This Week’s News
IRTS Radio News Bulletin Sunday September 27th, 2026
Updates from the IRTS
The 27th IARU Region 1 general conference took place in Vienna, Austria from the 19th to the 23rd of September, bringing together representatives from the national member societies of 39 countries. The IRTS was well represented at the conference, in attendance were the society president Jeffrey EI7IRB, committee members Ana EI5IXB and Keith EI5IN, in addition to operators Séamus EI8BP and Rafal EI6LA. A particular highlight was Séamus EI8BP who was awarded the Roy Stevens G2BVN Memorial Trophy for his exemplary contribution to the international ham community, the award was presented by the IARU Region 1 President Sylvain F4GKR.
The conference also saw the election of a new Region 1 executive committee. The IRTS would like to warmly congratulate Ana EI5IXB on her election to that committee. Ana is a familiar face to many in the Irish ham community, she has served both on the IRTS committee and as a youth officer for many years, playing an active role encouraging young people to take interest in STEM through ham radio experiments. In 2023, she organised a radio contact between primary school pupils and the international space station. The IRTS would like to wish Ana every success in her new role.
HF Newsreaders Required
HF newsreaders are required to join our current panel of newsreaders for the weekly Sunday morning IRTS news bulletins on HF. There is very little involved in reading a bulletin and no experience is necessary. If any licensed IRTS member feels like that they would be interested in becoming part of the IRTS newsreaders panel or if you require more information, please get in touch with the IRTS news editor, Keith EI5IN via email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie
Tipperary Amateur Radio Group
The next meeting of the Tipperary Amateur Radio Group will be held at Raheen House Hotel, Clonmel, Co Tipperary on Wednesday the 30th of September 2026 at 8 p.m. The Eircode for this venue is E91 AC82. The meeting is open to all and Short Wave Listeners are in in particular very welcome to attend. For more information about Tipperary Amateur Radio Group, you can send an email to ei7trg /at/ gmail.com
DX Féile 2026
DX Féile is taking place next Saturday, 3rd October at The Temple Gate Hotel, Ennis. It starts at 10:30 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. It will be hosting International DX presentations and throughout the day. There will also be a fun DX Quiz, SSB, and CW simulated pileups and a raffle. A great day is assured for the dedicated DXer. Contact David Deane via email to ei9fbb /at/ gmail.com for further details.
Upcoming Talk at South Dublin Radio Club
Next Tuesday, the 29th of September, Pat EI7LH will give a talk on RF and EMF safety awareness from a radio amateur perspective. Pat will cover frequency, wavelength, and power, ionising versus non-ionising radiation, the effects of RF exposure on the human body, safety standards and measuring equipment, along with practical examples of RF exposure in the shack and in the field. The talk will be from 7.30 p.m. at Ballyroan Community Centre, Marian Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. Visitors and members of other clubs are very welcome to attend.
Updates from the IARU Region 1 General Conference C5 VHF+ Committee
During the recent IARU Region 1 General Conference in Austria, the IRTS delegation - including IRTS VHF/Microwave co-manager Keith EI5IN represented Irish interests in the IARU Region 1 C5 VHF+ Committee, where several key decisions and proposals were voted on. A major outcome was the adoption of a revised 23-centimetre supplemental band plan to align with national implementations of ECC Decision (25)01. On the 2-metre band, a proposal passed regarding temporary wideband experimental operations in the 144.500 to 144.794 MHz segment. In contest operations, self-spotting on the DX cluster was among the agenda items. Additionally, a new centre of activity for high altitude balloons was established at 434.500 MHz in the 70cm band plan. Delegates also approved a modified recommendation to create an open-source working group for a Region 1 repeater and beacon database, while a proposal regarding UHF spectrum considerations was noted and supported.
Contest Updates
Participating stations are reminded that log submissions for the IRTS VHF and UHF Counties Contests are due today, Sunday, September 27th. All logs should be submitted via email to contestmanager /at/ irts.ie . The results of the recent SSB Field Day are now available on the IRTS website. Well done to the winners and all who took part. On the HF bands, the 48-hour CQ World Wide DX RTTY Contest has been taking place this weekend across Saturday and Sunday, September 26th and 27th. Operators are encouraged to get on the air and hand out points before the contest closes.
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, news, meetings, or other items of interest, please send them via email to newsteam /at/ irts.ie . The deadline is midnight on Thursdays. Items intended for inclusion in Echo Ireland should be sent to echoireland /at/ irts.ie
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