From Newsgroup: rec.radio.amateur.misc

(BUTTON) Go Back

This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday September 7th, 2025
__________________________________________________________________

Silent Key - Mike KD2DYY - Irish Hour net controller

We were saddened to learn of the death of Mike McHugh KD2DYY who passed
away on August 28th, 2025. Mike was based in Syracuse, New York and was
the net controller of the popular Irish Hour daily net on the HF bands.
This year, Mike was awarded the Pat Conway Perpetual Memorial Trophy by
the IRTS for exceptional service to the society or to amateur radio.
Mike was very proud of his Irish roots. We wish to extend our deepest
sympathies to his wife Nancy, his son Eric, extended family, and wide
circle of friends. Ar dheis Do go raibh a anam. May he rest in peace.
__________________________________________________________________

DX Foile 2025

The EIDX group is hosting this year's DX Foile on Saturday October
12th. It will be held in the Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis. This year's
convention will see presentations from some of the biggest DXpeditions
throughout 2025 and include VU4AX, VK9C, VK9X, V73WW, and of course not
forgetting EIDXG's own 6Y7EI activity from Jamaica earlier this year.

Bookings are now being taken although it is advised to book your
accommodation packages early as these sell out quickly. Day tickets are
readily available however, need to be pre-booked in advance. For
further information please contact David, ei9fbb /at/ gmail.com or by
telephone at 087 7444777 to make your reservation. Early booking is
advised as this promises to be another sell-out event.
__________________________________________________________________

SOTA News-Two new Mountain Goats in one day!

Congratulations to John Holland EI3ISB and Alex Labunskij EI4JY who
both achieved Mountain Goat status on the same day last weekend after
several years of summit activations. John achieved this operating as
EJ3ISB on EI/IN-092 Arranmore Island, Co. Donegal. Alex achieved this
on the Little Sugar Loaf, Co. Wicklow. His 1,000 points were all on
VHF/UHF which is a remarkable result. You wait for ages for a Mountain
Goat then two arrive at the same time!
__________________________________________________________________

VHF/Microwave News

The next 145 Alive event will run on the September 27th, 2025. If
interested in taking part as a net control station, please email
145aliveuk /at/ gmail.com

The RSGB's LoRa balloon challenge is coming up soon. On Saturday, the
20th of September, a balloon equipped with a LoRa digipeater will be
launched at 11 a.m. local time heading for high altitude. The launch
site will be Welshpool in the UK which should enable operators near the
east coast of EI to try their luck with the event also. The balloon is
expected to be airborne for approximately two hours reaching an
altitude of 90,000 feet. The uplink frequency of the cross-frequency
digipeater on board the high-altitude balloon will be 439.850MHz and
the downlink frequency will be 433.850MHz. The RSGB has published a
very helpful instruction guide for those interested in getting involved
in the fun. Further information including this guide may be found at
rsgb.org

The IRTS VHF/microwave team is seeking interest from operators
regarding a series of potential EI-led multimode activation events for
the 2m, 70cm, and 23cm bands. These will likely take place during
evening times and rotate through the three bands based on feedback
received so far. If you are interested in getting involved, please get
in touch via email to vhf_manager /at/ irts.ie

Ideas and input regarding any aspect of VHF and above in EI are welcome
at any stage via email to the same address.
__________________________________________________________________

Contests and Events

The IRTS 2m and 70cm counties contest takes place next weekend. The
70cm contest kicks off at 2 p.m. on Sunday September 14th running for
30 minutes. Immediately afterwards, the 2m contest starts and will run
for 90 minutes ending at 4 p.m. All times are local. Please check the
IRTS web site for contest rules or contact the IRTS contest manager who
is Mark EI6JK. Mark can be contacted via email to contestmanager /at/
irts.ie

The RSGB 3.5MHz Autumn Series Contests have commenced for 2025. On
Wednesday night next, September 10th, you can try their CW contest from
1900 to 2030 UTC. They include a 15 words per minute maximum
speed section which may be of interest to anyone that may be new to CW
contesting. Further information may be found at www.rsgbcc.org

The UKEICC 2025-26 series of 80m contests has started as well. The next
contest in this 80m series is on CW, on Wednesday the 24th of September
2025. You can learn more about this at www.ukeicc.com

The Worked All Europe DX SSB Contest takes place next Saturday,
September 13th from 00:00 UTC. It ends at 23:59 UTC on Sunday the 14th.
This contest will use SSB on the 80 to 10m bands where permitted.
__________________________________________________________________

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.

[C]
News Archives

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2