Some of Ireland's top DXers - and me !

This is a photo taken at the Coolmine radio rally in Dublin on Sunday. Pictured are some of Ireland's top Dxers . . . and me !! The line-up is as follows: Anthony EI2KC, Ark EI9KC, Don EI6IL (and junior op) and Thos EI2JD. These four bandits have been known to chase rare DX until they are bleary-eyed! In recent times these four callsigns would have been regularly seen in the top 10, and indeed the top 5, in the Dxpedition league tables. It is a great privilege for me to know these guys. Ark is the newest big Dxer in Ireland and in a short time he has amassed a huge number of DXCC entities in his log. He is doing brilliantly, and his callsign can be heard in almost every DX pile-up. Don and Thos have been on the DX circuit for a while longer than the 'Kilo Charlie' gang. Both of these guys are brilliant Dxers, and are often in the top 3 in the league tables. Both have superior stations also. And they are great at giving help and advice. Us novices need mentors after all ! It's just a pity that Dave Deane EI9FBB, who was at the rally, wasn't in this picture. He was the first EI operator to be awarded 10-band DXCC. Thos was the third! So you can see we were in good company.

My latest purchase: new Watson 4-way antenna switch

I attended the Phoenix Radio Club annual rally in Coolmine, Dublin, this morning. It was great to catch up with so many hams, and to meet some faces whose callsigns were familiar but whom I hadn't met in person before. I went to the rally with the intention of only purchasing items which I required, and decided I wouldn't get tempted by anything fancy. I managed to stick fast to this resolution.

I decided if there was a nice morse paddle I might invest, but there was not. Next on the list was an antenna switch. I have three HF antennas running into the Acom 1000 linear which is in turn connected to the Yaesu FT-1000MP. Up until now, I have only had a two-way antenna switch, so if I needed to use a third antenna I had to disconnect one and connect another.

So I purchased a Watson CX-SW4PL, a four-way switch, for 69 eurp. It is a very nice looking piece of kit (see picture) and there is a bit of weight in it too. It is rated to handle 1.5kW of power on HF, so more than sufficient for my needs.

I also bought 20 metres of RG213 coax, in the hope of installing my 8-element 2 metre beam sometime soon, and some PL259's and a back-to-back. That was it in terms of purchases.

I was glad to meet all the hams, including Ark EI9KC, Don EI6IL and Thos EI2JD who had travelled to Dublin with me. We posed for a photograph - some of Ireland's top DXers were in that little group - and me!!

Also glad to meet Billy MI6ETE who had travelled by train from Coleraine in GI land, and Nick EI7GOB who I had spoken to many times but had never met. Tony EI7JN, another big Dxer, introduced himself, and we had a good chat.

Congratulations to Hugh EI9GZB who sat, and passed, his morse test at Coolmine this morning. Hugh is in the process of setting up a very nice HF station at his home and we look forward to working him on the air, on phone and morse, in the near future. Congratulations Hugh, and well done. I never doubted that you would pass the test. Liking morse code is half the battle and your love of it means it was easier for you to learn. I hope you like your new callsign when you get it!

Six bands confirmed via Logbook of the World

I now have DXCC confirmed on six bands, having reached the 100 mark on 15 metres this week. I recently passed the 100 DXCC worked mark on 12m, giving me five bands, and now this latest achievement makes it six.

I cannot, however, apply for the ARRL five-band DXCC award, because this award only takes 80m, 40m, 20m, 15m and 10m into account, and I have not yet achieved DXCC on either 80m or 10m. However, this has not dampened my spirits at all. I am very much looking forward to the challenge of notching up more countries on both 10m and 80m, although in the case of the latter the band will be closing with the advent of summer.

It was HS0ZIV, in Thailand, for a QSO on 15m SSB in January of this year, who gave me the 100th QSL on 21 Mhz, and enough to allow me to apply for DXCC on that band. I am now eligible to apply for nine awards: DXCC mixed, DXCC CW, DXCC Phone, DXCC 40m, DXCC 30m, DXCC 20m, DXCC 17m, DXCC 15m and DXCC 12m. It's going to cost me a few bucks, but it will be nice to have a few certificates on the shack wall, especially as this was all achieved exclusively with LoTW, and with no help (so far!) from paper QSL cards.

Random shack photo number 1 - Motorola GM360

This is my main 70cms (433Mhz) rig in the shack. It is a Motorola GM360 giving 25 watts. I have it connected to my Watson W300 antenna into a duplexer which is shared with the Alinco DR-135 for 2 metres (145Mhz). This is the remote head of the radio - the main body can be kept at some distance thanks to the long connection lead. The functions of the radio are fairly basic but it has good receive and I can get out quite well from my QTH in Drogheda which is located on a high part of the town which is good for VHF/UHF activity. This is the first in a series of photos which I plan called "Random Shack Photo". I hope you enjoy.

Two new toys - cheap but good

These are my two new toys. The Baofeng UV-200 arrived from China about two months ago and I've enjoyed it so much I decided to get the new UV-3R which is an upgrade of sorts, the main update being a dual display. Both these radios are two watt dualband handhelds. They cost around 50 euro apiece - including postage! - and take about a week to come from China.

I bought a longer dualband whip about 30cm long also which increases the gain massively. With just two watts these are great little performers. With the longer whip I was able to open EI2KPR Kippure Repeater in Dublin from the centre of Dundalk, a distance of approximately 95 kilometres! OK, I was on the top of the little hill in Ice House park, but it was impressive. I can open the Dundalk 70cm repeater EI7LHR from my home in Drogheda even with the shorter antenna.

These radios can also be used to listen to the commercial FM band. But if you leave the radio on a frequency, say 145.400, and then turn on the radio and listen to, for example RTE1, if someone comes up on 145.400 the radio automatically switches over to two metres so you can have a chat. Very nice.

They also come with a little blue LED light which is handy but runs down the battery much quicker.

They are both very easy to program and it took me just a few minutes the other day to program in 12 memories on the UV-3R which would include 70cm and 2m simplex and repeater frequencies.

The Baofeng UV-200 with the LED light on

They are small too, at just 9cm tall. The standard dualband antenna is a further 12cm. They easily fit into the palm of your hand or your pocket. The Baofeng covers 136-173 Mhz on VHF and 400-469 on UHF which includes the licence-free 446 walkie talkie frequencies. The receive is excellent. There are plenty of videos on YouTube showing these radios receiving the International Space Station. The TX range with the longer whip is very good too, although handheld-to-handheld with the standard antenna covers about a mile before degrading, depending on terrain.

These are probably the best handhelds I have owned - and I have owned only a few. They are smaller, lighter and cheaper than my previous handheld transceivers and the addition of the commercial FM band plus the little light makes them that bit more useful.

For the more adventurous ham among you the UV-3R is available in a range of colours to suit your tastes! As well as black, they come in blue, red, yellow and camouflage. I'm not why a licenced amateur would want to be clambering around in the woods for, and I'm puzzled about the military colouring, but everyone's different! Below is a photo showing the different colours available. You can buy the UV-3R and accessories at www.490shop.com

Here are the specifications in brief:

VHF/ UHF  DUAL-BAND TWO WAY RADIO

• Frequency Range: 136-174 / 400-470MHz
• Dual-Band Display, Dual Freq. Display, Dual-Standby
• Output Power: 2 Watts
• 99 Channels + 1 Emergency Channel
• 50 CTCSS and 104 CDCSS
• Built-in VOX Function
• 1750Hz Brust Tone
• FM Radio (87.0MHz-108.0MHz)
• LED Flashlight
• Large LCD Display
• Hight /Low Power Switchable
• 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable
• Emergency Alert
• Low Battery Alert
• Battery Saver
• Time-out Timer
• Keypad Lock
• Monitor Channel
• Channel Step: 5/6.25/12.5/25KHz

I have a feeling Malpelo will fall down the most wanted list

It is interesting to note with the current HK0NA Malpelo Island dxpedition that HK0/M Malpelo is the 12th most wanted DXCC entity in DX Magazine's annual survey, and 13th most wanted on www.clublog.org's list. It is nice to get such a rare one on all my active bands, but no doubt after this dxpedition Malpelo will fall down the list next year.

As a matter of interest, Ireland (EI) is the 306th most wanted DXCC entity out of a total of 343 listed on Clublog. So we're not exactly what you call "rare" HI HI !

Great going with HK0NA - all SSB/CW slots filled

It hasn't taken too long, but there were some tough pile-ups. This evening, about five minutes ago, I have worked HK0NA, the Malpelo Dxpedition, on 20m SSB, thus filling all the SSB and CW slots from 80 metres through 10 metres. Needless to say I am chuffed with this. All I was lacking as of today was 15m CW, which I worked at almost 6pm this evening, and 20m SSB. I had already worked HK0NA on 20m phone but they must have busted my callsign because it is not in the log for that slot.

And this evening was not easy. My MA5B is resonant on 20m CW, about 14.050, but NOT resonant on 14.292, where he was listening. So I improvised! I switched over to my trusty HF6V Butternut vertical, which I was able to tune with the Acom 1000 to give 400 watts and shouted on that while switching back to the MA5B minibeam to listen to him on 14.159. It took quite a few calls. He came back with "Echo India Two again" and then "Echo India Two Kilo Charlie Xray Five Nine QSL" but the Xray had been picked up obviously from "Echo" as I gave my call twice each time. Eventually he gave "Echo India Two Kilo Charlie Five Nine" and I was thrilled to give him a big 59 and thanks.

Now all I have to do is work them on RTTY slots HI HI !!

By the way, I worked VP6T Pitcairn Island on 40m CW this morning for a second slot and already they have confirmed my 80m CW slot on LoTW. Thanks a million guys!