SMIRK
SMIRK
Location
Map co-ordinates 55 11 24 N 006 39 06 W - Maidenhead grid locator IO65QE.
Located on the outskirts of the small seaside town of Portrush, Co.
Antrim, N. Ireland.
About 30 MASL, and within sight of the North Atlantic Ocean (about 1Km away)
which is
probably the main reason I have always done pretty well toward North and South America,
and the Caribbean regions. There is also an excellent sea path, over the North Pole to the
Pacific,
I'm still waiting for ZL !!
GI0OTC
First licensed as GI8YDZ in 1980, active at one time on all bands 1.8 - 1296.0
Mhz and 10Ghz.
I passed my Morse exam January 1991 and upgraded to a Class A license in March of that
year
Since 1987 when 50 Mhz became available to my license Class at the time (B) I have
operated
on the band almost continuously.
The band has become my all time favourite, occasional visits to H.F. have always resulted
in my
returning to the magic band. I am a member of the UKSMG #197 and also SMIRK #5543.
My other radio interests include building high-power RF power amplifiers (all bands), and
messing about
with antennas etc.
Further Reading:
Read about the first QSO from Lebanon on SIX Metres between OD5SK and GI0OTC
Description of an average day dx-ing in Cycle 22 by
GI0OTC
Achievement's
157 DXCC countries worked (up to 13/12/01),
104 as GI firsts. Also 917 grid
squares worked in 78 large fields.
Awards: 50 Mhz DXCC (#70 dated 03/02/92) & 50 Mhz WAC
(Worked all Continents) dated 11/01/90.
The first, and to date still the only 50 Mhz DXCC holder in (GI) N. Ireland.
VK6 - 50 Mhz distance record holder with VK6RO on 28/02/90
at a distance of 14904.1Kms.
Best DX:
F2 - VK4FF & VK4JH both (QH30) 15382Kms
worked on the
01/02/92 between 11:48 - 11:55
Sp E - W5OZI (EM00) 7455Kms.worked during 2000 Es summer season
Aurora/F2 Link - W1JJM (FN41) 4868Kms.worked and
heard several others Dec-2000
Equipment
My first 50 Mhz gear was a 144/50 transverter from Microwave Modules and a 5
element Tonna antenna.
1988 saw an upturn in band conditions, and that prompted a change of equipment to a brand
new, and at
the time recently released ICOM IC-575A. It was also time to upgrade the antenna, so a 6
element was
built from an ARRL design.
That set-up has continued in use through Solar Cycle 22 up to the present date. However,
early
September 1999 saw the erection of an M² 7 element
antenna, model 6M7 see photo album.
Also added at the same time was a homebrew mast-head pre-amp (12 db gain, .6db NF)
to help over
come a long feeder (45 meter) run of Heliax® hard-line.
A small homebrew 250 watt (to my own design) 4CX250B PA. was added a few years ago when
the licensing authority increased the RF output to 400 watts.
Having recently obtained a 1Kw 50Mhz experimental license, my
long running construction of a high power amplifier
using an EIMAC® 4CX1500B power
tetrode, is now completed. Again to my own design, but this time utilizing
G3SEK
designed PSU and control boards. Photos available.
GB3NGI Beacon (50.0625)
The beacon was designed and built by GI8YDZ (now GI0OTC), and was installed October 1988 in
grid locator IO65PA.
During the operational period 1988 - 1992, it's 15 watts from a dipole antenna were audible
in many countries.
Hear an audio clip of GB3NGI as recorded by WA5IYX - EL09
during an extensive North American opening
on 20-Nov-1989. But late in 1992, due to increased site costs etc., the beacon was removed from service.
Updated 13-Dec-2001