Archived News Script

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday January 12th 2003


Tipperary Amateur Radio Group

At a recent committee meeting of the Tipperary Amateur Radio Group John Ronan EI7IG was co-opted as Group secretary for 2003. The group would like to thank Noel Walsh EI2JC for his service as Group secretary and club representative at I.R.T.S. level for the past 2 years. The next meeting of the group will be on the Thursday the 6th of February in the Princess bar Upper Irishtown, Clonmel.


Quadrantids Meteor Shower

EI5FK reports working S51AT, I4XCC, DD1JN, DK4NJ and EA4LU on 144mhz during the recent Quadrantids meteor shower which peaked on the third and fourth of January, he was using WSJT or FSK441, EI4DQ was also heard working meteor scatter during this shower. The Quadrantids is one of the more reliable showers during the year. Activity drops off from now until May due to the fall off in meteor debris that the Earth encounters at this time of the year.


Contest & DX News

8N1OGA will be QRV until January the 31st from the rare DXCC entity of the Ogasawara Islands to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Japan Amateur Radio League.

The South-African Police Service are celebrating their 90th anniversary. Special event station ZS90SAP will operate on all bands down from 70cms plus packet. Suggested frequencies are 28.400 to 28.500, 14.150 to 14.200 and 7.050 to 7.095 MHz. Packet address is ZS0SAP@ZS0VTB.GUA.ZAF.AF. QSL is via the SARL QSL bureau and the QSL manager is Jan ZS6ZYM.


Radio Pioneer Grote Reber - Silent Key

Grote Reber, ex-W9GFZ, one of the earliest pioneers of radio astronomy, died at the age of 90 on December 20th last in Tasmania, where he had been living for the last 38 years. Reber was the first to build a radio telescope for astronomy, and his experiments which were self-financed laid the foundation for today's advanced radio astronomy equipment. Reber was the first to study the sky by observing something other than visible light and in 1941 compiled a radio map of the sky.

Reber's research results were published in a number of prestigious technical journals and he received numerous honours including an honorary doctorate from Ohio State University. Reber's amateur call sign, W9GFZ, is now held by the NRAO Amateur Radio Club in Socorro, New Mexico.


QSLs for Russia and Ukraine

PO Box 462 Manager, Mike, EI2CL would like to remind members concerned, when sending bundles of QSL cards to the IRTS, that it is necessary to always separate cards destined for Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine.

Despite any difficulty in identifying the country on the basis of the call sign, it is strongly recommended that it be done and written on the QSL in all cases. Do not leave it to someone else to do it. Since the break-up of the USSR at the end of 1991, new QSL bureau for most of the "new" republics have been established and, in the circumstances, cards sent to the wrong country cause unnecessary work and considerable expense for the societies involved.


Marconi Wireless Centennial - KM1CC

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi's First Wireless transmission between the United States and Europe on January 11th to the 19th 2003.

From atop high, sandy cliffs overlooking the Atlantic, Marconi transmitted a simple, 54-word greeting from President Theodore Roosevelt to Great Britain's King Edward VII. Within hours, the King acknowledged receiving the message, and the spark of global communications was lit.

The Marconi Radio Club, W1AA, and the Marconi Cape Cod Memorial Radio Club, KM1CC, working in partnership with the National Park Service at Cape Cod National Seashore, will operate a Special Event station from January 11th to the 19th at the former Coast Guard station at Coast Guard Beach in Eastham, Massachusetts, from near the site of the original Marconi 1903 Station. From 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day, the public will be able to tour the station, listen to voice and Morse Code discussions with other radio operators around the world, and learn about wireless technology and the significance of Marconi's achievement. For Details See: personal.tmlp.com/k1vv/w1aa

January 18th will mark the centennial of Marconi's groundbreaking transatlantic wireless transmission with a re-enactment of this historic scientific achievement, rivalling the Wright Brother first flight at Kitty Hawk. Marconi's daughter Princess Elettra Marconi is scheduled to attend the event.

Selected Students from three Cape Cod High Schools will communicate with astronauts aboard the orbiting International Space Station.

For a complete events calendar, go to www.nps.gov/caco and click on "In Depth," then "News."

Items for inclusion in the Radio News should be forwarded to Mark Wall EI7IS at QTHR or via e-mail cyberis@vodafone.ie. Items can also be sent to Mark over the phone at 087-6302026 or by fax at 087-5-6302026.

News can also be submitted via e-mail to news@irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both news services.

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