Another “/P” activation as good areas to operate in this forest are inaccessible by car, this was one I’ve wanted to do from the beginning. Curragh Woods rise out of a river valley near the bustling market town of Midleton (home of the World famous Midleton whiskey) and are only half an hour from home. Curragh had never been POTA activated. It’s kinda a home park and it’s very close to the EI7M contest station site. I just liked the idea of being the first to activate it.
Conditions were poorer than they had been at Galtee Castle National Forest the previous day, but my little setup didn’t let me down, it even impressed; in addition to CW contacts on both 20M and 40M, it delivered 8 QSOs on 20M SSB. Given I’m running 5W, I was really pleased about that. Unfortunately, I had to cut the operation short as I was tormented by “midgies”, small gnat like flying characters that like eating stupid humans like me who go into the woods without being properly prepared to repel them. I’ll know better next time.
