Week 22 2010

Have a look at this software. It is very useful for controlling your mobile phone from a computer.
http://www.sparus-software.com/

------------------------------------------

Chris Howard (2E0CTH) passed this Dstar On the web link to me. It make very interesting listening.

http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?feedId=1647
-----------------------------------------

Some interesting UK call signs :

GB1MIR Helen Sharman .. First British woman into space
G2LO B.B.C.radio club
G2MT Marconi radio society
G3HB G.L.Benbow .. Author radio amateur books
G5MS Manchester wireless society ..oldest club in the UK..?
G5RV Inventor of the "G5RV" antenna (silent key)
G2BCK F.C.Judd .. Author radio amateur books(sk)
G2DQU Lord Rix .. Actor/Politician
G3BBC Film studios at Ealing
G3YLA Jim Bacon...Tv weather man ex BBC
G4AEH Jim Lee....BBC radio announcer
G0KRH Chris Tarrant.. T.V. Personality who wants to be a millionaire
W2JOF Sir Cliff Richard...aka...Harry Webb
EA0JC King Carlos of Spain
FO5CJ Marlon Brando .. Film Actor (W6/FO5CJ for USA)
3A0AG PrinceAlberto Grimaldi - Montecarlo - Monaco

Ok they may not be UK call signs but still interesting. I’m not sure if this is correct about Sir Cliff Richard and why he has a USA call sign?

------------------------------------------

And now for a bit of fun:

You want ME to do what?













I think the alligators put up the sign.....


------------------------------------------
24th May Monday

Another Morse session. This week with only five students. I think it went a bit better this week, but I still a long way to go.

After the class Denis (M0NDJ), Chris (2E0CTH) and I spent some time chatting. Chris showed us his Dstar mobile setup and gave us a demonstration.

Chris also told me about the web site where you can listen to Dstar traffic using only a computer with a sound card and speakers.
------------------------------------------
27th May Thursday

I missed the Sutton and Cheam committee meeting this month. I made my apologies but needed to gain some time back to complete non radio projects.
-------------------------------------------
28th May Friday

Friday night is visit Mum night before collecting Carole from work.
-------------------------------------------
29th May Saturday

I rebuilt my netbook with Ubuntu 10.04. I have now have the partitions the way I want them and it now working much better.
-------------------------------------------
30th May Sunday

My friend mark came for a visit today. We started by going for breakfast in the local café within walking distance of home. Mark told us about his traveling problems which for those of us who know Mark would not be surprised.

After breakfast we returned home where Mark showed me some new computer software to control your mobile phone. The link to this can be found at the start of the page. Mark then updated some of the software on my mobile phone.

I had a look at two PMR-446 radios for Mark checking them for him. He is already seeing the limitations of these. Maybe I can get him to do our next foundation course.

We have a good chat about computers, software and technology in general. All in all a good day and a pleasure to see Mark.

Week 21 2010

A bit of fun?

Surgeons

Five surgeons are discussing who were the best patients to operate on.

The first surgeon says, 'I like to see Accountants on my operating table because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered.'

The second responds, 'Yeah, but you should try Electricians! Everything inside them is colour-coded.'

The third surgeon says, 'No, I really think Librarians are the best; everything inside them is in alphabetical order.'

The fourth surgeon chimes in, 'You know I like Construction Workers.
Those guys always understand when you have a few parts left over at the end, and when the job takes longer than you said it would.'

But the fifth surgeon shut them all up when he observed, 'You're all wrong.
Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There's no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains, and no spine, and there are only two moving parts – the mouth and the arsehole - and they are interchangeable.'






------------------------------------------


17th May Monday

The start of another very busy week. I continued with the Morse Code training, this is not going to beat me.

-----------------------------------------

18th May Tuesday

I spent the evening recording the ICQPODCAST feature after an aborted 70cm net. This episode is about travelling to and operating in Ireland.

-----------------------------------------


19th May Wednesday

Colin and I recorded the next episode of the ICQPODCAST which will be released on Sunday. This is episode 52, two more and we have completed two years.

----------------------------------------

20th May Thursday

My new keyboard arrived for the netbook computer Colin gave me while I was in Ireland. It did not take long to install and test. I must look into install Ubuntu onto it.

Club night again. This meeting was the AGM for the Sutton and Cheam Radio Society followed by a video evening. I got re-elected back onto the committee for another year.

The videos at the end of the AGM were good and fun to watch. I ended up getting home late again after chatting to Paul (M0TZO), Denis (M0NDJ) and Chris (2E0CTH). Still I can only be late once :-)

-------------------------------------------

21th May Friday

Friday is the day I visit my Mum. Afterwards I returned home to get ready for my training weekend.

-------------------------------------------

22nd May Saturday

I spent the day on a full licence revision course. This revision weekend helps the students with subjects they are having problems.

I installed Ubuntu 10.04 remix on to my Asus Eee PC-901 with no problems. All items seem to be functioning well.

-------------------------------------------

23rd May Sunday

Second day of the revision weekend and all seems to be going well.

Colin released a new episode of the ICQPODCAST this morning.

ICQ Podcast, the premier Amateur Radio / Ham Radio Podcast. News, Views, Features, upcoming events and Amateur / Ham radio training. A podcast for you and including you.

ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Eleven (23 May 2010) - Travelling to Ireland












Series Three Episode Eleven of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast. News Stories include:


* 70.005 MHz WE9XFT beacon operational

* Trip to Mozambique

* Support for South Orkney DXpedition

* Collapsible fabric yagi antenna

* Amateur Services Spectrum Requirements

* Wouxon.US show Chinese HT at Hamvention

* New regulations for Cayman Islands

* Proposed 5MHz changes in USA

* Australia - Options for 403–520 MHz

* Extended 5 MHz experiment

* 70 MHz beacon upgraded to PSK31

* RSGB respond to Ofcom 433 MHz plans

* ZS10 Soccer World Cup Prefix

* GB7HD D-Star Repeater

* 12 year-old operator shines in contest


Your feedback, upcoming events and Martin (M1MRB) tells us about travelling and operating in Ireland.

The ICQPOCAST can be downloaded from http://www.icqpodcast.com

Week 20 2010

A bit of fun.




Adam & God

God said, 'Adam, I want you to do something for me.'

Adam said, 'Gladly, Lord, what do you want me to do?'

God said, 'Go down Into that valley.'

Adam said, 'What's a valley?'

God explained it to him. Then God said, 'Cross the river.'

Adam said, 'What's a river?'

God explained that to him, and then said, 'Go over to the hill....'

Adam said, 'What is a hill?'

So, God explained to Adam what a hill was.

He told Adam,
'On The other side of the hill you will find a cave.'

Adam said, 'What's a cave?'

After God explained, He said, 'In the cave you will find a woman.'

Adam said, 'What's a woman?'

So God explained that to him, too.

Then, God said, 'I want you to reproduce.'

Adam said, 'How do I do that?'

God first said (under his breath), 'Geez......'
And then, just like everything else, God explained that to Adam, as well.

So, Adam goes down Into the valley,

Across the river, and over the hill, into the cave, and finds the woman.

Then, in about five minutes, he was back.

God, His patience wearing thin, said angrily, 'What is it now?'

And Adam said....

*

*

(YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS!!!!!!)

*

*

*

*

*

'What's a headache?'
--------------------------------------
10th May Monday

A quick tune round Monday morning on 80 metres, not many stations on but did get a contact with Fred (GI3TIJ).

I spent the rest of morning dismantling my HF antenna and mast and packing away the radio gear into a large plastic box. While doing this I did have a couple of contacts on 2 metres. There never seems to be much activity on 2 meter or 70 cm in Ireland, however most times I call I get a contact.

I spoke to Ger EI6DR/m in the Ballycotton area who was out for the day with his XYL. Later I spoke Andrew EI3GSB whose QTH is Rosscray.

After packing the 2 metre rig away and having lunch the whole family set off Geocaching for the afternoon.

We managed to find 8 Geocaches which took us to some lovely parts of south Ireland. Locations which we would have not found without Geocaching.

Goodbyes were said to Sandra, Conor and holly because we will be gone before they get up.
-----------------------------------------------
11th May Tuesday

Up early (6:00am) to do the final packing be for leaving. We departed Colin’s QTH at 7:00 with Colin driving us to the ferry port at Rosslare. The ferry departed on time and was a smooth crossing.

We arrived in Fishguard were we caught a train to Cardiff. Changing at Cardiff we caught the train to Paddington and from there the London Underground and Bus arriving home about 20:15pm. Just over 13 hours travelling, but not as stressful as flying.
---------------------------------------------------
12th May Wednesday

Back to work, Lots of radios on the shelf needing repair so that should keep me busy. I met up with Carole and Isabella for lunch.
-------------------------------------------------
13th May Thursday

After work I met up with Carole and purchased he birthday present. It’s the new Nintendo DS, she got it a month early but at least she will get the enjoyment out of it.
-----------------------------------------------------
14th May Friday

No radio today but I did visit Mum.
-----------------------------------------------------
15th May Saturday

Again no radio but I did do some work in the garden before doing some computer jobs.
----------------------------------------------------
16th May Sunday

Carole and I went Geocaching this afternoon and found another two caches. A good way to spend a Sunday afternoon, if I can’t play radio.

Week 19 2010

The start of another busy week with another ICQPODCAST to produce and a trip to Ireland.

----------------------------------

3rd May Monday

Bank Holiday Monday.

The weather was a wash out which is normal for a Bank Holiday. No Morse training to day due to the holiday.

----------------------------------

4th May Tuesday

I spent some time getting all the information together for this episodes podcast and recording the feature for the next ICQPODCAST. The feature this episode is about Holiday and Emergency Antennas.

----------------------------------
5th May Wednesday

Colin and I recorded the rest of the next episode of the ICQPODCAST. This is number 51. Half way to our century, three more and we have done two years of podcasting.


----------------------------------
6th May Thursday

We were flying out to Ireland to see Colin, Sandra, Conor and Holly , however with the dust cloud from the volcano over Ireland all flights have been cancelled.

We rescheduled our travel arrangements to Ireland because we have to attend Conor's 1st Holy Communion. We booked train and ferry tickets and travelled overnight to keep our scheduled visit.

This involved bus and tube travel to Paddington to collect our tickets. We left Paddington at 20:15 and arrived in Swansea at 23:20. This is a very easy trip so far. You change at Swansea and have about a 25 minute wait before continuing to Fishguard.

The train for Fishguard is a single coach diesel rail car which departs Swansea at 23:45.

-----------------------------------
7th May Friday

We arrived at Fishguard Harbour at 01:27am. You alight the train right next to the ferry terminal and have another 20 minute wait before boarding the ferry. Once on board we found somewhere to settle for the night crossing.

The ferry departs Fishguard at 02:45am and arrives in Rosslare just after 06:30 am. We were met at the ferry port by Colin who drove us to Mooncoin (about 20 minutes west of Warterford). Yes we did stop for coffee and breakfast on the way.

We arrived just before Conor and Holly had to go to school. A nice surprise for the grandchildren.

A relaxing day with the family, I did put up my 5 metre mast and 80 metre dipole before Conor and Holly came home from school

Early evening Colin and I went out to do some shopping for the following day. On route we went and found a Geocache at Holy Well before doing the shopping.

Just before 21:00 I tested the portable radio set up in the garden and worked Merv (M0TMW) in Great Yarmouth (UK) on 80 metres. Funny thing, he is an Irish man in the UK and I am an English man in Ireland.









My portable setup:-)
----------------------------------
8th May Saturday

A very busy day for all of us. We had to be at the church in Piltown for Conor's 1st Holy Communion at 10:30. The 1st Holy Communion went well and we returned back to Colin's for lunch with friends and family.

After lunch we went bowling in Waterford and concluded our time in Waterford in an Italian restaurant. Conor, Holly and I had a colouring sheet and crayons to colour a picture before our meal arrived. All three of our colourings were put up on the wall.












M1MRB with picture :-)

On the way back home we managed to find another Geocaching site and found the the Geocache. This was the first time Geocaching for Carole

-----------------------------------
9th May Sunday

Up early to see Colin and release this episode of the podcast

ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Ten - Holiday Emergency Antennas












* Caister Marconi station contacts 29 countries

* Government will kill off FM

* Radio Kuwait cleared from amateur band

* Morse practice via Echolink

* WebSDR Remote Radio in Virginia

* Hamvention D-STAR linking announcement

* Gigabit Powerline Adaptor interference video

* GB3YR now live on internet

* The future of amateur radio is youth

* Global Simulated Emergency Tests 2010

* Retro 75 AM Transceiver kit group formed

* Caiguaran - low-cost Cuban transceiver

* GB3VHF back on the air

* Tyco offers free electronics courses

Your feedback, upcoming events and Martin (M1MRB) tells us about Holiday Emergency Antennas.

The ICQPOCAST can be downloaded from http://www.icqpodcast.com

I managed to work Rob GS3PYE on 40 metres before my power supply shut down.

We all went out to Tramore, an Irish sea side town for the afternoon. The family enjoyed themselves in the fun fair before having a fish and chips meal.

In the evening we went to watch a hurling match between Killkenny and Waterford. Killkenny won 5.19 to 2.17.

A very busy week.

Week 18 2010

Week 18 2010
-----------------------------------
Old Chinese Proverb

Confucius say,

"If you are in a book store and cannot find
the book for which you search, you are obviously in the.....









No, no. No need to thank me. Just pass it along.







-----------------------------------------------
These repairs cannot have been done by an amateur can they?























or this installation?














-----------------------------------
An interesting website if you need a portable tower:

http://towers.ltaprojects.com/LTA_Towers/LTA_Tower_Home.html

25 ft tall AIR 25 is built for super-fast, easy, and SAFE setup...and is amazingly affordable. Perfect for CERT volunteers to use in disasters to extend radio and cell coverage...and it’s the BEST way to give you Amateur Radio Portability with a BIG Antenna.

Check out the videos on this site.













-------------------------------------

26th April Monday

I visited mum in hospital tonight on my way home from work.

Our second night of Morse training, we are now up to ten students for this course. I am finding it tuff going but am determined to complete this course.

-------------------------------------

27th April Tuesday


Mum came out of hospital this afternoon, which was good news.

We started a 70cm net for Tuesday nights in South London / North Surrey. This will take place at 20:00 local on 433.500Mhz and then QSY. All are welcome to join us; there were only three of us on the first night. Amateurs present Andy 2E0UVO, Paul M0TZO and me M1MRB.

-------------------------------------

29th April Thursday

I had an early start for work today. Chris picked me up from home at 7:00 and we went to the University of East London in Docklands. This is a modern campus which overlooks London Docklands and London City Airport.

I also attended a Committee Meeting of the Sutton and Cheam Radio Society. Not all of us turned up this time however it was still enjoyable.

-------------------------------------

30th April Friday

I visited my mum this evening before collecting Carole from work.

-------------------------------------

2nd May Sunday

To day I helped Carole decommission her tropical fish tank. Carole’s friend Julie has been given the whole setup including Tank, Fish, Tank Stand and a number of books.

There is now a space in our front room; it seems strange not to see it there.