EI VHF News - (June 1999 to Dec 2000)



This page contains info on what is happening around EI on the VHF bands. I hope to keep it updated with news of repeaters, beacons, news of future expeditions, etc. I may also include some non-EI VHF news items as well.

December 2000
  • Mayo 2m Repeater - The Mayo Repeater is operational at the moment with the callsign EI2MRR. It is under test at the QTH of EI6IZ in Castlebar, Co. Mayo (IO53HU). If all goes well, it will be placed on the repeater site in Kiltimagh soon......Info from Dave, EI4IX
  • Cork 70cms Repeater - The Cork 70cms repeater on RB10 (433.250 MHz) is off air at present. Its antenna, a Diamond colinear, was damaged in the recent storms.

November 2000
  • Tom, EI9BG - Silent Key.
    "It is with deep regret that we learn of the death of Tom Donnellan EI9BG.
    Tom obtained his amateur licence in the 1960's and had been very active on the VHF bands over the years. Tom's first love was CW and he spent most of his time on the CW end of the bands. An excellent CW operator, he was always willing to assist new members in learning the code. Tom was a very active member of Limerick Radio Club. He was a major influence in setting up the VHF repeater in the Limerick region, one of the first repeater sites in EI. He arranged the construction of the special building which houses the repeater. The building stands as a testament of his commitment to amateur radio.
    Tom was a true radio experimenter and was a trustee of Limerick Radio Club for a long number of years. He was also made an Honorary Life member of the Club which was an indication of the esteem in which he was held by all its members.
    Tom was first and foremost one of life's great gentlemen. He was a true amateur in the best sense of the word and displayed all those noble qualities in his dealings with his fellow man. He will be sadly missed by all his amateur friends both in Limerick Radio Club and throughout EI.
    We extend our deepest sympathy to his wife Mary and his family on their sad loss. May he rest in peace.
    Ar dheis De go raibh ahAnnam dhilis".....IRTS Radio News, Nov 12th.
    (Tom was one of the very first EI stations to use 50 MHz when the band was released in the late 80's. He was one of the very few stations active from IO52 square and was very active on most of the VHF bands (6m/4m/2m) during the 70's and 80's.....de John, EI7GL)
  • GB3LER is operational again - "The GB3LER 50.064MHz beacon (located near Lerwick in the Shetland Islands - IP90JD) is now operational again. It is running 30W into a folded dipole at about 100m above sea level, and should be as good an auroral indicator as it was before. Please send any reception reports to me at the e-mail address below, and I'll pass them on. 73 Chris, Chris GM3WOJ ".....From the UKSMG Website.
    (This is a very useful beacon for EI stations if you want to check for Auroral conditions. Another useful one is GB3RMK on 50.060 MHz in IO77 Square...de John, EI7GL)
October 2000
  • Anglesey 6m Beacon back ??? - In a recent posting on the UKSMG website, Tony, GW4VEQ, mentioned that the Welsh 6m Beacon, GB3SIX may be back on air soon. He states "It has been qrt for a while due to having to re-locate, it WILL go back on-air as soon as the new mast has finished undergoing construction". It will be operational from the Island of Anglesy in North West Wales on a frequency of 50.020 MHz. This beacon was operational before during the late 80's and early 90's. As it was beaming West torwards North America, it had a very good signal in Ireland. As a result, it was a good indicator of tropo conditions on the band or for doing antenna tests.

September 2000
  • EI2WRC - Info on the Waterford Beacons on 2m and 70cms - "The 2m and 70cm beacons will remain "off-air" until an alternative site has been found to house them. They were operational from Donnell's Hill Portlaw until recently when we decided that the site was needed for the 2m voice repeater. It is technically impossible to have the repeater and beacon running side by side due to interference. We hope to have the beacon relocated as soon as possible".....Info from the SEARG Website.
  • Recent changes to the Cork ATV Repeater, EI2TVR - The Cork ATV repeater on 23 cms, EI2TVR has undergone some changes recently. The transmit antenna has now been changed to an Alford slot, the same as the recieve antenna. This means that the repeater now has omni-directional coverage. A special notch filter was constructed by Polytron in Kinsale to prevent "desensing" of the reciever. Recieved reports have been very good. The present power level is 10 watts.
    Changes have also been made to the "Beacon mode" signal. For the last year, when the repeater was in beacon mode, it used to transmit a sequence of test cards. This has been replaced with the installation of a "Live Cam". This is live video from a video camera pointing at Cork City. One novel feature of this is that it covers the flight path for planes going into Cork airport. One can see approaching planes as the flight path is right accross the screen.
    Future plans include the use of a "four way" split screen......Thanks to Aedan, EI3EG and Finbarr, EI1CS for the info.
  • DXpedition to IO42 on 144 MHz - Frank, DH7FB, is going to be active from IO42 square from the 17th to the 29th of September, 2000. He will also be active on High Speed CW (2500 lpm) for Meteor Scatter skeds. He is going to use a FT736R, 300Watts and a 9ele F9FT Yagi. For results of this expedition, check This Website.
  • Future Upgrades for the Cork 2m Repeater ??? - The Cork Repeater Group have plans to buy a second set of filters to place in line with the existing pair and increase the power output to 100 watts into the antenna, but its a long term plan. At present, the Cork Repeater has a wide coverage area. Anthony, EI2HY, reports that he has worked through the repeater using a handheld from Rosslare, Co.Wexford (110 miles to the East). He has also worked through it using a handheld from the Blasket Islands, Co.Kerry (75 miles to the West).....Info from Anthony, EI2HY.
August 2000
  • Mayo Repeater - "The Mayo repeater will now definitely be placed in an excellent location. Originally it was going to be placed at 7IQs qth but they have managed to get permission to place the antenna on the mast of Mid-West Radio on the Kiltimagh Mountains which is abt 1000 feet ASL. I'm told it should be up and running in the next few weeks. The lads have put up the antennas and just have to install the repeater in the building and align it.".....Info from Dave, EI4IX.
  • EI2WRC beacons - The South Eastern Radio Group in Waterford are currently looking for alternative sites for the 144 MHz and 432 MHz EI2WRC beacons. They had to be shut down earlier in the Summer to make way for the re-locating of the 2m FM repeater from Mt.Leinster to the Portlaw site.....Thanks to info from Mark, EI7IS.
  • The Waterford Repeaters - "The repeaters have been upgraded last week (2m/70cm). The audio is much improved and the power output from the 2m repeater is now 25 watts. Let me know if you find any difference.".....Info from Mark, EI7IS.
    If you would like to comment on the changes, Mark can be contacted at [email protected]
  • EI 6m Beacon??? - There is a short note on the East Cork Radio Clubs website about the possibility of a future 6m beacon in EI. The only operational EI beacon at present is EI4RF on 70 MHz......Info from the EI7M Website.
  • EI7KRR - 70cm repeater in Cavan - "EI's oldest UHF repeater is back on the air with a new callsign, EI7KRR, Kells Radio Repeater. It is on RB3 with new aerials designed by P.J. EI8IP and is giving very wide coverage. The repeater can accessed by 88.5 Hz CTCSS or 1750 Hz tone burst. The timeout is two and a half minutes. It also has a VHF input to the ATV talkback frequency which can be switched on or off by the mobile station. It is located on Ronnie EI9ED's site in County Cavan.
    All the above listed gear is on a site owned by Ronnie EI9ED and we would like, on behalf of all users, to say thanks to him for his outstanding service to the hobby in Echo India.".....from the IRTS News.
  • ATV repeaters in Cavan - There are now 2 operational ATV repeaters in Cavan, EI2ATR, the 23cms ATV repeater and EI3ATR, the 10GHz ATV repeater. The EI2ATR TV repeater is on 1276 MHz and is operational with wide coverage giving P5 pictures in Dublin at 55 miles and both Dundalk and Cavan at 30 miles. The EI3ATR repeater is on 10.040GHz and can be worked at P5 from Cavan to Dundalk and Dublin.
    The Irish Amateur Television Club is actively looking for new members and club support nationwide. There is a link to their web site on the IRTS web site.....Info from the IRTS News.
    If you would like more info on ATV in Ireland, go back to my index page, then go to the section "Other EI Websites". There are several links there for EI ATV info......de John, EI7GL

June 2000
  • Six Metre Award - The IRTS has announced a new award for six metre operators. It will run over a calendar year and will be scored as follows : One point for each QSO during the year multiplied by the large Maidenhead squares and DXCC Countries worked. Each square and country only counts once............IRTS Newsletter (Jun 2000)
  • New 70cms Repeater in Cork - There is now a second 70cms repeater in the Cork area. It is located about 20 miles North West of Cork City and is about 1500 feet above Sea Level. It is operating on a frequency of 433.300 MHz (Input = +1.6 MHz). A CTCSS access tone of 103.5 Hz is required. It is running about 7 watts and was set up by John, EI3BF. Fixed stations in Cork and Limerick Cities can access it although it does suffer from some desensing due to a lack of proper cavity filters.....Info from Anthony, EI2HY.

December 1999
  • 23cms ATV in Cork - "The Cork ATV group has been granted the first Fast Scan TV Repeater licence in EI. The callsign of the new TV repeater is EI2TVR and operates in the 23cm band. The transmitter was designed by the West Sussex ATV group and was constructed in Cork. The reciever uses a satellite TV decoder with the DC feed to the antenna decoupled. For antennae, 2 X 18 element beams are presently being used, but experiments are continuing with home brew Alford slots. A video sync pulse detector is currently being fitted also.
    The frequencies in use are - Input 1250 MHz and Output 1293 MHz. The repeater is presently located on the RTE transmitter site at Spur Hill in Cork which also houses the Cork 70cm repeater."......IRTS Newsletter (Dec 99).
  • Cork Repeater AGM Report - "At a recent AGM, reports were given on the groups activities for the past year. The 70cm repeater has been relocated from the Apple Computer site on the North side of the city to the RTE site at Spur Hill on the South side. City centre coverage is now much improved. Work was also done on the antenna on the 2m repeater at Mullaghanish which resulted in a clearing up of the static type noise being experienced."......IRTS Newsletter (Dec 99).

October 1999
  • ATV in County Cavan - ATV is alive and well on 23cms and 3 cms from the QTH of Ronnie, EI9ED, in Cavan. An audio and video demonstration transmitter runs continuosly via a two metre rotatable dish from Cavan to Dublin on 3cms (10 GHz) and from a convex reflector running 20w on 23cms (1.3 GHz).
    Demonstration videotapes are being transmitted to show interested ATV'ers how to go about getting started. The frequency is 10.065 GHz.
    EI ATV records. On the 13th of May 1999, pictures were exchanged on 10 GHz between Rod, EI3CZ and Ronnie, EI9ED over a distance of 51 miles. P5 reports were exchanged both ways. On the 10th of July, contact was made with Rod from Clairemount Carn to Dublin with P5 reports, the distance being 53 miles.
    Work is ongoing in assembling and testing repeaters for 10 GHz and 1297 MHz. The talkback frequency for ATV is 144.750 MHz."......By Ronnie, EI9ED, IRTS Newsletter 1999.
    If you would like more info on ATV in Ireland, go back to my index page, then go to the section "Other EI Websites". There are several links there for EI ATV info......de John, EI7GL

August 1999
  • Limerick Repeater - Six members of Limerick Radio Club spent a full day recently on the repeater site on Tountinna. The building and the two towers were painted, the feeder to one tower was replaced with low loss coaxial cable and a new colinear was fitted to the 2 metre digi-peater.
    The club is actively looking at getting its 70 cms repeater on RB5 back on air again. The club has two sites for their repeater. Their main 2 metre repeater is on Keeper Hill while the old repeater is still in good working order and is in standby mode on Tountinna in case any misfortune befalls the main machine on Keeper.......IRTS Newsletter (Aug 99)

June 1999
  • UHF Voice repeaters (Dublin) - EI7DUR, RB9. The Dublin 70cms UHF voice repeater, has been fully operational since late 1991 from its North Dublin city site near Junction 1 of the M1 motorway. The service area for mobile and mobile and hand mobile stations running 5 watts typically provides reliable City Centre operation, extending as far North as Balbriggan, West to Kilcock and Naas and South to Bray.
    The repeater equipment consists of a Pye 400 series Transmitter/Reciever, uP controlled logic system, seperate recieve and transmit 4 stack antennae, low loss heliax coaxial feeders and cavity filters. Power output is 12 watts ERP.
    The repeater channel is RB9, which is an output frequency of 433.225 MHz and a +1.6 MHz shift to the input of 434.825 MHz. Access is obtained by a 1750 Hz toneburst of 88.5 Hz CTCSS. The logic provides a high level deviation callsign and location ident every 5 minutes when not in use, and a low level deviation callsign only, when in talkthrough mode........By Mike, EI2DJ, IRTS Newsletter (Jun 1999)
  • UHF Voice repeaters (Dundalk) - EI7LHR, RB1. The Clermont Carn 70cms UHF voice repeater, has been on the air since early 1998. This repeater is located on RTE's main TV and Radio site at Clermont Carn which is 510 metres ASL, in the Cooley Mountains, 10 kms North of Dundalk. The height of the antenna is 25 metres AGL. The repeater is providing very good coverage of Counties Louth, Monaghan, Meath and as far South as Dublin.
    The repeater equipment consists of Pye 400 series Transmitter/Reciever, uP controlled logic system, seperate recieve and transmit 4 stack antennae, low loss heliax coaxial feeders and cavity filters. Power output is 12 watts ERP.
    The repeater channel is RB1, which is an output frequency of 433.025 MHz and a +1.6 MHz shift to the input of 434.625 MHz. Access is obtained by a 1750 Hz toneburst of 88.5 Hz CTCSS. The logic provides a high level deviation callsign and location ident every 5 minutes when not in use, and a low level deviation callsign only, when in talkthrough mode........By Mike, EI2DJ, IRTS Newsletter (Jun 1999)
  • 23cms Voice repeater (Dublin) - EI2DMR, RM4. This is the first 23cms voice repeater to be licensed in Ireland. It is currently under construction and will be fully operational in repeater/beacon mode later this year, from RTE's main TV and Radio site at Three Rock Mountain which is 448 metres ASL, in the Dublin Mountains, 16kms South of Dublin. This repeater will run in continous carrier mode.
    The repeater channel is RM4, which is an output frequency of 1297.100 MHz and a -6 MHz frequency shift to the input of 1291.100 MHz. Access is obtained by a 1750 Hz toneburst of 88.5 Hz CTCSS. The logic provides a high level deviation callsign and location ident every 5 minutes when not in use, and a low level deviation callsign only, when in talkthrough mode........By Mike, EI2DJ, IRTS Newsletter (Jun 1999)


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