Archived News Script

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday May 20th 2007


News from the IRTS

Ger McNamara EI4GXB has been appointed to fill the vacancy as Regional Representative for Region 4 on the retirement of Paddy Maher EI3AV. The region covers the counties Tipperary, Limerick, Clare and Kerry. Apologies, as we ran Gers’ callsign incorrectly in last weeks news.

Contact details for Ger are available on the Society's web page. As we welcome Ger to the team we would like to thank Paddy for all the work he has done for society over many years and wish him a speedy return to full health.


International Museums Weekend

The International Museums Weekend takes place on the 16th and 17th of June. This amateur radio special event has grown in popularity since the first event was held in 2002.

Among past participants are The Tower of London, HMS Belfast and the US battleship New Jersey. The Howth Martello Radio Group will be participating again this year, operating from the Vintage Radio Museum in Howth. Visitors are welcome to call and operate the station over the weekend. The museum web site is www.qsl.net/ei5em/museum.html A full list of participating museums and further information of the event is available from the organiser's web site www.ukradioamateur.co.uk/imw/


Limerick Radio Club

Limerick Radio Club has been invited by the Foynes Flying-Boat Museum to operate a special Amateur Radio Station in conjunction with the commemorative Transatlantic Re-Enactment Flight 1937 from Newfoundland Canada to Foynes Ireland. A special call sign has been allocated to the station EI-70-FOY. The station will be on the air from the 6th to the 8th of July 2007. On HF the station will operate from 80 to 10 metres. It will also operate on VHF / UHF using the EI70FOY call sign.

A special QSL card, commemorating the Re-Enactment Flight, will be sent to all stations worked over the three-day event. All QSL cards should be sent to the Club’s QSL Manager Alan Cronin EI8EM at QTHR. Limerick Radio Club can be contacted at “ei4lrc at eircom dot net” or at www.qsl.net/ei4lrc


South Eastern Amateur Radio Group

There will be no general meeting for the month of May. The next committee meeting will take place on Monday the 4th of June. All committee members are asked to attend.

Please note that all general meetings will now take place on the last Monday of each month.


Foyle and District

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Amelia Earharts solo Atlantic flight which landed just outside of Derry having flown from Newfoundland, The Foyle and district amateur radio club will hold a live link-up with clubs in Conception Bay and Harbour Grace Newfoundland. The clubs on the Newfoundland side will be using vintage radio equipment at a local museum.

The planned frequencies are 14.220 MHz and 7.060 MHz, allowing slight variation depending on QRM. The planned times of contact are 8 to 9.30 p.m. local time on Sunday the 20th and Monday the 21st of May.

More information can be found at www.mn0aku.org.uk


Rallies

Bangor & District Amateur Radio Society Rally will take place on Sunday the 17th of June in the Crawfordsburn Country Park, Helen's Bay, Co. Down. The Cork Radio Club Rally will take place on Sunday the 23rd of September in the Blarney Park Hotel, Blarney, Co. Cork and the Mayo Radio Rally will be on Sunday the 18th of November in the Belmont Hotel, Knock, Co. Mayo.

A full listing of upcoming rallys is available on www.irts.ie


Contests

The CW field day will take place in two weeks time on the 2nd and 3rd of June and the VHF/UHF field day will take place on the weekend of the 7th and 8th of July.

The RSGB IOTA contest will be held on the 28th and 29th of July.


Ladies Mini Marathon

The 2007 Flora Ladies Mini Marathon takes place on Bank Holiday Monday the 4th of June at 3.00 pm. It starts from Fitzwilliam Square, and finishes in Stephens Green Dublin 2. Sadly this year’s event will happen without the familiar voice of Donnchadh O’Shea who traditionally operated the net control station. This year’s public service event will be dedicated to his memory. The co-ordinator for the event again this year will be George Adjaye who may be contacted by phone on 086 2586103 or Fax 01 4908546 or email “george_adjayeg at dcu.ie”.


Galtee Walking Festival

There are just 3 weeks to go to the 2 days of activity in the Galtees on the Saturday and Sunday of the June Bank Holiday weekend. John Ronan EI7IG is event Coordinator and he is being assisted by John EI2JB and other members of the Tipperary Amateur radio Group. Preparations are at an advanced stage but there are still radio positions to be filled on Saturday and Sunday. Newcomers are welcome and training will be provided by AREN each morning. Please contact John EI7IG on 086 8167310 or John EI2JB at QTHR.


Comeragh Cycle Race

The national under 23 road racing championship will take place in Waterford on the 1st of July. Richie EI9HR is event Co-ordinator and he is being assisted by John EI8JA. This year’s race will be on a greater scale with over 160 riders taking part. The Civil Defence have come on board this year to help with marshalling and RTE will be filming the event. AREN will provide the communications for safe traffic management and accident reporting. There will be more radio reporting points and mobile stations than last year so more radio operators are required. Again newcomers are welcome and training will be provided on the morning of the race. This is an excellent opportunity for operators to put their radio skills to good use in a very enjoyable and rewarding way for the benefit of the Community. All operators irrespective of experience are welcome.

Please contact Richie on mobile 085-1465465 or evenings on 051-854315. You can also contact Richie by e-mail at "ei9hr at yahoo dot com".


Theory Examination

The next Theory Examination for the Experimenters Licence will be held on Thursday the 28th of June next. Places for the examination are limited and will be allocated on a “first come first served” basis. Intending candidates should forward the appropriate fee to Seán Nolan EI7CD, 12 Little Meadow, Pottery Road Dunlaoghaire, Co. Dublin. The fee is 50 Euro or 25 Euro for full time registered students, those who are retired, are unemployed or have a disability. In addition to the exam centre at the ComReg offices in Dublin an examination will be held on the same date and with the same paper at the Community Centre, Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork.

The closing date for the examination is the 16th of June and it will be strictly adhered to. Sean's e-mail address for further enquiries is "ei7cd at gofree dot indigo dot ie".


Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Mark Wall, EI7IS at QTHR or by phone to 051-853806 or 087-6302026. Items for the radio news can also be faxed to 087 5 6302026. News should be submitted via e-mail to “news at irts dot ie” for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. Please note that items for the radio news should reach the editor no later than midday on Friday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin.

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