*MEET* 68DA101 Joe

The Dx Adventure Radio Club is delighted to introduce to you member 68DA101 Joe from the town of Lairne, a 1000 year old seaport on the east coast of County Antrim in Northern Ireland.

One of the United Kingdom’s standout 11m DX practitioners, Joe’s callsign is a common entry in the logs of most whopping DXpeditions in recent years, with IOTA activities and contest stations being high on his hit list also. 

Like most DA-RC guys though, 68DA101 Joe also enjoys a casual ragchew with mates situated in the UK and other EU DXCC; fantastic friendships established over a period of some 30 years involvement in the hobby and past memberships with famous clubs like Alfa Tango.

68DA101 Joe’s home QTH sits on the western side of a narrow inlet that links Larne Lough to the sea.  On the eastern side is a peninsula called Islandmagee while to the west is the ancient volcanic formation of Antrim Plateau, with its spectacular glaciated valleys scenically sweeping down to the sea to the north in what are known as the ‘Glens of Antrim’.  Possible Summit On The Air (SOTA) DX opportunities?  Maybe!

Larne is only 50 odd km from the Scottish mainland too, with stunning views across the North Channel towards the Mull of Kintyre, Rhins of Galloway, Islay and Paps of Jura often visible from the Larne area.

In addition to being an efficacious DX Hunter, 68DA101 Joe is practised in the field of DXpedition work, having activated Rathlin Island (EU-122) off the coast of County Antrim in 2013, under the guise of the Echo Tango DX Group.

Other nearby DX entities certain to be on his DX radar in the coming years include the Chaine Memorial Tower, an amazing cylindrical stone tower lighthouse with a conical roof situated on the west side of entrance to Larne Lough, the ruins of 13th-century Olderfleet Castle at Curran Point, and the Castle and estate of the Earl of Antrim in the nearby fishing village of Glenarm.

According to online tourist brochures, other popular sites include a number of Christian churches, numerous parks and sandy beaches, Viking burial sites and artifacts and other military relics.

In the hobby, a Yaesu FT-2000 transceiver takes pride of place on Joe’s shack bench-top, alongside a collection of other rigs and DX-cessories, while outside, high above the house, stands a tower with a 5 element yagi antenna at its summit.  With a couple of hundred DXCC worked and confirmed to his name, no doubt it’s one helluva DX weapon!

In his spare time, away from the radio comms hobby, our ‘Mic Magician’ is a family man whom enjoys walking and cycling the many parks of his home town. 

And there’s just so many to choose from too with the Town Park which sits above the picturesque Promenade area, with walks from Waterloo Bay towards the Chaine Memorial Tower at Sandy Bay, Chaine Park which contains the burial site of James Chaine and offers picturesque views over the North Channel, Curran park with its tributes to emigrants to North America, Carnfunnock Country Park, with camping, caravanning, gardens, the maze of Northern Ireland, and more.

Chances are you‘ll find Joe there enjoying the great outdoors too, the perfect downtime when he’s not calling CQ DX on one of the 11m band’s calling frequencies!

QSL Info

• TBA