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IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday 14th November 2010


IRTS Stand at Foyle and District Rally

Foyle & District Radio Club held their Annual Rally last Sunday, 7th November. This is the first time that the IRTS have been invited to this Rally and the invite was graciously accepted.

Pat EI2HX and Peter EI4HX were on hand at the stand, which was kept busy all day with enquiries, and meeting new and old friends some whom have been members for many years, but had never had an opportunity to meet any IRTS Representatives.

There was a good selection of equipment, old and new, and the many visitors were well pleased.

There were many enquiries about IRTS contests, Worked EI Counties, and worked all Ireland awards, and some new WAI members were signed up. Pat was busy signing autographs for his [ATV] HX Files, articles in Echo Ireland, and Peter met some of the callers, who give reports to the IRTS News on Monday Nights, via the Dundalk Repeater EI2CCR, which is well heard in the North West.


CQ CQ calling news items

As is common through the year we have occasional lulls in news. If your group or club are involved in anything that you would like to share with our Listeners or readers please pass on the information to our editor.


DXCC Activity by EIs

We reported a few weeks ago when Dave EI9FBB became the first EI to achieve 10 band DXCC; this achievement is also the subject of an article in the current issue of Echo Ireland.

Other EI radio amateurs have also been busy on the DXCC front. The latest EI DXCC List - which can be seen at www.irts.ie/dxcc - highlights recent movements in the DXCC rankings by EI radio amateurs; we notice that one of the milestones shown in this list is the fact that Dave EI3IO has become the first EI to have more than 200 entities confirmed on 160 metres.

Other EIs who have clearly been busy working DX and collecting QSLs include John EI7BA and Dave EI4BZ.


North Cork Radio Group Arrival

The North Cork Radio Group would like to welcome their newest member, Luke James O'Callaghan, born on the 7th November 2010 at 1.33am at Cork University Maternity Hospital.

This little boy could be picked up at 5 and 9+ throughout Cork City. He is happy and healthy and looking forward to his first field day already.

Mick O'Callaghan, EI5GGB will have to put his radio aside for a while to bring his junior op up to speed with the world of amateur radio. Listen out on 49MHZ as he can be picked up loud and proud on his baby monitor hi hi. Congratulations to mum and dad from all the Group.


Ham Square - for ham radio ops on the move

Amateur radio enthusiasts who also own an iPhone may find this new app from G7LEU quite useful - especially if they are constantly on the move.

Mark Turner G7LEU has developed an iPhone application that may be of interest.

The app, Ham Square, uses the iPhone's built-in GPS receiver to determine the current location, and then presents that location in decimal degrees and Maidenhead Locator, i.e. it shows the current "square".

The app is free, and available to iPhone users via the iTunes App Store as usual.

Please see www.kramstuff.com/ for more details and a screenshot.


DX News

Sierra Leone The DXpedition to the Banana Islands IOTA AF-037 off the coast of Sierra Leone is QRV till next Thursday (18th November) Callsign to look for is 9L0W and the QSL info is via DK2WV

South Korea For those who like working unusual callsigns the special event call D7G20 (that is D-seven-G-twenty) is on the air till 28th November. This is in connection with the G20 Summit being held in Seoul.

Tristan da Cunha This quite rare DXCC entity is available till early next month with DL2AH on the air as ZD9AH. Operation is mainly SSB with some RTTY expected later.

Uganda G3XAQ is QRV as 5X1XA from now till 1st December. A single band entry in the CQ WW DX CW Contest (27-28 November) will probably be on 20 metres. QSL info is via G3SWH.

Kermadec A mainly German team is planning to operate as ZL8X from the Kermadec Islands from 19th November till 5th December. This is a rare one for the DX fraternity so listen for the pile-ups!! Up to date info can be found on www.kermadec.de

Sable Island DXpedition back on again Sable is back on the calendar. The rescheduled dates are December 6-13th, 2010.

For more details, visit: www.CY0dxpedition.com


Understanding LF and HF Propagation - free ebook

Steve G0KYA and Alan G3NYK, of the Radio Society of Great Britain's (RSGB) Propagation Studies Committee, have released a free ebook called 'Understanding LF and HF Propagation'

In 2008/2009 Steve and Alan wrote a series of features on LF and HF propagation for the RSGB's "RadCom" magazine.

You can download your free copy of "Understanding LF and HF Propagation" at www.g0kya.blogspot.com


Rallies

Sunday 21st November 2010 Event: Mayo Radio Experimenters Network Annual Rally Venue: Welcome Inn, Castlebar, Co. Mayo Doors open at 11:00 a.m. Information: Rally Director: Padraic Baynes, EI9JA See www.ei7mre.org

For further details on Rallies please see www.irts.ie/rallies


This week in History

1895 Roentgen discovers x-rays.

1897 Marconi transmits ship to shore 18 miles.


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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