Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday April 29th 2007
Jubilee Dinner and AGM
The 75th Jubilee Dinner and AGM of the Society took place over last weekend at the Vienna Woods Hotel in Cork. The Jubilee Dinner was on the Saturday evening and 120 sat down to enjoy a first class meal. Guests at the dinner included Dave Sumner K1ZZ, Secretary of the IARU and CEO of the ARRL, Ole Garpestad LA2RR, President for Region 1 IARU, Dermot Nolan, Director of ComReg and Derek O'Reilly from ComReg, Angus Annan MM1CCR, President of the RSGB, John Breen EI7BV who represented the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources and Roderick Mooney EI2P a Trustee of the Society and one of the longest standing active call signs in EI being licensed since 1937. After the usual toasts to the President of Ireland, the IRTS and the Guests gifts were exchanged between Dave Sumner K1ZZ, Ole Garpestad LA2RR, Angus Annan MM1CCR and the President Finbarr EI1CS. The President then presented special commemorative badges to the Past Presidents. Of the present nine Past Presidents, eight of them were in attendance at the dinner to receive the presentation. The ninth was attending a family wedding in the UK.
Groups of friends chatted into the wee small hours and it was very evident that the evening was very much enjoyed by the large attendance. After the rally on Sunday the 75th Annual General Meeting of the Society took place at 2.30 p.m. Somewhere between 60 and 70 members attended the meeting, which was addressed by K1ZZ, LA2RR and MM1CCR. The President, Finbarr EI1CS in his address to the meeting referred to the extent of the work being carried out by Committee members and others and he emphasised the wonderful cooperation and assistance that he had received during the year.
The Committee nominations were formally approved by the AGM. At the conclusion of the meeting the Society Awards were presented and we will bring you details of these next week.
AREN News
AREN had a stand at the recent IRTS AGM rally in Cork on the 22nd of April. There was an exhibit of the Anderson Powerpole system, the PG-40s power manager/charger and the Watts-up meter. A Power-pole crimping service was made available. The new Open tracker 2 was demonstrated along with the SMT version that fits inside the new Alinco DR135Mk2. Also on display was a HF Go-kit which included an FT857D, compact switch mode PSU and an NVIS antenna and tuner all housed in a compact case.
Official AREN bibs and hats were also displayed. Officers John Ronan, Conor O’Neill and John Ketch were on hand to discuss activities and queries form visitors to the stand.
2 Metre Counties Contest
Thanks to all the participants of the recent 2m counties contest. The turn out was much the same as previous years, with a large turnout from GI stations which shows the wide interest for the contest.
Conditions were variable with QSB causing some problems. Several of the rarer counties were activated, however Co. Sligo is still needed. Please send logs to EI8IU at QTHR or email to "contests at irts dot ie” by the 9th of May.
Booklet about Howth Martello Tower
Tony, EI5EM has written a short booklet outlining the history of the Howth Martello Tower, which now houses a vintage wireless museum and also is the home of the Howth Martello Radio Group (EI0MAR). The booklet is an 18-page A4 document and was primarily written for visitors to the tower. However, Tony feels that it might also be of interest to EI experimenters as two famous pioneering experimenters, Marconi and de Forest (inventor of the triode valve) conducted experiments from the tower. The first successful telegraph cable from Great Britain to Ireland came ashore on Balscadden Beach and terminated in the tower in 1854.
EI0MAR was QRV yesterday for Internal Marconi Day and had award station status for the celebration. A report on the day will follow shortly. If anybody would like a copy of the booklet, Tony will be glad to post it at a nominal charge of €5. Tony's address is in the call-book or email "ei0mar at eircom dot net".
Limerick Radio Club
The next meeting will take place on Thursday the 10th of May at 7 p.m. at Limerick Institute of Technology.
Limerick Radio Club has been invited by the Foynes Flying-Boat Museum to operate a special Amateur Radio Station in conjunction with the commemorative Transatlantic Re-Enactment Flight 1937 from Newfoundland Canada to Foynes Ireland. A special call-sign has been allocated to the station EI-70-FOY. The station will be on the air from the 6th to the 8th of July 2007. On HF the station will operate from 80 to 10 metres. It will also operate on VHF / UHF using the EI70FOY call-sign.
A special QSL card, commemorating the Re-Enactment Flight, will be sent to all stations worked over the three-day event. All QSL cards should be sent to the Club’s QSL Manager Alan Cronin EI8EM at QTHR.
Limerick Radio Club can be contacted at “ei4lrc at eircom dot net” or at www.qsl.net/ei4lrc
Tipperary Amateur Radio Group
The next meeting of The Tipperary Amateur Radio Group will take place on Thursday next the 3rd of May at Raheen House Hotel Clonmel at 8 p.m. Any Expermenters wishing to take part in the Galtee Walking Festival on the June bank holiday weekend are more than welcome, Contact any member of the club or call into the meeting, all are welcome.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group
Going forward and starting from Monday the 28th of May, meetings of South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place on the last Monday of each month instead of last Wednesdays. The move has been decided in order to facilitate a number of members who are unable to attend on Wednesdays.
The committee meetings will also take place on the first Monday of each month and the next committee meeting will take place on Monday the 7th of May.
Second EmCom Party on the Air
The Second EmCom party on the Air will take place on Saturday the 5th of May 2007 at 11.00 - 15.00 UTC. The operation will take place on and near the emergency Center-of-Activity (CoA) frequencies on 40, 20 and 15 meters (+/-QRM). The CoA frequencies on 80 and 17 meters will not be used during this event.
The objective of the party is to increase the common interest among member societies in emergency communication, test how usable the CoA frequencies are across Region 1, and create practices for international emergency communication between Region 1 member societies and special emergency communication groups. This is not a contest - it is an emergency communications exercise!
More information including the exchange format is on the news page of www.aren.ie
Theory Examination
The next Theory Examination for the Experimenters Licence will be held on Thursday the 28th of June next. Places for the examination are limited and will be allocated on a “first come first served” basis. In order to reserve a place for the exam, intending candidates should forward the appropriate fee to Seán Nolan EI7CD, 12 Little Meadow, Pottery Road Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin. The fee is 50 Euro or 25 Euro for full time registered students, those who are retired, are unemployed or have a disability. In addition to the exam centre at the ComReg offices in Dublin, it has now been decided with the agreement of ComReg that an examination should be held on the same date and with the same paper at the Community Centre, Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork. This is to facilitate those at present attending classes for the experimenter licence examination in Cork and Waterford."
The closing date for the examination is the 16th of June and it will be strictly adhered to. Sean EI7CD's address again is 12 Little Meadow, Pottery Road, Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin and it can be found in the call book section of the IRTS website at www.irts.ie Sean's e-mail address for further enquiries is "ei7cd at gofree dot indigo dot ie".
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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