Ok here is some updates!!!
Enjoy :)
Listen for new Sats using web receiver
You can listen for the five new Amateur Radio
satellites, launched Friday Jan 23rd by using a Web
based Software Defined Radio (SDR).
Some of the Radio Amateurs who were involved in the
very successful Delfi-C3 / DO-64 Amateur Radio
satellite have made available a WebSDR receiver that
listeners around the world can use to receive signals
from the new Amateur Radio satellites.
The URL of the receiver is http://websdr.pa3weg.nl/
Radio Rallies:
Rep Of Ireland & Northern Ireland
15th February 2009 Coolmine Radio Rally,
The Coolmine Radio Rally, run by the Phoenix Radio Club
will be held in the Coolmine Community School,
Clonsilla Dublin 15 on Sunday 15th February 2009,Doors
open 9.30 am
Table bookings and information please contact Tony
087-2439997 or Tom 01-8211043 See map on
www.coolminecs.ie/locationmap.php
Radio, Electronics & Hobbies Fair
The Radio, Electronics & Hobbies Fair takes place on
8th March 2009 at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Ennis Road,
Limerick. Doors Open at 11:00 AM. Admission €5. There
will be the usual traders attending the Fair. A Bring &
Buy Sale will also take place. Tables for the Bring &
Buy Sale can be reserved by contacting
ei4lrc /at/ eircom.net.
The cost per table is €10.The Club will have its own
stand at the Bring & Buy Sale. Members willing to
donate items of equipment etc for sale on the stand
should contact any member of the committee prior to
the event. The usual raffle with excellent prizes will
also be held.
Saturday 14th March 2009
Lagan Vally ARS Rally in the Village Centre, 7
Ballynahinch Road Hillsborough, Co. Down Doors open
11:30 a.m. Information:Jim Henry, GI0DVU Telephone 048
9266 2270 gi0dvu.co.uk/lisburnrally.aspx
Sunday 29th March 2009
Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Annual Rally at The Share
Centre, Lisnaskea Co. Fermanagh Doors open 12 noon
Bring and Buy, Food, on-site parking Access from Lough
Erne/Shannon Waterway Details: Ian 02866-326693. EMail:
Gibbjgbb /at/ aol.com www.lougherneradioclub.co.uk
Evening Rally 3rd April 2009-01-26
The Church Island Radio Group’s Rally is scheduled to
take place at the club QTH in The Parochial Community
Hall, Bellaghy, Co.Derry. FROM 8-10PM on Fri 3rd April
2009. more info available at our web site
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
EI100cqd
During the weekend of 23-25 January, EI100CQD was
active from the Vintage Radio Museum in Howth to
commemorate the centenary of the first use of wireless
telegraphy to send a distress message at sea.
On 23 January 1909, the RMS Republic was severely
damaged when rammed by the SS Florida off Cape Cod in
Massachusetts. The Republic eventually sank, but not
before its 1600 passengers and 300 crewmembers were
firstly transferred to the Florida and from there to
the SS Baltic, which eventually arrived at the scene as
a result of the distress call.
Jack Binns was the radio operator aboard the Republic
and, despite the radio room being damaged and being
exposed to the elements, he managed to patch up the
equipment and continue to transmit for almost two days
summoning help and guiding rescue ships to the scene.
The Baltic was the first vessel on the scene having
searched in the dense fog for over 12 hours.
CQD was the international distress call used at that
time. To commemorate the event, EI100CQD took part in
the celebrations, along with other stations around
the world.
As was considered fitting, CW was the preferred mode of
operation. However, on Sunday, the station was also QRV
on phone listening for EIs on 2 and 40 metres. Forty
was almost unusable for EI but several QSOs were
completed on 2 metres.
Tony (EI5EM) was interviewed about the event for
Seascapes on RTE1 radio and the programme was
transmitted on the date of the centenary. A podcast of
the programme is available on the RTE web site.
There is also a clip on youtube.com that can be found
by searching youtube for EI100cqd.
For more details on the disaster, see www.jackbinns.org
40 Years of the Radio News
In 1968, the IRTS approached the Department of Posts
and Telegraphs for permission to transmit a weekly news
bulletin of general interest to radio experimenters and
amateurs. The 19th of January this year saw the 40th
anniversary of the commencement of these news
transmissions. The Radio News has been kept going over
the past 40 years without interruption even during the
occasional postal strike when the typed news scripts
were delivered by hand to the small number of
newsreaders involved.
Initially the news was read at 1200 local each Sunday
on 3560 kHz AM by either the late Bill Mc Ilwaine EI9F
from Dublin or the late Pat Conway EI3Z from Athlone.
This was followed at 1230 by an SSB transmission read
by Jim EI2BB. The news was also transmitted on 2 metres
from Navan read by the late Shane Mc Namee EI2A.
Over the years the news service has expanded and today,
in addition to the news on HF, regional news bulletins
are transmitted on 2 metres FM from different locations
throughout the country. On this 40th anniversary of the
radio news service it is good to give a moments thought
and to pay tribute to those who have kept the service
in operation over those 40 years both scriptwriters and
newsreaders alike.
50MHz Now available in Sweden
Swedish Radio Amateurs now have access to the 50-52 MHz band with a power output limit of 200 watts and will get access to 7.1-7.2 MHz with 1 kW output from 1st April.
Previously access to 50 MHz had been by special permit only.
Although the power limit is currently 200 watts output the Swedish National Society website says that work is ongoing between the SSA and the PTS in order to get this changed to 1 kW output.
Föreningen Sveriges Sändareamatörer (SSA)
http://www.ssa.se/
Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS)
http://www.pts.se/en-gb/
Bushfires - VK Hams provide communications
The Australian Red Cross communications arm RECOM, run by radio amateurs, is providing vital support as bushfires continue in the Gippsland region of eastern Victoria (Australia).
Two RECOM units were activated on Thursday 29 January to provide communications at the Mirboo North and Churchill relief centres as hundreds of people were forced by the fires to leave their homes or unable to reach them.
More than 600 evacuees or displaced people have been registered by the RECOM units with that information being transmitted by digitally encrypted HF radio back to the Red Cross State Inquiry Centre in Melbourne.
The fires occurred during a once-in-a-century record three days heat-wave with temperatures topping 43 degrees Celscuis (109 Fahrenheit). Some 30 homes have been destroyed.
RECOM has advised Amateur Radio Victoria that its members involved are Bruce VK3BNK, Graeme VK3BXG, Peter VK3AUO, Donald VK3BPD, John VK3BQS, Warren VK3XSW, Graham VK3GBJ and John VK3ATQ.
Amateur Radio Victoria
www.amateurradio.com.au
Chatham Island Activation
A team of nine ZL operators will be activating Chatham Island (OC-038) from March 6-11th.
The team leaders are Lee ZL2AL and Morrie ZL2AAA.
The rest of the team will be Lee ZL2LE, John ZL1BYZ, Mike ZL2CC, Phil ZL2RVW, Mark ZL3AB, Wayne ZL2WG and John ZL1ALZ. The Pilot will be Duncan ZL3JT in Christchurch zl3jt@paradise. net.nz.
The team will be hosted at the Chatham Fishing Lodge in the fishing village of Kaiangaroa on the north eastern tip of the Chatham Islands.
The ICOM four station setup with amplifiers will operate 160-10m with CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK modes. Wire loops will be used on 80m and 40m, a vertical on 30m and Yagis on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10m.
We also will try 160m alternating with the 80m station from time to time. Frequencies will be in the usual SSB and CW DX haunts on each band with SSB split up 5 kHz and CW split up 3 kHz. The callsign will be announced at the beginning of the operation on March 6th.
The website will be up and running in a few weeks at: www.zl7t.com/. Logsearch will be available on the team's return. QSL via bureau or direct to ZL2AL CBA or QRZ.com.
Logs will be uploaded to LoTW in approximately 6 months and they will also QSL via the bureau.
Marion Island, ZS8
Petrus, ZS8T, showed-up on 20 meters last weekend for
a few QSOs.
According to Rhynhardt, ZS6DXB, ZS8T Press Officer,
"the ZS8T license has expired on the 31st of December 2008 with an expiry window period up and until 31 January 2009.
"Renewal and payment of the existing license has been made and Petrus, ZS8T, is licensed to operate from Marion
Island up and until December 2009. All contacts made to date with the ZS8T callsign are legitimate and legal.
The team is currently awaiting the paper copy off the new license that only expires in December 2009 Petrus can
remain active with ZS8T for the remainder of his stay on Marion Island."
Petrus, ZS8T, has unveiled some more details about his operation from Marion Island in an interview which has been available this past week thanks to the South Africa Amateur Radio League (SARL). He states that he will be there three months before leaving and plans to be active as much as
he can during this time.
To listen to the complete interview and see the latest pictures from Petrus, go to:
http://zs8t.net/interview-with-petrus-zs8t/
For updates and official announcement of ZS8T operation, please visit the official ZS8T Web site at: http://zs8t.net
Icom Announce New D-Star Radios
Two new D-STAR radios are expected to be released in Japan soon.
The website of ICOM Japan says that both D-STAR radios will cover the 144/430MHz bands and be available in the next few months.
The ID-80 is a 5 watt handheld transceiver and the
ID-880D a 50 watt mobile.
Gavin Nesbitt, M1BXF
CRG Technical Coordinator
www.cambridgerepeaters.net
www.camb-hams.com
Live Real Time Satellite Tracking
I have been searching around the internet lately and I came across this very useful site for those of you that don’t have satellite tracking software.
The site shows real time satellite tracking for a range of satellites. The ISS is the default satellite tracked on the homepage and it gives you useful information such as speed, altitude, elevation and azimuth position as well as the current longitudes and latitude. The site automatically works out your location from your computer’s IP address, you can also choose to add the satellites footprint and direction line
At the top of the page you can find menus for most popular, most tracked and latest launches. If you click on All Categories you’ll find a list of satellites listed which includes Amateur Radio and Weather satellites. Click on the type of satellite you are looking for and you’ll find a list of information including launch dates and the options to either ‘Track it’ or ‘Passes.’ If you choose ‘track it’ it will show you the satellites current position on Google Maps. If you choose ‘passes’ you will get a list of all predicted satellite passes over your home location for the next 5 days.The site is well worth checking out. I have a version attached to this page over here to the right but I will be giving it a more thorough test drive over the next few days to see how accurate it is, however it looks promising so far.
