Hey All,
Ok I know it's a bit late the update an all that but I was away in the UK up till now anyway here we are!!! Enjoy
Before I start anybody come across this advert on TV yet???
Its Brilliant,
Amateur Radio and Hillwalking
Those who want to combine amateur radio with
hillwalking can get involved in the Summits On The Air
("SOTA") programme. SOTA is a bit like IOTA, with hills
and mountains replacing islands. It is designed to
encourage portable operation in mountainous areas, and
there are awards for activators, who ascend to the
summits, and chasers, who either operate from home, a
local hilltop or are activators on other summits.
More than 20 countries are currently involved in the
SOTA programme, including Ireland - North and South.
There are 387 eligible summits in EI (of which more
than 50 have been activated) and 66 eligible summits in
GI (of which 36 have been activated). More details,
including a list of eligible summits and a lot more,
can be found at www.qsl.net/sotaei and at
www.sota.org.uk
With a view to encouraging more SOTA activity, an
International SOTA Weekend is to be held on Saturday
2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2009. It is hoped that this
event will see many summit-to-summit contacts
between different SOTA associations, and give
chasers the chance to work activators from several
different DXCC entities.
Dave EI3IO Joins IARU Committee
We are glad to let you know that Dave Court EI3IO has
been invited to join the IARU Region 1 External
Relations Committee as an expert adviser. The External
Relations Committee is a very important body as it is
the IARU Region 1 interface with the CEPT and other
radio regulatory bodies on matters of importance to the
interests of the amateur service such as spectrum
requirements and licensing.
As many of you will be aware Dave has extensive
experience in these and a wide range of other areas
having held quite a number of key positions in spectrum
management including Director of the European
Radio communicarions Office (ERO).
We know that Dave's experience and advice will be of
great assistance to furthering the work of the External
Relations Committee in Region 1 of the IARU.
Galway Radio Experimenters Club
The Galway Radio Experimenters Club here in the west of Ireland will be operating a
portable station from Inis Mor on the Arann Islands off the West coast for
the duration of ST. Patrick’s day.
Using the callsign EJ4GRC, they will be operating on
all bands and modes and a commemorative QSL card will
be sent to all stations worked, and also to any SWL's
that hear our station and request a card.
This is the first outing by GREC to the Arann Islands
but may not be the last so listen out on St. Patricks
day and seize the opportunity to aquire a QSL card from
the first ever trip to Arann..Who knows it may be a
collectors item some day!!
Radio Rallys
Rallies during March include the Radio Hobbies and
Electronics Fair in the Limerick Radisson SAS Hotel on
Sunday 8th March, The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio
Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday
14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally
in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on
Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place
in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events
include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the
IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events will be given in later
bulletins, and are also available on the IRTS web site
at www.irts.ie/rallies
Thanks to the IRTS for the info.
EME Contact Could Be A World Record
Andy Kissack, GD0TEP reports on a 4-metre EME contact which, he says, could prove to be a world record.
Andy says:
"This morning at 01:35 ZS6WAB and myself completed the world's first 4m EME contact on JT65a.
"Willem and myself tried EME on 4m on Friday night, but my station suffered problems with the masthead relay on the receive side and we didn't complete.
"This morning, Willem and I started at 00:38 and I didn't receive a thing until almost an hour later. With my moon at SIX degrees, Willem's signal was decoded with me and we quickly completed.
"I will create a page on my web site with screen shots on Sunday.
"I think this is a world first for 4m. (unless some else knows better?)"
New Amateur Radio CubeSats
Four new Amateur Radio CubeSats could be launched soon from the Indian ISRO Satish Dhawan Space Centre.
On the AMSAT Bulletin Board Mineo JE9PEL posted this information:
Launch: 25 April 2009 (Maybe postponed)
Vehicle: PSLV C12
Site : ISRO Satish Dhawan Space Centre Sriharikota India
Main Payload: Oceansat-2
Satellite Country Downlink Mode
----------- ---------- -------- ------------------
BeeSat Germany 436.000 GMSK 9600/4800bps
UWE-2 Germany 437.385 CW, AFSK
ITU-pSat Turkey 437.325 CW, High speed TLM
SwissCube-1 Switzerland 437.505 CW, AFSK 1200bps
----------- ----------- ------- ------------------
http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/CubeSat.htm
http://www.amsat.org.uk/iaru/finished.asp?order=sat
http://epubl.ltu.se/1653-0187/2008/032/LTU-PB-EX-08032-SE.pdf
http://www.isispace.nl/index.php?option=com_content&
task=view&id=80&Itemid=84
Thanks to Ralph Wallio, W0RPK
JE9PEL, Mineo Wakita
Indian Space Research Organistion (ISRO)
http://www.isro.org/
ARRL International CW DX Contest
This weekend of February 21-22 will be a busy one for CW operators as the 2009 ARRL International CW DX Contest takes center stage.
First started in 1929 as the ARRL International Relay Party, the ARRL DX CW Contest is the longest running contest in Amateur Radio. Stations from all around the world - from Australia to Zimbabwe - should be active for this great event that takes place on 160-10 meters (no contest QSOs are permitted on 12, 17, 30 or 60 meters).
Stations in the US and Canada work only DX stations (Alaska and Hawaii are considered DX for this contest), and DX stations only work the US and Canada. DX stations will be trying to make as many QSOs with all US states and Canadian provinces as they can.
The contest exchange is simple - US and Canadian stations send a signal report and their state or province, while DX stations send a signal report and the amount of power with which they are transmitting.
"If you've never operated a CW contest, now is the time to start," said ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. "You can work a lot of DX with just 100 W and a simple dipole or vertical antenna. If your CW is a little rusty, this event is a great way to get your CW skills back up to snuff and get some new DX countries into your bag. If you live in one of the rarer states, such as Delaware, North Dakota, West Virginia or Wyoming, DX stations from all around the world will be looking for you. This is your opportunity to 'be the rare one!'"
After the contest is over and you've had your fill of DX, Kutzko advises that you make sure to submit your QSOs to Logbook of The World (LoTW). "You can get a lot of your DX QSOs confirmed with little effort, and the instant gratification of having those QSOs count toward your DXCC totals just can't be beat."
The ARRL International CW DX Contest runs from 0000 UTC Saturday, February 21 through 2359 UTC Sunday, February 22, 2009. Complete rules and forms can be found on the ARRL Contest Web site.
Electronic logs should be e-mailed DXCW@arrl.org paper logs can be sent to ARRL DX CW Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
Logs sent via postal mail must be postmarked no later than 2359 UTC Monday, March 23, 2009.
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