The Annual General Meeting of the Irish Radio Transmitters Society will be held at the Lakeside Hotel, Ballykeeran, Athlone on Saturday May the 26th at 1430. The venue is just outside Athlone on the Cavan Road. Full catering facilities will be available. There will not be a trade show associated with the AGM this year.
Nominations are still being sought for the following awards: Pat Conway Cup, Arup Cup and the Collins Cup. These are awarded for service to the Society or the hobby. Send your nominations to Peter Grant EI4HX at QTHR. Entries for the construction awards will be accepted up to 1400 on the day.
There is some confusion about the year 2000 six metre activity award. Points will be awarded as follows, 1 point per each unique QSO. Multiplied by the total number of locator squares worked (first four characters only). And again Multiplied by the number of DXCC countries worked. Completed logs with cover sheets should be sent to the contest manager John McDonnell EI6IR at ei6ir@eircom.net Phone 094-60127.
At the recent IRTS Committee meeting, Noel Mulvihill EI6HW was presented with the Ultimate Award, the highest award available to worked All Ireland activists. Martin EI8GP and Brian G0NSL were awarded their 1000 awards. Congratulations to all three.
Last weekend was a very active one on the WAI net on 40 metres as Declan EI9HQ put in another activation marathon effort over four days. In all he operated from 151 different squares in 8 counties, covering 951 miles in the process. Two lighthouses were also activated during the trip.
Due to the foot and mouth situation, the Irish Amateur Television club in association with the Microwave Society of Ireland will unfortunately not be able to hold their second annual convention as planned. This event will be deferred to a later date, possibly around September. The new date for this event, when it is scheduled, will be announced in the radio news. The e-mail address of the Irish Amateur Television Club is iatc@eircom.net.
Congratulations to SDR member Kevin Craig EI3FCB, who has recently passed the Morse Test and is now awaiting his new call.
The OSCAR-40 satellite began experimental transponder operation on May 5, transmitting on 2.4 GHz and listening for signals on 435 MHz and 1269 MHz. In a letter sent to the AMSAT-DL (Germany) website by the group's president, Peter DB2OS, he said, "We expect very good conditions on Saturday morning over the US, South America, Africa and Europe," but warned that the operation is experimental and that changes, including shutdown of the transponders, may be made without notice if ground controllers feel it is necessary.
Stations should use only SSB and CW … The uplink frequencies are 435.550-435.800 MHz and 1269.250-1269.500 MHz. The downlink passband is 2401.225-2401.475 MHz. The transponders are inverting, so a downward change in uplink frequency will result in an upward frequency shift in the downlink." "Users are asked to avoid the 'middle' 2.4 GHz telemetry beacon and give it a clearance of 5 kHz on either side. The transponder might be shut down if the beacon cannot be copied because of interference." Plans are being made for additional tests of the satellite's 2-metre and 70-centimetre transmitters, which have had problems since launch. You can visit AMSAT Germany’s at www.amsat-dl.org .
The PW QRP contest scheduled for June 2001 has been cancelled. Restrictions on access to farmland and countryside areas in response to the foot and mouth disease outbreak means that many portable locations in the UK cannot currently be used. Practical Wireless expresses regret at having to take this step, but it is an inevitable consequence of the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease.
Items for inclusion in Echo Ireland should be forwarded to Dave Moore EI4BZ at 021-4353853 in the evenings or at 021-4823172 during office hours. Items can be submitted to Dave by e-mail at ei4bz@eircom.net and you can fax him at 021-4354113. Items for inclusion in the Radio News should be forwarded to Mark Wall EI7IS at QTHR or via e-mail to ei7is@qsl.net or cyberis@e-merge.ie. Items can also be sent to Mark over the phone at 087-6302026. News can also be submitted via e-mail to news@irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both news services.
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