Start them young

With my own sons I totally failed! Maybe I shall succeed with my grandson ? This was him learning to solder earlier. 

10m FT8 RX (Monday)

Since just after breakfast, my 10m RX has been on. 139 stations spotted with the furthermost A41ZZ (5854km). 

UPDATE 1925z: 359 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX. Now QRT.

On the bus

Every Friday I go into Cambridge on the bus for my University of the 3rd Age lecture. Most people wear masks. It is busier now. 

Sunspots - Monday October 25th 2021

 Solar flux is 93 and the SSN 46.  A=4 and K=1.

Nanny state? - NOT amateur radio

This morning, my wife went to church. She was also serving coffee. The lady in charge told her that in future she would need 2 references just to serve coffee! This afternoon she told them where to stick these stupid rules!! She is more than happy to help, but refuses to jump through ridiculous hoops.

For almost 40 years she was a teacher. She helped at the church youth group. She helps for 3 hours at another cafe as a volunteer. Never once before has she been asked for references. She feels like she cannot be trusted.

Now, this may be as a result of the law changing, but I think it is plain stupid. I am sure people who create such rules mean well. In some cases such rules make sense such as if one was influencing children. However to serve coffee once a month?

There is a thing called "unintended consequences". For example, we now have to agree to cookies on websites. Most people just say "yes" to get rid of this annoying pop-up. Few read terms and conditions.

I well remember going on a 4 hour course at work on how to lift heavy things. Only in the last 5 minutes were we shown how to! For almost 40 years I had been lifting heavy pieces of test equipment.

In my view, too many are scared of litigation and just hide behind the law. I am sure this course at work was arranged so the boss could tick the box to say we had been trained.

It is high time people said, "no, enough of this stupid nonsense".

BTW, the church has lost a valuable helper until it gets real and stops this stupidity.

Social media - NOT amateur radio

This is a mixed blessing, that some people hate. On balance, I think it is a good thing. 

We can have video chats with old friends on the other side of the Earth or just keep in touch with people. Years ago this would have been by the occasional letter or Christmas card. It was harder to keep in touch. The alternative was an expensive phone call on special occasions. Often we lost contact.

It is all too easy to live in a virtual world and forget about "real" things. There was a great phrase on TV last week that a person was half man and half laptop!! We have to be careful not to fall into this trap.

And so it continues.... - NOT amateur radio

Every day I still get SPAM emails promising me great riches, great sex and, of course, Bitcoins. These all get automatically filtered as SPAM by Google. I usually just check that nothing has gone in by mistake, then I just delete them all.

10m FT8 RX

My gear was turned on at about 0928z. So far today on 10m FT8 RX, 68 stations spotted with the furthermost YB1JQC (11725km) in Indonesia.

UPDATE 1228z:  204 stations spotted today on 10m FT8 RX.

St John's College, Cambridge

Every Friday, I travel into Cambridge for my course on Medieval History at the University of the Third Age. It is learning for fun, often on a subject about which one knows little. I am not an expert on Medieval History!

Usually I have time to kill, so I grab a bite to eat and a coffee at this small cafe opposite St. John's College. Service is fast and the views are to die for. I am so lucky to be able to have this view for free.

See https://www.lepatissier.co.uk/ .

Pixie and Micro80

There has always been challenge to get the most from the least. We will happily pay well over £1000 on a new rig, yet we often get more fun from a rig costing just a few pounds to make. 

One such is the Pixie or the Micro80. These are compromise rigs, often let down by the RX, which tends to be the weak link. They work and I have had QSOs on 80m and 40m with mine. At one time you could buy 40m Pixie kits from China for a few pounds. I bought one of these and it went together well and worked. I have not looked recently to see if these are still available. With the Pixie and Micro80 I am afraid of calling CQ over a weak station.

There are other rig alternatives although with something simple, you usually have to accept some weakness. The "holy grail" is a simple, low cost rig that really is not a compromise. If you know of any, let me know. My target is a complete transceiver that can be made for less than £5 that really works without compromise.

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/home/hf-mf-and-lf/homebrew/8040m-pixie-and-micro80-transceivers .