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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday November 17th, 2024
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News from the IRTS

The latest IRTS Committee meeting took place on Wednesday, November
13th. The meeting was well attended by committee, officers, and club
reps. Some items to come out of the meeting are as follows:

Club details:

The committee is putting out a renewed call for clubs to update their
contact details with the society before the end of November as we are
undergoing our insurance renewal process and need to include active
clubs. The society website will then be updated to reflect the current
data. A renewal form can be found on the download section of the
website www.irts.ie/downloads

News call-ins:

Following representations made to committee members and with the good
conditions we are currently experiencing on the bands, a decision has
been taken to amend the call-in sequence to all IRTS news bulletins
going forward. The change agreed was to prioritise those stations that
are operating mobile or portable from remote locations i.e., away from
your home QTH. All other stations will be taken by number rotation,
alternating high to low in weekly sequences with no differentiation
based on station power.

Youngsters on the Air (YOTA):

December is an active month for YOTA, Youngsters on the Air. A full
list of participating stations can be found on the website
www.events.ham-yota.com The objective is to show the amateur radio
hobby to youth and to encourage youngsters to be active on the ham
radio waves. Feel free to make a QSO with the youngsters, they are
happy to get some attention and exchange information. Licensed and
unlicensed youth will be making QSOs, be aware this could be their
first radio contact ever and give them a chance to experience a
possible new hobby.

New membership:

IRTS membership is on the rise with the addition of 47 new members
thanks to the NSWLC and Class Hotel which started recently. Of that
seven are YLs and two are under the age of 18. We wish them all the
best of luck with their studies. This brings the total new membership
this year to 115, a welcome sign that our hobby is thriving. Plans are
underway to foster the YL community with now over 27 licenced
throughout Ireland, if any ladies would like to get involved, please
contact us at irts_secretary /at/ irts.ie.

The next IRTS Committee meeting:

The next committee meeting will take place on Wednesday, January 8th,
2025, at 8:00 p.m. on the Zoom platform. All affiliated clubs are
invited to send a representative. Meeting details can be obtained by
contacting the secretary in advance.
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South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC

The November meeting of the EI2WRC group will take place on Monday,
November 25th at 8 p.m. sharp at the South East Technological
University Netlabs Research and Innovation Building, SETU West Campus,
Carriganore, Waterford. Eircode X91 WR86. As this will be the last
physical meeting for 2024 all members of the group are please asked to
attend. Plans for activations to be added to their already jam-packed
calendar for 2025 will be discussed. As always anyone that has an
interest in amateur radio or communications in general are very welcome
to come along. SWLs are in particular very welcome to attend.

This year, the EI2WRC Christmas party night will take place on
Saturday, December 7th at 6.30 p.m. at the Marina Hotel, Canada Street,
Waterford, Eircode X91 PK2W. Dinner tickets must be prebooked and
tickets cost 35 euro per person. For more information or to book a
dinner ticket, please get in contact with Edwin EI2HEB at QTHR as soon
as possible please.

EI2WRC will be hosting the 92nd IRTS AGM Weekend in the Woodford Dolmen
Hotel, Kilkenny Rd, Carlow over the weekend of the 12th and 13th of
April 2025. Planning for the event has begun and will continue to gain
speed over the coming weeks. For more information, go to searg.ie and
click on the IRTS AGM 2025 link. Hotel rooms are being booked as we
speak with quite a few taken already, so people who are planning on
attending are advised to book their hotel rooms as soon as possible to
guarantee having one for the weekend.

For more information about EI2WRC, their activities, and for contact
details, please see www.searg.ie
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VHF/Microwave News

The first geostationary satellite with amateur radio transponders was
launched almost exactly six years ago. Es'hail-2 or Quatar-Oscar 100
(QO-100) carries amateur radio transponders and has a footprint
extending from Brazil to Thailand. Both the narrowband and wideband
linear transponders on board use the 2.4GHz S band for uplink and 10GHz
X band for downlink. It is relatively easy and affordable to operate
through this satellite especially using a dedicated WebSDR, hosted at
the Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall for receiving the downlink
signals.

For operators in EI however, an additional authorisation is required to
use the 2.4GHz S band for transmission which is restricted to satellite
operation only. Furthermore, if or when granted, that authorisation is
valid for a maximum of one year for the station location on record. A
new application would be required when the authorisation expires.
Comreg's Amateur Station guidelines contained in the ComReg 09/45
document provides further information. Applications should be made
through Comreg's licencing portal located at www.elicensing.comreg.ie
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IARU Monitoring System Region 1 Newsletter

The October edition of the IARU Monitoring System Region 1 newsletter
reports high activity from Russian Contayner and Chinese "Foghorn"
over-the-horizon radars. These have been very active in the 40, 20, 17,
15, and 12-meter bands. As there s a chance you may confuse them with
possible shack-related noise sources locally, it is useful to
familiarise yourself with what the intruder signals look and sound
like. Thankfully, the IARU newsletter contains examples of these to
help identify them. The newsletter may be downloaded from the
Monitoring System section of the IARU website located at
www.iaru-r1.org
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UKEICC 80m CW Contest

The next contest of the UKEICC series of 80m contests takes place on
Wednesday the 27th of November 2024 at 20:00 UTC using CW. There will
be no UKEICC contests in December, but the series continues in January
2025. The EI5G bonus station will be operated by Tim EI2KA and the
G5GEI bonus station will be operated by Mark G4MEM.
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100 Year Commemoration of the Grimeton VLF station

On December 1st, 1924, the VLF transmitter, with call sign "SAQ" at
Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden, was put into commercial operation
with transmissions across the Atlantic Ocean. On December 1st this
year, one hundred years later, SAQ will air to commemorate this event.
The unique Alexanderson alternator from 1924 is scheduled for one
transmission over the antenna on VLF 17.2 kHz CW. Further information
is available at www.alexander.n.se
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Items for Inclusion in Next Week's Radio News

That is the news for this week. Items for inclusion in next week's
radio news can be submitted by email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie for
automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. The
deadline is midnight on Thursday.

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