On the Air (soon)

micko45

Normally a lurker here but just got a letter from Comreg saying i passed the Amateur radio exam I sat last week. Very excited as thought I failed it. Found it hard going.

Now to get my call sign :-)

martinsvi

congrats!

thelordgod

micko45 wrote: »

Normally a lurker here but just got a letter from Comreg saying i passed the Amateur radio exam I sat last week. Very excited as thought I failed it. Found it hard going.

Now to get my call sign :-)

Got a similar letter today too. Now to fork out 100 notes for the license.

micko45

thelordgod wrote: »

Got a similar letter today too. .

Congratulations :-)
Hopefully we will meet on the air, once i get my call sign and something to actually broadcast with. baofeng gt3 from amazon will be my starting point.

thelordgod wrote: »

Now to fork out 100 notes for the license.

Yes, I didn't see that coming. I thought the exam fee would cover it, but there you go.

thelordgod

And buy/build a good antenna for your Boafeng. I have a B6 and for 25 euros including delivery I cant fault it as a cheap handheld. 5 Watts and a good antenna can do a lot. Although in urban areas it picks up every alarm and camera system which is a pain.

Quaderno

Congratulations from me as well, your call sign will most likely be something like EI5H?B with the ? being replaced by a letter from the second half of the alphabet (if you send off the application in the near future).
I look forward to talking to both of you - and all the others who took the time and effort to pass the exam. Well done and I'm sure you will never regret it!

PauloMN

Congrats on getting the test folks, it's a good feeling alright!

micko45

Thanks Guys,
I'm sending off form today so hopefully will have first call done before Christmas.

You can be sure I will be posting some more questions to this forum for advise :-)

GekkePrutser

Congratulations from me too!

If you're in the Galway area make sure you give a call on 145.625 (-600kHz shift).

micko45

GekkePrutser wrote: »

If you're in the Galway area make sure you give a call on 145.625 (-600kHz shift).

Just looking at the web page for that repeater, and noticed
"The 2m repeater is equipped with an IRLP link."
So I had to lookup what a IRLP link was, wow, that looks interesting. Exam never covered this kind of stuff.


Thanks.

watty

Because really IRLP and echolink isn't much to do with Radio. It's Internet VOIP. You can achieve the same with Skype, QQ Messenger, Murmur/Mumble and others.

IRLP is just linking repeaters by Internet, which is a very fragile connection, first to be lost in any disaster.

thelordgod

micko45 wrote: »

Thanks Guys,
I'm sending off form today so hopefully will have first call done before Christmas.

You can be sure I will be posting some more questions to this forum for advise :-)

The call signs shouldn't be too long. I got a call from a gentleman in Comreg this morning looking for a piece of info that I had omitted. He said they should be out by early next week.

thelordgod

And my credit card has now been relieved of 100 euros so things are progressing. Postie might bring the callsign tomorrow hopefully?

martinsvi

nah, not likely, I remember there being a gap between credit card being charged and call being issued, be patient!

thelordgod

Ah well. Hopefully before Christmas. There were only 7 of us doing the test so not too many to process this time. I think there were around 25 in May.

thelordgod

I heard one new callsign on air this evening. He hand delivered his application on Monday so the rest of them should be soon.

micko45

thelordgod wrote: »

I heard one new callsign on air this evening. He hand delivered his application on Monday so the rest of them should be soon.

Wont be long now,

Got my boafeng yesterday from amazon, was getting excited about first contact,
Thing was as dead as a dodo, battery wont charge (Grr)
Had to send it back so can't see me on air by Christmas.
I see a few vhf/uhf handhelds on averts.ie, might try one of them.

thelordgod

micko45 wrote: »

Wont be long now,

Got my boafeng yesterday from amazon, was getting excited about first contact,
Thing was as dead as a dodo, battery wont charge (Grr)
Had to send it back so can't see me on air by Christmas.
I see a few vhf/uhf handhelds on averts.ie, might try one of them.

That's a bummer. You might be better off with a decent second hand set instead. I am on the lookout for a rig for the car myself.

GekkePrutser

micko45 wrote: »

Just looking at the web page for that repeater, and noticed
"The 2m repeater is equipped with an IRLP link."
So I had to lookup what a IRLP link was, wow, that looks interesting. Exam never covered this kind of stuff.

Actually our IRLP has been down for years Sorry. I'll ask them to remove it off the website. I don't think it's coming back.

It was a bit of a cool novelty though it wasn't used much. We'd get the odd caller from the states looking for a chat. And during big events (Volvo ocean race etc) I heard one or two visitors use it to call their ham friends at home.

I think several repeaters in the southeast use the same tech to link themselves together 24/7, which is a better idea as it increases coverage across a wider area.

thelordgod

License came in the post today - will be on air later

ei5hob

Hi all. I'd expect I was the one you heard calling in after the news last Monday (supervised as I hadn't received my call sign). You can get your call sign through the elicensing section of the comreg site, as they don't see the need to print it on the invoice/receipt letter.

thelordgod

I got it Kevin - its EI5HRB. The invoice & the license both arrived this morning. It was you I heard talking to your father earlier in the evening.

Ronan

ei5hob

Hi Ronan. Congratulations on the callsign. That was my first over on my own callsign throughout the SE repeater network. Seeing as it appears to be sequential, it'd be safe to assume that hpb and hqb have also been issued.

thelordgod

I think thats the way they are issued. I will put out a call on the way home and maybe call in after the Limerick news if I get a chance.

watty

Congratulations to EI5HRB and EI5HOB
de EI9FEB
(formerly GI8JTR)

thelordgod

Cheers Watty. Got on air last night - I was a bit shaky as the callsign hadnt stuck in my head yet!

micko45

Good stuff, well done for getting on the air,
Got mine call sign today.

orm0nd

Congrats to all,

only hf rig here at present,

hope to be back on air for the 80mtr contest on NY's day

if any one wants my call sign please pm me

martinsvi

orm0nd wrote: »

Congrats to all,

only hf rig here at present,

hope to be back on air for the 80mtr contest on NY's day

if any one wants my call sign please pm me

have you enrolled with IRTS? you have to be a paid-up member of IRTS to participate in that

watty

martinsvi wrote: »

have you enrolled with IRTS? you have to be a paid-up member of IRTS to participate in that

Only to enter to win. Anyone can take part and give points if they follow the rules.

watty

thelordgod wrote: »

I was a bit shaky as the callsign hadnt stuck in my head yet!

Now you know why "Shack photos" have a large plate with the Call Sign.

Been sick. When well I need to cut stuff that has grown tall and enveloped my longwire.

Also my VHF & UHF beams are lying on shed roof. PSU for the 2M FM rig has died, but my FT817ND is OK.

Main HF is FT101ZD MkIII (80W approx) with a Racal Syncal30 (15 to 20W from 24V NiMH pack) for transportable operation on whips or guyed portable 40M to 6M biconic military aerial (does work 80m and 2m somewhat).

martinsvi

watty wrote: »

Only to enter to win. Anyone can take part and give points if they follow the rules.

are you saying that from experience or belief?

http://www.irts.ie/cgi/showrules.cgi?gen

Rule 3.4 states - Operators of stations located within the Republic of Ireland must be paid up members of the IRTS.

In my mind it is pretty clear and there is no ambiguity about it, but I would love to be wrong on this one

thelordgod

Lads where does it say that he is a noob? I think he was congratulating the new ops and stating that he will be back on air for the contest. So he may be a paid up member...

martinsvi

thelordgod wrote: »

Lads where does it say that he is a noob? I think he was congratulating the new ops and stating that he will be back on air for the contest. So he may be a paid up member...

no one is calling anyone a noob, IRTS membership is an annual thing, even if he's an experienced OP, if he's just getting back, there's a good chance he's membership has expired... I din't intend to make feel anyone bad or anything, just pre-empting nasty surprises

watty

martinsvi wrote: »

are you saying that from experience or belief?

http://www.irts.ie/cgi/showrules.cgi?gen

Rule 3.4 states - Operators of stations located within the Republic of Ireland must be paid up members of the IRTS.

In my mind it is pretty clear and there is no ambiguity about it, but I would love to be wrong on this one

You are wrong. 3.4 only applies to Entries, not taking part!

3.5 Entries in breach of rule 3.4 will be treated as check logs, will not be scored, and will not be eligible for any award.

Also experience.

They are happy to receive "check logs" from non-members. Though most non-members wouldn't bother.

watty

thelordgod wrote: »

.... congratulating the new ops and stating that he will be back on air ...

I have been a member. It's too expensive for my budget. I rarely bother with competitions, but obviously some people like them. Membership is required for an official entry. It's not for taking part.

I do mean to get back on air, but not for Competition specifically. Bit of a demo to the Grand Children. Original Call Sign was 1972!

martinsvi

watty wrote: »

You are wrong.

that's good to know, I always assumed they are not interested in non-member check logs.. I might give it a try then this year, should be interesting

orm0nd

martinsvi wrote: »

have you enrolled with IRTS? you have to be a paid-up member of IRTS to participate in that

I'm a paid up member of IRTS for 20 years, however when my renewal is due next February I have decided not to renew, (for reasons I'd rather not disclose on here).

I enter contests (usually 10 to 20 per year) to improve my operating & key board skills, and if my points are of benefit to any one else, all the better.

pixbyjohn

martinsvi wrote: »

are you saying that from experience or belief?

http://www.irts.ie/cgi/showrules.cgi?gen

Rule 3.4 states - Operators of stations located within the Republic of Ireland must be paid up members of the IRTS.

In my mind it is pretty clear and there is no ambiguity about it, but I would love to be wrong on this one

That's a badly written rule I would say. It should read," Entries from operators of stations located within the Republic of Ireland must be paid up members of the IRTS "
All licenced operators may participate in any contest and give points.

brownmini

pixbyjohn wrote: »

That's a badly written rule I would say. It should read," Entries from operators of stations located within the Republic of Ireland must be paid up members of the IRTS "
All licenced operators may participate in any contest and give points.

Anyone can go on the air, make QSO's and give away points.
It when you want to be considered as a possible competition entrant that the membership requirement comes into play.

I could be wrong but I think that rule caused some heated (!) discussions about who was/was-not a member of the society one year.
The AGM was a little bit tense that year