A special meeting will be held in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel in Athlone on Saturday next, November the 28th at 2.30pm. The purpose of the meeting is to re-organise AREN in such a way as to revitalise it. It is anticipated that a sub-committee of IRTS will be formed as a working group to deal specifically with AREN matters and this group will be made up of individuals with an interest in promoting the growth of AREN and it's integration as part of Ireland's Emergency Services. Each existing AREN Group should, if at all possible, send at least one representative to this meeting and anyone interested in forming a new group would be most welcome. Again, the venue is the Shamrock Lodge Hotel in Athlone and the meeting will be held on Saturday next at 2.30pm. Further information from Kevin EI7IM, Liam EI7FE or Tom EI2GP.
The second annual general meeting of the Mayo Radio Experimenters Network was held in the Wishing Well, Ballyvary on October the 14th. Chairperson John McDonnell EI6IR, in his address, commented that the growth of the hobby in Mayo was reversing a worldwide trend. He thanked the officers and members for their support and thanked John and Ann O'Connor of the Wishing Well for hosting the meetings throughout the year. Thanks was also extended to Mr. Gerry Mulvin of the ODTR who conducted theory and Morse examinations in the county for the first time in 1998. Outgoing Secretary John Corless EI7IQ in his report, noted that almost half the total membership had gained a new licence or and upgrade in the last year. Some of these had attended theory classes in the county over the Winter and the ODTR examination in Castlebar in May. The meeting reviewed highlights of the past year, including the establishment of the club library and the commencement of AREN activities. Plans are well on the way to set up a 2 metre repeater to cover the county. The group now has a club callsign and it is planned that EI7MRE will be heard on the bands over the coming months. Officers elected for the coming year are Chairperson John McDonnell EI6IR, Secretary John Walsh EI6FHB, Treasurer Chris McGinty EI7IV and PRO John Corless EI7IQ. The club meets on the first Wednesday of each month at the Wishing Well in Ballyvary at 9pm. Congratulations are extended to the aforementioned Chris McGinty and Paul McDonnell who passed the Morse test at the Donegal rally. Chris who had the callsign EI6FAB is now known as EI7IV and Paul who was EI6FBB is now EI8IV. Chris is the Club's treasurer and Paul looks after the library. Both attended night classes last Winter and were successful in the first ever examination held in Mayo. Both are very active on the radio and the new callsigns will get plenty of use on the key.
Russian Cosmonauts successfully hand launched a second mini-Sputnik during a space walk on November the 10th last. The Sputnik known as Sputnik 41 or RS-18 comes as MIR celebrates 10 years of amateur radio aboard the space station. Sputnik 41 is just under 8 inches in diameter and weighs almost 9 pounds. It carries a 200 milli-Watt transmitter which transmits on 145.812MHz and is transmitting a beep beep signal together with greetings in three languages, Russian, French and English. It is easily heard with basic 2 metre equipment. Good pass times for today Sunday are 2108 to 2117, 2242 to 2251 and 0017 to 0026. Mondays times are 1958 to 2006, 2132 to 2141 and 2307 to 2316. Sputnik is about six minutes behind MIR and anyone with tracking software should note that Sputnik has it's own Keps available now. Reception reports will be acknowledged by QSL card and should be sent to the following address with a stamped addressed envelope and an International Reply Coupon; AMSAT France, RS-18 QSL Manager, 14 bis rue des Gourlis, 92 500 Rueil-Malmaison, France. Sputnik does not have solar panels and the battery is expected to last about 30 days.
The first element of the proposed International Space Station, the Zayra Cargo Module, should now be in orbit having been scheduled for launch on Friday last in an unmanned flight from Russia. On December the 3rd next, the US Shuttle will launch with the first construction crew to work on the International Space Station. The Space Station is a joint venture between 12 European Nations, Japan, Canada and the United States. Amateur radio will be aboard the Space Station and voice, digital beacons and packet radio should be operation from May of next year.
The biggest CW Contest of the year runs for 48 hours next weekend, from midnight Friday to midnight on Sunday. A major list of DXpeditions has been announced for this contest and with the improvement in conditions, lots or rare and exotic DX should be available, especially on the second day when the panic has abated somewhat. The exchange from EI is RST plus CQ Zone which is 14.
Our thanks this week to John EI7IQ for the Mayo item, to Jim EI3DP for the Space news and to Liam EI7FE for the piece on AREN.
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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