Monthly Archives: January 2017

Short Podcasts for the Beginning Ham

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Since 2011, Onno (VK6FLAB) has been producing weekly podcasts for beginning Australian amateur radio operators. The podcasts are short, from one to three minutes long. I’m no longer a beginner, but I really enjoy the podcasts. They are full of curiosity, advice, and encouragement. They make me want to get on the air.

The first series of podcasts, What use is an F-call? ran from 2011 through June 2015. These were about operating with with the Australian Foundation Licence, the entry-level license there.

The second series, Foundations of Amateur Radio, is still for Foundation Licence holders, but has a name that makes a bit more sense to non-Australian hams.

Each podcast has a text transcription, which helps with handicapped accessibility. Those are available on the website and I can see them in my iOS Podcasts app.

There are a few terms unique to Australia and amateur radio there, so I’ve compiled a short glossary.

  • The ACMA is the government agency that issues amateur radio licenses.
  • An F-call is an Australian call sign with a four-letter suffix starting with “F”, like “VK6FLAB”. All Foundation Licence holders have F-calls.
  • The Foundation Licence is the entry level amateur radio license. Unlike the US Technician license, it allows operating on HF bands (80, 40, 15, and 10) with voice and Morse at 10 Watts. It does not permit data modes, homebuilt transmitters, or automatically controlled transmitters. Other license classes are Standard and Advanced.
  • Holden is the Australian arm of General Motors, so a “Holden vs Ford discussion” is like a Chevy vs Ford discussion.
  • The LCD (Licence Conditions Determination) is the set of rules and regulations for amateur radio operators.
  • The WIA (Wireless Institute of Australia) is the national association for amateur radio, similar to the ARRL in the US.

Whenever I start one of Onno’s podcasts, I listen to three or four. I’ve listened to over eighty so far and I think I’ll be sad when I finish the backlog and have to wait a whole week for the next one.

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An Easy Way to Attach Tags to Dog Collars

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Loken has a dog collar for the Christmas season, for other seasons, and his regulation CCI blue collar. I used to break nails on the split rings while moving the tags until I realized I could use a locking S-biner to attach them.

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Put all the dog tags on one loop of the S-biner, then connect the other side to the collar. The lock bar is turned to prevent the S-biner from accidentally falling off.

To switch to another collar, turn the bar to unlock, remove the S-biner, and attach to the new collar.

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Locking S-biners are two for five dollars. I expect you can find a use for the second one. I got my locking S-biners at REI.

Within the Context of No Context

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I first read this as an essay in the New Yorker in 1980, then read the book. I’m not at all sure that I have absorbed the wisdom. From the first page: “The most powerful men were those who most effectively used the power of adult competence to enforce childish agreements.”

That is a really creepy observation from 37 years ago when applied to Donald Trump in 2017.

The New Yorker has the first page of the original essay on their website. Check it out: “Within the Context of No Context“.

This book might not be for you. It is written in a strange, oracular style. But for “television” read “the Internet” and you see this.

[The Internet] is the force of no-history, and it holds the archives of the history of no-history. […] The trivial is raised up to the place where this scale has its home; the powerful is lowered there. In the place where this scale has its home, childish agreements can be arrived at and enforced effectively—childish agreements, and agreements wearing the mask of childhood.

If that doesn’t work for you, then you can skip the book. But if it makes you want to read one more paragraph, then go for it. And dang it, it makes me want to read the whole crazy thing again.

His critique of celebrity is unsurpassed. He contrasts the various “grids” (I would say “networks”) of social connections, with gradation from close friends to people you read about in the news. Only celebrities exist in the smallest and largest grids. We make celebrities part of our close friend groups, whether they be Oprah, Ellen, Beyonce, or Tomi Lahren.

The middle distance fell away…Two grids remained. The grid of two hundred million and the grid of intimacy.

The book has been described as “Baffling, cranky, elusive, brilliant.” Not sure I could be more precise than that.

Start with Goodreads and you can get to Amazon or libraries to find Within the Context of No Context.