This Week’s News
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday November 26th, 2023
Next IRTS Committee Meeting
The next IRTS Committee meeting will take place on Tuesday, December 5th at 8:00 p.m. on the Zoom platform. All IRTS affiliated clubs are reminded that under Rule 16.1, the members in each affiliated club, society or other body may elect a representative and an alternate annually to attend IRTS Committee meetings. Clubs wishing to send a representative should notify the IRTS Secretary, Owen EI4GGB at irts_secretary /at/ irts.ie.
IRTS News Team Christmas Break
As in previous years, the IRTS News Team will be taking a small break over the Christmas period. The last 40m and 80m IRTS news bulletins for 2023 will be transmitted on Sunday, December 17th. There will be no news bulletins on either Sunday December 24th or Sunday, December 31st. Normal bulletins will resume on Sunday, January 7th, 2024.
December YOTA Month
A reminder to all listeners that December is once again Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) month. This is a busy time of year especially for young ham radio operators across the world. This December, many YOTA teams will light up the bands in the interests of giving youngsters a taste of our great hobby. A full list of participating stations can be found on the website events.ham-yota.com.
For the entire month of December, several youngsters will become active with YOTA as the call-sign suffix. The idea for this is to show the amateur radio hobby to the youth and to encourage youngsters to be active on the radio waves. Therefore, if you happen to hear a YOTA station active on the bands over the month of December, please take a few minutes to give them a call as it's a great way to help promote the hobby to the next generation of DXers, contesters, and rag-chewers.
Shannon Basin Radio Club Announce Special Hotel Rates for the 2024 IRTS AGM Weekend
Shannon Basin Radio Club is hosting the 2024 IRTS AGM Weekend. It will be held in the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway over the weekend of April 13th and 14th, 2024. Rooms for the event are now available to book at a special rate from today, Sunday 26th November. For Friday April 12th and Saturday April 13th, twin or double rooms including breakfast are available at the negotiated rate of €159 per night based on two people sharing. If you wish to stay on the Sunday night, twin or double rooms are available at €139 for two people sharing.
There are only a limited number of rooms available at the price listed and you must call or email the hotel to avail of the reduced rates. Based on last year's high demand, you are advised to book early to avoid disappointment. Please quote reference 501365 when making your bookings over the phone or via email to the hotel. The Shearwater Hotel may be contacted at +353 90 9630400 or via email to info /at/ shearwaterhotel.com. Further details are available at www.sbrc.ie/agmweekend
South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC
The November meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC will take place tomorrow, Monday the 27th of November 2023 at 8 p.m. sharp at the New Community Men's Shed, Ozanam Centre, Coffee House Lane, Waterford. New members, or anyone interested in learning more about amateur radio or the group are as always very welcome to attend. To find out more about EI2WRC and their activities and for contact details please see www.searg.ie
Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Annual Rally
The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society will be holding its annual rally on March 4th, 2024, at the Hillsborough Village Centre, 7 Ballynahinch Road, Hillsborough, BT26 6AR. Doors will open at 10:30 a.m. and the rally ends at 1 p.m. The Hillsborough Village Centre is just off the main A1 road linking the north and south of Ireland. Further details can be found at www.lvars.uk
Kells Radio Club Update
Kells Radio Club report that an application has been submitted to Comreg for a digital ATV repeater on 437MHz. The transceiver is based around a low-cost open-source software-defined radio platform called LimeSDR. If approved, it would be sited on Loughanleagh in Co. Cavan. Interested operators within range may then be able receive digital ATV signals using appropriate SDRs and potentially the ATV signals could be receivable via standard televisions also. Kells Radio Club currently operate analog ATV repeaters on the 23cm, 13cm, and 3cm bands also.
The club is also seeking a square steel container, 19-inch rack, and a wind turbine to facilitate an amateur radio installation on the Dublin mountains. If you can help, please contact Ronnie EI9ED at 086 2575395.
South Dublin Radio Club Christmas Party
This year's South Dublin Radio Club Christmas Party will take place on Tuesday the 12th of December 2023 at 8 p.m. The venue will be the "The Morgue" pub in Templeogue Village, Dublin. Members of other clubs and visitors are as usual very welcome to this social event. Limited free food will be available for paid-up members and visitors can choose from the bar menu until 9 p.m. The club will then break for Christmas and return on January 9th, 2024.
North Dublin Radio Club Christmas Party
Continuing with the Christmas parties, North Dublin Radio Club wish to remind everyone if you'd like to come along and celebrate with them as part of their Christmas event, please contact Tony EI6K on 086 298 5776 to express your interest. The deadline is December 1st.
Contest Calendar Update
The RSGB FT4 contest takes place on Monday November 27th from 20:00 to 21:30 UTC. This will run on the 80m, 40m, and 20m bands. It s intended to allow entrants to experience the FT4 digital mode in a competitive context. The required exchange is callsign and signal report. Further information may be found at www.rsgbcc.org
The next UKEICC 80m contest of the 2023-2024 season is on Wednesday November 29th, 2023, at 8:00 p.m. local time on CW. The bonus stations EI5G will be operated by David EI5KG and G5GEI will be operated by Dean G4WQI.
Items for Inclusion in Next Week's Radio News
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 Thursday.
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