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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday April 19th, 2026
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Updates from the IRTS

IRTS traces its roots to the pioneering radio experimenters of the
early 20th century, including Colonel Meade Dennis EI2B, a key figure
and founding member of the Dublin Wireless Club established in 1913.
This club held frequent lectures and telegraph circuit demonstrations.
Complementing this was the Radio Association of Ireland formed in 1922,
which embraced both experimenters and the radio listenership public,
even as commercial receiver sets remained scarce and expensive.
Following the amalgamation of the Dublin Wireless Club and the RAI, the
IRTS was formally founded in 1932, with Colonel Dennis EI2B elected as
its inaugural president, a role he held until the outbreak of the
Second World War. Visit irts.ie/ei2b to find out more about IRTS's
history. The society's annual general meeting takes place today, Sunday
April 19th. The IRTS wishes all members another fruitful year!
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Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club

Today, Sunday April 19th, the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio club rally
and monster draw takes place in the Oakwood Hotel in Shannon. It is
followed by the IRTS 2026 AGM starting at 2.00 p.m. Entry to the AGM is
only permitted to IRTS members and in line with previous practice,
membership will be checked prior to entry.
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South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC

EI2WRC will be active from Rosslare Strand, Co. Wexford as an official
Marconi Day Award station over the weekend of April 25th and 26th for
the 2026 International Marconi Day activation. The International
Marconi Day activation is a yearly special event to celebrate birthday
of Marconi. He established a wireless transmitting station on the site
where Marconi House now stands in Rosslare in 1901. Special thanks to
the Cornish Radio Amateur Club G4CRC and to the Rosslare Development
Association, Wexford County Council, Eleanor White, Lorna Morris, and
EI2WRC's own Steve Kelly EI2JLB. Keep a listen out on HF and the
southern Ireland repeater network throughout the day for the group.

The April meeting of the EI2WRC group will take place on Monday, April
27th at 8 p.m. sharp at the South East Technological University.
Netlabs Research and Innovation Building, SETU West Campus,
Carriganore, Waterford. The Eircode is X91 WR86. New members or anyone
that has an interest in amateur radio or communications in general are
very welcome to come along. SWLs are in particular very welcome to
attend also. Visit www.searg.ie for more information about EI2WRC,
their activities, and for contact details.
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EIOMAR Active for International Marconi Day

EI0MAR will be QRV as an award station on Saturday the 25th of April
during International Marconi Day. The station is located in Ye Olde
Hurdy Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio at the Martello Tower in Howth.
Visitors are welcome to drop by and operate from 1100 hours. Access to
the Martello is up a narrow pathway on Abbey Street, opposite the Abbey
Tavern. The Eircode is D13 V099.
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Galway Radio Experimenters Club at the Kiltulla and District Vintage Show

The Galway Radio Experimenters Club (GREC) is pleased to announce that
they will be attending the Kiltulla and District Vintage Show on
Sunday, 3rd May 2026 in Kiltullagh, Athenry. This event offers an
excellent opportunity to showcase amateur radio to the public and
highlight the value of our hobby within the wider community. GREC
members will be operating a fully equipped demonstration station
throughout the day, with a selection of modern HF/VHF/UHF equipment on
display. Visitors will be able to see live operation, learn about radio
technology, and discover how amateur radio continues to thrive in an
increasingly wireless world.

As part of the event, the club will be active on-air using their
callsign EI4GRC. Operators across Ireland and beyond are encouraged to
keep an ear open for us on HF and VHF throughout the day. Any contacts
made will help promote the hobby and demonstrate the reach and
relevance of amateur radio to show attendees. This appearance at the
Vintage Show is part of GREC's ongoing commitment to public outreach,
education, and strengthening the amateur radio community in the West of
Ireland.
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Shannon Basin Radio Club SSB Nets

Shannon Basin Radio Club will hold its second last 80m SSB DX net of
the season on Thursday night next from 9 p.m. The net is generally held
on 3.775MHz plus or minus QRM. All are welcome including SWLs. Visit
sbrc.ie for further information about the club and its activities.
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VHF/Microwave News

Short periods of marginal tropospheric propagation in the early part of
the week will develop into strong ducting opportunities from Thursday
for a time. This should enable some interesting DX QSOs and may be the
best opportunity this year so far. The VHF/Microwave team is seeking
further input for the 2025 squares table published on the IRTS website.
This table shows the number of Maidenhead locator squares worked each
year by EI operators. Contact the team via email to vhf_manager /at/
irts.ie
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UKEICC CW Contests on April 25th and April 29th

The UKEICC has two CW contests coming up in the next two weeks. The
first is the 24-hour UK/EI DX CW Contest starting at 1200 UTC on
Saturday, April 25th. This is a work-everyone contest. EI and UK
stations are very popular since DX stations score double points for
working them, and each EI/GI county and UK district counts as a
multiplier per band. For this reason, even a modest EI station can
enjoy large pileups. EI and UK stations earn double points between the
hours of 0100 UTC and 0459 UTC which makes it well worth staying up
for. The teams' competition allows you to join two other stations from
any location. Note that the deadline for submitting logs is 24 hours
after the contest ends.

The second contest happens three days later on Wednesday, April 29th at
2000 UTC. This is the last in the UKEICC's 80m contest series for the
2025/26 season and will determine final standings in the league table
and teams' competition. Bonus stations will be operated by Dave EI4BZ
and Dean G4WQI and are worth 15 points each. The log submission
deadline is one hour after the contest ends, and preliminary results
are published a few minutes after that. Rules for both contests can be
found at www.ukeicc.com The UKEICC team wishes to thank all EI/GI
stations who participated in contests this season and especially those
who joined them for the first time. The 2026/27 season starts in
September after their usual summer break.
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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

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