AREN training exercise in Drogheda

I participated in an AREN training exercise with other local hams in Drogheda today. AREN stands for Amateur Radio Emergency Network, which is a public service voluntary radio emergency network run by the Irish Radio Transmitters Society (IRTS) in conjunction with ComReg.

Taking shelter from a heavy rain shower. Pictured are: Thos EI2JD, Derek EI7CHB,
Tony EI4DIB, Ben EI4IN, Sean EI4IP, Pat EI2HX and Seamus EI3KE.

The training consisted of using radio communications plus a GPS device to track down various 'clues' which had been hidden in various areas of a park known as 'The Glen' at Newfoundwell in Drogheda. It was interesting, fun and educational.

The 'team', for which I did the radio comms, managed to find all five items using the GPS. When we found each item, there was a code written on the front which we had to relay to control. Control was manned by Thos EI2JD and Tony EI4DIB, who is the AREN Co-ordinator for the North East. After successful transmission of the code, we were then sent a question from control, relating to information on the back of each clue. On receipt of the question, we had to find the answer and relay it back to control before being given the coordinates for the next clue.

Pat EI2HX leads the team towards
the correct coordinates.

All going well, there will be weekly exercises in various parts of Drogheda and beyond. This training followed a very recent successful outing to Clogherhead, where local AREN volunteers provided emergency and backup communications for a 10 kilometre road race.

If you are interested in becoming an AREN volunteer, you can contact Tony Allen EI4DIB through his blog.

Lightning bolt strikes not far from my QTH

There was a thunderstorm near my QTH yesterday evening (Wednesday, July 11th). It raged for about half an hour. I left the camcorder at the back window looking out at my antennas, and managed to catch this fork lightning which must have struck less than a kilometre from my QTH. As you can see (or hear) in the video, the thunder comes about 2-3 seconds after the fork, so it was no more than a kilometre away. The antennas visible are the MA5B minibeam and in the background my Butternut vertical.

PS: I have been made redundant from my job. I finished on Monday. I am now trying to work full-time on completing my new book, 'Newgrange - Monument to Immortality'. As a result, I don't imagine I will have much time for radio or blogging but will do my best . . .

Some nice QSLs in via the bureau

I received my biggest delivery of QSL cards to date from the IRTS bureau yesterday, and included in the bundle of 221 cards were some very nice ones. Perhaps the most exciting one was from ET3AA, Ethiopia, for QSOs on 10 metres SSB and 40m CW.

But there were cards also from UN7IZ in Kazakhstan (10m CW), OJ0B in Market Reef for six QSOs including top band and 80m, ED9M in Ceuta (40m CW), YB0MWM in Indonesia for 12m SSB, and MU0FAL in Guernsey for 80m and 12m CW.

Now all I have to do is process all the cards and write the returns !

Busy with the book but grabbing new ones on 6m

It's been a very busy period for me with the deadline for my new book approaching, so there has been much less time for radio. However, that hasn't stopped me from grabbing some new DXCCs on 6 metres, where there has been a decent bit of action in recent weeks.

This is my VHF antenna system. On top is the 8-el XY 2m
 beam and underneath is the 3-element 6m beam.

I have now worked 11 new entities in the 2012 E season, having only worked two new ones in 2011. The main reason for that is because I now have a rotatable three-element beam on 6 metres, whereas last year I was using a fixed dipole. The new countries worked are:

4O Montenegro
C3 Andorra
CN Morocco
CT3 Madeira
CU Azores
EA9 Ceuta & Melilla
GI Northern Ireland
JX Jan Mayen
OY Faroe Islands
SV5 Dodacanese
FM Martinique

FM5WD in Martinique, worked yesterday on CW, was my first Caribbean contact since 2010, so I was chuffed with that one. I will be listening more often for Caribbean DX entities in the next few weeks if time allows.

In the meantime, the priority lies with my book 'Newgrange - Monument to Immortality', which is due to be presented to the publisher next month for publishing in October. But perhaps if I can listen to the Icom IC-746 while writing the book, I might catch a few more DXCC on 6m !! And improve on my current tally of 67 . . . .

The receive on my IC-735 is gone quiet

I have a problem with my Icom IC-735. The RX is gone very quiet. I can still hear stations but the needle hardly moves at all. I am still able to TX and being heard quite well in G and EU but there's something amiss with the RX.

I read on the internet that poor RX can be related to a dry or cracked solder joint where the RX socket meets the main unit board. So I re-touched all the joints and still no improvement.

I love the IC-735 and especially the sensitivity of it. I would love some help in diagnosing and fixing this problem. Any help is welcome.

Very glad to catch A5A Bhutan on 40m

I am extremely happy to have worked the A5A Bhutan dxpedition on 40m CW this evening, just an hour before they went QRT. It gives me a new country on 40 metres, and gives me a total of seven slots with A5A, which I am extremely happy with. I had A5 worked on a few bands before this dxpedition, but I have filled out new bands and slots which I am very happy with. Of the seven slots worked, six were on CW, and one on SSB.

Also, I have not been as active on radio this past couple of weeks, as the deadline for my new book 'Newgrange - Monument to Immortality' is looming (in July) so I am concentrating on that.

But very happy with A5A on seven slots. Thanks guys!

Also worked tonight was OA4DX (Peru) for a new DXCC on 17m (CW) and also D3AA in Angola for a new DXCC on 40m, also on CW.

New short film about North Cork Radio Group

This is a lovely little documentary about the North Cork Radio Group which has just been finished by Tom McCarthy. It is an excellently put together film about this group of radio enthusiasts and their activities. I think the film speaks for itself.