10th of April and promote their club or group. Tables will be available free of charge, providing they do not sell any radio gear or radio related items. For any club or group to secure a place at the rally please contact the organizing committee by email to irtsagm2022cw /at/ gmail.com as soon as possible but no later than by Friday the 11th of March 2022 in order to be guaranteed a place. Tables will be allocated on a first come first serve basis so book your table early

For anyone that wishes to find out more about the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group and their activities you can drop them an email to southeasternarg /at/ gmail.com or please feel free to go along to any of their meetings. You can check their website www.searg.ie and you can also join them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Preparations are well underway for the GI-QRP Convention taking place at the Tandragee Golf Club. The new callsign GI5LOW will be used for the first time, and it is possible that the event may be live-streamed.

And the Bushvalley Amateur Radio Club has announced the date for its 2022 rally. It will take place on the 6th of November at Limavady football club.


Nordic HF Conference

A series of Nordic Conferences on HF communications was initiated in 1986 when HF86 was held in Sweden. International interest in contributing papers and exhibits has grown, and so has the number of participants. The conference that was initially planned for a limited audience of Nordic countries now enjoys international acclaim. Taking place every three years, the next meeting, HF22, is planned for the 15th to the 17th of August at Fåtö, a small Baltic Sea island north of Gotland. The organizer's website at www.nordichf.org has an archive of papers and presentations from previous conventions, and gives an idea of the wood cabin accomodations and the comforts available for a radio related holiday.


Radcom Plus & Basic

The RSGB Website reports that the latest issue RadCom Plus is now available to RSGB members. This winter's edition carries articles about test equipment, 30 TeraHertz infrared experiments, observations of long-delayed echos, and experiments with DIY remote operations. RadCom Plus is complemented by RadCom Basics, aimed at newcomers and those looking to brush-up their knowledge. Previous editions of RadCom Basics are available at rsgb.org/radcom-basics.


HF Activities

A three member team of Czech hams are on air as TU5PCT until next weekend. Using several verticals, a spiderbeam and three rigs, they are on air on all HF bands. QSL with the the Ivory Coast DXpedition is via OK6DJ.

8Q7AH from the Maldives, IOTA AS-013, can also be heard until next weekend, once Henry, LU4DXU has his SSB and FT station set up for operation on all HF bands.

At the opposite end of the thermometer, Chris, W2RTO, is active on 20m as KC4USV at the McMurdo Station on Ross Island, IOTA AN-011. He uses SSB and FT8, and will be on the air until mid-2022. QSL for KC4USV via K7MT or LoTW.

Every Sunday at 16:00 Danish local time, that is 15:00 UTC, you can join the Vintage Radio Forum on 3748 kHz +/- 5 kHz with OZ1IXJ / OZ8CTH as a moderator. Here you have the opportunity to hear the old radios from the time when father was a boy. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether with old or new gear.

On Monday, the RSGB SSB 80m Club Championship runs from 2000 to 2130UTC. The exchange is signal report and serial number.

On Thursday, the 50MHz UK Activity Contest takes place from 2000 to 2230UTC. Using all modes the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.

And next Saturday, the 1st UK 1.8MHz Contest runs from 1900 to 2300UTC. It is CW only and the exchange is signal report and serial number.

Next weekend the 48 hour long CQ WW RTTY WPX contest runs from 00:00UTC on the 12th to 23:59UTC on the 13th, on the 80-10 meter segments. The exchange is signal report and serial number.

The Swedish DX Federation will be broadcasting on 6070 kHz and 9670 kHz for World Radio Day, next Sunday, the 13th of February. World Radio Day is an initiative of UNESCO and the United Nations. The schedule is 12.00-13.00 UTC on 9670 kHz, and a repeat at 16.00-17.00 UTC on 6070 kHz.


Iceland WEB-SDR

Georg, TF3GZ, with help from Ari, TF1A, moved one of the KIWI-SDR receivers to a new site provisioned by Johann, TF1TJN. The photo on the Icelandic Radio Association's website shows the T-antenna they built, it's suspended by six 15m tall wooden poles. The URL for the receiver is floi.utvarp.com. It covers 10kHz to 30MHz and can serve 8 users simultaneously.


Orbital News

The Kenwood D710 Transceiver on the International Space Station ISS is in Crossband FM mode again. The downlink frequency is 437.800 MHz and the uplink is on 145.990 MHz with a subtone of 67 Hz. The ISS signal is quite strong, a simple dualband antenna and transceiver is sufficient for stable contacts.

AMSAT’s GOLF program has suffered a setback, as NASA had to de-manifest the GOLF-TEE CubeSat from the upcoming ELaNa-46 mission at the request of AMSAT, citing Covid19 related restrictions and supply chain disruptions, affecting both AMSAT’s vendors and team. The GOLF-TEE and GOLF-1 CubeSats are are part of the program designed to pave the way for AMSAT for a return to highly elliptical orbits, having to incrementally prove maneuverability and attitude control, amongst further in-flight capabilities required to meet current and proposed orbital debris regulations.


Healthy Hams

USKA, the Union of Swiss Radio Amateurs, has launched a health initiative for its members. Not trying to replace the GP, but recognizing that older YLs and OMs would like to exchange their experiences and support each other when confronted with health issues. Overseen by physician Dr. Heinz Hofstetter, HB9HVS, help and advice is available to members of all ages, accessible via the 'health-adviser' hamgroup on the USKA web portal.


The Propagation Horoscope

A series of strong CME's throughout last week have brought very changeable conditions, ranging from blackouts and a depressed MUF, to very strong openings on the 12 and 10 meter bands, with reports of exceptional contacts into Asia and the Pacific during mid-morning hours. JA was present on 40 meters early afternoon for several days. Early Saturday morning, the Kp index shot up to 5, in the wake of a G1 Flare. NOAA predicts that the solar flux index will stay above 130, and a solar wind speed of 350km/s with a moderate particle count above 5 particles per cubic centimeter. Fuelled by a stronger than expected solar Cycle 25, we can expect a continous firework of flares and CME's from now on.

That is the news for this week. Items for inclusion in next week’s radio news can be submitted by email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. The deadline is midnight on Friday.

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