Hey there peeps,
Well, I had finally decided to hog the rig officially (sorry Tony) over the past weekend, and as luck would have it the bands decided they were going to open for me lol.
I decided to operate over Friday night and during today (I had to take a break on Saturday lol) and made about 100 contacts over the few hours. A few new DXCC were up for grabs for me to include St. Pierre & Manquelin, Uruguay and Malaysia on 10m and Market Reef. I have never even heard of the first and last one. I had to consult Google Maps to locate them.
I have yet to upload them to HRD so im anxious to see how many DXCC's I have worked (not to get this confused with confirmed). I am now coming up to my first anniversary of being a licensed ham (30th Oct) and to date I have worked about 1,197 contacts and approx 110 DXCC's ( on the last count). It will be interesting to see how many Ill have in the log by the time the year is up.
In saying that, there are a few DXCC's I missed out on, despite trying and trying. 4W6A is one I had been trying to get, a DXepedition to Timor Leste which a few of the lads I know have managed to contact. It seems that any time I spot them on the cluster, they are too light for me to hear, yet I have tried to see if, by complete act of god, they might hear me.
African stations also seem to be elusive to me, I have heard a number of them on this weekend, Central Africa, Madagascar, Congo, but I have yet to manage to work them. As with the VK's and the ZL stations, maybe there is a certain time of day when activity is plentiful, and its probably when Im at work HI.
So back I go to see if I can manage to scrape another few into the log.
Ciao for now,
Lisa, EI9GSB
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Another Rally Good Success!!!
Hey all,
So we had our annual rally last Sunday and it was a brilliant day. Everyone was ready to go at about 11.15am so we opened the doors and let the bargain hunters in!
There was a great turnout again this year, and everyone was in high spirits.
I got the great job of admission, so it gave me a chance to meet everyone coming in. Because Im new enough to the hobby (11 months) I am still not familiar with some of the people I speak to, now give me a callsign and Id know you a bit quicker. I had people chatting to me and it took me a few minutes (or them to tell me) to realise who I was speaking to, but nevertheless I managed to meet some of the lads I chat to on a regular basis.
I also had a mission, to get myself an antenna for my car and the mount to go with it. See as a YL operater, I have encountered a problem that most hams wouldnt be aware of. Since I am also a mother and a wife, I need to be able to do things like food shopping, picking things up for the kids for school etc so the problem I was running into was that when I had Tony's car, the antenna was too high for the car parks, barriers on certain roads etc and used to bang something ferocious when I drove to Tesco etc, so much so I had to pull the car over and either bend the antenna (which it is capable of doing) or take it off altogether.
So my hunt was on and it didnt take me long to come across the perfect antenna for 2m and 70cms. It is a little 1/4 wave antenna, only about 30cms long maybe, and fits perfectly on my car. So now I dont have to worry about banging. I also got a Watson mount for the boot and hey presto, Im set to go on 2m & 70cms.
So I was happy with my purchase. When the rally came to a close, and the traders had packed away, we went for a few drinks in the bar and had a great finish to the day. I have to say congrats to all the people involved in the day, it was another brill time, and I went home smiling.
Ciao for now
73, Lisa EI9GSB
So we had our annual rally last Sunday and it was a brilliant day. Everyone was ready to go at about 11.15am so we opened the doors and let the bargain hunters in!
There was a great turnout again this year, and everyone was in high spirits.
I got the great job of admission, so it gave me a chance to meet everyone coming in. Because Im new enough to the hobby (11 months) I am still not familiar with some of the people I speak to, now give me a callsign and Id know you a bit quicker. I had people chatting to me and it took me a few minutes (or them to tell me) to realise who I was speaking to, but nevertheless I managed to meet some of the lads I chat to on a regular basis.
I also had a mission, to get myself an antenna for my car and the mount to go with it. See as a YL operater, I have encountered a problem that most hams wouldnt be aware of. Since I am also a mother and a wife, I need to be able to do things like food shopping, picking things up for the kids for school etc so the problem I was running into was that when I had Tony's car, the antenna was too high for the car parks, barriers on certain roads etc and used to bang something ferocious when I drove to Tesco etc, so much so I had to pull the car over and either bend the antenna (which it is capable of doing) or take it off altogether.
So my hunt was on and it didnt take me long to come across the perfect antenna for 2m and 70cms. It is a little 1/4 wave antenna, only about 30cms long maybe, and fits perfectly on my car. So now I dont have to worry about banging. I also got a Watson mount for the boot and hey presto, Im set to go on 2m & 70cms.
So I was happy with my purchase. When the rally came to a close, and the traders had packed away, we went for a few drinks in the bar and had a great finish to the day. I have to say congrats to all the people involved in the day, it was another brill time, and I went home smiling.
Ciao for now
73, Lisa EI9GSB
Monday, 5 September 2011
Rally, Rally, Rally
Hey there ham radio peeps (or in the words of the Inbetweeners "special radio friends :p)
The countdown is on, 6 days to the event of the year, the NCRG radio rally, held at Blarney Golf Resort at 1130am on Sunday next.
I cant wait, lots of bargains to be had, or a one stop shop to reinvent the shack, either way its gonna be epic. Im gonna be on the door doing what I do best, handling money and chatting, hope to meet you there (if I dont know your face, dont be afraid to introduce yourself, I dont bite.....much)
So Im off for now, have admission tickets to organise.
Talk to ya soon (hopefully with a few new bits), ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
The countdown is on, 6 days to the event of the year, the NCRG radio rally, held at Blarney Golf Resort at 1130am on Sunday next.
I cant wait, lots of bargains to be had, or a one stop shop to reinvent the shack, either way its gonna be epic. Im gonna be on the door doing what I do best, handling money and chatting, hope to meet you there (if I dont know your face, dont be afraid to introduce yourself, I dont bite.....much)
So Im off for now, have admission tickets to organise.
Talk to ya soon (hopefully with a few new bits), ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
And we're off!!!!
Hey there,
So we have adjusted the capacitor hats, tightened all the screws and brought down the antennamast........and hey presto it works!!!!! Our beam is back in business and sitting proud 40ft in the air.
Tony has just tested it on a station in Brazil .. and got a report of 58 from him.
So now the fun is on, lots of stations on the way into my log, shame Im a bit busy this afternoon (my eldest child is 12 today) but otherwise Tony would be getting a push outta "the chair" in order for me to conquer the world again.
Now to have a look at the mini rotatable dipoles for 40m, with the NCRG rally coming up on the 11th Sept, it might be the best time to accost some of our resident traders and grab ourselves a bargain..... in the interest of experimentation of course.
Right Im off of birthday business so ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
So we have adjusted the capacitor hats, tightened all the screws and brought down the antennamast........and hey presto it works!!!!! Our beam is back in business and sitting proud 40ft in the air.
Tony has just tested it on a station in Brazil .. and got a report of 58 from him.
So now the fun is on, lots of stations on the way into my log, shame Im a bit busy this afternoon (my eldest child is 12 today) but otherwise Tony would be getting a push outta "the chair" in order for me to conquer the world again.
Now to have a look at the mini rotatable dipoles for 40m, with the NCRG rally coming up on the 11th Sept, it might be the best time to accost some of our resident traders and grab ourselves a bargain..... in the interest of experimentation of course.
Right Im off of birthday business so ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
Sunday, 28 August 2011
Radio weekend all over
Hi Guys,
Well, another busy radio weekend done and dusted, and I have to say Im a little sick of it to be honest, I feel drained and my ears are exhausted from straining to listen.
Firstly we were in Blackrock Castle for a CASHOTA activation. I had really wanted to operate on 40m but our antenna was having other ideas, so much so that it refused to operate effectively. That, plus the interference from the castle technology and the noise from the people coming for the free tours for Cork Heritage Day made it a challenge to hear to say the least. So we settled for 15m for voice, and one of the other members had set up a WSPR station, followed by PSK31 on 20m (which I found extremely fascinating). We also had one of the members with a satellite station set up.
Although the voice station wasnt great (partially due to all of the above factors), the digi station was brilliant, being able to log different signals throughout EU, and some Stateside, which we had then projected on to the wall for visitors to see. The PSK31 station also did its job quite effectively and made some nice contacts. In saying that though, the major achievement of day for me was the contact to Japan, which I thought was really good despite the problems. There was also a lot of interest in the satellite station, finishing the day with a lot of stations calling through Im told.
Today also was the IRTS 2m counties contest. I decided to operate in the low power fixed category and as it was my first contest of this kind, I had to read the rules to see what it entailed. Unfortunately for me, I didnt get the responses I had thought I might and was getting a bit frustrated as time went on. I used the max of 10w allowed and honestly thought there would be more QSO's involved. In saying that, my log book is a complete washout as I was concentrating so hard on how to operate within the contest (ie you have to QSY once you have called and been answered, or if you have answered a call, then you have the freq for one more QSO) I totally made a hash of the logs, not that there were many, I think 6 in total, which I was dissappointed with, I thought the participation would be a lot more (or maybe it was a I just couldnt hear them)
So now its all done and dusted and Im mentally tired. Maybe I have to take another holiday from the rig or else Im just not cut out for the constant activity lol. My brain may need to be trained, Im sure I have a game on my Nintendo DS that does that haha.
So Im off to relax for another couple of hours.
Ciao for now, Lisa EI9GSB
Well, another busy radio weekend done and dusted, and I have to say Im a little sick of it to be honest, I feel drained and my ears are exhausted from straining to listen.
Firstly we were in Blackrock Castle for a CASHOTA activation. I had really wanted to operate on 40m but our antenna was having other ideas, so much so that it refused to operate effectively. That, plus the interference from the castle technology and the noise from the people coming for the free tours for Cork Heritage Day made it a challenge to hear to say the least. So we settled for 15m for voice, and one of the other members had set up a WSPR station, followed by PSK31 on 20m (which I found extremely fascinating). We also had one of the members with a satellite station set up.
Although the voice station wasnt great (partially due to all of the above factors), the digi station was brilliant, being able to log different signals throughout EU, and some Stateside, which we had then projected on to the wall for visitors to see. The PSK31 station also did its job quite effectively and made some nice contacts. In saying that though, the major achievement of day for me was the contact to Japan, which I thought was really good despite the problems. There was also a lot of interest in the satellite station, finishing the day with a lot of stations calling through Im told.
Today also was the IRTS 2m counties contest. I decided to operate in the low power fixed category and as it was my first contest of this kind, I had to read the rules to see what it entailed. Unfortunately for me, I didnt get the responses I had thought I might and was getting a bit frustrated as time went on. I used the max of 10w allowed and honestly thought there would be more QSO's involved. In saying that, my log book is a complete washout as I was concentrating so hard on how to operate within the contest (ie you have to QSY once you have called and been answered, or if you have answered a call, then you have the freq for one more QSO) I totally made a hash of the logs, not that there were many, I think 6 in total, which I was dissappointed with, I thought the participation would be a lot more (or maybe it was a I just couldnt hear them)
So now its all done and dusted and Im mentally tired. Maybe I have to take another holiday from the rig or else Im just not cut out for the constant activity lol. My brain may need to be trained, Im sure I have a game on my Nintendo DS that does that haha.
So Im off to relax for another couple of hours.
Ciao for now, Lisa EI9GSB
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Long weekend for me!!
Hello there,
Just thought Id put a little blog on before I hit the hay, Ive just won €18 on the lotto, Ill have to try and not to spend it all at once lol
I just have one more day at work and then im off until next Wed, a few days to recover from returning to work on Mon last haha. We have a CASHOTA activation at Blackrock Castle on Sat 27th Aug to coincide with Heritage Week. My plan is to set up the rig (Kenwood TS2000) along with the 65ft EZ wire and hope to operate on the 40m band.
A few of the other members of NCRG will be operating different modes also, Ciaran plans to set up a WSPR station and Mick Quilligan will be showing satellite presentations. A few of the other lads, Edwin and Martin, are looking into streaming the activation on the Groups website, www.ei1nc.com , so that is another interesting element going on.
Not long now to our annual rally, held on Sept 11th at 11am, Blarney Golf Resort. This should be good, you get to see bargains and meet some of the hams you speak to over the airwaves.
Right, im wrecked so ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
Just thought Id put a little blog on before I hit the hay, Ive just won €18 on the lotto, Ill have to try and not to spend it all at once lol
I just have one more day at work and then im off until next Wed, a few days to recover from returning to work on Mon last haha. We have a CASHOTA activation at Blackrock Castle on Sat 27th Aug to coincide with Heritage Week. My plan is to set up the rig (Kenwood TS2000) along with the 65ft EZ wire and hope to operate on the 40m band.
A few of the other members of NCRG will be operating different modes also, Ciaran plans to set up a WSPR station and Mick Quilligan will be showing satellite presentations. A few of the other lads, Edwin and Martin, are looking into streaming the activation on the Groups website, www.ei1nc.com , so that is another interesting element going on.
Not long now to our annual rally, held on Sept 11th at 11am, Blarney Golf Resort. This should be good, you get to see bargains and meet some of the hams you speak to over the airwaves.
Right, im wrecked so ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
The return of the YL
Hey there,
So I have finally returned to the airwaves, only to find there has been a mass holocaust on the bands and no one is left to talk to me!!!!
Over 2 nights, I managed to call and call and call on 20m and only received 8 replies!!!! Have the waves decided to punish me for deserting them? Even the fact that I am a YL didnt help, but then again neither did my antenna, it needs to be stripped and reconstructed to ensure its 100%.
I even called through our local repeaters (3 of them to be exact) and even the local hams didnt feel like chatting. So there I was all ready to chat and noone responding :(
Oh well, at least I have the CASHOTA event on Sat coming at Blackrock Castle, hopefully the airwaves will be nicer to me and I can get the chance to have a chat, bet that will be much to the dismay of the other lads haha.
Ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
So I have finally returned to the airwaves, only to find there has been a mass holocaust on the bands and no one is left to talk to me!!!!
Over 2 nights, I managed to call and call and call on 20m and only received 8 replies!!!! Have the waves decided to punish me for deserting them? Even the fact that I am a YL didnt help, but then again neither did my antenna, it needs to be stripped and reconstructed to ensure its 100%.
I even called through our local repeaters (3 of them to be exact) and even the local hams didnt feel like chatting. So there I was all ready to chat and noone responding :(
Oh well, at least I have the CASHOTA event on Sat coming at Blackrock Castle, hopefully the airwaves will be nicer to me and I can get the chance to have a chat, bet that will be much to the dismay of the other lads haha.
Ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB
Monday, 25 July 2011
Case of the missing blogs
Hi All,
I havent posted on here in quite a bit, mainly due to no radio news but also partially because I have had a lot of things to take care of.
The last time I was on air was at our Blarney Castle activation which was on the 4th, 5th and 6th June. To be honest, I was really tired after 3 days operating in a row so I decided to take a break.....but havent gone back to it yet!!
This, coupled with wedding plans, have been the reason that there has been no blogs. I received a very nice email from a gentleman asking what was up, Mike VE3WDM, and wondering where all my blogs have gone to. So heres the deal - as some of you may or may not know, myself and Tony EI3GAB, have gotten married last Friday, 15th July. This took up a lot of my time, especially leading up to the date, as I organised my own ceremony, hotel, dinner, disco etc so had to pay attention to all the little details, so hence I had no real spare time to do the little things I usually had more than enough time for.
Once the wedding was over with (and the hangover on Tony's part too) we decided to go away for a few days, nowhere in particular, just a road trip to see where we ended up. London was the lucky place. I have never been, and being a pure tourist type person, I couldnt wait to see the sights, take loadsa pics and have a ball.
One the first day, we went in search of a hotel and decided to go somewhere cheap enough, so the Travelodge it was. Now I have never heard nonsense like this but apparantly they couldnt take in walk-in bookings until after 8pm and couldnt take cash although they had the rooms!!!! I had to ring the central bookings line and organise a reservation and this cost me £229 wtf??!!! They also advertised local parking that was operated by a third party but someone they had special rates allowed for guests, and apparantly this turned out to be untrue as the car park "hadnt forwarded any tokens to them, despite asking". I couldnt believe this, the car park for 48 hours cost us £84!!!!!
But despite this, we had a good time and did all the sightseeing, touristy things. But my advice to anyone thinking of London, have a lot of money and organise accomodation in advance.
We spent our last night in Birmingham (just purely to break the drive back to Holyhead) and reserved a room on the internet the night before. This Travelodge only cost us £40 with free parking!! I really couldnt believe it, the difference in city's.
Oh well, we still enjoyed it and have a nice few souvenirs. Heres hoping that I might decide to get back on the air once I have had a chance to get all the washing done and sort all the pressies etc.
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
I havent posted on here in quite a bit, mainly due to no radio news but also partially because I have had a lot of things to take care of.
The last time I was on air was at our Blarney Castle activation which was on the 4th, 5th and 6th June. To be honest, I was really tired after 3 days operating in a row so I decided to take a break.....but havent gone back to it yet!!
This, coupled with wedding plans, have been the reason that there has been no blogs. I received a very nice email from a gentleman asking what was up, Mike VE3WDM, and wondering where all my blogs have gone to. So heres the deal - as some of you may or may not know, myself and Tony EI3GAB, have gotten married last Friday, 15th July. This took up a lot of my time, especially leading up to the date, as I organised my own ceremony, hotel, dinner, disco etc so had to pay attention to all the little details, so hence I had no real spare time to do the little things I usually had more than enough time for.
Once the wedding was over with (and the hangover on Tony's part too) we decided to go away for a few days, nowhere in particular, just a road trip to see where we ended up. London was the lucky place. I have never been, and being a pure tourist type person, I couldnt wait to see the sights, take loadsa pics and have a ball.
One the first day, we went in search of a hotel and decided to go somewhere cheap enough, so the Travelodge it was. Now I have never heard nonsense like this but apparantly they couldnt take in walk-in bookings until after 8pm and couldnt take cash although they had the rooms!!!! I had to ring the central bookings line and organise a reservation and this cost me £229 wtf??!!! They also advertised local parking that was operated by a third party but someone they had special rates allowed for guests, and apparantly this turned out to be untrue as the car park "hadnt forwarded any tokens to them, despite asking". I couldnt believe this, the car park for 48 hours cost us £84!!!!!
But despite this, we had a good time and did all the sightseeing, touristy things. But my advice to anyone thinking of London, have a lot of money and organise accomodation in advance.
We spent our last night in Birmingham (just purely to break the drive back to Holyhead) and reserved a room on the internet the night before. This Travelodge only cost us £40 with free parking!! I really couldnt believe it, the difference in city's.
Oh well, we still enjoyed it and have a nice few souvenirs. Heres hoping that I might decide to get back on the air once I have had a chance to get all the washing done and sort all the pressies etc.
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Blarney Castle activation
What a great weekend I had.
Attended the Blarney Castle CASHOTA activation held by NCRG over the weekend, on 4th, 5th and 6th June at the Stable Yard of Blarney Castle. I had great fun setting up the station, although I was panicking a few days before as I wasnt sure whether Id be able to set up with the lads or whether Id have to stand there like a spare part. Luckily enough I managed to do it, and was quite proud of myself as I had never set up a station believe it or not, the practical things always seemed to be taken care of by the lads.
The first day was lovely, a bit too lovely as the sun beat down on me (apparantly the black t-shirt may have helped lol) and the fact that I had no sun cream on did help either. We finished the activation early as the bands werent great and the sun was way too much by 3pm.
I had gotten burnt, as did the other lads, but mine was sore as it was on one side of my face and on my hands. I had put after sun on it but this didnt ease the discomfort. I woke up the next day to find my face swollen and a little sore. As this was the 2nd day, I put suncream on (factor 50 lol) and set off again. This time I set the EZ wire up on my own (with a little help at the end from one of the lads) and set up the station whoo hoo!!!. Again, bands werent great but better than the previous day.
The third day was a whole new kettle of fish as it was raining so we had to go into one of the stables. It sounded echoey and was hard at times to hear the stations, especially if there were other people present but we battled through. This day seemed to be the worst of the 3 contact wise, but we had fun and got to walk around the gorgeous gardens and grounds, even stopping to have a play on the swings haha.
I have to say, it was fab and although the bands didnt assist us, the venue was lovely, with friendly staff also. Cant wait for the next event.
73, Lisa
Attended the Blarney Castle CASHOTA activation held by NCRG over the weekend, on 4th, 5th and 6th June at the Stable Yard of Blarney Castle. I had great fun setting up the station, although I was panicking a few days before as I wasnt sure whether Id be able to set up with the lads or whether Id have to stand there like a spare part. Luckily enough I managed to do it, and was quite proud of myself as I had never set up a station believe it or not, the practical things always seemed to be taken care of by the lads.
The first day was lovely, a bit too lovely as the sun beat down on me (apparantly the black t-shirt may have helped lol) and the fact that I had no sun cream on did help either. We finished the activation early as the bands werent great and the sun was way too much by 3pm.
I had gotten burnt, as did the other lads, but mine was sore as it was on one side of my face and on my hands. I had put after sun on it but this didnt ease the discomfort. I woke up the next day to find my face swollen and a little sore. As this was the 2nd day, I put suncream on (factor 50 lol) and set off again. This time I set the EZ wire up on my own (with a little help at the end from one of the lads) and set up the station whoo hoo!!!. Again, bands werent great but better than the previous day.
The third day was a whole new kettle of fish as it was raining so we had to go into one of the stables. It sounded echoey and was hard at times to hear the stations, especially if there were other people present but we battled through. This day seemed to be the worst of the 3 contact wise, but we had fun and got to walk around the gorgeous gardens and grounds, even stopping to have a play on the swings haha.
I have to say, it was fab and although the bands didnt assist us, the venue was lovely, with friendly staff also. Cant wait for the next event.
73, Lisa
Sunday, 29 May 2011
CASHOTA activation
As some of you might know, I was scheduled to activate Mallow Castle as part of the CASHOTA weekend in UK and Ireland for the North Cork Radio Group www.ei1nc.com . I was all excited about this, had the rig and antenna ready to go and had the event planned out in my head.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, the sun was out and shining like mad. I had checked the solar terrestrial chart earlier that morning and saw that 20m was supposed to be good (this was about 830am), so that made my mind up, 20m is where I would begin the activation.
With this information in hand, along with my logbook and pen, I went to the location and was all set up. I began to call at approximately 1055am and nothing. I was a bit surprised so I kept calling, and nothing. Oblivious to any possible issues, I kept calling and calling, and calling but noone came back to me. On checking the terrestrial chart again, I notice all the bands were listed as "poor". O great, just my luck, this was the atmospheres way of telling me to shut up and go away lol.
So Im sat there, for hours, calling and calling and not one reply......until about 1320 when I could hear faint signals coming through. Luckily I managed to make some contacts, 58 in total which was ok considering the conditions, but not great in the overall expectancy of a CASHOTA event of 5 - 6 hours calling. I finished up the event about 1545 and will try again today, hopefully conditions are better and I can fill the log a bit but knowing the luck I have been having lately, I dont know.
On saying that, last night I made loads of contacts to Europe through 10m. I dont really use the band much and only checked it out because of Paul Colyer mentioning it was open inter g. Stations were flying in and I made 76 contacts in all last night, lots of PA, DL and ON stations on, along with G stations. Apparantly I was a rare contact on 10m for some of the G stations but due to the short skip on 10m they were able to work me. At least I saw some decent action!!!
So today is a new day and Im on the go again, according to the chart this morning, all the HF bands are poor with the exception of 17 - 15m which are "fair". Must keep an ear out on 10 and 6m also as it seems that there is or will be activity, so itll just have to be hit and miss.
73 for now, Lisa
Yesterday was a beautiful day, the sun was out and shining like mad. I had checked the solar terrestrial chart earlier that morning and saw that 20m was supposed to be good (this was about 830am), so that made my mind up, 20m is where I would begin the activation.
With this information in hand, along with my logbook and pen, I went to the location and was all set up. I began to call at approximately 1055am and nothing. I was a bit surprised so I kept calling, and nothing. Oblivious to any possible issues, I kept calling and calling, and calling but noone came back to me. On checking the terrestrial chart again, I notice all the bands were listed as "poor". O great, just my luck, this was the atmospheres way of telling me to shut up and go away lol.
So Im sat there, for hours, calling and calling and not one reply......until about 1320 when I could hear faint signals coming through. Luckily I managed to make some contacts, 58 in total which was ok considering the conditions, but not great in the overall expectancy of a CASHOTA event of 5 - 6 hours calling. I finished up the event about 1545 and will try again today, hopefully conditions are better and I can fill the log a bit but knowing the luck I have been having lately, I dont know.
On saying that, last night I made loads of contacts to Europe through 10m. I dont really use the band much and only checked it out because of Paul Colyer mentioning it was open inter g. Stations were flying in and I made 76 contacts in all last night, lots of PA, DL and ON stations on, along with G stations. Apparantly I was a rare contact on 10m for some of the G stations but due to the short skip on 10m they were able to work me. At least I saw some decent action!!!
So today is a new day and Im on the go again, according to the chart this morning, all the HF bands are poor with the exception of 17 - 15m which are "fair". Must keep an ear out on 10 and 6m also as it seems that there is or will be activity, so itll just have to be hit and miss.
73 for now, Lisa
Monday, 23 May 2011
New rigs
So the time is 6.30am and I am up and actually awake....what is that all about???
So Im sitting in the shack (where my laptop is) and Tony is searching the internet and looking at (guess what?) ....different rigs. Apparantly he would loooovvvveeeeee all the ones he hasnt got, because they are apparantly so brilliant and their functions are (you guessed it) the same. One in particular that Ive noticed is the Yaesu FT 1000 Mk5. Now he currently has the FT 1000MP and I really cant tell the difference between the two, apart from a few minor face differences. The Mk5 obviously must have more functions to warrant its existance but why is it that hams always needs "the latest rig", even if it does cost thousands?
I am more than happy to work with anything really that does the job, including a battery with a coat wire antenna (McGyver style lol) but are these upgraded rigs really justified in some cases, when the only changes seem to be a different colour light on the display? Now as I said, I am not technically minded so maybe the performance difference is where the big bucks come into play, but if a woman went in for surgery and came out with only different colour eyes, how many of us would notice? And would it be worth the thousands?
Now I can understand a major upgrade by a ham, from say an Icom IC718 to an Icom 7600, and the major performance and facelift differences but Im not sure if a different display colour and an extra button could justify spending major bucks. Are the Yaesu's, Kenwoods and Icoms of this world raking it in by advertising the same rig in a different box? And why is it that hams fall in love with all models? Maybe its an obsession thing, or "keeping up with the Jones" element, but Im not sure if paying the equivilent of a mortgage downpayment can equal the "beauty" of the newest, most advanced rig yet (and most expensive) for example "The Masterpiece" Icom IC7800 MkII at €10,000 approx, can be justified. Apparantly 40 years of design have developed this, have they done nothing else for that time or was it a progression? Then surely that proves the point, they hardly just came up with that idea, it was progressive and maybe all it consists of is a few extra antenna sockets and a quad core processor that has been added to a previous rig, that and a good advertising company with fancy words.
Now dont get me wrong, if you have that kind of money, then by all means I dont see why ppl shouldnt indulge their hobbies and interests, but when ppl are trying to scrimp and save to get this type of rig, maybe to find out it does the exact same as the "old" rig they had...mmmmmm food for thought!
73, Lisa
So Im sitting in the shack (where my laptop is) and Tony is searching the internet and looking at (guess what?) ....different rigs. Apparantly he would loooovvvveeeeee all the ones he hasnt got, because they are apparantly so brilliant and their functions are (you guessed it) the same. One in particular that Ive noticed is the Yaesu FT 1000 Mk5. Now he currently has the FT 1000MP and I really cant tell the difference between the two, apart from a few minor face differences. The Mk5 obviously must have more functions to warrant its existance but why is it that hams always needs "the latest rig", even if it does cost thousands?
I am more than happy to work with anything really that does the job, including a battery with a coat wire antenna (McGyver style lol) but are these upgraded rigs really justified in some cases, when the only changes seem to be a different colour light on the display? Now as I said, I am not technically minded so maybe the performance difference is where the big bucks come into play, but if a woman went in for surgery and came out with only different colour eyes, how many of us would notice? And would it be worth the thousands?
Now I can understand a major upgrade by a ham, from say an Icom IC718 to an Icom 7600, and the major performance and facelift differences but Im not sure if a different display colour and an extra button could justify spending major bucks. Are the Yaesu's, Kenwoods and Icoms of this world raking it in by advertising the same rig in a different box? And why is it that hams fall in love with all models? Maybe its an obsession thing, or "keeping up with the Jones" element, but Im not sure if paying the equivilent of a mortgage downpayment can equal the "beauty" of the newest, most advanced rig yet (and most expensive) for example "The Masterpiece" Icom IC7800 MkII at €10,000 approx, can be justified. Apparantly 40 years of design have developed this, have they done nothing else for that time or was it a progression? Then surely that proves the point, they hardly just came up with that idea, it was progressive and maybe all it consists of is a few extra antenna sockets and a quad core processor that has been added to a previous rig, that and a good advertising company with fancy words.
Now dont get me wrong, if you have that kind of money, then by all means I dont see why ppl shouldnt indulge their hobbies and interests, but when ppl are trying to scrimp and save to get this type of rig, maybe to find out it does the exact same as the "old" rig they had...mmmmmm food for thought!
73, Lisa
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Day of the YL
So Ive been following the promotion of "Day of the YL" on Facebook for the last couple of weeks, advertised for today and tomorrow, 21st and 22nd May, and to be honest I have been looking forward to this, thinking of possible pile ups and working stations for the day. I got into the chair and prepped myself for the onslaught, only to find the bands were totally rubbish and propagation wasnt keeping to its part of the deal lol.
I still have not heard (up to the time of this blog at 7pm) one YL station on, I have asked this question on the Facebook page and have been informed there are about 4 of them on, or were on, but I havent heard them, nor have I seen them spotted either. To be fair, the bands are crap, even 20m and 15m, my usual haunts, are rubbish to the point where I cant even hear European stations!!! Whats up with that, usually I have Italian and German stations coming out my ears lol.
So I did a bit of research and according to our website www.ei1nc.com (where the Solar Terrestrial Data is contained lol) I have discovered 80m - 20m and only "fair" whilst the rest of the bands are "poor" and the SFI is only 84. Could this day get any worse???
Anyhow, I did manage to speak to a few English stations, one of them a CASHOTA activation on 40m (as it is International CASHOTA weekend) and that has been my lot for the day, I even called consistently on 40m and 20m and didnt even get a static noise in response, so my expectation of the day has been dashed by the atmospheric conditions.
Hopefully when I am activating Mallow Castle next weekend, the conditions will allow it not to be a total failure, maybe the bands will pick up a bit this evening, well see how it goes.
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
I still have not heard (up to the time of this blog at 7pm) one YL station on, I have asked this question on the Facebook page and have been informed there are about 4 of them on, or were on, but I havent heard them, nor have I seen them spotted either. To be fair, the bands are crap, even 20m and 15m, my usual haunts, are rubbish to the point where I cant even hear European stations!!! Whats up with that, usually I have Italian and German stations coming out my ears lol.
So I did a bit of research and according to our website www.ei1nc.com (where the Solar Terrestrial Data is contained lol) I have discovered 80m - 20m and only "fair" whilst the rest of the bands are "poor" and the SFI is only 84. Could this day get any worse???
Anyhow, I did manage to speak to a few English stations, one of them a CASHOTA activation on 40m (as it is International CASHOTA weekend) and that has been my lot for the day, I even called consistently on 40m and 20m and didnt even get a static noise in response, so my expectation of the day has been dashed by the atmospheric conditions.
Hopefully when I am activating Mallow Castle next weekend, the conditions will allow it not to be a total failure, maybe the bands will pick up a bit this evening, well see how it goes.
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Ruined day out.com
I had gone to Dublin today with my mother and sister to go shopping. Not only did I forget the Queen was making her visit but the whole place was barriers and Gardai. We were on Henry Street at one stage and all of a sudden people started to run, grabbing their children. Security guards came out from shops and all the shutters started to come down, kinda frightening if you have never been in that situation. Apparantly what started as a peaceful protest turned into a mini riot with Gardai having to barricade them in so they could damage the area.
Then, as we managed to work our way up the street, we werent even allowed to cross by the GPO, and we had to have our bags searched too!! Of course, the Queen decided she was going to pass us as we were on the street so we even got to see her when we didnt really plan to.
After all this, we were on our way back and the Gardai then decided to close off the bridge by Heuston Station so the Queen could pass over it to go to the Presidents House, we were left sit there for 50 minutes before they allowed us to go.
So, after all this disruption, we still didnt even get anything we wanted to, although my brother and sister cleaned up, and they werent even there!!.
As a result of this, my first reading of the IRTS news bulletin was delayed by 5 minutes, as I literally had to run into the house and sit straight in the chair, all out of breath haha. Ill remember the first time for a long time, so thanks to her Majesty, because of her hols, my day was in an uproar.
73, Lisa
Then, as we managed to work our way up the street, we werent even allowed to cross by the GPO, and we had to have our bags searched too!! Of course, the Queen decided she was going to pass us as we were on the street so we even got to see her when we didnt really plan to.
After all this, we were on our way back and the Gardai then decided to close off the bridge by Heuston Station so the Queen could pass over it to go to the Presidents House, we were left sit there for 50 minutes before they allowed us to go.
So, after all this disruption, we still didnt even get anything we wanted to, although my brother and sister cleaned up, and they werent even there!!.
As a result of this, my first reading of the IRTS news bulletin was delayed by 5 minutes, as I literally had to run into the house and sit straight in the chair, all out of breath haha. Ill remember the first time for a long time, so thanks to her Majesty, because of her hols, my day was in an uproar.
73, Lisa
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Band openings
Hello for today.
The bands seem to have really good openings into Asia and Africa, well at least from where my QTH is. I have never heard some of these stations as strong as they are, maybe thats because I never listened or they have bought new amps lol!
Anyhow, tonight I was scanning around on 15m and 20m and to my surprise I was hearing African stations at 59 (or a little below), the piles ups for these stations were huge and so I spent a little time battling to be heard over some stations, at their own admission, putting out 1kw through a linear amp. Little ol me in EI trying to beat the big US stations haha. But I held my own and managed to make my contacts, despite being stamped all over by an ER station, so much so that the gentleman I was trying to have a QSO with told the station to "please shut up". I couldve laughed so hard at this but I was in the middle of a conversation so I couldnt, but if I had the chance I wouldve shouted HA HA.
Anyhow, I have managed to get a few new DXCC's. Oman (which I didnt have at all), Hong Kong, Angola and Namibia, so another 4 to add to my list. Ill have to start looking at the different bands now as I am beginning to favour 15m and 20m a lot recently, maybe because they are open for a lot longer in the evening, you wouldnt have worked someone on 15m at this time 2 months ago.
Righteeeeee, I am off for now,
Talk 2 ya soon, 73, Lisa
The bands seem to have really good openings into Asia and Africa, well at least from where my QTH is. I have never heard some of these stations as strong as they are, maybe thats because I never listened or they have bought new amps lol!
Anyhow, tonight I was scanning around on 15m and 20m and to my surprise I was hearing African stations at 59 (or a little below), the piles ups for these stations were huge and so I spent a little time battling to be heard over some stations, at their own admission, putting out 1kw through a linear amp. Little ol me in EI trying to beat the big US stations haha. But I held my own and managed to make my contacts, despite being stamped all over by an ER station, so much so that the gentleman I was trying to have a QSO with told the station to "please shut up". I couldve laughed so hard at this but I was in the middle of a conversation so I couldnt, but if I had the chance I wouldve shouted HA HA.
Anyhow, I have managed to get a few new DXCC's. Oman (which I didnt have at all), Hong Kong, Angola and Namibia, so another 4 to add to my list. Ill have to start looking at the different bands now as I am beginning to favour 15m and 20m a lot recently, maybe because they are open for a lot longer in the evening, you wouldnt have worked someone on 15m at this time 2 months ago.
Righteeeeee, I am off for now,
Talk 2 ya soon, 73, Lisa
Saturday, 14 May 2011
Ham vs Homeowners Association
Again, another little video found on YouTube, I am a ham and I found this hilarious, although it does have a lot of stereotyping in it.
The Morse Code Song
This might help me to finally learn morse, I could be singing this in my sleep, once I dont start slapping morse letters on Tony's face lmao!
A Song for Hams
Friday, 13 May 2011
Updated events!!! (the sequel lol)
I had a post under this title yesterday and had a link for it on Facebook but it has dissappeared! The millenium bug must have come along and eaten it as it is gone off the face of the internet.
So I guess Ill just have to repost, firstly congrats to Lavinia and Liam ( for the second time) on the birth of their first child, Cathal Jeremiah who was born on the 11th May at 4.31 (a bit too early in the morning if you ask me lol), both mamma and baby are doing well and I dunno what Liam is doing haha. Congrats peeps, ye are now someone's parents (god help the child) lol
Secondly, NCRG have been given permission to read the IRTS weekly news bulletin over the Duhallow repeater (430.925). This will be done by yours truly (moi) every Tuesday evening at 8pm, and if Im not there, you will her Tony's dulcit tones lol (think hell drag me there if he has too haha).
I can even remember what was in the rest of the post, prob babble if I cant remember it haha so thats all for now, 73, Lisa
So I guess Ill just have to repost, firstly congrats to Lavinia and Liam ( for the second time) on the birth of their first child, Cathal Jeremiah who was born on the 11th May at 4.31 (a bit too early in the morning if you ask me lol), both mamma and baby are doing well and I dunno what Liam is doing haha. Congrats peeps, ye are now someone's parents (god help the child) lol
Secondly, NCRG have been given permission to read the IRTS weekly news bulletin over the Duhallow repeater (430.925). This will be done by yours truly (moi) every Tuesday evening at 8pm, and if Im not there, you will her Tony's dulcit tones lol (think hell drag me there if he has too haha).
I can even remember what was in the rest of the post, prob babble if I cant remember it haha so thats all for now, 73, Lisa
100 DXCC
Hey all, Blogspot was down yesterday evening so I couldnt even update my status! Wtf!! I have info for ppl like haha.
So last night I contacted my 100 DXCC.....Ecuador! Not a bad country to have to mark your 100th, delighted with my own self so now I just need to get them confirmed lol, then it might actually be worth something to me in awards terms lol.
I received my first IRTS news bulletin last night, I had to re-read some of it, do I really have to embarrass myself by trying to say half the place names on there? Whatever happened to easy names like Cork? See nice and easy, not like supercallafragalisticexbeallidocious hahaha (I dont even know if I spelt that right but it would be a miracle if I did), Google pronounciation lookups it is then, itll be like soo-purr-kala etc etc etc lol
So I decided to put a call out on 20m last night and was hammered by European stations, much to my surprise though I managed to pull a Japanese station from the noise, I had to confirm the call a few times to ensure I had it right, I had been trying to contact Japan for ages and here the op was calling me! I had to laugh though, whilst speaking to an op, it was obvious he had looked up my QRZ page as I could hear the music player I have on it coming on in the background, I chuckled to myself and found it amusing for a few minutes. I dont know if he expected that though, it isnt something you usually get on QRZ lol.
Right Im off now for a bit, trying to figure out my car situation, apparantly my drive shaft on right side is about to go and I need to get a replacement, any good ideas? Apparantly because it is a Mitsubishi Carisma it is hard to get the parts for it so Ill have to flutter my eyelashes at Tony and hope he will let me share his car, he was very good and let me have it today, Ill have to get on the case!
Bye for now
Lisa
So last night I contacted my 100 DXCC.....Ecuador! Not a bad country to have to mark your 100th, delighted with my own self so now I just need to get them confirmed lol, then it might actually be worth something to me in awards terms lol.
I received my first IRTS news bulletin last night, I had to re-read some of it, do I really have to embarrass myself by trying to say half the place names on there? Whatever happened to easy names like Cork? See nice and easy, not like supercallafragalisticexbeallidocious hahaha (I dont even know if I spelt that right but it would be a miracle if I did), Google pronounciation lookups it is then, itll be like soo-purr-kala etc etc etc lol
So I decided to put a call out on 20m last night and was hammered by European stations, much to my surprise though I managed to pull a Japanese station from the noise, I had to confirm the call a few times to ensure I had it right, I had been trying to contact Japan for ages and here the op was calling me! I had to laugh though, whilst speaking to an op, it was obvious he had looked up my QRZ page as I could hear the music player I have on it coming on in the background, I chuckled to myself and found it amusing for a few minutes. I dont know if he expected that though, it isnt something you usually get on QRZ lol.
Right Im off now for a bit, trying to figure out my car situation, apparantly my drive shaft on right side is about to go and I need to get a replacement, any good ideas? Apparantly because it is a Mitsubishi Carisma it is hard to get the parts for it so Ill have to flutter my eyelashes at Tony and hope he will let me share his car, he was very good and let me have it today, Ill have to get on the case!
Bye for now
Lisa
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Updated events!!!
Ok, this is the newsflash, Lavinia and Liam (both NCRG members) have welcomed their new son, baby Cathal Jeremiah Sexton, born on the 11th May and weighing in a 6lb 12.5oz, congrats to you both and well done Lav!!
Other news, plenty of CASHOTA activations coming up. NCRG are activating Blarney Castle over the 4th, 5th and 6th June under ref EI010/C, I will be activating Mallow Castle over the weekend of 28th and 29th May (ref yet to be allocated) and I presume there will be many, many more as the CASHOTA weekends hit us on the last 2 weekends of May.
There still seems to be plenty of activity on the bands although to be honest, last night was a bit of a dissappointment for me. I was in the control of the chair, logbook open, pen in hand and couldnt find a decent DXCC that I needed to work, in fact, the whole range of bands from 20m up seemed to be noisy to me.
But I am not a quitter, so Im sitting here now and as soon as I publish this post, Im off to find me a rare DXCC, haha in other words Ill have to battle my way through the whole of Europe, finally get an answer and then the QSB will prob set in and Ill have to battle to get the confirmation, haha. Oh well, it wouldnt be half the fun if everything was easy would it.
Hope to hear what other ppl have worked,
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
Other news, plenty of CASHOTA activations coming up. NCRG are activating Blarney Castle over the 4th, 5th and 6th June under ref EI010/C, I will be activating Mallow Castle over the weekend of 28th and 29th May (ref yet to be allocated) and I presume there will be many, many more as the CASHOTA weekends hit us on the last 2 weekends of May.
There still seems to be plenty of activity on the bands although to be honest, last night was a bit of a dissappointment for me. I was in the control of the chair, logbook open, pen in hand and couldnt find a decent DXCC that I needed to work, in fact, the whole range of bands from 20m up seemed to be noisy to me.
But I am not a quitter, so Im sitting here now and as soon as I publish this post, Im off to find me a rare DXCC, haha in other words Ill have to battle my way through the whole of Europe, finally get an answer and then the QSB will prob set in and Ill have to battle to get the confirmation, haha. Oh well, it wouldnt be half the fun if everything was easy would it.
Hope to hear what other ppl have worked,
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
North Cork Radio Group
As a member, and secretary, of the North Cork Radio Group, I decided a bit of a mention on here might interest people and let them know of upcoming events and activations.
Over the next couple of weeks, especially on Castles on the Air weekends (both international and domestic), we will be hopefully activating some local castles, to try and promote what I consider to be a great event. The next Group activation will be on the 4th, 5th and 6th June from Blarney Castle in Cork, under the desigated reference of EI010/C. Listen out for us throughout the bands, I presume particular bands such as 40m and 80m will be our usual haunts, but keep an eye on those clusters, or an ear on the frequencies to work us, we look forward to hearing you.
Other individual operators may also activate other venues and updates will be posted on our website www.ei1nc.com and on our Facebook page.
Also, the Group has been granted permission by the IRTS to read their weekly news bulletin on our local repeater (430.925) and this will be done by yours truly to begin with (yes me....how nervewracking is that!). This will be read every Tuesday evening at 8pm (Ill have to synchronise my watch) so if you can hear me, call in and say hi!
For anyone that might like any more information on the Group, our meeting schedule or membership etc, please feel free to contact me on lisa@ei1nc.com and Ill give you any information I can.
Thats all for now, talk to you soon
73, Lisa
Over the next couple of weeks, especially on Castles on the Air weekends (both international and domestic), we will be hopefully activating some local castles, to try and promote what I consider to be a great event. The next Group activation will be on the 4th, 5th and 6th June from Blarney Castle in Cork, under the desigated reference of EI010/C. Listen out for us throughout the bands, I presume particular bands such as 40m and 80m will be our usual haunts, but keep an eye on those clusters, or an ear on the frequencies to work us, we look forward to hearing you.
Other individual operators may also activate other venues and updates will be posted on our website www.ei1nc.com and on our Facebook page.
Also, the Group has been granted permission by the IRTS to read their weekly news bulletin on our local repeater (430.925) and this will be done by yours truly to begin with (yes me....how nervewracking is that!). This will be read every Tuesday evening at 8pm (Ill have to synchronise my watch) so if you can hear me, call in and say hi!
For anyone that might like any more information on the Group, our meeting schedule or membership etc, please feel free to contact me on lisa@ei1nc.com and Ill give you any information I can.
Thats all for now, talk to you soon
73, Lisa
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
HF Olympics
Hello to you all again today, Im back again with more randomness.
I came home from work today to a very cheerful "hello", I automatically get suspicious of this as it usually means that Tony is looking for me to buy something or agree to something, so with caution I responded. Maybe its my cynical nature or my suspicious mind (maybe Elvis had a point!) but I suspected something wasnt quite right.
As I got futher in the hallway, Tony is now informing me in a little gleeful voice that he had worked DX in Malaysia and Indonesia, 2 DXCC's he didnt previously have.....so that's the reason for the happy face. Unknowingly to me, he has both of us as competitors in the "HF Olympics" (a fictional competition I have created to describe the situation).
It is understood by me, after a bit of smuggness on Tony's part, that he has us entered into a race - the aim of which is to gather the most DXCC's. He is feeling a bit annoyed that I have 96 and he has 88, and so let the race begin!!! Except he is in control of the "chair" and I have to make the tea, how fair is this race? It seems I am being ambushed from the start lol, and he is trying to sabotage my chances by hogging the station ..... damn he has just gotten another one, the South Shetland Islands and he is sooooo rubbing it in my face and I am typing this post.
I think he used the words "hahaha whoo hooo hooo, Im catchin you" as he rubs his hands together like a child that is about to get everything he wants.
And so, Mr. C has just realised that I have already have this station and is a bit gutted that he wasnt aware I had worked the South Shetland Islands and is pondering where else I might have worked. He is now bragging to our 11 year old that he is nearly caught up to me hahahah, how childish is this gonna get? Is there a category for a 33 year old child? Maybe there should be lol.
So Im in the middle of the main event at this HF Olympics, wonder what the prize is? Well whatever it is, there is a lot of hand rubbing, gleeful laughs and gloating going on, maybe there is some evidence of performance enhancers, Ill have to check this one out!!!
73, Lisa
I came home from work today to a very cheerful "hello", I automatically get suspicious of this as it usually means that Tony is looking for me to buy something or agree to something, so with caution I responded. Maybe its my cynical nature or my suspicious mind (maybe Elvis had a point!) but I suspected something wasnt quite right.
As I got futher in the hallway, Tony is now informing me in a little gleeful voice that he had worked DX in Malaysia and Indonesia, 2 DXCC's he didnt previously have.....so that's the reason for the happy face. Unknowingly to me, he has both of us as competitors in the "HF Olympics" (a fictional competition I have created to describe the situation).
It is understood by me, after a bit of smuggness on Tony's part, that he has us entered into a race - the aim of which is to gather the most DXCC's. He is feeling a bit annoyed that I have 96 and he has 88, and so let the race begin!!! Except he is in control of the "chair" and I have to make the tea, how fair is this race? It seems I am being ambushed from the start lol, and he is trying to sabotage my chances by hogging the station ..... damn he has just gotten another one, the South Shetland Islands and he is sooooo rubbing it in my face and I am typing this post.
I think he used the words "hahaha whoo hooo hooo, Im catchin you" as he rubs his hands together like a child that is about to get everything he wants.
And so, Mr. C has just realised that I have already have this station and is a bit gutted that he wasnt aware I had worked the South Shetland Islands and is pondering where else I might have worked. He is now bragging to our 11 year old that he is nearly caught up to me hahahah, how childish is this gonna get? Is there a category for a 33 year old child? Maybe there should be lol.
So Im in the middle of the main event at this HF Olympics, wonder what the prize is? Well whatever it is, there is a lot of hand rubbing, gleeful laughs and gloating going on, maybe there is some evidence of performance enhancers, Ill have to check this one out!!!
73, Lisa
Monday, 9 May 2011
Slang
Ok, so Ive just been having a convo with Tony and he has been informing me of some of the slang words used in radio, half of them I have never heard and if I happened to walk in on a QSO and they were being used, Id be taking out the Golden Pages to search for the nearest mental institution.
For example, "thanks you for the flowers" ... wtf??? Imagine this, I walk in on a QSO, the other person compliments the audio "ooo good sir, you are sounding beautiful" (haha Ive now become an imaginary Italian) and the answer they get is...."thank you for the flowers???????" this is totally absurd to me, I have never heard of this and it seems wayyyyyy off topic, mmmm audio - flowers in 10 secs, how the hell did that happen haha.
Another one, "how many candles are you burning", emmmm I dont, I have electric, what kind of hut do you live in weirdo? Apparantly it means how old are you hahaha pmsl, how would I have known that? Id be thinking I was talking to Ben Hur or Tarzan or someone, anyone have a dictionary?
The other one most used is "lid", as in "you are a lid" - emmm okkkk, calling me tupperware is a bit of an insult, or in correct terms I have just been called crap, or useless, or thick but in most ppls standards its rubbish, because you know they teach you how to be excellent in your ham training course under the module "how not to be a lid - the do's and dont's".
I have to say, I have never heard these before but they are totally mental, has anyone any more I need to know because Id hate to be a "lid" on air and not know what Im talking about, not knowing my "flowers" from my candles can be a dangerous business, especially as it can lead to a torrid of abuse or sexual harrassment claims lmao.
Ciao for now
73, Lisa
For example, "thanks you for the flowers" ... wtf??? Imagine this, I walk in on a QSO, the other person compliments the audio "ooo good sir, you are sounding beautiful" (haha Ive now become an imaginary Italian) and the answer they get is...."thank you for the flowers???????" this is totally absurd to me, I have never heard of this and it seems wayyyyyy off topic, mmmm audio - flowers in 10 secs, how the hell did that happen haha.
Another one, "how many candles are you burning", emmmm I dont, I have electric, what kind of hut do you live in weirdo? Apparantly it means how old are you hahaha pmsl, how would I have known that? Id be thinking I was talking to Ben Hur or Tarzan or someone, anyone have a dictionary?
The other one most used is "lid", as in "you are a lid" - emmm okkkk, calling me tupperware is a bit of an insult, or in correct terms I have just been called crap, or useless, or thick but in most ppls standards its rubbish, because you know they teach you how to be excellent in your ham training course under the module "how not to be a lid - the do's and dont's".
I have to say, I have never heard these before but they are totally mental, has anyone any more I need to know because Id hate to be a "lid" on air and not know what Im talking about, not knowing my "flowers" from my candles can be a dangerous business, especially as it can lead to a torrid of abuse or sexual harrassment claims lmao.
Ciao for now
73, Lisa
Rant of the day
Why is it that when I come home from work, I have Tony telling me all about how great the propagation is and how he has made so many contacts on 10m, but when I sit down (after feeding everyone and sorting the place out) the whole globe decides to feck off and leave me?
I have to say Im a bit jealous, I couldve worked all these stations but I had to actually earn a living, whats that about haha does my boss not realise I need to be talking to people? On the other hand if I used that argument with her, she would probably tell me to answer the phones lol.
But on a serious level, it seems that E season is coming upon us, nice openings on 6m and 10m today, which dont seem to be open much to date. A lot of UK stations coming in on 15m also, which I personally havent worked, but Tony tells me he has been hearing them 59+ in some cases. A lot of German stations to be heard in our (ahem .... MY) shack, so much so that I could nearly earn a worked all Germany award!
So Tony is now all excited about his favourite time of year, and no doubt this is where the chances of a domestic could become reality as the battle for the chair may soon commence ..... as soon as he gets a chance to sort the 6m antenna out lol..... mmmmmmm maybe I might sabotage the antenna situation a bit further by hiding the coax HI. This is the reason why I got the Tennamast Adapt a Mast, so I can get at the antennas without becoming spiderwoman (plus a latex suit wouldnt be very flattering).
That said, looks like Europe is beginning to boom in on all bands and some very rare DX to be had..... except me (everyone say awwwww)
Rant over, chat soon
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
I have to say Im a bit jealous, I couldve worked all these stations but I had to actually earn a living, whats that about haha does my boss not realise I need to be talking to people? On the other hand if I used that argument with her, she would probably tell me to answer the phones lol.
But on a serious level, it seems that E season is coming upon us, nice openings on 6m and 10m today, which dont seem to be open much to date. A lot of UK stations coming in on 15m also, which I personally havent worked, but Tony tells me he has been hearing them 59+ in some cases. A lot of German stations to be heard in our (ahem .... MY) shack, so much so that I could nearly earn a worked all Germany award!
So Tony is now all excited about his favourite time of year, and no doubt this is where the chances of a domestic could become reality as the battle for the chair may soon commence ..... as soon as he gets a chance to sort the 6m antenna out lol..... mmmmmmm maybe I might sabotage the antenna situation a bit further by hiding the coax HI. This is the reason why I got the Tennamast Adapt a Mast, so I can get at the antennas without becoming spiderwoman (plus a latex suit wouldnt be very flattering).
That said, looks like Europe is beginning to boom in on all bands and some very rare DX to be had..... except me (everyone say awwwww)
Rant over, chat soon
Ciao for now, 73, Lisa
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Publicity already!!!
Ok so its obviously time for another post lol, I have noticed some of the lads have "advertised" me on their blogs so I'm gonna return the favour.
Firstly, Mr. Paul Colyer (M0PCZ) my UK stalker haha who insists on following me via the bands to all my field days (like Ive done so many haha), even trying to get me in jail!!! Hes a funny man but be careful of his wit, it might bite, follow him here http://m6pcz.blogspot.com
Also, Mr. Anthony Murphy (EI2KC) of the Dundalk area with whom I Facebook chat, another funny man but a serious operator (I want his shack and all his contacts HI HI) can be followed here http://hamradioireland.blogspot.com. As soon as I figure out how to do it, I will add permanent links lol, at this stage I cant even add pictures haha
Ciao for now
Lisa
1st day
Ok, so this is my first day as a blogger. It isnt something Ive done before and to be honest, I dont even know half of what Im doing. It was Tony (my other half, EI3GAB) who suggested that I should start my own blog (prob so I get off his Facebook page lol) so here goes.
A brief background summary, I never really had an interest in amateur radio, Tony is a ham for years and never could get me involved. When he founded the North Cork Radio Group (EI1NC), I was given lots of little jobs to do, and through this he convinced me to study for the exam (bet he's sorry now). Myself and a few other members of the group took the exam in October 2010 and I passed, and hence EI9GSB was born.(Thanks to everyone for their help with this, especially Tony, who nagged the s**t outta me to carry on when I didnt want to )
Since then, I have kinda hijacked his station and really found my interest growing. I took part in my first ever contest in November 2010, after taking ages to get the courage to do it, and loved it. I currently have worked 93 DXCC's and have made over 600 contacts throughout the world. I get amazed at the amount of DXCC I have never even heard of, especially all the tiny islands. I dont think Tony thought his idea through past the exam, I can see an eviction notice coming my way lol.
I only attended my first radio rally last September held by the Group, and my first CASHOTA activation (and field day) in February of this year. I have helped organise at least 3 other field days and I look forward to each of these, although sometimes its hard when you have kids that get bored after a while.
Ok, so here I am with my own blog and of course this was after sneaking a peek at Paul Colyer's (M0PCZ) and Anthony Murphy's (EI2KC) to see what it entailed (thanks lads, although ye knew nothing about it haha). So hopefully this one will be a success and wont be filled with girly ramblings, ok it will from time to time.
So right, thats me done for the first post, hopefully itll get better as the days pass.
Chat to you soon, 73, Lisa
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