Hello fellow 270 CW fanatics (all minus 37 of you )
Just wanted to drop a little note here that if you picked up the latest issue of Practical Wireless magazine, that yes, that is me on the back page.
I’ve submitted an article that I hope will encourage fellow radio amateurs to get on to 270 CW in your droves! (Well, all minus 37 of you who might care! ).
I think it is in newsagents mid January. Just a heads up is all to give folks enough time to hurl voluminous swathes of vitriol in my general direction!
…hi Ian, we don’t get that magazine in VK, can you place a copy of article on the reflector or email it to me. Very keen get on to 2/ 70. Just put up a Diamond 5/8 antenna for these bands. Works OK but need to get it to higher above the roof line; at the rain guttering point at the moment.
Ireland too! We could try a sked on the ISS repeater, save a few quid on an EME setup!
There is a good EME community in EI. I’ve never tried it but would love to check it off my list some day. Or EVE, though the chances of doing that are so remote (and probably cost a fortune to do it).
@VK3SQ the magazine is available digitally via Pocketmags if you are keen to see what the back issues are like. It’s a magazine that has been around for donkeys years - great to see in this day and age when print is dying.
Also super cheap at the minute which might interest some:
Let’s make Oceania 270CW great again!
EDIT: Just a thought as well, check your local library. It may have library card access to apps like Zinio, Pressreader, Readly, Libby, Borrowbox etc. You can get the magazine through those and read for free with your library card.
Unrelated tip that I discovered only yesterday. I was looking to purchase a new Oxford dictionary when I found out my library card gives me free access to Oxford Dictionaries Premium which is usually a subscription service. Very handy!
EDIT 2: Just a quick disclaimer, I’m not shilling etc. I contributed the article unpaid. Support the printed word though!
No worries. The content on each app varies both app to app and region to region but handy all the same.
Very few publications I subscribe to individually else you’d spend a fortune. Something ultra niche like PW though I think is worth supporting with a subscription to help keep the printed word alive.
The Economist is another (albeit not niche, you get a lot of content though for the money and no ads - more importantly, you’d hope, less bias), but it is starting to dip a toe in AI waters (AI-narrated articles for example). They are transparent about it but if it creeps in to actual articles then I’m gone. I won’t back slop.
Perhaps AI will ignite a flame in niche press and a larger resurgence in zine interest?
There are other ways to save too. Examples being the Financial Times and The Athletic. Those are ‘free’ with a Revolut Metal or Ultra Plan. If you read one or both, the cost benefit possibly makes it worth a paid banking plan for some.
270 CW has never been a watering hole in Oceania. Please don’t use the phrase about making something great again. It gives me instant projectile vomiting.
ISS or other amateur satellites do not provide coverage from VK to the UK.
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We could try a sked on the ISS repeater, save a few quid on an EME setup! 