FEARmanagh 2022

Once again members of the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club helped out Fermanagh and Omagh District Council (FODC) marshals by providing radio communications for the annual FEARmanagh Triathlon in Derrygonnelly on Saturday 24th Sept 2022.

The event had a good attendance, with almost 300 participants, who covered a course of 74km for the long race, and 35km for the short race.

Six members of LEARC were dotted at various points along the route of the triathlon, including Big Dog forest, Garrison, the entrance to, and Magho Viewpoint, Blackslee Viewpoint, Shore Road and the Derrygonnelly Community center.

It was the first year where the club had used a single frequency DMR repeater on 2m for the communications. The repeater was set up by Herbie (GI6JPO) and Brian (MI0TGO), who were operating from Blackslee viewpoint. This setup worked especially well, as it allowed everyone to hear each other and keep in touch on how the day was progressing at various parts along the route.

This repeater setup meant that the need for another station to relay messages was eliminated – something which had to be done with FM simplex in the past few years due to the elevation difference between some stations.

A big thanks to the below club members for their assistance on the day, and to FODC for organising the event.

Alan Gault GI6PYP,
Brian Burns MI0TGO,
David Henderson MI6HZN,
Herbie Graham GI6JPO,
Nathan Prentice MI0NPR,
William Martin 2I0EKN