YOTA - the beginning of 2013 event

So we arrived in Tartu yesterday and spent a lot of the day getting settled in, it was slightly awkward at first when you realised that most of the participants had been here last year and already new each other.  That along with the language barriers made it initially hard to develop a conversation past an occasional nod or small smile. 

The food again didn't live up to my expectations but at this stage I had come to expect that. Other than the brief hello in the corridors nothing much was happening until the welcome party later that evening. That mainly involved everyone drinking as much as they wished (obviously not youngsters) and one of the organisers playing music over a sound system.  By the end of the night most people were "well on" and there was a bit of Irish dancing involved but despite this I still didn't get to bed until 3am. 

Today was much better with the organisation of activities that allowed the participants to interact as well as get to know each other. The schedule of activities meant everyone knew where they were meant to be although I was quite surprised that not everyone took part and didn't seem to care one way or another about the blatant non attendance that was presumably the reason they were there, as I hadn't realised you had the option to attend the program but not the event which I presumes isn't the case. 

The ice breaker games, although seeming silly at the time, proved to be really fun and by the end of it I knew the name of every person in my group. Juri is the main organiser of be event this year and he did a great job today. He comes across as a really well mannered and soft spoken man who is extremely nice. 

Cultural night was held tonight and was a great success. So many different decorations and types of food etc to be tried and tasted, and everyone was so proud to tell us of their cultures, some of which were extremely fascinating. Although we didn't manage to get through all of the teams today, it'll continue through to tomorrow, albeit a big party was still had by the youngsters, with the music and dancing still in full swing even as I'm typing this, being 1.30am Estonian time. 

It'll be interesting to see what tomorrow holds for us and I presume it's an 8am start again so ill have to leave it for now. 

Estonia - Part 2

Yesterday we had another scorcher in Tallinn, approximately 23 - 25 degrees.  Breakfast was a non-starter so we went out for lunch instead to St.Patrick's.  Food in Estonia hasnt won me over I have to admit, and although I have tried a few new things, Im quite slow to pay for something I havent previously tried and which may cause me to be hungry later on for not liking it.  For example, I ordered garlic bread with cheese and when it came out, it looked like doner kebab that had been left out too long.  Now it tasted nice but too much of it and the salt was beginning to be the first hit of flavour you got.  So for lunch I had a chicken salad sandwich and some chips which was fine even if it did have a fried egg in it!

For dinner I would have loved a burger or pizza, something I would call normal, but we ended up in St. Patricks again where the dinner menu was the same as the lunch menu (which hadnt been outstanding by any means) so I decided to go for peppered steak which was the closest thing they had to red meat however on eating it, it was so spicy it burnt my taste buds.  Again another dissappointing meal.

However, the sights in Tallinn are stunningly beautiful and Kristjan (our new guide/chauffeur) kindly  brought us to the Teletorn Tower, a magnificent structure which brought us 21 floors up to the most amazing view of Tallinn ever, I havent seen a sight like this in my life.  It was spectacular, 360 degrees of contrasting industrial and forestry, mixed with a little suburbia and sea.  Astounding.

Following this we visited the beach, which again is not a sight we see Ireland where the forest meets the sand, and where the sand forms part of the forest floor.  It was beautiful, and the walk along the pier, although bumpy, was gorgeous.  It was my first time seeing guys sunbathe standing up!

Although the night did end on a high, we ended up in an Irish bar in Tallinn town centre with the lads from the Slovenian team and had a few drinks (although there was nothing Irish about the place other than the pictures of leprechauns on the wall and map of Ireland painted on).  As I was so hungry I stopped into Hesburger on the way back and got their equivilant of a Big Mac, which I have to say was pretty damn tasty.

So after spending another night in the €16 hostel, we were winging our way to Tartu on a Sebe bus which has the coolest monitors in their headrests ever, you could choose a movie, listen to music, play games etc etc.  It still doesnt take away from the 2.5 hours it took us to get here but well see how things go.  The hotel looks decent from the outside and the YOTA activities are just beginning.

Ciao for now
Lisa, EI9GSB

Estonia - My first experience

As you may know, I'm part of team Ireland for YOTA (Youngsters on the Air) which this year is being held in Estonia. 

So my adventure started off yesterday (3rd August) on a bus trip to Dublin airport which turned out to be fine and we were there in no time, probably because I fell asleep and didn't notice the time passing. It was a long wait to our flight time as 4 hours seemed like an eternity, but nevertheless we flew with Ryanair. The flight itself was ok but towards the landing I began to feel a little nauseous due to the roller coaster-type bobbing around. 

Tallinn hits us like a tonne of bricks as the heat was stifling. At passport control there were 3 lines - the "I don't give a s**t  who u are", the "ill scrutinise you a little" and the "you ain't getting through my line for love nor money". Guess which one we were in?

After waiting for about 15 mins with no movement whilst some guy gets the 3rd degree, blood tested, DNA swabbed etc (not really but it could've been done in that time) we decided to switch queues and soon enough the "I don't give a s**t" controller had us sailing through to baggage claim in no time which was a brief hop skip and jump to the outside world. 

We were met by Christjan who even had one of the cards with the YOTA logo on it, how very New York!  He very kindly brought us to the nearest mall whilst he and Ger delivered our bags to the hotel. 

Not only was he out chauffeur but he also very kindly brought us out that evening to sightsee the amazing city of Tallinn with its charming medieval buildings, gorgeous scenery, capital hill and the view from there, and also to a local restaurant for a bite to eat. We ended our tour with a well deserved drink in St. Patrick's bar and some final shopping through little markets. 

A long deserved sleep was had and how today he will be bringing us to telephone tower which is near Tallinn harbour. 

The adventure isn't over yet, to be continued .......

Contesters - fair play or just plain rude?

As you may know the IARU HF World Championship took place this weekend, a battle of the Kw stations taking over the airwaves in a frenzy of 59, 59, 59 and very little else involved. 

Now I like to take part in the odd contest, a flurry of activity to change the experience from regular QSO's in a bid to rack up points and even new dxccs or prefixes, but some contesters take the biscuit. 

Apart from the usual 900+ watt power levels, splattering of other callers only 2-5 kHz away either side and finding a station nearly on every frequency on every band, my pet peev (as well as being totally illegal) is the blatant disregard for the band plans and other operators rights to use their mode/calls without undue interference from other stations. 

My personal experience has been a recent one, today in fact. Whilst attending a special CASHOTA activation with NCRG on Spike Island, Co. Cork I had checked that my frequency was clear by asking this twice and receiving no reply(although there was tiny splatter from a station 4 kHz above on 7.167/8).  I began to operate on 7.163 and had a nice little steady stream of calls going, me giving the information and reference for the award program, and getting nice info in return for approximately 45 mins. Not only was my little pile up picking up pace, but I had a great time telling people about my location etc, when all of a sudden I was totally wiped out by a nearby station, splattering all over my frequency

I turned the dial to see who had wrecked my contacts (as I could no longer hear anyone) only to find a contest station OP0HQ on 7.162!  Only 1 kHz away! He obliterated my QSO's as if the bands weren't bad enough. 

I decided to call this station and sure enough he answered me in one call which indicated if he could hear me then he knew I was operating next to him. I asked why he had not checked frequencies near him and his answer was that the bands were jammed and he had the frequency since 5am. I pointed out that jammed bands were not my concern and there was no way he could have been occupying that frequency for the past 45 mins as I had operates quite successfully from that time and had the log to prove it.  He then retorted that the contest was on and would be finished at 12 which did not concern me in the slightest and I told him so. I couldn't believe the arrogant attitude and self righteousness of his comment and to think his was a HQ station!  It really annoyed me if Im honest. 

Another issue was the use of other portions of the bands not designated to SSB. I have heard contest stations operating in the CW and beacon portions   of the band, not to mention operating outside of bands eg 7.250 just to work the States which is unfair to other hams who abide by their band plans and rules & regs. 

Although I won't tar all contesters with the same brush as that would be extremely unfair, but those contesters who don't play by the rules give all contest stations a bad reputation. 

CASHOTA - a program for kings (or some other important people)

So it's that time of year again, well for NCRG it's always that time - CASHOTA!

We will be activating a new castle as part of CASHOTA weekend - Kanturk Castle in Co. Cork on the 19th May using reference EI022/C.

This is another first for both us and the CASHOTA Ireland program, which in fairness could use a bit of promotion. Every week I see different castles or stately homes being activated in the UK, with plenty of contacts to be made. However in Ireland the interest just doesn't appear to be there.

If you think about it, Ireland has a history steeped in royalty and there are castles and forts to be found all over the country yet only 22 of these has been done, with NCRG having credit for at least 7 of these in the last 2 years. Why is the ham community here not taking advantage of the opportunity to activate a site of importance in its day whilst giving CASHOTA chasers the chance to get an award?

It is also a chance for a single ham or group of hams to have some portable fun, with the activation going back to basics at some locations with the battery operated equipment, portable antenna setup and a packed lunch!

So if any of you would like to come for a chat, work the stations or just to visit the site, we would be delighted to see you on the 19th May.

Ciao for now
Lisa EI9GSB

EI13CLAN..a week of pile ups!

As part of the North Cork Radio Group I was allowed the opportunity to operate the callsign EI13CLAN, which is a special callsign of the IRTS to celebrate the Gathering. NCRG had exclusive use of the call from 28th March to the 7th April and this turned out to be quite a week.

In my determination to get as much exposure as possible for the call, I decided to take my somewhat relaxed radio activity out of hibernation. Other than NCRG activations, I had hardly worked any stations under my own call recently with the exception of the CQ contest in October. What fun I had!

The first few days were slow for me as I steadied myself into the familiar rhythm of giving the call and waiting for the responses. The contest on the 30 & 31st March didn't appeal to me much this time as I found the bands were very crowded and splatter was completely at home dancing throughout all frequencies, so much so that I felt the call couldn't get the recognition it deserved.

Then the magic began to happen. From the 1st April the bands opened up and consistent calls began to flow in return to my call. I found myself glued to the chair for hours, with 120 replies on first pile up, followed by 150 the following day and 120 after that. I was in my element. I loved the attention and demand for the call and once I saw the call spotted on the clusters I knew it was plain sailing.

I decided to help Tony re-erect the mini beam antenna last Wed and what a difference this made! I found myself operating on 20m being shouted at and called from all parts of the world, 4 hours I sat there and netted a total of 320 QSOs! I was hearing much "88" and "73" from lots of operators, and was even requested a number of times for my personal call. In saying that I did take advantage and worked a few new DXCCs also for myself when the chance arose.

I loved working the special call and although I'm all radioed out today, I'm sure ill be back at it with my own call in no time. I will have my DX century soon

So bye bye CLAN it's be emotional and I look forward to meeting you again

Sunday is a day of rest?!!... Not in ham land

Last Sunday 3rd March was easily the most busiest day I have had yet. For some reason everyone seemed to choose this date for different reasons to have things on but as a ham I had to decided to go with the radio aspect of events.

It started off with my annual trip to the Limerick Radio Club rally (LRC). I started out from home at 930 and had quite an enjoyable spin to the venue on Ennis Road with Tony EI3GAB and my son Nathan (who at this stage is allergic to my constant dragging of him to these events).

There was a good array of items for sale and the best part for me of course is always meeting up and chatting with the friends I've made over the years. Unfortunately I couldn't stay very long as the 3rd March also kicked off the events calendar for our group, NCRG.

As it was Engineers Week we were activating Blackrock Castle in Cork City under the CASHOTA reference EI009/C.

Both me and Tony raced to the venue and set up the station in extra quick time, even the antenna (an end fed 53ft dipole) cooperated with us and we had no problem with tuning / swr as can sometimes happen in that venue.

As we operated the station we had quite a few little future operators come to visit us, and they were more than eager to jump on the band and say hello to our callers (thanks to all our friends who obliged us by taking the time to say hello).

Once the event finished at 5pm we packed up and set off home. I was so tired from the mad rush of the day, I was quite happy to sit down and relax, I couldn't even be bothered to unload the equipment from the car!

But I love the events and can't wait for the next one at Ballynamona Beach on 18th March.