Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday December 1st, 2024
News from the IRTS
The IRTS news team will be taking a small break once again this year over the Christmas period. The last 40m and 80m IRTS news bulletins for 2024 will be transmitted on Sunday, December 15th. There will be no news bulletins on either Sunday December 22nd or Sunday, December 29th. Normal bulletins will resume on Sunday, January 5th, 2025. Items for submission for Sunday December 15th should reach the news editor by midnight on Thursday December 12th. Items for the news on Sunday January 5th should reach the news editor by midnight on Thursday January 2nd, 2025.
The first IRTS contest of 2025 which is the IRTS 80m Daytime Counties, will take place on New Year’s Day, Monday, January 1st, 2025. This will be a one-hour long contest running from 17:00 UTC to 18:00 UTC. SSB, CW, and SWL categories are available to enter. For more information, please visit www.irts.ie/contests
The committee and officers of the IRTS would like to take this opportunity to wish all our members, friends of the society, and all their families a very happy and peaceful Christmas. We hope that 2025 is a great new year for all of you. Thank you all for your great support of the society in 2024 and we look forward to your continued support throughout 2025 and beyond.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC
This year, the EI2WRC Christmas party night will take place next Saturday, December 7th at 6.30 p.m. at the Marina Hotel, Canada Street, Waterford. A small number of dinner tickets which cost 35 euro per person are still available and must be prebooked. For more information or to book a dinner ticket, please get in contact with Edwin EI2HEB at QTHR as soon as possible please.
Join EI2WRC for the fun of the 2024 Big Call-In Challenge on Tuesday December 17th at 7.30 p.m. as the club will attempt to break the record of call-ins taken after the Tuesday night IRTS news bulletin. The current record stands at 136 set in December 2023. To break the current record, they will need at least 137 individual callers.
You can call in via the Southern Ireland Repeater Network, EchoLink Node 225431, IRLP Node 5883, DMR TG 27240, and also on the Southern Ireland Repeater Network channel on the Zello app. A live video feed of the record-breaking attempt will be on the TikTok app on TheIrishOutDoorCook channel. It’s only for a bit of fun as this will be the last Tuesday night bulletin of 2024! All callers are very welcome to join in for some fun and laughs on the night!
For more information about EI2WRC, their activities, and for contact details please see www.searg.ie
Update from South Dublin Radio Club
This year's South Dublin Radio Club Christmas Party will take place on Tuesday the 10th of December 2024 at 8 p.m. The venue will be the "The Morgue" pub, Templeogue Village, Dublin. Members of other clubs and visitors are as usual very welcome to this social event. Limited free food will be available for paid-up members; visitors can choose from the bar menu until 9 p.m. The club will then break for Christmas and return on January 7th, 2025.
North Dublin Radio Club – EI0NDR
The North Dublin Radio Club will be ending 2024 with their annual Christmas party event at the Coachman’s Inn, Swords Road, Dublin on Saturday the 21st of December. A four-course dinner will commence at 6.45 p.m. and the cost is 34 euro per head. All visitors are welcome to attend this event. To book a place at the dinner, please contact Tony EI6K on 086 2985776. The NDR club will then break for Christmas and will reopen again on Saturday the 4th of January 2025. Details about the club and its location can be found online at www.ei0ndr.com
Tipperary Amateur Radio Group AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Tipperary Amateur Radio Group will be held at The Princess Bar, Irishtown Upper, Clonmel, Co Tipperary on Wednesday the 4th of December 2024 at 8 p.m. The Eircode for this venue is E91 PW90. 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, visit their group website at www.ei7trg.ie
VHF/Microwave News
The IRTS VHF/Microwave co-managers are planning a 23cm activity event over the coming weeks. Given the likely very directional nature of links, some planning will be needed. Therefore, they would like to hear from stations with 23cm capabilities who may be interested in taking part to gauge interest and share ideas for this.
The next 145 Alive event is taking place on Sunday the 26th of January 2025. If you are interested in taking part as a net controller, contact the IRTS VHF/microwave managers.
They also welcome ideas and input from individuals and clubs regarding VHF and above in EI at any stage.
A six-metre net takes place on Wednesday nights from 8 p.m. on 50.180MHz. This is followed by a 2m FM simplex net that takes place each Thursday night from 8 p.m. on 145.300MHz. All are very welcome to call in.
The IRTS VHF/microwave team can be contacted via email to vhf_manager /at/ irts.ie.
Contest News
The ARRL 160 metre CW contest takes place over the first full weekend of December which is next weekend. It begins at 22:00 UTC on Friday next, the 6th of December and ends at 15:59 UTC next Sunday, the 8th of December. This is a forty-two-hour long contest with no time limitation.
December is Youth on the Air Month
Today, December 1st, marks the start of the Youth on the Air month. For the entire month, listen out for youngsters active on the bands with YOTA in their callsigns and try a QSO. The idea for this is to show the amateur radio hobby to youth and to encourage youngsters to be active on the ham radio waves.
Items for Inclusion in Next Week’s Radio News
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 Thursday.
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