In August 1995 I moved from the UK to the Indian Ocean island of Mahé, the main island of the Republic Of Seychelles. I was posted there for 2 years where I worked for the BBC managing the technical side of their Indian Ocean Relay Station (IORS).During working hours (and often at night when called out!) I was responsible for the operation and maintenance of a short wave radio station comprising
I got my amateur radio licence, and started creating pile-ups on the HF bands. |
Within days of arriving I was able to string up a 20m dipole between the trees surrounding my house. This was inadequate given the poor conditions – we were in a sunspot low.
With a little help from the small local ham community, I was able to add
I finished working in Seychelles in Aug 1997, at which time S79MAD went qrt. I’ve been back a couple of times on holiday, but not to operate the radio. |
S79MAD
Op: Paddy O’Reilly Operational Sept. 1995-Aug. 1997. Location:Helvetia, La Misere. Mahe Island, Seychelles. 55 deg 28 min East. 4 deg 40 min South. Locator square JI 25 PO. IOTA AF024. |
My Station
Tx/Rx FT900. Amp FL2100Z. Power 400W PEP/CW, 200W RTTY. Antennas 10-15-20 TH3 yagi. 10-12-15-17-20 R5 vert. 30m hombrew delta-loop. 40m-80m Half-wave dipole. |
Digimodes
RTTY & Pactor. Using KAM Plus. IBM 486/33 Computer. ‘Hostmaster’ Software. |
QSL manager, GW4WVO.
NOTE As of Dec 1st 1998, my QSL manager has now sent out ALL my QSL’s. All cards ‘unclaimed’ by this date were sent off to the buro. And if you can help with QSL info that I’m missing please send via the comments. |
If you’d like to operate as an S79 licences can be obtained from:-
Seychelles Licencing Authority, PO Box 3, Victoria, Seychelles Tel (+248) 224314 I don’t know the current fee, but it was around $90 per year PER RADIO in 1996. |