A great time at EI7DAR radio night

A great time was had by all at the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society's first Radio Night in a long time last night, Thursday, in the club's Castletown Road headquarters. There was a great turnout - some said the best ever - and there was tea and conversation flowing as radios were set up to activate HF and VHF. And there was even some demonstration of ATV / microwave equipment.

The club was delighted to have some new visitors in the form of some short wave listeners, some 11m operators and even the manager of the local community radio station Dundalk FM.

Seamus GI4SZW works a contact on 20m watched by (from left): Joe SWL, Brian Cowley SWL, EI4KC Brian, Larry 2I0LRY and (far right) Michael EI1581.

A recent repair to the roof of the club's premises enabled members to utilise the radio shack which had been off limits for a number of months. The club has a HF radio with power supply and a speaker. It's an old Icom 731. I brought my recently-acquired Icom IC-735, which had previously belonged to Fr Padraig O'Kelly, a former President of EI7DAR, who is now sadly silent key. Brian EI4KC brought his newly-acquired Icom 756Pro and that was the radio which was utilised for CW contacts which were made on the 30 metre and 40 metre bands.

2I0MMT Mickey enjoying the evening.

Charlie EI8JB and John EI6GHB at the radio night

Probably the most enjoyable aspect of the whole event was the whole social element. The tea flowed, mainly thanks to club Treasurer, Jim 2I0SBI who always ensures a good supply of clean cups and hot water on the boil! And the conversation was great as old faces and new met up in Dundalk. The club is lucky to be located near the border with GI land, and so has a large membership of both EI and GI enthusiasts. A large turnout from both areas ensured a great night, and the large numbers could have been bigger because some members were unable to attend!

Brian EI4KC with his recently-purchased Icom 756Pro which we used to make some CW contacts on the night. Brian and I sat our morse test on the same day, hence the similar callsigns! Once upon a time him and I were 11 metre operators, working the skip into Europe and beyond. How things change!!

Mike EI5GG demonstrates the heat dispersion from a heat sink to short wave listener Michael EI1581. Mike is one of a number of EI7DAR members who has a great interest in ATV and microwave work and regularly conducts experiments on the microwave bands with Pat EI2HX and Mark EI9FX. Silent Key Dermot EI2AK was also a big proponent of these type of experiments and the club was delighted to have his son, Brian, along as a visitor on the evening. Brian hopes to sit the exam next year. The club is soon starting theory classes in order to prepare anyone interested in getting their amateur station licence for the test. These will be conducted mainly by Tony EI4DIB with the assistance of other club members.

If you wish to participate in the classes you can contact Tony by email at ei4dib (AT) ei7dar (DOT) com or via SMS text message to 00353 (0)86 4066660.