Radio is another hobby I’ve been into since I was a kid but didn’t really take seriously until recent years. I still have the QSL cards from when Radio Canada International, Voice of Russia etc. were still on the air that I used to listen to with my old soviet era reciever! Interest in the transmitting side was kindled by Donnchadh O’Shea in the 17th Dalkey Scout troop but apart from a basic understanding of radio and messing about under the callsign EI2DVS I didn’t do any more about it until a few years ago.
Thanks to the help of members of the South Dublin Radio Club I passed the radio exam in 2016 and shortly after passed the Morse exam and now have the callsign EI6KO.
With a small garden in which to set up antennas I’m limited in what I can do, but I’ve managed to make the DXCC in digital modes and am working towards it with SSB and CW.
Currently the QTH station has an Icom 7300 with a cobweb antenna for 20m – 6m and an end fed antenna for 40m.
One area of the hobby that I’ve gotten into is Summits On the Air. I’ve always liked hiking and camping and this is really just another excude to get into the hills – but carrying a radio this time! I’ve put together a leaflet on SOTA for the Irish Radio Transmitters Society at https://www.irts.ie/dnloads/sota.pdf My equipment for SOTA is usually a Yaesu FT 817 and a linked dipole on HF.
Another area I’m experimenting with is with satellites. I’ve had some success so far managing QSO’s across europe and even into Canada but I’d like to work on the automation here a bit more by building a rotator and automating the various bits of software together.
All my QSO’s are uploaded to lotw, and I will QSL direct or via the bureau.
