Date Change for IRTS January 2019 Meeting

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the date of the next IRTS Committee meeting has been changed to 19th January 2019.

The venue remains as planned, Maldron Hotel, Portlaoise.

This is a change from the date published in the current edition of Echo Ireland, as the decision was taken after publication and distribution.

The dates for the next 2 meetings are 19th January 2019 in Portlaoise and 2nd March 2019 in Athlone.

Irish Radio Transmitters Society - http://www.irts.ie/

SILENT KEY Jan “John” L. Hallenberg, SM5DJZ

SM5DJZ passed away on 11 December 2018, he was 71.

A serious DXer with 3024 points in the ARRL DXCC Challenge and 1096 points in the IOTA Honour Roll, he “also gave back to the DX community as a card checker for both the DXCC and IOTA programs. He was part of several DXpeditions with the great SM0AGD, Erik. In addition, for many decades Jan ran the SSA outgoing QSL bureau and was a QSL manager for multiple DX operations”.

93-year-old WWII Veteran Still Taps out Morse Code

Radio amateur Merle Taylor VE1VCI, 93, still practices Morse code in her basement outside Antigonish, Nova Scotia

Taylor learned Morse code at 20 when she signed up to help Canada and the war effort. Her war-time job was to teach it to the pilots through the British Commonwealth Air Training plan.

“There were 59 airbases built across Canada to accommodate the boys from England, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It was that group of boys that I taught Morse code to,”

Taylor said while sitting in her basement outside Antigonish — where she still taps out Morse code."It's a signal that will get through because of the sharpness where a voice couldn't.

And the other thing is you could send a secret message.

"Taylor has a network of people, mostly in Europe and eastern North America where the signal is carried the strongest, with whom she "chats" with using the old technology three times a week."

People say it's obsolete, it's really not," said Taylor."I have a lot of fun with this."

Media Story - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/merle-taylor-morse-code-remembrance-day-1.3846368