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This Week's News

IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday 10 April 2022
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IRTS AGM

A detailed report about this weekend's IRTS AGM will be published in
next week's Radio News Bulletin. This week's news is a bit sparse due
to travel commitments and time spent by many active Hams preparing for
the AGM, hosted by the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group. However, we
can already report that the gathering at the Woodford Dolmen Hotel is
well attended by YLs and OMs from Ireland and the UK. Up to sixty hams
enjoyed the afternoon presentations, each followed by lively question
and answer sessions. We then enjoyed a tasty evening dinner at the
hotel's Barrow Suite, followed by the presentation of trophies and
plaques, rounded off by a special present to Megan, EI5LA.
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World Amateur Radio Day

Every April 18th, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in
celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. On this day in 1925 the
International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris, with members
from 25 countries, growing to 160 member societies today. The
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU as
representing the interests of Amateur Radio, now organized in three
IARU regions, representing over three million license holders. Thanks
to the work of pioneering Amateur Radio experimenters in the early
years of last century it was discovered that ionospheric propagation on
shortwave allowed signals to travel much greater distances than the
lower frequencies then used by telephone companies and broadcasters. In
order to prevent Amateur Radio to be being pushed aside by commercial
and national interests, Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and
founded the IARU. That ensured that at the 1927 International
Radiotelegraph Conference Amateur Radio secured the frequency
allocations in the 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meter bands.
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The Irish Net

Active not only on Sundays, but most weekdays starting at around 1600
UTC, the informal gathering on 14.156 MHz frequently suffers from QRM
during contests and DXers unawaware of this long standing net of North
American operators with an Irish connection. In a recent QSO on 20m
with WI1IDP, QTH Tuscon Arizona, operator Jerry confirmed that the net
now also uses the 17m QRG at 18.114 MHz, avoiding the increased QRM on
20m and taking advantage of improved propagation conditions.
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40 MHz use in the UK

The RSGB has consulted Ofcom regarding the status of the so-called
"Innovation and Trial" licences, covering not only 40-42 Mhz, but also
frequencies around 70 and 146 MHz. It permits me to use 40-42MHz with
digital modes (including CW) at 5W ERP max. Applicants for these
licenses are not required to have passed an amateur exam or hold a
call-sign. These "Research and Innovation" permits are issued for up to
12 months on a non-interference, no protection and non-operational
basis. Ofcom reiterated that there is no likelyhood of UK Radio
Amateurs gaining an allocation in the 40 MHz band any time soon.
However, a small number of UK hams experimenting on the 8m band using
this type of license. There is a detailed review of these activities on
the website of John, EI7GL at ei7gl.blogspot.com . John's website has
become the authorative source of thoroughly researched and well
presented information about activities and experiments above 30MHz for
serious VHF/UHF/SHF DXers and experimenters. Have a look at
www.ei7gl.blogspot.com
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Amsat AO7

The Methuselah of Amateur Radio Satellites AMSAT-OSCAR 7 was launched
on the 15th of November 1974 from Vandenberg Air Force Base. The
spacecraft is solar powered, weighs just under 29 kg, and had a
three-year anticipated lifetime at the time it was launched, but it has
far outlived this expectation. Its beacons transmit on 29.502, 145.975,
435.10 and 2304.1 MHz. Two types of communications repeaters are aboard
the spacecraft, only one of which operates at a time. The first
repeater is a two watt non-inverting transponder receiving uplink
signals between 145.85 and 145.95 MHz, and re-transmits them between
29.4 and 29.5 MHz on the downlink. Approximately -100 dBm is required
at the repeater input terminals for an output of 1 watt. This
corresponds to an EIRP from the ground of 90 watts for a distance to
the satellite of 3200 km and a polarization mismatch of 3 dB. The
second repeater is a 40-kHz* bandwidth inverting linear repeater. It
employs an 8-watt PEP power amplifier with a wide dynamic range. This
repeater has an uplink from 432.125 to 432.175 MHz, and a downlink from
145.975 to 145.925 MHz. Approximately 50 watts EIRP is required to
produce 3 watts of repeater output at a range of 3200 km assuming a
polarization mismatch of 3 db. All seemed lost in mid 1981 due to
battery failure. In 2002 one of the shorted batteries became an open
circuit and now the spacecraft is able to run off just the solar
panels, it is not usable in eclipse and may not be able to supply
enough power to the transmitter to keep from frequency modulating the
signal. When continuously illuminated, the mode will alternate between
A and B every 24 hours. Proving that the satellite is still alive and
well after 48 years of service, a new distance record has been posted
to AMSAT. Joel, VE6WQ, based in Edmonton, Alberta worked Jérôme, F4DXV,
who describes himself as a "Extreme low elevation contact enthusiast"
based in the southwest of France on the 23rd of March 2022. They used
Mode A, uplinking on 2m and downlinking on 10m, over a distance of 7454
km. If anyone has any information about extreme distance QSOs on AO-7
Mode A, please contact n8hm /at/ amsat.org .
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The Propagation Horoscope

The weekly horoscope for propagation predictions and related topics
takes a break this week, but not without recommending a visit to the
weekly presentation of the propagation analysis by Dr. Tamitha Skov.
Her well explained insights are mandated viewing for anyone paying
attention to the space weather. Have a look at her website at
www.spaceweatherwoman.com .

That is the news for this week. Items for inclusion in next week's
radio news can be submitted by email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie for
automatic forwarding to both the radio and printed news services. The
deadline is midnight on Friday.

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