This Week’s News
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday August 30th, 2026
Updates from the IRTS
The IRTS is on a hiring spree! Last week we introduced Eamonn Gannon EI7LC as the new Chief Morse Tester, and Diarmuid O'Briain EI4LF as the new HAREC Exam Coordinator. This week, we are delighted to welcome two more officers to the team. Charlie Carolan EI8JB successfully applied for the role of IRTS HF manager and will be responsible for supporting and promoting amateur radio activity on the HF bands. Charlie brings considerable experience as a highly experienced HF and amateur satellite operator, with extensive DXpedition experience, and an active member of the EIDX group. We are also welcoming Derek Kelleher EI8KV as the new Worked-all-Ireland book sales manager. The Worked-all-Ireland program has long promoted friendship between operators through contacts made all across Ireland. As an experienced contest operator, Derek will be responsible for all matters related to the book logistics.
The IRTS will be fully supporting Charlie, Derek, Eamonn, and Diarmuid in their endeavours to serve the ham radio community.
The IRTS SSB field day contest is a 24-hour SSB contest scheduled for next weekend on the 5th and 6th of September. Interested operators are recommended to review the field day contest rules on irts.ie for a chance to compete for the Paddy Daly Microphone trophy and IRTS HF Shield.
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend took place on August 15th and 16th. As always, Ireland was well represented, with activations taking place around the country, among them were Blacksod lighthouse in Mayo, Baily lighthouse in Dublin, and lighthouses on Rathlin island. In Dublin, blessed by excellent weather, the North Dublin Radio Club activated the Baily lighthouse in Howth and was particularly pleased to welcome IRTS president Jeffrey Roe who got on the air with the operators on the SSB station. Operators all around the country have showcased impressive radio setups on social media. The IRTS would like to congratulate all participating stations and, as the cooler autumn weather approaches, wish all operators safe and enjoyable field operations in the months ahead.
IARU Region 1 Conference Papers
The papers for the forthcoming IARU Region 1 General Conference, taking place in Vienna, Austria, from 19 to 23 September 2026, have now been released. The papers can be viewed on conf.iaru-r1.org/documents which is the conference website. If you have any comments or views on the topics being considered and would like the IRTS to raise them at the conference, please contact the IRTS IARU representative who is Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB via email to iaru /at/ irts.ie . Please allow sufficient time for comments to be considered before the conference.
Thank You from Dublin Maker
IRTS President and Dublin Maker organiser Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB would like to thank everyone who came along to Dublin Maker at Leopardstown Racecourse last weekend. The event welcomed more than 20,000 visitors over the two days. In a statement following the event, Jeffrey said it was fantastic to meet and speak with so many radio amateurs throughout the weekend, adding that he was delighted to see amateur radio so well represented at such a major public showcase. He expressed a special thank you to everyone from TOG Hackerspace and the South Dublin Radio Club who demonstrated amateur radio to the public throughout the event, as well as all the operators, volunteers, and visitors who stopped by the stands.
Irish Elf DX Group Activation for 145 Alive
The Irish Elf DX Group will be taking part in 145 Alive on September 13th. They will also be active on the HF bands. You are asked to listen out for their club call which is EI0IE. You can get in contact with the club via email to irishelfdxgroup /at/ gmail.com
VHF/Microwave News
The annual IARU Region 1 145 MHz Contest takes place next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, September 5th and 6th, 2026. The 24-hour event commences at 14:00 UTC on Saturday, September 5th and concludes at 14:00 UTC on Sunday, September 6th. As one of the major international VHF contests on the calendar, it offers Irish operators an excellent opportunity to test their station setups, work long-distance propagation across Europe, and hand out DX contact points on the 2-metre band.
Portugal was selected as the next site for the next Earth Moon Earth (EME) Conference. This will be held over the weekend of August 25th to the 27th, 2028 in Lisbon. The EME 2028 Conference programme will feature high-level technical sessions, experimental results, system demonstrations, and networking opportunities. It is planned to stream all the sessions using YouTube also. You can visit eme2028conference.com to learn more.
UKEICC 80m Contests Resume in September
The UKEICC 80m contest series resumes on the 2nd of September at 20:00 UTC. This event will focus on SSB. The organising team note that a few minor changes have been made to the rules that everyone should read. Visit ukeicc.com to learn more.
Items for Inclusion in Next Week’s 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, news, meetings, or other items of interest, you are very welcome to email the radio news editor Keith EI5IN via email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie with the details. The deadline is midnight on Thursdays. Items intended for inclusion in Echo Ireland should be sent to echoireland /at/ irts.ie.
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