Archived News Script
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday 18th August 2013
Amateur Station Licence Examination
The next Amateur Station Licence Examination will be held on Thursday, 10th October at 2.00 p.m. in the ComReg Offices in Dublin. Places for the examination are limited and will be allocated on a first come first served basis so you are strongly advised to apply early. Some applications have already been received. If warranted by the number of candidates, a morning session at 10.30 a.m. will be held in addition to the afternoon session.
Full details, including entry procedure, examination fee and how to pay the fee on line are available at www.irts.ie/exam . Note that it is necessary to download the application form from the web page and forward the completed form and the appropriate fee in order to secure a place for the examination. If you pay the fee on line you must still complete and forward the application form. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is Wednesday 25th September.
EI13CLAN Challenge.
The first Club to try for the EI13CLAN challenge was Dundalk, which put up an excellent score over a 24 hour period. There was a major SSB contest on during that period, so on SSB the club was limited to the WARC bands only. Next clubs to go are Shannon Basin, followed by Network Southern Area Radio Experimenters Club.
There are still a number of 24 hour weekend slots available to Clubs wishing to compete, including slots for all bands and modes. Any club that would like to have a go for the Icom 756 pro on offer for the highest score should contact Dave EI6AL: full details of the challenge and the relevant contact details are on the IRTS website.
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group
The August meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford on Monday 26th August at 8.30 p.m. The meeting will be preceded by a committee meeting at 8.00 pm sharp and as always new members are very welcome.
Plans for the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group’s activation of Loftus Hall on Friday the 13th of September are in full swing. Loftus Hall is widely renowned as Ireland’s most haunted house. It is situated close to Hook Head lighthouse in Co. Wexford, and has been given the CASHOTA reference EI025/SH. It promises to be a fun filled activation and a family orientated one also with junior ops welcome to come along with their mam or dad. Anyone interested in coming along and spending the night in Ireland’s most haunted house can get more details from any SEARG committee member.
For up-to-date news about the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group and its activities, check the website www.searg.com and you can also follow the club on Facebook and Twitter.
Shannon Basin Radio Club
The Shannon Basin Radio Club will once again be hosting the SSB field day on the weekend of 7th and 8th September. The club would like to invite clubs or individual ops to the grounds of Garbally College, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway to take part in the contest. Ample space is available for antennas, parking and camping if needs be. The club will be having its famous barbeque on the Saturday evening the 7th. For further information please contact Brian EI8IU at brianei8iu /at/ eircom.net.
South Dublin Radio Club
South Dublin Radio Club weekly meetings resume next Tuesday, 20th August. Club meetings are held in the Ballyroan Community Centre, Marian Road, Rathfarnham every Tuesday at 8.00 pm.
Counties Contest
We often hear complaints that there is very little 2 metres activity in EI. Next Sunday (25th August) there is a great opportunity to make 2 metres come alive, before during and after the 2 metres counties contest. The contest runs from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm local time and uses both FM and SSB; the same station may be worked on both modes. The multipliers are the 32 EI and GI counties.
Note that there is a special QSY rule in this contest. After any QSO in which you are called by another station, you must QSY to another channel (FM), or by at least 3 kHz (SSB), before soliciting another QSO, while the station answering the CQ or QRZ has the frequency for one more contact.
International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend
For those listening to this news bulletin on Sunday: don’t forget that this is International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend. A record number of more than 500 lighthouses from 50 countries are being activated this year, including more than a dozen Irish lighthouses.
DX News
There has not been much activity from Myanmar (formerly Burma) in recent years so it was a nice surprise to hear XZ1Z on the air for a few days last week. The operator was Zorro JH1AJT. If you missed him last week the good news is that he returns to Myanmar in September and his licence is valid until 12 September.
An international group of YL operators are at present on the air from Greenland. They are using the callsign OX5YL until 20 August. QSLs go via PA5YL.
Mario CE0ZOL is active from Juan Fernandez Island. He will be on the island for about 6 months while manager of the local aerodrome. Activity will take place mainly at weekends.
Freddy F5IRO will be QRV as 6V7O from Senegal until 26 August. He will be mainly active on CW and his QSL Manager is F8DFP.
Take JG8NQJ/JD1 has been on the air from Minami Torishima in recent weeks. Look for him on 15 and 17m on CW. QSL info is via JA8CJY.
Items for inclusion in next week’s Radio News can be submitted via e-mail to “newsteam /at/ irts / dot / ie” for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. Urgent news items for the radio news maybe telephoned to the radio news editor, Aidan, EI7JC on 085 7100511.
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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