The well attended fourth Annual General Meeting of the Tipperary Radio Group took place at the club premises in Clonmel on Wednesday November the 4th. The Chairman, Jim EI8W welcomed honoured invited guest, Kevin EI7IM, Editor of the IRTS Newsletter, thanked the outgoing committee and the members for a year in which many activities had taken place and in which some members achieved personal success in obtaining or upgrading their licences. Membership has increased on the previous year and the club's financial position is healthy. In his address, Kevin EI7IM thanked the Group for their support of the Newsletter by regular submission of articles and for transmitting the radio news at 1930 hours every Sunday evening. In accordance with the constitution of the Group, Jim EI8W stepped down as Chairman after two consecutive years in office and the newly elected Committee is as follows:- Chairman Hugh EI2HI Vice Chairman Ron EI6GO Treasurer Tommy EI2IT Secretary Hazel EI9ELB PRO Liam EI7FE
The Tipperary Group's annual dinner will be held this year at the new Mulcahy's restaurant in Clonmel on Saturday the 12th of December. Already, members' bookings are up on last year's event and any member who has not yet booked should do so as soon as possible by contacting the Group's PRO, Liam EI7FE.
Theory and Morse classes will be held, starting on Wednesday week November the 18th, at the Adult Education College in Sexton Street in Limerick City. The classes commence at half past seven and prospective students should turn up on the night. If you need further details contact Brian Toner EI9AL at QTHR. The course fee is forty pounds and it is hoped to have the theory examination held in late February or early March.
The December meeting of the Club will feature the annual Christmas quiz and all members are invited to attend. This meeting will as usual be on the second Thursday of the month, that's the 10th of December.
The January meeting will be attended by representatives of the Reception Investigation Department of Radio Telefis Eireann who will give a talk of on TV breakthrough and associated problems. They will be delighted to discuss individual problems on the night. This meeting is open to all amateurs and the club looks forward to a big attendance for this very interesting presentation.
We are now well into the contest season and many EI's enjoyed the big one, the CQ Worldwide SSB DX Contest. CW operators can look forward to the Worldwide DX CW contest which will be held in two weeks time, November the 28th and 29th. If the SSB leg was anything to go by, there will be lots of DX about and a great opportunity to get a few new DXCC countries, or entities as they are now known. The exchange in this one is RST plus CQ Zone which in our case is RST14. The multipliers are DXCC entities and CQ Zones.
In last years event, Ken EI4DW was the leading EI station with 1327 QSOs, 60 zones and 199 countries. Declan EI6FR entered single band on 80 metres and made 742 QSOs, 12 zones and 59 countries. Martin EI8GP entered single band on 20 metres and managed 241 QSOs, 17 zones and 48 countries. We wonder will anyone manage to surpass Ken's total in this year's event. For those starting out on the DX chase, contests are an ideal way of getting a quick return and as most contest stations want you to call them in every contest, they are usually very good QSL'ers.
Next weekend we have to IARU Region 1 Top Band CW contest running from 1400 on Saturday the 21st until 0800 on Sunday the 22nd.
December is a very busy month for contesters, starting on the 4th to the 6th with the ARRL Top Band Contest. This one starts at 2200 on the Friday night. Also on the same weekend we will have the EA DX Contest, where the object is to work as many Spanish stations as possible. There are several nice awards to be got from this one.
A very popular event with EI operators is the ARRL 10 metre contest and this will be held on December the 12th and 13th.
The Croatian DX Contest will be held on the following weekend, 19th and 20th of December.
It's back to Top Band again over the Christmas with the Stew Perry Challenge being held over the festive period on the 26th and the 27th. The RAC Canada Winter Contest will be held on December the 27th.
We again appeal to Club Officers for their co-operation in producing the weekly news and Newsletter. Our thanks this week to Liam EI7FE of the Tipperary Group and to Paul EI6FE from Limerick Radio Club. Thanks also to Gerry Dykes EI8HO from the Tir Conaill Club who tried unsuccessfully to sent something on the fax.
Items for inclusion in the Radio News can be faxed to 021-632730 or passed on the telephone to Dave EI4BZ at 021- 632444 during the day and at 021-883555 in the evening.
Input for the Newsletter should be sent to Kevin EI7IM at QTHR or on 01-4509514 or on E-mail to EI7IM@tinet.ie All input to either the Radio News or the Newsletter can also be sent by e-mail to news@irts.ie
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