Week 5 2011

This weeks Fun:







Tram V Bus Dublin style:


















Check out the ad on the side of the bus!
















"High Tech Grocery Store"

A new super high tech grocery store recently opened in Orlando, Florida. It has the standard automatic water misters to keep the produce fresh, but just before it mists, one hears the distant sound of thunder and the smell of fresh rain. When one passes the diary freezer, you hear cows mooing and experience the scent of fresh mown hay. Going in the meat department one can smell the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks and barbecued ribs. When you pass the fresh eggs case, you hear hens cluck and cackle, and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of morning eggs and bacon. In the bread department, a tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread and soft warm rolls. But I don't buy my toilet paper there anymore.

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"Light Bulb"

How many librarians does it take to change a light bulb? Just six. One gets ready to change the light bulb while the other five form a review committee and write a letter of protest to the Dean, because, changing light bulbs IS NOT professional work

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It’s almost the end of January and I am as busy as I was last year. I was going to recover some of my time :-)

Monday night was fun playing radio with the guys. More details on: playing-radio.blogspot.com.

Tuesday I recorded the latest feature for the ICQPODCAST. This was a short overview of the magic band (6 metres).

Wednesday Colin and I recorded the main part of the ICQPODCAST. This is episode 71 so we are getting close to the next mile stone of 75.

Sunday morning Colin released our latest PODCAST. ICQ Podcast

Series Four Episode Three - Magic 6m Band Series Four Episode Three of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast.












News Stories include:

• New Amateur Radio bill introduced in Congress
• Italian 145.800MHz repeater shuts down
• Radar intruders in Amateur bands
• Cadets' using 5MHz WSPR clarified
• Contest University 2011
• FSTV beacon GB3CZ back to full power
• Mass SOTA/WAB activation planned
• Goonhilly rejoin deep space comms programme
• Celebrating 85 years of hospital radio
• D-Star active in Johannesburg
• Cell-phone to fly in space

Your feedback, upcoming events and Martin (M1MRB) discusses the 6m band.

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

Week 4 2011

Radio Trivia

• What were the call letters of the first commercial radio station?
  KDKA
• What topic was discussed on the first commercial radio broadcast?
  The election results for 1920.
• What was the radio that Lucille Ball had, which later evolved into the 'I Love Lucy' TV show?
  My Favorite Husband.
• What is the abbreviation 'AM' ?
  Amplitude modulation.
• What is the abbreviation 'FM' ?
  Frequency Modulation.
• Who invented the FM band?
  Howard Armstrong
• How far does a FM radio wave travel?
  Line of sight (horizon).

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Another busy week this week. The week started off with the Sutton and Cheam Radio Society Practical Group Monday night session.

Gary (M6GHT) and Barry (M6BJT) were operating on 2 metres. :-)

Chris Howard was fixing a 5 amp power supply and lives to tell the tale

Mick, Denis, Steve and I were playing with the TAK-TENNA antenna. We managed to get it to load up. Next week we are hoping to get it on the air.

Again Lots of tea and coffee.

Thursday was the main monthly meeting for Sutton and Cheam Radio Society at Sutton United football ground. This month’s talk was by Chris Whitmarsh G0FDZ who is the Beacon Keeper for GB3VHF. The website for GB3VHF is www.gb3vhf.co.uk. The beacon can be found on 144.430MHz and is located at BT Fairseat on the North Downs in Kent (JO01EH). Providing a service to amateur radio operators on two metres for over fifty years.

This was a very interesting talk with a lot of history and some great pictures.

The GB3VHF Beacon

GB3VHF Antennas and Mast

Saturday morning I was up early and off to the scout hall again. This time we were there to start an Intermediate Training Course. This course has seven students booked but only six turned up on the first day. Hope fully the other student will join us for the next session.

Week 3 2011

The days seem to fly by and I’m back here updating my blog.

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This week’s bit of fun:







The Frog and Golf

A man takes the day off work and decides to go out golfing.

He is on the second hole when he notices a frog sitting next to the green.

He thinks nothing of it and is about to shoot when he Hears,

Ribbit 9 Iron.'

The man looks around and doesn't see anyone.

Again, he hears, 'Ribbit 9 Iron.'

He looks at the frog and decides to prove the frog wrong, puts the club away, and grabs a 9 iron.

Boom!

He hits it 10 inches from the cup.

He is shocked.

He says to the frog,

'Wow that's amazing.

You must be a lucky frog, eh?

The frog replies,

'Ribbit Lucky frog.'

The man decides to take the frog with him to the next hole.

'What do you think frog?'

The man asks.

'Ribbit 3 wood.'

The guy takes out a 3 wood and, Boom! Hole in one.

The man is befuddled and doesn't know what to say.

By the end of the day, the man golfed the best game of golf in his life and asks the frog,

'OK where to next?'

The frog replies,

'Ribbit Las Vegas

' They go to Las Vegas and the guy says,

'OK frog, now What?'

The frog says, 'Ribbit Roulette.'

Upon approaching the roulette table,

The man asks,

'What do you think I should Bet?'

The frog replies,

'Ribbit $3000, black 6.'

Now, this is a million-to-one shot to win, but after the golf game the man figures what the heck.

Boom!

Tons of cash comes sliding back across the table.

The man takes his winnings and buys the best room in the Hotel..

He sits the frog down and Says,

'Frog, I don't know how to repay you. You've won me all this money and I am forever grateful.'

The frog replies,

'Ribbit KissMe.'

He figures why not,

Since after all the frog did for Him,

He deserves it.

With a kiss, the frog turns into a gorgeous 15-year-old girl.

'And that, your honor, is how the girl ended up in my room.

So help me God

Or my name is not W J C

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I had a good Monday evening with playing radio the boys. This seems to be a very active group. Checkout playing-radio.blogspot.com for more details and upcoming events. All are welcome to join us any Monday evening in Banstead. My contact details are: martin@m1mrb.co.uk or Tel 07972 552878.

I have been playing with some new APRS software (http://aprsisce.wikidot.com/). Adrian M0GLJ told me about this and it works well. It is still under development so look out for more updates over the next few weeks.

Wednesday I recorded the latest episode of the ICQPODCAST with Colin. On checking the quality of our audio we found we were still losing packets, this we believe to be Colin’s end.

Thursday Morning Colin contacted his ISP to resolve the issue. Technical support did some profiling on his line and after some test we rescheduled the recording of the podcast for Friday night.

Friday we recorded the latest episode of the ICQPODCAST. Initial tests showed the audio quality was much better and this has been a success.

Sunday morning Colin released our latest PODCAST.















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 Four Episode Two - Irish 80m Contest (16 January 2011)

Series Four Episode Two of the ICQ Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast. News Stories include:

• Commemorative stamps for radio society
• UK antenna manufacturer launches
• International Short Wave League celebrations
• Radio Meteor Detection
• Amateur Radio Club helps kids communicate
• UK DRM+ trial
• Italian amateur radio repeaters disregard IARU bandplan
• New UK lightwave record
• 8 year-old Arkansas Radio Ham

Your feedback and Colin (M6BOY) reviews taking part in the Irish 80m contest.
The ICQPOCAST can be downloaded from http://www.icqpodcast.com

Week 2 2011

This weeks bit of Fun:





One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very Sexy nightie.
'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.'
So he tied her up and went golfing.

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Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.

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A Polish immigrant went to the DVLA to apply for a driving licence.
First, of course, he had to take an eyesight test.
The optician showed him a card with the letters

'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.'
'Can you read this?' the optician asked.
'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.'

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Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army.

On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb.
That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair.
On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush.
That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth.
On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap.
The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

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Over the Christmas period Colin set me up on Facebook. I will get more into this as the weeks go on.

Before I came home Colin and I took part in the Irish 80 metre contest. Colin logged for me and we worked 56 contacts in 21 Irish counties as well as Scotland and Sussex. Not bad for my potable station over here in County Kilkenny Ireland. We are going to put in an entry for this contest which should act as a check log for the serious contest station.

We came back from Ireland on Tuesday after our Christmas/ New Year family break. I think the next time we travel back from Ireland I will do it overnight. This is because you can get some sleep on route, it seems better to do it that way.

Thursday night was our natter night in the bar at Sutton United football club. While only six of us turned up it was a very good evening.

On Saturday I had a Skype call from Adrian VK2BAC. I have not spoken to Adrian for some time and it was good to catch up with things. He also gave me some leads for potential podcast interviews. More on this in the weeks to come.

Week 1 2011

This weeks bit of Fun:







THE LITTLE OLD LADY AND THE BET

A little old lady went into the Bank of Canada one day, carrying a bag of money. She insisted that she must speak with the president of the bank to open a savings account because, "It's a lot of money!" After much hemming and hawing, the bank staff finally ushered her into the president's office(the customer is always right!). The bank president then asked her how much she would like to deposit. She replied, "$165,000!" and dumped the cash out of her bag onto his desk.

The president was of course curious as to how she came by all this cash, so he asked her, "Ma'am, I'm surprised you're carrying so much cash around.

Where did you get this money?" The old lady replied, "I make bets." The president then asked, "Bets? What kind of bets?" The old woman said, "Well, for example, I'll bet you $25,000 that your balls are square."

"Ha!" laughed the president, "That's a stupid bet. You can never win that kind of bet!" The old lady challenged, "So, would you like to take my bet?" "Sure," said the president, "I'll bet $25,000 that my balls are not square!"

The little old lady then said, "Okay, but since there is a lot of money involved, may I bring my lawyer with me tomorrow at 10:00 am as a witness?" "Sure!" replied the confident president. That night, the president got very nervous about the bet and spent a long time in front of a mirror checking his balls, turning from side to side, again and again. He thoroughly checked them out until he was sure that there was absolutely no way his balls were square and that he would win the bet.

The next morning, at precisely 10:00 am, the little old lady appeared with her lawyer at the president's office. She introduced the lawyer to the president and repeated the bet: "$25,000 says the president's balls are square!"

The president agreed with the bet again and the old lady asked him to drop his pants so they could all see. The president complied. The little old lady peered closely at his balls and then asked if she could feel them. "Well, Okay," said the president, "$25,000 is a lot of money, so I guess you should be absolutely sure." Just then, he noticed that the lawyer was quietly banging his head against the wall.

The president asked the old lady, "What the hell's the matter with your lawyer?" She replied, "Nothing, except I bet him $100,000 that at 10:00am today, I'd have The Bank of Canada's
president's balls in my hand."

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I have been in Ireland for over a week and I think I'm in Irish mode. I'm so relaxed I almost didn't do this blog.

We have had a great time with family, taking it easy. Its a shame I have to go back to work next week but needs must :-)

On new years eve Colin and I had an invite to meet up with Paul (EI3ENB). Paul only lives about half a mile from Colin but I had not worked him before. We had a very enjoyable couple of hours with Paul and his wife Catherine. It was nice to talk radio with one of the locals and understand the differences between Ireland and the UK.

Colin has set me up on Facebook, I understand that I should have it, but do I need it. Time will tell, I may find it very useful.

We have also been out doing another of our hobbies (Geocaching). We spent a day out in the country and found 7 Geocaches. Below are a few pictures from our trip.















































On Monday Colin and I are going to take part in the Irish 80 Metre Contest. This will be a first for Colin and should be a bit of fun. We hope to give away a lot of points.

We have recorded two podcasts while out here and we released a new episode this morning.

icqpodcast's Amateur / Ham Radio Podcast











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 Four Episode One - G-QRP Club


News Stories include:

Distracted Driving - an amateur replies
Walkie-talkies abroad
Brightest northern lights display for 50 years Gadgets Frequencies?
iPhone Amateur Radio apps
Chevy hidden antenna
Work all Britian 2011
Amateur Radio World Castles Award
Greek radio repeater locator app
Icelandic hams get 5.36-5.41MHz
Russian engineers plan to extend Internet to space


Your feedback and Martin (M1MRB) reviews the G-QRP Club.

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