Over three weekends of November, members of the Galway VHF Group will be operating a HF station for a 24hour period from Lifeboat Stations in County Galway. The callsign of this station will be EI185RNLI.The purpose of this operation is to promote the 185th Anniversary of the establishment if the Lifeboat Service in Ireland which is coinciding with a major fundraising effort. Members of the Galway VHF group will also be raising money for these fundraising activities. These much needed funds will assist with the training of volunteers and assist with the maintenance of equipment and running of the Lifeboat Stations. It should be noted that the RNLI is completely funded by voluntary contributions and receives no funding from the government.

Crew member Mark Armour, EI6GUB, is also a member of the Galway VHF Group. Mark has recently completed his probationary training with the Lifeboat Service and is now a member of the crew regularly called out in the event of an emergency. It doesn’t stop there as there is a continuous ongoing program of training to follow on top of his weekly service.

The first operation will take place from the Galway Lifeboat Station over the weekend of the 7th and 8th of November. The following weekend, 14th and 15th of November will see an operation from the Aran Island Lifeboat station at Kilronan, Inishmore. The final operation will take place from Clifden Lifeboat Station, Ballyconneely, over the weekend of the 28th and 29th of November.
All operation will take place on the HF bands with two stations in operation at all times.

There will be operation on Phone and Digital Modes with some operation on SSTV also possible. There will be a special QSL card for all contacts made and SWL reports will also be welcomed. Varying types of antenna construction will be used including a Kite antenna for the LF bands.
Further information from Steve EI5DD