Hello again from quite a busy Crete.
Judge, G4KAR, and Pat, G8TNH, departed after two fun-filled weeks and seemed to have enjoyed their stay so much that they have already pencilled in a couple of weeks for another visit next year. These weeks just happen coincide with the Olympics as they wish to be away from the whole thing: the chaos, the hype and the saturated news coverage. We are not great sports fans either and so will not be following any of the drug taking athletes endeavours.
Four days after Judge and Pat left, Andre, his wife Helen and daughter Kirsten arrived to stay in a villa just up the road from us. Andre became a very good friend when we worked nights together at Stansted. Although they have been doing their own thing, we have been out and about with them a few times and it has been great fun.
We will now have two weeks peace and quiet before the XYL’s sister and hubby arrive. Even this is not simple as we will have to drive to Hania, at the other end of the island, to pick them up. We have decided that we will take a couple of days ‘holiday’ when doing this and drive over a few days earlier and stay in a B&B for a couple of nights.
But hey, family eh?
You may have heard that Greece has a bit of financial trouble and I understand it not but the following is a recent quote in a Greek paper which may throw light on some of the reasons:
“Over 120,000 people should have their names removed from the list of ‘arduous and unhealthy’ professions, according to a report submitted on Tuesday to the Labour Ministry by a committee of experts.
Among the professionals who should no longer receive hazard pay, the report said, are hairdressers, hotel chamber maids and people working in pastry shops.”
I do not wish to upset my adopted country, but I did not know that working in a pastry shop or cutting hair was hazardous.
We also think that some of their monetary problems lie in the way things are added up. There is currently an advert on the TV for a brand of Feta, the Greek cheese. It shows what goes into it as a percentage: there is 90% of this, 10% of that and then 11% of something else.
I know Maths was not my strongest point, but even I can see the flaw in this addition!
August RadComic duly arrived but did not sit long on the desk. It now resides in a cupboard somewhere. Despite what Steve Nichols says in his review, the CRT SS6900 is just a multi-mode CB rig which has been tweaked to run on 10 meters. How can it be a serious Amateur rig when you tune the CW part on the band in 5 Kc/s steps and the sidetone deafens you?
If you read the comments by the distributors about all the mods they will have to do just to make the thing usable, it is a wonder anyone would want to buy one.
I may be a bit of a cynic but this rig looks like it was produced to allow legal CB’ers to get on 11m with SSB now that the EU has said that this is OK to do so, and someone has thought to tweak it to 10m . . .
While on the subject of RadComic, I see from the Board Minutes that in July they had run out of technical articles for the magazine. [If you go to the Members section of the RSGB web site, the full minutes are now available in pdf format – Ed]. I must say here that some time back I, and others, wrote a piece for the magazine and it was published a full four months after we had written it as the then editor, Steve T-L, always kept at least three months worth of technical stuff ‘in reserve’ so he did not run out!
Although it is good to see the minutes of the meetings, they are not what you would call overly transparent. For example, there is mention of an advertiser in RadComic advertising illegal equipment – one wonders who it could be as no names are given.
Other things mentioned but not fully answered where items about the Olympics next year. For example, with a loss of at least 5 Mc/s of 70cms during the event, what happens to the 70cm section of VHF NFD which just happens to be happening at the same time? It would also seem that Special Event stations will also have a different series of calls for the Olympics but there is no word as to what this series will be but it appears that all QSL cards from them must conform to a prescribed layout and will have to have that stupid 2012 logo on it somewhere.
I also learnt that some ten people have made enquiries about the General Manager’s job . . .
I will comment not.
But away from radio stuff for a minute:
Last week, as I was nearly out of some anti-inflammatory drug tablet things that I take from time to time, I needed to go and see our local Doctor.
She visits our village three times a week and usually starts her surgery around 10 in the morning before going off to another village later in the day. The XYL and I wander round to the little ‘office’ she uses but she is not there. Locals in the Kafeneon say that today she is up at Pano Loumas first but she will come back to Vrouhas later.
No problem. We have to go into Elounda and ‘do’ stuff so will see her when we get back.
We return around 12.45 and again go to her ‘office’.
There is no sign of her but her glasses are on the desk so she cannot be far away.
No matter, we will call back later and so return home and get some lunch.
About 10 minutes pass when there is a ring on the door-bell.
It is the Doctor!
She must be Psychic!
We wander back with her and she fills in the prescriptions that I need and we go away happy. Do not seem to recall anything like this happening when we lived in Cheshunt. Then it seemed that you had to make an appointment to see a Doctor at least three days before you were sick!
Back to the RSGB for a moment – Have you received your very own ‘begging letter’ yet?
Got mine at the end of August and can’t help thinking that they are in a bit of a mess.
They seem to be asking for money for RCF (long forgotten what that stands for) and the Spectrum Defence Fund. RCF has something to do with that stupid GB4FUN thing which they said was being cancelled for the rest of the year, so why ask for money to support it?
This Spectrum Defence Fund is to fight the PLT problems but did I not read somewhere recently that even the PLT people themselves say that it is a non-starter? I know the idea has been scrapped in some parts of Europe because a lot of people in out-lying areas are now using 3G Dongles to get I/net connection.
In their letter they also say: “we are proud of running an examination scheme that allows interested bystanders to become active participants by obtaining their licence in a short time”.
Sorry, but I will now upset a lot of people again: Along with the abolition of the Morse Code requirement, this is one of the main reasons for the dumbing down of Amateur Radio. It is almost a licence in a cereal packet.
Needless to say, I will not be forwarding the RSGB some of my hard earned pension.
With any luck I will be able to get back on the bands this month. Apart from a two hour blast in a contest several weeks ago, with all the visitors we have had, I have been QRT!
So I’m off now to dust off the Morse key and shout at some Ruskies on 40m!
Don’t you just love it!
+ + Just off down to the I/net Cafe when Sept RadComic arrived.
A quick look reveals that I do not understand their financial results page. If they ‘loose’ 1.5 people from the administration set up at Abbey Court, then why do the Office Costs nearly double to nearly £80k? Does this include My Kirby’s £40K?
Will we ever know? + +
Yammas!
Dick. ‘XBN
