What's made you smile today?

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What's made you smile today?

I've always enjoyed shortwave radio. I've learned a lot about the world as a youngster listening to the BBC, CBC, Radio Havana, Radio South Africa, etc. One of my favorites is an older Optimus/Realistic 12-808 PLL digital job. It went missing a few years back.

While repairing the floor in our camper/caravan this past summer, I found the radio shoved way back in a cabinet. It had been there since July, 2017, with the batteries in it. That was the last time we were able to use the camper.

The battery compartment was pretty nasty with an ugly green color. I scraped the terminals as clean as I could, then hit it with contact cleaner a few times. I put it in my basement to dry out.

Fast forward to last night, I put in new batteries and everything worked. Yay! I now live in the bottom of a bowl so SW reception is a crapshoot at best without an antenna tower but I can pick up my favorite FM station from Chicago, so that makes me smile.

As an aside, just imagine what happens to a mid western American kid in the sixties that lets it slip he's listening to commie Radio Havana every evening. It wasn't fun but I got to see how screwed up my teachers were.
 
I've always enjoyed shortwave radio. I've learned a lot about the world as a youngster listening to the BBC, CBC, Radio Havana, Radio South Africa, etc. One of my favorites is an older Optimus/Realistic 12-808 PLL digital job. It went missing a few years back.

While repairing the floor in our camper/caravan this past summer, I found the radio shoved way back in a cabinet. It had been there since July, 2017, with the batteries in it. That was the last time we were able to use the camper.

The battery compartment was pretty nasty with an ugly green color. I scraped the terminals as clean as I could, then hit it with contact cleaner a few times. I put it in my basement to dry out.

Fast forward to last night, I put in new batteries and everything worked. Yay! I now live in the bottom of a bowl so SW reception is a crapshoot at best without an antenna tower but I can pick up my favorite FM station from Chicago, so that makes me smile.

As an aside, just imagine what happens to a mid western American kid in the sixties that lets it slip he's listening to commie Radio Havana every evening. It wasn't fun but I got to see how screwed up my teachers were.
Great to hear you found and got the shortwave radio working. Radios, Hi-Fi, and all that sort of stuff has interested me from when I was quite young. When, in my youth, I was entombed in those boarding schools reading Science Fiction books and having a portable transistor radio was one of the things that kept me sane. I still have that wee pocket radio but can't find the earphone which let me listen to it under the bedclothes when I was supposed to be asleep! Used to listen to Radio Caroline and Radio Luxembourg which was very "with it" in those days and especially Charles Chilton's "Journey into Space" - Thrilling stuff! You can find episodes on you tube.

Some years later, shortly after I was married, I had a friend who owned a very nice Hi - Fi set up and I was blown away by the experience of listening to stereo music. I managed to convince Mrs J that we should have one but, being newly married, couldn't afford anything comparable to the one my friend had. Ended up buying this:

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It had two quite big speakers with bass reflex ports but no tweeters:

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Made a much better sound than our wee kitchen radio or record player though. No doubt you'll have noticed the 8 track cassette player? At that time the battle between cassette and 8 track was raging strongly with little indication as to which was going to be more popular so, as I had an 8 track in the car and a number of 8 track cartridges I went for 8 track - I'll say no more on that as we all know how that one worked out! Luckily it also had/has AM and FM tuners in it and an aux feed on the back:

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Whilst pretty pathetic by today's standards it sounded quite good back in the early '70's - with headphones it actually sounded even better and it whetted my appetite for Hi Fi. So, when I bought a VHS recorder/player and discovered it could play sound back through a separate amp I plugged it into the Shibuya and, found it was not compatible! Wouldn't play would it! So now I was on a mission to save for a decent sound system to link in. Took me about 3 years to save enough for a basic Sony AV amp, two Sony bookshelf speakers and two very small Sony surround speakers. No centre speaker or sub. WOW! 100% better than the old Shibuya which I installed in the garage where, over 40 years later, it still keeps me company to this day - mostly tuned to Radio4.

The amp was very basic with no internal decoders so just amplified whatever it was fed with. It took me about 2 years to realize that the VHS player was capable of decoding sound formats and that, when activated, the amp would attempt to reproduce it. This improved the sound from the speakers but without a centre speaker or subwoofer I was missing a lot of the quality and the wee rear speakers weren't really up for it. Another period of saving up followed and I also increased my evening classes from 2 to 5 per week which allowed me to save enough to buy a really good quality Yamaha 7.1 amp, 2 large bookshelf main speakers and a really good centre speaker with 2 smaller system matched rear speakers and, a year later, a dedicated subwoofer. The results are spectacular. The attack scene from Master and Commander is quite literally a shattering experience with the sound of bits of fractured wood making you inclined to "duck". In other movies bullets ricochet around the room, space ships come up behind you and fly overhead to appear on the screen, etc, etc. Have to be a bit careful with the sub as it vibrates the floor considerably - good thing our house doesn't share any walls with the neighbours too!!

I was so pleased with the amp that for some time all I did was use it to watch blu rays and stuff on the TV when one day I discovered it has inbuilt radio tuners and an internet radio tuner. The internet radio one has an enormous inventory, seems to be able to pick up anything from anywhere! I really love listening into some of the "small town" (would you call them "Hick" Cheest?) country and western stations from across the pond. Some are so small and local that you get them advertising for folks to come along to the dance this Saturday and bring stuff for the tombola etc. Some have accents so "thick" I can hardly understand what they're saying. In some respects I find myself thinking of the DJ "Super Soul" in the film Vanishing Point. Not quite short wave, but I can spend hours listening in.
 
Good taste, Jock. Amazing that we survived 8 track and still bought more recordings. I had a separate player in my Ambassador but didn't have a home unit until the late seventies. That just happened to be part of a four speaker Sanyo CD-4 system that was a stereo receiver, turntable, dual cassette, and 8 track. I only found a couple of CD-4 vinyl albums, but you haven't lived until you've heard 'Riders On The Storm' played through CD-4. You get wrapped up in the thunder. Even sounds good on two channel.

I have two iPods loaded with old radio shows from the 30s to the 70s, the bulk are Sci-fi. I can recommend relicradio.com for those old shows. I prefer X Minus 1 and Dimension X for American shows. SF68 and The Challenge of Space are South African. Challenge of Space tries too hard to be American, IMO, though. I usually read a bit before bed then plug in to the iPod and fall asleep quickly.

I built a tube(valve to you guys)regenerative radio, regen for short, last winter. Surprisingly, it works but could use an amp. I can just make out the red neck station 25 miles north. It would do better if I moved the antenna outside.

I have this 1953 Zenith Trans-Oceanic that works great.
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I picked it up at an antique store for a song and have done nothing to it. I had better SW reception at my old place, but AM reception in the bottom of the bowl is still pretty good. Most of the time it's tuned to a small station a few towns over that calls itself a classic rock station, but too much Madonna and MJ for my tastes. I am 44 miles due west of Chicago and I have picked up the Grand Old Opry on WSM in Nashville and a Contemporary AM station in Toronto. I need a nice clear night when I have nothing to do and see if I can pick up some of the 100,000 watt stations in Mexico.

All that being said, I've been listening to an Oldies station out of the UK over Internet Radio for a couple of months. Pretty good.
 
Took advantage of a forecasted break in weather to head up to Northumberland for the afternoon.

Due to the weather being crap in town...and it being Monday our destination was quiet and we got to have a quiet wander. After which we sat on the terrace in front of a stately home looking out over a valley of autumn trees...while the sun went down in dramatic sky. Only disturbed by the sound of a toddler crunching an apple.

My wife being my wife at this point decided that she wanted to go to a follow on destination to look for Xmas decorations. With the words "Isn't such and such round here?" Me being me I looked it up and yes it was 7 miles as the crow flies. Unfortunately I'd not brought the crow, I'd brought the Citroën..so 13.5 miles in 27 minutes was the forecast.

If you've ever been round rural Northumberland and used satnav then you will know its always a bit of an adventure. I wouldn't at the weekend...as you'll invariably come across peloton after peloton of short tempered men who don't seem to understand that if the road is 7 feet wide, and you're riding 4 abreast that perhaps a car may not be able to give them 6 feet of room.

If you don't find them you find a motorhome...or a very large shiny 4x4 apparently incapable of putting 2 tyres on the verge for fear of getting stuck. So usually just stick to main roads.

But Monday, November, and about 40 minutes to darkness and a small car so thought I'd give it a go.

Glad I did, the expected tiny roads occurred but quiet enough to be a relaxed trip. Saw an Eagle next to the road (as you do) feeding on something or other..then a few miles later a Pine Marten..then some Hares, and a pheasant. No motorhomes, no bikes, no Chelsea tractors just a local in a Hilux.

Hit none of them always a bonus...but lovely relaxed afternoon.
 
Today...I caught myself describing something as "taking the soup and chopping it up".

Now there's a few possibilities here either I misunderstand the concept of soup..Or the "soup" in the metaphor is incredibly badly made..or I'm so tired today that makes sense in my head.

At least I went on to add..."because soup should always be finely chopped.." totally saved it :ROFLMAO:
 
Today...I caught myself describing something as "taking the soup and chopping it up".

Now there's a few possibilities here either I misunderstand the concept of soup..Or the "soup" in the metaphor is incredibly badly made..or I'm so tired today that makes sense in my head.

At least I went on to add..."because soup should always be finely chopped.." totally saved it :ROFLMAO:

Maybe it’s a metaphor for a completely pointless task?
 
Today...I caught myself describing something as "taking the soup and chopping it up".

I just saw someone comment on another forum: "No big surprises that he wants chicken soup for tea. Come the end of winter, I am sick of the sight of the stuff LOL I think I’ll cheat a bit today and just get some cold chicken chunks in a packet and chop them up."

To be fair, I don't know what either of you mean ...
 
Made it out to New England, Maine to be exact, for Turkey Week in Mrs. Cheests' Renegade, which is Jeep for Fiat. A tad over 1000 miles one way. It seems like I'm buying a lot of gas, but the Jeep has a tiny tank, something like 12 gallons. So, even if I'm getting nearly 30 mpg at 75 mph, still making several stops. The Jeep has Sirius XM radio, so we've been listening to old radio shows which help eat up the miles.

We have our grandsons with us so they can play with their cousins in the mud. The oldest one has matured a bit but the youngest is a true five year old.

One thing is making me grumpy, though. So far this year, I have stayed 150 nights in hotels for work. We are staying in hotels for this trip. For me, it's like being at work. Mrs. Cheest can not fathom why I want to go out for breakfast instead of having the 'Free' hotel breakfast, which I can't stand but she finds a treat.:confused:
 
Wife is vaguely furious...as the she's had someone shadowing her for one of these emergency services programmes.

One of the questions "what was it like growing up in the North?" which totally stumped her on the basis it's like growing up anywhere else...but further north.

Had some fun winding her about it to be fair, "So why didn't you tell her your dad used to disappear for to race pigeons for days on end? Also that your birthday always clashed with pigeon season and came off second best?"

Also something about whippets, flat caps, the mines, Thatcher and Billy Elliot...
 
After the forum reboot..

This came to light
November 2006..!!

BEFORE 1986?

According to today's regulators and bureaucrats, those of us who were kids in the 60's, 70's and early 80's probably shouldn't have survived, Because our baby cots were covered with brightly coloured lead-based paint which was promptly chewed and licked.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or latches on doors or cabinets and it was fine to play with pans. When we rode our bikes, we wore no helmets, just flip-flops and fluorescent 'spokey dokey's' on our wheels.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags and riding in the passenger seat was a treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle and it tasted the same.

We ate chips, bread and butter pudding and drank fizzy juice with sugar in it, but we were never overweight because we were always
outside playing.

We shared one drink with four friends, from one bottle or can and no-one actually died from this.

We would spend hours building go-carts out of scraps and then went top speed down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.

After running into stinging nettles a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We would leave home in the morning and could play all day, as long as we were back before it got dark. No one was able to reach us and no one minded.

We did not have Play stations or X-Boxes, no video games at all. No 99 channels on TV, no videotape movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no DVDs, no Internet chat rooms.

We had friends - we went outside and found them. We played elastics and rounders, and sometimes that ball really hurt! We fell out of trees, got cut and broke bones but there were no law suits.

We played knock-the-door-run-away and were actually afraid of the owners catching us. We walked to friends' homes.

We also, believe it or not, WALKED to school; we didn't rely on mummy or daddy to drive us to school, which was just round the corner.

We made up games with sticks and tennis balls. We rode bikes in packs of 7 and wore our coats by only the hood. The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke a law was unheard of...they actually Sided with the law.

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers and problem solvers and inventors, ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all. And you're one of them. Congratulations!

For those of you who aren't old enough, thought you might like to read about us.

This my friends, is surprisingly frightening......and it might put a smile on your face:

The majority of students in universities today were born in 1986....


The Uptown Girl they know is by Westlife not Billy Joel. They have never heard of Rick Astley, Bananarama, Nena Cherry or Belinda Carlisle.

For them, there has always been only one Germany and one Vietnam AIDS has existed since they were born. CD's have existed since they were born.

Michael Jackson has always been white.

To them John Travolta has always been round in shape and they can't imagine how this fat guy could be a god of dance.

They believe that Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible are films from last year.

They can never imagine life before computers. They'll never have pretended to be the A-Team, the Dukes of Hazard or the Famous Five. They can't believe a black and white television ever existed.

And they will never understand how we could leave the house without a mobile phone.

Now let's check if we're getting old...

1. You understand what was written above and you smile.
2. You need to sleep more, usually until the afternoon, after a night out.
3. Your friends are getting married/already married
4. You are always surprised to see small children playing comfortably with computers.
5. When you see children with mobile phones, you shake your head.
6. Having read this mail, you are thinking of telling it to some other friends because you think they will like it too...

Yes, you're getting old!!
 
Survived Storm Arwen relatively unscathed...other than a little mild water ingress caused by horizontal rain (the air brick is 8 feet up and still let water in)

But wife is safely home, the rain has stopped, my roof is still on, we have electric and gas...

All wins..also cannot believe the only bridge open in 90 mph winds is the Redheugh..it's as exposed as the flight deck of an aircraft carrier. Apparently it was an adventure getting over it...then through flood water and round a combination of sheds, fences, walls, roofs to get back.

Of course..now it's snowing.
 
First attempts at cross wind landings today, really rather a lot to learn in a very short space of time. Apparently landing in 13kt side winds is not far off the limits for a Cessna 172, but I really enjoyed myself.

Now being threatened with my first solo soon 😬
 

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Just got back home from Maine after another 13 hours in the Jeep with my wife and grandsons. I drove just about 2500 miles in seven days. I'll have to run the Jeep to the car wash in the morning to wash the early winter off of the outside and the honey mustard off of the inside. On the plus side, I get to sleep in my own bed tonight.
 
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