John Prine - died 7 April 2020

 

The incomparable and beautiful John Prine who died one year ago today from the Trump virus.  RIP.

Learning morse code - CW

 

 

The Hi -Mound HK-707 morse code key

One of my projects over the last 12 months has been to learn and use morse code over amateur radio.  In days of yore there was no voice communication over the wireless so radio folk had to devise a way of communicating with others.  Enter morse code.

The history of morse code is kinda interesting, but maybe not that much that I need to repeat it here.  But, it has a certain romanticism about it and to me feels like it is the essence of radio communication.  I know this is all claptrap, but if you've read this far you're into it as well.

When I was a young teenager I had some early exposure to amateur radio, but the vibe was: "it's great but you'll never learn the code".  I should have ignored this as the best time to learn morse code is when you are young!  Just like a foreign language it only gets harder as you get older.

So here I am, an older middle aged bloke with an atrophying brain and I have set upon to learn the code and better yet, communicate with it.  The computer and internet age is wonderful (and rubbish as well, but that's for another time) in that you can get so many learning resources on-line.  So I have been caning the apps trying to learn the code for nearly 12 months now.

Let me tell you - progress is slow.  It's hard, maybe one of the hardest things I have done (well maybe not: marriage, kids, degree, jobs I've had).  I have learnt all the characters and can copy slabs of text, provided it is slow ie, about 10 words per minute.  I can copy characters at 20 wpm, but slap them together as words at that speed and I am in trouble.

That's okay.  People's morse code journey is much the same everywhere.  It's all about repetition and practice.  A bit like life really.  There's probably a few savants who learnt it really quickly, but mostly not.

The conventional wisdom is you must learn to copy (receive) the code before you try and send it.  The view being that sending is 'easier'.  I have spent many hours copying compared with sending and I would say I am probably better at copying.  That's not saying much as I am pretty much rubbish at sending.

 

The Vibroplex Deluxe iambic paddle - a work of art

I have two morse code keys.  The Hi-Mound HK-707 straight key and the Vibroplex Deluxe iambic paddle.  These are two very different methods of sending CW (let's call morse code CW from hereon as that's what amateurs call it).  The Hi-Mound is from Japan - maybe 1970s and the Vibroplex I have is new (2020) but they have been making them for maybe 50 years.  Ask amateurs to say which is better - straight key or paddle - and you'll be up all night.  A straight key is probably easier for a beginner, but it has its disadvantages.

Nevertheless, I am pretty mediocre at using both of them.  I am not too concerned about this as this is just motor skill stuff, ie learning to manipulate the apparatus.  I'll get there with enough practice.  The bit that troubles my mind is copying - putting those dits and dahs into words, into sentences, into paragraphs.  That's brain work.  It's hard! Or at least I find it hard.

Eventually one must cross the Rubicon and move from the classroom into the real world.  There's no point becoming a master with a computer app and not using CW for its ultimate purpose - communicating with others.  All the experts say the only way to improve is to get on the air and make real contacts.

Getting on air with CW is a hair raising experience.  Those who are not radio operators will be asking 'how this can be?'.  But as an operator sending and copying morse code is nerve racking for the beginner.  'Will I be able to copy their signal?'  'Will they understand my ill timed and error laden transmission?'

Nevertheless I have resolved to try and make one CW contact each day whenever I am able to get to the radio.  It is day two today and I have made two contacts - one to Queensland (VK4) and one to Japan (JA3).  I was able to send and receive the essential elements of a contact (call-sign, signal report, name) but that was about it.  The fellow in Japan was sending way too fast for me, but I got the bits I needed to put him in the log and he was able to copy my scrambled eggs enough to log me.  I didn't get the weather in Osaka, but hey, next time maybe.

If I can get the hang of this I can see me getting hooked.  There is an X factor to CW that is not present in other amateur radio communications.  It used to be compulsory to learn the code in order to be granted an amateur radio licence.  That requirement was dropped about 20 years ago and yet it remains as popular as ever, perhaps more so.  I can understand why.  There is a sense of achievement in mastering the code and communicating with others around the world using this unique mode.

Until next time, peace and love - or - dah dah dit dit dit   dit dit dit dah dah  ('73' 'best wishes' in morse code).

More mending - the FRG-7

 

 

The FRG-7 (photo by Lex PH2LB)

One of my favourite radios is the Yaesu Musen FRG-7 which dates back to around 1977.  I desperately wanted one when I was kid, but I remember they were about $450 AUD and which equaled about 3 years of my pocket money.  

About maybe eight years ago I stumbled across one on that auction site and it rekindled my teenage interest in shortwave radio.  On a whim I bought the radio for $150 (cheap) and it still sits proudly in my radio shack.

Lex PH2LB does real nice mods and repairs on old FRG-7s and posts his adventures on his blog.  His latest project has been a 3D printed tuning knob.  Nice job!

Another mender not ender.

Until next time, peace and love.

Mending not ending!

 

Recently I came across an article by Jeff Sparrow in the Guardian about the gathering movement to force corporations to make their products repairable.  Laws are under consideration in the USA, but I am not aware if they are in Australia. 

One of my favourite podcasts is the Soldersmoke podcast which is dedicated to the art of homebrew radio and hosted by Bill and Pete. I immediately drew a connection between the article and the ethos of Bill and Pete's show and their philosophy on amateur radio.  Build and repair it yourself and learn how it works.

Anyway I shared the article with Bill and Pete and Bill has kindly posted it on the Soldersmoke blog along with the Repair Manifesto which Bill has on his wall in his radio shack. How good is that poster.

As Bill says, End Entropy!

Until next time, peace and love.

Infinite Splendours by Sophie Laguna

 

I've just finished this book.  It's an extraordinarily difficult story, but so beautifully and tenderly told by Sophie Laguna.  

In 1953 Laurence Loman is a bright ten year old boy who lives in country Victoria with his war widowed mother and eight year old brother Paul.  Laurence is a capable young boy and caring toward his mother and brother.  He also has a natural aptitude for painting.  

A man enters the family's life and a great betrayal occurs leaving Laurence broken and sad.  The years follow into Laurence's adulthood and despite his loneliness he creates beautiful art and has a loving heart.  But Laurence emotionally knows little of love and is at great risk of repeating what was done to him as a boy.

I had a knot in my stomach for most of this book.  In the beginning chapters I delighted in the portrayal of young boyhood, although I knew this idyll could not last so I felt a constant sense of dread.  In the chapters that followed I was anxious by what might occur, knowing that Laurence would be unable to cope with adversity of any sort.

It's a difficult and sad book, but filled with great beauty.  Sophie Laguna's writing is supreme. 

Not for everyone and a warning for survivors of abuse.

Until next time peace and love.

The Great Passage

 

 

 

A quick post here.  I recently read this short novel The Great Passage by Shion Miura.  I think I read about it in the NY Times or somewhere and thought it looked interesting.  It's all about the writing of a dictionary and the characters involved, the central one being Majime who is a brilliant, but disorganised and disheveled young man.

 

Majime is  found in the sales department of the publishing company he works for by the soon to be retiring lexicographer, Araki, who needs a replacement.  Majime is not much of a sales person, but turns out to be well suited to lexicography.

 

It's a strange book in the way Japanese books can be to western readers, but this makes it all the more charming.  There's love and loss and you get to learn a little about the Japanese language.  It was the perfect antidote to Karl Ove Knaussgard.

 

While digging about on the internet for an image of this book I discovered it had been made into a film in 2013 as well as an anime TV series.  The trailer for the film is below and it looks like a lot of fun.  Not sure about the anime series and that's not really my thing.  I'm going to see if I can find a copy of the film.

 

Recommended for people who love words.

 

Until next time, peace and love.

 

The End of My Struggle

The End by Karl Ove Knausgaard

You may recall when I wrote about Haruki Murakami's Killing Commendatore a while back I mentioned I was about 500 pages into another novel that I had set aside for a couple of years waiting for the right moment to tackle the beast.  At 1153 pages I finally finished Karl Ove Knausgaard's sixth and final book in his epic series My Struggle.

Anyone who knows me and who has had the misfortune to talk books with me will know about Karl Ove Knausgaard and the My Struggle series of books.  That's because I impress upon every person I know that they must read these books.  I am obviously quite unpersuasive as only a handful of people I know have bothered to read any of them.  And the world is a poorer place for it.  If nothing else, everyone should the first book - A Death in the Family.

Knausgaard is a Norwegian writer who first started the series about 15 years ago and they immediately became a sensation in Scandinavian countries.  At this point something like 30% of Norwegians have read the books.  I can't think of another author who may have captured a country's national attention to that extent.  Particularly as these books are what is called modern literature.  They are not page turning Norwegian-noir crime thrillers.

The books first started to be translated into English about 10 years ago with the final book, The End, translated and released about two years ago.  My strategy has been to read one book a year so as not to overdo it.  That seems about right.

Knausgaard calls these books novels, but in truth they are an autobiography of his life.  The author was about 40 when he started the books and was not particularly well known outside of Norway or Sweden.  He had enjoyed some success with his first novel and then endured a period of writer's block for about 10 years or so.  The My Struggle series was his way of writing his way out of that block.  Hardly the stuff to warrant something like 3,500 pages of autobiography.

However, there are two aspects about the books which mark them as different from nearly every other autobiography you may ever read.  First, there is no 'truth' that Knausgaard is not prepared to tell about himself and others.  Throughout the books we live inside Knausgaard's every thought, no matter how trivial, awful, cruel, self-hating and petty.  In my experience autobiographies are more like exercises in self -promotion, Knausgaard's books are anything but.  They present a side that nearly all of us keep hidden from the conscious world, and it can be ugly.

The second aspect which is different is the excruciatingly close examination of everyday life minutiae throughout the books.  From every cigarette he smokes, every cup of coffee he drinks (he does a lot of both) to the seeming inconsequential conversations he has in the course of his day.  They are all documented and detailed.  On the face of it this sounds too much, but there is something about it that makes it compulsive reading.

The My Struggle books are not linear in their trajectory.  Book one deals with the death of Knausgaard's father when he is aged about 30, while book two describes his first marriage, its dissolution and his second marriage.  Other books deal with his childhood, university days and early days establishing himself as a writer.

In The End we come a full circle to where book one is about to be published.  A legal dispute ensues between Karl Ove and members of his family over the description of his father's death and how certain family members are depicted in the story.  The author is wracked with self-doubt and anxiety over what he has done and cannot believe his naivety and inability to foresee the consequences of the story he is about to publish.

From there Knausgaard explores the notion of identity and how the naming of people: I, we, they, the other,  can shift our notions of humanity.  This was the most difficult part of any of the books I have read, with the author spending about 100 pages examining a post-Holocaust poem by Paul Celan and another 300 pages on the early life of Adolf Hitler and Mein Kampf.  

How did we arrive here?  Well the title My Struggle, which in the Norwegian translates to Mein Kamp, offers a clue.  Knausgaard tries to make sense of Hitler's descent into antisemitism and the German nation's collective insanity in the 1930's and 40's.  Antisemites and neo-Nazis need not bother, Knausgaard is not a sympathiser.

Then we're back into the release of books one through five and the controversy that follows with each release.  In what is probably the saddest parts of the series, the final couple of hundred pages of The End detail his second wife's debilitating mental illness.  This a raw and deeply personal story and very compelling.

So my friends, that is the My Struggle series of books.  I will miss them I must say as they have been captivating reading for some years.  He has other books to read, but somehow I haven't been as enthused about them as much.

Until next time, peace and love.

Tech Alert! - Construction of 6m Yagi antenna

 

The finished product - 4 element Yagi antenna for 50 MHz (6 metres)

This post purely serves as a record keeping exercise for me so that I can check back at some point in the future when I need to view the specs for this antenna I recently built.  The design came from a Serbian amateur YU7EF who is a master antenna designer.  His webpage is at http://www.yu7ef.com/

This was a fun build and I learnt a lot about antenna construction along the way.  Best of all the antenna has proven to be a very good performer.  It works!  Believe me, I don't get to say that very often when I build something.  Mostly it's "oh well, it was worth a try".  I have made contacts all over Australia, NZ and into Indonesia so far with the this antenna over the summer Sporadic E season.

I was extremely careful in measuring the element spacing and lengths and was rewarded with a perfectly matched antenna.  Here are the vital dimensions and gain measurements.

I used the 10mm diameter elements in my construction so the antenna is extremely lightweight.

Using the ARRL antenna handbook recipe I also constructed a common-mode choke tuned for 50 MHz and using LMR-400 coaxial cable.  Here's a photo of the choke.

And here is a pic of the element mounting.  Note the ancient Inca rug.

I used Stauff hydraulic hose clamps from the local EnZed outlet.  These are perfect for this purpose and cost less than $30 for a bag of 25 clamps.

I am very pleased with this build, the only thing I would change next time is use heavier grade aluminium for the boom.  I wasn't able to purchase a heavier grade locally at the time.

Until next time, peace and love.

Two songs for you from Jess Cornelius

 

I am a latecomer to Jess Cornelius, an Australian singer/songwriter now based in the USA.  I first heard her sing in her band Teeth and Tongue maybe a couple of years ago.  Beautiful electro pop gems with an indie edge.  But beyond listening to one record I didn't venture any further until her debut solo record Distance was released a few months ago.  Wow!  What a gem of a record.  It is so full of great songs I have to be careful not to over play it as I want the wonder to last as long as possible.

This was going to be "a song for you" post, but I can't choose between these two songs.  Both videos were shot in LA during COVID lockdown in mid 2020 as you will soon pick up.  

The first song "Kitchen Floor" is the opening track on the record and it's a killer tune and vocal.  I love the video as it makes a strong statement which challenges society's expectations of women by depicting a situation not usually shown and one I've never heard discussed in polite circles.  You don't need me to explain anymore as you'll get it soon enough.

The second song "Body Memory" deals with a tragic event in the song character's life and the fall out for a relationship.  It's a beautifully told story and I find the lyric quiet moving.  The clip though is just plain fun and should be marketed as an exercise video (they probably don't make them anymore, right?).

Please listen to some of the best Australian music there is (or has been).

Jess Cornelius Bandcamp page: https://jesscornelius.bandcamp.com/ 

Until next time, peace and love.

PS, I am still reading that monster novel.

Jess Cornelius - Kitchen Floor

Jess Cornelius - Body Memory

On my bedside table

 

This blog seems to be a running update on what I have been reading of late.  Nevermind, I like to read and really these posts are for my own amusement as much as anything else.  And as I have a terrible memory it can serve as a reminder to me in my enfeebled years as to what I got up to in this period of my life.

So after reading the autobiography of Miles Davis and all that raw reality, I felt like I needed to read some fiction  to restore my sanity a little.  The Miles book was gripping, but also exhausting as the reader delves into the terribleness of his nature.  As I may have said previously, as a jazz musician he made a terrible human being.

So with the need for a psychic reset and without much thought I grabbed the latest Murakami epic (704 pages).  I've read a few of his books, but I wouldn't call myself a fan necessarily; however, he writes in a particular style which I enjoy and makes for a quick read.  So even though this novel was on the hefty side I whipped through it very quickly.

It's an entertaining read for sure, but I'm not sure if it's totally successful.  I'm no literary critic, I failed English lit at school (along with everything else) so it's on the record that my opinion is not to be trusted in these matters.  I had a quick look at the review quotes on his website and all the usual superlatives were there from the newspapers (the Houston Chronicle anyone!?) so maybe it's a good novel.  I shouldn't be too negative as I did actually enjoy the book and it provided the soothing remedy I was looking for following the raw journey through the soul of Miles Davis.

A quick synopsis: a portrait painter moves to a remote mountainous house of a now ailing Japanese master artist to recover from his marriage breakdown.  The master is now ensconced in a care facility to see out his final days.  Our protagonist teaches a little art to adults and children at a local school, has a couple of girlfriends who drop by, but otherwise keeps to himself.  He has given up portrait painting and intends to focus on painting in his preferred style; however, his agent contacts him one day about a proposed commission at a price way above his usual rate.  Short of money he accepts the commission and a strange and wealthy man who happens to live across the valley enters the story, as does a mysterious 13 year old girl.

If you've read Murakami before you won't be surprised the novel enters the supernatural regularly.  Characters from a painting materialise and speak to our artist and there is a journey into the underworld, which if I am to be honest I don't fully understand the point of.  It does correlate with some events in the material world, but I found this section a little weak.

Would I recommend this book?  Well yes, if you are familiar with Murakami and his tales I think you will enjoy this book.  I like him as we don't often hear Japanese voices in English language novels and having visited Japan a couple of times, it's a place I find very interesting and attractive.

My new book is one I have had set aside for a couple of years waiting for the right moment.  That moment has arrived and as of today I am 500 pages into this 1100 page tome.  What can it be you ask? 

Until next time, peace and love.