Doing Something Useful

After the disappointment of Ham Radio I thought that I'd do something that I would get some benefit from. I joined a gym.

Apart from the fact that I probably need to do something in regard to my general health and fitness I wanted a challenge that would pay dividends. Health is any easy choice in that respect. Do more exercise, get fit and lose weight in the process. Driving a truck isn't a physical job theses days. In the past there was a lot of manual handling that went with the driving but now bulk loads have machinery to move them about and other materials are getting lighter. The solution is to join a gym.

Moving on...
I now realise that I should have stuck with my first decision about what to do with my annual bonus which was to buy an arranger keyboard. I can rectify the subsequent decision which was to get into ham radio by selling all the radio gear. I'll do that soon and go back to what I know while becoming both physically and mentally more content with my world.

Goodbye Ham Radio

I've decided to revise this post because I thought it needed to be a little more rational and to also better explain my reasons for not participating in amateur radio operating.

Rather than write a long blog post I've created a text file that you can read should you want to.

Just click on this link.

Postcard From Space

I'm not going to win any prizes for quality but this is my first SSTV picture from the International Space Station.

There are a few pictures to download this weekend and the transmissions didn't start until this evening but my patience has paid off and I grabbed a picture. The pictures are celebrating Cosmonautics Day.
Hopefully I'll get some more tomorrow evening.

98 Per Cent Station

So here is my HF radio in place in the shack.
It's an Alinco DX-70 and it has yet to be used. That is why my M6IKI station is only at 98%. The reason is that I don't have a power supply for it yet, there's a specific one that I want so I'll have to wait.

The power supply is 1% closer to operation, the other 1% is my RF earth bus bar which I'm in the process of making. Once that's built and everything is connected I'll be able to power up.

ETA to my HF station being on air is about 2 weeks.
As ever I'll keep you informed.

Celebration

I had a great day out in Leicester yesterday.

The city has been celebrating all week. In case you hadn't noticed we had King Richard III to reinter in the cathedral. I was lucky enough to be picked in the public ballot and got my seat at the Service of Reveal yesterday. It was a really good service. I really did enjoy it.

Afterwards I hooked up with my GF and another friend and we spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening drinking a few toasts to RIII. We were also celebrating my shiny new callsign and generally not being in work. It's fair to say that a good time was had by all.

There'll never be another day like it but that's what memories are for.