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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday March 15th, 2026
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IRTS Updates

The IRTS Awards team is seeking nominations for this year's awards.
Please see irts.ie/awards for details. Nominations are sought for the
following awards: Arup Cup, Michael Collins Memorial Trophy, Pat Conway
Trophy, Sheila Piper Cup, EI3AV Cup, and the John Ash Chapman Shield.
Nominations should be sent to awards /at/ irts.ie before midday on
March 20th and include a paragraph of why the person or club is being
nominated.

Daithi, EI6JGB, has launched NewsBuster, a new web-based platform
designed to enhance IRTS live radio news. The tool bridges the gap
between traditional HF check-ins and modern web interactivity, allowing
newsreaders to manage sessions while operators and SWLs can follow
along online. Features include an interactive caller map, web check-ins
for both licensed operators and shortwave listeners, and live
leaderboards. All official IRTS newsreaders are invited to use the
platform to simplify caller management. For more information, visit
www.irts.news or contact Daithi via the newsreader reflector.

ComReg has been in contact with the IRTS to let us know that they will
be sending an email to all Irish radio amateurs on the 16th of March.
This will contain an invitation to participate in a survey and will
provide a link to that survey. The link is personalised so make sure
your email on your ComReg eLicensing account at elicensing.comreg.ie is
still valid. A general link to the survey will also be made available
on ComReg's website, on the Radio Amateurs page. The survey will be
open until 5 p.m. on the 30th of March. We understand that this survey
is looking at the "health of our hobby" seeking to understand how radio
amateurs are using the bands, the type of equipment being used,
demographics of radio amateurs in Ireland, and other information.
ComReg will speak on the Saturday afternoon of our AGM weekend. The
intention is to have all the high-level information from this survey
aggregated, analyzed, and presented at that talk. All the results of
the survey will be published at a later date as part of ComReg's
consultation process on reviewing the amateur station licensing regime.
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IRTS AGM Weekend - Limerick Clare ARC

Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club announce further details for the IRTS
AGM Weekend on April 18th and 19th. On Saturday the 18th, an internet
radio build workshop begins at 10.00 a.m. at the Shannon Aviation
Museum. The cost is 20 euro with limited spaces available. Please
register via the club website. Tickets for the IRTS Gala Dinner that
evening are 40 euro and must be purchased by April 11th. Email
irtsgaladinner.2026 /at/ gmail.com to book tickets. The club's rally
and monster raffle takes place on Sunday the 19th from 10.30 a.m.
Anyone wishing to book a bring-and-buy table must do so by March 19th
by emailing dermotgleeson1 /at/ gmail.com
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Donegal Radio Club Hosting a VHF Fox Hunt

Donegal Radio Club is holding a VHF Fox Hunt on Sunday March 22nd at
the Benbulben Forest Walk in north Co. Sligo. This event is open to all
licenced operators and short-wave listeners. It begins at 9:30 a.m. and
finishes at 1 p.m. A short summary of hunting and demonstration of
attenuation techniques will be given before the start. Token prizes
will be awarded on the day. If attending, please advise the club by
email to donegalradioclub /at/ gmail.com
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St. Patrick's Day Charity Walk & EI9DD Activation

On St. Patrick's Day, Jeffrey Roe, EI7IRB, and Conor, EI9JYB, will
complete a 26-kilometre "Harbour to Harbour" walk from D?n Laoghaire to
Howth in aid of the charity Aware. The pair will be active throughout
the day, monitoring the Three Rock repeater and 145.500 MHz FM. This
activity also ties in with the Kildare ARC activation of the historic
callsign EI9DD. Stations are encouraged to listen out and make contact,
which may be of particular interest to those chasing WAI squares along
the Dublin coast.
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Kerry Amateur Radio Group Activities

The Kerry Amateur Radio Group will visit Valentia MRSC on Saturday,
March 28th. The group plans to be active in the afternoon as EI1K.
Activations will include SOTA summit Geokaun, Maidenhead square IO41,
and WAI square V37. For real-time updates on frequencies and modes,
please check the KARG Facebook page.
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South Dublin Radio Club's AGM

South Dublin Radio Club's AGM will take place at 8 p.m. on Tuesday,
14th of April 2026 at Ballyroan Community Centre on the Marian Road in
Rathfarnham. All members are asked to attend.
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New EI POTA Mapping Representative Announced

We are pleased to share that Leonard McDonnell EI2JHB has joined the
Parks on the Air team for Ireland as a mapping representative. Leonard
will be working alongside Jer Aspell EI3HGB, who has served as the EI
POTA representative since the programme's inception. If you identify a
potential new park that may qualify for inclusion in the programme,
please send the relevant details to ie /at/ parksontheair.com for
consideration.
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POTA Activation Day by Shannon Basin Radio Club

Staying with POTA, members of the Shannon Basin Radio Club will hold a
POTA Activation Day next Saturday, March 21st. Operating between 9.30
a.m. and 11.30 a.m., club members will activate various parks across
Cavan, Westmeath, Offaly, and Sligo. Please monitor the POTA app for
real-time spots.
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Updated Worked All Ireland Award Scheme

The Worked All Ireland (WAI) award scheme has several new updates to
help operators track their progress. A new app called WAI Grid is now
available now on the Google Play and Apple stores. It identifies WAI
squares in real time and allows for easy logging of contact details.
For desktop users, the Log4OM logging software has been updated to
include WAI squares. Additional resources include new maps on
irishhamradio.com, and a new WAI book is available from the IRTS. WAI
nets and mobile activities are planned for the coming months. Thanks to
everyone involved in the updates. For more information, visit the IRTS
website.
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Lakes and Lagoons on the Air

The relatively new radio activity program Lakes and Lagoons on the Air
(LLOTA) now has a country manager position filled for Ireland who us
Ian EI3LH. He can be contacted via www.llota.app where you can also
find more information about the program. EI3LH is currently working on
gathering lake and lagoon data for the program. Visit the LLOTA
official web site and Ian's blog at ei3lh.eu for more information.
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Mae Murray Foundation Activation

A weekly activation based in Northern Ireland with the call sign GB5MMF
serves to raise awareness for the Mae Murray Foundation based in Larne,
Co Antrim. The Friday night net starts at 8 p.m. until 10 p.m. on
145.450 MHz and runs until the 8th of May 2026. All amateurs are
welcome to take part.
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YOTA Contest - Round 1

Round 1 of the YOTA Contest takes place this Sunday, March 15th, from
10:00 UTC to 22:00 UTC. The event aims to promote youth activity on the
air across the 80 to 10-metre bands using both CW and SSB. A special
youth team which includes Megan EI5LA will be operating from the EI7M
station using the callsign EI0Y. They wish to thank EI7M for their
hospitality and to the IRTS for acquiring the EI0Y callsign. Visit
yotacontest.mrasz.org for more information.
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IRTS 80m Counties Contest

The IRTS 80m Counties Contest is taking place on Wednesday, the 18th of
March, starting at 8 p.m. and running for one hour on the 80m band.
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. These will
be automatically forwarded to the IRTS radio and printed news services.
The deadline each week is midnight on Thursdays.

[C]
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