Part 1 of 2

Following our thoroughly enjoyable holiday in Ireland in 1998, Sheila and I decided that we would like to return to the "emerald isle" in June 2002. As usual, my first thought was to find a rare(ish) locator square to operate from on 6 metres! In 1998 I had activated IO41 at the same time that G3JHM was operating from IO42. Since then there has also been activity from IO43 and IO44. However, I could not find any record of serious 6 metre operation from IO55 so I decided that this would be a good choice.

As you can see from the locator map, most of IO55 is in the Atlantic Ocean, with just a few square miles in County Donegal. We began searching for a suitable holiday cottage, and Sheila very quickly discovered an ideal-sounding location on the Internet.

Donegal Thatched Cottages are a group of 10 holiday cottages on the island of Cruit (pronounced "Critch") joined by a causeway to the mainland. I emailed the owner and after obtaining permission for a small mast and 6 metre antenna we booked a week's holiday from 8th to 15th June 2002. We booked our ferry crossing from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and I set about obtaining a 6 metre permit from the Irish licensing authorities.

After several email exchanges - and a wait of about 5 weeks - my permit duly arrived. The last time I operated from Ireland (in 1998) I used the callsign EI/G4IJE/P - a bit of a mouthful - so I was delighted that this time I was issued with a "proper" Irish callsign, EI4VXB.

As I am now almost a veteran of "holiday radio" operation it didn't take me long to draw up a list of the equipment required. The main station would be my IC706mkIIG with a Samlex switch-mode power supply. I would use the same 5 element tonna and 16 foot telescopic mast that had proved so successful on previous trips. Logging would done on an HP Omnibook laptop computer using my own logging software. Unlike my previous trips to Ireland and Scotland, an opportunity to take a backup radio presented itself. Tony, G0PQF, has a Tokyo HT106 6 metre radio and he offered it to me provided I didn't mind collecting it from the island of Anglesey! This was not as daft as it sounds, as Tony would be on holiday there on the day that Sheila and I would be travelling to Holyhead, which is of course on Anglesey. We therefore agreed to meet at Tony's holiday cottage to allow me to pick up the radio.

Just six days before we were due to leave for Ireland, my Father was taken ill. It turned out to be much more serious than we had initially thought and sadly he died on the Wednesday morning - just two days before our planned departure. It was a difficult decision, but after much discussion with my brother and other family members, Sheila and I decided we should go ahead with our holiday plans.

Click here for photos of Donegal             Click here for Part 2 >>