Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday May 24th 2023
Silent Key – George Mc Clarey EI6S
We regret to report on the death of George Mc Clarey EI6S of Mountnugent, Co. Cavan on Sunday last May 14th in Cavan General Hospital. George was one of EI’s leading DXers and was a DXCC Honor Roll member with the highest total of 357 countries ever confirmed by an EI radio amateur. He was a low band specialist and was well known worldwide particularly on top band and 80 metres. We extend our deepest sympathy to his sons Martin, Kieran and Brendan and his extended family. George was laid to rest on Wednesday May 17th at Kilgarry cemetery.
Committee Meeting Postponed
The IRTS committee meeting scheduled for Saturday May 20th in Athlone was postponed and has been rescheduled for Thursday next May 24th at 2000 on the Zoomplatform.
Mills on the Air
Last weekend was the annual Mills on the Air event and as usual Shannon Basin Club members set up a station with the callsign EI2EWM at the three hundred year old Windmill in Elphin, County Roscommon. Operation was carried out over Saturday and Sunday. Collective Communication EI3CC set up a station at the Tacumshane Windmill in County Wexford operating from the club caravan. A gazebo was set up with simple 'electronic' games and basic circuit building blocks to engage with members of the general public.
National Shortwave Listeners Club
Many members of the National Shortwave Listeners Club are currently anxiously waiting on the results from the HAREC examination held on Saturday May 13th in both Dublin and Cork. Many new callsigns should be heard on the air over the coming weeks. The Sunday socials will continue over the Summer months and many interesting topics will be covered. The clubs Annual General Meeting will be held on June 25th with the usual AGM agenda of reports, elections, future planning, etc. The next on line course which will be the clubs sixth, will start in the Autumn and already there is strong interest from potential participants. All information about the club and classes is available on swl.ie.
Collective Communications ARDF
On Sunday June 11th Collective Communication are having a pedestrian ARDF 'fox hunt' at Oughaval Woods near Stradbally in Co. Laois primarily for members of the National Short Wave Listeners Club. The idea behind the event is not a formal radio fox hunt as such, but more a hands on demonstration and participation in pedestrian Amateur Radio Direction Finding, allowing newcomers to gain the basic experience and techniques required for successful Direction Finding. EI3CC will be supplying the equipment and offering encouragement and advice by demonstrating/helping those participating to find the elusive little foxes that will have been pre-hidden within the woodland. Oughaval woods is a reasonably central location and as such shouldn't be too difficult to get to from all parts of the country. A HF station will be on air from their caravan along with liquid refreshments for those requiring R+R following their hunting exertions.
Contest News
The CQWW CW WPX contest is the big event and will be held over 48 hours next weekend. In two weeks time we will have the IRTS CW Field Day starting at 1500z on Saturday June 3rd. There are’ three sections, the open section runs for 24 hours and there are two restricted sections, one for 24 hours and one for six hours. Last year’s open section was won by Avondhu Radio Club EI1E with 821 QSOs, there was no entry in the 24 hours restricted section and Joe EI7GY won the restricted 6 hour section with 304 QSOs. We appeal to clubs to get involved in this our oldest contest.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC
The Irish Vintage Society’s All Ireland Vintage Rally will be held on Sunday next May 28th in Ballyfin, Co. Laois (Eircode R32 AD92) starting at 10am. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC will be showcasing the hobby at this event, their second time participating in the national event. If you cannot visit them on the day, keep a listen out on the bands and keep an eye on the cluster for the EI2WRC/P call. If you want to find out more about the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group and their activities, email them at southeasternarg at gmail.com or go along to any of their meetings. You can check their website at www.searg.ie and you can find EI2WRC on Facebook and Twitter /at/ seargnews.
EI0HQ in IARU HF Championships
It is intended that the IRTS HQ Station callsign will be used in this years IARU HF Championships over the weekend of July 8th and 9th. For HQ stations it is a multi station event with different bands and modes being operated at various stations throughout the country. Organisers Mark EI6JK and Rafal EI6LA hope to have all stations networked. If you are interested in participating, either from your home station or from a multi-operator station, please contact contest manager Mark EI6JK at 087 673 8356 or by email at ei6jk /at/ hotmail.com.
HF Newsreaders Required
The Society’s HF radio news service on Sunday mornings on the 80 and 40 metre bands is in urgent need of additional volunteer newsreaders. If you feel you can help by joining the rota or if you need further information, please contact the IRTS Radio News Co-ordinator Seany EI2HZB directly on 083-4713001 or by email at irts underscore pro /at/ irts.ie. As well as the broadcasts on SSB, the news is broadcast on RTTY at 1300 on 3.580MHz on Sundays on a trial basis and volunteers are also required for this service.
QRZ.com
QRZ.com is a website that’s lists almost all amateur radio callsigns in the world and was founded 30 years ago by its President Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ. It is a small business, run by hams. QRZ.com has been running an online logbook for the past eight years and have announced a special award to celebrate their 30th anniversary and is one of many available to their logbook users. All the details are on qrz.com
Outdoor Operating
Now that Summer is here we can look forward to more outdoor radio activity both of the mobile and portable variety. Clubs will be running special event and field day stations and individuals can participate in the many award schemes like the Worked EI Counties, Worked All Ireland, Parks on the Air, World Wide Flora and Fauna and Castles on the Air. The WEIC and WAI awards are run by IRTS and details can be found on their website at irts.ie. The World Wide Flora and Fauna information is available at https://eiffirl.wordpress.com and the Parks on the Air details can be found on parksontheair.com.
Deadline for printed news
The EI News monthly online IRTS publication is distributed on the first day of each month to all members who have an email address listed with the membership records officer. News items are very welcome and should be submitted by Monday May 29th. The deadline for submissions to the Summer edition of Echo Ireland is May 31st. 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/dot/ie for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. The deadline is midnight on Thursday.
[A]
