LIMERICK ham radio amateurs will gather at Loop Head Lighthouse Experience in County Clare this weekend to use Morse code and single-sideband (SSB) radio to contact lighthouses and lightships throughout the world.
The Limerick Clare Radio Amateur Club will broadcast non-stop for 48 hours from the West Clare lighthouse this Saturday and Sunday as part of 26th annual International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend (ILLW).
In previous years, the club has successfully contacted other radio amateurs in Brazil, Australia, Tonga, French Guiana, Asiatic Russia, Ecuador, the Azores, and the US Virgin Islands.
The group has also attempted to communicate with its twin club in South Jersey using Earth-Moon-Earth communication, also known as “moon bounce”. First developed by the US military after World War II, the radio communications technique involves radio waves travelling from one transmitter to another using the Moon as a reflector.
During this weekend’s broadcast, visitors to the lighthouse will be able to listen into communications with some of the 500 lighthouses and lightships in over 40 countries that will be activated by amateur radio enthusiasts.
Leonard Cleary, Director of Tourism Development and West Clare Municipal District, Clare County Council, said: “We are very much looking forward to hosting the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club whose members will wind back the clock at the Loop Head Lighthouse Experience when they attempt to communicate via radio with hundreds of other radio clubs across the globe.”
Joe Ryan, Secretary of the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club, added: “Loop Head Lighthouse is particularly suitable for long distance radio communication attempts due to its isolated location on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and the lack of radio interference in the general area.”
“A special QSL Card (confirmation of communication) has been designed to mark the event. The club will operate two stations, one of which will be at the entrance to the lighthouse so members of the public can listen to some of the transmissions.”
See ILLW.net for more information on the International Lighthouse and Lightships Weekend. For more information about the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club visit LimerickClareAmateurRadioClub.ie.
