This Week’s News
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday July 14th, 2024
News from the IRTS
The IRTS is delighted to announce that the latest batch of the IRTS HAREC Amateur Station Licence Study Guides have been printed and can now be preordered. Preordered copies expect to be delivered to those who preordered them in the first week of August. More information including how to preorder a copy of the guide can be found on the Study Guide page on irts.ie.
As this will be the last IRTS news bulletin before our summer break, the IRTS would like to thank all of our newsreaders both HF and local weekly readers for your continued great service to the society. Thanks of course too to Keith EI5IN, our news editor for his great work every week compiling the news for the weekly bulletins. Lastly and by no means least, a massive thanks to all who call in and support all the IRTS news bulletins every week both for Sundays HF bulletins and weekly local services too. Thank you all for your great support and we look forward to catching up with all of you after our break. IRTS weekly news bulletins will recommence on Sunday, August 4th with the 40m bulletin at 11 a.m. Submissions for that bulletin should reach the IRTS news editor by midnight on Thursday August 1st.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC
The July meeting of the EI2WRC group will take place on Monday, July 29th at 8 p.m. sharp at the South East Technological University. Netlabs Research and Innovation Building, SETU West Campus, Carriganore, Waterford. Eircode X91 WR86. Anyone that has an interest in amateur radio or communications in general is very welcome to come along. SWLs are in particular very welcome to attend.
The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group have once again been invited to attend the Inistioge Vintage Rally, in Inistioge, Co. Kilkenny on Sunday the 4th of August. The vintage rally, which this year celebrates its 30th anniversary, is a great fun filled family day out with loads of vintage cars and engines from times gone past. There are loads of things for all the kids too. If you are looking for a great day out, head on down to Inistioge and call by the SEARG demonstration area where the SEARG crew will be delighted to meet you and explain all about amateur radio to you. For more information about EI2WRC, their activities, and for contact details, please see www.searg.ie
Mayo Repeater is Back on Air
The Mayo repeater is back on air since July 9th. Final adjustments will be ongoing for a period of time. Mayo Radio Experimenters Network would like to hear reports on the reception of its coverage from far and wide please. If you wish to give a report, please include your Worked All Ireland square and tropospheric conditions at the time of reception. You are asked to send reports via email to mayoradioexperimentersnetwork /at/ gmail.com or text Padraic EI9JA at 087-6957154. The club would greatly appreciate your efforts.
Bere Island Activation for IOTA
On the 27th and 28th of July, Mick EI6IKB and Vic EI5IYB with be QRV on Bere Island for the 2024 Islands on the Air Contest. The contest runs from 12.00 UTC on the Saturday till 12.00 UTC on the Sunday. The ops plan to use the callsign EJ9MV. The station will be located near the Lonehort Battery on Bere island. Currently the equipment list includes a Yaesu FT-710, Acom A600 amplifier, and a Clarke pump up mast to suspend various types of wire antenna. Before and after the contest, the pair will be QRV on other modes and bands including four and six meters and will update the cluster depending on band conditions. They will also monitor 145.500 MHz and local repeaters. They are looking forward to put you in the log if you chase them or just happen to hear them on the bands.
Worked All Ireland Opportunity
Gordon Higgins, G3PXT will be touring Ireland for the next six weeks operating as EI/G3PXT/p and will be operational on HF on the 40 and 80 metre bands. Gordon is a very active Worked all Britain square activator in the UK. He has become a member of the Worked all Ireland scheme and will be activating many squares during his stay. This is a great chance to work Gordon and record many WAI squares as he navigates throughout the Island and gives the award scheme a much-needed boost. It is hoped a weekly net will be run on 7.170 MHz. This will be publicised via the WAI Facebook page and the IRTS newsgroup. If you are interested in joining the Worked all Ireland award scheme, please get in contact with Dave Moore EI4BZ or visit the IRTS website for further details. Membership costs only 10/ 10 for your WAI book. As many operators as possible are encouraged to participate.
June Edition of the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System Newsletter
The June edition of the of the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System newsletter has been published. In this, they note that in addition to the regular intruders like over-the-horizon radar, they report a worrying trend. This is related to an increasing number of other signals whose purpose is largely unknown and have no place on the amateur radio bands. The newsletter continues with examples of these. You can learn more about this and the work of the IARU Region 1 Monitoring System at www.iaru-r1.org
IRTS Contests Update
Well done to everyone that took part in the recent IRTS VHF/UHF field day. This is a reminder that the deadline for log submissions is July 21st. Logs should be sent via email to IRTS contest manager Mark EI6JK at contestmanager /at/ irts.ie. The next outing will be the IRTS SSB Field Day over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday the 7th and 8th of September.
Items for Inclusion in the Next Radio News
That is the news for this week. Items for inclusion for the next radio news, which will be on Sunday, August 4th, 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 August 1st.
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