Yassas. Just after this hits your screens, we will be in the UK for a wedding. Yes, I know you always want it fine and dry for a wedding, but if it rains, for us it will make a very nice change, thank you!
RSGB Website
I start these Blog things at odd times throughout the month and today is 5th May and not being of sound mind, I try the RSGB Web thing again. It seems to have got worse. There is now a line at the bottom of the screen all the time saying something about cookies. I understand it not. I try and look at RadComic. I click the link. It shows me the last three months covers but not the one for this month (May). There is a thing in the notices section about a ‘paywall’ – What the hell is that? Do I now have to pay to view RSGB propaganda? There is still no Members section and the whole thing seems a bloody mess.
After a few minutes of trying to get something I recognised on the screen, I gave up. The people who designed this rubbish sure conned the non-geeks at the RSGB out of a few thousand quid to put it together and must be laughing all the way to the bank . . .
[I looked at the site again on 15th – just as bad although the ‘cookie’ line had gone. This weeks General Manager mentions something about this ‘paywall’ thing, but no one tells you what it is or what it costs.]
[Looked at it again on the 20th – the ‘cookie’ line is back as are the three options you need to click on to start to get anywhere. What a great advert for our hobby – not.]
EUCW QRS week
Played with some s-l-o-w CW in the QRS week at the start of the month. No more than 14 WPM and the idea is to work newcomers to the mode and just have a proper QSO – none of this ‘599 QSL?’ variety. Did not work that many as I was only on 20m during the late evening but it was nice to work some new guys to the mode.
Visit from Serge US9CSA
As promised, Serge, UA9CSA, and his beautiful XYL Irini arrived. They arrived in Aghios just in time for the Easter celebrations. At Easter, the Greeks burn an effigy of Judas, a bit like burning Guy Fawkes on Nov 5th and in Aghios they float a wooden raft complete with Judas out on the lake and, at the end of the late night service, at a given signal, fireworks, rockets and flaming arrows are aimed at the floating effigy and set it alight. They witnessed this along with about a thousand other people and a good time is had by all, including a chap who recognised Serge’s call on his T-shirt and introduced himself as PA3CHC!
The following day we took Serge and Irini over to Mochlos, a small fishing village across the bay from here. It is very picturesque and we had the traditional Easter Day meal of lamb cooked on a spit. Excellent.
Serge was extremely kind in bringing over several gifts. Not only do I now have some excellent Vodka and Brandy, although these are evaporating quite quickly in the heat, [Believe that and you will believe anything ] I also have a CD made by the Russian Travel Guide people. This shows Ekaterinburg (UA9C) and places round and about. Fascinating viewing when you know nothing about the place as it dispels the image you have of Russian cities all being the same. Serge – Spasibo!
May RadCom
No June RadComic yet as I will collect this when in the UK but the May edition duly arrived although a little late this month due to strikes and an extended Easter break – our Easter being somewhat later than yours this year. Anyway, it arrived and as soon as I saw the cover, my heart sank. So now we have people wandering up hills screaming CQ SOTA and another equally stupid mob climbing the same hill and calling CQ Wainwright. Both groups give the impression to ordinary folk who bump into them that the ‘Tony Hancock’ version of The Radio Ham is alive and well.
Good to see Jim Bacon, G3YLA, writing about Sporadic E. He is very knowledgeable about Es and VHF propagation in general and it is good to see him raising the quality of RadComic articles, even if it is under the banner of ‘Getting Started’.
Did you read the QSL Matters bit? I see the card from G8AB, who lived in Loughton, being shown (seem to remember the call from somewhere) but the article itself is its usual moans and groans from an unhappy QSL Manager.
Instead of telling us how slow PSK31 is in contests and going on about the UK Contesting Reflector, Steve White, G3ZVW, should use his stupidly named column to tell us about contests and not tell us that people should send lower case info in a contest as it is quicker than sending in upper case. His moans about PSK63 using up more band space are ridiculous.
Err, PSK63 is twice the width of PSK31 so it will take up more band space and as for altering the band-plan to accommodate this, he is talking twaddle.
The Club Championship contests are a great idea, no matter what mode, but when the Data event is on, I am sure that the CW brigade would not be up in arms if during the contest – and I mean, two hours is a huge length of time – they might have to give up a few cycles of their allotted band-plan.
If Steve White still thinks that PSK63 contesting is not such a good idea, maybe he should ask himself, “How many world-wide PSK63 contests are there as against PSK31 contests?”
Want to buy a K3? Waters and Stanton tell us that the rigs are superb and that to use one is a happy experience. Witness then the happy user in the W&S advert inside the back cover. If using a K3 makes you look this happy, then I would hate to have that chap use a bad rig!
It is also good to see that the Editor has such a good memory that she puts the same stuff and picture on page 85 of the May issue that was on Page 87 of the April one. A few different words to make it look like there are two stories, but we can easily spot her ‘page-filling’ tricks as she made the same picture at least 8 times as large.
xxx On the Air…
I read on some DX News Sheet that there is now something called ZOTA – Zoos On The Air.
I’m sorry people, as again this will upset most of you, but these ‘On The Air’ things are a ruddy waste of time and bandwidth. I mean, how many more are we going to get? We have Railways, Windmills, Waterways, Museums, Summits. Wainwrights, bloody Islands and God know what else. It is high time they were all finished with and people just left alone to work each other without someone trying to make out that working some long forgotten railway station that Dr Beeching closed or some hill in the middle of nowhere is somehow important. It ain’t. None of them are.
But I will leave you on a happy note.
Someone has made a list of weird lines in Country & Western songs and here are a couple. (and no, I am not a C&W fan):
“It took a hell of a man to take my Anne, but it sure didn’t take him long!”
or how about:
“I wouldn’t take you to a dog fight, even if I thought you could win”
And my all-time favourite:
“It’s commode hugging time in the valley . . .”
You really have to worry about the guys who write lines like that . . .
Yammas! (Vodka still evaporating!)
Dick. SV0XBN/9
