This Week’s News
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday January 12th, 2025
Silent Key - Seán Donelan EI4GK
We are saddened to report the recent death of Seán Donelan EI4GK. Seán was a very active radio amateur, participating in many expeditions, including the famous "Fastnet Force Seven" expedition to Fastnet Rock in 1991. Seán was also a keen DXer - with 300 DXCC entities confirmed - and a regular island activator; over many years he was the principal organiser for an informal group of Islands on The Air contesters. Seán was President of IRTS from 2003 to 2006 and served as Treasurer of the society and in other committee roles over many years.
Seán was pre-deceased by his wife, Bríd. We extend our sympathies to his family and his many friends. May he rest in peace.
News from the IRTS
With the next IRTS AGM taking place on April 13th, the IRTS committee is obliged by rule to nominate candidates for the positions of President, Vice-President, and eleven committee positions. These nominations must be included with the notice of meeting sent to members 28 days before the AGM.
If you are interested in any of these positions, please email irts_secretary /at/ irts.ie before January 31st. This mechanism is in place to ensure that there are candidates for all positions, and it does not prevent any other member putting themselves forward for election. Anyone interested in putting themselves forward for election can do so as defined by rules 23 and 24 in the Constitution and Rules. Members are reminded that there will be no election for committee positions at the AGM. If there are additional candidates to the committee nominations, there will be a postal ballot held in advance of the AGM in April.
The IRTS is delighted to announce the co-opting of two new committee members to join the existing committee. Keith EI5IN and Ana EI5IXB were both co-opted on to the committee at the last IRTS committee meeting which took place on Wednesday January 8th on the Zoom platform. Also, at that meeting Mark EI4FNB was ratified as the new interim coordinator the AREN group. We wish Keith, Ana, and Mark the very best of luck in their new roles.
Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club
Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club’s Annual General Meeting for 2025 will be held on Thursday the 20th of February at 7 p.m. sharp in the Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands, Midwest in Moylish, Limerick. All members are asked to attend.
The club's annual rally will take place on the 9th of March in Treacy's Oakwood Hotel in Shannon. Please note the change of venue from recent years. The club is delighted that Long Communications has confirmed attendance and there will be plenty of bring and buy tables. To book a table, you are asked to please contact Dermot Gleeson, EI2GT, at DermotGleeson1 /at/ gmail.com. Only bookings made via email will be accepted.
Despite recent storm damage which has impacted their Hex Beam antenna, their weekly Saturday activation of EI4SAM continues but with fewer frequencies in play. The station is active from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the initial calling frequency of 7.123 MHz, plus or minus QRM. All callers are welcome.
Shannon Basin Radio Club AGM
Shannon Basin Radio Club’ annual general meeting will take place on the 24th of January at 8 p.m. Their AGM will be held in Hannon’s Hotel in Roscommon town, Eircode F42 PH33. All members are invited to attend. Newcomers are welcome also. Finger food and light refreshments will be available, and a good social evening is planned for after the meeting. Accommodation is available in the hotel if required.
The club’s next SSB DX net runs on Thursday next, January 16th from 9 p.m. on the 80m band.
Further information about the club’s activities may be found at www.sbrc.ie, their social media channels, or via email to admin /at/ sbrc.ie.
VHF/Microwave Updates
The next 145 Alive event takes place on Sunday the 26th of January 2025. It will run from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. local time. It is not a contest but a more relaxed event promoting the use of the 2m band. The IRTS VHF/microwave managers are coordinating net control stations from EI for this. Operators can look forward to a lively three hours on the band with 59 net control stations now registered. Nine of these are based in EI covering the majority of the country.
Enhanced tropospheric propagation is forecast for almost all of next week peaking from midweek onwards. VHF and above stations can look forward to potentially interesting opportunities for DX.
Further updates to the IRTS VHF/UHF/SHF webpage have now been published. Any additional input regarding nets, suggestions for content, and worked squares for 2024 and earlier years can be submitted via email to the VHF/microwave managers at vhf_manager /at/ irts.ie.
Update from the IRTS Contest Manager
IRTS contest manager, Mark EI6JK, wishes to remind operators that the closing date for the New Years Day 80m counties contest is Wednesday the 15th of January 2025. He notes that conditions were poor on the day due to aurora and so far, he has received no logs from outside EI/GI.
Phoenix Amateur Radio Club Rally
Phoenix Amateur Radio Club EI2PAR is holding their annual radio rally on Sunday February 16th, 2025. It will take place in Coolmine Community School, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15. You can book a table by contacting Tony EI7GI at 087 2439997.
Bunkers on the Air Ireland
Ireland has joined the world-wide bunkers on the air network (BOTA). Similar to SOTA and POTA, this international network seeks to activate military bunkers and other associated sites. Details of BOTA and of the Irish activation locations can be found on the network’s website wwbota.org (Whiskey, Whiskey, Bravo, Oscar, Tango, Alpha dot ORG). The Irish bunker list is a work in progress. It currently includes only the lookout posts of the Irish Defence Forces second world war Marine and Coast Watching Service. Further locations, such as pill boxes, will be added. Bunkers on the Air Ireland is being coordinated by Michael EI6IRB.
December Edition of the IARU Monitoring System Newsletter
The December 2024 edition of the IARU Monitoring System Region 1 newsletter starts with unfortunate news regarding the death of Peter Jost, HB9CET who was a former IARU Monitoring System Region 1 Vice-Coordinator. May he rest in peace. The newsletter continues with a highlight of the very diverse range of intruding signals on the HF amateur radio band. It also reports how radar transmissions are the most troublesome among all non-amateur transmissions received within the HF amateur radio bands. The free newsletter is available for download at www.iaru-r1.org
Irish Tech Archives
The TechArchives project collects stories about Ireland’s long and convoluted relationship with information technology and preserves them in a unique series of digital archives. It covers a 50-year period stretching back to the 1950s. Prof. David Malone EI7GYB is among those offering unique insights into how technology has evolved in Ireland and recounts his early networking days with 1200 baud modems and bulletin board systems. You can learn more about this fascinating period of Irish tech history at www.techarchives.irish
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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