Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday March 5th 2006
Awards
It's time again to call for nominations for the various awards and trophies presented on merit at the IRTS A.G.M. for service to the Society or to Amateur Radio. Clubs and individuals are asked for nominations of suitable persons to the Awards Committee. Please be reminded that there are two awards for constructions and an award for the SWL contest.
Nominations to Peter Grant EI4HX, Chair Awards Committee @ QTHR or to "ei4hxperimental at eircom dot net" Nominees must be full Current members of IRTS!
Those currently holding trophies awarded at last years AGM are asked to return them by the 18th of March.
IRTS AGM 2006
The IRTS AGM, which is being held on Sunday April 23rd at the Vienna Woods Hotel in Cork and is being hosted by Cork Radio Club. The weekend will follow the usual format with a dinner on the Saturday night, a rally on Sunday and the Annual General Meeting will be held on Sunday afternoon. The Vienna Woods Hotel is located on the eastern side of Cork City just off the Glanmire roundabout at the city side of Glanmire village.
Cork Radio Club
Cork radio club would like to announce that the Blarney Rally will take place this year on the 24th of September at the usual venue Blarney Park Hotel. This Radio Rally has become one of the highlights on the Amateur Calendar and also is a very social event where old and new amateurs meet and maybe bag a bargain at the same time. CRC are happy to announce the return of AC/DC Electronics this year along with many other traders like Necomm computers etc. Further information on the Rally can be had from Dick Birmingham EI2HH at QTHR or Con EI7DJB on 086-1071312.
On Monday the 6th of March a lecture will take place on "How to achieve the best results when recording audio". All are welcome. The Cork Radio Club meets every Monday night in room 4 of the SMA Community Centre, Wilton, Cork at 8 O’clock.
AREN Training
Following Februarys Introduction to Emergency Situations, March’s on air session will focus on ARENs response to such an emergency. It will describe the upcoming field exercise "Operation Blackwater" and prepare members for the event. The exercise, which takes place in April, will address specific communications issues encountered by some of the emergency services last year during a simulated major accident on the N25. This is an opportunity for members to test their readiness do deploy in an on site-situation.
The on air training session will take place on the 25th of March at 0930 hrs using the primary frequency of 3.690 MHz and secondary of 7.099 MHz. The subsequent field exercise will be held on April the 15th next.
South Dublin Radio Club
A Special Event will take place over Easter weekend to mark the 1916 90th Anniversary Commemoration. The station will run from the SDR club QTH using the callsign EI90GPO. Activity will be on all HF bands from 80 metres to 10 metres.
Northern Ireland Yahoo Group
There is a new Northern Ireland amateur radio Yahoo group as an alternative to NI Hams and RealOps. The group has been in existence for one week and already has a membership base of 68 members. It sets out to present the positive side of amateur radio in Northern Ireland. Membership applications from EI stations are most welcome. For more information visit groups.yahoo.com/group/NornIronRadio
DXpedition 2007
Following the request for 'expressions of interest' in an IRTS DXpedition to Southern Africa as part of the 75th Jubilee celebrations, 15 EIs and GIs responded. Over the next month, based on feedback received, more detailed planning will take place, however it is evident that there is considerable interest in Contest operation, so it is likely that the trip will be planned to coincide with either the ARRL DX SSB Contest or the CQWW WPX SSB Contest.
Photos Wanted
A new IRTS web site will be launched soon. The new site will incorporate photographs to illustrate amateur radio activities; the photographs used will be rotated on a random basis. The Webmaster, Joe Ryan EI7GY, is looking for suitable photographs for this purpose: please forward amateur radio related photographs to him at "jryan at iol dot ie".
Club Details
All member club secretaries were asked recently to provide an update of their club details, including meeting venue and dates, activities and web site address. Many thanks to those club secretaries who have already responded: those who have yet to respond are asked to do so as soon as possible. Any club secretary who has not received a letter from the Society about this should contact Joe Ryan EI7GY "jryan at iol dot ie".
Limerick Radio Club
The Limerick Radio Club would like to remind all of their upcoming Rally. It will be held in the Greenhills Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick on Sunday 12th of March. Icom UK have confirmed attendance and will have the IC7000,IC756Pro3 and IC7800 rigs on display. The club is presently in negotiations with several other dealers. The following prizes have been secured for the raffle: An E7 Transceiver donated by Icom UK and a DSP Speaker donated by BHI UK.
Anybody interested in hiring a table or simply requiring further information should contact Dermot EI2GT on 087 2352028. Members of Limerick Radio Club are looking forward to a successful rally and meeting all their old friends again.
New Digital Reporting Format
There is a proposal to replace RST signal reporting with a different format for use with digital modes.
The IARU Region 1 Conference in September 2005 recommended that RSQ (Readability, Strength, Quality) replace the traditional RST reporting format for HF digital modes. This new format provides an opportunity for operators to give more meaningful signal reports when for example operating the popular PSK31 mode and is destined to become part of the Region 1 HF Managers Handbook.
The RSQ report description, IARU recommendation and other supporting information including articles and news can be found at rsq-info.net.
A dedicated RSQ Yahoo Group has also been established to facilitate further discussion and debate. To receive the latest news and articles on the RSQ reporting project please join the mailing list at the above site.
Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Mark Wall, EI7IS at QTHR or by phone to 051 853806 or 087 6302026. Items for the radio news can also be faxed to 087 5 6302026. News should be submitted via e-mail to "news at irts dot ie" for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. Please note that items for the radio news should reach the editor no later than midday on Fridays.
[A]
