Archived News Script
Irish Radio Transmitter Society Radio News Bulletin Sunday 13 February 2022
Club News
The South Dublin Radio Club invites you to their upcoming webinar, taking place on the 10th of March 2022. Hosted by the Electronic and Computing division of Engineers Ireland and in collaboration with the South Dublin Radio Club, this webinar with Adrian Connor EI9HAB and Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB, will discuss ‘Amateur Radio - A Life-Long Technical Hobby’. Amateur Radio is a rich and diverse hobby and an exciting mix of science, communications, engineering and fun. It can be enjoyed by all ages and a wide range of abilities. This presentation aims to showcase the hobby and how to get started. All radio amateurs, SWLs, and hobbyists are welcome to attend. This webinar will be an ideal way to introduce someone new to our great hobby and will give good information on how to get started - so spread the word. The presentation will be via Zoom and details on how to attend can be found on the Engineers Ireland website www.engineersireland.ie/Events or via South Dublin Radio Club's social media: Twitter /at/ SDRadioClub, South Dublin Radio Club's Facebook page or the South Dublin Radio Club website.
The Shannon Basin Radio Club will be holding its AGM on the 4th of March 2022 at 8pm in Hannons Hotel, Roscommon Town. This is open to all club members, and also to anyone interested in Radio and who would like join the club. Finger food and refreshments will be served after meeting. For more information contact admin /at/ sbrc.ie.
The 2022 Annual General Meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place at 8.00 p.m. sharp on Monday the 28th of February 2022 via the Zoom platform. The committee feels that because it’s a very important meeting and some people might not yet feel comfortable attending public gatherings, that Zoom would be a better option than a physical meeting. It would also allow members and those interested in joining who live a distance away to attend. There will be a limited number of places available for non-members of the club to attend this meeting. Anyone interested in attending is asked to send an email requesting details of how you can access the meeting to southeasternarg /at/ gmail.com before 6 p.m. Monday the 21st of February.
The 89th Irish Radio Transmitters AGM weekend will take place over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of April 2022 in the Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Kilkenny Road, Carlow. The special room rate secured for the event will end on the 1st march so there will be no rooms available after that date at the reduced rate and rooms will cost the standard hotel prices. Tickets for the Gala Dinner can now be pre-booked from John EI7IG for collection on arrival at the event.
Individual traders are very welcome to attend the rally and sell any equipment they wish to. Tables will be available to individual traders for 10 Euro per table. Any IRTS affiliated radio club and groups are also very welcome to attend the rally and promote their club or group. Tables will be available free of charge, providing they do not sell any radio gear or related items. Table inquiries can made to John EI3HQB on 086 8709265. Tables are limited so contact John as soon as possible please.
For anyone that wishes to find out more about the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group and their activities you can drop them an email to southeasternarg /at/ gmail.com or please feel free to go along to any of their meetings. You can check their website www.searg.ie and you can also join them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
Preparations are well underway for the GI-QRP convention in association with the GQRP Club. The Convention will take place on the 25th of June 2022 at the Tandragee Golf Club, 11 Markethill Road, Tandragee, Craigavon BT62 2ER, doors open at 9 a.m. Presentations start at 10 a.m. There will be lectures and seminars, a series of build-a-thons, special interest groups, talk-in, trade stands, prize draw and raffle, catering, and a licensed bar. There will be ample parking and disabled access. The callsign GI5LOW will be in use leading up to and during the weekend of the convention.
St. Patricks Day
The organisers of the Saint Patrick's Day award are excited to announce the launch of a new web page where visitors can learn everything they need to know about the Saint Patrick's day award. On the new page, you will also find the simple registration form to be completed by all participants in this year's festivities which will be running from the 16th-18th March 2022. Previous years have seen over 100 amateurs register to participate and we are hopeful that this will continue to grow. The award is an opportunity for amateurs around the world to celebrate Saint Patrick's day and turn the airwaves green. The new page can be accessed at www.stpatricksaward.com We look forward to celebrating with you all.
Postal Stamp Collection
The Radio Amateur Association of Greece informs us that the Greek Post Office will issue four postal stamps with ham radio motifs, titled "Radio Technology in Greece". Interested collectors are advised that only 5000 stamp booklets are on offer from next Tuesday. More information can be found on the EEP's website at www.raag.org
ARISS News
The next opportunity to listen in on an ARISS event comes up on Monday 14th, when students at the Univeristy of Aachen, in southwestern Germany are scheduled to make contact with astronaut Mathias Maurer, KI5KF aboard the International Space Station. The downlink frequency is 145.800 MHz FM. The ISS rises due west at 11:38 UTC, climbs to an elevation of 70 degrees over Ireland, then sets due east at 11:48. The contact with the students starts at 11:40 UTC, but one can expect to hear traffic between DLØFHA and KI5KF the moment the station comes into view during this long pass.
Digital Voice Mode on HF
FreeDV is a Digital Voice mode for HF radio. You can run FreeDV using freely available Open-Source software, available for Linux, OSX and Windows, allowing any SSB radio to be used for low bit rate digital voice. Alternatively, a commercially available FreeDV adaptor allows the use of this efficient mode without a PC or sound card. FreeDV is being developed by an international team of radio amateurs working together on coding, design, user interface and testing. Aiming to popularize this new mode, its software developer Mooneer Salem, K6AQ announces the Second FreeDV Activity Day on Saturday, February 19th, 2022. He writes: "This event will bring together people interested in HF digital voice on the air for conversation and fun. Contacts using the official application as well as the SM1000 handheld microphone are welcome. As this isn't a contest, there's no pressure to make contacts or send logs, but you can always confirm QSOs via the usual means if you'd like." The FreeDV Activity day is a 24 hour event, starting on Saturday, the 19th of February, at 16:00 Zulu, and ending on Sunday, the 20th of February at 15:59 Zulu. Enabling PSK Reporter in the FreeDV application and joining the QSO Finder are recommended so others can see that you're on the air. A list of the suggested frequencies for the hf bands are
80m: 3.625, 3.643 or 3.693 MHz; 40m: 7.177 MHz; 20m: 14.236 MHz; 17m: 18.118 MHz; 15m: 21.313 MHz; 12m: 24.933 MHz; and 10m: 28.330 or 28.720 MHz.
Note that LSB/DIGL is used below 10MHz as per current convention for voice modes, USB/DIGU otherwise.
On The Air
The GB2RS News Team reports that on the 14th of February 1922, a small group of Marconi employees began a series of experimental entertainment broadcasts on Medium Wave from a wooden hut near Writtle. The callsign of the original station was 2MT. These experiments are now regarded as the Birth of British Broadcasting and the origins of the BBC. On Monday the 14th of February 2022, to commemorate the centenary, Chelmsford ARS will be running GB1002MT. They plan to have HF, VHF and UHF stations on the air from 2pm to 9pm using CW and SSB.
On Thursday the 70MHz UK Activity Contest runs from 2000 to 2230 UTC. Using all modes, the exchange is signal report, serial number and locator.
The ARRL International DX contest is due next weekend, running for 48 hours from Saturday 00:00 UTC, to Sunday 23:59 UTC, The ARRL website has the details in their contest section.
The Propagation Horoscope
A full halo filament eruption last week resulted not only in a disturbed geomagnetic field, but also produced around fourty expensive ionisation trails, thanks to Space-X ignoring space weather warnings, and launching anyway. Two large sunspot regions in the northern hemisphere, joined by two more large regions returning on the eastern limb will deliver more C-flares, some M-flares are likely. The MUF2 reached above 25 Mhz most days, with a critical frequency well above 6 MHz. Another large plume was ejected early Friday morning, the arc of the plasma reached us late on Saturday. In its wake the Solar wind speed will ramp up to above 450 km per second, after the proton count peaked at 15 particles per cubic centimeter late on Friday. NOAA predicts a Kp index of at least three for the coming week. This translates into excellent DX on all Hf bands. Daily opening into the Carribean on 10 and 12 meters should widen further south.
That is the news for this week. Items for inclusion in next week’s radio news
can be submitted by email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. The deadline is midnight on Friday.
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