BATC Forum

I am going over to Eire to give a couple of presentations and run a BATC stand with Justin G8YTZ at the IRTS convention https://www.irts.ie/cgi/st.cgi?agm

I am planning to take some radio gear over and hope to be able to squeeze in some portable operation between sightseeing in the days before and after the convention.

The current plan is Wed - Fri April 15/15/17th when I'll be in the Wicklow moutains area just south of Dublin and Mon / Tues April 20 / 21st from the Waterford area. I think Wicklow is an easy path to North Wales, Nothern England, southern Scotland and possibly NI and Waterford should go to South Wales, Devon and Cornwall.

I'm hoping to do some NB microwave operation but would also like to do some TV - exactly what and which bands depends upon interest before the event. I am equipped for all bands between 50MHz and 24GHz - I could operate on 60 MHz but not 146MHz as it is not licensed in EI. I'm also tempted to take NB Oscar100 as most squares in EI do not seem to have been activated

So is anyone prepared to go out /p - if so let me know by the end of Feb so I can start to plan what to take. I'd also be interested in any information regarding good drive on VHF/UHF radio sites in EI.

73

Noel - G8GTZ

Wicklow to sites between Snowdon and the coast should be fairly easy at 140km ish. A more adventurous sea path would be to Jubilee Tower IO84PA52XL near Lancaster at 250km ish.

13cm and 9cm for starters?

Brian

Unlikely i'll be about, i'm working those days and no plans for hols yet, unless there's good tropo forecast!

Rob

Thanks Brian,

It won't be a full scale expedition so may be the easy path would be best - the dates are fixed for these days so please put them in your diary.

I'll confirm what bands when I've had a sort out of the gear and seen what I can get away with!

73

Noel

Do you have any sites in mind? I've had a look with Heywhatsthat and it's like north Wales - plenty of high spots, but there's usually something else in the way and there's nowhere to park.

I found this entrance south-east of Luggala. On some views there's a locked gate and on others the gate is open, but people are parking in the entrance. It might be quiet mid week. It looks like it would only be possible to work stations between east and south-east. IO63VC02BQ

The 143km path from there to Dinorwig, north Wales seems to be line of sight. IO73WD71OJ

Brian

Sorry to say but the IRTS convention has been cancelled and so I won't be going over to Eire.

That's not to say I won't be out /p in the coming months - Walbury Hill and other places can be pretty isolated

73

Noel