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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday 26th April 2009


IRTS AGM

This is the IRTS AGM weekend, which is hosted by the Shannon Basin Radio Club. The weekend started Friday evening with the Annual Dinner and continues with the Rally which is currently being held and the AGM which will follow this afternoon.

The venue is the Shamrock Lodge Hotel Athlone, which boasts ample car parking space and the best facilities around. The call in frequency will be 145.350.


'500 kHz Permissions

Arising from our meeting on 12 February, ComReg has agreed to allow IRTS to seek expressions of interest for a limited number of permissions to operate in the region of 500 kHz under a licence to be issued to IRTS.

Expressions of interest are being sought equally from both non IRTS and IRTS members. Stations to which permissions are issued will have to send regular reports to IRTS consisting of their experience of propagation, type of propagation used, noise experienced and methodology used on this band so that these can be coordinated and periodic reports submitted to ComReg.

Participants will be expected to keep a separate full detailed log of all experiments conducted.

It should be noted that only a relatively small number of permissions will be granted and expressions of interest should only be made by those in a position to carry out realistic propagation experiments in this part of the spectrum.

An form on which to submit to IRTS an expression of interest is available on the IRTS website at www.irts.ie The final decision on the issue of permits will of course rest with ComReg as the statutory licensing authority.


Theory Examination

The next Theory Examination for the Experimenters licence will be held on Tuesday the 30th of June at 2p.m. in the ComReg Offices in Dublin and in Carrigtwohill Co. Cork.

An exam could be held at another centre at the same time and date should the numbers warrant it. Places for the examination will be allocated on a first come first served basis and will only be reserved on receipt of the examination fee.

Intending candidates should forward the appropriate fee to Sean Nolan EI7CD, 12 Little Meadow, Pottery Road,Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin in order to reserve a place for the exam. The fee is 50 Euro or 25 Euro for full-time registered students, repeat candidates and those who are retired, unemployed or have a disability. Cheques and Money Orders should be made payable to the IRTS. When forwarding the exam fee intending candidates should enclose their postal address as well as phone and e-mail contact details.

The closing date for applications to sit the examination, which will be strictly enforced, is Monday the 15th of June. Intending candidates should note that anyone who fails to produce a photo identity on day of the examination would not be allowed to sit the examination.

The photo ID can be a driving licence, a passport, an employment photo identity card or a student card containing a photograph. A national Gardai photo ID would also be acceptable. Sean EI7CD’s address can also be found in the IRTS call book or in the call book section of the IRTS website at www.irts.ie . Sean's e-mail address for any further enquiries is"ei7cd at gofree dot indigo dot ie" Also available on the 'Where Do I Start' section of the IRTS website are Examination Notes with a sample examination paper as well as a link to the ComReg's Experimenter Pages which contain some very useful data under Licensing Information.

Also in the Radio Theory Links section on the website is some very useful information for those studying for the examination.

The examination consists of a question paper of 60multiple-choice questions divided into three main sections A, B and C and the time allowed is two hours.

The pass mark is 60% and a pass is required in each of the three main sections of the paper. We wish all intending candidates the best of luck in the examination.


SOTA Amateur Radio and Hillwalking

Those who want to combine amateur radio with hillwalking can get involved in the Summits On The Air ("SOTA") programme. SOTA is a bit like IOTA, with hills and mountains replacing islands. It is designed to encourage portable operation in mountainous areas, and there are awards for activators, who ascend to the summits, and chasers, who either operate from home, a local hilltop or are activators on other summits.

More than 20 countries are currently involved in the SOTA programme, including Ireland - North and South. There are 387 eligible summits in EI (of which more than 50 have been activated) and 66 eligible summits in GI (of which 36 have been activated). More details, including a list of eligible summits and a lot more, can be found at www.qsl.net/sotaei and at www.sota.org.uk

With a view to encouraging more SOTA activity, an International SOTA Weekend is to be held on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2009, which is next weekend. It is hoped that this event will see many summit-to-summit contacts between different SOTA associations, and give chasers the chance to work activators from several different DXCC entities.


6-metre Guyana Dxpedition

The 6 Meter Beacon Project, Inc., is happy to announce a HF-50 MHz DXpedition to Guyana between June 16th and July 6th.

Antennas for 6 meters will be a 6M7JHV yagi at 45 ft. on the Atlantic Ocean pointed towards EU and NA, and using a 3CPX800A7 amp.

Activity will be split between two teams: 11 days will be by Chris W3CMP and Dave N3DB, the other 11 days by Terry K4RX and Ken AC4TO.

They hope to get some decent openings to, amongst other places, Northern EU, 5B/4X and W6/W7. They expect to have Internet access most of the time.

Operating frequencies and Web site will be announced at a later date.


South Dublin Radio Club

Upcoming talks at South Dublin Radio Club

28th April Television production techniques Jim Holohan EI4HH

11th May “Logbook of the World” & EQSL.cc Dave Court EI3IO

The clubs website is southdublinradioclub dot ie which has directions and meeting locations.


North Dublin Radio Club

North Dublin Radio Club EI0NDR, are running theory classes for those wishing to sit the Radio Exterminators Licensing Exam. For details email Tony ei6eqb at tonyfay /at/ eircom.net


Rallies

More information on Rallies can be found on the IRTS website www.irts.ie/rallies


History this week

1900 Marconi International Marine Communication Company Ltd. formed.

1900 Marconi Patent 7777 for tuned coupled circuits.


Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Charlie EI8JB, preferably via e-mail to “charlie dot Carolan at gmail dot com” Or by phone to 087-6265418 News can also be submitted via e-mail to “newsteam 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 Thursday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin.

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