Ramble On

The first week of the New Year is upon us and, following a very mild few weeks, the WX is turning decidedly more chilly.

South Kesteven A.R.S. held their AGM, and I'm pleased to say that I was retained as Club Secretary, as was Andrew in the post of Chairman. Two new Committee posts were created and filled by Stewart and Konrad. Exciting times ahead for the Club, with a new club base and shack and an in house training facility set up for all Licence levels.

Speaking of training, I intend to study for my Advanced Licence and have set a goal to attain that by the end of 2016. With hard work and sage guidance I should be in with a chance.

The seasonal festivities have curtailed much in the way of radio - not much to report, other than the DV4 Mini is still (surprisingly) working well.

I'm becoming more confused with developments in the word of DMR, the politics and arguments continue to blight an otherwise interesting arm of the Hobby. As soon as I get used to one change, along comes another and it's getting hard to keep up. I might just lower my involvement until the situation stabilises, then it will be a bit more pleasurable.

I've given up on the AllStar node project as there is a lot of difficult stuff to do to get it to run properly and my knowledge of Linux and the other software involved, let alone the Raspberry Pi, is not enough. I still have the Pi and a USB sound card fob so I'll have to have a think about how I'm going to use it radio-wise.

I've started using a couple of VoiP and PTT apps with my PC and smart phone. Broadnet Systems run a PTT app which is free to use for Amateurs. I also use Zello with a Bluetooth PTT mic and they effectively turn your device into a kind of walkie talkie. Check them out as they can be fun to use.

73 2E0ENN