Excellent start for Gola Island activation

Three stations active tonight from Gola.

We've had an excellent start to the EJ7NET Gola Island activation. At 10pm local time, we already have 550 QSOs in the log, mainly on 40m, 30m and 20m. Conditions on 20 have been strange, with Liam EI7DSB commenting that sometimes the band appears to be shutting down but then comes alive again, and some stations are affected by deep QSB. 30m has been flying, with several contacts into Japan. I had an hour or so on 40cw, and it was hopping. I had to run split because there was a good pile-up.

The QTH is excellent. It is located on a rocky bluff overlooking the ocean, with excellent take-off, particularly towards Europe, but with no real blockages in any direction. Proximity to salt water is undoubtedly helping us.

Tomorrow morning we are setting up a two-element beam for six metres, and we intend to monitor that band during our stay, with a dedicated station, perhaps running beacon mode until there might be an opening.

Gordon GM7WCO brought his Pro II !!! Lovely.

Band conditions poor today, but 6 metres is open now

Tony EI2GX caught the only bit of decent action on HF this
morning with a stint on 20 metres SSB.

Just a quick update from Inis Mór from the QTH of EJ7NET. HF bands have been poor today, and seemed to take something of a nosedive. However, we have been compensated with a great opening on 6 metres, with CW and SSB contacts into many European countries from IO53DD. We hope to be active on 80 metres SSB this evening, following several requests from EI and G stations, so keep an ear out.

With poor conditions on the bands, some of us abandoned the shack for some exercise, with several of us taking walks to different parts of the island. Myself, Gordon GM7WCO and Dermot EI5IQ took a hike down to the beach to get some photographs of the sea spray. The heavens opened while we were there. Photographic efforts produced mixed results! Gordon and I then went to see a ruined 8th century church and the weather picked up nicely, with strong sunshine but strong winds too.

Rush hour traffic on Inis Mór . . .

As I write, I have been on 6m working a pile-up and now Liam EI7DSB has taken over and is still getting plenty of contacts thanks to a good opening there. Our chef Tony EI3HA made a beautiful homemade vegetable soup for us a while ago and has now begun working on our main meal of the day.

Some action on 6 metres today for EJ7NET

We enjoyed two openings on 6 metres today.

We had a couple of openings on 6 metres today, one this morning at around 9am local time (08:00z) and another one which is ongoing at 7pm here (18:00z). We have made our first QSOs on CW on that band, having used only SSB this morning. There has been activity on 20 metres SSB today following the completion of the CQM contest. We did more 40 metres SSB too, including a call into the Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) news on 7.123 Mhz after 11am. We worked a good few EI and G stations on 40 during the day. 17 metres continues to be very active, with a lot of CW contacts made on that band in the past 24 hours. Some late night 80m CW was done last night, but apart from a few North American stations, the traffic was mainly from G and near EU.

We have just had our main meal of the day, consisting of roast

Tony EI3HA preparing our main meal.

beef, vegetables and gravy, washed down with red wine, courtesy of our chef, Tony EI3HA. Who could ask for more? We have an IOTA dxpedition in a thatched cottage with all mod cons, including central heating, hot water and broadband access, and we are eating like kings! I am getting to know the guys a bit better. The late night chat over a couple of whiskeys last night was very enjoyable.

I managed to find time to visit a wedge tomb and stone fort which are located on the hill not far from the QTH here. These are structures which date to between 3,000 and 4,000 years ago. It was quite dull up there and overcast, but when I came back to the house the sun came out....

I am impressed at how different things are here. There is not much vehicular traffic at all. It is quiet, and beautiful, surreal almost, and there is no pollution so we are breathing fresh Atlantic air. While I can't imagine living here in the depths of winter - what would one do with one's time in the driving rain (apart from ham radio) - I would say that the island is a great place to come to unwind and get away from civilisation. We do not have a television, so we're not really following events in the world all that closely. We do know, however, that there is a national bus strike on, but that's because some of us have had a peek at the news headlines online.

A bird's eye view of the EJ7NET shack. On left is Tony EI2GX working 40m SSB,
while on right are Rolf HB9DGV and Bernie HB9ASZ working 20m CW and 17m CW.

A couple of the guys are interested in photography. If we get a clear evening, we are going to try to get a nice picture of the QTH in twilight, or against the backdrop of the stars, if the weather allows it.

A wee word of thanks to all those - in EI and beyond - who have spotted us on the cluster or mentioned us on Facebook and given us a bit of extra traffic. Much appreciated.

A great day on the bands for EJ7NET

It's the end of my first day with the EJ7NET team here on Inis Mór, and what a fabulous day it's been. There's been lots of radio, lots of chat, and some very nice food eaten, thanks to our chef, Tony Casey EI3HA. Tony cooked a beautiful spaghetti bolognese for us this evening which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Declan rescues our dipole from the jaws of the horse!

We had a funny incident when, while some of us were chatting outside, we noticed a horse chewing on the rope holding our multi-band dipole. Declan EI6FR made a quick dash to rescue the antenna rope from the animal before he was able to cause any serious damage!!!

On the bands, things have been good. 30 metres CW picked up from tea time onwards, with a steady rate being worked. 17 metres CW has been phenomenal, with a constant stream of Japanese stations, along with some US and some EU being worked, even at this late stage. I was able to grab a mic and give some EIs and some Gs a chance on 40m SSB which was thoroughly enjoyable.

You can hear some audio of me working on 40m SSB at this link:

https://soundcloud.com/janek-kloss/ej7net-iota-eu-006-inishmore

Gordon GM7WCO operating on 30m CW

Above all, we have had great companionship. As the newcomer to this group, I have been made very welcome, and have enjoyed very interesting conversation about our wonderful hobby. The atmosphere here is nice and relaxed. There are ten operators in total, with three stations running, so there is no particular pressure on any one individual.

We hope to do some sightseeing tomorrow, including an ancient wedge tomb which is located not far from our QTH here. Right, good night all, from Inis Mór, Aran Islands, EU-006. Hope to work ye tomorrow!