Is this frequency in use?

Apparently not.

This pathetic excuse for a blog about pathetic excuses for not going on the radio, full of pathetic excuses for not blogging about not going on the radio, is 9 years old. This is how it all began and, pretty much, how it has continued:

http://gm0jhe.blogspot.co.uk/2007_04_01_archive.html

How serendipi...serendipe...what a coincidence! No, I didn't read it first, and then come up with the title of this post. Who could have foreseen just how unproductive I would be in those 9 years? Me, for a start. They were no more successful than the 9 years that preceded them, or the 9 years that preceded those 9 years. You get my point, dear reader.

Two days ago, I celebrated the 28th anniversary of the first entry in the logbook of GM0JHE, not by having a wee drink, though I should have done so, but by doing some things of an Amateur Radio nature. I shall reveal all spill the beans later on but, for now, here's an illustrated whistle-stop tour of the last two and a quarter years.

Right. Where was I? Ah, the RSGB Centenary Convention, Part Deux. Well, it's a bit late now to start going on about it, but the intended post was going to feature a photo of a defaced Technical Dinner menu, but I can't find it right now. Will this do?

The highlight of the evening was a talk by the legendary Rev. George Dobbs G3RJV:

To cut a long story (very) short, every man should have a shed.

I presume he meant 'man' as in 'humanity'.

The next day, scores of bleary-eyed delegates wandered in and out of talks about aerials, DXpeditions, Amateurs in the armed forces, and so on, and all too soon, the weekend was over. It is always thus.

Next up, 2014, and it began with a trip to the seaside, where there was little to see, bar this giant key:

I may have bought a book, or two, but my memory of the entire weekend is somewhat hazy, and not due to the demon drink.

My next trip to a Rally was a vast improvement, in all respects: First Class train travel, taxis here and there, and back home before midnight with a bag of goodies, including one of these beauties, just in case I ever need to perfom a surgical procedure!

The weather is a lot more hospitable than in Blackpool, so you can even go outside (I may regret saying that).

I got a little ATU, a PSU, a couple of books and a Czech morse key. I enjoyed the day out, but considering the cost of the trip, and the fact that I didn't arrive at the venue until nearly 1pm, it was a bit much for two and a half hours. Well, you only live once. Nice clock.

A word of warning for those who, like me, have never attended the National Hamfest. Take a car, especially on the Friday. Otherwise, you will struggle to get a taxi, because most of them are engaged in taking kids home from school due to the abysmal bus service in Newark-on-Trent. Speaking of serendipity

According to my logbook, I worked a total of 11 stations in 2014, all in the CQWW SSB Contest. I have my reasons.

I started 2015 by doing something positive, and joined AMSAT-UK. Joined. That is all.

What better way to kick off Spring 2015 than a trip to the seaside:

I can pick them! This was before they gave storms a name, and I can think of a few for this one, none of them polite. What a relief, then, to get inside this place.

You see folk all the time coming out of Rally venues with mobile whips, colinears, beams, vintage receivers, sections of masts, and so on. I bet they thought twice about it that day. The streets were deserted. When I emerged a few hours later to take the tram back to my car, the storm had abated, which was just as well, as I was a few hundred (British) pounds lighter. Inspired by a flurry of Packet (?) activity I had heard on 2m before I left the B&B, I parted with a stupid sum of money for one of these:

Why? No, really. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. Anything else I may have acquired paled into insignificance beside this white elephant.

At the beginning of June, I drove over to Livingston, for the so-called Central Scotland Mini Ham Radio Convention. 7 tables, 4 of them empty, do not a Convention make. I shall not be returning. I'll need to pay my CSFMG membership by other means.

Later that month, a courier turned up at the door with one of these:

This the extremely plasticky Wouxun KG-UV6DL 2m/4m handheld. Believe it or not, I did hear someone on 4m shortly after I bough this but, at the time of writing, I've never heard anyone else, either in Glasgow, or in Wales or the Midlands. During that same week, finally, I had the bright idea to take the aforementioned Kenwood contraption out of its box and attach it to a spare computer I had lying around. I downloaded UI-View 32, and set about trying to work out how to configure the software, and how to operate the radio on APRS and Packet. It was clear I that I was suffering from some form of intellectual deficit, so I switched it off and watched the telly.

I took my FT-60, UV-5R, KG-UV6DL and FT-817 away on holiday to Wales in July, but in my hurry to leave, I forgot to take any aerials with me. Just as well, as my car never moved an inch the whole time I was there. Don't ask me to organise any portable expeditions.

To atone for this shameful neglect, I bought myself one of these:

It only came out of the box this weekend.

I've nearly finished, honest.

Taking my own advice, I drove to the 2015 National Hamfest. This was a recipe for disaster: long journey, and even longer when combined with a trip to the West Midlands in the same weekend; crap B&B; a town where the buses seem to finish about half past 5; the temptation to go to the Rally on both days; and the temptation to buy something bigger than I could fit in a rucksack! I bought a Callbook, so I could get one of those RSGB document cases. I bought another couple of books, a mobile mount, sundry hardware, and another rig:

I did a lot of wandering around outside in the glorious Autumn sunshine, while I dithered about buying the 450D.

I presume his owner has a licence (for him).

I wonder if this will tune up on Top Band.
 

I didn't buy one of these, but maybe Bonnie Tyler would?
 

Time for a last look round, and a decision on the FT-450D.

Perhaps I had heatstroke? Actually, I had a migraine, but I won't blame it on that. I bought it for a purpose, even if it stayed in its box for 6 months. Stay tuned. Ahem.

My last foray into Amateur Radio for 2015 was in the CQWW SSB Contest at the end of October, where I made 50 contacts. That's quite good, considering.  

I started 2016 by neglecting to pay my AMSAT-UK subscription. This was remedied earlier this month after I had been sent a final demand, so to speak. When you get to my age, you forget things!

March is almost over, and the clocks have gone forward into Spring, or what passes for it in Glasgow. It's not the end of the story, though. I had another go at the TM-D710GE, and I'm still none the wiser. What is this about?

A week later, a courier appeared with one of these:

Yes, this is why I bought the FT-450D, a cheaper radio that I won't be too upset about destroying by connecting something like this to it. I've still got a bit of setting up to do, but I managed to decode some RTTY on 17m. Heaven knows what some of the new sounds are in the Data portion of the HF bands, but that's what it's all about, experimentation.

I struggled to fill an entire page of my logbook during the CQWW WPX contest. I only made 23 contacts in the whole 48 47 hours. The other two were made using CW on 17m, using the FT-450D for the first time. Also for the first time, I tried my paddle. I sank without trace. Practice makes perfect? Less blogging and more practice? Who knows?