Repeater list IRTS up to date?

GekkePrutser

Just wondering if I'm missing something, I've been driving to Dublin a lot more due to work travel commitments and I was hoping to have a chat along the way on this boring drive (don't worry, I've got a complete handsfree setup for my mobile rig). I can do 2m/70cm.

I've been scanning all the repeaters and gateways from this list: http://www.irts.ie/cgi/repeater.cgi in my scanning loop but I haven't heard any activity apart from some morse IDs. I've been calling CQ on every repeater that I heard but I only had a reply once or twice (thanks to those who did!)

Even the two Dublin repeaters I found didn't seem to have any activity. What would be the main repeater in the Dublin area? Three Rock or Kippure?

I saw the list has only been updated in 2012 so I was wondering if there's any I might not know about? I know the Galway repeaters are really quiet these days but I wouldn't have expected the same in Dublin

I'd love to do HF as well but I don't have the possibility of having antennas at home (rented appt) and it's a bit too distracting for mobile.

watty

A lot of them are quiet all the time.

Personally:

1) I got concerned about driving, so would only use them on straight road outside towns. Even with Hands Free Mobile Radio can be too distracting in City or M7 /M50 busy traffic.
2) Most Echo link users are poorly setup and I won't bother trying to talk to them any more.
3) Echo link and IRLP are a bit pointless. I have Skype, it's free on Broadband and even can work on Mobile.

4) I had an Aerial stolen while getting a coffee in Mountrath and a Mobile stolen from car in driveway 10pm at night, driver's window smashed. So I never leave a Radio in the car.

I now only put Radio in car for special trips and pack nearly 6m long telescopic for bolting on rear tow eye for HF (park first!) and large multi-band whips and tri-mount for 10m / 6m /4m VHF and UHF.

I think Three Rock repeater in last 9 or 10 years has been very quiet. I've had more Welsh contacts than Dubliners the 3 years I spent a lot of time there.

Kippure is really only good North Dublin etc. Not much use inside M50 and none really in South side.

watty

Get "silver stick" CB home base whip and remove internal base loading coil / transformer so it will work with an ATU (possible 80m to 6m). Replace the screw driver / hex tightened clamps with "thumb"/Butterfly types. It will work on a balcony rail or "tow eye" on car with a clamp. Performance 14MHz to 29MHz very good and if adjusted to 7/8ths wave will tune on 6m. With a suitable ATU close to base you can operate 40m & 80m, even 160m if ATU has enough inductance.

GekkePrutser

watty wrote: »

A lot of them are quiet all the time.

Personally:

1) I got concerned about driving, so would only use them on straight road outside towns. Even with Hands Free Mobile Radio can be too distracting in City or M7 /M50 busy traffic.
2) Most Echo link users are poorly setup and I won't bother trying to talk to them any more.
3) Echo link and IRLP are a bit pointless. I have Skype, it's free on Broadband and even can work on Mobile.

4) I had an Aerial stolen while getting a coffee in Mountrath and a Mobile stolen from car in driveway 10pm at night, driver's window smashed. So I never leave a Radio in the car.

I now only put Radio in car for special trips and pack nearly 6m long telescopic for bolting on rear tow eye for HF (park first!) and large multi-band whips and tri-mount for 10m / 6m /4m VHF and UHF.

I think Three Rock repeater in last 9 or 10 years has been very quiet. I've had more Welsh contacts than Dubliners the 3 years I spent a lot of time there.

Kippure is really only good North Dublin etc. Not much use inside M50 and none really in South side.

Thanks for your comments!

You're right, I'm very conscious of the distraction. That's why I made the handsfree setup (and won't use HF mobile as it requires too much fiddling with controls). I mainly use mine on the M4/M6 to Galway, whenever I tend to go there it's very quiet (except when you get close to Dublin during rush hour). And I sometimes use it in stop&go traffic locally in the town, I spend at least half an hour per day just sitting in an idling car

I didn't know Dublin was so bad for car breakins, I've had my FT-7800 in the car for 3 years now, here in Galway it's safer luckily. If I park in Dublin at the airport I always take the frontpanel off though (I have the remote head setup). Sounds like that was a good precaution.

And yes I agree echolink is pointless with all the PC headset users. I never got into that myself, I think it's too little to do with radio. IRLP I did enjoy sometimes when we had it locally, it was nice to get the odd caller from the states looking for their roots in ireland, stuff like that. I have all the Echolink gateways from that IRLP page in my scanloop but I've never heard any peep out of any one of them, I think most are turned off.

I guess I just miss it a bit, when I worked in Amsterdam around 2000 it was mad busy on the local repeater during rush hour. Many people on the mobile, some of them even mobile on their pushbikes Keeping each other up to date on the traffic blackspots and chatting about our day and tech stuff. But I know it's a lot quieter these days on the bands, not just here but everywhere.

Thanks also about your tips on the CB antenna. But I don't have a rig at present, and not even a balcony I know there's mobile options but I don't really want to spend the money on a decent rig and tuner if I have to set it up every time I want to use it. So I'm just sticking with VHF/UHF for now. If I ever get a house I'll definitely set up a station though.

watty

The rig wasn't stolen in Dublin, but Rural Limerick. Either way, one report can't label an area bad. Mountrath is nearly 1/2 way.


If you can afford a Car a decent 2nd hand HF rig and auto ATU isn't much extra. Any lay-by or car park.

Hands free kit makes little difference to Mobile Radio since you listen hands free anyway.

martinsvi

from the list - EI2TRR and EI7DNR are offline and have been down for a very long time.
EI2KPR is a bit hit and miss, sometimes it's busy as hell only to be followed by complete silence for number of days, but as Watty said it's quite useless in Dublin south (where I'm based). I can open it from my QTH but the signal is quite poor as it has to get over a mountain.

EI7TRR on the other hand is heard in most places in Dublin, beautiful, strong signal from it, but I can't open it from my QTH for some reason. I can piggy back on someone else opening the repeater, then I get 5/9 reports, no problem, but it will time me out and drop me. Not sure what the issue is, I have gone through the CTCSS settings a million times.

For me, I suppose, the most reliable and used repeater would be the Cavan repeater. It uses voice identification, which is annoying, but on the positive side - sometimes it gets linked into SEARG network which allows me to have QSO's with half of the country. I would love to learn more how and when it gets linked in as it happens on quite irregular bases

as for the HF, I myself live in a rented accommodation, I was inspired by this article - http://www.swharden.com/blog/2010-02-07-simple-diy-stealth-apartment-antenna-for-20m-and-40m/

I have a G5rv JR mounted in attic, it's not ideal but it gets me out. As I mainly prefer low power digital modes, I have no issues with RFI. 100W SSB is fine too, problems only start to creep up if I'm doing 100W CW, which is very rear, as I'm an awful listener

watty

Tone burst at start of 1st call as well as CTCSS to open Three Rock is my memory, but that was 5 years ago.