Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday November 14th 2004
Silent Key
It is with deep regret that we announce the sudden passing of Ronnie McGrath EI6GO on Saturday the 13th of November.
Ron was a very popular radio amateur and will be missed by his many friends in the community.
Our deepest sympathy to his wife Brenda and his family. May he rest in peace.
IOTA Contest Results
The results of the Islands on the Air Contest held last July were announced during the past week.
Congratulations to the operators of EJ2MT, they finished in fourth place overall. The team was made up of members of the East Cork Group and the Bristol Contest Group and they operated from the recently refurbished Martello Tower on Bere Island. They were the top team in Western Europe and were beaten by two stations from Croatia and a station from the Ukraine.
In the single operator SSB section, John EI8IR finished a close second to 5B/GM4AFF and Dave EI4BZ finished in 3rd place in the 12 hour mixed section.
Other EI entrants listed in the results include EJ5E, EJ4F and EI2JD in the multi operator section, EI4CF in the 12 hour CW, EI7IQ in the 24 hour SSB and EI7CC in the 12 hour SSB section.
Full details will be carried in the next issue of Echo Ireland.
The full results are available on the RSGB HF Contest Committee website at www.rsgbhfcc.org
CQ WW CW
The CQ Worldwide CW Contest will be held in two weeks time, over the weekend of November the 27th and 28th.
The East Cork Group EI7M will be entering the multi-single section of this contest and are looking for a few experienced CW operators to join them in Carrigtwohill for the weekend.
If you are interested, please ring Dave EI4BZ on 087-6290574 as soon as possible.
In the recent CQWW SSB contest, the EI7M crew submitted a claimed score of almost 9.5 million points made with 6,053 QSOs, 155 zones and 626 DXCC entities.
Other upcoming big contests include the ARRL 160m contest on the first weekend in December and the ARRL 10m Contest which will be held on the following weekend, December 11th and 12th.
EU Sprint
Results for the Autumn leg of the EU Sprint SSB contest, which took place on the 2nd of October last, are now out. They show three EI entries, Thos EI2JD with 84 QSOs, Joe EI7GY just behind him with 83 QSOs and Paul EI3ENB with a score of 26. This contest takes place twice a year, in the Spring and Autumn, and lasts for just 4 hours, using 3 bands, 20m, 40m and 80m. The contest has a 'QSY Rule' similar to the rule used in the EI Counties contests. The next EU Sprint SSB contest is on Saturday 9th April 2005.
Dundalk Amateur Radio Society
The IRTS news has been read by Dundalk Amateur Radio Society on 145.550 MHz every Monday night at 20:00 hrs for the last few years. It has been decided to change the frequency of this to the Dundalk Repeater on 145.675 MHz as of Monday the 15th of November. Please do listen and give a reception report after the news.
Shannon Basin Radio Club
The Shannon Basin Radio Club are delighted to have received the use of the call sign EI3Z from the family of the late Pat Conway. Pat was born in Wicklow and moved to Athlone in the early 50s when he got a job as a Radio Engineer with Athlone Radio, Pat was a Radio fanatic and regularly transmitted the news from Athlone. Pat was married to Kathleen who was a local School Teacher and remained in Athlone until his death in the early 80s.
His love for Amateur Radio inspired him to donate a perpetual trophy to the IRTS for "Services to the Society", but before it was awarded he passed away. The trophy was presented for the first time to Mr Jim Upton by his wife Kathleen in 1982, and 22 years on it is still a very popular and sought after Award.
The Shannon Basin Radio Club would like to thank the Conway family for returning the Call sign EI3Z back to Athlone, and we are sure that Pat and Kathleen would have wanted it too.
Kerry Amateur Radio Group "Portable Ops" Day
The club's first "Portable Ops" day will be held (weather permitting) on Saturday, the 27th of November at a site near Portmagee, County Kerry.
Battery powered portable HF operations will commence at approximately 10 a.m. on 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 metres using both PSK31 and SSB. Confirmed frequencies of operation are: 40 metres on 7.068 MHz SSB, 20 metres on 14.070 MHz PSK31, 17 metres on 18.100 MHz PSK31 and 2 metres (Talk In) on 144.450 MHz FM.
Two portable HF stations are currently committed to operating on the day.
All are welcome to attend but are asked to confirm the exact location, as the primary location may be unusable due to previous rain; a nearby secondary location has been identified as a backup.
Further information is available from Ron, EI2JP at 086-600-5499 outside of normal business hours.
Further information on the club can be obtained from any officer or by email to clubinfo at kerry.com or by visiting the clubs web site at www.kerry.com
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group
The next general meeting of the group will take place this coming Thursday, the 18th of November 2004. Guest speaker at the meeting will be Rob Mannion (G3XFD/EI5IW), editor of Practical Wireless Magazine. All are welcome.
(Please note that this breaks away from the normal meeting routine which is usually the last Wednesday of each month).
Tipperary Amateur Radio Group
The Annual General Meeting of Tipperary Amateur Radio Group will take place on the 25th of November beginning at 8 p.m.
Mayo Radio Experimenter Network
Winners in the Mayo REN October club competition were as follows; 1st place went to John Corless, EI7IQ, 2nd place to John Browne EI7FAB and 3rd place is held by Mike Hayes EI2EO. In 4th place was Brendan Minish EI6IZ and Jimmy Kelly EI2GCB took 5th place.
The MREN Rally will be held in the Belmont Hotel Knock on Sunday November the 21st - doors open at 11.30 a.m. A large number of traders form Ireland and overseas have confirmed attendance, and the Rally will feature a number of practical demonstrations and talks, as well as the now famous Bring & Buy.
Special offers on accommodation at the Hotel are available and the MREN has arranged a special pre-rally dinner on the Saturday night with a prominent guest speaker and tickets are now available for the dinner, priced at 25 Euro, from Padraic Baynes, EI9JA, The Rally Director. Enquiries for stands at the rally should also be sent to Padraic who can be contacted on 087 6957154.
W7DXX
W7DXX plans to install a fully remotely controlled transceiver in Baghdad in the next month YI9DXX Baghdad this will be available for any ham in the world who is registered with w7dxx to use using VOIP over the internet for voice QSO's for more information www.lamonica.com
Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Mark EI7IS. News should be submitted via e-mail to news@irts.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.
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