At about 15:00 UTC today Martin Hayes (EI9FMB) and I (EI7IG) got the Amateur Radio Station in Waterford Institute of Technology back on the air. Now it may not sound like a big deal, but I can assure you that it was. Its taken several years of hounding the “powers that be” in order to get this fairly small step accomplished.

EI3RCW is now QRV on HF, VHF (2m) and UHF (70cms). We have sought permission from the IT Manager for a network connection in order to allow us to operate a Packet Radio to Internet Gateway and an APRS Digipeater plus Internet Gateway. The former will allow for a continuous feed of packet bulletins to be forwarded to John (EI3DIB) for distribution on his BBS, and the latter will allow any local APRS packets to be relayed locally and gatewayed out to the internet.

To see the (APRS) position of some Irish (EI) stations, click here. Some of these stations found their way to the internet through local Internet Gateways, and some through an orbiting satellite or the International Space Station

Martin is hopeful that the station can shortly be used as a teaching aid for some of the Telecommunications subjects he, and other lecturers teach in the college.

We are both hopeful that we can ressurect the club after such a long absence, and do our bit to generate fresh interest, for what is essentially, a dying hobby (In EI Anways according to the IRTS).