My UK Call-Sign M0XII

I have received my New UK Call-Sign * M 0 X I I * from Ofcom, the regularity authority here in Great Britain.
Currently I have up-dated my Log's under M/EI5IX on LoTW as my CEPT part of my Irish License M/EI5IX was running out so I had to apply to Ofcom for a Reciprocal License here in the UK.

Propagation has being "Kind" as of late and the DX has been very good for QRP stations such as myself here in outskirts of London City, I'm now looking forward to working some of you on the air while I live over in Great Britain under my new call-sign M0XII!!

73's for now!

IRTS AGM & Rally 2012

The IRTS AGM, Annual Dinner and Rally this year is
hosted by Dundalk Amateur Radio Society at the
Fairways Hotel on the weekend of April 21st & 22nd
2012. Please keep your diaries free for this special
event in our 80th Anniversary year celebrations. More
details to follow.

Updated Happings in our Hobby

IRTS AGM & Rally 2012

The IRTS AGM, Annual Dinner and Rally this year is
hosted by Dundalk Amateur Radio Society at the
Fairways Hotel on the weekend of April 21st & 22nd
2012. Please keep your diaries free for this special
event in our 80th year Anniversary celebrations. More
details to follow.

Counties Contest

The IRTS 80 metres counties contest, held on Monday 2nd
January was well supported, with plenty of activity
right up to the last minute of the contest. Most
counties appeared to be represented, although some made
only a brief appearance. Our reporters tell us that
Carlow, Cavan and Kerry were top of the "most wanted"
list, with other sizeable counties like Tipperary and
Waterford not far behind.

This year there was a reasonable level of activity on
the CW portion of the band. As darkness fell, CW ops
benefited in particular from the improved propagation
between Ireland and mainland Europe, allowing some
Scandinavian and Eastern European stations to answer
their contest calls.

Logs should be submitted as soon as possible to
contestmanager@irts.ie

IRTS 80th Anniversary

IRTS will be celebrating its 80th anniversary this year
2012. Details of a worldwide contest – CQIR – to take
place on Saint Patrick’s Day, Saturday 17th March 2012
have just been announced. Full rules and information
are available at www.irts.ie/cqir or by email to cqir@irts.ie

ISS on 145.800 MHz Monday morning

There's a chance to hear ISS astronuat Dan Burbank, KC5ZSX, on 145.800 MHz FM on Monday morning.

On Monday Jan. 9, at approximately 1014 UT, an International Space Station (ISS) amateur radio contact is planned with students at Descartes High School, located in Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France.
The contact will be in English and downlink signals should be audible in the British Isles and Europe on 145.800 MHz FM.

A simple 2m hand-held transceiver or a VHF Scanner is all you need to hear the International Space Station.
Read Listening to the International Space Station
http://www.uk.amsat.org/3491

The IZ8BLY Vox Recoder, enables you to record the ISS on 145.800 MHz
FM while you're away from home
http://antoninoporcino.xoom.it/VoxRecorder/

ARISS ham radio contact planned with Descartes High School, France
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2012/ariss_event_0901.htm

43 years of 73 Magazine on web

PDF's of all issues of the popular Amateur Radio publication 73 Magazine produced by Wayne Green W2NSD from 1960-2003 are available for download.

Wayne was always into the latest ground breaking Amateur Radio technology and his magazine reflected that with articles on RTTY, ATV,SSTV, FM Repeaters and Amateur radio satellites.
A popular part of the magazine was Wayne Green W2NSD's 'Never Say Die' column. In it he gave his views on just about everything. Among Wayne's favorite topics over the years were:

The failure of the ARRL to prepare for the 1971 World Adminstrative Radio Conference which resulted the loss of hundred of MHz of amateur satellite frequencies
- The disaster of incentive licensing

- The FCC restrictions on repeaters

- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)


All the 73 Magazine PDF's can be downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/73Magazine

 Wayne is now 89 (D.O.B. believed to be September 3, 1922) and still going strong, you can read his blog at http://www.waynegreen.com/wayne/news.html

The new IARU 50Mhz R1 Band-plan

Take a look at the new Band Plan from the IARU Region 1 of the 

Magic Band that is 50MHz (6Meters)

The bandplan has came into effect on 1st January 2012

ARISSat-1 altitude is rapidly decreasing

Came across this interesting bit of news on Southgate Amateur Radio News website

The altitude of amateur radio satellite ARISSat-1 (145.950 MHz FM) continues to decline rapidly.

On Tuesday, Dec 27, 2011, ARISSat-1 was losing about 4.1 km (~2.5 miles) a day in altitude, by Friday Dec 30 2011 the decay was 5.9 km (3.6 miles) per day. This rate will continue to increase over the next days and ultimately result in the satellite burning up in the atmosphere.

Telemetry reports haven't shown a large increase in temperatures yet, please collect and report these values during each illumination period. There have been a number of people that continue to update their calculations on when the satellite will re-enter, now expected to be sometime this week.

The fall rate dh/dt is increasing dramatically. Be sure to do daily updates of the ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf-B Keps from Celestrak.com. The ARISSat-1 orbit changes daily while the satellite continues to lose altitude.

Roland, PY4ZBZ from Brazil has updated graphs of height and fall rate on his Web site: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/arissat.htm#r

ARISSat-1 Getting Hotter
http://www.uk.amsat.org/2011/12/30/arissat-1-getting-hotter/

AMSAT News Service (ANS)
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

HAPPY NEW YEAR ***2012**

I would like to wish my family and friends world wide a very happy and prosperous 2012 an may you have the hindsight to know where you've been, the foresight to know where you're going and the insight to know when you're going too far.....

All the very best....... Happy New Year

Merry Christmas!

Right, we’re all off to eat our own body weight – and possibly someone else’s – in cheese, turkey and purple Quality Streets.

Thank you all for your support, comments, clicks and heated debates here on EI5IX.net in 2011. It’s been another fine year, and you’ve all played your part.

Christmas is the time of year to spread the message of love, harmony and peace. Of course it is a time to get showered with gifts and wishes, but in the midst of all the commercialism, we should not forget the real spirit of the Christmas. Here's a message from known man that reminds us that Christmas is not only about fun and gifts, but of love and generosity.

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace."
Agnes M. Pharo

So one last thing before I go: A festive message to everyone from EI5IX, EI9JA and the rest of my family.

The year-end brings no greater pleasure than the opportunity to express to you season's greetings and good wishes so with that I would like to take this opportunity to wish you health, comfort, and prosperity this holiday season an may all your wishes come true!

Merry Christmas to one and all. Best 73's

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Ofcom - 3400 MHz licence exemption

The UK regulator Ofcom has published regulations that permit the use of a range of new devices on a licence-exempt basis.

These include the use of personal locator beacons on land; wireless road safety systems; wireless access terminals in the 3400 to 3800 MHz band; mobile satellite services operating in the 2 GHz band; and mobile terminals connecting to the 2012 London Games Tetra Network.

Read the statement at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/
licence-exemption-candidates-11/statement

PDF at
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/
licence-exemption/statement/statement.pdf


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"A Desperate Situation" All you need is Propagation!

Wow... What a morning for DX!! 40M and 20M alive with DX... I can't believe how good propagation was. I have just set up over here in North West London under my Call M/EI5IX and here in my apartment I use a simple setup with a very simple antenna thrown off the Balcony using 50 watts from an Icom IC-706MK2G and I had the pleasure working into USA, (N5CYK) Canada (VE1LD) and Australia (VK3VCE) just to name a few from the log last night and this morning.

The first antenna I set up here to test if I could receive anything in my new QTH was a very simple antenna to construct, just mobile magnet base which was sitting on top of the Dust Bin with Pl plug connected to a 47ft long wire thrown off the balcony onto the ground. I had the pleasure of working many European and Middle Eastern stations on Friday evening going into Saturday morning. But this was not enough... ;) I knew that the propagation was getting better SO a desperate situation leads to desperate ideas...

As soon as I recognised that signals were getting a lot stronger on the bands on a simple receiving loop I decided to construct a Delta loop for 40M and 20M with an Ugly Balun which was 21ft of coax wrapped around a water bottle. The reason for a Loop as comparsion to a Inverted V or a Dipole was the Low Level of noise received on a Delta Loop. Living in a City has its horrible limitations so with that I got to say to every fellow amateur out there...

"EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE OR OWN SOME SORT OF A DELTA LOOP"

I have some photos of the structure of this simple antenna home-made of course with just items you would normally find in any amateur radio enthusiast box/home "wire, open feeder, sweeping brush handles, a scarf and coax / 2 PL plugs" simple setup and were on air.

I have had so much fun working DX on this antenna with fantastic reports ( 58 into Australia at 09:10UTC) Even for such limited space and resources I am now looking of ways to get this antenna a permanent structure here at my London QTH.

Here are some of the photos of the Crazy Delta loop I constructed.

The ugly Balun and the coax feeder.

One leg of the antenna.

The Right Leg of antenna held by a brush.

View of the coax feeder.

The Famous Ugly Balun.

And of course the famous Dust Bin now with a 2M / 70CM antenna on Top.

You get the Idea... I will say it's not a permanent fixture at the moment but this "Mess" as my flat mate likes to call it has got me back on air.

I hope to work you soon on the bands under M/EI5IX... Best 73's


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Radio Propagation : Space Weather : Sunspot Cycle Information

http://sunspotwatch.com/

Check this website out, It's a live reference resource site for solar and geomagnetic data and images.  :-)

Geo-engineering the Climate

I came across this article online and thought I should share it with our fellow Ham Radio enthusiasts! The Weather can play a massive part on our fantastic hobby, what happens when the world around us starts messing with the weather where do we stand?

This article is by Nick Prebble; On the back of news that revealed November 2011 was the second warmest November since records began, questions are being thrown up again about global warming; its impacts and what, if anything, can be done to mitigate its effects. An obvious answer is to cut emissions of greenhouse gases around the world, but this is easier said than done in today’s highly developed and industrial planet. As a result, there has been significant research into “Geo-engineering” to reduce, mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The two methods of this “Geo-engineering” are Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) and Solar Radiation Management (SRM). Whilst both methods have considerable strengths; their effectiveness, timescale of use, ease of implementation and level of control must be called into question before large sums of money are spent developing them.

CDR methods involve the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and directly combat the problem of global warming by reducing the “greenhouse” effect. Land-based methods include the use of artificial trees that remove more carbon dioxide than natural trees, the replanting of crops and vegetation and using a special “biochar” that creates a carbon sink on land. There are also ocean-based methods, such as fertilizing surface waters with chemicals to increase their intake of carbon dioxide.

SRM methods on the other hand involve directly reducing the incoming solar radiation from the sun. One such way is to make the earth more reflective (increasing the albedo) by painting roofs white, growing highly reflective crops and placing giant mirrors on the earth’s surface. Since more radiation is reflected back into space, less is trapped in the atmosphere thus reducing the warming effect. Another method is to divert incoming solar radiation by placing sunshades in space – directly cooling the planet.

From a general perspective, CDR methods of geo-engineering have the advantage over SRM methods in directly addressing the root cause of global warming: by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Therefore since SRM methods still allow the build-up of carbon in the atmosphere, there will be a real problem if they suddenly cease to work. On the other hand, SRM methods are far more effective due to being able to cool the atmosphere much more quickly after deployment, which is a major advantage when faced with an ever-warming planet.

Both SRM and CDR methods therefore could be undertaken adjacently to maximise the effectiveness of reducing the effects of global warming. Current research into geo-engineering is continually suggesting new and innovative ways to tackle the problem of climate change and in the near future we could see many of the methods being implemented.

What's the future of our Propagation one would ask?


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IRTS 80th Anniversary

IRTS will be celebrating its 80th anniversary next year. Details of a worldwide contest "CQIR" to take place on Saint Patrick's Day, Saturday 17th March 2012
have just been announced.

Full rules and information
are available at www.irts.ie/cqir or by email to cqir@irts.ie




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Marconi Auction

A two day auction of Marconi memorabilia will take
place at the D4 Berkeley Hotel in Dublin Ireland on December 13th
and 14th 2011. Among the interesting items will be two
lengths of the original Marconi-code ticker tape, measuring 24inches and 19inches framed.


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Satellite AO-51

Satellite AO-51 has ceased transmission and is not
responding to commands. The last telemetry data indicated that the third of six batteries was
approaching failure to short, and observations indicate the voltage from three cells is insufficient to power the UHF transmitters. Initial tests with the S band
transmitter were also not positive, although more
attempts are in order. We have tried leaving the satellite in an expected state where if voltages climb high enough, the 435.150 transmitter may possibly be
heard, stated Drew KO4MA AMSAT-NA VP Operations.


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Mayo Radio Rally

The annual Mayo Rally took place in Castlebar on Sunday
The 20th of November. There was a great attendance of traders and punters on the day, with plenty of buying, selling and eyeball QSOs taking place throughout the day.

On Saturday night, ahead of the rally itself, Mayo Radio Experimenters Network, the rally organisers, had arranged presentations on Amateur Television and on
Logbook of the World.

Pat EI2HX gave an excellent
introduction to Amateur Television, showing some of
his collection of antennas, transmitters, receivers and
connectors. For those in the audience more used to
working with equipment designed for Kilohertz or
Megahertz frequencies, the "Gigahertz" hardware Pat
works with seems almost exotic, but really an interesting part of the hobby.

Dave EI9FBB, who is not long back from DXpeditioning
with the T32C group on Kiritimati, explained the in's
and out's of the ARRL's Logbook of the World - an online
alternative to paper QSL cards for those working towards a DXCC award.

Dave outlined the steps involved
in setting up and maintaining a Logbook of the World
account and also covered the security measures in place
to ensure the integrity of the system.

We also noted that Dave EI9FBB, our local DXCC card checker, was kept very busy throughout the Rally.

There was a fantastic attendance to the Radio Rally in the West of Ireland, I even got to meet some old friends who I have not spoke too or even seen in a long time and I even got to meet a few new Amateur's who I'd like to take this opportunity in congratulating all new comers to our fantastic hobby.

For anyone interested in joining a very active Amateur Radio Club, check out this club here in the west of Ireland "The Mayo Radio Experimenters Network" based here in the County of Mayo, check them out here on EI7MRE for up to date information.



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New TV Repeater in Ireland

South Dublin Radio Club is in the process of installing
a new television repeater with coverage over the greater Dublin area.

The repeater, which is located on the three rock mountain, will transmit on 2390Mhz and receive signal in on 1249Mhz. While not on the air yet, initial tests have proved sucessful with perfect pictures received 60 miles away at the EI2ATR Cavan repeater site.

The repeater will be linked by radio to the existing TV repeater system currently operating in
Co Cavan, This repeater currently transmits on 1276.5Mhz, 2370 Mhz and 10.040Mhz and gives good coverage of Cavan/Louth/Meath Area.



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RTE

RTE may charge licence-fee payers for access to certain
parts of its online operations, it has been revealed.
The broadcaster is looking at ways to increase its
revenue from its online and digital business. No firm
decisions have yet been made.




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Ham Radio on the Increase

There are over 700,314 ham radio licence holders in
the United States, according to the FCC. There has
been an increase of over 40,000 ham radio licences in
the last five years alone. The ARRL refers to this era
as the "golden years"

According to Allen Pitts of the
ARRL, he reckons that the USA has had over 20-25,000
new hams per year.

Great to hear more people are getting involved in this fantastic hobbie.




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