For the totally Tropospheric Taste? Here comes the EI3LH man.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I wept openly when it was announced that the Lilt Man was getting handed his P45. His cheeky, laddish smile. His funky modus trasportium. That song. For it was the Lilt Man that never failed to quench a ravenous thirst by delivering ice cold cans of a nation’s favourite totally tropical taste.
But no more.
It was too good to last and our dear, kind-hearted friend has been zapped to pixelated dust and returned to the marketing ether from whence he appeared in 1988.
Rest in peace Lilt Man.
What has this got to do with amateur radio? I hear you ask.
Nothing. Today was hot. I was very thirsty. I missed Lilt. I just needed to offload that.
So. What happened today then? Well, let me tell you…
I Know What You Did Last Friday…
It all started on Friday (April 24th). The previous week the IRTS News broadcast made mention that conditions might be favourable for a bit of VHF and UHF list in the coming week. Starting on Tuesday and building across the week before the action was forecast to start from Thursday onwards.
So good a setup I didn’t need to use my KH1 for this POTA activation. 100% VHF and UHF!
There was little mention of any lift (or ‘tropo’) on Thursday, however, overnight in the early hours of Friday morning there wasa substantial solar flare and reports of beacons in the UK being heard thousands of kilometers away was making the rounds. By the morning the word had spread and it was looking promising for some VHF/UHF DX activity.
It was decided. On Friday morning, before work, I was going to make a quick dash to a spot by the sea armed with my trusty Yaesu FT-65 and Diamond RH-770 to dip my toe in and see if there were any signs of lift.
It was a long night of the soul waiting for the sun to rise on Saturday morning…
I’d immediately made contact with 2I0MWN around 120km away in Newry. Nothing further heard, probably because it was still early. With the contact made on just 5 Watts and a whip, I’d decided I would head out to try a POTA activation during my lunch break. I’d take my Elecraft KH1 as backup if there was no lift.
Lifted
I need not have worried. I sidled up to POTA park favourite, IE-0136 with a 7 meter mast, a Slim G, Yaesu FT-65 and a 40 Watt Microwave Modules linear amplifier.
I was done in under 30 minutes. 2 meters and 70cm. A full, VHF/UHF-only POTA activation. A first for me. Incredible! I didn’t even need to take the KH1 out of my bag for some backup QRP HF CW.
All VHF.UHF POTA at IE-0136. April 24th 2026.
Spirits lifted, I bounded out of the park and back to work like I’d just won the lottery. I already knew that tomorrow I would be out on a 2 hour trail run and would be including a SOTA activation in that process.
It was a long night of the soul waiting for the sun to rise on Saturday morning…
Marconi, Mallards and Milestones
Back once again (for the Renegade Master) at EI/IE-018 Two Rock SOTA. Marconi Day, April 25 2026.
Saturday morning I awoke before the first bird song broke the balmy Irish Spring (remember that?) dawn. It was going to be a beautiful day. Marconi Day. And I was heading out to EI/IE-018 to get right in amongst it.
The ‘Top Fuel’ Fiat 124 was packed and ready for the off - my packing would come back to haunt me though. I had a range of tasks to try out today. Most important of all was completing a 2 hour training run, with the SOTA activation taking place, as is usual for me now, at the summit of EI/IE-018. In addition I would be bringing my KH1 from my MicroPOTA/MicroSOTA go kit (more on this another day) and also my drone.
I confess to being a little worried about fitting all that gear as well as my running nutrition and first aid kit in to my running pack and not damaging it while bouncing around running the trails.
The summit was busier than usual today, most likely due to the nice weather. I was disappointed at the lack of hund activity though - more on this in the Hund-o-Meter stats at the end of this blog.
Setup was quick and easy. I took the DJI Neo drone from my pack. This is a beauty to carry as it is lightweight and can be operated autonomously - meaning I can leave my FPV headest, controller and all the other gubbins for manual control at home.
There absolutely was lift today as I was hitting VHF stations on the West coast of Ireland - including a Summit to Summit in County Mayo approximately 200km away!
I took a couple of drone shots while at the summit as I wanted to make a short video to highlight the joy of new worlds and activities that amateur radio can bring to you, as well as the importance of keeping VHF and UHF activity very much alive, lest we lose our access to it to commercial ventures. Part of my ‘Make 270 Great Again’ campaign drum I’ve been beating for the past year or so.
It was Marconi Day. I was giving it the CW slipper. Full beans. Full fat. Full action. All or nothing.
Drone activity completed it was out with ye trusty Ox, the Yaesu FT-65 and it’s faithful Diamond RH-770 companion. The QSO’s just flowed in one after the other. There absolutely was lift today as I was hitting VHF stations on the West coast of Ireland - including a Summit to Summit in County Mayo approximately 200km away!
13 VHF and (two) UHF QSO’s in the log, including a 70cm QSO approximately 180km away in Wales - and also my first UHF SOTA contact, and it was time to pack up and switch to my Elecraft KH1.
Marconi Day VHF (Pink) and UHF (White) QSO Map. April 25th, 2026.
This was about to be a multiple bout of firsts. My first HF SOTA attempt ever. It was going to be CW as well, none of this SSB cobblers! It was Marconi Day. I was giving it the CW slipper. Full beans. Full fat. Full action. All or nothing.
First Time CW SOTA.
I’ll admit to being a little nervous in the minus 37 seconds it took to set up the KH1 and get on the air. Anxiety mounted somewhat when after calling CQ literally once, I was in the midst of my first SOTA CW pile up.
I was a little worried if I could handle it and in the adrenaline rush I made a lot of keying mistakes. I think chasers might have left as the pile-up subsided. I tried to work everyone but some chasers didn’t hang around and that’s fair enough.
The difference operating QRP CW at height makes is uncanny. My ears were deafened by some of the signals. That being said I never use the external speaker as it is whisper quiet, also with headphones I have to have the volume on the KH1 up quite a way and then it blasts the ears off me when strong signals come in. I guess it’s a quirk of the KH1? Or is my KH1 faulty? I’m not expert enough but it is still in warranty so I might get it looked at by Lutz.
HF (Yellow), VHF (Pink) and UHF (White) QSO Map. Marconi Day. April 25th 2026 from EI/IE-018.
With 10 HF CW QSO’s in the logbook I called QRT as I was beginning to get cold and needed to get moving again. Operating from the trig point, I quickly packed my gear back in to my pack and got set to head off and finish the remaining 12km or so left of my mountain run.
Before leaving I was waved at from just below the trig point by a gentleman out hiking. I took my earbuds out as I was packing and was asked “are you EI3LH?” which took me by surprise.
A quick back and forth later it turns out it was a fellow EI ham who had heard from the local SOTA Whatsapp group that I was operating on EI/IE-018! Apologies if you are reading this I forget the call sign, I recall it was an EI9 call though, thank you for saying hello it was lovely to have the chats (alas briefly) about VHF/UHF and CW!
Another gentleman had stopped to say hello just before I started operating CW and said he was a fellow amateur radio enthusiast too. I didn’t get his callsign but it was great to see folks interested in what was happening, including passers-by who wondered what I was up to (no, I wasn’t fishing!).
SOTA completed and pleasantries exchanged, it was time to move on and get this run done. My first HF SOTA activity of any kind was done. Lovely jubbly.
The Snapper.
The run back down to Kilmashogue Forest was pleasant but still, hund activity was sorely lacking. An interesting highlight was seeing a bloke cycling up to the MTB trails on a gravel bike. For which I made a point to stop and applaud him for as 99.9% of the time all you see at EI/IE-018 are MTB’s.
He returned the salutation and wished me well on my run.
Back at the car park my hasty packing came back to haunt me as I forgot to pack my flask of tea! It was soon forgotten though as I gave VHF and UHF another quick tickle by calling CQ on 145.500 and was in for a surprise…
I called CQ on 145.500 and was greeted with “EI0MAR”. No way! The special award Marconi Day station I was hoping to log all day returned my CQ call almost immediately!
A few minutes later and I had EI0MAR in my logbook under my callsign EI3LH and also the special event call I registered for April and World Autism Awareness Month, EI0WAAAW!
Not only did we make a QSO with both calls on 2 meters, but the operator also kindly switched to UHF and we (just about) made a QSO on 70cm 433.500 with both calls too. Fantastic.
I drove home absolutely chuffed to bits that I’d bagged the special Marconi Day call.
Not a Mallard. A Grey Heron I spotted at TurveyNature Reservc (POTA IE-0114) April 25, 2026.
There was more fun to be had in the afternoon as I took Mini Ted Nugent (one of my tribe) out with me for a stroll around Turvey Nature Reserve, with a pair of binoculars each for a bit of birding.
The previous evening we had sat on a bench by the sea and watched seagulls divebombing for fish. Today, RSPB First Book of Birds book in hand, we spotted our first Grey Heron, a Chaffinch or two, Blackcaps, Mallards, Wrens, Blackbirds and Moorhens plus lots of ducklings. The Merlin app is a great tool I should add!
It was a great afternoon stroll, finished off with a late afternoon/early evening toepoke by the sea and a large helping of ice cream each from the good folks at Storm In A Teacup (worth it despite the 40 minute queue!).
Half blinded by the anticipation of what any VHF/UHF lift might bring, the entire day ended up being an amalgamation of multiple fun activites, new experiences, learning and milestones.
Later that night, I put together a little video using the couple of drone shots I’d recorded earlier in the day. It’s nothing special as I don’t really have great video editing skills or the software to do it. I just wanted to thank the operators I had made contact with on Marconi Day via VHF and UHF and to emphasise the point that we need to keep the spirit of amateur radio alive.
VHF and UHF are gateways for newcomers to get in to amateur radio. If we abandon those frequencies we will lose access to them soon enough - probably to commercial interests.
Here’s the video I made to ‘Make 270 Great Again’. I hope it is of some inspiration.
WARNING: Flashing images.
What a fantastic couple of days packed with glorious weather and memories that will last a liftime. I hope this little piece of writing inspires you to get outside and get exploring. The world of amateur radio can open so many doors, all it takes is to be brave enough to open them.
Hund-o-Meter: 2/9
A relatively poor hund showing today. Two hunds were good boys and enjoyed mandatory petting. The rest were too busy ‘sniffing stuff’ and ‘looking at things’ to even consider the art of being petted.
Blog Post Link (if you wish to take a look): Marconi Day: A Day of Thirsts (and Firsts). – EI3LH
NOTE: I’ll be QRV VHF/UHF on Great Sugarloaf later on today.
What a weekend for VHF and UHF though. I wonder if anyone was out giving SHF a go? Any reports of outrageous DX?