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.

 

 

Today you can read German, even if you don't understand it. #crazytech

Because my family history is Mennonite and their main language was German, (or more specifically it's a dialect called low german) there are a number of good old german books in my library. They came from both sides of my family history.

(Side note, my family history came from Stebbendorf, West Prussia. Then they were invited by Catherine the Great to what at that time was Russia, what is today known as Zaporizhzhia. Yes, that Zaporizhzhia.)

...Anywayyyyyy...

Today I was looking at a german book on my shelf and I wanted to see what it was about, so I pulled out my google translator app. My oh my how this technology has grown in such a short time.

Translated from the book, “Touching events and remarkable prayer experiences”

Death just a sleep. 

Mrs Mattie Campbell recounts the blessed death of her sister which occurred last May. Although spiritually dead for a long time in her life, just before her death, by the grace of God, such a change came over her that she passed away peacefully. Mrs

Campbell tells: At Sunday school this afternoon I suddenly got the message: Emma is dying, hurry up, "if you want to see her alive again!" My poor sister! We had played together in youth, yes we had dreamed of future happiness together! Of a future where anything but sorrow and misery would get in our way. She was healthy and rosy, full of cheerfulness and lust that not even the seriousness of life could drive away. I had overwhelmed her, healthy and well, only five days ago. But, alas, just in the hour when one does not suspect it, death rages! On the way to her we met the family doctor, his serious expression showed us that there was no hope. May she live until evening," he said. We hurried on and my prayer and supplication was: "D, dear Father in heaven, just let me talk to her so that I can find out how her soul is doing!" The poor mother greeted me at the door with tears in her eyes. Ask her how her soul is!" she said, through sobs. I entered the room and saw many friends. I laid my hand on the old, damp forehead of the dying sister. She knew me and said to me, in her old, friendly way. I slowly and softly began to sing the song that we

used to sing together so often: Jesus Is my confidence." Anxiously, I watched every feature of her rapidly changing face. A blissful, peaceful smile showed that she understood the words. I bent over her and she whispered, God has always been good to us, dear sister. He has always comforted me in my illness." D, how I thanked God, in my heart and my lips cried out: God be praised!" She knew she was going to die, and spoke of the long sweet sleep she would sleep until the Day of Resurrection. She firmly believed that. She called the friends and acquaintances present and asked them in earnest words to meet her in heaven with her families who were entrusted to her care. So she lay still and content and awaited the laid slumber that only the laid trumpet will one day disturb. "Listen!" she called softly, I hear heavenly music! don't you hear me too? and I see a door in front of me!" - Is the door open?" asked the mother. We all listened. Yes, it's wide open?" - "Can you see inside?" Her face beamed as she answered: Yes, I can see inside, it's a beautiful place; it is heaven. - I see shapes of people, in white clothes, many, yes, a large crowd! And then she said, "D, there's Papa too!" then after a while she gave exact decrees about her burial. After she had said goodbye to everyone, she called out: "Come on, oh Lord, I'm ready now! Come and take my spirit - it hurts me so much!"- She closed her eyes and lips and in a few moments, it was hers soul entered through the open door of heaven. I led the weeping mother, the only thing I had left from my youth, out of the room where I died."

-Earnest Christian.

Write a short story about a young girl and her friends who were raised in the 1800s in the poor district of London, from an older perspective

The bitter chill of the London fog is what I remember most from those early mornings. I would wake before the sun, the threadbare blanket barely any shield against the cold seeping through the cracked walls of our cramped tenement. Quietly I would dress, taking care not to wake my two sisters still lost in slumber beside me. I envied them those last precious moments of sleep.

My worn leather shoes made not a sound as I crept down the narrow stairs, past closed doors hiding dozens of families packed into tiny spaces. The coughing and wheezing from behind those doors was a grim morning chorus. I often wondered how many would still be there by the day’s end. Death came early and often in the rookeries of the East End.

Heading toward the textile mill as the city began to stir, I cherished the silence of those deserted streets. It was my only time alone before the backbreaking labor of the factory began. How I wished then that my childhood had been different, that my father hadn't died and left us destitute, that I was not forced to spend my days inhaling lint while my fingers slowly turned gnarled and stiff.

But evening brought a lift to my spirit as I'd join my faithful friends Mary, Elizabeth and Jane. We'd gather at the well, the day’s troubles melting away as we laughed and played like the carefree girls we should have been. Despite it all, we found joy where we could - sneaking a bruised apple from a cart or standing entranced before the window display of a bakery, pretending the treats were ours.

After, we’d roam the streets hoping to earn a few pennies, knowing our families depended on what little we could provide. Those nights still haunt me, the danger we faced from those who viewed girls like us as easy targets. And yet back then it seemed a grand adventure, the four of us against the world.

I wonder sometimes what became of them all, Mary, Elizabeth and Jane. The bitter years erased so much but never the memory of the friends who made even the darkest days bearable. We were bound by our shared lot in life, and above all by the hope that somehow, someday, things would be better...

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.

Brand new, never seen before, art.

The new AI stuff has hit some snags lately, what with being factually wrong etc. But I am still a bit enraptured by the possibilities of it all.

I especially enjoy telling it what to create and it creates a whole new, never before seen picture for you.

My banner is an example. I told it to create a picture of a old bridge over a river in autumn somewhere in Europe. And it gave me this.

But my favourite has to be this cherry blossom tree in bloom. 

Hand crafted by a computer. 1's and 0's baby.

A Poem, by Artificial Intelligence (AI)

"I" just created a poem by telling artificial intelligence to write me a poem about a cold winter, overcast, skies, and falling snow. Here’s what we got.

The world is hushed, the sky is gray

As snowflakes gently fall

A winter wonderland is on display

A blanket of white covers it all

The trees stand bare, their branches stark

Against the dull and dreary sky

But soon they'll be adorned with a new mark

As snowflakes continue to fly

The air is crisp, the ground is cold

As the snow falls all around

It's a beautiful sight, to behold

A winter scene, without a sound

The world is transformed, so pure and white

As the snow continues to fall

A winter day, so tranquil and bright

A moment to cherish, and stand tall.

This means of course, that no longer can you trust what a writer writes unless you learn to hear their way of writing. This is going to be to writing what those fake videos are. 

Could be amazing, could be terrifying.

I’ll see how I can use this power for good.  … maybe more good dad jokes…

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No It's... elon musk

The other evening I was outside with some others just enjoying the night sky, when one of our party suddenly gasped. 

"Look look there..." and then their words faded away.

As people turned to look the gasps grew and they all started talking at once.

This was their view.

They were confused and some were going straight to fear pretty quickly. 

None of them knew what it was, but the range of their fear and guesses caught me off guard.

I explained this was Elon Musks attempt to internet-ize the world with thousands of satellites in space managing our internet connections. There are currently over 2000 up there and may eventually run over 40,000. This was the latest batch moving towards their final orbit.

Some observations.

I was surprised that most of them did not know about this. These were Masters and Doctorate level trained people, mostly Americans who live in the largest cities in America. How had they not known about it?

And secondly I was surprised how they responded so quickly to a place of fear. 

Certainly not all of them. A couple were still trying to figure out what they were. Missiles or planes or...  But enough moved to concern for our safety and what was happening to the world that night that I realized what must this mean for people who don't know this is going on.

Think about in the middle of Africa or China, what they might be thinking. Then think about those in small locations in America, Europe or Asia, or Canada. They could jump to conclusions about the end of times really quickly. And that belief may cause them to make rash decisions.

If there is anything we learned about Covid it is the peoples ability to believe lies and to assume the worst as they perceive it. 

We could be in for an even rougher ride.

A random post about the sky

So today is the day when Jupiter will be the closest to earth, and so the easiest to see.

It hasn’t been so close in 59 years, the year I was born. And it won’t be so close again for 107 years. Which means none of us alive today will be alive when it comes around the again. That’s kind of humbling.

So the other night I pulled out my telescope and spent an hour or two just looking up into the night sky. It was a beautifully clear night like it hasn’t been for a long time. And you could see Jupiter, brilliant and bright like a diamond in the night. I believe it’s the second brightest thing in the sky after the moon during this time.

I worked hard to try to get a picture of Jupiter with its moons through my telescope. It looked glorious, and you could see the colors of the planet. Its moons always strike me as little stars or again little diamonds in this vast setting.

I was able to take, this picture which is nothing compared to what I could see by my eye. But you could at least see some of the moons.

It is amazing just to stand outside and look into the night sky and just think about how far it goes on.

The other day Lauralea and I were driving somewhere listening to the news reporters saying that scientists were going to do an experiment on an astroid. They were going to crash a spaceship into an astroid to see if they could affect its trajectory.

Interestingly this is also is happening tonight, and while Jupiter is 367,000,000 miles away from earth, this astroid named Dimorphos is about 6 1/2 million miles away from earth. But don’t worry, you don’t stand a chance of seeing it happen.

You see Dimorphos is a space rock that measures 525 feet across, 6 1/2 million miles out there in space. And the spacecraft that will hit it is about the size of a small car and will be traveling at 15,000 mph when it hits the rock.

So what struck me anew is that we are going to send a small car sized spaceship, 6 1/2 million miles out there in space to hit a rock a bit larger than a football field, at a point out in space where they will perfectly intersect one another.

And still, we are told that the universe exists today because of a state of randomness. That things happen without order.

I know of course that they have their arguments to answer my questions. And Lord knows I am a simple man and I am lousy with math. But if we can pick a target out in space, 6 1/2 million miles away and have a small car hit a rock in that place years later, I just fail to see an argument for randomness.

Life is not random. 

Who am I

Identity is something that is sort of imprinted in us by our DNA but we are also shaped by our surroundings. My DNA testing kit tells me one thing, but my mom, siblings, friends, spouse, and children have another part of the story to tell.

Boy that seemed to go deep kinda fast there, for Pete's sake, (apologies to Pete.) 

I am doing some internal processing of my identity, checking my present understanding of myself with my previous understanding. What to change, what to keep. Or better yet, what I like and what I may be wise to toss out, if I can toss.

Actually the point of this post was that I downloaded the Snapchat app. (See what I mean about going deep quickly?)

I downloaded the app for some of the fun with the filters and yeah, I had fun.

This one was called the Hipster Look Lens. 

Umm yeah, or I look like that guy from The Oak Ridge Boys. Either way, it's a stretch for me. If Covid has taught me anything its that I like my hair short.

This one is more of a sixties rock band manager look.

I appreciate what its trying to say, yeah baby, and my hair is grey enough. But it's the problem I always have wearing shades.  I already wear glasses and how cool do those people look who wear sunglasses over their prescription glasses?

Yeah, you know it.

So then I though what about clearing the land up there on top?

It's kind of what my brother, my younger brother I hasten to add, has to do. And it's kind of where my friend Toni is headed, at least it seems. So it's a look some of my best friends and family are sporting.

But alas I have been blessed with locks of hair. I expect I'll be ok with the receding hairline, and it will speed up my morning ablutions considerably, but why rush it.

So I land here. An older version of myself.

A few more pronounced wrinkles, probably more ear hair. Certainly whiter, which my barber Moe tells me we are moving quickly towards these days.

Mom says I look like my great grandfather, which I'm ok with certainly. He was a good looking fellow and in the photos I have from the sixties he's wearing a narrow tie, the style back then. (Yay grandpa)

I do kinda like this version of myself.  

Now, I understand that this is all on the outside, but if I can just keep the inside gentle and at some sense of peace, if I can not get bitter and angry in there, if I can age well in my spirit, I stand a chance of pulling this look off.

Or failing that, I can fight aging and go with the darker, hipster look.

When a woodpecker is trying to dig a hole in your office

Yes, a woodpecker.

These daily videos can be a challenge, especially when the phone rings or a txt comes in, or someone comes into the office. I have learned to stop, hold my place without moving, and then its easy to edit later on.

But this, this is a whole new level in "I never saw that coming."

This is the new pastoral work.
 

(I wonder if Paul ever had to fight woodpeckers)

We live in surprising times, for different reasons

I remember the day that the Internet came to live with us. We used Lynx which was a text based browser if you can believe it.

I sat here tonight recalling the magic of those heady days in the early 1990’s when I could log into a Russian computer from my own basement computer at 300 baud. Did nothing there really but dang if I wasn’t connected to a wire that went around the world and connected with a computer in the old Soviet Union. Wow.

I thought of that tonight when we watched a program on our smart TV which was streaming to us in higher quality over the Internet, than our satellite receiver is currently providing us. Again I say, WOW.

Where does the future lie? How will my kids kids use the Internet, or its future versions? I mean if we can get our collective crap together worldwide to do something extraordinary. Which I confess, these days I feel less and less hopeful about.

But it’s open to us to do with as we like. The Internet provides us with amazing opportunities, but it also is the pathway for so much of the garbage that separates and divides us as nations and neighbours.

I guess we will see.
Too bad the Internet can’t tell us the future.

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

Friends

There are some people in life who you can go without seeing for a year or two and you can meet up and connect and laugh and share life with and it feels like you haven't been apart that long. Funny how that works.

Two weeks ago now, (Where did that time go??) Toni and Chris came by for a few days visit. It was a lovely good time and we were able to share a bit of life together. They are friends, about our age and some shared interests, who we can be ourselves with pretty easily. I like that.

Life hasn't been particularly easy for them and their family, but they are showing me how to do it with honesty and some amount of grace. There are things that they have to teach me.

And then off they go, home to the other side of the world. And I'll have to wait till next visit.

Maybe we'll go see them a bit before their next visit here.

Webcams to watch

Just a post to hold some links I like to visit on grey days.

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/deutschland/brandenburg/kyritz/kyritz-brandenburg.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/israel/jerusalem-district/jerusalem/western-wall.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/france/ile-de-france/paris/tour-eiffel.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/campania/salerno/santuario-avvocatella.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/iceland/greater-reykjavik/reykjavik/hallgrimskirkja-church.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/united-kingdom/england/st-ives/st-ives.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/schweiz/graubunden/silvaplana/silvaplana-switzerland.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/norge/nordland/lofoten/henningsvaer.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/hrvatska/grad-zagreb/zagreb/trg-bana-jelacica.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/liguria/genova/genova-bagni-lido.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/iceland/austurland/hofn/jokulsarlon.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/calabria/vibo-valentia/tropea.html

https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/liguria/genova/portofino-riviera-ligure.html

What I looked like with a 1200 baud modem.

This, boys and girls, was what the internet used to look like, when you were waiting for a page to load over a 1200-baud modem.

Hit enter. Go for a drink. Hit enter. Go take a bathroom break.

Yes we've come a very long way now, and High Speed is mostly that.  That’s why we could never envision the day when we'd buy software over the internet, or even, madness, watch video over the online connection.

But high speed internet connections are here now, and that means you'll get no more pictures like this of me, back in the day.


...I kinda miss the first days of the public internet. They were heady times.

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So Hot Here... Waiting For Sleep To Find Us. Don't Think I Will Ever Be Cool Again. Night.

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At The Inlaws. Still Reading. Micah Just Went On A Donut Run. mmmmm Donuts.

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Well Apart From Stopping In Ituna For Candy Sharks, We Have Arrived. Pictures To Follow.

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Monday Morning And We Are On The Road Again. We Are Off to Lauralea Folks. And Its Reading Week So She Is Driving And I Am in A Book.

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Had A Great Coffee Meeting This Morning Early. God Is Good.