BBC1 Countryfile 6pm Sunday (Part 1)

Spot on - Hahahahaha

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@G3CWI I’ve just sat down and watched your video :rofl: say no more Richard, absolutely perfect :+1:

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When not doing SOTA, I’ve been going out more regularly here in Somerset to seek out & test various local high spots for future 144 UKAC or Backpacker’s contests. Oddly enough, on the last couple of occasions, I’ve been approached by ex-military (RAF) who are very interested to learn that use of VHF/HF is still going strong and then go on to applaud us that keep it alive.

@Tom: Thanks for organising the Countryfile SOTA event and congrats to you, Ben, Gillian & Fraser for making it into the final cut. Despite the frequent light showers (& the long wait), I enjoyed the afternoon and the QSOs on 2m FM with my nearby Ops.

73, Lea M0XPO

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We were the lucky ones Lea. It was essential to have more activators out both for backup for the possible radio contacts to Flat Holm, and for the selection of video footage. Therefore yourself, Kevin (who’s outtake made it in right at the end), Simon TJC and Simon TTE deserve the same appreciation as those you mention. You made it happen - thank you.

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I was thinking last month when I was at Wendover Woods, Forestry England has several buildings there which are rented out for cafe and shop, info centre, GO Ape and so on, it would be good if there was a SOTA sign on one of the buildings and an information board about SOTA and Amateur Radio

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I went to do an F&F activation and also to pop into the RSARS net on 40M whilst at Normandy Wood which is part of the National Forest yesterday as it was the anniversary of D-Day, there is a memorial there for the Normandy Veterans Association. the RBL was holding a wreath-laying ceremony which I hadn’t expected, despite telling them what I was doing, they still seemed to think I was from a local community radio station doing a live report!

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I know RSARS and 40m but is there a glossary for the other abbreviations?

F&F or FF Flora and Fauna, RBL Royal British Legion

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TNX

Richard,

all those videos you made in the woods setting up antennas were training and preparation for this masterpiece of satire. LOL

73 Andrew VK1DA/2DA

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I somehow managed to view the segment but not via the BBC link, it says I’m a foreigner, which I am, and refuses to let me view it. (despite the fact that we just had some kind of celebration honouring the Queen of England, there must be a connection there somewhere… her image is still on our coins and notes)

I enjoyed the segment, well done in view of the many difficulties faced when trying to convey any slightly technical subject to the great masses on a typical Television program. You never know what important details the producer will edit out due to being unimportant or not newsworthy.

As for the passerby being impressed by a contact into Europe, imagine how they react when I tell them I’m expecting to have contacts into Europe from Australia. The reactions range from positive at the high end (impressed and asking questions) to disbelief at the low end (walking away muttering “what a nutter”).

73 Andrew VK1DA/2DA

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Maybe if you were to offer a voluntary contribution towards the BBC licence fee…? I suspect fiscal considerations weigh more than such antiquated notions of nationality :wink:

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Andy,

You are probably right on the financial side of it, but reading the long explanations from the BBC you do get the impression they are determined that nobody with the wrong country prefix will be permitted to watch their content. All kinds of warnings about VPNs etc. it doesn’t matter, I already saw it somewhere else :slight_smile:

Even if you were to be on holiday in France, you would not be allowed to view BBC content!

but I didn’t mean to subvert this thread with irrelevancies, I was very impressed by the program as aired.

73 Andrew vk1da

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The BBC is funded from licence fees and sales of its programs and services. For a long time anyone could access iPlayer. But now you need a UK TV licence and also have a UK IP address.

You haven’t bought a UK TV viewing licence and don’t have a UK geolocated IP address so you cannot watch the programs.

Blocking on location is a simple way of stopping 99.999% of people who extremely unlikely to have a UK TV licence.

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Well done to all involved, really good to see this on mainstream TV. Was also good to watch Fraser’s YouTube video to see the other side of the segment. Fabulous effort.

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The thing that impressed me was the very clever way that the video editor overlayed Fraser’s outgoing audio on the incoming audio to make it clear enough to understand on the telly. That was neat and well done.

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Frasers audio to me was a 5/9+ 100% of the time. The sound crew placed a microphone under my 857, it did a good job.

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Which is why there is a Raspberry Pi Zero W out raw to the internet by my router. It provides me with SSH and VPN facilities so that I can watch things like IP player no matter where I am as the remote servers see the same IP address as if I was at home. It’s plugged into a USB socket on the back of the router and hangs down behind a desk. It’s not the fastest VPN stuck at about 10mbps but it’s the best £9 spent for the features it gives.

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You’ve been celebrating the platinum jubilee of the Queen of Australia.

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This topic was automatically closed after reaching the maximum limit of 100 replies. Continue discussion at BBC1 Countryfile 6pm Sunday (Part 2).