Amateur Radio Operation from St John's Point Lighthouse in County Down. The story starts in the springtime of 1998 when, with other members of the Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society (GI4GTY) I travelled to Belfast to take part in a inter-club quiz. We had been invited by Richard GI0OUM the secretary of the Belfast RSGB Group. During the customary tea and buns break from the highly competitive contest Richard mentioned the Lighthouse on the Air event. It appears that his group had been invited to take part but they were already committed to another event. Richard asked if the LVARS would be interested in accepting the challenge. We did. Richard had supplied us with the information in the form of a letter from the co-ordinator of the event Mike GM4SUC in Ayr Scotland. Mike has been involved with activation of Lighthouses around Scotland for many years. After representations from far and wide a similar world wide event was born. The dates and times were set for Saturday the 22nd of August starting at 00.01 UTC until 23.59 UTC on Sunday the 23rd August 1998. Could the LVARS hack this I wondered? During the following days members of the LVARS were informed and discussions took place to ascertain if there was enough interest. There was. The first thing to do was to find out if amateur radio operation would be allowed from within a Lighthouse complex around the coast of Northern Ireland. I had on many occasions from the shore around Newcastle in County Down watched the bright beam being emitted from across Dundrum Bay. The light was St Johns Point Lighthouse. What a great location for radio operation. With no knowledge at all about St Johns I decided to try and make contact. It was fortunate that I was aware of a work colleague who has experience of lighthouses and there workings. He put me in contact with Mr Henry Henvey at St Johns. Mr Henvey was helpful with some details and informed me that I would need official permission from The Commissioners of Irish Lights in Dublin. I wrote to their Head Office in Pembroke St and after the exchange of letters containing details of our equipment's and the installation of antennas plus insurance cover etc, permission was granted. We had GO! During the following weeks discussions took place at the club shack regarding the Lighthouse Activity Weekend. Many questions were asked "What bands would we operate on"? "What modes would we use"? and of course the antennas and their installations. There were many other aspects to be considered like accommodation, sleeping arrangements, (don't even think about it) and of course cooking and washing facilities. I think it was finally agreed that we would in the main use the two LF bands, namely the 40m(7Mhz) and 80m(3.5Mhz) bands. We would also want to use the HF bands if conditions allowed (10 15 and 20m). A trapped dipole would be erected for these bands. A 2m station was also set up to be used for local contacts on 145.550Mhz. This would also be used for contact with members coming and going from the site. A 6m(50Mhz) radio and antenna should also be available. The main mode of operation would be fone (voice) but some SSTV (slow scan television) would be tried. Computers would be used to log all contacts. One computer would be used to maintain connection to the European DXCluster Network. Once we knew what we wanted to do, I again spoke with Mr Henry Henvey at St Johns and arranged a visit to talk about our requirements. Other club members and I attended St Johns a few days later. Mr Henvey was most helpful with regard to our intended operation and needs. We all wanted it to go well because this was the first time a GI station would be active from a lighthouse in Northern Ireland. Arrangements were finalised. Everything was now in place for what we hoped would be a good Lighthouse Activity Weekend. Friday the 21st August 1998. A few members of the Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society GI4GTY headed for St John's Lighthouse to begin the installation of antennas and deliver some gear. We attached the apex of two large delta loops for 40m and 80m just below the lantern of the lighthouse. With the apex being about 120feet above the ground and the large ground space below meant we had a near perfect triangle. The other end of the trapped dipole was tied off and the 3 feeders ran to the operating points. Checks and air tests confirmed all was well with the antennas and equipment. It was now well into the evening of Friday so some members began operating and continued into Saturday morning. Many contacts were made in the first few hours. In the main most were British, Irish and Mainland European stations. Some included other Lighthouses and Lightships. Things were looking good. Mid Saturday morning saw the arrival of more members of the LVARS and operating continued all day Saturday and into Sunday when other members called by. Many cups of tea and coffee were consumed. A barbecue was set up during the Saturday and Sunday afternoons which was enjoyed by all. It was decided around 1800hrs Sunday to start dismantling the stations and antennas. We had worked over 500 other amateur radio stations around the globe. At around 1930hrs we packed the vehicles and headed homewards. All agreed that the weekend was a great success and the "crack" was mighty at times. Will the Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society attend a similar event again?. Of course we would. 73 (Regards) Victor Tait GI4LKG Honorary President of the Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society The DXCluster is a Network of computers linked together by amateur radio links all across Europe and beyond. This allows any station connected to the network to type information which is then sent to all other connected stations. This information is normally about stations who are active on the amateur radio frequencies. This information will include there callsign, time, frequency and mode of operation. PHOTO------------ The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society GI4GTY presented Mr Henry Henvey (Harry) of St John's with a framed photograph of the Lighthouse. Back LtoR Norman GI4SZP,Mark MI1xxx.Victor GI4LKG,Mr Henvey,David GI4SNA, Eden GI4AIO. Front LtoR Peter SWL,Andrew MI0BPB,Rover GI4DOG,Seamus GI4RKC. Photos by Alex GI0TJJ The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society GI4GTY draws most of its members from in and around the Lisburn area of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Contact can be made by the following means. Tel 01846 601004 Victor GI4LKG e-mail victor.tait@virgin.net Tel 01846 601941 Ron GI4NTO e-mail pat.ron@virgin.net Via the InterNet www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/9197 e-mail lvars@geocities.com Packet Radio GI4LKG@GB7TED.#63.GBR.EU