Accidental Pirates [030]
Greetings from the shack...
HERE
I’m in the shack but the radio is off otherwise i’ll never get this done.
THERE
My dedication to writing something that might become a book is all encompassing. So radio time is a luxury. The HF gear and new sky loop are waiting for my focused attention, while slithers of radio happen between places. Via handhelds or mobile rig while walking the dog and between writing sessions. If I remember the morning repeater net i’ll drop in to say hi. Or when I’m in the car I’ll switch on the mobile rig.
What with the wet autumn here I’m thankful my handhelds are weather sealed. Some more than others.
I miss HF but some radio is better than no radio. If I was giving out a repeater standby award it would go to Clive 2E0OZX. It used to be I’d put a shout out on GB3OV and get nothing but pips back. But recently, more often than not, Clive pops up. I’ve got a lot of time for Clive. It’s always a good chat.
While in Milton Keynes recently I heard some chatter on GB3MK that sounded like people using half callsigns. They were discussing whether to get take-a-way for lunch and at what time. I suspected they weren’t licensed. Mostly because they were a) not complaining about medical issues, b) not quoting the Daily Mail and c) sounded young.
I soon realised after asking for a full callsign they might be accidental pirates. When I got no response from them, Nigel M0NYG who’d been listening on the side told me that they’d been around for the last few days and he was logging the activity.
In the UK it’s against licensing conditions to engage with unlicensed radio operators on a licensed frequency. So I took the opportunity while chatting with Nigel to discuss that perhaps they had inadvertently bought a set of walkie talkies that operated on 433.000. That they might not know the harsh fines that could be imposed by talking on a licensed frequency and it might be worth them heading to the local club to get the radios reprogrammed. I mentioned the legal PMR446 frequencies, and how easy it was to get the foundation licence.
I didn’t want to aggressively pursue anyone having fun on a radio. Just nudge them in the right direction. It sounded like an honest mistake and these fresh new voices could be the next wave of amateur radio operators. Nigel agreed that the local club could guide them and we left it at that. There was no more ‘what’s for dinner’ chat on the air and I got an email from Nigel a few days later saying that our chat appeared to do the trick of clearing the repeater frequency. It would be nice to think they at least considered getting a licence but it takes a certain kind of nerd. So I’ll not hold my breath.
I took my first exam with PADARC before they all went online and this week I finally joined the Peterborough club. It’s great to be able to support another club. G8BBC, HARS, and PADARC.
The Peterborough and G8BBC cards are plastic. The HARS card was made of paper and pocket sweat turned it to pulp. That’s why it is missing from the photo.
GEAR
[Occasionally I post Amazon affiliate links in this email. But fear not, I shall not be getting rich off your clicks because like responsible radio operators you are probably shopping at places that pay their taxes. As a result i’ve not had a voucher of any kind for over a year now.]
Sold my FT3D. I loved that radio but was just not using it now I have my FT5D. It’s gone to a great home and is back doing what it should and not just sitting on a shelf.
My car set up leaves a lot to be desired.
It’s an Anytone AT-779UV and while It works and has served me well I would like a permanent install with something that does APRS.
Since both electric lease cars went with my Wife’s job change, we are sharing a car now. Sadly I’m not as free to do as I wish in regards to a mobile station. If I could have my way I’d be tempted to build some kind of mobile shack writing retreat. It could look similar to this.
If you wondered how someone might setup a glass roofed Tesla for mobile radio use, wonder no more.
In my humble opinion amateur radio operators shouldn’t be using What’s App. It’s still just Facebook and does not have your best interests at heart. I tend to use Wire.com or Signal or Mastodon for my instant messaging needs. But I’m also keen to try this…
Another LoRa project I discovered via Mastodon by AustinMesh.org. According to their website Austin Mesh is a ‘community group working to build a mesh network of solar-powered meshtastic radios in Austin’.
The network delivers a city-wide text messaging system that allows people to send unencrypted group text messages and encrypted one to one messages. The great thing is that all of this happens without any external infrastructure. No external power, no GSM and no internet. The radios are solar powered (easier in Austin that the UK) and communicate using the LoRa protocol. (863–870/873 MHz in Europe) The radios mesh using the open-source software meshtastic.
I’m really tempted to get a compact high gain antenna on the chimney and see what kind of node I can set up. But it’s not the kind of radio you can play on your own. If there are enough people interested perhaps we can set up a mesh network. If you think you would like to be a node add your apron location to this map. It would be interesting to see if there are any clusters.
Last video promise. At least for this section. This is an interesting look at a few portable ham radio antennas you can get from Amazon in the USA.
ONAIR
Had a lovely chat with Lee M7APO as I walked cross country to meet him for a beer and a curry. You can read all about it on Trusted places…
ELSEWHERE
A radio romance in Rugby.
The ghostly radio station that no one claims to run
No one knows exactly what the X-37B has been doing in space for the last 900 days. There was talk of a microwave beam experiment that some speculate is an EMP satellite disabling weapon. Others suggest it’s simply’ looking at stuff’. Aka spying. With the potential for micro stealth cameras to already be scattered throughout the exosphere, I can’t help but think it would be a waste of space for just spying. If it heads back up soon I’ve a feeling it’s doing something far more interesting.
FINALS
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You are some of the more curious people in radio ;-) And I thank you.
Over
73 de Christian G5DOC
_._
