IRTS 90th AGM Weekend

On Saturday April 29th, the well-attended technical talks featured an enthralling recount of the Irish-based EIDX groups’ DXpeditions. Of particular interest was their recent adventures in Antigua operating as V26EI. Enda EI2II described the fun and challenges involved in establishing their operations base for the trip which was far from the picture postcard view typically associated with Antigua. IRTS Youth Officer, Niall EI6HIB then talked about the wide range of activities to help promote and encourage youth involvement in the hobby. Rafal EI6LA then shone the light on RTTY; the second oldest digital mode. In a lively presentation, he covered the many uses of RTTY on our bands including QSOs, news, weather, and other purposes. He described how to get started (or re-started) easily. In our final talk of the session, Jeffery EI7IRB spoke about TinyGS; a LoRa based satellite ground station. Jeffrey showcased the merits of this project as a gateway into amateur radio and a perfect mix of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics combining radio, Internet of Things, and space.

Later that evening, special guests Senator Aisling Dolan, RSGB President John McCullagh MBE and his wife Grace, in addition to all the guests were welcomed to the packed IRTS Gala Dinner. Keith EI5IN (Shannon Basin Radio Club PRO) acted as MC for the evening. Following the presentation of the IRTS Awards later that evening, Shannon Basin Radio Club held the first of two raffles of the weekend. Nine prizes thanks to our very generous sponsors Ballinasloe Credit Union, Shearwater Hotel, and Andy EI7IOB were handed out to lucky winners that evening.

Following a very late night, club members were back on site before 7am the next morning in preparation for the load-in for the eagerly awaited radio show. Over 25 traders and clubs set up in preparation for the rush making it one of the largest radio shows in Ireland this year. At 9am, entry and raffle tickets went on sale and a large queue built up well before the doors were thrown open at 10am. The club was delighted to welcome amateur radio and CB clubs and enthusiasts from all over Ireland and further afield. We were delighted to meet operators across Europe who travelled over to the event. The large venue filled quickly with several hundred in attendance. Over the course of several hours, bargains were snapped up and friends both old and new used the opportunity to connect. From 11am, the IRTS 40m news was read live on stage in the venue by Rafal EI6LA followed by Stefan EI4KU on 80m at 12pm. At 12.30pm, all eyes turned to the monster raffle with featured a whopping fifteen prizes thanks to our fantastic sponsors; in particular WiMo – with two super vector network analyser/antenna analyser prizes.

The final event of the weekend; the 90th IRTS AGM then commenced at 2pm. Congrats to Enda EI2II who was installed as the new IRTS President and to the new committee. Among the many awards presented, Shannon Basin Radio Club was honoured to be awarded the Shandon Trophy for the leading station in the 2m restricted section of the IRTS VHF/UHF Field Day, the IRTS HF Shield for highest scoring Single Operator EI station in the UKEICC DX SSB contest, and the IRTS IOTA Trophy as the leading EI/EJ station in the 2022 IOTA Contest.

The club wishes to thank all the traders, clubs, and everyone who travelled to Ballinasloe for the weekend. We greatly appreciate and want to thank our excellent sponsors and club member volunteers that helped ensure it ran as smoothly as possible.

About the Irish Radio Transmitters Society

IRTS is that national society for radio amateurs in Ireland. IRTS is the member for Ireland of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU), which has over 160 national amateur radio societies as members and represents the interests of the Amateur Radio Service worldwide.