Windswept lupins

One of my memories of our trip to Iceland in 2011 was seeing lupins all over the place. I was expecting a wild, volcanic landscape.   Instead it was green with lots of flowers and very unspoilt.

These lupins were in London yesterday. Normally, the collective name is a "choir of lupins". I don't think these were told!

IC-705 versus FTX1

In my view there is no contest at all. The IC-705 beats the Yaesu rig hands down. 

Following recent price drops the IC-705 is even better! The ICOM rig has far more features in the product already that you have to buy as extras in the Yaesu rigs.

Iran and the Strait of Hormuz

It looks like Iran has woken up to the power it has by controlling the Strait of Hormuz. This could have enormous impacts on the world economy.

Victorian train - London to Edinburgh

This is an AI video showing a train journey from London to Edinburgh in Victorian times. There are some clear errors but, overall, it is very good. 

I am very impressed with these historical AI videos as they give a good insight to what it must have been like.

Apparently you have to watch the video on YouTube.

10m 200mW WSPR (Tuesday)

My beacon has been on all morning.

UPDATE 0930z:  4 stations spotting me so far, all by Es I think.

UPDATE 2124z:  Spotted by 12 European stations. Now QRT. We have a friend staying until Saturday so my PC issue will have to wait 🥴. 

Free project scrapbook PDF

My interest in radio started in the early 1960s. It has given me a fascinating and varied hobby, and a career. I hope others can get as much fun as I have had.

To this end I created a PDF project scrapbook that is a free download. It contains the projects that have fascinated me over the years. It needs updating!

My aim has never been to make money. All I want is to share the enjoyment I have had. Feel free to take a look and print out anything you want. My message has always been to have fun! 

See https://sites.google.com/view/g3xbm4/book .

Sunspots - Tuesday May 19th

 Solar flux is 105 and the SSN 77. A=9 and K=3.

"Boomers" lucky?

 "Baby boomers" is a term (certainly here in the UK) to describe the children growing up after WW2 into the 1960s. Later generations have been termed Gen Z, Millennials, etc..

We were lucky enough in many cases to have final salary pensions, come out of university without debts and the ability to afford houses. Jobs were often for life.

Certainly here in the UK things are harder. Few people have guaranteed pensions and few can afford houses without rich parents. Most leave university with huge debts. Jobs are hard to find.

At the same time, what is accepted by one generation is different. When I was young we had no phone, no car, no microwave, no mobile phones, no takeaways, no fridge and one TV channel (by the way no TV at all until I was aged 8!).

Yes, overall I think we were lucky, although the threat of nuclear war was always there. 

I think life was simpler and we were happier than the young of today. I think we owe the next generations all the help we can give them.

Hallicrafters

This was a very popular company back when I was young. 

This (very American!) video looks into the history of the Company. Back in the early 1960s I nearly got a Hallicrafters RX from G4PJ.

"Just Have A Think" on climate change

In recent times there have been a raft of scientific papers about climate change. Many point to a world that is warming faster than we once thought.

I get very annoyed with those who deny climate change as "fake news" when the evidence is self-evident.  We risk leaving our children and grandchildren a damaged world.

The "Just have a think" video is about this this week.