Irish Radio Transmitters Society
Radio News Bulletin

Sunday August 12th 2007
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Notice from ComReg

ComReg would like to advise all Experimenters that
there is currently a delay in the issue of Experimenter
Renewals. During this delay, unless previously
expressly indicated, no experimenter whose fee has been
submitted is restricted from operating within normal
licence conditions.
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Church Broadcasts

For some weeks now we have been carrying an item about
broadcasts of Mass from a Church in the north Dublin
area on 28.105 MHz FM. We asked stations to listen out
for these transmissions on weekdays at 1000 hrs and on
Sundays at 0900, 1000, 1100 and 1200 local time to try
to identify the Church concerned. We also asked that
stations in the Dublin area take bearings on the
transmissions to try to at least identify the general
area from which the transmissions originate. The
response to these requests has been, to say the least,
disappointing. Are we not concerned about who uses our
Exclusive frequency allocations? We should be as every
other radio service is, and takes very seriously any
encroachment on their frequencies. We would appeal
again to stations in the Dublin area to put a little
effort into identifying the source of the transmissions
so that details can be forwarded to ComReg. We are
getting international reports on these transmissions
and we have an obligation to do something about them.

We have now also received reports of transmission of
Mass on 28.285 MHz. We do not have any idea yet where
this transmission is originating. We would ask stations
countrywide to listen on 28.285 MHz FM at the
appropriate times in their areas so that this station
can also be identified 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.
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A Note of Caution for Amateurs Purchasing
Equipment in the UK

Information has been passed to us concerning what
appears to be a fraudulent operation involving the sale
of Radio Equipment and which has been conducted through
a series of small ads in recent editions of genuine
Radio Magazines. The equipment is being sold using an
address in Oxford and another in the Isle of Wright and
is generally described as a ‘Silent Key’ or ‘Per pro’
sale. Payment may be requested direct to an ‘Executor’
as opposed to the actual person advertising and this
scam has already cost one of our more trusting Members
in excess of 1500 Euro to date.

Members should therefore be aware of this racket and
anyone who already suffered loss or who should come
into contact with these people are asked to contact
Andy EI4ERB @ QTHR or Mobile 086 2752669.
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EI0MAR

Recently, a five-band Cobweb antenna was erected at
EI0MAR (Howth Martello Radio Group). The Group thanks
Jack (EI7HX) for his kind donation of the antenna.
Previously, a vertical antenna had to be raised and
lowered each time the station was activated. The
Cobweb is now permanently installed and allows instant
operation of the station by eliminating the hassle
associated with the temporary vertical antenna. A
permanent 40-metre dipole was also erected recently
and now EI0MAR can be QRV on all bands from 40 to 10.
At a pinch, even 80 metres can be squeezed in with the
LDG Z-100 automatic ATU, as a recent QSO with Tom
EI1CW in Carlow confirmed. EI0MAR is located in the
vintage radio museum in Howth and is open every day
from 11 until 4 until the end of October and at
weekends from November until the end of April. EI0MAR
is QRV most Sundays between 11 and 3. The Group's web
site can be found by entering EI0MAR into an Internet
search engine.
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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.
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ILLW

The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend will
take place from 0001 UTC on the 18th of August to 2359
UTC on the 19th of August. A list of entrants and
application from are available on illw.net. This event
is not a contest and each station's operators decide
how they will operate their station regards modes and
bands. Participants are not committed to being on the
air during the entire period. There are no restrictions
on aerials or power.

The activity does not have to take place inside the
tower itself. Field day type set-up at the lighthouse
or other building nearby is OK. Complete guidelines are
available at illw.net.
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South Dublin Radio Club

Weekly meetings of South Dublin Radio Club will resume
as usual at 8 p.m. on Tuesday the 14th of August in the
Ballyroan community Centre on the Marian road in
Rathfarnam. The next SDR event is a lighthouse
activation during Lighthouse on the Air on Saturday the
18th and Sunday the 19th of August. They will be
activating Saint Johns Point Lighthouse in County Down.
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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.
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Upcoming Rallies

Cork Radio Club Rally will take place on Sunday the
23rd of September in the Blarney Park Hotel. For
information contact Con on 021-427136.

The Waterford Rally will take place on Sunday the 21st
of October in the Woodlands Hotel, Waterford. For more
information visit www.searg.com.

The Foyle and District Rally will take place on Sunday
the 4th of November 2007 at the White Horse Hotel,
Derry. For more information visit www.mn0aku.org.uk.

The Mayo Radio Rally will take place on Sunday the 18th
of November in the Belmount Hotel, Knock, Co. Mayo. For
more information contact Padraic Baynes, EI9JA @ QTHR.
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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.