Archived News Script

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday July 11th 1999


Museum Ship Special Event

The 1999 Museum Ship Special Event will be held next weekend from 1330z on Saturday to 2000z on Sunday. 37 museum ships are scheduled to be active for the weekend and a certificate is available for working any five of them. Suggested frequencies are 14230, 18130, 21330, 24930 and 28430. Listen for CW 30kHz up from the bottom of the bands. W1QWT is the QSL and award manager for the event and he would appreciate a 9 x 12 envelope with return postage if you need a certificate.


VHF/UHF Field Day

Conditions for last weekends VHF/UHF Field Day were very poor and the only opening of note occurred on Sunday morning when several 9A stations were worked. Scoring was generally well down on previous years with the leading stations only managing a few hundred QSOs. In the open section the battle was again between Kells Radio Club EI7KRC and the East Cork Group EI7M. The East Cork Group operated from White Mountain on the Carlow/Wexford border and were active on the four bands, 2 metres, 70 centimetres, 4 metres and 1296MHz. Their biggest mishap was the failure of the 70 centimetre amplifier a few hours into the contest. Operators involved were EI2FG, EI5FDB, EI6BT, EI6GF, EI6GJ, EI7FJ, EI8GS and EI8IR. Members of the Tipperary Group entered the Field Day for the first time from the summit of Slievenamon. A gale blew up on Saturday evening, which together with the thick mist made living conditions somewhat uncomfortable. This did not detract from the enjoyment of the event and all present were delighted with the experience. Those who travelled were EI2IT, EI3ENB, EI6FOB, EI6FRB, Liam EI7FE. The group would like to thank SWL Michael whose 4 x 4 made the trip possible. South Dublin Radio Club operated field day from Mount Oriel in County Louth and had to abandon plans for a Friday evening set up due to the poor weather conditions. Everything went according to plan on Saturday morning and tents and aerials were quickly erected. The only problem encountered was with the club generator but the on site mechanics soon had it running sweetly. The highlight for many was the traditional field day stew cooked by Dermot EI4ESB. Band conditions were poor but plenty contacts were made. The crew included Tom EI6K, Tony EI6EQB and son Keelan, Dermot EI4ESB, Sean EI3IP, Joe EI4FV, Eddie EI5IC, Liam EI8HY, SWLs Fred, Paddy and Sean plus visitors EI3FKB and EI6FFB. All are looking forward to the video of the event.


Brendan Trophy Attempt

Last week's scheduled attempt at winning the Brendan trophies for a trans-Atlantic QSO on 2 Metres by the OT9D Brendan Crew from Belgium never got off the ground. Problems with their generator and the non-delivery of some aluminium tubing forced a postponement of the event. The new date was not available at the time of writing.


Space News

Reports suggest that when the MIR Space Station is in packet mode the 2-meter transmitter is transmitting an unmodulated carrier rather than 1200 baud AFSK data. It is hoped that the problem may be resolved by simply re-seating the audio connector connecting the TNC to the 2-meter transceiver. In the meantime, some of the cosmonauts on Mir have been making 2-way voice contacts with ground stations on 145.985 MHz FM. The AMSAT Phase 3-D project is making good progress and a team of European experts recently made the trip to Orlando in Florida where they tested and installed the spacecraft’s aerials. Several days were spent testing the RF subsystems and all came through with flying colours. Next on the list are the Spin Balance and the Vibration tests which will take place before the spacecraft is transported to the launch site.


Dates for your diary

The SEANET contest will be held next weekend, July the 17th and 18th. Also on that weekend will be the North American RTTY QSO party. The Colombian Independence Day Contest will take place on the 18th. The Islands On The Air Contest will be held on July 24th and 25th together with the Venezuela DX Contest and the Russian RTTY event. The Telford Rally, popular with East Coast EI’s, is on August the 22nd. The Coleraine Rally will be held in the Bohill Hotel, Cloyfin Road in Coleraine on August the 29th. Contact Jonathan GI7TMQ on 01265-822502. The Counties Contest will be held as usual on Sunday August the 29th and the SSB Field Day will take place on September the 4th and 5th. The Cork Radio Club annual rally will be held on Sunday September the 19th in the Blarney Park Hotel in Blarney. Enquiries to Con EI7DJB QTHR or on the telephone at 021-270136.


Input for the radio news should be sent to Dave EI4BZ at 021-883555 in the evenings only. You may E-mail to EI4BZ@tinet.ie or to EI8IR@tinet.ie

Input for the Newsletter should be sent to Kevin EI7IM at QTHR or on the phone at 01-4509514 or by E-mail to EI7IM@qsl.net Input to either the radio news or newsletter can also be sent by e-mail to news@irts.ie for automatic forwarding to both news services.

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