Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday May 30th 1999
South Dublin Radio Club
Four members of South Dublin Radio Club climbed the Cuilcagh Mountains on Sunday last, to activate a rare Worked All Ireland square, Hotel Zero Two, Co. Fermanagh. Charlie EI7HG, Brendan EI3GV, Eoin EI9HZ and Joe EI7GY set off from County Cavan and crossed into Fermanagh at the top of the mountain. The weather was poor, with driving rain for most of the day. In contrast, the DX was very good and the operators made more than sixty contacts, using 2 metres, 40 metres and 80 metres. Despite the adverse weather, the operators enjoyed the day, and judging by the pileups, the expedition was appreciated by those they contacted. H02 Fermanagh is also a Worked All Britain square, and many of the contacts were from across the water.
Aranmore Island next weekend
The Tir Conaill Radio Club will be activating Aranmore Island, WAI square B61 Co. Donegal, next weekend. There will be several operators using their own callsigns with of course the EJ prefix and the club callsign EJ5TCR will also be used. This year they will have a new QTH on the highest point of the Island, over 200 metres above sea level. This should improve matters for the VHF operators. The station will be active from Saturday June the 5th to Monday June the 7th. They will call on the WAI frequencies 7.068, 3.680 and 145.350MHz. Further information from Danny EI6GS.
Mayo Radio Experimenters Network
Theory and Morse classes continue under the auspices of the Mayo Radio Experimenters Network and examinations on both will be held in Kiltimagh on Thursday June 10th. Anyone wishing to sit these examinations should contact either of the course instructors, John McDonnell EI6IR on 094-60127, ei6ir@tinet.ie or John Dundalk Amateur Radio Society AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Dundalk Amateur Society will take place on Tuesday June the 15th at 8pm in the Society's premises, Marconi House, 113 Castletown Road in Dundalk. All members are requested to attend this meeting where the main items on the agenda will be the election of officers. Nominations for Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, QSL Manager, Events Organiser and premises caretaker and any other items for inclusion on the agenda should be submitted in writing to the Society Secretary, Aidan Noone EI7ENB at QTHR on or before June the 1st.
The Brendan Trophies attempt
Now, news of another group who are attempting to win the Brendan trophies for the first 2 metre QSO across the Atlantic. After several months of planning and with the support of the Northern Lighthouse Board and of the local Manager Dave Ferguson, a group of Scottish amateurs have permission to set up a station at the Ardnamurchan Lighthouse on Ardnamurchan Point, the most westerly point on mainland Scotland. They will use two 17 element Yagi's on a 30ft tower with GasFet pre-amp and a 3CX800 amplifier. Their operation will run from Saturday the 26th of June until Sunday the 4th of July. They plan to transmit a call for 5 minutes, with listens between individual calls, on the hour and on the half-hour and they ask that Canadian and US stations call similarly at quarter past and quarter to the hour. Their radio will be on all the time but due to location, non-interference etc. and numbers, their main operation will be from 1200 UTC to 2359 UTC each day except Sunday 4th July when they plan to operate 0900 UTC to 1600 UTC before they go QRT. Operation will be CW on 144.075 MHz, at 15 to 18 words per minute, straight forward and simple! The group consists of Bill GM0ICF, Graeme GM4KHE, Drew GM3YOR and Jim GM0NAI. They will also have a HF station on air and the primary operation will be on 14.345 MHz, the VHF net frequency. They should also be on 80m.
Looking ahead
The Region One CW Field Day takes place next weekend, June the 5th and 6th. There are two categories to enter in this one. In the restricted section, only a single element aerial is allowed with a maximum of two supports and a maximum height of 35 feet. There is no restriction on the number or type of aerials in the open section. The Pete Daly Cup is awarded to the winners of the open section and the Paddy Smith Cup goes to the restricted section winners. It is expected that the East Cork group will, as usual, have a station in each section. Stations intending to take part must notify the Contest Manager of site location. The Contest Manager is John EI6IR and his e-mail address is ei6ir@tinet.ie. His telephone number is 094-60127.
The VHF/UHF Field Day will be held on July the 3rd and 4th and the IOTA contest will be on July 24th and 25th.
The Donegal Rally will be held this year on Sunday June 27th in Jackson's Hotel in Ballybofey. Enquiries to Gerry EI8HO on 072-52598.
Input for the radio news should be sent to Dave EI4BZ at 021-291099 during the day or at 021-883555 in the evenings.
Input for the Newsletter should be sent to Kevin EI7IM at QTHR or on the phone at 01-4509514 or by E-mail to EI7IM@tinet.ie All input to either the radio news or newsletter can also be sent by e-mail to news@irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both news services.
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