Solar Cycle 24 is peaking!!!

Came across this very interesting article there yesterday all about Solar Cycle 24 peaking.
As KD8SAV mentioned;
"It sure looks like we might be heading for an improvement.
We're suddenly at almost 200 sunspots, and if this holds up for several months, we'll have some pretty good propagation."
The Sun seems to be waking up as it approaches the peak of its roughly 11 year cycle.
Here is the Link if anyone is interested in reading it;
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/MAweatherboy1/comment.html?entrynum=58
I hope you enjoy the conditions this peak brings... I know I certainly will enjoy the DX! :)
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

Worldwide 5 MHz Amateur Allocations Chart update & announced changes on 472KHz.

The 'Worldwide 5 MHz Amateur Allocations' chart has been updated to optimally include the new UK Frequency Blocks. This has necessitated a major re-work and some changes will be noticed, although the essential information still remains in place.

It can be viewed at;

http://tinyurl.com/82rwq2b

472 kHz Amateur Band and 5MHz (Experimental) Band announcements

Ofcom have announced changes that will allow holders of the UK Full Amateur Licence to take advantage of the new amateur band at 472 kHz and enhanced access on channels near to 5 MHz. 

The Society has been working on both matters for some years. Gaining 472 kHz needed first international agreement within IARU and support from DARC to encourage the German regulator to propose it for the WRC-12 agenda, and then countless hours of committee time by IARU representatives and many national societies, including the RSGB, to reach a successful WRC-12 outcome. We acknowledge and thank Ofcom for their support within CEPT and ITU during this preparatory work. Discussions with Ofcom in 2010, on improved access around 5 MHz, resulted earlier this year with proposals from the Primary User that were discussed with UK amateurs through an RSGB consultative process.

May I take this opportunity of wishing everybody all the best DX for 2013 and Good Luck on the new 472 kHz and 5MHz (Experimental) UK  frequencies.

Irish Radio amateurs get a new MF allocation!

The Irish Radio Transmitters Society have been informed by ComReg that the band segment 472 to 479 kHz becomes available to all licensed radio
amateurs in Ireland, on a secondary basis, and has been in effect since Today the 1st of January.

The maximum power is 5 watts (7 dBW) and the modes available are CW, QRSS, and narrow band digital modes.

Stations in the Amateur service operating in this band shall not cause harmful interference to, or claim protection from, stations of the aeronautical radionavigation service or stations of the maritime service. The amateur service shall ensure that no harmful interference is caused to the frequency 490 kHz which is used exclusively for the transmission
by coast stations of navigational and meteorological and urgent information to ships.

This announcement arises from a decision taken at WRC-12 and was the
result of a number of years of lobbying by the IARU and its Member Societies worldwide. The Test Licence held from ComReg by IRTS under which a number of licensed amateurs were given permission to operate in the band segment 501 to 504 kHz expires on the 2nd January 2013.

Licensed amateurs who had received such permission must cease operation on 501 to 504 kHz as and from Wednesday, tomorrow the 2nd of January at the latest.

The Society appreciates that ComReg has made this new allocation available to licensed radio amateurs from the earliest date possible under the WRC-12 decision.

May I take this opportunity of wishing everybody all the best DX for 2013 and Good Luck on the new 472 kHz Amateur Band.

Happy New Year 2013

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.....
Happy New Year! :)
- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX / M0XII

Season Greetings

Thank you for the pleasure of your friendship and goodwill during this past year. I would like to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a New Year full of happiness and prosperity.

Best 73's

Pat

EI5IX / M0XII

The Gathering - Irish amateur radio special event

"The Gathering... an Irish party, on and off the airwaves."

Throughout 2013, Irish families and clans will be coming together in thousands of events, both on the island and around the globe, to celebrate their history and heritage in a unique event called "TheGathering".

Irish amateur radio stations, North and South, will be participating and all operators throughout the world, whether they have some green Irish blood or not, are invited to join-in the celebrations.

The special event callsign EI13CLAN will be active throughout the year and there will be a variety of awards and other activities, details of which will be posted on the IRTS Web site at:http://www.irts.ie/thegathering

QSL via Bureau or direct to the QSL Manager EI6AL at the following address:

Silver Howe Sydenham Mews, Corrig Avenue Dunlaoghaire, Co Dublin IRELAND.

Rock Comet Meteor Shower

 Every year in mid-December, astronomers look up in the sky and witness a mystery. It announces itself with a flurry of shooting stars. For several nights in a row, dozens to hundreds of meteors per hour cut across the glistening constellations of winter, each one a little puzzle waiting to be solved.

"It's the Geminid meteor shower--set to peak on Dec. 13th and 14th," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Although the Geminids come every year, we still don't fully understand them."

Forecasters expect Geminid meteor rates to top 100 per hour when the shower peaks on the moonless nights of Dec. 13th and 14th, 2012. Cooke encourages sky watchers to go out, look up, and savor the mystery.

Ofcom announces additional 5 MHz channels

From January 1, holders of a UK Full licence will be able to apply for an NoV to use 472-479 KHz as well as additional 5 MHz channels that will permit up to 6 kHz bandwidth emissions

The Ofcom announcement says:

From the 1st January 2013 we shall be making 3 changes to Notices of Variation (NoV) to the Amateur Radio Full Licence that come into effect.

The temporary extension to the Amateur Radio Special Research Permit to operate in the band 501 kHz to 504 kHz expires. This temporary extension applied from 1st March 2012 to 31st December 2012 inclusive.

These NoVs will not be renewed and will no longer be available.

However, as a result of the World Radio Conference, under Agenda Item 1.23 amateur radio has been given an alternative allocation, on a secondary basis, of 472 479 kHz. We propose that Full Licensees should be able to apply for a NoV to operate in this band from 1st January 2013 and details on the application process will be published soon.

Following a request from the Radio Society of Great Britain for increased access to the 5 MHz (Experimental) Band, we have secured the agreement of the primary user to increase spectrum access from the current 7 spot frequencies of 3 kHz each. The primary user was unable to agree to contiguous spectrum, however it has been agreed that the frequencies in the table (see Ofcom statement link below) will be available from 1st January 2013, subject to the following conditions. Details on the application process will be published soon.

a) Antenna height must not be over 20m agl.

b) Maximum power: 100W (PEP) input into the antenna with the expectation that this would not result in more than 200W eirp.

c) Restrictions on message content have been relaxed and must now be consistent with normal Terms and Conditions of the Full Amateur Licence.

d) Maximum Bandwidth: 6 kHz (double side band)

Read the full statement at
http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/ amateur-radio/full-licence-jan-2013/


- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

12.12.12.12.12.12

At 12 seconds past 12 minutes past 12 hours past 12 days past 12 months past 12 years in the 21st century is the last repetitive date any of us will ever see. 12.12.12.12.12.12





- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

DX Conditions on a HEX Beam (10th & 11th of December 2012)

DX Conditions have been really good these past two days from my friend's QTH (2E0JJM - John) here in London. The most activity has been during Daylight hours, The Solar Flux has been between 103 & 104 with an SSN between 40 and 55. The best thing has been the A Index (Between 2 & 3) and K Index (0) has been low, this has resulted in many new countries been worked and logged on 20m, 17m, 15m and 12m even managed to get NH7O - Alastair in Hawaii on 20m Long Path whilst beaming South from John's new HEX Beam (MW0JZE - G3TXQ 6 Band Hex Beam) at 16:49UTC nearly 1 hour after Sunset so I'm not sure was this Grey Line Propagation or not.

Here are the paths of some of the DX worked via Google Earth;

EVERYONE SHOULD BUY OR BUILD A HEX BEAM!!

They are a fantastic antenna especially for locations that you don't have a lot of space to put up other types of beam antennas. The results over Verticals, Loops and Dipoles are simply phenomenal you certainly wont regret buying one of these Beams.    

IRTS 80m Counties Contest 2013

The date for the 2013 IRTS Winter 80m Counties Contest is Tuesday 1st January.

Check the rules at: www.irts.ie/cgi/showrules.cgi

Please take note of Rule 4.4 and 4.5 and keep the portion of the band
between 3.650MHz and 3.700MHz clear.

Also note the change in Rule 10.1 which states that entries must be received by the Contest Manager not more than 14 days after the contest.



- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

QTH Update

Hi All,

It's been some time since I've been active on Radio, have been busy moving QTH. I now live in Shepherds Bush West of London City an RF black hole. I have no antennas set up at the moment but hope to get something set up soon for HF, VHF, UHF. Looking forward to getting the antennas setup soon as I will be active QRP on PSK and CW maybe the odd bit of Phone but sure we will see how we get along.

I'm currently active on EchoLink under my EI callsign and you can reach me on EI7GRC-L or the Ireland Conference into the small hours of the morning. I do call through some of the UK repeaters GB3BN or GB3NS to speak to some local stations here around London so you may find me here under my UK callsign M0XII. Give me a shout if you here me on.

Till next time, speak soon.

73's
Pat

Achill Henge CASHOTA Activation

The Galway VHF Group will be activating Achill Henge on Sunday the 16th of September from 11 am - 3 pm and active on 80, 40 and 20 metres.
Achill Henge is a "stone henge" like structure that was built on a hilltop on Achill Island near the village of Keel Co. Mayo on the north west coast of Ireland.
The Henge was built in record time over the weekend of 26th and 27th of November 2011 by a local propery developer. 30 articulated trucks arrived from Galway with pre-cast concrete blocks and the basic structure was ready and stqanding a few hours later. It is composed of a circle, 30metres in diameter and 30 related columns, each measuring nearly 4.5metres high.
Sadly it is due for demolition as it contravened local planning laws so this will probably be a one off operation.
Achill Henge is located in WAI Square F60 Co. Mayo ànd has the CASHOTA Designator EI-02-M. The Callsign for this operation will be EI4ALE/P.
Check out EI4ALE on QRZ.COM for more details.


- Posted from my iPhone - 73's DE EI5IX

Youngsters On The Air (YOTA)

Youngsters On The Air   |  Belgium-The Netherlands 2012   |   19 – 26 August 2012 Eeklo, Belgium

Shauna Baynes EI1588

During the summer of 2012 (19 – 26 August) a youth radio camp will be held in Belgium, it is organised by UBA youth commission and the Dutch radio amateurs. The location for the event is close to the Dutch border. Many young radio amateurs from 10 different European countries will be participating in different activities e.g, contesting, ARDF, presentations, field-days, visiting radio stations and many more interesting events. There are 10 teams from different European member associations of IARU R1. A team consists of – a team leader (this could be an older person), and 4 team members between the age of 18-25 years. There is a special callsign achieved for the event – ON4YOTA. This will be a great experience for young HAM’s participating; it will be an occasion they will never forget.

A member of The Mayo Radio Experimenters Club Shauna Baynes EI1588 is a member of the team representing EI (Ireland). They will be travelling to Brussels on Saturday morning from Dublin, with their leader Ger McNamara EI4GXB from Limerick. The Mayo Radio Experimenters Club and my family including myself wishes Shauna and all the team the very best of luck during the event.

15th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE/LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND

0001 UTC 18th AUGUST TO 2400 UTC 19th AUGUST 2012 (48 hours or part thereof)

The Mayo Radio Experimenters will be taking part in the ILLW weekend activities under the callsign 

EI0M/P.

We will activate Blacksod Lighthouse, Belmullet, Co. Mayo.

Activities will commence at Blacksod from 1600 UTC Saturday 18th to 1600 UTC Sunday 19th.

Further information is available from www.illw.net

We look forward to seeing as many club members as possible there, and any member of the public is most welcome to come along and see what it’s all about.

ILLW continues to get bigger

With 350 registrations from many countries for the 15th annual International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend, there will be plenty of on air activity for this 48 hour fun event.
The event was started in Scotland by John Forsyth GM4OOU and the late Mike Dalrymple GM4SUC, both members of Ayr Amateur Radio Group which operates station GB2LT at Turnberry Scotland.

A number of nations have one registration. They are most welcome to be part of the weekend and are greatly sought after.
With a single entry are Chile, China, Curacao, Gibraltar, Honduras, Isle of Man, Latvia, Namibia, Panama, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine and Uruguay.
The International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend is on August the 18th and 19th.
Now is the time to visit the website ILLW.NET for an online registration, read the guidelines and to see what it has to offer.
Jim Linton VK3PC

Solar and Wind Power operation

Olivier EI8GQB (who is also ON4EI) plans to operate for most of July from a caravan, using “green energy” – solar and wind power. He has a 500Ah battery bank, plus 180W solar panel and a 400W wind generator. He plans to use the EI80IRTS call sign during the IARU HF Championship contest this weekend and will use the contest call sign EI1A (Echo-India-One-Alpha) during the IOTA contest at the end of the month. Olivier’s QRZ.COM page will carry a Live Information Banner with messages and live frequencies as well as daily information with photos and video.

Amateur Radio TV and CW beacons for ISS

ARISS are hoping to establish an amateur radio 2.4 GHz TV beacon and a CW beacon on the International Space Station. The minutes of the ARISS International Monthly Teleconference for June 19 carry this report on the status of the amateur radio equipment for the ESA Columbus module.

Gaston, ON4WF said the HamTV project is progressing. There have been discussions with ESA about the possibility of adding extra units to the HamTV transmitter that is being developed by Kaiser Italia. This is acceptable in as far as the KI unit under construction does not need to be modified.

A so called “Video Beacon” will be added externally to the HamTV unit. This beacon will allow automated DATV transmissions more or less permanently. The content of these DATV transmissions will be uploaded from the ground through existing channels and transferred to the Video Beacon on request. This function will also be used for educational purposes. Moreover, astronauts could record footage and load it into the Video Beacon for automated transmission.

Another additional unit will be a CW beacon transmitter delivering a small band low power signal (100 mW) on a frequency nearby the HamTV frequency. This beacon will transmit permanently and use the second ARISS L/S-band antenna. This offers ground stations signal reception with large S/N margins, facilitating antenna tracking and signal acquisition, especially at the beginning of a pass. The CW Beacon will transmit telegraphy signals, alternating its identification (call sign), a continuous carrier and possibly some telemetry comprizing onboard parameters (temperature, pressure, humidity, ambient sound level, etc.).

Lou W5DID suggested that we may be able to power it from the packet module already on the ISS, making it simple to operate.

ESA is being asked to address the cost of the Safety Package and testing such as EMI tests and outgassing tests for these additional units, but development and manufacturing will be supported by ARISS. A cost estimate is being developed for our team to build the units. A funding campaign will be set up to collect donations to cover the cost.

Regarding the amateur radio station in the Russian Service module the minutes say:
Kenneth N5VHO reported that an onboard power issue somewhat impacted ARISS radio operations. The air purifier for the ATV [Automated Transfer Vehicle] has needed to be plugged in, recently, in the Service Module (SM). The ARISS radio in the SM was turned off while the purifier was being used. The radio is turned on by the crew for school contacts and when the crew gets on the air for random contacts, as Astronaut Kuipers has done in the past few weeks. The ATV will be docked at the ISS until late September.

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) http://ariss.rac.ca/

2012 IARU HF World Championship

The 2012 IARU HF World Championships will take place during the second full weekend of July, beginning at 12:00 UTC on Saturday 14 July and ending at 12:00 UTC
on Sunday 15 July 2012.

The objective of this contest is to contact as many other amateurs, especially IARU Member Society HQ
stations, around the world as possible using the 160, 80, 40, 20, 15 and 10 metre bands using phone
and/or CW.

All IARU Region 1 Member Societies are invited to actively participate with their official stations and
to encourage their members to also participate.

The rules for the 2012 contest are available on
http://www.arrl.org/iaru-hf-championship

Change to the IRTS 40 Metre News Frequency

The present 40 metre radio news frequency has become increasingly busier on Sunday mornings. This has lead on occasions to some difficulty in the reception of both the bulletins and the reports on the transmissions. It has been decided, therefore, to move the transmission of the 40 metre news to a new frequency of 7123 kHz on and from Sunday the 1st of July 2012. This frequency was selected after monitoring a range of frequencies over a period of time by amateurs who use this particular transmission of the radio news bulletin.
 
HF News Readers Needed

Additional HF newsreaders are required to cover the 40 & 80M news broadcasts over the summer months due to holidays etc. Any IRTS members that wish to join the panel and are available to read the HF news would be most welcome. Please send an email to info@irts.ie