Archived News Script
Irish Radio Transmitter Society Radio News Bulletin Sunday 24 April 2022
Anthony Magliocco, EI6DL SK
We regret to announce the passing of Anthony "Tony" Magliocco of Court Devenish, Athlone, Co. Westmeath. Tony will be remembered for his passion for Amateur and Experimental Radio and his "big signal" from the centre of Ireland. Tony passed away peacefully at 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, April 23rd at his home. He will be reposing at Flynn's funeral Parlour, Athlone. We extend our deepest sympathy and sincere condolances to his wife Theresa, grandchildren Avia, Gianluca, Francesco (Jnr.) and Emilio, his extended family and firends, May he Rest in Peace.
HAREC Exam date announced
The IRTS examination board is pleased to announce that the next HAREC examination will be held in the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on Saturday the 9th of July 2022. There will be two examinations held on that date, a morning sitting commencing at 10am and an afternoon sitting commencing at 1.30pm. Each sitting will be two hours in duration and candidates are advised to arrive at least 30 minutes ahead of the exam commencing to allow time for sign-in. The fee for the examination is 50 Euro and there is a concessionary rate of 25 Euro. Full details can be found on the IRTS Website. Closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday the 26th of June 2022. All details are subject to Covid regulations in force on the published date of the examination. Dates and times will be read out again at the end of this bulletin, have pen and paper at the ready.
QSL for Ukraine
Dave, EI6AL, our QSL Outwards Manager sends in the following report:
"The Ukranian QSL Buro closed immediately following the start of the conflict. However, I have been in touch with a Ukranian amateur who wishes to distribute cards to his colleagues and is anxious to do so. Their postal service is operating normally in areas outside the major conflict zone and An Post accept packages to Ukraine. The first batch of cards has already been sent. If you are holding any cards for Ukraine please send them to me and I will forward them on - it will help bring some positivity to those Ukranian amateurs who currently cannot go on air."
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC
The April meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC will take place tomorrow night, Monday the 25th of April 2022 at 8.00 p.m. sharp at The Sweep Bar, Adamstown, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford, Eircode X91 H588. New members or anyone interested in learning more about amateur radio or the group are as always very welcome to attend. 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.
Equipment Wanted
Anthony, EI7LBA, a member of the the Carlow Branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association is looking for equipment for a radio shack, either as a loan, or as a donation. A number of his fellow members have expressed an interest in Ham Radio and he is looking to get something set up for them in the centre. Basically, he is asking if anyone has old or unused equipment to get them started. He knows that this is a big ask, but they would open up their shack to the public to also attend and learn about HAM Radio, and hopefully get a group to attend the HAREC course and the exam with a view to getting their own call signs. Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Have a look around your shack to see what you can part with, and get in touch with Anthony Brophy at the Carlow Branch of the Irish Wheelchair Association.
Ham Radio Art Project
Annard, EI4IQB writing on our forum at irts.groups.io is drawing attention to an art project featuring HAM radio. It includes recordings made at EI0MAR. The production of "HAM" was supported by an Arts Council Agility Award, and it was included as part of the programme for this year's Five Lamps Festival. It had a joint debut broadcast between Near FM and Dublin Digital Radio. "HAM" is an experimental documentary piece about amateur radio operators based in Dublin. The string parts were played by the Ficino Quartet. It makes for fascinating listening, illuminating many aspects of our hobby not just for licensed hams, but for a wider public. A full recording of it can now be listened to at www.soundcloud.com/craigcoxsound/ham .
IARU Bandwatch
Due to the war against Ukraine the military and propaganda activities on HF have increased notably, at times rendering portions of the 40m band unusable, other bands are also affected. Most of those activities are following certain patterns, so one is advised to get informed about what to expect before arranging skeds or planning for contests. For an overview of the frequencies affected by intrusions and the types of modes causing interferences on our HF frequency allocations, please have a look at the Spectrum Monitoring pages of the IARU website at www.iaru-r1.org .
LightCube
Amsat reports an unusual satellite mission, scheduled for launch later this year. LightCube is an educational mission sponsored by Arizona State University. This new satellite will produce a light visible to the naked eye. The flash, expected to be as bright as the International Space Station, will be produced by two xenon flash tubes. The spacecraft will be triggered by Amateur Radio operators. It is hoped that this mission with its outreach goal of increasing the accessibility of satellites will inspire more people to become Amateur Radio licensees and to continue interacting with more CubeSats. In addition to triggering the LightCube flash, radio amateurs will be able to download and decode the telemetry information. A downlink on 437.175 MHz using 1k2 AFSK with AX25 has been coordinated by AMSAT. The launch is scheduled for October of this year. For more detailed information have a look at www.lightcube.space .
40MHz
Congratulations to Phil, Ei9KP for a remarkable contact on the 8m band.
The following is a quote from John's website at www.ei7gl.blogspot.com
"A little bit of radio history was made on the 21st of April 2022 with the very first contact ever between Ireland and South Africa on the 40 MHz band. Phil, EI9KP in the west of Ireland managed to complete two way contacts with Jan, ZS6OB in South Africa on 40.680 MHz using the FT8 and FT4 modes, a distance of about 9,570 kms. EI9KP writes: "For me a first band opening to South Africa, logged ZS6OB from 1044z till 1420z. To my delight we managed a 2-way contact on 40.680MHz using FT8 and FT4 modes." EI9KP was using 25-watts from an ICOM IC-7300 to a home brew 2-element Yagi for the 8m band. ZS6OB was using in the region of 30-50 watts."
New GB2RS News Service
The RSGB announced a new 80m broadcast on 3650kHz each Sunday at 08.00 UK time from the station of G4JBD in Bedfordshire transmitting with amplitude modulation. The intended coverage is the Midlands and the south-east of England but it may also be heard here in Ireland when propagation is favourable.
The Propagation Horoscope
The Sunspot number is reaching 80 and rising, 5 active sunspot regions are dominating the space weather. An M-flare on the 17th is still being felt, the solar flux is around 140 units, the solar wind is at well over 400 km/s. Two large central regions just north of the sun's equator are likely candidates for further M-flares, possible X-flares triggering CMEs. Expect more long lasting day-side radio blackouts. Topband is still giving reasonable night-time DX conditions in high and mid latitudes. 80 and 60m will continue to be poor due to strong D-layer absorption until late into the night, but above 40m conditions will be good thanks to a steady ionisation. Brief strong openings on 10m and above can be expected. Tropospheric ducting is forecast thanks to a strenghtening high pressure zone north of Ireland, this may allow for VHF contacts to Iceland and into Scandinavia. Keep an ear on the beacons on the Faroe Islands, transmitting on 41.4022 MHz, 70.0354 MHz, 144.4017 and 432.4013 MHz.
HAREC Exam dates and times
Again, here the details for the next HAREC examination. It will be held in the Maldron Hotel, Tallaght, Dublin 24 on Saturday the 9th of July 2022. There will be two examinations held on that date, a morning sitting commencing at 10am and an afternoon sitting commencing at 1.30pm. Each sitting will be two hours in duration and candidates are advised to arrive at least 30 minutes ahead of the exam commencing to allow time for sign-in. The fee for the examination is 50 Euro and there is a concessionary rate of 25 Euro. Full details can be found on the IRTS Website. Closing date for receipt of applications is Sunday the 26th of June 2022. All details are subject to Covid regulations in force on the published date of the examination.
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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