Club Lectures: 2014

Club Lectures and Activities in 2014

December

There was a good attendance at the December club meeting for the annual Christmas Quiz. Liam EI4GB was, as usual, master of ceremonies. His ability to task the memories and knowledge of club members is well known and he did not disappoint again this year. A sincere thanks to Liam for all the hard work in organising a very enjoyable evening's entertainment.

November

The new repeater - the Yaseu Fusion DR-1XE 2m/70cms, was displayed at the meeting. It is proposed to use it to replace the existing 2m repeater on Tountinna. The Yaesu will cater for existing FM users while offering a transition to digital modes. See System Fusion Text PDF document from Yaesu.com for more details.

October

Club meetings resumed with a good turnout and a review of the various activities over the Summer. Members were made aware of the latest in 2m/70cms repeater design through a presentation by the chairman and of a special offer from Yaesu on their Fusion System. Having regard to the club's ageing 2m and 70 cms, it was accepted that their replacement be explored.

September

Thanks to Brendan EI0CZ for initiating Morse Code transmissions on the LRC 2 metre repeater. Tom EI5CA will also be involved. The transmissions will go out on Mondays after the 20:00 local news and again on Thursdays at 20:00. Transmissions will begin with about 6 words per minute for beginners increasing as required for the more advanced learners. Brendan and Tom will impart many hints and tips during the transmissions.

August

Once again the club set up a station for the Atlantic AirVenture event on Sunday the 31st August . The club ICOM 756 Pro was used along with a G5RV provide by EI7ALB. There were many visitors to the station and hopefully LRC will have new members in the near future. Propagation conditions on the day were poor.

International Lighthouse and Lightship Weekend Club members activated Loop Head Lighthouse again this year. The set up was similar to previous years - two separate stations; one from the base of the lighthouse and the main station from the light keepers watch room. The ICOM PRO 756 and Kenwood 870 were the the club rigs in use. The antennas were a Cushcraft A4S two G5RVs and a Cushcraft R7. Contacts made were 791 across 60 countries.

Thanks to Liam EI7DSB, Summits On The Air (SOTA) has been auctioned. At months end, summits in the Tipperary area were active by Liam EI7DSB, John EI5HDB, Ger EI4GXB and Simon EI7ALB. Generally, activation started on 2m and after the Sunday IRTS news, activation continued on 40m. Equipment was a home brew Slim Jim for 2m and a dipole for 40m with a Yaesu 817 providing the watts. All the gear was provided by Liam EI7DSB. ON4TA, who has activated several summits in EI, was worked from Cullaun summit. SOTA is a great outdoor activity and, hopefully, we will see more participation.

July

Brendan Trophy attempt July 4th to July 12th - The club operated from Loop Head with 2 Cushcraft B13 2 metre yagi antenna with a phasing harness. A mast head amplifier was mounted close to the phasing harness and a solid state linear amplifier, capable of 400watts, was built especially for the occasion. Despite best efforts no contact was made with the Canadians, who were located at Pouch Cove, Newfoundland. JT65B and FSK441 digital mode transmissions were used. The Brendan awards are put forward by the IRTS Brendan Awards. A very big effort was made by the Canadians who spent a week in Pouch Cove, while transmitting continuously during the period. Only one one-way contact was made, which is subject to verification, between Pouch Cove to the UK.

June

Planning, assembly and construction continued in preparation for the Brendan Trophy attempt. The Canadians set up a web site to disseminate information www.brendanquest.org/ A discussion forum was opened on real-time chat on the ON4KST 144/432 page. see also G4CQM 2m Transatlantic Shoutbox.

May

The final meeting before the summer recess was very well attended. The Club Chairman welcomed new members Ro EI7CXB and Hugh SWL. A copy of the Canadian presentation, made to the IRTS at the AGM on their plans for a 2 metre Trans-Atlantic attempt in July2014, was shown. Simon, EI7ALB outlined the planned Club activities over the summer months. they include:

Brendan Trophy attempt July 4th to July 12th - The club will operate from Loop Head and preparations are well advanced. Club members can sign up to yahoo discussion groups or just follow the discussions on www.brendanquest.org. The awards are put forward by the IRTS Brendan Awards. A very big effort is underway by the Canadians and also in European land.

International Lighthouse & Lightship Weekend 16th and 17th August - For the third year running the Club will operate from Loop Head Lighthouse. The previous two years were most enjoyable and successful.

Shannon AirVenture 31st August - Once again the club is invited to attend to what promises to be a bigger and better show this year.

IRTS Contests - http://www.irts.ie/cgi/contests.cgi.

April

The April meeting was very well attended, which reflects the interest in Software Defined Radio. Tom, EI3AL gave a very informative and well researched talk on SDR. The talk stimulated a lot of discussion. Tom also brought along his collection of SDRs and he related his successful efforts in learning a flavour of Unix in order to come to grips with SDR and the Raspberry Pi.

March

LRC Radio Hobbies and Electronics Fair 2014 - Once again the Limerick Radio Club wishes to thank all those - Amateur Radio enthusiasts, Traders, Hobbyists, Bring & Buy and Club Members who participated in the annual Radio, Hobbies and Electronics Fair, which took place on Sunday 9th March. The numbers attending were slightly up on previous years. Many of the usual traders attended along with some new ones. Thanks to all who donated equipment to the Repeater Fund sale stand.

Thanks to Tony EI2AW and Tom EI3AL who manned the door, to Alan EI8EM and Tom EI5CA who sold the raffle tickets and, not least Brendan EI0CZ, who ran a very successful repeater fund sale.

The regular monthly club meeting was well attended. Club Treasurer, Tony EI2AW gave a break down on the LRC Radio Hobbies and Electronics Fair 2014. The event was success with attendance slightly up on last year.

After the treasurers report, the meeting was thrown open to members to put forward ideas and to raise issues of concern. Items raised will be brought to the next LRC Cmt. Meeting.

Of immediate concern is maintenance to the Tountinna building. Volunteers are required to carry out works on site.

February

The AGM took place on February 19th in LIT. Due to the extreme weather conditions on the 12th February, the AGM was postponed to the 19th February. It was well attended with a turnout of 20 members. Apologies were received from several members who, through work and/or other commitments, could not attend.

Chairman, Simon EI7ALB, opened the meeting and called for a 1 minute silence in honour of deceased members of the club.

He outlined the activities undertaken by the club in what was an exceptionally busy year. Club members gave talks on a variety of topics during the year including: the D-Star dongle, WSJT Modes, VHF DX including Moonbounce, Satellite communications between Killarney and Ennis, Using the Raspberry Pi and a report on Youngsters On The Air (YOTA) which was held in Tartu, Estonia - Club Sec Ger EI4GXB lead a team from Ireland.

For the first time in a number of years, the club participated in the RSGB Islands On The Air (IOTA) contest which resulted in a certificate award to the club. The IL&LW event in Loop Head Lighthouse was a major success. Coupled with the IL&LW, the club attempted to bridge the Atlantic using 2 metres and JT65B and also an EME attempt was made. These efforts were done with our twinned club, the South Jersey Radio Association (SJRA). Fresh from Loop Head, club members participated in the Atlantic Air Venture event in Shannon.

Treasurer, Tony EI2AW presented the financial report and while the club is in a good financial position, he cautioned that the the IOTA event on Inisheer was a significant expense. Even though the numbers at the LRC Rally were down on 2012 the event was again, a great success.

Although membership fees and fee structure was changed for 2014 as a result of motions passed at the AGM 2013, the issue was raised again under agenda item AOB. A lively discussion ensued. Members were reminded that the fixed costs on the club e.g. insurance alone would result in a minimum of almost €15 being levied on each member. The current fee structure remains.

Members proposed a number of improvements and activities that the club should undertake in 2014. The need to increase club membership was highlighted and in particular the need to attract younger people.

The following were elected to the various club Committee positions:

Members were reminded of the upcoming LRC Rally on the 93d March and the need for volunteers on the day. Commitments have already being made by 3 main traders along with Shannonside Astronomy Club.

January

The year got off to a very good start when 6 individuals attended the January meeting, with the intention of attending the Amateur Radio Course planned to commence in January. A location for the course will be announced shortly. Club members, Ger EI4GXB, Mike EI2IX, Liam EI7DSB and Simon EI7ALB will present the course and help students in preparation for the Amateur Radio Exam to be held in in late Spring/early Summer. Anybody interested in attending, please contact Ger EI4GXB or any club member.

Members were updated on the special call sign EI14LCC which is allocated to the club in recognition of Limerick City of Culture 2014. Alan EI8EM has lead the way by starting activity 10 minutes past midnight on 1st January. By the club meeting he had logged 720 contacts across 48 countries. Club members are requested to commit to activating EI14LCC from their home locations - coordinate with Alan EI8EM, Ger EI4GXB, Brendan EI0CZ or Simon EI7ALB.

Ger EI4GXB presented the use of Win-EQF logging software. Logging of EI14LRC contacts should be done using Win-EQF and the log forwarded in ADIF format to Ger EI4GXB.

The January club talk 'Navigation; Past Present and Future, was given by Simon EI7ALB.

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