What is this? - NOT amateur radio

On our walk yesterday we saw this. It looks like sheep's wool but isn't.  It was on a muddy path.  Is it some sort of fungus? This was in the UK (East Anglia).

How do they do it?

 

On Amazon Prime I noticed this UHF (446MHz?) transceiver for £11.95.  Included are a charger and earpiece /mic. 

Another supplier has a pair for just £16.99 a pair.

When I worked at Pye Telecom we would struggle to make the charger for this price! Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years. It must be sheer hell being a UK PMR manufacturer these days. I am sure there are even cheaper ones if you look.

Assuming they ship across the world and make a profit, just how do they do it?

Sunspots - Friday December 18th 2020

Solar flux is 82 and the SSN 12.  A=2 and K=0.  

Horse feeding - NOT amateur radio

 

This horse seems to have taken a fancy to me, probably because I fed it grass! It followed me for some time.

Muddy walk - NOT amateur radio

The sun was shining so we did a walk around the village of Reach. It was very muddy! The photo shows my wife. 

Next time we'll take our hiking poles to help us stop falling. It is good to walk when the sun is so great. At this time of year the trees are bare, which helps us see further. 

Back in the spring it was dry under foot. We have now done this walk in every season. We even saw a few snowdrops out.  

Personally, I preferred walking when there was more evident life. Back in the autumn we picked apples and blackberries.

6m FT8 QRP (Thursday)

At 0930z, my 2.5W to the V2000 vertical was turned on. Just 1 spot of me by G0PQO (50km) so far today.

UPDATE 2125z: Just 1 G spotted me and I have spotted 1 G on RX. Poor. Now QRT.

First real radio

In the early 1960s my dad bought a DST100 (ex tank radio from) a local garage. It was deaf and weighed a ton. We took it to a local amateur G3CHN who worked his magic on it and it was my main SWL receiver for several years. 

Looking back, it copied some impressive DX. It was so heavy that my dad made a special shelf for it. I could not lift it on my own. These days a tiny SDR dongle is probably better!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/hf/dst100.

Windmill view - NOT amateur radio

The restored windmill right next door is shown in the photo. 

We can see the windmill from the breakfast table and, as in this view, from the lounge window. 

Every day, just about, someone wants a picture of the windmill! This photo was taken yesterday morning.

52 years ago - NOT amateur radio

52 years ago I met my wife in Liverpool cathedral. I got sent this photo earlier.  This is the Anglican cathedral. When we were in Liverpool it was still being built. The catholic cathedral, at the other end of Hope Street, is also a fine building with wonderful light. Liverpool is a fine city with people with a warm heart. We very much enjoyed our time there.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool.

Beginners' licence?

For some time in the UK a couple of ideas have been considered. 

One is an exam (a bit like the old RAE) that would allow people to get a full licence with just one exam. the second is a beginners' licence to allow newcomers into the hobby easily. Some can use licence free gear, e.g. 446MHz gear in the UK without any licence, so the argument is why not a simple transition into amateur radio, perhaps only allowing use of ready built commercial gear on VHF or UHF only? 

I have mixed feelings over the latter. Yes,we badly need new blood, but are we happy to dumb down our hobby? This is a hard one.

All these were discussed at a recent RSGB board meeting. You have to be an RSGB member to read these I believe.

See https://thersgb.org/members/publications/board/5900.php