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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday November 16th, 2025
__________________________________________________________________

IRTS Committee Meeting Update

The next IRTS Committee meeting will be an in-person meeting taking
place next Saturday, November 22nd at 11:00 a.m. sharp in the Creggan
Court Hotel, Kilmartin N6 Centre, Dublin Road, Athlone, Co. Westmeath.
The Eircode is N37 YW25. All IRTS affiliated clubs are reminded that
under Rule 16.1, the members in each affiliated club, society or other
body may elect a representative and an alternate annually to attend
IRTS Committee meetings both in-person and online. Clubs wishing to
send a representative should notify the IRTS Secretary, Andy EI7IOB at
irts_secretary /at/ irts.ie
__________________________________________________________________

Galway Radio Experimenters Club

The Galway Radio Experimenters Club are holding their 2025 Annual
General Meeting on Sunday the 16th of November at 3.30 p.m. The venue
will be the Menlo Park Hotel. All members are requested to attend.
Refreshments will be provided. There will be a bring and buy sale prior
to the meeting from 2.30 p.m. onwards, for spare and excess ham radio
related bits and pieces!

The club continues to transmit the IRTS radio news each Monday night at
8 p.m. on the Galway repeater. There is also a regular open 2m VHF Net
on S21, which is 145.525 MHz, on Thursday night for members and
operators to test and check equipment, antennas, and local propagation.
__________________________________________________________________

Irish Elf DX Group Launch "Hams Hobbies"

The Irish Elf DX group is excited to announce the launch of a weekly
information night via their newly licensed repeater EI2CYR. The aim of
the weekly transmission is for amateurs to share not only their radio
experiences but other hobbies and interests. All radio operators and
SWLs that can access or receive the EI2CYR repeater are more than
welcome to tune in and get involved. This is another way to promote our
hobby and increase the use of the VHF band.

The weekly amateurs' hobbies transmission follows the IRTS weekly news
transmitted every Wednesday evening starting at 7.30 p.m. with news
read by members of the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society at 8 p.m. via
their repeater EI2CCR. The time to QSY to EI2CYR will be determined by
the ending of the IRTS news call-in.

Anthony EI2KC kindly offered to open the first session with an insight
into his vast knowledge and love of Irish mythology and history.
Sixteen operators joined in on the night with interactive questions and
positive feedback. This Wednesday the 19th of November, Reuben EI3JRB
will explain and take questions on digital logging and his preferred
software packages that he uses on a regular basis.

The Irish Elf DX Group hope you can join them and promote this new
idea. For further information or to host an evening yourself please
contact the Irish Elf Dx Group via email to irishelfdxgroup /at/
gmail.com. Frequency information for the EI2CYR repeater is as follows.
The repeater output is 145.61250 MHz. The input is on 145.0125MHz with
a 600 kHz shift. It uses narrowband FM, and the CTCSS tone is 156.7Hz.
__________________________________________________________________

Shannon Basin Radio Club News

Shannon Basin Radio Club's annual general meeting for 2025 will take
place on Friday, the 5th of December 2025. It will be held in Hannon's
Hotel in Roscommon town starting at 8 p.m. sharp. The Eircode is F42
PH33. All members are invited to attend. The meeting will be preceded
by the club's Christmas dinner at 6 p.m. A good social evening is
planned for after the meeting. Accommodation is available in the hotel
if required.
__________________________________________________________________

VHF/Microwave News

The Leonids meteor shower reaches its peak overnight on Monday and
early Tuesday morning, the 17th and 18th of November. The Leonids
meteor shower is associated with the comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle. For
stargazers, look towards the constellation Leo especially after
midnight if skies clear. Meteor scatter QSOs using digital modes can
sometimes require multiple meteor trails to complete which adds to the
challenge and excitement of this mode.

The IRTS VHF/Microwave team is seeking interest in operators wishing to
try out or learn more about slow scan TV or SSTV. An activity evening
is being planned for the 2-metre band that would suit anyone new to
this mode as well as SWLs who would be able to receive the images
transmitted. For more information and suggestions, contact the IRTS
VHF/Microwave team via email to vhf_manager /at/ irts.ie

Continuing with SSTV, the International Space Station is celebrating
its 25th anniversary with a special SSTV event, transmitting images
from space. It was set to run until Thursday November 20th. However,
following initial successful transmissions when the event commenced, it
now appears to have been cancelled with reports citing a mix of
possible technical issues or crew workload demands.
__________________________________________________________________

Contest and Events

The next contest in the UK and Ireland Contest Club series of 80m
contests is on Wednesday the 26th of November 2025. This starts at
20:00 UTC running for one hour using CW.

QSO Party Day Contest organized by Marconi Club is scheduled for
Saturday, January 3rd, 2026. it's as always with the "short contest"
format and is now in its 8th edition. The purpose of the event is to
introduce the club to the younger generations and bring together all
those who truly love and believe in telegraphy. The event will involve
all members of the historic club, which has nearly 1000 members from
all over the world, and all enthusiasts of the wonderful and
magnificent art of CW. Further information may be found at
marconiclub.it
__________________________________________________________________

Items for Inclusion in Next Week's Radio News

That is the news for this week. Thanks to everyone for sending items
into the weekly IRTS radio news. They are very much appreciated and are
a great way to update the rest of the community about activities. If
you have any club events, activities, meetings, or other items of
interest, you are very welcome to email newsteam /at/ irts.ie with the
details. These will be automatically forwarded to the IRTS radio and
printed news services. The deadline each week is midnight on Thursdays.

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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday November 16th, 2025
__________________________________________________________________

Updates from the IRTS

Well done to everyone who completed the HAREC examination recently.
Congratulations to the successful candidates that have received their
shiny new licences. We look forward to hearing the new callsigns on the
air. If luck was not on your side this time, don't be disheartened and
consider applying again when the next examinations are scheduled and
announced.

The IRTS is seeking additional HF newsreaders to join our current panel
of news readers for the weekly Sunday morning 40m and 80m IRTS news
bulletins. If any licensed IRTS member living in EI feels like that
they would be interested in becoming part of the IRTS newsreaders panel
or if you require more information, you are very welcome to get in
touch with the IRTS news team via email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie

Our IRTS ComReg Liaison Officer is Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB. His role is to
maintain communications between IRTS and the ComReg team. He regularly
engages with ComReg to raise members' concerns and to help clarify any
regulatory or licensing queries. Maintaining a strong and constructive
working relationship with the ComReg team helps ensure that discussions
are productive and issues are addressed efficiently and effectively. If
any member would like him to raise a matter with ComReg on their
behalf, you are asked to please contact him via email to comreg_liaison
/at/ irts.ie
__________________________________________________________________

Test Equipment Night by South Dublin Radio Club

South Dublin Radio Club will hold a test equipment night on Tuesday
25th November 2025, from 19:30 to 21:30 at the club QTH. This will be a
combined presentation and practical session focusing on the use and
understanding of test instruments such as multimeters, vector network
analysers, oscilloscopes, and related equipment. All are welcome to
attend.

Club members and anyone from the wider amateur radio community with an
interest in giving a short presentation or tutorial are warmly invited
to take part. The use of slides or other visual aids will be supported.
Anyone wishing to present, demonstrate equipment, or suggest a topic
for the evening is encouraged to contact South Dublin Radio Club by
email to southdublinradioclub /at/ gmail.com
__________________________________________________________________

Tipperary Amateur Radio Group AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the Tipperary Amateur Radio Group will be
held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, the 25th of November 2025, at The Princess
Bar in Irishtown Upper, Clonmel, Co Tipperary. This is a members-only
meeting, and it is vital that all attend this most important event of
the calendar year. TARG was formed in 1994, and you can follow them on
their Facebook page under 'Tipperary Amateur Radio Group'. For any
enquiries about the group, they can be contacted by email to ei7trg
/at/ gmail.com
__________________________________________________________________

VHF/Microwave News

As reported last week, a new repeater serving the more northerly and
north-eastern parts of the country is now active. The EI2CYR repeater
is run by the Irish Elf DX Group. The repeater output is 145.61250 MHz.
The input is 600kHz lower at 145.0125MHz. It uses narrowband FM, and
the CTCSS tone is 156.7Hz. For reports or further information, the
Irish Elf Dx Group can be contacted via email to irishelfdxgroup /at/
gmail.com

On the lower VHF bands, we are enjoying good conditions recently thanks
to a F layer phenomenon called the `Winter Anomaly'. At northern middle
latitudes, a greater electron density in the winter than in the summer
occurs. This is mainly limited to a narrow altitude range near the peak
F-layer height which can be over 400km - almost the same altitude as
the International Space Station. This is resulting in good propagation
conditions lasting for most of the daylight hours.

A very good indicator of this is hearing sustained activity on the 10
and 11 metre bands. When those bands are busy, it is worth spinning
dial upwards into the lower VHF bands and trying the 8 metre band.
Recent reports received indicate that this band is proving very
productive now even with a modest setup. The centre of activity is
40.680 MHz either using data or voice contacts. SWL reports on the DX
clusters are also very useful and appreciated to help encourage more
activity on the band.
__________________________________________________________________

October edition of the IARU Region 1 Intruder Watch Service newsletter

The October edition of the IARU Region 1 Intruder Watch Service
newsletter has been published. In this, they note that hardly a month
goes by without the appearance of new signals, which add to the long
list of known emissions and intrusions on the amateur radio bands. The
newsletter reports with concern, that our HF amateur radio bands are
increasingly being used as a testing environment for new
military-related systems and electronic warfare approaches. The free
report can be downloaded from the Monitoring System section of the IARU
website located at www.iaru-r1.org
__________________________________________________________________

Contest and Events

Some great opportunities for both novice and experienced CW contesters
are coming up. On Wednesday the 26th of November 2025, you can take
part in the next UK and Ireland Contest Club series of 80m contests. It
starts at 20:00 UTC running for one hour using CW. If you take part,
keep your key handy as the RSGB 3.5MHz Autumn Series Contests continue
the following night on Thursday 27th using CW. This runs from 20:00 UTC
for 90 minutes ending at 21:30 UTC. Two days later and right at the end
of the month, you can put your finely-honed skills to the test in the
CQ World Wide DX CW Contest. This is one of largest amateur radio
competitions in the world with over 35,000 participants. It takes place
on Saturday November 29th starting at 00:00 UTC and ends at 23:59 UTC
the following day.
__________________________________________________________________

Items for Inclusion in Next Week's Radio News

That is the news for this week. Thanks to everyone for sending items
into the weekly IRTS radio news. They are very much appreciated and are
a great way to update the rest of the community about activities. If
you have any club events, activities, meetings, or other items of
interest, you are very welcome to email newsteam /at/ irts.ie with the
details. These will be automatically forwarded to the IRTS radio and
printed news services. The deadline each week is midnight on Thursdays.

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