Category: Radio

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POTA Rover Day: Five Parks, One Day

Our radio crew in TOG have really gotten into Parks on the Air over the last few months. We’re a little bit hooked.

For anyone new to it,Parks on the Air, or POTA, is an amateur radio activity where operators head out to recognised parks and make contacts from the field. It is a great mix of radio, portable operating, problem solving, and getting outdoors. It also has plenty for SWLs and curious newcomers, so it is not just for the people behind the mic.

We have already had great days out at Bull Island, the Botanic Gardens, and Ticknock outings, and now we are setting our sights on something a bit more ambitious.

On Sunday, 31st May, TOG Hackerspace and South Dublin Radio Club are planning a POTA Rover Day around Dublin.

The plan is simple enough on paper and a bit mad in practice: activate five parks in one day. If all goes to plan, that should qualify for the POTA Rover Warthog award, which is given for activating five unique references in a single UTC day.

We will be starting at 8am at IE-0213 — The Grand Canal Way Conservation Area, right by TOG Hackerspace, and then moving on to:
IE-0229 — Phoenix Park National Park/ IE-0250— Farmleigh Estate Historic Site
IE-0164 — Merrion Square Park National Historical Park
IE-0226 — Iveagh Gardens National Park

Because this is a rover day, we cannot promise exact times for each park. A lot will depend on how each activation goes, how travel works out, and how much chat we get dragged into along the way.

This could be a great idea, or it could totally fall apart, but that is all part of the fun. Amateur radio has always had that experimental side to it, and a day like this has a real sense of adventure.

Part of the fun of the day is that it overlaps with some of the regular Sunday radio activity too. We hope to make use of the South Dublin Radio Club weekly 40m net, which gets going from 08:30 local time and the IRTS Weekly News goes out nationally at 11:00 on 7.123 MHz SSB and in Dublin at 11:45 on 145.525 FM.

Some of our members are even hoping to complete the rover by bike, which feels very on-brand for us, but you do not need to cycle to take part. You are very welcome to join us for the whole day, or just drop in for one of the parks if that suits you better.

You will also be able to track our rough location live on APRS.fi by searching for EI0TOG.

What we really like about POTA is that it gets radio out into the world. It brings together portable antennas, operating skills, experimentation, a bit of fresh air, and plenty of chances for curious passers-by to ask what on earth we are up to. It also makes space for SWLs and newcomers to come along, listen, learn, and get involved without any pressure.

So if you fancy a day of parks, radios, and a slightly over-ambitious plan to bag five activations in one go, get in touch. We would love to have company for all or even just part of the route.

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BOTA, POTA, a Rally Stand, and a President

Big congratulations to our own Jeffrey Roe, EI7IRB, who was elected President of the Irish Radio Transmitters Society at the AGM in Shannon last weekend.

We are very proud to see one of our members taking on this role. TOG has long been a proud radio club and a member of the IRTS, so it was extra special to be there in person for the weekend and see it happen.

There was more good news for TOG too, with Daniel McDowell, EI8ICB, and Ana Cañizares, EI5IXB, also elected to the IRTS committee. It is brilliant to see TOG members helping shape the future of amateur radio in Ireland.

We had a great time at the AGM weekend in Shannon. As well as the AGM itself, there was loads going on across the weekend. We took part in Bunkers on the Air, chatted to lots of people from our stand at the rally, and had the chance to catch up with radio friends from around the country. On the way back from Shannon, our members even squeezed in a Parks on the Air activation, because one radio activity in a weekend is never enough.

Weekends like this are a nice reminder of what amateur radio is really about: communication, technical curiosity, meeting people, and having a bit of craic along the way. It was great to see so much activity, enthusiasm, and community spirit packed into one weekend.

You can check out more photos from the trip here:
IRTS AGM weekend gallery: https://www.tog.ie/gallery/nggallery/album/irish-radio-transmitters-society-93rd-agm-weekend
BOTA at Shannon Airport gallery: https://www.tog.ie/gallery/nggallery/album/bota-shannon-airport

Congratulations again to Jeffrey, Daniel, and Ana. We are looking forward to seeing what the year ahead brings for the IRTS and for amateur radio around Ireland.

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TOG at HamCon Belgium 2026

TOG is heading to Belgium next month for HamCon Belgium 2026, a day packed with talks, workshops, demos, and plenty of radio chat.

Our own Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB will be part of the programme with two sessions on the day. He’ll be running a Satellite Ground Station Workshop, showing people how to build and get started with a TinyGS setup, and later giving a DMR Workshop for anyone curious about digital radio and how to get on the air.

It looks like a great event, with talks and activities covering everything from TETRA and DAPNET to meteor science, antennas, PCB design, and more. If you’re into amateur radio, digital modes, satellites, or radio tech in general, there’s loads to dig into.

If you’re thinking of making the trip, have a look at the full programme and event details here: https://hamcon.be/

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Toilets on the Air at 39C3 (TOTA)

You might have heard of Parks on the Air (POTA), Summits on the Air, or maybe even Bunkers on the Air. Radio amateurs love combining the hobby with an excuse to go and visit somewhere.

But what about Toilets on the Air?

Yes. Toilets.

Let me set the scene

Picture this: around 16,000 people in Hamburg, Germany, all packed into a massive conference centre for the 39th Chaos Communication Congress (39C3), a four-day hacker conference running 27–30 December 2025.

It’s the middle of winter. The venue is huge. There’s reinforced concrete everywhere. You can be walking for ages just trying to get from one hall to another… and if you have a handheld radio in your pocket, you’ll start wondering how well anything is going to get through all that building.

Which brings us to…

TOTA — Toilets on the Air

TOTA is a small (and slightly ridiculous) activity that’s been running at 39C3 for a few years now. The idea is simple: it’s a gentle “contest” / training exercise to help new radio amateurs (and anyone curious) learn basic operating. https://totawatch.de/

And don’t worry, you’re not asked to make contacts from inside the toilet itself. The rules are pretty clear: stand a few metres from the door, don’t block anyone, and always respect privacy.

It’s meant to be good fun, not weird.

Modes

  • FM: 430.200 MHz
  • SSTV: 430.200 MHz
  • CW: 432.032 MHz
  • DMR: Brandmeister TG26223

Activators, Hunters, and T2T

Like the other “on the air” things, you’ve got:

  • Activator — the person at the reference (in this case, a toilet location) who calls CQ.
  • Hunter / Chaser — the person answering.

And then there’s Toilet-to-Toilet (T2T), when two activators manage to work on each other while both are at their own reference locations. Ridiculous, maybe.

My bit of TOTA (DL/EI7IRB)

I was busy giving three workshops during the first few days of the congress, so I only got in on the action on the last day.

I took on the role of a hunter, answering plenty of calls as I wandered around the conference with my Quansheng.

But only making voice contacts… where’s the fun in that?

Of course, there was SSTV.

So there I was, operating as DL/EI7IRB, with a handheld radio and a smartphone held up to the speaker, trying to decode images from the tones. It’s a very “CCC” way of doing it with minimal setup, lots of messing, and it somehow kind of works.

There’s a Mastodon bot collecting the SSTV images people received during the event. If you want to go down the rabbit hole and see loads of them, here’s the link:

https://social.darc.de/@tota

Closing Thoughts

I was nowhere near the top of the leaderboard, but I had a great time. TOTA isn’t really about big numbers or fancy stations. It’s about getting people comfortable on the air, having a laugh, and learning a few things without anyone taking it too seriously. Maybe you will see TOTA at the next conference you go to. 

For more photos from 38c3 check out our gallery https://www.tog.ie/gallery/nggallery/album/39c3

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TOG heading to Shannon for the IRTS AGM Weekend

We’re packing up a few projects and heading west for the IRTS AGM Weekend in Shannon on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April.

This year’s 93rd AGM weekend is being hosted by the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club, and it looks like it will be a great weekend of radio, chats, workshops, technical talks, the rally, and of course, the AGM itself.

On Sunday, TOG Hackerspace will have a table at the rally where we’ll be showing off some projects from the hackerspace, chatting about what we get up to, and catching up with radio friends from around the country. If you’re around, please do drop over and say hello. We always enjoy talking radios, making, workshops, and the odd slightly mad project.

We’re also delighted to see TOG members Daniel McDowell EI8ICB and Ana Cañizares EI5IXB among the nominees for the IRTS committee in the upcoming AGM, with our own Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB standing for the role of President. TOG Hackerspace wishes them the very best, along with all of the other candidates putting themselves forward.

Because one radio outing in a weekend is never enough, a few of us will also be in Shannon on the Friday evening to try our first-ever Bunkers on the Air Ireland activation. The plan is to activate the Shannon Airport defence artillery sites B/EI-0151 and B/EI-0152.

EIBOTA is the Irish branch of WWBOTA, an amateur radio activity built around activating historic bunker sites, so it feels like a very fitting way to kick off the weekend. If you’d like to join us for the bunker activation on Friday, get in touch with us in advance. It would be great to have a few more people along for the fun.

It should be a lovely weekend all round, with a bit of portable operating, a bit of history, plenty of radio chat, and a chance to bring TOG on the road again. Fair play to the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club for hosting it, and we’re looking forward to seeing plenty of familiar faces in Shannon.

For the full weekend details, have a look at the official IRTS AGM page and the LCARC AGM weekend page.

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POTA on Easter Monday from Ticknock

We’re heading out for another Parks on the Air activation on Easter Monday, 6 April.

If you have not come across POTA before, it is all about bringing amateur radio into the great outdoors, setting up in a qualifying park, and making contacts from the field. We did a quieter test run on Bull Island recently and it went well, so this time we are opening it up to the wider TOG community and the public. You can see a few photos from the last outing here.

We will meet at 10:30 am at the Ticknock café and then head off to find a good place to set up and operate. The activation will take place from Ticknock Forest in the Dublin Mountains, and we expect to be on air for around two hours. You can read more about the area on the Dublin Mountains website.

You are very welcome to come along, help out, and even have a go on the radio using the club callsign EI0TOG. Jeffrey Roe, EI7IRB, will be leading the activation.

Jeffrey is planning to cycle out, but there is parking nearby too. And if radio is not really your thing, or you do not want to stay for the whole activation, Ticknock has plenty of walks so you can still join us for part of the outing.

After the POTA activation, there are also the IRTS 70cm Counties Contest and IRTS 2m Counties Contest running, so anyone who wants to keep the radio fun going is welcome to do that too.

As always, this one is weather-dependent. If the conditions are awful, we will give it a miss rather than spend another Monday getting soaked.

If you are thinking of coming along, please let us know. We hope to see some of you there in person or hear from you on the bands.