Few ssb qsos on 20m and 40m this morning but it was hard work for all of us. Golly those bands are noisy in this part of Western Europe. Thank you to everyone who persevered with my requests for repeated information. Will, GI6HKE

Enjoying coverage of a quite amazing Northern Irish Road Racing event - the North West 200. Upwards of 200mph on closed public roads. Respect to my RAYNET colleague providing secure emergency comms. You can watch free here: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

I'm quoted in this: “There are import­ant under­ly­ing issues about how the civil ser­vice is man­aged and how pub­lic money is spent. They should release the inform­a­tion instead of try­ing to evade dis­clos­ure by hid­ing behind unjus­ti­fied claims about per­sonal data."

That was a hopelessly slow start this morning. I really have got to stop sitting up half the night listening to space travellers.

Getting closer.... pad clear underway... #ArtemisII

My boss* is insisting I write scripts for 2 solid days, go to loads of meetings and record and edit on Thursday to “bring the pennies in, because we cannot live on air”. No time for fiddling with radios. What a git. *I am self-employed

After finding a declassified government file in London which wasn't censored as it had been in Belfast, I investigated the reason - and found Stormont is now undertaking extreme censorship of these files. That means we'll understand NI's past less fully.

Me: (Listening happily to the Wolves Liverpool 5th Round FA Cup tie, on BBC Five Live.) Mrs Will: And do you need a big radio like that to listen to the football? Me: 😳

Bullied myself down to a local wildlife reserve by the sea yesterday with an HF mobile rig and a 14mHz vertical for the car roof. One mother of all POTA pileups later, I was so glad I’d taken the trouble. Delighted so many ops called in. #pota #hamradio #amateurradio #fun

It’s up to all of us to now step up and call this absolute bull**** out

It was so nice to have a dry afternoon for once that I went outside, parked the car in an open space, put on my 3xmag mount, fired up the RigExpert and tuned my new 17m and 10m Ampro monobanders to a gratifying low swr. Bit more POTA happening soon. Made me happy.

I drove 120 miles through a sunny County Antrim today. My part of of Ireland couldn’t have looked more beautiful. Or more surprised…

Of course GB isn’t winning any medals at the Winter Olympics. One plays to one’s strengths. Now when they finally get around to introducing the Damp and Dreich Olympics, GB will dominate.* Suggestions for events? * every athlete interviewee will have to include the phrase “mustn’t grumble”.

Bit of research this morning.

What on earth has happened to me? We got a letter from Belfast City Council saying they were introducing kerbside bottle and glass collections on our street, and I was really excited…

People of Ireland! You will need to spend some time today explaining to your children what this is.

I call this composition “Storm Chandra and the amateur’s anxious glance”…

After Nigel Farage hinted that more leading influential Conservatives would defect to Reform UK, Suella Braverman has just joined the Party – so maybe she knows who Nigel meant

Och give it a rest, sky, would you? Just…just change the record.

Today’s Daily Cartoon, by Matt Reuter. #NewYorkerCartoons

It’s a rumble!

Who's running Venezuela now anyway? And what about the democratic opposition? I've blogged on the perils of 'regime change lite' open.substack.com/pub/markurba...

This new war is not only illegal, reckless and deeply corrupt, it is the latest in a series of increasingly desperate distractions from the EPSTEIN Files. #ImpeachAndConvict47NOW

Know anyone interested in getting their first amateur radio licence? Our next free online course starts this Sunday. We've helped over 14,000 and counting! Sign up for the free courses is at www.hamtrain.co.uk - Share and Enjoy...

In 2026 I will not be buying any more radios, radio gear, antennas or accessories*. * except the stuff I feel I really need or want.

Dear help me, I found this thread really exciting.

Brilliant night at the Sunflower Folk Club in Belfast. Remarkable series of performances from the floor, including one in Latin, one in French and some Portuguese squeezebox music. And then my lifelong friend - since we were 13 - Anthony Toner. Glorious songs and great good humour. What a night.

It’s exactly this kind of dismal, prejudiced bollox from the Daily Mail that’s got us into the ruinous Brexit mess we’re in. What a moronic response to us rejoining Erasmus and all the benefits that brings. If they’re really worried about cost, they should push to cancel Brexit altogether.

Finally submitted my log for the ARRL-10 contest at the weekend - first time I’ve tried one so a very lowly score. Had to learn new logging software that actually understood contest exchanges. Worked it out after poking at it for a couple of nights before it would upload. But fun was definitely had.

Spent the afternoon on 10m for the ARRL 10 meter contest. It’s night time here now and I’m taking a break. So far, shooting for a placing of: Last in the entire world…. Fun though. That’s the point.

Hardly surprising. And sadly, not the first time.

Saturday afternoon. Herself is away out shopping. I could do all the things on my “Must Do” list. Or I could sit here and watch The Desert Rats on BBC Two...

Went up to the shack there to “tune around the bands a bit.” Anyway, I got two reports written for work. One has to be pragmatic about these things.

I connected a fairly old Apple CDROM Drive to a Windows 11 laptop this afternoon, and got it working after downloading some Boot Camp drivers from the Apple Support website. I now I have a thoroughly inflated view of my own IT abilities. Also I can now view the only CDROM I own.

I've been getting back into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series after many years, and the most relatable part is how everyday objects like doors and elevators have been imbued with artificial intelligence and it just makes them obnoxious and frustrating to use and everyone hates it.

Solid afternoon’s footering. Re-engineered the two arms of my inverted v ZS6BKW to make it safer in the wind. Then reduced the ribbon feeder line in 5cm increments until the SWR on the RigExpert came down to 1:1.1 on 40m. With the atu for some bands, ready at last for winter. Simple pleasures.

My money’s on Thomas Crown or Professor Moriarty www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c6...

Anyone else ever have an occasional wee dip in their enthusiasm for getting on the bands? Just coming out of one after 3 months. Didn’t turn a rig on, tap a key, or key a microphone. Now easing myself back in and enjoying it again. Life happened for a bit. The dip before that was about 25 years!

That’s the first M8 callsign in the log. On 40m. You could say I’m a bit of a slow learner

Finally ran a proper antenna analyser across my dipole today. Well, what a revelation! Now planning a morning with a ladder and incremental changes in shorter lengths to shift the low VSWR up just a wee bit in frequency. But we’re starting from a pretty good place…

Roof repairs finished so got my HF inverted V back up. Much better pulley system for the apex. Tidied away ladders, tools etc, but couldn’t find my yard brush anywhere. 🧹 Baffled. Eventually found it 2 storeys up on the flat roof of a dormer window. No, I have no idea. #hamradio #amateurradio

#stormfloris mostly sideswiping us in Belfast. Winds gusting around 50 mph, and oddly, sunny most of the time. All my antennas were down anyway but the roof work due to start this morning has been put back 24 hrs. How’s everyone doing in GM/MM? Stronger winds with you guys… #amateurradio #hamradio

The workmen arrive first thing on Monday morning to do maintenance on my roof, and replace all the facsias and soffits. No antennas at home for a week or two. Feels odd doesn’t it?

Ah Ireland. How you always reward optimism… www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Me last night, 2200: “Best get to bed, need a good night’s sleep, busy work day tomorrow.” My brain at 02 30: “Hey wake up! I’m just putting into your head the rhythm for ‘Bens best bent wire’ at 18wpm” I’ve been awake since 0230. #cw #amateurradio #hamradio

Jolly nice morning doing POTA ssb in a rarely-activated park in Holywood, Co Down, N Ireland. Redburn Country Park, GB-2587. Only on for an hour but delighted with the stations hunting it down. The day went a bit pear-shaped after that but still, it was a jolly nice morning. #amateurradio #hamradio

At my desk all morning writing scripts for a client. Just before lunch I took a quick tune around the HF bands - did a little FT8 on 17m and promptly worked French Guiana for the first time. That is why I enjoy this hobby. You never really know what’s coming! #hamradio #AmateurRadio

Hello to all the people who followed me today thinking I was @williamfleitch.bsky.social Unfollow me again by all means, cool with that.

After my CWA fundamental class this evening I was buoyed up so answered a kind qrs station from Italy on 40m. A polite gent - cos my sending mistakes were an embarrassment. Oh well. Proper exchanges achieved and all logged. Thanks Alberto, IT9TTY. Onwards and upwards. #amateurradio #hamradio #CWA