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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday June 28th, 2026
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IRTS Hamfest 2026 Returns to Mullingar

By popular demand, IRTS Hamfest 2026 is returning this summer to the
Mullingar Showgrounds. The highly anticipated two-day gathering is
scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday, the 8th and 9th of
August. Organisers stress that everyone is welcome to attend and
admission to the event is completely free of charge. For those keen to
get actively involved - whether by planning a presentation or setting
up a "show and tell" table to exhibit projects - proposals can be sent
via email to hamfest /at/ irts.ie. You are encouraged to keep a close
eye on the official webpage at irts.ie/hamfest for further details. For
real-time news and announcements leading up to the weekend, you can
follow ei0irts on social media.
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IRTS Visit to Friedrichshafen Radio Club

On Thursday, June 25th, IRTS President Jeffrey Roe and committee member
Mark visited the Friedrichshafen amateur radio club, operating under
the callsign DK0FN. The IRTS extends its sincere thanks to Falko,
DM5XT, for the exceptionally warm hospitality and welcome during the
visit.
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Welcome Nets for New Licensees on VHF and UHF

Denis, EI4KH, operating the IRTS headquarters station EI0IRTS, took to
the airwaves last Wednesday, June 24th, to extend a warm welcome to the
latest wave of new licensees making their first contacts on local VHF
and UHF repeaters. The society notes that it is fantastic to hear so
many fresh voices joining the bands and offers its congratulations to
everyone who has recently entered the hobby. To assist new operators in
getting established, the IRTS website provides a wealth of local
resources. Amateurs can easily locate nearby voice and digital
repeaters by visiting irts.ie/repeaters and find details on local radio
clubs across the country at irts.ie/clubs.
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National Short Wave Listeners Club AGM

The National Short Wave Listeners Club held their Annual General
Meeting on Sunday June 21st. A large attendance heard reports from the
outgoing officers which showed continued growth in the club. The recent
class had eighty-six members sign up last October and most of them sat
the HAREC exam on May 16th. This was an increase from sixty-three the
previous year. Many newly licensed members remain with the club to
avail of the Sunday socials which cover most aspects of our hobby. The
average attendance this past year has been forty-six. The club
currently has 184 members. Outgoing Chairman Pat EI2JQB thanked
everybody who helps the club operate successfully, especially the
officers and tutors. A special thanks to Paraic Nolan EI2LH who has the
major job of processing the membership records and liaising with the
IRTS Membership Officer and to Equipment Manager Mike EI2LF who looks
after the several complete stations that are loaned to new licensees,
thanks to generous donors. The officers elected for the coming year are
Chairman Pat MacGrath EI2JQB, Secretary Dave Moore EI4BZ, Membership
Officer/Treasurer Paraic Nolan EI2LH, Equipment Manager Mike Griffin
EI2LF, and the Club Representative to IRTS is Stephen Dillon EI3116.
The club will take a break from online activities during July and
August but intending students can still sign up for the Autumn classes
by visiting SWL.ie where a membership application form can be
downloaded.
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International Museums Weekend at EI0MAR

Tony, EI5EM, reports that he was the sole operator representing the
Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio in Howth, EI0MAR, during the
International Museums Weekend event. Operating across both Saturday and
Sunday, band conditions proved to be poor, but the weekend was highly
successful on the social front, with Reg Shannon expertly guiding a
steady stream of visitors around the exhibits. Numerous amateurs
dropped by the station to support the event, including Mark, EI4BNB;
Joe, EI2JZ; Fergus, EI6IB; David, EI3IXB; Jim, EI4HH; and Veronica, the
editor of Echo Ireland. This provided a wonderful opportunity for Tony
to meet the editor in person after years of corresponding via email
regarding article submissions. Because the radio bands were quiet, the
team had ample time to thoroughly demonstrate the station to the
public, with visitors showing a keen interest in the setup and
especially enjoying seeing live Morse code in action. During the
weekend, Tony also checked into the 2-metre IRTS Sunday morning news
and logged several local contacts. Among them was a chat with the joint
TOG and SDR radio expedition over on Ireland's Eye, who were activating
two Parks on the Air (POTA) sites using the special callsign EJ0LGBT.
Despite the lack of DX pileups, the beautiful summer weather and high
public engagement made it a thoroughly satisfying event.
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Barnesmore VHF Repeater Now in Service

Donegal Radio Club has announced that the Barnesmore VHF repeater,
EI2JPG, is now officially in service as of Sunday, June 21st. The
launch follows a long-anticipated wait for the final antenna
installation. The repeater operates with an output frequency of 145.750
MHz and an input of 145.150 MHz, requiring a 67 Hz tone. The folded
dipole antenna used for the system was generously donated by Raymond
Long and was successfully mounted and cabled to the equipment cabinet
mid-month. On the day of the launch, club members Dave, EI5IMB, and
Malcolm, EI5JEB, visited the site to patch the antenna into the
repeater and conduct live testing. After resolving some initial setup
issues and performing fine-tuning, a number of successful contacts were
logged with operators at varying distances. Additionally, with remote
assistance from Jason, EI9LB, the repeater's AllStarLink Node has been
successfully connected to Truskmore. This link will remain active for
the next few weeks to gather vital test data and signal reports.
Donegal Radio Club extends its thanks to everyone involved in getting
the project over the line, as well as to the remote operators who
provided signal reports during initial testing. The club highly
welcomes further observations and reception reports, which can be
emailed to donegalradioclub /at/ gmail.com or sent directly to any club
member.
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VHF/Microwave News

Some extraordinary propagation opportunities on VHF and above are
popping up thanks to strong ionospheric and tropospheric activity. Over
the past few days, long-distance paths stretching from Ireland all the
way into southern Italy, alongside a dense cluster of active stations
logged across Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia have been noted on the 2m
band. Owen EI4GGB even reported hearing Italian FM broadcast stations
from the centre of Ireland. Looking ahead, the focus extends to
weather-driven propagation. According to the Hepburn Tropospheric
Index, strong tropospheric ducting is projected to build significantly
during the week. A high-index ducting path is forecast to sweep up from
the Atlantic midweek directly impacting the south and west coasts of
Ireland. Operators and SWLs are encouraged to monitor the 2-metre and
70-centimetre bands as well as the FM broadcast bands, as the
combination of conditions will be highly favourable for exceptional
over-the-horizon DX into continental Europe.
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Upcoming IRTS VHF/UHF Field Day

The annual IRTS VHF/UHF Field Day is taking place over the first full
weekend of July, running for a full 24 hours from 14:00 UTC on Saturday
July 4th until 14:00 UTC on Sunday July 5th. This event comprises five
entirely separate contests running concurrently across the 50 MHz, 70
MHz, 144 MHz, 432 MHz, and 1296 MHz bands. Operators have the
flexibility to enter on a single band or across multiple frequencies
using CW, SSB, or FM modes. Visit irts.ie/contests for further
information.
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Items for Inclusion in Next Week's Radio News

That is the news for this week. Thanks to everyone for sending items
into the weekly IRTS radio news. They are very much appreciated and are
a great way to update the rest of the community about activities. If
you have any club events, activities, meetings, or other items of
interest, you are very welcome to email the radio news editor Keith
EI5IN via email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie with the details. The deadline
each week is midnight on Thursdays. Items intended for inclusion in
Echo Ireland, which is the IRTS quarterly journal, should be sent to
echoireland /at/ irts.ie

[C]
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