I am heading to Ireland again for the last two weeks of July. I am trying to decide on which radio to bring, but was considering the IC-705 to try some 6 meters. Is there much 6 meter activity? I didn’t find any summits with that band listed.
Jeff
WX7OR
Hi Jeff,
You won’t find much local 6m activity in EI but if you post alerts and spots you will likely attract a few calls. I’ve made just one solitary 6m activator qso back in 2015! You will have more success on 2m and 70cm, but HF is your best bet.
73 John EI3KA
Fáilte go hÉireann! 
Per John’s post there, I’ve not seen much personally around 6m activity. That said, there probably are operators out there working it.
You should have some good chances to work on the ‘classic’ bands e.g. 20 and 40. Also 2 and 70.
There’s some serious VHF/UHF heads (including microwave) in Ireland too so bring an HT or 705 (perhaps bringing microwave kit would be a stretch though 
) and also check Repeater Book or www.irts.ie for a list of repeaters to program in prior to travel.
Check in to the IRTS news on a Tuesday night if you get a chance too! You should have loads to keep you busy on the air here. Hope you have a nice stay here. 
Hi Jeff,
there are several very active EI operators on 6m (including myself) however practically all activity is now on FT8, although there is a little CW and SSB during good Sporadic E openings. (which are much rarer out here in the Atlantic than on the continent). Most 6m operators will be unaware of or have no interest in SOTA here in EI. So as the previous guys have said come prepared for 40/20m and be pleased if you also manage to qualify the summit on 2m or 70cm.
Enjoy your vacation, will be listening out for you.
73
Declan EI6FR
If you decide to bring 6m, try starting on another band and asking any local activators if they have 6m and want to give it a try.
It’s worked for me in the past.
Thanks for the responses. I’ll probably stick with the KX2 anf IC-V86 again.
6m will get me a few responses here in the PNW, but it is not extremely popular. It is nice on summits where 2m is just beyond its limits.
Jeff WX7OR
@WX7OR Hi Jeff, if you can pack a waterproof cover/case for your handheld and KX-2, it would be worth it. I managed to get my old FT-470 soaked on our first activation in May EI/IE-005, which screwed it up for the rest of the holiday (it started working on 23cm only for some reason!!) 
Have a great time - we plan to go back next year, as we had to scrap plans for some 10-pointers due to the bad weather this time round.
73, Simon
My KX2 starting getting water in it on my first SOTA in Ireland (Two Rock Mountain) last December. Luckily the hotel had shower caps for subsequent SOTAs. But I shouldn’t need to worry about it in July because I was promised sunny weather 
I do have another question. What is the frequency step for VHF? I believe the calling frequency is 145.50 MHz. If I need to change frequency for a chat I would like to get my radio setup ahead of time.
25kHz will do you fine.