2024 Jota/Joti Event
It was our pleasure to attend and help all of you get your communication badges. A massive thanks to Noel Whitmore all the other scout leaders who made us feel so welcome and looked after all day with endless cups of tea and treats. The 25th Wexford Scout Group are a lovely bunch of kids so well behaved and well mannered. You are a credit to both your families and the scout group itself. We look forward to returning in 2025 for an even bigger event.
Throughout the day the station was as usual a great focal point for the club and the hobby in general with great interest from the general public. Thanks to all our great club members who showed up and helped out on the day. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group would like to thank the manager Maria Kyte and all the staff of The Waterford & Suir Valley Railway for all their help and allowing us access to the station to do this event again this year. We are already looking forward to returning again in 2025. For more information about the WSVR please see their website here.
Upcoming EI2WRC Events
Lastly as definitely by no means least a special thanks to the one and only Shirley Gannon who went beyond the call of duty all weekend to make sure no one went thirsty or hungry. A breakfast fit for kings was all prepared and cooked from scratch Sunday morning for any one that was there. And it was truly delicious. So, thanks again Shirley for the feast. Please God we’ll all be around for the 2025
27th International Lighthouse Lightship Weekend Report
A special word of thanks to Hook Lighthouse staff members, Larry and Elaine, all the other Hook event staff and Phil Lawlor from Irish Lights for all their help in putting this weekend together. The club looks forward to a return in 2025 and plans are in place already for next year with even more stations in operation. A special word of thanks also to Steve Kelly EI2JLB for his very kind use of his family’s massive 8-man tent in which the station was setup and operated from. EI2WRC’s next activation will be the IRTS SSB Field Day which will take place at Seany EI2HZB’s QTH over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of September. There is an open invitation to all to come and join in the fun and enjoy the social side of that weekend. More details will follow soon on the Latest News page on searg.ie and on our Facebook page.
Activity will be on HF, UHF and VHF depending on band conditions and on the Southern Ireland Repeater Network that has links to EchoLink and DMR. Please keep an eye on Dx Cluster and also on the SEARG Facebook page for frequencies we are active on. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group would like to thank Larry Colgan and all the event staff at the Hook Lighthouse visitors centre and Phil Lawlor from Irish Lights for all their help in planning this event.
August Club Meeting
Inistioge Vintage Rally 2024 Review
July Club Meeting
IRTS Newsteam Summer Holidays
2024 SIRG Donation
Bunmahon Activaion 2024
Thanks to all who came on the day. A special thanks to Mark EI4FNB for bringing down the club gazebo and all the radio gear. Massive thanks to everyone who brought food. It was great to work so many people on the day and thanks to all who gave us a call. Also, a special word of thanks to John Galloway, Manager of the Geopark Centre for the usual warm welcome to the site.
The EI2WRC committee are delighted to announce that the 2024 recipient is 16-year-old, Nikita Zdunek EI2069, from Ferrybank, Co. Kilkenny. Nikita has written the following short bio about himself.
“Hi everyone. My name is Nikita and I'm 16 years old, Polish and have lived in Ferrybank, Co. Kilkenny for more than 10 years. I am in 5th year in Abbey Community College. My hobbies are sailing, athletics and amateur radio. I was introduced to CB by my dad a long while back, when I was 5 or 6 when we lived in Poland. When we moved here the radio was left behind. My interest in radio was reignited by sailing. In late January I sat the marine VHF exam and got my SRC. I bought a Baofeng UV-9R Pro as its low price appealed to me. I was playing around with it and turned-on scan mode accidentally, it was then I came upon EI2WRC. I was hooked instantly and bought another Baofeng and Quangsheng. I also have an SDR Uno which was kindly gifted to me by Steve EI2JLB. I would like to thank my club, EI2WRC for choosing me for the 2024 award. I am looking forward to doing the online HAREC course with the National Short Wave Listeners Club and hopefully passing my exam and getting active on the amateur bands soon”.
Everyone in EI2WRC wishes Nikita the very best of luck as he sets out on the road to getting his licence and EI callsign.
Bunmahon 2024 SES
145 Alive Event Review
Around Ireland, many other stations were active from various locations on various frequencies. The idea of the 145 Alive event was to promote activity on the 2m band. Band conditions on the day were excellent and the weather was truly magnificent. Special thanks to the EI2WRC club for all the great support as always. Thanks also to Siobhán Heaney EI2003 for the excellent video footage of our station from her QTH.
A massive well done and thanks to everyone who put a station on the air for the 2024 145 Alive Event. Lastly, a massive thanks to David Gardiner EI3IXB for all the time and effort he put in to organising this great event. It was a great day David and well done on planning this great event. Everyone is already looking forward to the next one!
145 Alive Event 2024
Thank You Rosslare Development Association
IRTS AGM Weekend 2025
Shannon Basin Radio Club Rally 2024 Review
March Club Meeting
Happy St. Patrick's Weekend!!
Applicants who wish to sit the next exam but have not yet applied, should download, and complete the exam application form from the downloads section of the IRTS website. Applicants are also advised to consult the “Applying for an Exam” section on the IRTS website for instructions on how to proceed with the application or contact Mick EI6IKB via email at irts.exams@gmail.com.
The deadline for applications is the 27th of April 2024.
2024 AGM Report
He said that as chairman his main objective was to promote the hobby and thanked all the various people in the club for helping him do this. He also thanked the club’s long standing QSL manager Alan EI3HDB for all his hard work over the past few years. Due to work and family commitments Alan is unable to continue this role and everyone in EI2WRC wish him the best for the future. Although not in attendance at the meeting due to a previous engagement club treasurer Ralph EI2KU had sent in the financial report for presentation at the meeting. 2023 was another healthy year for the club with continued growth both in membership and financially.
After all the reports were read, proposed, and adopted the meeting then moved on to the election of officers and other club roles for 2024/2025. Raymond then thanked the outgoing committee members for all their hard work over the previous year and the following committee was then deemed elected for 2024/2025. Chairman Raymond Cowman EI6HFB, Vice Chairman Joe Donnelly EI8DY, Secretary Mark Kilmartin EI4FNB, Treasurer Ralph Musto EI2KU, Public Relations Officer Seany Byrne EI2HZB, Club Officer 1 John McCarthy EI8JA, Club Officer 2 Pat Dwyer EI7IUB & Club Officer 3 Roger Greengrass EI8KN.
Once the election of officers and club roles had taken place the official business of the meeting concluded and a very informal and light hearted chat took place between the members. This continued on for quite a while and eventually the evening came to a close.
EI2WRC 80 Metres Counties Contest Section Winners
January Club Meeting
Happy New Year!!
Christmas Party Night 2023
Call In Challenge 2023
2023 SEARG Christmas Get-together
November Club Meeting
New Callsigns
IRTS AGM Weekend 2024
HAREC Exam
Upcoming Club Meetings
IRTS SSB Field Day Section Winners!
145 Alive Event 2023 Video
145 Alive Activation
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station programme (ARISS), which will see students from primary schools in Dublin speaking with an astronaut on board the ISS. TU Dublin has set up a temporary amateur radio station on the roof of Central Quad, in City Campus. The technical team for this contact includes Robbie Phelan EI2IP, who has kindly organised all the equipment and station set up, Seamus McCague EI8BP, their ARISS radio mentor, Ana Canizares EI5IXB, coordinator of the activity in TU Dublin and schools, Mark Davis EI4ACB and Joe Ryan EI7GY as technical support and Enda Scully, a technician from the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering in TU Dublin.
All the equipment has been provided or sourced by Robbie Phelan EI2IP and it is in accordance with the requirements set up by ARISS. The ARISS ground station at TU Dublin has been allocated the very special callsign EI1ISS (Echo India One India Sierra Sierra) by ComReg for the occasion thanks to their ARISS radio mentor Seamus McCague. The station will be operated by Irish members of ARISS Europe and the Irish Radio Transmitters Society and the event will be streamed using TU Dublin’s YouTube account. The contact is scheduled for Friday, October 6th starting from 2.11 p.m. local time (13:11 UTC). The ISS is scheduled to use the callsign OR4ISS. The downlink is also planned to be 145.800 MHz and it is expected to be easily received across Ireland even with handheld receivers. A massive thank you to Ana Canizares EI5IXB, coordinator of the activity & Keith Nolan EI5IN, IRTS News Editor for the above article on the contact.
145 Alive Event
Next HAREC Exam
Class Golf Online Harec Course
Over 150 of our students took HAREC exams and, as of Sept 2023, just over 100 have passed and obtained their licences. We have 127 current members, including our tutors, mentors, and recently licensed amateurs, many of whom would be happy to help those studying with us. Like our 2022-2023 course, Foxtrot, class Golf is also based on the new Irish exam syllabus, introduced in 2022. The course uses the IRTS Study Guide, a 400-page learning resource which we have written last year, and which we are currently revising to incorporate the changes introduced in ComReg Amateur Station Licence Guidelines 09/45 R6 earlier this year. The updated version of our Study Guide will be released at the very start of class Golf in November. There will be no recordings to watch later. Sessions must be attended live. Classes are held each Thursday at 20:00–22:00 Irish time, however, we open meetings at 19:30 to assist in connection troubleshooting. We will also offer three optional Maths Tuesdays for those students who want to brush up on some basics.
Furthermore, all students are required to carefully read and follow the instructions which our tutors and mentors send by email, several times every week. Every student must become a member of the NSWLC and in doing so accept the NSWLC Constitution, NSWLC Online Code of Conduct, the IRTS Child Protection Policy, and the IRTS Anti-Bullying Policy. Membership of the NSWLC is free to the current members of the IRTS, and costs €30 per calendar year—making €60 for both 2023 and 2024. We strongly recommend joining the IRTS to avoid these fees. We do not charge any further fees to attend the course. There are already 27 individuals registered for the course. We are able to accommodate up to 100. To join the NSWLC and register for the course, please complete the steps at www.swl.ie
September Club Meeting
Railways On The Air 2023
145 Alive!
IRTS SSB Field Day 2023 Video
IRTS SSB Field Day Review
“Finally, after the best weekend in a long, long time I can sit down and chill 😊 But I’d do it all over again tomorrow if I could! A massive thank you to everyone who made the IRTS SSB Field Day the best one I can remember ever having the pleasure of hosting. There is so many people I need to and wish to thank for making the event what it was. If I forget anyone my deepest apologies, firstly thanks to all in EI2WRC for backing me and Shirley and Keith to host this as in previous years. It do be a pleasure to have so many club members who we consider family at this stage come along for the weekend. Special thanks to the many club members who travelled extremely long distances to be here. Thanks to all the non-club members and friends who came along also to take part in the fun. Likewise, it was an absolute pleaser to have you all here.
Thanks to everyone who gave a hand on Saturday morning setting up the station and getting things up and running. Thanks to everyone who brought food and drink to add to the party. Although the radio was as predicted scarce, and the fun and craic was ever present we did manage a few QSO’s hi hi. A special mention to our lovely hostess Shirley who made sure everyone was looked after with tea, coffee sandwiches and any other treats they wanted. Also, the breakfast we all got this morning was Michelin 5 star and fit for royalty. So thanks Shirley from myself and everyone who had breakfast this morning. EI2WRC’s next event will be ROTA over the weekend of the 23rd & 24th of September from the Waterford & Suir Valley Railway in Kilmeadan, Co. Waterford. Keep an eye here on this age for more details about this event.”
Thanks, Seany, Shirley and Keith for hosting the event and we all look forward to returning in 2024!
Thank You Jim!
August Club Meeting
IRTS SSB Field Day
26th International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend Inistioge Vintage Rally 2023
IRTS Newsteam Holidays
Well done Siobhán EI2003
"Hello everyone. My name is Siobhán and I’m currently living in Co. Laois. I’m a full-time mum, blessed with one daughter. My hobbies are gardening, gymnastic leotard design and of course as of late amateur radio. It all began back in the 1980’s with a passion for citizen band radio. I knew at a young age before I was introduced to CB that I was drawn to the hardware of electronics and that it would come in handy one day. I was still in school while my older brother was squandering his hard-earned cash on cassettes and cassette players. The constant wear and tear of play, FF, RW, record, volume too high would eventually break his 2 and 1’s. I would open them up and instantly knew what section to fix, using only my dad’s insulating tape. A few months later my best friend at the time, her dad gifted her with a whole CB-80 channel rig, plus two 40 channel rigs and a large linear power supply. I remember being totally bedazzled standing there gawking at her operating it. I couldn’t believe how fast she learned to operate it. At the time my best friend Sharon was only 15, I was 16. She taught me how to use it. From that day onwards I was totally hooked. I remember gobbling down my dinners so fast, so I could hurry to her house to operate her radio. Every evening we would communicate with many CB enthusiasts from all over the Cork city area. There was a lot of women operators. Fast forward to today, my passion of been able to operate my very own radio will be a dream come true. I like and enjoy the whole concept of amateur radio. Calculating ,evaluating as well as most importantly using common sense. Good for conditioning the old neurones! Today I own my very first HF transceiver. An Icom 718 which I use for listening to HF. Of course, old habits die hard! I just had to open it up and explore the internals. Even though risky and untrained I successfully installed a brand-new DSP unit, first attempt while doing it live on a TikTok video. I am looking forward to doing the online HAREC course with the National Short Wave Listeners Club and hopefully passing my exam and getting active on the amateur bands soon”.
Everyone in EI2WRC wishes Siobhán the very best of luck as she sets out on the road to getting her licence and EI callsign.
June Meeting
Thanks to all who came over the weekend. A special thanks to Edwin EI2HEB for towing down the club caravan and planning the weekend. Thanks to Dermot EI7IMB and Joe EI8DY for staying overnight and keeping the station in operation. Massive thanks to Jim EI8IG for arriving on the Saturday night with lovely hot food for the gang. It was great to work so many of you over the weekend on different bands and thanks to all who gave us a call. A special word of thanks to John Galloway, Manager of the Geopark Centre for the usual warm welcome to the site.
Bunmahon 2023 SES
May Meeting
SES Irish Vintage Society’s All Ireland Vintage Rally
Shannon Basin Radio Club Rally Report
Award Winner
Events Cancelled
April Meeting
Shannon Basin Radio Club Rally
International Marconi Day 2023
Club treasurer Ralph EI2KU gave a report on the finances of the club noting that 2022 had been a successful year financially and that club finances are once again in a very healthy position. He also noted the club had setup an online banking account which made the day to day financial running of the club very easy to manage.
Mark then thanked the outgoing committee members for all their hard work over the previous year and the following committee was then deemed elected for 2023. Chairman Raymond Cowman EI6HFB, Vice Chairman Joe Donnelly EI8DY, Secretary Mark Kilmartin EI4FNB, Treasurer Ralph Musto EI2KU, Public Relations Officer Seany Byrne EI2HZB, Club Officer 1 John McCarthy EI8JA, Club Officer 2 Pat Dwyer EI7IUB & Club Officer 3 Roger Greengrass EI8KN.
EI2WRC Twitter Page
January Meeting Report
January Meeting
Christmas Get Together
November Meeting Review
Many different topics were discussed including the plans for our activations in 2023 which will include some new activations for the club. 2023 will be an even busier year for the year so some never done before activations in the pipeline, so watch this space! Club meetings will continue on Zoom each week and the next face to face meeting will be on January 30th, 2023. New members, or anyone interested in learning more about amateur radio or the group are as always very welcome to attend our meetings. The next club event will be our Christmas get together which will be on December 9th at the Waterford Marina Hotel at 7 p.m. Non club members are also very welcome to attend and there are a limited number of places still available. If anyone may be interested in attending you are asked to please contact EI2WRC’s event coordinator Edwin EI2HEB as soon as possible.
November Meeting
Congratulations!
Donations To EI2WRC
October Meeting Review
HAREC Exam
Donation To Southern Ireland Repeater Group
Railways On The Air 2022
Throughout the day the station was as usual a great focal point for the club and the hobby in general with great interest from the general public. Thanks to all our great club members who showed up and helped out on the day. A special thanks to EI2WRC’s event coordinator Edwin Van Mierlo EI2HEB for towing the caravan from Carlow and back for the event. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group would like to thank the manager Maria Kyte and all the staff of The Waterford & Suir Valley Railway for all their help and allowing us access to the station to do this event again this year. We are already looking forward to next year as it will be the 10th anniversary. For more information about the WSVR please see their website here
HAREC Exam
HAREC Course "Foxtrot"
The upcoming course is based on the new Irish exam syllabus, introduced earlier this year. The course uses the upcoming IRTS Study Guide, an almost 300-page learning resource. Members of Class Echo have significantly contributed to the new guide. As a result of their valuable feedback, Class Foxtrot contains 6 more sessions than its predecessor in order to better focus on the areas that are new to the current syllabus.
The course will be held via the Zoom platform and sessions must be attended live. Classes will be held each Thursday from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. (local time). For more information about The National Short Wave Listeners Club (NSWLC) or to join please see www.swl.ie
September Club Meeting
Railways On The Air
New Position
August Meeting
July Meeting
Inistioge Vintage Rally
June Meeting
Bunmahonn Activation
May Meeting
HAREC Exam
International Marconi Day 2022
April Meeting
IRTS 89th AGM Weekend
The IRTS Gala Dinner took place that Saturday night at 7.30 p.m. and close on 90 people
attended. MC for the evening Raymond Cowman EI6HFB welcomed everyone and then invited various people throughout the evening to say a few words and propose some toasts. EI2WRC were delighted to welcome both the IARU Region 1 president and also the RSGB president to the dinner. Various presentations were made on the night which included a small presentation by EI2WRC to Jim EI4HH and his XYl Veronica to thank both of them for all their hard work over the past few years. Another mentionable presentation on the night was to Megan EI5LA. Megan was presented with a custom print SEARG mug. The presentation was made to Megan by Jennifer Murnane O Connor TD, Jennifer is the Parliamentary Ambassador for Ireland to the global network of female politicians called Women Political Leaders (WPL). Jennifer congratulated Megan on her achievements on radio and invited Megan to a tour of Dáil Éireann when she is in Dublin, an invitation which a very shell-shocked Megan accepted. As per the previous evening the celebration continued well on in to the early hours of the morning.
Close on 300 people attended the SEARG radio rally the following morning. Traders from all corners of Ireland arrived in Carlow as early as 8 a.m. to get their stands set up for what was a great success. EI’s and SWL’s were treated to a wide variety of equipment and supplies. People who hadn’t seen each other for the last few years finally got a chance to see each other again. Most of Irelands main radio equipment suppliers were in attendance as well as a large number of individual traders and some great deals were available on the day. A monster raffle concluded the event with some great prizes on offer. The IRTS 89th AGM took place on Sunday afternoon which brought the weekend to a close. The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group EI2WRC would like to thank everyone who made 89th Annual AGM weekend such a success. Firstly, thanks to Heather, Willie, Brian and all the staff in the Woodford Dolmen Hotel for basically letting us take over their hotel! Thanks to Jim EI4HH, Dave EI4BZ and everyone in the IRTS for trusting us to pull the weekend off. The group hopes it achieved what it set out to do which was lift the bar even higher than they did back in 2015. Thanks to Higgins Furniture Hire for the tables for the rally on Sunday. Thanks to all the traders who turned up at 8 a.m. Sunday morning some traveling since 4 a.m. to make it to Carlow on time. Thanks to all those who sponsored prizes for our big raffle. Thanks to all the people who turned up on Sunday morning to support the club and the rally again some travelling long distances. Lastly a massive thanks to all our own EI2WRC members who done trojan work over the entire weekend. We look forward to welcoming you all back to the south east soon. Pictures from the weekend can be viewed here.
IRTS AGM Weekend
March Meeting
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
EI2WRC 2022 AGM
Mark listed the activities that the club had been involved in throughout 2021 and hoped that 2022 would be an even better year with activations. He was delighted to see that the club had planned to do some new activations this year and was also looking forward to the IRTS AGM which the club are hosting in Carlow in April. Club treasurer Sue EI1826 gave a report on the finances of the club noting that 2021 had been a successful year financially and that club finances are once again in a very healthy position. She also noted that 2021 was a record-breaking year for membership with 61 members 13 of which are SWL’s.
Mark then thanked the outgoing committee members for all their hard work over the previous year and the following committee was then deemed elected for 2022 Chairman Mark Kilmartin EI4FNB, Vice Chairman Ray Cowman EI6HFB, Secretary John Tubbritt EI3HQB, Treasurer Sue McCormick EI1826, Public Relations Officer Sean Byrne EI2HZB, Club Officer 1 Sam Wilson EI3IUB, Club Officer 2 David Stearn EI7FYB & Club Officer 3 Roger Greengrass EI8KN
Vinegar Hill, National Monument Ref: EI-01422 Activation
EI2WRC 2022 AGM
Ray EI6HFB who is part of the IRTS AGM weekend organising team gave details of the event which is due to be held in Carlow in April. He said he looked forward to the weekend and hoped that everyone would have a great time attending Carlow over the weekend. Club secretary John EI3HQB gave a list of what activities the club hoped to do throughout 2022. He paid particular attention to the recently setup EIFF activations which he hoped the club would do many different activations from various locations around the south east. Chairman Mark then closed the official part of the meeting, but a great chat followed by everyone there in to the early hours of the morning. The clubs next event will be the group’s AGM which will be held on the 28th of February.
First Activation Of 2022
The club got 2022 out to a great start being active from EIFF-0136 Tramore Dunes and Backstrand SAC, WAI S60 located in Tramore Co. Waterford. The Echo India Flora Fauna EIFF was set up by Jer EI3HGB and Declan EI9HQ The EIFF program aims to draw attention to the importance of protected flora and fauna areas throughout Ireland. In the spirit of amateur radio, operators set up and operate their radio stations from designated nature parks and protected flora and fauna areas around Ireland. For more information on this project, you can check out the website here
We're Back
Meeting Cancelled
November Club Meeting
Donation Of Test Equipment To Club
JOTAJOTI 2021
JotaJoti 2021
EI2WRC will be active with the Copper Coast Scout Group on Saturday the 16th of October for the JOTA/JOTI 2021 event. The club hope to have a few HF stations on air and also on DMR (TBC) along with other club members explaining other aspects of the hobby with workshops where the scouts can participate. The group will also be active on the Southern Ireland Repeater Network and all nodes connected to it. Special thanks to the SIRN group for allowing us to use the repeater network for this special event. If you hear the station on air, please take a few minutes to say hello to the scouts. Thank you! Please note due to restrictions this event will not be open to members of the public
Railways On The Air 2021
Best of luck everyone!!
IRTS SSB Field Day Contest Weekend
The club were also delighted to welcome IRTS President Jim EI4HH and his friend David EI3IXB to the event on Saturday afternoon, both of whom used the club callsign EI2WRC/P during the contest. Even though it was a contest weekend the club placed more emphasis on the social side of things as this had been the first event where almost all social restrictions had been lifted. Another great weekend for the club. Sean, Shirley and Keith look forward to welcoming everyone back to Sean’s QTH in 2022 for the event.
The clubs next outing will be Railways on The Air from The Waterford & Suir Valley Railway in Kilmeaden on the 25th/26th September. For anyone that wishes to find out more about the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group and their activities you can drop them an email to southeasternarg@gmail.com or please feel free to go along to any their meetings. You can check their website www.searg.ie and you can also join them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend 2021
24th Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend
Donation To Club
Tankardstown Activation
IRTS Annual General Meeting 2022 Hotel Rooms
EI2WRC To Host 2022 Irish Radio Transmitters Society’s Annual General Meeting Weekend
EI2IMD International Marconi Day 2021
EI2WRC members who worked various slots throughout the day were Sue EI1826, John EI3HQB, Wayne EI7HKB, Sam EI3IUB, Alan EI3HDB and Seany EI2HZB. EI2WRC would like to thank the Cornish Radio Amateur Club for organising the International Marconi Day every year. The club is already looking forward to taking part in the 2022 event!
Silent Key Fr. Harry Houlihan EI3EN
He had become a radio enthusiast while a missionary in South Africa where he spent almost forty years. On his return to Ireland, he lived in Cork and Waterford before finishing his days as a Franciscan Friar in Multyfarnham. When Harry resided in Waterford, he was a frequent visitor to EI2WRC club meetings and often told great tales of his days as a missionary in South Africa.
Before Harry left Waterford, he made an exceptionally large donation of radio equipment to the club. Our deepest sympathy goes to his brother Val, sister-in-law Julie and his extended family and friends.
Solas na bhflaitheas ort, agus go raibh an leaba is fearr ar neamh agat.
International Marconi Day 2021
Caravan Repair Donation Fund
SEARG 2021 AGM REPORT
Club Chairman Mark EI4FNB welcomed the members online and thanked them for attending. Mark then went on to give a report on the rather quite year that 2021 had being for the club. Mark listed the 59 activities that the club took part in throughout 2020. Even though most of the physical activation's had to be cancelled due to Covid the club took part in several different activities including various talks and courses on the Zoom platform. He also noted the disappointment felt by the club at having to cancel the IRTS 2020 AGM which the club was due to host in Carlow in April 2020. Mark thanked all the members for supporting the club in what had been a tough year and looked forward to 2021 being a much better year for everyone.
Club treasurer Sue SWL gave a report on the finances of the club for the 2020 year noting that 2020 had been a successful year financially and that club finances are in a healthy position. She mentioned the fact than anyone that had joined the club in 2020 got free membership for 2021 due to the club being inactive with the Covid restrictions. She also noted that membership was at a record high with close on 55 members at present.
Chairman Mark EI4FNB then thanked the committee members for all their hard work over the previous year and the committee for 2021 was then deemed elected. The committee for 2021 as seen in the picture (from l to r) are Club Officer Eoghan EI5HBB, Vice-Chairman Wayne EI7HKB, Club Officer Roger EI8KN, PRO Sean EI2HZB, Chairman Mark EI4FNB, Club Officer John EI7IG, Secretary John EI3HQB, Treasurer Sue SWL.
The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group would like to thank Ray EI6HFB for his recent kind donation of a First Aid kit to the club. The kit will be located in the club caravan for all EI2WRC activities. Thanks Ray, it is very much appreciated. Hopefully it won't have to be used!
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 18 January 2021 at 13:45
Club Donation
The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group would like to thank Robbie EI2IP for his recent kind donation to the club. Thanks Robbie, it is very much appreciated.
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 17 January 2021 at 09:45
EI2WRC Donation To Southern Ireland Repeater Group
Posted by EI2WRC Wednesday 30 December 2020 at 17:15
On the 29th August this year just over half a dozen members of SEARG decided to "Give it a go" and joined a Zoom group to learn/improve their abilities in the field of that original method of digital radio communication, namely CW.
The principles of the 'Farnswoth' method of learning were used, whereby the sending of dots & dashes of each letter is set within a practical speed range (10 - 12 wpm) but with large pauses between each letter to give time for recognition of the letter and to write it down. Learning a new language is never an easy task yet these members were determined to give it a try. Eight weekly Saturday morning sessions of one-hour duration were interspersed with regular mid-week homework of CW recordings and accompanying explanatory text emailed to each member of the group and then discussed at the following Saturday's meeting.
Such learning was augmented by members using their own favorite piece of software to practice with whenever they could. Gradually knowledge and experience grew to a point where some members even tried their hand in a CW contest. One of the course "students" managed to obtain a higher score that the course tutor. Much to the absolute delight of the 'student,' and embarrassment of the tutor! Personally, I find it very satisfying when people who one helps obtain/ improve their knowledge and or skill move on and exploit that new ability. Of course, CW isn't everyone's cup of tea and rightly so. But ask anyone who's been bitten by the CW bug and they'll be certain tell you, "It's the only way to go"
Keith EI5KJ (Course Tutor)
p.s. It would appear that some of the above group members are masochists, as they have requested a further four weeks of this torturous tuition. With people this determined to learn I'd say the lower portions of the amateur bands are going to become a little more crowded in the near future!
Posted by EI2WRC Wednesday 28 October 2020 at 08:45
Railways On The Air 2020
The club caravan was on site all weekend and many contacts were made worldwide including many other ROTA stations active for the weekend. Band conditions over the weekend was excellent and more than 20 club members were in attendance at various times. The club also had a few EI’s from various part of the country call in to say hello also. As per usual there was great interest in the station from the public who were there.
For more information about the The Waterford & Suir Valley Railway please see www.wsvrailway.ie
EI2WRC would especially like to thank WSVR Manager, Maria Kyte and all the staff there for all their help and allowing us access to the train station for the event every year. Plans for 2021 are already in place!
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 28 September 2020 at 10:30
Well it’s official, not alone are SEARG Ireland’s most active club we are now recognised as Ireland’s biggest judging from this week’s IRTS weekly news on Sunday the 20th of September. An article in this news edition states “ Irelands biggest radio club, the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group” The article itself was written and sent in to the IRTS news by a person with no ties or involvement in the club. It is all thanks to a great bunch of members and their families who continue year after year to make the club what it is. Well done to all our members and hopefully we can continue to grow even larger and become more active.
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 20 September 2020 at 14:00
Railways On The Air 2020
The group will be QRV from from Waterford & Suir Valley Railway, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford on Saturday/Sunday the 26/27th September as part of the Railways On The Air Weekend 2020. This actiavtion will of course depend on latet Goverment restrictions.The Waterford and Suir Valley Railway Company is a community heritage project. The project has enabled the magic of rails golden age to be brought to life in Kilmeaden. A heritage narrow gauge railway runs along 17 kilometers of the abandoned Waterford to Dungarvan line. For more information about the Waterford & Suir Valley Railway please see https://www.wsvrailway.ie/ and for more information on the Railways On The Air event please see https://rota.barac.org.uk/
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 14 September 2020 at 10:00
IRTS 2/70 Counties Contest Weekend
Over the weekend of the 13/14th September Ei2WRC/P were QRV from Kilmurrin Cove as part of the IRTS 2/70 Counties Contest on the Sunday. The main aim was to do the 2m contest on Sunday, but the club decided to go out on Saturday afternoon and stay over. This gave us a chance to see again how good Wayne’s latest 49/1 end fed antenna worked with 136 ft of wire. The set up commenced at about 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon.It was blowing a bit of a gale, so the fibreglass mast up was erected and guyed and a length of wire was cut which was connected to the 49/1 balun. SWR was almost perfect so the group preceded to work a few stations in the evening from the Caribbean to the Middle East eventually going QRT around 11 p.m. It was an early start at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning and even though weather conditions were miserable several stations were heard from Australia and New Zealand. Due to the fact a worldwide contest was on it was impossible to make contact with them. Israel was logged before breakfast, the usual “MasterChef Wayne” style. The beam was then then setup for the 2/70 IRTS Counties Contest. The beam was placed in a horizontal configuration which did not really suit the competition, but a great afternoon of fun was had.
Thanks to all the club members who took part over the weekend and thanks to all the visitors including a newly licensed operator and a SWL who is extremely interested in getting on the air. The next club outing (pending restrictions) will be Railways On The Air from Waterford & Suir Valley Railway, Kilmeaden, Co. Waterford on Saturday/Sunday the 26/27th September. Special thanks to John EI3HQB for the above report and photographs.
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 14 August 2020 at 9:30
EI2WRC/P was QRV for the 23rd Annual International Lighthouse/Lightship weekend which was held on Saturday and Sunday August 22nd and 23rd from Hook Lighthouse ILLW Ref 003 in the Hook Peninsula Co. Wexford. Hook Lighthouse is the oldest operational lighthouse in the world. A great weekend was had by all who attended including a large amount of club members and other friends of the club. Radio conditions were good, and many contacts were made across Europe and even some DX into USA, Jamaica, and Australia. This was the club’s 1st major event of the year due to Covid and thanks to all to all the members and visitors to the event. Our next possible event if restrictions allow could be JOTA with a local scout group. Keep an eye on here and our Facebook page for more details.
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 24 August 2020 at 10:00
Zoom CW Course
EI2WRC members who were interested in learning or improving their CW met via Zoom on Wednesday 19th August to plan out the upcoming Zoom CW course. The course which will run for 6-8 weeks hopes to help those who take part with their CW skills. A report of the course will be posted here once completed.
Posted by EI2WRC Thursday 20 August 2020 at 11:00
23rd Annual International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend
Club members will be arriving at Hook Lighthouse at around 11 a.m. (local) on Saturday the 22nd and proceed to set up the station for the event. The club caravan will be on site for the weekend after it’s recent tidy up by John EI3HQB, Wayne EI7HKB and Alex SWL and a massive thanks to all 3 for the great work carried out on the caravan.
Only 2 people shall be allowed to enter the caravan at any given time and social distancing will be in operation outside of the caravan. As this is the 1st major event of the year for the club all members and visitors are very welcome to come along. There is adequate camping space for those who wish to camp. Club members hope to be on site till around 3.30 on Sunday the 23rd so try come along at some stage to say hello.
Due to Goverment guidelines and restrictions set in place if anyone going to the event needs to use the toilet or cafe they need a ground pass available free of charge from https://hookheritage.ie/ticketing/grounds-access-pass/
This event will of course depend on Government guidelines and the dreaded weather. A final decision will be made closer to the event. See the club’s Facebook page for updates
For more info on the International Lighthouse & Lightship weekend please see www.illw.net
Hook Lighthouse is located on the South East coast of Ireland in Co. Wexford. The present structure is about 800 years old and is the oldest intact operational Lighthouse in the world. Hook Lighthouse offers guided tours of the lighthouse tower all year round and is one of the top things to do Wexford and Waterford. For more info please see www.hookheritage.ie
Club Donations
The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group would like to thank Pat EI9HX and Robert EI5KH for their recent kind donations to the club. Thanks also to JJ EI7HGB and John EI3ICB for their donations which the club passed on to the St. Vincent De Paul on the lad’s behalf.
Posted by EI2WRC Thursday 02 July 2020 at 15:45
Following the postponement of the exam scheduled for May due to Covid-19, exams have now been arranged at venues in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Dates for the next exams are as follows
See https://www.irts.ie/exam for full details of these exams
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 23 June 2020 at 17:00
23rd Annual International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend
The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will be active as EI2WRC/P over the weekend of the 22nd & 23rd of August from Hook Lighthouse (ILLW No. IE003) as part of the 23rd Annual International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend. For more information on the Annual International Lighthouse/ Lightship Weekend please see www.illw.net. The club’s participation in this year’s event will of course depend on Covid-19 restrictions and Government guidelines and more details whether the club will take place or not will be published nearer to the event. Hook Lighthouse is located on the South East coast of Ireland in Co. Wexford. The present structure is about 800 years old and is the oldest intact operational lighthouse in the world. Hook Lighthouse offers guided tours of the lighthouse tower all year around and is counted as one of the top tourist sites to visit in the Wexford and Waterford areas. For more info on the Hook Lighthouse please see www.hookheritage.ie
Posted by EI2WRC Wednesday 10 June 2020 at 19:00
HAREC Exam Update
The amateur station licence exam which was due to be held in May was postponed due to the public health situation. Following recent announcements on the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions it is now planned to hold exams in July or August. As soon as arrangements have been finalised, full details will be posted on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/exam and in news bulletins
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 07 June 2020 at 22:00
Suspension Of Club Meetings
Considering the implications of the Covid-19 virus and the general age group of the club all meetings of the club will remain suspended until further notice.
Posted by EI2WRC Thursday 21 May 2020 at 16:00
VHF Lockdown Competition Success
Congratulations to EI2WRC club officer Roger EI8KN on his recent success in the VHF Lockdown EI/GI 2m FM and FT8 Radio Contest which took place on May 4th. Roger topped the FT8 High Power section with 10 QSO’s and 7 Grids giving him a total of 18823 points. For full details of the competition please see here.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 19 May 2020 at 15:00
Zoom Club Meetings
Due to the current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic members of the group having been using the Zoom video conferencing app to have their meetings. Over the past few weeks members have enjoyed talks from John EI7IG on DMR radio, David EI6GVB on the Icom RS-BA1 software, Sean EI2HZB on Ham Radio Deluxe, Edwin EI2HEB on the Folding@home project and a fun table quiz hosted by Wayne EI7HKB. Thanks to the members for taking the time to prepare and present the material for the club nights on Zoom. These Zoom meetings will continue to keep club members connected and provide a fun way to pass an hour or two on a Monday evening. Everyone at EI2WRC hopes that all our friends and their families in Ireland and around the world stay safe during these uncertain times.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 28 April 2020 at 21:45
Help With The Covid-19 Fight
My Dear Radio Friends,
I am writing to ask you to donate some CPU cycles of your computers to the research of the SARS-Cov-2 (Covid-19) virus. We all have computers can participate in this research, and they may find a cure or vaccine faster. A distributed computer project has started (years ago) by the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine. More details and links below.
How to get started:
1) go to https://foldingathome.org/start-folding/
2) download and install the executable
3) you are all set, you are now contributing to the cause
Optional settings:
You can choose a unique username to identify yourself https://foldingathome.org/…/sta…/how-do-i-choose-a-username/
You can generate a pass key to ensure nobody else is using your username https://foldingathome.org/support/faq/points/passkey/
You can choose to participate in a team. An "Irish Radio Amateurs Team" has been setup.
Team number 263127 https://foldingathome.org/…/statistics…/can-joincreate-team/
You can choose to participate to "Any Disease" research, or a particular one, such as Covid-19. The application-process will run in a low priority on your computer and will not interfere with your normal work. You can use the slider to choose between "light", "medium" and "full". To be honest I have this set to "full" all the time and I have not yet found any negative effect while working on my computer system.
So please help fight this with your CPU.
And if you like to participate in the "Irish Radio Amateurs" team, use team number 263127.
Happy folding!
Thanks for listening!
Let me know if you have any further questions.
73 DE EI2HEB
Edwin.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 21 April 2020 at 13:00
IRTS Weekly News Time Update
From Tuesday the 14th of April 2020 the weekly IRTS news bulletin on Tuesday evenings broadcast by the club will be brought forward from 9:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time. We look forward to your continued support of the service each week at the new time of 8:00 p.m.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 24 March 2020 at 15:20
St. Patrick's Day Award Station Report
Both John EI3HQB and Sue SWL used the club call EI2WRC/P on Tuesday 17th March for the St. Patrick's Day Award special event. Due to the current situation they operated from their home QTH in Tramore, Co. Waterford. They started at 11:00 a.m and continued for most of the day. Even tough band conditions were poor a large amount of QSO's were logged throughout the day. The club would like to thank John and sue for putting the station on the air for the event.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 24 March 2020 at 15:00
St. Patrick's Day Award Station
Both John EI3HQB and Sue SWL will be running the club call EI2WRC/P on Tuesday 17th March for the St. Patrick's Day Award special event. Due to the current situation they will operate from their home QTH and will post frequencies when they are about to go on air. The plan is to start at 11:00 a.m. and break for lunch and then resume in the afternoon. Bands operating will depend on conditions so keep an eye on the SEARG Facebook page for updates.
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 15 March 2020 at 19:30
Suspension Of Club Meetings
Considering the implications of the Covid-19 virus and the general age group of the club all meetings of the club will cease until further notice.
Posted by EI2WRC Friday 13 March 2020 at 14:30
March Meeting
The March meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place on Monday the 30th of March 2020 in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford at 8.00 p.m. sharp. At this meeting John EI7IG will be giving a presentation on the Southern Ireland Repeater Network. All members are please asked to attend and new members or anyone interested in learning more about the group or amateur radio are as always very welcome to attend also.
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 09 March 2020 at 11:30
2020 AGM Report
The 2020 AGM of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group took place on Monday the 24th of February 2020 at 8pm in the Roanmore Centre, Cleaboy Rd, Waterford. Club Chairman John EI3HQB welcomed the large crowd for attending. John then went on to give a report on the highly successful year that 2019 had being for the club. John listed the 26 activations that the club took part in throughout 2019 including the regular Geopark Weekend, Lighthouse on the air and the Railways on the Air weekend. He also noted some of the new activation's that the club took part in.
Chairman John EI3HQB then thanked the outgoing committee members for all their hard work over the previous two years and the following committee was then deemed elected for 2020 from all those present Chairman Mark Kilmartin EI4FNB, Vice Chairman Wayne Lewis EI7HKB, Secretary John Tubbritt EI3HQB ,Treasurer Sue McCormick SWL, Public Relations Officer Sean Byrne EI2HZB, Club Officer 1 John Ronan EI7IG, Club Officer 2 Eoghan Kinane EI5HBB & Club Officer 3 Roger Greengrass EI8KN
International Marconi Day 2020
The 2020 Annual General Meeting of The South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place at 8.00 p.m. sharp on Monday the 24th of February 2020 in the Roanmore Social & Sports Club, Cleaboy Road, Waterford. All members are asked to please attend, and as always new members are very welcome also.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 11 February 2020 at 18:30
January Meeting Report
Close on 30 club members attended the January meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group which was held on Monday the 27th of January in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford at 8:00 p.m. Special guests on the night were IRTS President Jim Holohan EI4HH and Vice-President Pat O'Connor EI9HX. Club Chairman John EI3HQB opened the meeting and welcomed both Jim and Pat to the club meeting. Jim then went on to address the members with a few words about the everyday running of the society. He thanked the club members for the massive amount of stuff they do each year to help the society and the hobby in Ireland.
He paid particular attention to the club’s hosting of the IRTS AGM in Kilkenny in 2015 saying it was probably the best run IRTS AGM event he had ever attended. Following on from Jim, Pat EI9HX said a few words and said he was both amazed and delighted to see such a large attendance at a club meeting. Pat also spoke about ways to try and encourage more people into the hobby. John EI3HQB then gave a report on the club’s events for 2019. The 2020 events schedule was then discussed by Sean EI2HZB. The formal side of the meeting was then finished off by Ray EI6HFB with an update of how things are going for the AGM weekend in April.
The January meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place on Monday the 27th of January in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford at 8:00 p.m. sharp. A club committee meeting will be held before the main meeting at 7:00 p.m. IRTS President Jim Holohan EI4HH and Vice-President Pat O'Connor EI9HX will be in attendance at our main meeting. All club members are asked to attend, and new members are as always very welcome also.
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 06 January 2020 at 10:30
Club members enjoyed a great night at the annual SEARG Christmas party which was held on Saturday the 14th of December. The venue this year was the Woodford Dolmen Hotel Carlow which will be the venue of the IRTS 88th Annual Weekend in 2020. Club members enjoyed a lovely meal a few drinks and the whole crowd enjoyed the entertainment of the SEARG "Turkey, Chef and Santa" aka club members Edwin, Alex and Wayne. A great round off to a great year at the club. Massive thanks to Wayne EI7HKB for arranging the 2019 party.
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 15 December 2019 at 13:30
Our 2020 Events Calendar is now available to view and download from here
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 08 December 2019 at 18:15
December & January Meetings
There will be no December meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group. Our next meeting will be on Monday the 27th January 2020 in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford at 8.00 p.m. sharp. IRTS President Jim Holohan EI4HH and Vice-President Pat O’Connor EI9HX will be in attendance. All members are please asked to attend. As always new members are very welcome to attend also.
Posted by EI2WRC Monday 02 December 2019 at 15:00
Club members enjoyed a fun table quiz night at the November meeting on Monday the 26th November. Quiz master Roger EI8KN put the members present through their paces with a fun and interesting quiz. The questions proved to be tough at times and others were a bit easier! The club would like to thank Roger for his hard work in arranging and running the quiz.
Posted by EI2WRC Tuesday 27 November 2019 at 09:45
The November meeting of the South Eastern Amateur Radio Group will take place on Monday the 25th of November 2019 in the Roanmore Social and Sports Centre, Cleaboy Road, Waterford at 8.00 p.m. sharp. At this meeting, Roger EI8KN will be presenting a prize quiz. So you may wish to brush up on all things amateur radio! As this will be the last club meeting for 2019 all members are please asked to attend. As always new members are very welcome to attend also.
Posted by EI2WRC Friday 13 November 2019 at 10:45
Soldering Class Video
Soldering Class
The club held a very successful soldering workshop on Saturday the 26yh of October in the Ballybeg Community Centre. The workshop was broken up into a number of sections firstly equipment and method of use, and then into building on to a board firstly an AM radio and procedure and soldering components into place with special attention to dissipating the head from the soldering iron via heat sink to protect the components.
The class then went on to building an amplifier for the radio which involved an IC chip and again the method of fitting an IC holder to the circuit board and then soldering the various components from the IC pins to various areas in the board.
Finally, one of the built boards was tested and sounding excellent. Well done to all who attended and supported the day and we look forward to the next event. A special word of thanks to Keith EI5KJ for all his hard work in preparing and doing the workshop.
Posted by EI2WRC Sunday 27 October 2019 at 13:30