A proper photo of the newly refurbished shack!

Here, as requested, is a better photograph of my refurbished shack. It should be a wee bit clearer than the previous one which was taken on my phone!  I've added the old CT 436 Oscilloscope onto the desk as well just for effect.

EI2KC's new look shack in progress

This is the new-look shack almost finished. I was fed up with the haphazard arrangement of radios so I went to a DIY store on Sunday and picked up some wood to build a shelf to act as a second tier for my computer, monitor, speakers, VHF radios etc. As you can see if is very neat. Compare it with old photos of the shack and you'll see what an improvement it is. It looks so much tidier.

The DIY did not prevent me from working a bit of DX on Sunday. I had very little time in front of the radio, but I did manage to bag T8XX, Palau, a brand new country for me. So I was thrilled.

Here is a quick guide to what's on the desk: Bottom row, from left: 2m amplifier (25w in 160w out) and Uniden Bearcat scanner, Watson 25a PSU, Yaesu FT-1000MP, my main rig, and on right the Icom IC-746 which I use for 6 metres and 10 metres and will soon be attached to an 8-element XY beam for 2 metres. Beyond that on the right are two external hard drives for my laptop.

Top shelf, from left: 4m radio with 2m radio on top and speaker for 4m, then IC-735 for listening on 80m, rotator for MA5B on top and above that speaker for 2m. Beside those is my Signalink USB interface for digimodes for the MP, then my monitor and then my laptop.

Sorry about the quality of the photo. It was taken on my Android phone.

A brief summary of an extraordinary day

Yesterday, Saturday, with the sunspot number at 173 and the solar flux index at 143, it was always likely to be a good day on the bands. 12 metres opened early in the day and was still open here to South America at 10.30pm local time. 10 metres gave me no less than eight new DXCCs on that band, and I managed to get some new ones on other bands too. Here is a brief summary of my efforts:

YS3CW in El Salvador gave me a brand new country today

New Zealand 20 CW
New Zealand 17m CW
Grenada J3 20m CW
Azerbaijan 10m CW
Kazahkstan 10m CW
Thailand 12m & 10m CW
Hong Kong 10m CW
Bahrain 10m SSB & CW
West Malaysia 10m SSB
Madagascar 10m SSB
West Malaysia 10m CW
Singapore 17m SSB
Trinidad 12m SSB
Brunei 17m CW
Guyana 12m SSB
El Salvador 12m CW
Panama 12m SSB
Isle of Man 10m CW
Guadeloupe 12m CW

Singapore and Guyana were both brand new countries for me. It really was a brilliant day to be on the bands. Lots of other EIs are reporting similar successes with new ones on various bands. Well done to all.

Look at those sunspot numbers - get on 10 metres now!

I have not seen the sunspot number this high in a long, long time. The sun is literally bursting with activity. Right now the sunspot number is 173, which is the highest I've seen it since I was licenced in 2009. Right now, I am listening to T88TO on Palau island in the Pacific on 10 metres CW. I suggest you QSY to 28 Mhz as soon as possible because there's sure to be some good DX and to be worked with the numbers that high . . .

A rare one indeed - Lord Howe Island VK9L

Lord Howe Island, from where VK9OL is operatingLord Howe Island VK

Recently Lord Howe Island, located off the east of Australia, was activated by the VK9HR dxpedition. Because of its location, almost exactly opposite Ireland on the far side of the globe, it is a tough one to work from EI. Nevertheless, four EIs made it into their log. An exclusive club you could say! (Read more about the EIs who worked Lord Howe Island in the forthcoming issue of Echo Ireland, due out within the week).

Lord Howe is being activated again this week, this time by N6NO, Merv, who is not only celebrating being 75 years old this year, but he is also marking his 60th year in amateur radio. He is celebrating all this by activating Lord Howe and what a very special way to do it!

Earlier this evening, September 15th, I managed to work Merv, who is using the callsign VK9OL, with my homebrew inverted V for 30m and 100 watts from the Yaesu FT-1000MP. I had been trying for about ten minutes and found it very difficult to hear him in strong QSB and QRN at times. But I heard a strong OH station working him and called him on the same split frequency and within a moment I could hear "EI?" so I gave him my call twice and he came back with EI2KC and my report and I gave him 559 and thanks and 73. I'm thrilled to get this rare one into the log. It is a brand new DXCC for me, never worked before.

She works! - an old oscilloscope kicks into life

An old CT 436 Oscilloscope by Hartley Electromotives Ltd, recently came into my possession. I had left it in the shack for a few days to make sure it was dry and warm and plugged it in to find it is still working. I believe from reading on the web that these were built for the British Military back in the early 1960s, but maybe earlier. Now all I have to do is figure out how to use it to make measurements! It's a beautiful looking machine in my opinion and perhaps those little "moving lights" on the screen will fascinate the kids. I was able to download a manual on the CT 436 so I will digest that and see how I can use it to make a proper measurement. The above video was shot on my Android phone.

I can tell you that after just a few minutes' use, the casing got quite hot on top. Perhaps that's a good thing. The shack can get quite cold in the winter - the oscilloscope will double as a heater! 73 for now.

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6 metres, solar flare, Rugby World Cup

Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. We had a bereavement. My wife's father, John, passed away last Thursday. He had been sick for quite a long time. We remember him dearly. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis. 

6 Metres (50 Mhz) was open last night. I worked France, Austria, Germany and Italy, just four QSOs but enough to brighten up my evening. In 2010 my last QSO on 6 metres was in August so it was nice to hear it open again in September. 


Sunspot 1283 has been crackling with flares and on September 6th sent an M-class and X-class flare in the direction of earth. According to www.spaceweather.com, "The flares produced waves of ionization in Earth's upper atmosphere, briefly altering the propagation of low-frequency radio signals around our planet." Sunspot numbers have been generally high for the past few weeks, with a Solar Flux Index over 100 for most of that time. The SFI currently stands at 112. There has been some interesting propagation on 12 metres in recent weeks, with P29 Papua New Guinea and VK6 West Australia both being worked at my station. Fingers crossed for some good openings on 10 metres before year's end!

Hams should keep an ear out for special callsigns for the Rugby World Cup which kicks off in New Zealand this weekend. ZL4RUGBY and ZL6RWC have both been worked from EI in recent days. Both calls are active until October 31st so keep an eye on the cluster and an ear on the bands.

My latest HF Happenings column has been sent to the Editor of Echo Ireland magazine, so hopefully you will have your copy in the next week or so. Look out for a special report on the handful of EIs who worked the recent VK9HR Lord Howe Dxpedition, and also congrats to Ireland's third 10-band DXCC award winner. Plus lots more.

Don't forget the North Cork Radio Group rally is on this Sunday, September 11th, in Blarney Golf Resort, Tower, Co. Cork. Doors open at 11.30am and admission is 5 euro. See the club's website for more details.