ANTHONY EI2KC ON THE HISTORY CHANNEL:

Anthony, EI2KC, author of 'Island of the Setting Sun - In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers', was featured on The History Channel on 'Ancient Aliens' (Series 3, Episode 13) aired in the United States on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011. It will be broadcast on The History Channel in Europe some time in 2012. Filming was carried out a few months ago at Newgrange in the Boyne Valley. See Anthony about 11 minutes into the above clip.

Newgrange is a 5,200-year-old Stone Age monument in the Boyne Valley near where I live. On the shortest days of the year the sun shines into the chamber of the monument for 17 minutes, marking a truly remarkable triumph of Stone Age engineering. I was lucky to be present in the chamber of Newgrange on Sunday December 19th 2010 to see the illumination for myself. It was a wonderful experience. See more about Newgrange on my website at www.mythicalireland.com

ABOUT ME: I have been interested in radio since I was young. My first encounter with radio, apart from the commercial FM band and RTE Radio 1 on medium wave, was listening to the control tower at Dublin Airport in the 1980s. My brother became active on 11 metres and I soon became fascinated by radio propagation and later followed him onto this band. He became licenced as a ham in the early 1990s and due to lack of confidence in my mathematical abilities I never thought I would be able to pass the ham test. In the intervening years I have been an avid short wave listener and have listened to the ham bands and aeronautical HF activity for a long time. Finally I plucked up the courage to study for the licence and got my original callsign (EI8GHB) on October 30th 2009 after passing the HAREC test in Ireland. I am primarily interested in HF DX but also operate on VHF (6m, 4m and 2m, including Echolink), and also 70cm. I run a popular blog about Ham Radio in Ireland -http:/hamradioireland.blogspot.com (Pictured above)

After passing the morse test in February 2010 I upgraded my callsign from a 'B Call' to an 'A call' and was given EI2KC on March 5th, which is much easier to send in CW hi hi !! I am a member of the Dundalk Amateur Radio Society which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2009. I am also a member of the club's contest team, EI0W, although I am not hugely interested in contesting. I have recently started writing the "HF Happenings" column in Echo Ireland, the magazine of the Irish Radio Transmitters' Society which is distributed to all IRTS members in Ireland.

Below left is my main shack. On right is the front of my QSL card for EI2KC. See QSL info below.

QSL INFO: I much prefer ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW) for QSL over any other method. If you send me a QSL card direct I would appreciate one dollar or one euro for postage to Europe and two dollars or two euro for the rest of the world. Direct cards with no return postage will be sent back via the bureau, sorry. but I have five kids and cannot fund my radio hobby HI HI ! I am snowed under with QSL cards via the bureau and would ask that you should only send me a card if you need EI on a particular band/slot/mode, thanks. I am a big fan of eQSL and would like your AG eQSL if possible.

NEED A SKED?: I am available for a sked if you need one. I'd be glad to help with any request, whether it be CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK. Just drop me an email at hamradioireland@gmail.com and we will make a sked. See you on the bands!

THE SHACK: I am constantly looking to improve things. The main HF rig is the FT-1000MP, and I recently introduced an Icom IC-746 to be used mostly for 10m and 6m. In addition I have an Icom 706MkII which I am currently using for mobile/portable HF and 6m work. I have an Acom 1000 linear also. I also have a CRT 2M-1 for 2 metres, and in my auxiliary shack (bedroom) I use the FT-897 and a 10m attic dipole for HF and I have the Yaesu FT-2500M for 2m and an old Icom IC-735 which belonged to Fr Pat EI5DA which I use for listening. And for portable work I have the Yaesu VX-110 handheld. I also have an Alinco DR-135 in the car for mobile 2m operation. On HF I am QRV on 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m, and on VHF 6m and 2m. As of August 2010 I am QRV also on 4m FM with a folded dipole.

ANTENNAS: The antenna array at my QTH is restricted due to the fact that my garden is just over 10m long and about 7m wide. Plus there is an extension which takes up a good portion of that space! My random wire for 80m has been taken down for the summer and in its place are nested inverted Vs for 30 metres and 40 metres. My main HF antenna until recently was a 6-band Butternut vertical for 80m, 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10m and I also have an Antron 99 which I use for 15m, 12m and 10m also. The 6m antenna is a resonant dipole. NEW: I have just added (July 2011) a Cushcraft MA5B minibeam which, having initially had problems, is now working fine on 20m through 10m although with a high SWR still on 15m without an ATU. On right is a photo of me reattaching the MA5B to its mast after repairs and rejuvenation. It is a great beam for a small property like mine as it only has a 2.2m boom and weighs in at a puny 12kg. I was able to lift it onto the mast with no great difficulty on my own. It compares favourably with the Butternut in many cases but I will have to put it through its paces more thoroughly over the next few months to see how I am getting along. Thanks to Pat EI2GHB for the heavy duty rotator and also to Don EI6IL, Tony EI4DIB, Pat EI2HX and Jim 2I0SBI for all the help getting everything up and running. 80m note: The Butternut is my sole antenna for 80m now, but it's not a brilliant on that band on RX. If I have trouble hearing you, please excuse me. It gets out very well, but is only 26ft tall so does not hear very well. So apologies if you get a poor RST from me!

Above is my VHF installation. You can see the three-element beam for 6 metres (50 Mhz) and above that an 8-element XY beam for 2 metres. Both are rotatable. Also on that mast is a vertical dipole for 4 metres (70 Mhz). On right are Tony EI4DIB and Jim EI2HJB installing the 6m beam. Below left is an image of my MA5B minibeam against the backdrop of the stars. The bright star just to the right of the boom is Vega in Lyra. On right is a photo of me in the shack working a pile-up on 6m which is a band I enjoy working on during the summer months. (Hence the short-sleeve shirt HI)

I do a lot of portable and sometimes mobile work from the car so you might hear EI2KC/P or EI2KC/M especially on CW. Generally when I'm calling CQ as EI2KC/P I am in the car park near my work QTH in Dundalk, Co. Louth, Locator IO64TA.

VIDEO AND FILMS:

Above is a short film made by Tony Flynn called "Radio Waves". It's a film about amateur radio in Ireland, featuring Thos EI2JD and me. I have made a number of videos featuring aspects of amateur radio which can be found among lots of other stuff on my YouTube channel.

MY BOOK: A lot of hams have asked me to say a little about my book. Well, here goes. It's got nothing to do with amateur radio by the way!! In 1999 I met the artist Richard Moore and we soon discovered we shared a huge interest in the 5,000-year-old Stone Age monuments of the Boyne Valley (including Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth). We spent the next eight years together researching the apparent complex cosmology underlying the construction of these huge monuments, some of which were built long before Stonehenge and the Pyramids. The resulting publication, entitled 'Island of the Setting Sun - In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers', became an instant hit with everyone and anyone who had an interest in archaeology, astronomy, mythology, etymology, Irish culture and lots more, and sold out in a year. It has since been republished as a revised, expanded edition in 2008. We have been featured on many TV films and documentaries and radio shows. The book is available to buy on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk. Second-hand first editions have been fetching 200 euros and more. While the prevailing view among academics holds that Newgrange is merely a tomb, used to bury the dead, it is clear that the monument, and many of the other monuments from that period, represent a grand endeavour to unite heaven and earth, as if they were the expression of some cosmic ideal which held that everything that happened on the earth was governed by everything that happened in the sky. Some monuments are aligned precisely on the solstices and equinoxes, others on the old pre-Celtic "cross-quarter" dates. Others still commemorate some significant star or constellation rising. Ultimately, the people who built them believed in an afterlife among the stars, in an ancient Irish heaven which was known under different names - Tír na nÓg (Land of Youth), Mag Mell (The Plain of Happiness) and Tír na mBeo (Land of the Ever Living Ones). In time, I hope to write a novel which would incorporate much of this cosmology, which is really a happy union of science and spirituality. Here is a quote from the preface to the second edition of Island of the Setting Sun:

Today, we who are the descendants of these people have only the barest understanding of their knowledge and capabilities. Our own cosmic view is concealed by the trappings of modern life, and by the pollution which obscures the heavens from our eyes. Now, only in our dreams is it possible to envision their wonderfully dark skies. Despite our apparent technological mastery, we are still reduced to humility by their achievements.

FORTHCOMING BOOKS: I have recently completed a chapter for a soon to be published international collaboration called 'The Mythology of Venus', and am currently writing my next book, tentatively called 'Newgrange - Monument to Immortality', to be published by The Liffey Press in Autum 2012.

OTHER INTERESTS: Below left is a photo of the world-famous Stone Age monument Newgrange, which is located about 5 miles from my QTH. This photo shows a faint green aurora borealis behind Newgrange so I like to think that this image combines my interest in ancient Ireland with my interest in radio. On right is me working the special event station EI7DAR for the 40th anniversary celebrations ofDundalk Amateur Radio Society.

I also run some popular websites about ancient Ireland:

http:/www.mythicalireland.com / http:/www.newgrangeireland.com / http:/www.thehighman.com

My hobbies include: Writing (I am author of Island of the Setting Sun - In Search of Ireland's Ancient Astronomers) and I'm currently writing my first novel, internet/computers, photography, video and film making, astronomy, music (I am the solo euphonium player with Drogheda Brass Band,champions of Ireland five years running 2007-2011), and I have a huge interest in ancient Ireland.

WORK / FAMILY: In my professional life I am the editor of a local newspaper, based in Dundalk, Co. Louth. I am married to Ann, who has shown great forebearance in accepting my multiple hobbies!! We have five beautiful children, Amy, Luke, Josh, Tara and Finn, who are all remarkable in their own individual way, and great fun to be around!