Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday July 22nd 2007
Field Days
The winners of the CW Field Day in a very closly fought contest were South Dublin Radio, EI2SDR. Commisserations to EI3Z, and thanks to Paul for the GI6YM checklog.
The UHF/VHF field day took place 2 weekends ago. The stations heard were EI2II, EI3Z, EI7T, and EI9E. Thanks go to all the stations for taking part as conditions were not altogether favourable. As yet no logs have been recieved so please send them to “contests at irts dot ie” or to Ei8IU at QTHR.
September will be a busy month with the SSB field day over the first weekend. Again the grounds of Garbally College, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway will be available, thanks to Niall EI4CF and once again the Shannon Basin Club will be hosting their now famous Barbeque. Of course, the big event will be CQIR over the last weekend, so plenty to look forward to.
WRC-07 CEPT Preparatory Group Meeting
As you will all be aware by now a World Radio Conference, WRC-07 will be held in November of this year. These conferences are extremely important for the amateur service as it is at them that decisions are taken which affect the frequencies available to the amateur service on into the future. A preparatory meeting for the Conference of the CEPT countries was held the week before last in Gothenburg. As we told you in last week’s news the IRTS, prior to that meeting, had submitted to ComReg documentation on the issues of importance to the amateur service in the context of WRC-07.
Through ComReg we have received some good news on the outcome of the Gothenburg meeting. CEPT has agreed on a European Common Proposal to support a secondary allocation to the amateur service at 5 MHz by way of a footnote to the ITU Radio Regulations. The footnote proposed will be to the effect that Administrations may allow stations in the amateur service to operate in the band 5260 to 5410 kHz on a secondary basis. This proposal if adopted at WRC-07 would give provision for a new allocation of 150 kHz with a radiated power not exceeding 24gBW or 250 watts. There was general agreement that this band comes within the scope of Agenda item 1.13 of the WRC-07 Agenda. The Irish delegation at the meeting is party to the European Common Proposal and will of course be supporting it at WRC-07. With a bit of luck WRC-07 will see us with a new secondary allocation in the 5 MHz region.
For LF enthusiasts CEPT is proposing amendments to Article 5 of the Radio Regulations that will in effect, if adopted at WRC-07, provide a worldwide secondary allocation for the amateur service of 135.7 to 137.8 kHz. Ireland will be supporting this proposal at WRC-07.
Ireland also supported a proposal, which had sufficient support to be carried at the meeting to include on the Agenda for WRC-11 consideration of a secondary allocation to the amateur service in parts of the frequency band 415 to 526.5 kHz. A proposal which Ireland supported at the meeting for inclusion on the WRC-11 Agenda consideration of an allocation to the amateur service in the range 50 to 54 MHz throughout Region 1 received insufficient support to be carried. The IARU Region 1 will have to consider other strategies to seek to achieve this objective.
We would like to express our appreciation to the officials of ComReg and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources who attended the meeting and for yet again giving their support to the internationally agreed IARU position on issues of concern to the amateur service in the context of WRC-07.
Church Broadcasts
Last week we carried an item telling you that we had been notified by the national coordinator for the IARU Intruder Watch for the German National Society DARC that transmission of church services which seem to be coming from Ireland have been taking place in the 28 MHz amateur band. WAV files have been provided of such transmissions on 28.105 MHz FM. It has now been established that a Church broadcast is being transmitted on 28.105 MHz FM in the Dublin area. Some further work is required to identify the Church concerned. Mass is transmitted at 0900, 1000 and 1100 local on Sundays and at 1000 on weekdays. We would ask stations in the greater Dublin area to listen on this frequency at these times to see if the location can be positively identified. The local Church notices can be of assistance here. If you cannot identify the station and you have a beam antenna you could take a bearing on the peak signal, which in conjunction with similar bearings taken by other stations could help identify the general area from which the transmission originates.
Stations located outside Dublin should listen on the lower end of the 28 MHz band generally to see if any unauthorised activity is taking place in the band in their areas. If you hear anything worth reporting you should send a report to Thos Caffrey EI2JD the IRTS Intruder Watch coordinator at QTHR or to “thoscaffrey at hotmail dot com” with a copy to Sean Nolan EI7CD at QTHR or to ei7cd at “gofree dot indigo dot ie”. The report should include date, time, frequency, possible location of station if identified, beam heading in degrees from true north and other relevant information. If the station is identified from an announcement of local events, details should be given. Should you hear anything, no action should be taken other than forwarding a report as requested.
It is in our own interests to identify any unauthorised activity so as to preserve the exclusive nature of the 28 MHz allocation. The matter has already been reported to ComReg who will act on the matter if we can provide appropriate information.
CQIR
Great interest is being expressed worldwide in the Society's 75th Anniversary Contest CQIR, which will take place on the last weekend in September. The contest is a celebration of Ireland and the Irish, throughout the world and with 40 million people in the United States alone claiming Irish forefathers; we expect that CQIR will be one of the largest 'one off' contests ever aired on the Amateur Bands. It is a 24-hour single operator contest with the emphasis on participation rather than winning and to this end every participant gains an entry ticket for a spectacular draw for every 75 QSO’s made during the Contest.
The ticket drawn out of the EI/GI drum will win an all expenses paid long weekend in New York City for two people. ARRL have confirmed that this will include a visit to their national headquarters hosted by ARRL. Kinnitty Castle in Offaly will host the international winners for a week with flights for two from anywhere in the world. The prizes have been fully sponsored at no cost to the Society and this is really an excellent opportunity to celebrate the Society and its 75 years of service to Irish experimenters. We would encourage all Irish operators to be active during the Contest. So ring fence the last weekend of September in your diary, make an effort to have that new antenna up for the event and lets ensure a good show from the local Irish operators to support the international Irish who will no doubt come on the bands in their thousands for the contest. Full rules are on the IRTS website.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group
The next general meeting will take place on Monday the 30th of July at 8.00 p.m. in the Roanmore Centre, Waterford. All are welcome.
Cork Radio Club
On Manday night last Aedan EI3EG gave a demonstration of his loop antenna at the club. Although the bands were not very active, beacons were located on both 15 and 10 meters. It showed how efficient these small antennae are in confined spaces. The Cork Radio club are gearing up for their annual rally, which will take place in the Blarney Park hotel on Sunday the 24th of September plenty of parking, food all day.
Theory Examination
The examination papers from the recent Theory Exam have been checked and the results delivered to ComReg. ComReg have been very efficient in sending out the results but it takes time as each candidate gets a breakdown of their results in each of the three sections of the paper. We appeal to candidates not to contact ComReg about the results, as results will not be given over the phone or by e-mail. The official letters will issue in due course.
Huntsville Hamfest
Live video and audio of the 2007 Huntsville hamfest will be broadcast again this year via the internet. The live broadcast begins on Friday morning August the 17th at 0800 CST. Watch as the helmet cam takes you on a virtual tour of all the tables and booths there. Also watch many activities such as the ARRL activities and the Young Ham of The Year. For more information visit wa5kub.com.
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 Friday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin.
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