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Toilets on the Air at 39C3 (TOTA)

You might have heard of Parks on the Air (POTA), Summits on the Air, or maybe even Bunkers on the Air. Radio amateurs love combining the hobby with an excuse to go and visit somewhere.

But what about Toilets on the Air?

Yes. Toilets.

Let me set the scene

Picture this: around 16,000 people in Hamburg, Germany, all packed into a massive conference centre for the 39th Chaos Communication Congress (39C3), a four-day hacker conference running 27–30 December 2025.

It’s the middle of winter. The venue is huge. There’s reinforced concrete everywhere. You can be walking for ages just trying to get from one hall to another… and if you have a handheld radio in your pocket, you’ll start wondering how well anything is going to get through all that building.

Which brings us to…

TOTA — Toilets on the Air

TOTA is a small (and slightly ridiculous) activity that’s been running at 39C3 for a few years now. The idea is simple: it’s a gentle “contest” / training exercise to help new radio amateurs (and anyone curious) learn basic operating. https://totawatch.de/

And don’t worry, you’re not asked to make contacts from inside the toilet itself. The rules are pretty clear: stand a few metres from the door, don’t block anyone, and always respect privacy.

It’s meant to be good fun, not weird.

Modes

  • FM: 430.200 MHz
  • SSTV: 430.200 MHz
  • CW: 432.032 MHz
  • DMR: Brandmeister TG26223

Activators, Hunters, and T2T

Like the other “on the air” things, you’ve got:

  • Activator — the person at the reference (in this case, a toilet location) who calls CQ.
  • Hunter / Chaser — the person answering.

And then there’s Toilet-to-Toilet (T2T), when two activators manage to work on each other while both are at their own reference locations. Ridiculous, maybe.

My bit of TOTA (DL/EI7IRB)

I was busy giving three workshops during the first few days of the congress, so I only got in on the action on the last day.

I took on the role of a hunter, answering plenty of calls as I wandered around the conference with my Quansheng.

But only making voice contacts… where’s the fun in that?

Of course, there was SSTV.

So there I was, operating as DL/EI7IRB, with a handheld radio and a smartphone held up to the speaker, trying to decode images from the tones. It’s a very “CCC” way of doing it with minimal setup, lots of messing, and it somehow kind of works.

There’s a Mastodon bot collecting the SSTV images people received during the event. If you want to go down the rabbit hole and see loads of them, here’s the link:

https://social.darc.de/@tota

Closing Thoughts

I was nowhere near the top of the leaderboard, but I had a great time. TOTA isn’t really about big numbers or fancy stations. It’s about getting people comfortable on the air, having a laugh, and learning a few things without anyone taking it too seriously. Maybe you will see TOTA at the next conference you go to. 

For more photos from 38c3 check out our gallery https://www.tog.ie/gallery/nggallery/album/39c3

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Repair Club: Lamps Edition – Shedding a Little Light on Lamp Repair

We are trying something a little different at TOG with a new event format we are calling Repair Club.

Inspired by the work of Circular Square in Clonmel, this is a bit different from our usual Repair Café model. Instead of bringing along broken items for fixing, Repair Club is more like a focused class or workshop where we take one repair topic and explore it in more detail.

For our first session, we are starting with lamps.

We will be looking at common faults, how to test them safely, and some of the repairs you can carry out once you know what has gone wrong. That includes more than just the electrical side of things. We will also look at glueing, rewiring, testing, and the kind of practical fixes that often come up when bringing an old lamp back into use.

This event will be half class, half discussion, and half people standing around a lamp saying, “go on, try that there.” The idea is to share skills, compare notes, and build confidence around fixing things.

This is also a bit of an experiment for us. We want to see how this format works and whether it might become something we can repeat with other topics in future. There is no shortage of everyday objects that deserve their own repair night.

The event is taking place as part of Dublin Climate Action Week, which makes it a great fit. Repair is one of the simplest ways to reduce waste, keep useful things in use for longer, and help more people feel confident about understanding and maintaining the objects around them.

This session will be led by Jeffrey Roe, an engineer, maker, and long-time TOG member who has spent years running workshops, Repair Cafés, and hands-on events that help people build practical skills.

Event Details

Date: Thursday, 14 May
Time: 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: TOG Hackerspace
Cost: €5 via Eventbrite, with the fee going as a donation to TOG

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/repair-club-lamps-edition-shedding-a-little-light-on-lamp-repair-tickets-1987020952157?aff=oddtdtcreator

If you are curious about repair, want to learn a bit more about fault-finding, or just fancy trying something new, this should be a good way to spend an evening at the space.

And if this goes well, we would love to run more Repair Clubs in future. If there is a repair topic you would like to see covered, or if you would like to lead one yourself, please let us know. There is always something worth taking apart, figuring out, and bringing back to life.

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TOG heading to Shannon for the IRTS AGM Weekend

We’re packing up a few projects and heading west for the IRTS AGM Weekend in Shannon on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April.

This year’s 93rd AGM weekend is being hosted by the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club, and it looks like it will be a great weekend of radio, chats, workshops, technical talks, the rally, and of course, the AGM itself.

On Sunday, TOG Hackerspace will have a table at the rally where we’ll be showing off some projects from the hackerspace, chatting about what we get up to, and catching up with radio friends from around the country. If you’re around, please do drop over and say hello. We always enjoy talking radios, making, workshops, and the odd slightly mad project.

We’re also delighted to see TOG members Daniel McDowell EI8ICB and Ana Cañizares EI5IXB among the nominees for the IRTS committee in the upcoming AGM, with our own Jeffrey Roe EI7IRB standing for the role of President. TOG Hackerspace wishes them the very best, along with all of the other candidates putting themselves forward.

Because one radio outing in a weekend is never enough, a few of us will also be in Shannon on the Friday evening to try our first-ever Bunkers on the Air Ireland activation. The plan is to activate the Shannon Airport defence artillery sites B/EI-0151 and B/EI-0152.

EIBOTA is the Irish branch of WWBOTA, an amateur radio activity built around activating historic bunker sites, so it feels like a very fitting way to kick off the weekend. If you’d like to join us for the bunker activation on Friday, get in touch with us in advance. It would be great to have a few more people along for the fun.

It should be a lovely weekend all round, with a bit of portable operating, a bit of history, plenty of radio chat, and a chance to bring TOG on the road again. Fair play to the Limerick Clare Amateur Radio Club for hosting it, and we’re looking forward to seeing plenty of familiar faces in Shannon.

For the full weekend details, have a look at the official IRTS AGM page and the LCARC AGM weekend page.

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We’ve a New 3D Printer at TOG

We’re delighted to say that TOG Hackerspace has a new 3D printer in the space.

The printer was kindly donated to us by supporters who would prefer to stay anonymous, and we want to say a sincere thank you for the gift. Donations like this make a real difference in a community space like TOG, giving members more tools to learn with, experiment with, and build exciting projects.

Our latest addition is a Prusa Core One L, a large enclosed printer with a generous build area, and it’s already up and running. After a bit of unboxing, setup, first prints, and making some very important “do not scrape the bed” signs, it has quickly become a great new tool for members to try out.

For anyone into making, fixing, prototyping, or learning something new, this gives us even more room to experiment. Whether you want to print a replacement part, make an enclosure for an electronics project, or finally try out an idea that has been sitting on your laptop for ages, now is a great time to jump in.

3D printing in TOG is very much a community thing. Some members are happy designing parts from scratch, others are just getting started, and there is usually someone around to help you get from “I have an idea” to “look, it actually printed”.

And yes, before anyone asks, printing a duck was always going to happen. It would be a bit odd for TOG to get a new printer and not make at least one duck with it.

If you’d like to give it a go, come along to our Maker Night every second Monday at 7pm. It’s a good chance to meet people, ask questions, get help with your first print, and see what else is being made around the space.

We’re looking forward to seeing what people create with it.

Check out our gallery for more here.

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April Repair Café

Got something broken at home that you have been meaning to sort out for a while?

Maybe it is a lamp that has gone dark, a toy that has stopped doing toy things, a kitchen gadget that has packed it in, or a jacket that is hanging on by optimism alone. Instead of letting it rattle around in a press for another six months, bring it along to our next Repair Café at TOG Hackerspace.

We will be hosting the event on Saturday 11th April 2026, from 12 noon to 4pm, in TOG Hackerspace, Unit 1B Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12. Tickets are free, but booking ahead really helps us plan the day.

A Repair Café is a chance to bring along broken or worn items and sit down with volunteer fixers to see what can be done. Sometimes the repair is quick. Sometimes it takes a bit of testing, fiddling, tightening, stitching, glueing, soldering, or thoughtful staring. Sometimes, the item makes it very clear that it has other plans. But even then, you usually come away knowing a bit more than when you arrived.

That is part of what makes a Repair Café different. It is not a drop-off service where your item vanishes into the back room. You stay with it, chat through the issue, and get to see what is involved in trying to bring it back to life. It is about repair, but it is also about sharing skills, building confidence, and showing that plenty of everyday items still have a bit more life left in them.

What can you bring?

You can bring along things like:

  • Clothes and accessories
  • Toys
  • Small electrical appliances and electronics
  • Small furniture

And usually a few other bits besides.

There is always a good mix on the day. Some things arrive with an obvious fault, some arrive in several emotional pieces, and some arrive with the immortal phrase, “It was working grand until…” We cannot promise miracles, but we do enjoy a challenge.

Why bother?

Because a surprising number of things do not need to be replaced. They just need a bit of time, attention, and somebody willing to open them up and have a look.

Repairing things keeps useful items in use for longer, saves money, reduces waste, and helps people learn practical skills that are too easy to lose. It is also a genuinely nice way to spend an afternoon: a room full of people helping each other, cups of tea, odd screws on tables, and the occasional round of applause when something suddenly starts working again.

Event details

When: Saturday 11th April 2026, 12 noon to 4 pm
Where: TOG Hackerspace, Unit 1B Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12
Tickets: Free, but please book in advance

Book your free ticket here:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/repair-cafe-tickets-1980452469649

This event is supported by Dublin Maker, and we are delighted to have their support again for another afternoon of community repair.

So if you have something broken, worn out, or just acting up, bring it along and we will see what can be done.

And if you would like to be a fixer or volunteer at a future Repair Café, we would love to hear from you. We are always glad to have more people involved, whether that is helping with repairs, welcoming visitors, keeping the tea flowing, or making sure the day runs smoothly. If that sounds like your kind of thing, please get in touch.

Come by, fix something, learn something, and help us keep a few more things out of the bin.

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POTA on Easter Monday from Ticknock

We’re heading out for another Parks on the Air activation on Easter Monday, 6 April.

If you have not come across POTA before, it is all about bringing amateur radio into the great outdoors, setting up in a qualifying park, and making contacts from the field. We did a quieter test run on Bull Island recently and it went well, so this time we are opening it up to the wider TOG community and the public. You can see a few photos from the last outing here.

We will meet at 10:30 am at the Ticknock café and then head off to find a good place to set up and operate. The activation will take place from Ticknock Forest in the Dublin Mountains, and we expect to be on air for around two hours. You can read more about the area on the Dublin Mountains website.

You are very welcome to come along, help out, and even have a go on the radio using the club callsign EI0TOG. Jeffrey Roe, EI7IRB, will be leading the activation.

Jeffrey is planning to cycle out, but there is parking nearby too. And if radio is not really your thing, or you do not want to stay for the whole activation, Ticknock has plenty of walks so you can still join us for part of the outing.

After the POTA activation, there are also the IRTS 70cm Counties Contest and IRTS 2m Counties Contest running, so anyone who wants to keep the radio fun going is welcome to do that too.

As always, this one is weather-dependent. If the conditions are awful, we will give it a miss rather than spend another Monday getting soaked.

If you are thinking of coming along, please let us know. We hope to see some of you there in person or hear from you on the bands.