Week of 6th July, 2009

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Monday, 6th July

A rainy day so I didn't feel like going out - or at least, no further than the local shopping street.

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Tuesday, 7th July

To the local shopping mall today, between more showers, to get some home baking requisites for Jane. And, of course, I got trapped by a shower. No waterproofs, so I ducked into the local branch of HMV, the record and DVD shop. In there, I found the DVD of "Bagpuss" an old BBC-commissioned children's series from 1969, about an old, saggy, cloth cat, who seems to do nothing but sleep, but when you sing the magic song to him, he wakes up... 13no 15 minute episodes for UKP5.

The same visit also turned up "Trumptonshire", the complete "Chigley", "Camberwick Green" and "Trumpton", children's series originally shown by the BBC in about 1967. 3x 13no 15 minute episodes for UKP15.

I remember both with affection - simple, stop-motion animation, with equally simple stories, aimed at children, but with subtleties that adults could appreciate. So that was a result.

I also noticed that the DVD of the new series of "Torchwood", which started a 5 episode run yesterday, stripped across the week at 9 p.m. on BBC1, will be released in a week or so, at UKP16 - a bit steep for 5no 1 hour episodes. At least, HMV were announcing it at that price - must see what Play will do.

<pause>

Play are no cheaper, but if I pre-order, I don't need to remember to buy - so the order is in.

In the evening, I remembered a question posed in one of the computer comics I read regularly - "Help! My laptop touchpad has stopped working!" This applies to me, also. The suggested remedy was to disconnect everything, and remove the battery for some few seconds. Then start the machine again.

So I tried it - and it worked! Now I can put aside the mouse I've been using. That's good, and now I have no excuse for not programming up the FT-8900R - the programming interface is now to hand. As is a UK repeater frequency list.

And yet another router restart due to changed link datarate. I need an acronym for this - perhaps YARR? Anyway, after two such (the first one didn't reconnect) datarate is now 11,669,700/819,700.

The "Vulcan Year 2008" DVD works fine on the stand-alone DVD player downstairs. So evidently a crippled copy of WinDVD was the culprit at work.

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Wednesday, 8th July

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Thursday, 9th July

Yet Another Router Restart this afternoon, this time by Jenny, under my telephone instruction. Two restarts required, since ppp didn't connect at the first attempt. Datarate is now 12,366,300/839,800. Wonder how long it'll last.

Work hasn't been too busy - all short-form material has been completed by day's end. But long-form is building up, despite our best efforts, and there are still bugs in material handling. Still, it looks like a new automated facility to add extra audio tracks to ingested clips may well be in service within weeks - the software company producing it have actually got it more-or-less right! I confess to pleased surprise - especially since these are the people we swear at, not by...

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Friday, 10th July

Tabitha to the vet this morning, for her regular shots. And I have to call a plumber about a leak in the loft shower. Then maybe I can get the FT-8900 programmed...

<pause>

I wish... Tabitha disappeared early this morning. We eventually found her, hidden under our bed, too late for the appointment. By this time, I'd rebooked, so she's not getting away with it - iffen 'n providen' we can keep her accessible until later today.

Then I tried the rig programming. Bob Freeth, G4HFQ's software installed easily, and accepted the registration code, so that was all well. Then the G4ZLP hardware interface also installed easily. But FTB8900 can only see serial ports up to COM16, and the interface had been allocated COM19. Bob has a CommTest utility, which could see the interface, but FTB8900 couldn't. So I sent e-mail asking about serial port support in future versions.

Of course, I only found this out at the car, in bright sunlight, with the Acer running on battery, which meant I couldn't read the screen easily. I'll have to try this again, with a different computer - one that hasn't had a dozen gross of USB serial ports installed on it. Maybe the Lenovo.

And, of course, when I check the website, I find that version 1.3.6, which I have, is well out-of-date. The current version is 1.4.6, which supports up to COM32. But the download link only offers version 1.4.5. My first e-mail bounced, with a 550 error, so I've sent another, reflecting my changed knowledge. And that doesn't seem to have bounced yet - we shall see. Bob is still actively developing this software.

<pause for visit to vet>

Bob must have forgotten to post v1.4.6 due to pressure of work. I've had a reply, and installed the latest version, which can see the interface (on COM19 yet!) Next up, try to read the radio.

In the evening, Yet Another Router Restart. Datarate now 11,718,400/815,700.

Sarah's Brownie pack has an outing tomorrow. 13 or 14 girls, plus Sarah and Jenny - at least. But the mini-bus they would normally use is off the road for want of a roadworthiness certificate (the MOT) so there were frantic searches going on to find another MPV to provide enough seats in 2 cars, because there aren't enough drivers. But all the rental places don't have vehicles available - not even small 4/5 seaters. It's the weekend, don'tcha know, and world+dog is making a getaway. What has been decided, I don't know, and I suspect I'll never know because I'm now off to bed - the early shift tomorrow.

I have done the membership lists for the next Youth Club, which will be in September - it is now officially summer. All educational establishments are now closed, or soon will be. This admin task is done very early, but at least there'll be no rush in 2 months time.

And Play have shipped "Torchwood - Children of Earth". It's not supposed to be released until Monday!

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Saturday, 11th July

Overtime today, an early shift.

A successful day.

The Brownie pack had their outing, as far as I know. How many, and how they were transported, has not yet been elucidated.

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Sunday, 12th July

McMichael Rally

The rally turned out to be a social occasion rather than a shopping excursion - none the worse for that.

I dispensed some advice to a fellow ham (one of the old school, ex-military hardware persuasion) who was looking to programme up his FT-8900. Just like I am. I was able to point him at Bob, G4HFQ's FTB8900 software, which is cheaper (and by all accounts better) than the official Yaesu package.

Talking of which...

First I have to read the rig. So carry the Acer out to the car, plug it in, and set up the serial port - it auto-identifies, you can't manually select the port to use. With that done, I could read the rig. FTB8900 basically makes your computer and interface emulate another rig, as far as this function is concerned. You clone the rig contents into memory on your computer.

Then I could import the repeater data into the emulated rig memories. This is done by importing a .csv file into the software. And for everything to work properly, you have to adhere quite closely to the laid-down format. This format is well set out in the comprehensive help file provided in the install package. Errors and omissions in the imported .csv will result in much extra work tidying up in FTB8900. Then I discovered the facility to automatically set up repeater shifts by frequency range - the "Repeater Rules" option. This saves providing about 3 fields in the .csv.

Having saved all that, I could clone the emulated rig back to the actual one. So back out to the car, and follow the recipe once more.

Which worked. Or at least, it didn't report an error. I now need to get at the memorised data, which involves invoking the correct menu option. But which one? I need to read the manual (again) when I can put my hand on it.

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