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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday January 11th, 2026
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Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club Events

Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club write in to say that their next club
meeting will be held at 7.30 p.m. on the 15th of January in Room 10A05
in the Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands, Midwest (TUS)
at Moylish in Limerick. Members are asked to note that the club AGM
will be held at 7.30 p.m. in TUS on February 12th. To mark the
80th anniversary of the club, members will be QRV throughout the year
with the special club callsign EI80LCR. You are asked to please listen
out for this. They will also be undertaking some field operations and
details of these will be available later when venues and dates are
agreed.

The club is honoured to host the IRTS AGM on April 12th in Treacy's
Oakwood Hotel in Shannon. A full programme of events is planned for the
weekend beginning with a buildathon and a series of talks on Saturday
11th from 10.00 a.m. onwards, to be held in the Shannon Aviation
Museum. This will be followed by the gala dinner at 7.30 p.m. in the
Oakwood Hotel. On Sunday the 12th, the day will kick off at 10.30 a.m.
with the club rally and monster raffle to be held in the Oakwood Hotel.
This will be followed by the IRTS AGM. Full details will be published
shortly on the club and IRTS websites and will also feature in the
spring edition of Echo Ireland.
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South Dublin Radio Club Reopens

The South Dublin Radio Club will reopen on Tuesday the 13th of January
2026 at 7:30 p.m. in Ballyroan community centre. Visitors and new
members are always welcome to drop by.
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News from Mayo Radio Experimenters Network

The next monthly meeting of Mayo Radio Experimenters Network will take
place on Wednesday, the 14th of January, at 20:00 in the For<ige
Building, The Mall, Castlebar. All radio experimenters and shortwave
listeners are warmly invited to attend.

The club has a new operating event for the first quarter of 2026 called
the Worked All Mayo Challenge. Modelled on the well-known Worked All
Ireland (WAI) system but adapted with a local Mayo emphasis, the
challenge is running until March 31st. Participants are encouraged to
make simplex RF contacts across County Mayo and further afield. Each
contact will involve the exchange of standard signal reports and WAI
grid squares. Shortwave listeners are also welcome to participate and
may submit logs that include both stations' reports. Although the
challenge focuses on Mayo, operators from all regions are invited to
take part. The initiative aims to boost on-air activity during the
winter months while offering a fresh, local variation on a
long-established national award system. A WAI grid map is available on
Tom EI8IC's website at www.mapability.com

The club's weekly news service is transmitted every Sunday at 9 p.m. on
the EI2TGR repeater system, followed by an open call-in. All stations
within range are welcome to join the call or submit an SWL report. For
further information and contact details, please visit www.ei7mre.org
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Update from TOG Hackerspace Radio Club

TOG Hackerspace Radio Club is still a fairly new radio club, but the
TOG community has been going for 17 years, and they'd love to celebrate
it with you. They are hosting a birthday open social on Saturday the
24th of January, from 7 p.m. until late, at TOG Hackerspace, D12 CF6V.
There'll be homemade pizza, birthday cake, and the usual mix of chat,
projects, and a look around the space for anyone who hasn't visited
before. Whether you drop in for ten minutes or stay for the night,
you're very welcome. For full details, visit tog.ie, and if you're
online, feel free to send them a birthday message on one of their
social media accounts. Please listen out for EI0TOG on the bands as
well. if you catch them, give them a shout and wish them a happy
birthday.
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VHF/Microwave News

The next 145 Alive event is on the 7th of February 2026. It will run
from 12 noon until 3 p.m. local time and will also include SSB stations
as an experiment. The UK-organised event currently has 30 FM stations
and 16 SSB stations lined up. If any EI stations are interested in
taking part as a net control station, please email 145aliveuk /at/
gmail.com

European amateur satellite enthusiasts, students, and academics are
invited to take part in the Consultative Committee for Space Data
Systems (CCSDS) outreach initiative and competition. This is led by the
European Space Agency on behalf of CCSDS, in collaboration with
Goonhilly Earth Station, AMSAT-UK, and AMSAT-DL. The primary purpose is
to develop high-quality reference implementations of selected CCSDS
protocols. You can learn more about this at amsat-uk.org and via email
to esa-competition /at/ amsat-uk.org
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Contests and Activities

The deadline for entries to the IRTS 80m Counties Contest is Thursday
January 15th. Logs should be sent to contestmanager /at/ irts.ie

Round 1 of the FT8 activity series on the 70cm band kicks off on
Wednesday, January 14th. This runs from 17:00 until 21:00 UTC. It is
an open and friendly activity contest designed to promote FT8 and FT4
operation on VHF and UHF bands for radio amateurs worldwide. The
project focuses on encouraging regular activity, fair comparison of
results, and easy log submission for everyone interested in weak-signal
digital modes. Further information can be found on the newly revamped
website at ft8activity.eu
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Rally Updates

The 2026 Phoenix Amateur Radio Club Rally known as the "Coolmine Rally"
will take place on Sunday, the 15th of February 2026. Doors open at 10
a.m. at Coolmine Community School, Dublin, D15 FW97. For table booking
and further information, contact Tony EI7GI at 087 2439997.

Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society will hold their annual rally on the
7th of March 2026 at the Hillsborough Village Centre, 7 Ballynahinch
Road, Hillsborough, BT26 6AR. Doors open at 10.30 a.m., and the rally
ends at 1 p.m. The Hillsborough Village Centre is just off the main A1
Road linking the north and south of the island. Further details can be
found at www.lvars.uk
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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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