Over the last couple of months QSL cards have arrived to the inward bureau that cannot be sent to their EI recipients. This is due to us being unable to find your details. Your QSL manager would have a list of members available to him so your cards can be posted to you. As you are all well aware of the pandemic and with many stuck close to home, Radio Experimenters seem to have caught up with their backlog of sending out their QSL cards, and as a result many QSL cards have arrived with a QSO date of 10 to even 20 years ago, and that is the problem. Unfortunately some of the EI recipients may be Silent Key, RIP, others may not be IRTS members, GOSH, and Shock and Awe, some of you have even passed the Morse Code Test, CONGRATULATIONS. But joking aside could those of you that have pass the CW test please let your old callsign manager know your new call and then we will be able to send you your QSL cards, otherwise the rubber stamp comes out and the cards will be stamped and ticked " non member" or " unknown ". I am sure you would not want that, would you. The QSL managers details can be found on the IRTS website and on page 2 of Echo Ireland. Please help us to help you.
The amateur station licence exam which was due to be held in May was postponed due to the public health situation. Following recent announcements on the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions it is now planned to hold exams in July or August. As soon as arrangements have been finalised, full details will be posted on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/exam and in news bulletins.
The Shannon Basin Radio Club net on 160m has ended for the summer. Thanks to all who took the time to call in and the swls for the reports.
The nets on 80m and 2 m will continue as normal. See the club website (www.sbrc.ie) or facebook page for details.
Kristina KD8OXT, a PhD student in Cleveland and longtime member of the Case Amateur Radio Club, W8EDU is part of an organization called HamSCI (www.hamsci.org), which works to build connections between the amateur radio community and the space science community. On June 21, an annular solar eclipse will cross eastern Africa and Asia, affecting the ionosphere and, in turn, radio propagation. They are interested in having amateur radio operators in IARU Regions 1 and 3 collect Doppler shift data on that day, which can be performed using an HF receiver connected to a computer running open-source software. Details of the experiment can be found here: https://hamsci.org/june-2020-eclipse-festival-frequency-measurement
They have had success running an event like this in the past, for the WWV Centennial. During that event they collected data from about 50 stations, mostly in the US and Canada, and are in the process of analyzing that data and preparing a publication. What they have learned so far: Volunteer interest in this sort of project definitely exists, and it seems to be a promising way to collect geophysically relevant data. Eclipses are the closest thing to a controlled experiment in space weather, and getting datasets for this one from even a few stations would be an accomplishment. Kristina would greatly appreciate any help you are able to provide.
EIDXG members (who brought you 9N7EI, 7Q7EI,5V7EI to name a few), are running a unique Summer Challenge as a fun event beginning June 1st through August 30th. Simply work as many unique DXCCs, CQ Worked all Zones, Participating EIDXG members and 32 Irish counties as possible (each one counting just once regardless of band or mode) and whoever accumulates the most points at the end is the Winner. Full information can be found on their website: www.eidxg.com/sc2020 where one can see the different categories and 'small print' however this promises to be a fun event and will generate extra activity on the bands both Internationally and on a local level. Logs to be submitted by September 6th and Winners will be announced at their DX Féile event in October. Enjoy the Chase!
Items for inclusion in next week’s Radio News can be submitted via e-mail to “newsteam /at/ irts / dot / ie” for automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. Urgent news items for the radio news may be telephoned to the radio news editor, Mark EI6HPB on 086 355 2370.
Please note that items for the radio news should reach the editor no later than midday on Thursday in order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday’s bulletin. If you currently receive a copy of the IRTS Radio News Bulletin by email as a news reader and wish to modify your address, please inform the editor in order to have it changed on the news readers mailing list.
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