Recent events...

31st Dec 2008.......Back on HF....

Spent the day repairing my old Doublet antenna. 3 years of neglect (.......and running over the feedline with the lawnmower ;o) had taken it's toll. Ran a new lenght of 300 Ohm twin lead cable from the shack to the feed point of the antenna. Replaced 2 other lenghts of cable. Left the antenna that evening at a mere 1.5 metres above ground level and even at that height, I managed to work DL7VPE/P near Berlin on 80m cw. Raised the antenna the next day so that now, it is roughly 5 metres above ground level. Still a bit low but enough for the moment so that I can use 3.5 MHz to 18 MHz. Even at this height, it seemed to work fine on 80m for the IRTS counties contest. Also worked OH0 and ZD8 on 30 metres over the last few days. Getting a bit more height on it should make a big difference.

3rd Jan 2009.....Quadrantids Meteor Shower...

I was on for this one. Plenty of pings and bursts. I must put up a seperate post about it soon.

5th Jan 2009...ARRL Logbook Of The World...

I had posted the documentation back on the 22nd of December to the ARRL. Received my password by e-mail from the ARRL on the 5th of Jan. A wait of only 2 weeks. I hope to be up and running on LOTW by the end of January :o)

6th Jan 2009...EI 6 Metre activity evening...

I had a listen around 21:00 and heard nothing. From what I hear from e-mail correspondance, it would seem that this activity evening is no longer supported. Seem's a pity.

The EI 50 MHz Inactivity night....

A few weeks back while looking through the VHF section of the IRTS website, I saw a notice about the EI 50 MHz Activity Evening on the 1st Monday evening of every month. I kind of guessed that there might be nobody on but decided anyway to try and get on for it...Mon Dec 1st.

I set up a loaded quarter wave magmount on the roof of a shed during the day. It was hardly ideal in that the roof has a slope and the magmount was over at about a 30 degree angle. However, the VSWR was good and listening to the EI0SIX beacon (180 kms), putting the antenna vertical only increased the signal a bit (319 to 419).

I made a sked with Alan, EI3EBB and by 21:10, we were both on 50.135 MHz. The idea for this activity night started in Kerry so if there was going to be any activity, it might be there. I thought Alan might hear something at his place (~180m ASL) but we heard nothing for the 30 minutes or so we were on for.

I'm not sure if these activity evenings would be of much interest during the Summer months when there is plenty of activity anyway but they seem like a good idea for the long winter evenings when the band is dead.

I wonder though.......is there anyone on for these 50 MHz activity evenings? Anywhere in Ireland..??