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EI3DIB > NEWS 05.08.07 11:20l 205 Lines 10107 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: IRTS News 05/08/07
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Sent: 070805/0950Z @:EI3DIB.#TIPP.IRL.EU #:60865 [Ardfinnan] FBB7.00i
From: EI3DIB@EI3DIB.#TIPP.IRL.EU
To : NEWS@WW
Irish Radio Transmitters Society
Radio News Bulletin
Sunday August 5th 2007
IOTA Contest
The Islands On The Air contest was held last weekend. In this year's
contest, two offshore Irish islands were heard, Inis Orr and Rathlin.
South Dublin Radio Club and friends were on Inis Orr Island, County
Galway, using the call sign EJ0GI, while the Kilmarnock and Loudon
Amateur Radio Club, call sign GI3YS, were on Rathlin Island, off the
coast of County Antrim. Numerous mainland stations were also active.
Among the mainland stations, club call signs EI0W (Dundalk Amateur Radio
Society), EI7M (East Cork Amateur Radio Group) and EI9E (Network Southern
Area Radio Experimenters Club) were active. At least 20 other EI, GI and
MI call signs were heard during the contest, making the Islands on the
Air contest one of the more popular international contests in this
country.
For Irish stations, 20 metres and the low bands were the key bands this
year, although there was some 15-metre activity on both Saturday and
Sunday. 10 metres appeared to be open to Ireland only for a brief period
on Saturday. While the higher bands may have been disappointing, there
was some very good DX on the lower bands, with many VK, ZL and JA
stations logged on 40 metres. The results of this contest, which can be
expected before the end of the year, are no doubt eagerly awaited.
****************
CQIR
Great interest is being expressed worldwide in the Society's 75th
Anniversary Contest CQIR, which will take place on the last weekend in
September. The contest is a celebration of Ireland and the Irish,
throughout the world and with 40 million people in the United States
alone claiming Irish forefathers; we expect that CQIR will be one of the
largest 'one off' contests ever aired on the Amateur Bands. It is a 24-
hour single operator contest with the emphasis on participation rather
than winning and to this end every participant gains an entry ticket for
a spectacular draw for every 75 QSO's made during the Contest.
The ticket drawn out of the EI/GI drum will win an all expenses paid long
weekend in New York City for two people. ARRL have confirmed that this
will include a visit to their national headquarters hosted by ARRL.
Kinnitty Castle in Offaly will host the international winners for a week
with flights for two from anywhere in the world. The prizes have been
fully sponsored at no cost to the Society and this is really an excellent
opportunity to celebrate the Society and its 75 years of service to Irish
experimenters. We would encourage all Irish operators to be active
during the Contest. So ring fence the last weekend of September in your
diary, make an effort to have that new antenna up for the event and lets
ensure a good show from the local Irish operators to support the
international Irish who will no doubt come on the bands in their
thousands for the contest. Full rules are on the IRTS website.
****************
EI75IRTS
As part of the Society's Jubilee Celebrations, we have been allocated the
call sign EI75IRTS for the year 2007. Please note that Individuals and
club members of IRTS may apply to use the call sign EI75IRTS during the
rest of 2007. Contact Finbarr Buckley EI1CS about this. The use of the
call sign EI75IRTS is subject to a number of conditions and full
information is available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie.
****************
South Dublin Radio Club
South Dublin Radio Club is on holidays following a successful activation
of Inish Oirr in the Aran Islands under the callsign EJ0GI during the
Islands on the air contest. Weekly meetings will resume as usual at 8pm
on Tuesday the 14th of August in the Ballyroan community Centre on the
Marian road in Rathfarnam. Thirteen people took part in the Island
activation, which was enjoyed by all.
The next SDR event is a lighthouse activation during Lighthouse on the
Air on Saturday 18th and Sunday the 19th of August. They will be
activating Saint Johns Point Lighthouse County Down. This is not a
contest but a fun event.
****************
Marconi's Wireless Telegraph in Ireland, "Alpha/Omega Tour"
In 1907, Guglielmo Marconi's dream of fixed point-to-point wireless
telegraph stations linking North America and Europe became a reality.
Derrygimla near Clifden, County Galway served as the site of his wireless
station. Over the next 15 years, spark-induced blue flashes generated by
the station's massive 20 kV generators sent tens of thousands of wireless
messages across the Atlantic, linking to its North American counterpart
at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia.
2007 marks the centennial of those first sparks generated from Marconi's
historic Clifden station. To commemorate this significant event, as well
as radio's first-ever commercial venture at Ballycastle-Rathlin, Hal W8HC
announces a special amateur radio operation from both locations central
to Marconi's fame and success as a pioneer in wireless technology.
Ballycastle-Rathlin was his first wireless telegraph station and the
Clifden station would be his last, ceasing operation in 1922.
On Saturday and Sunday, August the 4th and 5th. Hal will operate from
Ballycastle as GI/W8HC/p. He will be also taking part in the annual
Marconi Festival at Ballycastle with the Marconi Radio Group's MNMRG
special event station on Sunday the 5th of August. On Monday the 6th of
August, he will ferry over to Rathlin Island (EU-122) and operate from
East Lighthouse (ARLS designator NTI 011).
He will arrive in Clifden on Wednesday the 8th of August where he will
operate as EI/W8HC/p at the Derrygimla site on Thursday and Friday the
9th and 10th of August. It is hoped that some operating time can also
occur from nearby Letterfrack, site of an ancillary receive station built
in 1912 to allow for full duplex operation of the transatlantic signals.
All QSOs will be confirmed via LOTW and special QSLs from each of these
historic Marconi locations will be printed and sent via GlobalQSL
www.globalqsl.com. In addition, a specially designed certificate will be
issued to those stations making contact with both GI and EI operations
from either Ballycastle or Rathlin and Derrygimla or Letterfrack. In
keeping with the historic connection, all QSOs from these locations will
be CW only. Limited mobile phone operation will take place during
transit in both GI and EI.
****************
Field Days and Contests
The 2 metres counties contest will take place on the 26th of August. The
SSB field day will take place over the first weekend (1st and 2nd) of
September. Again the grounds of Garbally College, Ballinasloe, Co.
Galway will be available, thanks to Niall EI4CF and once again the
Shannon Basin Club will be hosting their now famous Barbeque. Of course,
the big event will be CQIR over the last weekend, so plenty to look
forward to.
Please note that the deadline for submission of logs for the VHF/UHF
Field Day is the 7th of August.
****************
Foyle and District ARC Rally
The Foyle and District Rally will take place on Sunday the 4th of November
2007 at the White Horse Hotel, Derry, 3 miles from Derry on the main
Limavady Road. Doors open at midday. The club's web address for more
information is www.mn0aku.org.uk.
****************
Church Broadcasts
Recently we carried an item telling you that it has now been established
that a church broadcast is being transmitted on 28.105 MHz FM in the
Dublin area. Some further work is required to identify the Church
concerned. Mass is transmitted at 0900, 1000 and 1100 local on Sundays
and at 1000 on weekdays. Initial bearings would indicate that the
transmissions are originating somewhere on the north side of Dublin.
It would help greatly if bearings on the station from areas such as
Blanchardstown, Malahide and the north side generally could be provided,
as these would help to further pin down the general area from which the
transmission originates. The local Church notices can be of assistance
in positively identifying the Church concerned. If you cannot identify
the station and you have a beam antenna you could take a bearing on the
peak signal from anywhere in the greater Dublin area which in conjunction
with similar bearings taken by other stations could help in locating the
source of the transmission. Stations located outside Dublin should
listen on FM the lower end of the 28 MHz band generally to see if any
unauthorised activity is taking place in the band in their areas.
If you hear anything worth reporting you should send a report to Thos
Caffrey EI2JD the IRTS Intruder Watch coordinator at QTHR or to
"thoscaffrey at hotmail dot com" with a copy to Sean Nolan EI7CD at QTHR
or to "ei7cd at gofree dot indigo dot ie". The report should include
date, time, frequency, signal strength, possible location of station if
identified, beam heading in degrees from true north and any other
relevant information. If the station is identified from an announcement
of local events, details should be given. Should you hear anything, no
action should be taken other than forwarding a report as requested.
It is in our own interests to identify any unauthorised activity so as to
preserve the exclusive nature of the 28 MHz allocation. The matter has
already been reported to ComReg who will act on the matter if we can
provide appropriate information.
****************
Items for inclusion in next weeks Radio News should be forwarded to Mark
Wall, EI7IS at QTHR or by phone to 051-853806 or 087-6302026. Items for
the radio news can also be faxed to 087 5 6302026. News should be
submitted via e-mail to "news at irts dot ie" for automatic forwarding to
both the radio and printed news services. Please note that items for the
radio news should reach the editor no later than midday on Friday in
order to be guaranteed inclusion in the following Sunday's bulletin.
Best 73 from John, Sysop @ EI3DIB.#TIPP.IRL.EU
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