Week 26 2010

This week’s bit of fun.






Advice from the Dog.

Subject: FW:?HOW TO CLEAN YOUR TOILET

1. Put both lids of the toilet up and add 1/8 cup of pet shampoo to the water in the bowl.

2. Pick up the cat and soothe him while you carry him towards the bathroom.

3. In one smooth movement, put the cat in the toilet and close both lids.
You may need to stand on the lid.

4. The cat will self agitate and make ample suds. Never mind the noises that come from the toilet, the cat is actually enjoying this.

5. Flush the toilet three or four times. This provides a "power-wash" and "rinse".

6. Have someone open the front door of your home. Be sure that there are no people between the bathroom and the front door.

7. Stand behind the toilet as far as you can, and quickly lift both lids.

8. The cat will rocket out of the toilet, streak through the bathroom, and run outside where he will dry himself off.

9. Both the commode and the cat will be sparkling clean.

Kind Regards.

The Dog

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

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21st June Monday

Morse night again: While I am enjoying this training I don't seem to be improving. After the class we seem to end up mattering on various topics. I then work Chris (2E0CTH) via GB3NS on his way home. This week we had a pirate who was trying to cause problems but I don't think he knew he was on the output of a repeater and thus not causing us problems. Still we must monitor this and inform the repeater keeper if this continues.

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22nd June Tuesday

I have been playing with some backup software for linux. The first software was a linux distribution called RESTORE. However this has not been updated for two years and you can’t change the storage drive. Apart from that it worked well.

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23rd June Wednesday

I built a new linux server with UBUNTU 10.04 and configured it to my requirements. I then installed some backup software on top of the base server. This software is BACKUPPC and can be downloaded direct from the repository. I am now looking at the documentation for configurations options. This backup server software looks as though it will login and backup servers as well as workstations on the network.

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25th June Friday

Friday is visit mum day. Before I could do this, I had recover Carole's Car. She had a puncher and had left the car at my son Lee's house. A quick change of the back wheel and we were back in business. I the spent the rest of Friday evening was cutting my Mum's hedge before collecting Carole from work.

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26th June Saturday

I spent the morning making up a minimal radio configuration for travelling. I am trying to keep the weight down in our cases for when we fly in a few days time and don’t want to carry more than I need.

Later in the evening I tested this minimal configuration in the back garden and worked stations all over Europe. My best contacts were into Greece on my Yaesu FT817 running 5 watts.

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27th June Sunday

I spent the day with Carole doing none radio related things. She took me to lunch which was good and we have had a relaxing day.

Week 25 2010

Let’s start with a bit of fun





How to correctly hold on in a moving train




















No, No……..the older guy by the door…


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WHO SAID FOOTBALLERS AREN'T INTELLIGENT?


My parents have always been there for me, ever since I was about 7. "

David Beckham

"I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league."

Mark Viduka

"Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well,
he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best
manager I've ever had."

David Beckham

"If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of
bed at the end of the day."

Neville Southall

"I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of
which were disputable."

Paul Gascoigne

"I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well."

Alan Shearer

"I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona "

Mark Draper

"You've got to believe that you're going to win, and I believe we'll win
the World Cup until the final whistle blows and we're knocked out."

Peter Shilton

"I faxed a transfer request to the club at the beginning of the week,
but let me state that I don't want to leave Leicester "

Stan Collymore

"I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on
the screen that George (Ndah) had scored in the first minute at
Birmingham . My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he
was out there playing."

Ade Akinbiyi

"Without being too harsh on David Beckham, he cost us the match."

Ian Wright

"I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier."

Ugo Ehiogu

" Leeds is a great club and it's been my home for years, even though I
live in Middlesborough."

Jonathan Woodgate

"I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel."

Stuart Pearce

"I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right."

Lee Hendrie

"I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country."

Ian Rush

" Germany are a very difficult team to play...they had 11 internationals
out there today."

Steve Lomas

"I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my
right sock."

Barry Venison

"I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what
religion yet."

David Beckham

"The Brazilians were South American, and the Ukrainians will be more European."

Phil Neville

"All that remains is for a few dots and commas to be crossed."

Mitchell Thomas

"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best."

Alan Shearer

"I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd."

Johnny Giles

"Sometimes in football you have to score goals."

Thierry Henry



The start of another ICQPODCAST production week.
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14th May Monday

Only four of us for the Morse course due to some of my colleagues taking annual holidays.
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16th May Wednesday

Colin and I recorded the next episode of the ICQPODCAST. This is number 54. We have now recorded two years of podcasts and looking forward to another year of podcasting.
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17th May Thursday

Thursday night I met a number of our students who were taking their full amateur radio exam. I wished them luck before taking Carole and Wendy for a curry. This is an early celebration of Carole's birthday.

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18th May Friday
Caroles's birthday today

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19th May Saturday

I spent the morning working on a computer backup solution. Carole and I went out for the evening, something we should do more often.

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20th May Sunday

Up early to meet Denis (M0NDJ) and Warren (M0WOZ) at 06:30 before departing for the Newbury Rally. We arrived just after 08:00 and setup for the day. Not many people turned up for this rally and most of the traders were saying it was a disappointing turnout.









Rally Views





















Part way through the day I turned on one of Denis’s radios and managed to work GB2MOF in Scotland on about 20watts into a 2.5 Metre whip. Signal report being 5 and 7, not bad for this setup.







The radio used.





Colin released our latest ICQPODCAST this morning.
















ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Thirteen (20 June 2010) - Pratical D-STAR

News Stories include:


* Slow Scan TV on 10 MHz

* ACMA cancels Amateur Radio licence

* VK licence figures show strength

* New 80m SDR Receiver

* Two-way contact achieved on 8.97 kHz

* Feedback added to RSGB blog

* Ham enthusiasts abuzz over traffic ticket

* Feds scrambe in Wireless spectrum crunch

* Amateur's spectacular Channel crossing

* GB3LW back on the air

* Intruders in Amateur Radio Bands

* Croatia 5 MHz and 500 kHz

* London to Brighton cycle ride

* Google Exam Practice Test

* Optimizing wire antennas online

* Apple iPhone Apps


Your feedback, upcoming events and Chris Howard (2E0CTH) talks about pratical D-STAR.

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

Week 24 2010

A day late publishing due to a major computer outage. Lots of time spent over the weekend fixing this problem, all seems well now. Yes I’m touching wood :-)

The blog seems to be getting a good number of visits so I will continue to publish.

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Ok because this is a short post here are some funnies I found on the web.







A man walked into a pet shop and said, 'I'd like a puppy for my son.'
'Sorry sir,' said the store owner, 'we don't do part exchange.'

Two dogs were walking along the road. One dog stopped and said: "My name is Fido. What's yours?
The other dog thought for a minute, and then replied: "I think it's Down Boy."

A women was considering buying an aging Thoroughbred but wanted a veterinarian's opinion of the horse before finalizing her deal. She asked when the vet had completed his examination - "Will I be able to race him?"
The veterinarian looked at the woman, then at the horse. "Sure" he replied, "and you'll probably win!"

Week 23 2010

Lets start with a bit of fun:





Amish Humor

Sign behind an Amish carriage:
"Energy efficient vehicle. Runs on grass and oats.
CAUTION: Avoid exhaust!"


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Why I'm Tired


For a couple years I've been blaming it on lack of sleep, not enough sunshine, too much pressure from my job, earwax build-up, poor blood, or anything else I could think of. But now I found out the real reason: I'm tired because I'm overworked.

Here's why: The population of this country is 273 million.

140 million are retired.

That leaves 133 million to do the work.

There are 85 million in school, which leaves 48 million to do the work.

Of this there are 29 million employed by the federal government, leaving 19 million to do the work.

2.8 million are in the armed forces preoccupied with killing Saddam Hussein.
Which leaves 16.2 million to do the work.

Take from that total the 14,800,000 people who work for state and city governments, and that leaves 1.4 million to do the work.

At any given time there are 188,000 people in hospitals, leaving 1,212,000 to do the work.

Now, there are 1,211,998 people in prisons.

That leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And there you are sitting, at your computer, reading jokes.

Nice, real nice.

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31st May Bank Holiday Monday

No radio again today however Carole and I did go Geocaching. I revisited two Geocaches I had found before to allow Carole to find them before finding another three caches. A very enjoyable afternoon.
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1st June Tuesday

I wrote and recorded the next feather for the ICQPODCAST. This is about the four metre band. This is one of my favourite bands because you always get a good contact.

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2nd June Wednesday

I spent the evening on Skype with Colin recording the next episode of the ICQPODCAST. This is number 53, one more and we have completed 2 years.

We have been consistent on our release schedule producing a new podcast every two weeks with an extra episode at Christmas.

Down load figures a very credible however we always want more.

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3rd June Thursday

This was a Club Natter Night in the bar at Sutton United Football Club. Not many of us turned up due to the bank holiday and the half term break for those with children. I had chat with Alun G4WGE and Paul M0TZO. Alan and I were only drinking soft drinks but Paul made it worth them opening the bar :-)

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4th June Friday

Change my schedule and stayed home with Carole because she was not working this Friday night. It was a very warm evening, we have power on the patio. We had a very relaxing evening in the garden and only decided to go back inside at 23:10 local.

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5th June Saturday

Visited mum and did some gardening for her. I hate gardening but it has to be done.

Later in the evening I set up a very temporary PSK31 station. While I did not transmit, I was receiving stations from all over Europe on a mobile whip. I have installed FLDIGI on my netbook and this worked well. I will do some more work with this configuration for future use.

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6th June Sunday

Colin released our latest ICQPODCAST this morning.


ICQ Podcast Series Three Episode Twelve (06 June 2010) - Introduction to Four Metres


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


* Is the term 'Amateur Radio' still relevant?

* Redefining Electrical Current Law

* New ICOM Handportable Radios

* IC-9100 Satellite Base Station

* 3D views for beacons maps

* Extension of 40-metre band in Kenya

* WIA Centenary callsign is hot

* Wireless microphone ban

* NZ enforces Amateur Radio regulations

* NZ amateur radio study guides

* Radio Hams assist search

* Questions withdrawn from NCVEC Pool

* VHF & Up at the RSGB Convention

* French QSL mystery resolved

* NASB launches International Shortwave Survey

* Abandoned distress beacon triggers search


Your feedback, upcoming events and Martin (M1MRB) provides an introduction to four metres.

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