The Magic of Radio

When I was a child of 14, my great-grandparents had an auction sale because that's what you did when you grew older and you had to move.

Somehow our family got an old plastic radio, and since I was interested in radio, I took it down to my room and began to play with it. 

It had the AM dial on it, but it also had something else called SW, which I would learn was ShortWave. 

It was not easy at all to hear anything on shortwave. Mostly because I didn't know how to listen to the shortwave band 

It requires a delicate and a light touch. You need to have your ears tuned and focused on listening, with full attention on what you're hearing through the static. 

I continued to learn through my listening, and one day I bought a thin piece of copper wire from the Mayfair Hardware store. 

I strung it out through my basement window up to the eaves, and followed the fence to the bottom of the yard. 

I returned back to my radio, and that night I hooked up the wire to the radio. And my oh my. The world opened up to me. 

All those hours I had spent learning to listen now paid off with the extra antenna. 

I picked up England and the Netherlands, Congo, China, the U.S.S.R.  I heard Ecuador and I heard Switzerland and Germany. Austria, Berlin, Australia, Angola, Afghanistan. The Far East and Israel. 

Of course, Cuba and Radio Belgrade, Radio Denmark. Japan and Kiev, Norway, Singapore, Sweden,
And on and on and on, and I have never looked back. 

And that's the difference between a radio full of static and a fun, enjoyable hobby. 

You have to learn to listen and to receive and to actually hear, because that's where you find the joy. 

It is a mix of the magic of radio waves, propagation, and just learning how to listen that makes it fun for me.

 

 

Earth, we just dodged a bullet

History tells us of a close call for the earth; 

On the morning of September 1, 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington ascended into the private observatory attached to his country estate outside of London. After cranking open the dome’s shutter to reveal the clear blue sky, he pointed his brass telescope toward the sun and began to sketch a cluster of enormous dark spots that freckled its surface. Suddenly, Carrington spotted what he described as “two patches of intensely bright and white light” erupting from the sunspots. Five minutes later the fireballs vanished, but within hours their impact would be felt across the globe.

That night, telegraph communications around the world began to fail; there were reports of sparks showering from telegraph machines, shocking operators and setting papers ablaze. All over the planet, colorful auroras illuminated the nighttime skies, glowing so brightly that birds began to chirp and laborers started their daily chores, believing the sun had begun rising. Some thought the end of the world was at hand, but Carrington’s naked eyes had spotted the true cause for the bizarre happenings: a massive solar flare with the energy of 10 billion atomic bombs. The flare spewed electrified gas and subatomic particles toward Earth, and the resulting geomagnetic storm—dubbed the “Carrington Event”—was the largest on record to have struck the planet.

On March 12, 2023 at 11:36 pm EDT it happened again. (that's what caused the amazing northern lights show that has been on display since). However estimates suggest that this recent one was ten to a hundred times more powerful than the one in 1859. What saved us was that this eruption was directed away from the earth.

J.R. Dunn writes

What happened on March 12 was similar to the 1859 outburst – only worse. Early estimates suggest that this explosion was ten to a hundred times more powerful than the one of 1859. Such events – if not quite so extreme -- are not uncommon. One serious difference from 1859 was that explosion took place on the side of the sun facing away from earth. If it had been facing in our direction, if the earth had borne the full brunt of that blast, we can scarcely imagine the results. It’s likely that all operating electrical systems would have been immediately destroyed, the same as the telegraph systems in 1859. Any active electronic instruments – and possibly even those that happened to be shut down – would have been fried, transformed into useless hunks of plastic, metal, and silicon. The electrical and electronic networks (e.g., the Net) that form the framework of Third Millennial civilization would have been annihilated. Once they were destroyed, all power would vanish. Industry would grind to a halt. Massive amounts of data, including almost all financial data, would simply disappear. All methods of communication beyond voice range would no longer exist. It wouldn’t be a matter of waiting to be rescued by a government of any sort. Government would have shrunk to little more than a notion. The very tools on which relief, and even recovery, depend would simply have vanished. The consequences beggar the imagination. A new Dark Age would have been the best option to expect. 

And so we go along on our merry way.
The news media hasn't really covered it at this level. But yeah, we dodged a bullet.

 
God is still looking out for us. In spite of us telling him he doesn't exist.

Because can there ever be too many radios?

Well, mostly a day off anyway. (With more ways to contact me, I get more contacts. Phone, txt, email, messenger, direct message, etc.)

So anyway, we stayed at home today and I played radio. I’ve got a little collection of radios because honestly, there’s always room for one more radio. They all behave differently but they all do the amazing work of turning radio waves into audio. Waves that are all around us and can only be heard with the power of a radio. Yup pretty amazing.

With my Amateur Radio station, I can shoot radio waves around the earth or bounce them off the moon and back again. I can talk to satellites or be in the middle of no place with no cell coverage and call for help or a chat. All from a station that I made myself. Like I said, it’s all very mind blowing.
While most people don't really get it, there are some who do. For me, they are the fun ones to hang around with.

So when I get some free time, I love to play radio. Even after all these years it’s still just a miracle how it all works.

73
Randall VE6VOR

Good Christmas Worship tunes

This season we have been listening to Family Radio Inc on the house system, and they have been playing so many old carols that its quite a treat.

Old old Christmas songs like my dad used to sing in the choirs he led. And mid old Christmas songs that Lauralea and I sang in the choir in College. So many good old pieces of music that speak the language of my heart. Its a good deal of memories around here these days.

I say this because the station just played "Low, How A Rose E'er Blooming" and it seemed it was in the same arrangement as Lauralea and I sang in Chorale that first year we were married and in the college tour choir. We worked so very hard on that piece, and we did it accapella. I remember the night we sang it in concert in the darkened hall. It was crazy magical. One of many good memories of that first year we shared life together.

...

And now they are playing Evie's song 1000 candles. We had that record when I was a kid and I remember having it playing early one morning before I headed off into the falling snow, in the dark, heading to school. Funny how those memories yank you into the past with such clarity.


Its good medicine for when you get tired of Santa Baby and Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer playing on permaloop on the radio these days. Those songs take me deeper, to a place of worship, which is just fine with me.

It may not be that to you, but it's good around here for now.

When I was experimenting with an inverted V antenna

via Instagram ift.tt/2h9LJ65 http://ift.tt/2jyHGkB

When I was experimenting with an inverted V antenna, (ham radio) my wife came out and her only comment to me was, "Hmm looks like a sail!"
I know she's a keeper because I've heard what other ham wives have declared in similar situations. #VE6VOR #amateurradio

Vacation. Day Two.

1. I started to play again today.

The church I serve has been changing over the past while and its changing for the better. It's becoming  a church of people with honest life struggles, some of which look to have no easy answers. So this year has been much busier for me and one of the ways I can tell that is that my Ham Radio logbook hasn't had a new entry since before christmas.

Amateur radio is one of the ways I play and have some fun. But I haven't really played with that in a long long time.

But today I finally got my 2-meter Kenwood radio installed in the van and that was fun. Now I can play while on the road. That's great, a good start.


2. I was contacted to write a Christmas piece for a denominational magazine.

This, is cool and a good challenge for me.
I enjoy writing but that discipline has really sort of dried up for me in the past years. My Spiritual Director has been inviting me to re-engage and consider this part of my life again and I am excited by the possibilities.

So then this invitation came today. Pretty encouraging opportunity.


Day two. Check.

a comfort

It's nearly 6 am.
I've been up since about 2 am.
Something I ate I fear. Or maybe something I heard.
I don't know.

So I'm doing some easy work here, online.
Listening to all night radio preachers on AM radio.
Some really good speakers out there.
Encouraging, hopeful.

They are here in the middle of the night, when people like me can't sleep.
And it is a comfort.

Nice.

From station VE6VOR

Tonight I talked with a man from Belarus. Then I talked with a man in Russia, who lives near the Ukrainian border, near the fighting.
I had a conversation with them on a radio station that I put together, using an antenna that I built from some wire and plastic and rope.
And my simple hundred watt signal bounced around the globe, until we connected.
On something I built.

Every time that happens it feels like I just invented the lightbulb or I discovered the cure to cancer.
To me it's amazing that that can ever happen.
And that I made it happen.

From Victor Echo Six Voice Of Randall

Carry on

The sun is shining, the wind isn't blowing.
My internet tower is back up and working.
My radio antennas are back up and working nicely, even getting my signal into the heart of Russia.
So lets enjoy it while we have it ok?

Ok.

Carry on.

Victor Papa Eight Lima Papa this is Victor Echo Six Victor Oscar Romeo...

I know I can be a bit of a nerd sometimes but I don't often talk of the pleasure I get from Amateur Radio. It is just such a blast, and many times I need to pinch myself when I remember that I have my license and my station is on the air.

This past week I've been able to talk into Russia and what is referred to as Western Siberia. Now, doing that is exciting enough but last night I got even further.

As I was tuning 20 meters I began to hear a distinct clearly english accented fellow calling CQ and it seemed like all the hams in North America were trying to answer him back. It was quite a pile up.

I listened and finally made out that it was Bob, VP8LP and that he was calling from the Falkland Islands.

So I figured I might as well give him a shout, and I nervously tuned up the wrong antenna. There was such a din of others trying to reach him that I had my doubts.

I called out "VP8LP this is VE6VOR" about three times. And then I heard him call back, "Victor Echo Six, Victor Echo Six come again?"

After that things got really weird because I was so nervous. I called back and he responded. I answered with my name and what I think was my call sign, but honestly I have no clue if I communicated my own call sign.

We exchanged names and signal strength, locations and that was it. We ended the call with 73's.

:)

Crazy how a guy can get so messed up just talking with another guy on the radio.
But it was 7898.4 miles away.
And it was by my own station that I've built.
And it was only a hundred watts of power.
And my signal did somehow push through that pile up and connect.


It just doesn't get much sweeter than that, radio nerd wise anyway.

VE6LO ...SK

Word comes tonight that a friend has completed his journey on this side of glory.
Lyndy was the guy who invited me to the local Ham Radio Club and when I got there for the monthly breakfast, he made room for me. He made room for me in the group and on the air and in his life, and for that I'll always be thankful.
VE6LO was his callsign, and when I would check in to the net, his friendly voice would recognize me and welcome me to the net by identifying me as the Voice Of Randall. (My callsign is VE6VOR)

Lyndy was warm and welcoming and helpful. He got me set up with a permanent mobile 2 meter unit because, he said, he had so many of them laying around. I treasure that radio now and think of him when I use it.

Word came last week that he had been given a short time to live, and so I contacted him on the phone and we had a good chat. Then he was admitted to the hospital and I was able to spend some precious time with him last Wednesday morning. We talked about life and he shared some things with me that were personal, about his life and faith. He was trying to encourage me even as I was trying to encourage him. We prayed before I parted and he wanted to pray a blessing on me too, which I gladly received. He prayed like a man who knew what he was doing, and his prayer washed over me in deep gracious ways.

I told him last visit that I'd come and see him again and he smiled and looked forward to that. My seeing him will change now from tomorrow morning, to a bit further down the road. But I do look forward to another good conversation with VE6LO.


For now I have a few fun reminders of a visit we had last September at his place. His antenna farm is a thing of beauty, and he wanted to climb it again, just to show me he could do it. It's probably the last picture around of him in his tower.

Here are a few pictures from our afternoon at VE6LO land.





And so that's that then. VE6LO is a silent key and I only knew him a year.
At least I had the chance to know him a bit. I am pleased for that.

Peace to his memory.


UPDATE: Lyndy's story click here. 

Words for a snowy, sore morning.

After a particularly difficult night, wherein I fall asleep very late and awaken early and feel like I've been in a barroom brawl the night before, I head to the office to start the day.

I fire up the old Sony internet radio and connect to Pandoras Peaceful Holidays Radio, (a real keeper in my opinion) and like a soothing medicine for my aches, one of my favourite simple tunes comes on, In The Bleak Midwinter.

The tune is simple, the words profound.

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.

Angels and archangels may have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;
But His mother only, in her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the beloved with a kiss.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.

By Chris­ti­na Ros­set­ti


May your day hold some secret healing grace for your soul today as well.

Who knew an old radio could mean so much?

When I was younger, in my early teens in fact, one of my deepest wants was for a new shortwave radio so that I could reach bands that I had no way of reaching with my tiny old shortwave radio.

Finally after much work and effort and insurance money from my stolen bike, I was able to get a DX-60 from Radio Shack, and the rest was history.

That radio got me through high school, and college. It got me through two baby girls and one baby boy when it started to give up the ghost. After the fourth child came along and grew, I donated it to the eldest boy to use as he liked.

Then we moved and I lost track of the old workhorse.


Then last weekend I received a notice of a package in the mail and I drove to town to pick up the mail and run some other errands. There was a large box waiting and it was addressed to me. That never happens.

Here is the video of what happened when I got it home.




It turned out to be a gift from Jason Reese, from Tennessee. The Realistic DX-66. The baby of my DX-60. Wow. I was speechless.


Now there have been a few gifts in my life that have left me speechless, like that gift from our church to the Isle of Iona in Scotland.

But this?
This was not only a gift of a radio, but a connection with my childhood that stirred up parts of my heart and childhood that have been too long unfelt.

It was like going back in time as I held the familiar radio in my lap and instinctively turned it on and the deep rich tones of that great solid speaker sprang to life.

Then up and down the dial I went. Like old friends I headed to the busy parts of the shortwave dial. Back and forth through the frequencies, through my childhood, thorough my fondest memories.

Of listening to the Happy Station from the Netherlands on Sunday nights when I was young, and then over to the BBC for news in the mornings. Listening to all the communist countries, especially Radio Moscow and Radio Tirana. Learning of the heart of Africa from radio stations actually there and broadcasting to me.

Radio Nerd good times I guess.


Last Saturday Jason reconnected me with so many good memories. It was, very very thoughtful.
And I am very, very grateful.

For those who enjoy Classical Music

This is the weekend of the Hall of Fame top 300 classical music countdown at ClassicFM.

Classic FM's Hall of Fame has become a highlight of my year. Somehow mixed in with the special activities of Easter as I am able to steal a few quiet moments, I turn to www.classicfm.co.uk and just enjoy the best of the best music.

So starting at 9am on Good Friday, that's British time, you can go to the Classic FM site or visit this page for a good link to the audio: http://tunein.com/radio/Classic-FM-1009-s8439/

It will be continuing all through the weekend so you can enjoy as you are able.

Welcome to Classic FM's 2012 Hall of Fame
You voted in your thousands, and now the ultimate chart of classical works has been revealed!
From symphonies to sonatas, concertos to choral works, it's all here in this definitive guide to the nation's 300 best-loved classical pieces. Start your exploration of the Hall of Fame 2012 with NS&I right here…

It's official, I'm a Ham. (I now have proof)

...and now I have the papers to prove it.

As I've written before in this space, I started on this project back in 1986 when we lived in Aylmer Ontario and I headed off to a local Amateur Radio club to see if I could find some new friends, and maybe even get my own license.

A local guy, older, crusty, smoked like a chimney, High School math teacher, took me under his wing and helped me get set up with at least a receiver and an 80 meter dipole antenna, so I could start listening. And listen I did. early in the morning before I left for work, and often in the late evenings, I would crank up the old radio and catch the ONTARS checkins on 3755.

I still have that old Heathkit HW-12 radio and I'm still using the dipole he got me started on. But life, work, family, all took up so much of my time that I just set it aside for a while.

"A while" turned into 25 years, and last year, spurred on my a few ham friends in this church here, I set aside vacation time to focus on the study and preparations for the exam. A 100 question test, drawn from 1000 possible questions, I set myself to learn electrical theory and practical radio practices.

On December 5th I wrote the exam and passed with a 97%, probably the highest I've ever scored on any exam in my life. I passed with Honours.

What with all the Christmas mail in the system, it took a while to receive my papers from Industry Canada, and every day I'd be the first to the mailbox to check if my license had arrived. Well, it finally did arrive, and is proudly posted in my room.

I have been awarded call sign VE6VOR, which is a good call sign because it's easy to say, and to repeat and has a nice mix of consonants and vowels. :)

Victor Echo Six, Victor Oscar Romeo is already on the air operating locally on 2 meters, but my next ambitious undertaking is to get on the HF bands, -Shortwave. So I am gathering supplies as time and mostly money allow. Antenna wire, transmission cables, and of course a radio. The local guys are helpful and willing to lend me a radio for the time being, once I get an antenna up in the air.


So maybe all that just to say that even after 25 years dreams still can come true. A bit of work and effort if you want it enough, and there you go, something new can happen.

What are your dreams?



73, (Amateur Radio code for Best Regards,)
From the field.

Ham I am

In 1987 we were about to have a baby, and I was working full time at Canadian Tire, and I was or we were, lay ministers in the local Mennonite church of 400. Each and every one of these was a full time job, sort of activity, but I wanted to add to that the dream I'd held for many years, of getting my Amateur Radio license.

I started to study, but a lack of funds and a real lack of time encouraged me to lay aside that dream for a  while.

Fast forward to last year when we found ourselves living in a field and most of our kids had moved on, and I needed a way to connect with a community beyond the blessed field people. It turned out that there were some Ham radio people in the congregation here and so I began to wonder and think and dust off an old dream of mine.

Yes, that old dream.

So last year I began to study when I had free time, so you know that those available moments ended up being too few and far between.

This year Andy, VE6KP and Randy, VE6RND from the church here encouraged me and checked on me just enough to keep me studying and that was a big help for me.

Then during my autumn holiday it was one of my goals to focus on studying the material so that I could maybe, perhaps, take the exam sometime this winter.

Andy got me the name of a Examiner down in Red Deer and today I met up with him at his home and I took the test. It was 100 multiple choice questions, and I was as nervous as I've been in a long time. After 45 minutes he came in and started through my answers.

No bad circles on the first ten questions, then there was one in the second ten, and so the tension inside me grew. He circled three more wrong answers and looked up at me and declared that I had passed, with honours. 96%.

Passing with honours allows me access to all the Ham bands, which was what I was after, but 96% was above and beyond my hopes and maybe even my dreams of 24 years.

So he filled in the paperwork and emailed it off and now I will wait for Industry Canada to send me my license and my call sign, hot off the press.

Another goal reached in my life and it makes me smile.

BBC Radio now in iTunes

I know that some out there have gone to great hacking efforts to get BBC Radio to play in your iTunes, and I know this because I have searched and hacked a bit myself.

But as of this morning when I was looking for some decent classical music to play while I study, I stumbled upon BBC Radio 3 in iTunes. I dug a bit more and BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4, 4EXTRA, and 5Live are all there now.

So on a day when I'm having difficulty focusing my bleary eyes, this is very good news.

RADIO NERD ALERT: Old Radio Shack Catalogs now ONLINE

Are you kidding me???

This was my text book for my teens, and as I flipped digital pages on my screen, memory after memory came rushing back like some old friend.

I remember this page and how I badly I wanted the amazing Realistic DX-160 on the left, but there was never any financial chance of that happening. Then, miracle of miracles, my bike was stolen and I was able to convince my parents that I could use the insurance money for something better, a radio. It was enough to get the one on the far right page, the DX-60 for $69.95.


Wow. I just lost an hour, now I have to get back to work.


If you're a radio nerd you'll enjoy this link:

http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/catalog_directory.html

Abiding Radio

I've been listening to this audio site lately called Abiding Radio.

They present themselves as a "

"...a unique internet radio ministry of Brookside Baptist Church located in Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA. This ministry provides conservative Christian music exclusively.
- Providing a mix of instrumental and vocal music from various artists all selected to be sacred, God-honoring and conservative."

"Sacred, God-honoring and conservative" makes me just a bit nervous, (equating conservative with God-honoring) but they play stuff my grandparents would have loved. I've had it on occasionally in my office and sometimes an old hymn will come on that takes me back to good memories as a kid and I find myself singing along because I know the words.

You should check it out. It may scratch where you itch.

http://www.abidingradio.com/main_page.html

Classic FM Hall of Fame

Of course it's Easter weekend and that means that ClassicFM will be running its top 300 favourites as selected by listeners and fans of classical music.

Each day, all day (London time) they run through the best of the best until Easter Monday evening when they reach the number one spot, and it's always a bit interesting who gets that coveted number one position.

I'm not sure when I started listening to the Hall of Fame, perhaps while we lived in Winnipeg, but it has added a lovely dimension to the Easter Weekend and its a most enjoyable station to have on all weekend long.

Some of you are not into Classical music, and thats fine, then I have people to pray for… but for those of you who do like it, check out the ClassicFM site on radiotime.com. There is a listening link there.

ClassicFM Hall of Fame.