Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday July 13th, 2025
Silent Key - John O’Sullivan EI6ARB
We were saddened to hear of the death of John O’ Sullivan EI6ARB on Wednesday the 3rd of July 2025. John was introduced to radio through the CB radio in the 1970s. He then went on to pass the amateur radio theory exam in 1980 at Tenure College. He attended the South Dublin Radio Club and was a very active user of the Dublin VHF and UHF repeaters in the 1980s and 90s and regularly took part in the Practical Wireless annual VHF contests. More recently, and up to his death, he was regularly active on 4 meters and was also often heard on HF chasing DX stations.
John spent his working life in the Department of Customs and Excise and retired in 2023. We extend our deepest sympathies to his two sons Barry and Sean, and their mother Maire, brother Patrick, sister Annmarie, and extended family and friends.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam. May he rest in peace.
EI0IRTS 2025 Summer Holidays
The IRTS news team will be taking its annual summer holidays from today Sunday, July 13th until Sunday, August 4th. This means that the last IRTS HF bulletin before the break will be the 80m bulletin today at 12 p.m. and the next bulletin will be the 40m bulletin on Sunday, August 3rd at 11 a.m. The IRTS wish to thank all our HF and local weekly new readers for your continued great service to the society. We hope you all enjoy your summer break!
IRTS Hamfest 2025
IRTS Hamfest 2025 takes place at the Mullingar Showgrounds which are just outside Mullingar, Co. Westmeath over the weekend of September 6th and 7th. Novice and experienced people will come together in one place along with a very wide array of amateur radio equipment, technologies, and expertise across 30 acres. Entry will be free for IRTS members.
Contact the team via email to hamfest /at/ irts.ie if interested in getting involved. The dedicated website for the event and all the latest information can be found at www.irts.ie/hamfest
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC
The July meeting of the EI2WRC group will take place on, Monday, July 28th at 8 p.m. sharp at the South East Technological University. Netlabs Research and Innovation Building, SETU West Campus, Carriganore, Waterford. The Eircode is X91 WR86. New members or anyone that has an interest in amateur radio or communications in general are very welcome to come along. SWLs are in particular very welcome to attend also. For more information about EI2WRC, their activities, and for contact details please see www.searg.ie
Guatemala Requests Protection of Emergency Frequencies
Since Tuesday July 9th, several earthquakes have occurred in Guatemala. The IRTS AREN Coordinator reports that Sigfrido TG9SRP, coordinator of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service of the Amateur Radio Club of Guatemala, has respectfully requested protection of specific frequencies. These are 3.750 MHz and 3.725 MHz LSB, 3.580 MHz USB for digital use, 7.120 MHz and 7.240 MHz LSB, 7.080 MHz USB for digital use, 14.300 MHz and 14.070 MHz USB, and 14.070 MHz USB for digital use.
IOTA Standings Table Updates
Information is being sought from operators for the EI HF IOTA standings table that is published on the IRTS website. This is a table showing the number of IOTA references worked by EI stations participating in RSGB’s IOTA award programme. You can view the existing EI HF IOTA standings table on the Information section of the IRTS website and submit updates via email to pagemaster /at/ irts.ie.
Gallinara Island Activation
The IP1X team will be active from the Gallinara Island EU-083 in Italy on the 26th and 27th of July 2025. They will operate CW and SSB from the 10 to 80 metre bands and will be active 24 hours during the IOTA Contest 2025. The island is valid for Parks on the Air with a reference number IT-0230.
VHF/Microwave News
A Slow Scan TV event is planned from the International Space Station this week. A start date of tomorrow, July 14th, has been set for the next Amateur Radio on the International Space Station SSTV series. Twelve images will start transmitting around 09:15 UTC from Monday. The event will run across parts of seven days.
A new 2m beacon located in Maine, USA is operational and now beaming towards Europe. The callsign is K1HC/B. The locator square is FN53AT. It transmits on 144.291 MHz with 10 Watts into a stack of sixteen 5-element Yagi antennas which are on a 120-foot tower. You can find further information about the beacons on the K1HC/B page on QRZ.com.
Islands on the Air Contest 2025
The annual RSGB Islands on the Air contest takes place for 24 hours starting at 12:00 UTC on Saturday, July 26th. The contest bands are 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10m using both CW and voice. A helpful guide for newcomers can be found at www.rsgbcc.org
Items for Inclusion in the next Radio News
That is the news for this week. Thanks to everyone for sending items into the weekly IRTS radio news. They are very much appreciated and are a great way to update the rest of the community about activities. If you have any club events, activities, meetings, or other items of interest, you are very welcome to email newsteam /at/ irts.ie with the details. These will be automatically forwarded to the IRTS radio and printed news services. The deadline each week is midnight on Thursdays. Please note that the next radio news bulletin will be transmitted on August 3rd following a two-week break.
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