IRTS News for 19th February 1995 SILENT KEY ---------- It is with regret that we hear of the death of Laurence McCrea, of Abbeylands, Ballyshannon, which occurred on 8th February. Laurence EI4EE was very active on 80m in the evenings, and always had a backlog waiting to call in for a chat. He will be sadly missed by his wife, Patti, by his five children and by all who knew him. The death has also occurred of Robert Long, brother of Willie EI6AI. Robert had an interest in radio communication and worked with Willie in the past. He will be sadly missed by his family and by all who knew him in the Donegal area. May they rest in peace. DONEGAL SKEDS WITH MIR ---------------------- From a location in Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, at a height of 180 ft. a.s.l., using a maximum power of 10w into a co-linear, Manus EI7EQ, has made at least 30 contacts with the Russian space station MIR. The first contact, in 1991, was with cosmonaut Sergei. According to Manus, Sergei was originally scheduled to stay in orbit for a maximum period of three months. With all the changes taking place in his country at that time, he was asked to remain on board for a further ten months. Most of the contacts were between Manus and Sergei, and each one lasted for four to six minutes. All QSOs were on S22 FM voice. The last contact with MIR was in January of this year, and Manus was reliably informed that MIR would be out of reach until March. Maybe Manus will contact the Space Shuttle on its next mission, which, it is hoped, will be SAREX. TIPPERARY ARG ------------- The Tipperary ARG met as usual on the first Wednesday of the month. The attendance numbered 22, and the evening's activities began with a talk entitled "Introduction to Amateur Radio" given by John EI3DIB. The talk was followed by a video produced by ARRL, entitled "The New World of Amateur Radio", obtained from the IRTS video library. The evening was very much enjoyed, and a decision was taken to have a video on a radio related topic at each meeting.in the coming months. The next one will be the "Fastnet Force Seven", a record of the dxpedition to the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse. Permission has been obtained to erect an antenna at the Group's QTH, and this should be completed shortly. The annual subscription to the Group is 5 pounds, and tea and sandwiches are available on the night of the meeting for a nominal 50p in very comfortable surroundings. All are welcome to attend the meetings. PHOENIX ARC ----------- The Phoenix ARC Amateur Radio Exhibition and Sale will be held on 26th February in Coolmine Community School, Blanch- ardstown, Dublin 15, just off the Navan Road (N2), 1 mile from the M50. Doors open at midday, and admission is 1 pound. Light refreshments will be available, and there is a supervised car park. Traders should note that there are still tables free. For booking a table or other information contact Tony EI7GI or Dermot EI6DNB at 01 8252074, or Rory EI4DJB at 01 8382234. MUNRO EXPEDITION ---------------- Work on the plans to activate a number of 3,000 ft. mountains on the same day is proceeding. SDR, which is co-ordinating this effort, reports that offers to participate in this exper- iment have been received from 5 separate groups. Sunday 9th June has been selected as the day for the experiment. Further information from the different groups taking part will be given on news bulletins nearer to the day. DONEGAL (TIR CONAILL) ARS ------------------------- On 5 February Noel EI9FM and David EI3HX provided radio cover for the local scout troop while they went hiking in the Barnesmore Gap, Donegal. David is very much involved in the scout group, and it is handy that both pastimes can be combined to help the community. There is no formal AREN activity in the NW at present, but such activities can be seen as as a basis for the formation of a group in the future. The next meeting of the Donegal ARS will be held in Jackson's Hotel, Ballybofey, on 22 February, and all are welcome. It is never too late to join, so why not come along to this meeting? It is planned to show a radio related video at the meeting. ITEMS FOR INCLUSION ------------------- That concludes the bulletin for this week. Items for inclusion in the radio news bulletins should be addressed to Steve Wright EI5DD, c/o Department of Pathology, Regional Hospital, Galway. Fax messages may be sent to EI5DD at 091 24216. All such items will be forwarded to Dave Moore EI4BZ for inclusion in the printed news. Items for the printed newsletter only should be sent direct to Dave at QTHr, or phoned to 021 632444 (daytime) or 021 883555 (evenings). Items may be sent by packet to EI4BZ at EI7DKB-5, or by fax to 021 632730.