New Amateur / Ham radio Licences in Ireland

The IRTS report that just 17 candidates sat the radio amateurs exam in May

There is only a single HAREC compatible licence class which requires a pass in a 60 question multiple choice exam. Unlike the UK there are no practical assessments.

Of the seventeen candidates who sat the exam, 15 were successful. This is the highest number that passed an examination since IRTS took over responsibility for the examination.

IRTS website - http://www.irts.ie/exam

Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) June 2014 Meeting Notes

The RSGB and Ofcom have released the notes of there meeting helpd on 12 June 2014.

One of the issues raised was the allocation of a K-Regional Secondary Locator for Cornwall (Kernow)

Many areas have their own Regional Secondary Locator (RSL) codes to create distinctive prefixes – eg D = Isle of Man

The Shetland Islands (Zetland) uses Z character, but only for Amateur / Ham Radio Contest Stations but not for normal stations. Working stations with such callsigns seems to be popular with Prefix collectors.

The Poldhu Amateur Radio Club have submitted a proposal to Ofcom to introduce K as an optional RSL for amateur stations operating from Cornwall. Ofcom have said they will respond in due course.

Meeting Notes - http://rsgb.org/main/blog/news/rsgb-notices/2014/06/27/ofcom-rsgb-forum-12-june-2014/

Spain's ham radio king to abdicate

King Juan Carlos of Spain, who holds the amateur radio callsign EA0JC, has announced his intention to abdicate, after nearly 40 years on the throne.

"A new generation must be at the forefront... younger people with new energies," the 76-year-old king said in a televised address.

His son, Crown Prince Felipe, 45, will take over the throne.

For much of his reign, Juan Carlos was seen as one of the world's most popular monarchs, but recently many Spaniards have lost confidence in him, after a series of lavish expenditures and alleged corruption involving his daughter and her husband.