Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday 19 Feb 2023
SOTA Goats
Congratulations to Declan Craig EI6FR who became a SOTA Mountain Goat on February 11th after activating Scarr, Co.Wicklow EI/IE-012 for his 1000th point. Declan is one of only three amateurs in Ireland to achieve Mountain Goat status, it involved 163 SOTA activations over 5 years. He was accompanied on the activation by John Holland EI3ISB who clocked up his 500th point on Scarr where they shared a bottle of champagne. Well done to John on his "half Goat".
Lagan Valley ARS Rally
The Lagan Vally Amateur Radio Society will be holding it's annual rally on the 4th of March 2023 at the Hillsborough Village Centre, 7 Ballynahinch Road, Hillsborough, BT266AR. The doors will open at 10:30, please note the earlier starting time. The Rally ends at 13:00. The Hillsborough Village Centre is just off the main A1 road linking the North and South of the island. Several EI's attended the rally last year, Lagan Valley ARS hopes to welcome many EI hams again.
Tipperary Amateur Radio Group
The next meeting of the Tipperary Amateur Radio Group will be held at The Talbot Hotel, Clonmel on Tuesday the 28th of February 2023 at 8pm. This Hotel was formerly known as the Park Hotel. The meeting is open to all and Short Wave Listeners are in particular very welcome to attend. For more information about Tipperary Amateur Radio Group go to their group website www.ei7trg.ie
Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club Rally 2023
The LCARC Rally 2023 will take place in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis, Co Clare, Eircode V95 H0XK, on Sunday 26th of February 2023. The doors will open at 11.00am. LCARC welcomes the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group to the Rally. The usual traders including Long Communications, AirMast, and MakerShop Ennis will be in attendance. Laser Cutting and 3D printing will be on display at the MakerShop stand. The Maker Shop stand will also include a Boeing 737 games flight simulator panel. Tables can be booked by contacting Dermot EI2GT via an email to dermotgleeson1 /at/ gmail.com. Intending traders and individuals should contact Dermot immediately as there are only a limited number of tables left. Also, individuals can email Dermot if they wish to have a list of their items for sale published on the LCARC web site at www.limerickclareamateurradioclub.ie Lists of equipment for sale by individuals can be seen on the clubs website www.limerickclareamateurradioclub under market place drop down menu. On the Saturday night the IRTS Shortwave Listeners Club will be holding their informal dinner in the Hotel. Those wishing to make reservations with the Hotel for Saturday night can do so by contacting them at info /at/ templegatehotel.com or telephone 065-6823300. Please mention the IRTS Shortwave Listeners Club when booking. Dinner in the Dining room costs EUR35 per person, Bar food is also available in the hotel. The rally and the Saturday night event are open to anyone with an interest in Radio or associated interests. More information will be posted on the web site in the lead up to Rally.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC AGM
The 2023 AGM of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC will take place at 8 p.m. sharp on Monday, February 27th, 2023. In the interests of public safety and to avoid a large physical meeting taking place and due to the ever-present risk of a Covid infection, the EI2WRC committee have decided to have the 2023 AGM on the Zoom platform. This will also be of benefit to our many members who live outside of the south east region. There will of course be a limited number of places available for non-members of the club to attend the online AGM. For anyone that is interested in attending you are asked to send an email to southeasternarg /at/ gmail.com to express your interest in attending. Places are limited and people will be allocated a place upon a first come basis. Anyone interested is asked to get in touch to the above email before tomorrow Monday, February 20th. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC will be in attendance at the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club rally at the Temple Gate Hotel, in Ennis. Drop by the SEARG stand and get your free EI2WRC pen, there is a limited stock so come early, because once they're gone they're gone! Also, EI2WRC mouse mats, azimuthal maps and club mugs will be available for purchase. The group will also have a special incentive in place on the day. Any new member that joins on the day will receive a complimentary mouse mat, azimuthal map or club mug, and also enter a draw. The winner of the draw will receive their membership fee back. This offer only applies to new members joining and not to existing members who renew their membership on the day. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group look forward to meeting many friends both old and new on the day. Everyone in EI2WRC wishes the Limerick and Clare Amateur Radio Club the very best of luck with the event and continued success with your club in the future. 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 to go along to any of their meetings. You can check their website www.searg.ie and you can also find them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter /at/ seargnews .
The Propagation Horoscope
Taking advantage of improved propagation conditions on the way to the peak of the current solar cycle, the Irish Net has moved back from 20m to the 15m band. The Irish Net runs daily from 17:00 zulu on 21.317 Mhz. However, this weekend signals will struggle to make it across 'the pond', as a G2 moderate geomagnetic storm picked up pace throughout Friday evening, combined with radio blackouts triggered by a X2.2 flare from region 2339 on Friday at 12:15 UTC. This active region has just rotated into view over eastern limb of the sun and is likely to cause more flares and quickly changing hf conditions. It's again time to have a closer look at the lower VHF bands, there is a lot of local activity coordinated on irts.groups.io, with Robbie Ei2iP reporting astonishing openings on 8m and 6m. Robbie would be delighted to receive further reception reports, especially since we can expect this weekend's Aurora Borealis to affect the northern paths across the Atlantic.
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.
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