MOTHER NATURE SAYS WHO'S BOSS

Saturday 25th April 05.30am.

So here I am setting off on the 45min drive down to Bass Point on the Lizard Peninsula, the rain is very heavy coming straight down and the wind is gusting very strong. What a change from yesterday when we went down to set up the antenna's for International Marconi Day, warm sunshine and not a breath of wind. By Friday evening we had a thunderstorm and torrential rain. The biggest fear was that the antenna,s and masts had come down overnight. Driving down the 3/4m private track on the last leg the wind was buffeting the car and the rain was now horizontal. The first view of the little wooden museum was when I turned the corner along the cliff track, to my dismay there was only one mast not two, getting out of the car I was almost blown off my feet by the strength of the wind. Resting on top of the gates were the top halves of Geoff's G0FHT home made delta loop, I could see one of the 20ft fibreglass telescopic arms was broken. As I was the first to arrive I set about untangling the wires and feeders, Geoff arrived 10 mins later

and we discussed the situation. He had a spare telescopic pole in the shack, so we set about repairing the damage.After 45mins the antenna was repaired, now it was time to get it back up, the mast for the antenna is 20ft then we had the two 20ft arms in a "V" configuration on a mounting plate on top of this.

Geoff held the base of the mast in a divot to stop it slipping, and I walked the mast and antenna up from the top over my head until we got it vertical. the wind really gave us a hard time during this operation. Finally it was up and Geoff secured the base with clamps and tightened the guy ropes to make it safe, suddenly there was a tremendous gust of wind and both fibreglass poles snapped off at the base above my head. Luckily they stayed partly attached so I did not get them coming down on top of my head. So after clearing up the destroyed antenna we decided to extend the mast a bit higher and erect my home brew G5RV multi band long wire which was brought as a backup. After about 30mins we had this up and tied off and feeders into the shack, by now just over two hours had passed and we were both wet and chilled to the bone, with fingers so numb we could not feel anything. so commenced the days operation, Geoff was working 80 metre band which means he was talking to people all over the UK, this band drops out mid morning so he and Keith the other operator who arrived at 09.30 then went onto 20metres working stations around Europe, Middle East and the USA.

I spent the day on the 40metre band working European ,UK Ireland stations from Scandinavia down to southern Italy and as far out as Moscow in Russia

We did about 250 contacts throughout the day, and I'm still hoarse from talking today.

So why do we do it? well there are about fifty stations with connections to Marconi operating around the world on the day, and if a station can work 15 0f these they can claim a very nice award certificate.

Add to this the surroundings of the museum with all the old radio equipment still in place from 1901, it gives a feeling of how Marconi and his team must have felt being there.

But most of all the memories of the best group of people that Radio Amateurs are, from all walks of life who treat everyone as equals regardless of colour, race ,religion or creed.

They could certainly teach the bureaucrats of this world a thing or two.

Finally would I do it again? YES I will be back next year as I have been for the past 20 years.

Below are a few photo's taken during a drier spell in the afternoon.

LAZY SUMMER DAYDREAMS

Hmmm a warm breeze blows in off the Atlantic sitting here in the early evening sun, smelling the salt air and sitting on a log washed up by the tide. This is the seaward side of Godrevy looking towards Hayle and when the tide is out there is three miles of Golden Sands to stroll along. My mind starts to drift back to the lazy days of the Sixtes spending many days and hours here, swimming, playing football or just hanging around with friends. Or was it the odd occasion when we would all meet up after dark, build a bonfire from driftwood and just chill out laughing and joking around.Ok back to the reality of the 21st century, but a least the view's still the same. Came here to check out the small nesting site of some Sand Martins burrowed into the soft sand of the cliff face. yes they are in residence but hard to get a shot of them moving around with a compact camera.

Instead my lens tracks a surfer riding the small but long curls of the evening tide, don't these small lightweight boards look good moving around this way and that with the young man balancing delicately to every move.

So after a good hour or so of great fun its time for this lad to stroll wearily through the surf, wet a little tired maybe but very very happy.

PS I may not have time for another post this weekend, as I am operating my Ham Radio from the small Marconi museum at Bass Point on the Lizard Peninsula as part of the International Marconi Day celebrations.

So hope you all have a pleasant weekend , and See you soon.

THIS ONE'S FOR JR

Sorry if this post is boring to most people, but it is in answer to JR & SUE'S comment from last night. So Here go's, my moth trap is a home built contraption on a fairly small scale, on good night's the maximum number is around fifty to sixty moths I find this number not to large to get through compared with the hundred's that commercial units attract, and at a fraction of the cost. Components 1 twin tube 12v emergency power unit (Found mine at Warrior Discounts at Tuckingmill £13) 2 Changed tubes for 2 x atinic black from Western Electrical at Threemilestone £4 each. 3 Plastic storage bin lucky we use em at work (freebie) to buy a couple of quid. 4 10 amp hour lead free battery + charger from Truro Batteries Threemilestone. Be sure to use correct charger. 5 Small waterproof plastic box make G WIZZ also can be obtained from Western Electrical ( got mine from work) 6 finally 2 pieces of plastic sheet from DIY cut to fit at angles to form open V in storage box, with broken egg cartons in the bottom. I drilled a small hole in the light and fitted a 2way micro switch which was wired up so I could run from the internal 4 amp hr battery for general and switch to the external one for mothing. Drill Storage box and G WIZZ box and attach them together, this makes the unit totally portable. Ok John hope this is of some help to you, have posted pic below. Also included pic of ID book I use Obtained this from Ottekers in Truro

Finally greetings to Clarke who visited the Blog, thanks for the comment and will try to furnish enough Fodder to keep you and everyone else interested.

"HELP" I NEED SOMBODY

Hi Folks As you may have noticed my Blog page has changed and I do not seem to be able to restore it to its former setup. I have a message in my top bar telling me that Internet Explorer has blocked this site from downloading files onto my PC. So therefore I cannot change fonts or colours, But it still allows me to setup posts, but images cannot be enlarged when posts are loaded. Has anyone else experienced this, and whats the cure. If no one can help I will contact Google. Thanks in anticipation

ANOTHER SEASON

ANOTHER SEAS0N By Monty Curtis The full gleaming rustic colours of autumn blazed across the landscape. Golden leaves floated gently down to earth, and laid a carpet upon the soil. The days were shorter now and a slight chill was in the air, squirrels moved quickly stocking up their pantries against the pending season. The hedgehog full from his summer feast was sleepy and looking for a place to hibernate. As days went by the nights grew colder and gave birth to the first iced diamond frosty morning of winter. Visitors were arriving now feathered friends from northern lands flying south to escape the arctic storms and to eat the meagre foods from land and water. The wind blew cold from the north and dark grey clouds sent feathery flakes of snow drifting to the ground. Soon all the land was covered by a carpet of white, and rivers and ponds were frozen by a thick layer of ice. All was still except for Robins and Starlings searching for crumbs. The fox making his rounds to see that man had penned his ducks and hens for the night. In all this bareness winter lived, time passed by short dull days and long cold nights. Only the hardiest went abroad those with the thickest fur and the warmest feathers. Soon the falling snow turned to rain and the days grew a little longer, animals started to move about during the days, and the hedgehog in his home opened an eye and stretched lazily. Buds appeared on branches and pussy willow and catkins swung gently in the breeze. On a warm sunny morning in March a new born lamb unsteadily rose to its feet and leapt around the meadow, so glad that winter was dead and spring was born.

GET A LOOK AT THIS BLOG

Hi folks just a short note to let you all know Know of a great blog I have found. Its called (A focus in the wild) and is hosted by a lady called Stacy in Wyoming USA. ( Link is in my favourite blogs on the left ). Take a look its well worth it.

PLAYING CATCHUP

Have not had any time to post any new pic's, as we have had a weekend of beautiful weather so have been catching up with some garden work in the afternoons and evenings, But rest assured I did get out on Saturday and Sunday morning, so have got some items to put on hopefully tomorrow night. So thanks for your patience, as this time of year is catchup on the jobs that cannot be done in the winter.

THE JOY'S OF PHOTOGRAPHY

Apologies I do not have any pic's ready for a post again tonight,I am having a problem with some raw processing software I use. I have just installed a later version and this is even worse. My poor old PC is locking up and doing all sorts of weird thing's So never mind I can always go and look at everyone Else's Blogs and there is some great pics to look at. The best one for me at the moment is JR & SUE'S Moth and Insect's page, if you have not done so check it out, some great images to be found there.

"FUN GUY'S" SORRY FUNGI'S

So its Friday again and just sitting here chilling out in a mellow and sombre mood after the working week, and looking forward to the weekend. Hope the weather forecast is wrong, and we get some nice sunshine and not the cloud and rain expected. So what to do for tonight's post, well what better Fun Guy's & Girls than rooting around dank and rotting trees in woods on an Autumn's day looking for Fungi. So here is a selection of some I have unearthed so far if you hold the cursor over the image it should give you the name if I have them right. So whatever you do, whether its shooting birds, crawling around rotting trees, getting wet feet taking seascapes, or being chased by bulls shooting landscapes. Have a great weekend.

WOW WHAT A DAY!

Well it's Sunday Morning and this should have been Saturday's Post so here's the rundown.

The morning was bright and sunny with no sign of the predicted southerly storm, so drove down to Carbis Bay near St Ives (Pics above) and joined two friends for a mornings birding.Not many birds in the bay so we decided to head for Marazion on the south coast in the hope that with the coming storm a certain bird may come inshore.

Arriving after a short drive and about one hour before high tide, there was a good surf running. It was down onto the beach with camera's at the ready. So did we find one of the birds we were looking for NO! to our surprise we found SIX, along the beach a group of birders were looking at one in particular that was really close in.

Joining them this one was really obliging and coming to within 1 metre and flying around our legs.

So after 1 1/2 hours of great watching and being thrilled by its ability and 400+ shots later we called it a day as the wind was picking up and storm clouds gathering.

Well your all asking what was this bird, well it's all in the next item and I have given it a name in brackets I thought of whilst watching it.

So folks may I please introduce you to................