QNEWS - AUGUST 27 2023 - VK4 ON AIR

Hi, I’m Mark VK4DMH, from GCARS on the Gold Coast The Gold Coast Amateur Radio Society was involved with radio communications for the Pacific Airshow last weekend, providing schedule timing and aircraft movement updates from the various airfields back to the airshow command in Surfers Paradise.

There were 10 Amateur Radio operators engaged for 3 days at four different airfields and locations, spanning a distance of close to 100km. Many of us also had aircraft radio certifications so we could communicate with the pilots on airband as necessary.

n work took place over a period of weeks with the assistance of Andrew VK4QF, Aidan VK4APM, Jamie VK4XD and myself, VK4DMH.

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking.

One of the mysteries of life is how big businesses actually operate in a world that supposedly has operating rules. Most of us have used the national postal service which seems to be neither an arm of the government nor a fully commercial business. I recently made some purchases online with the hope of improving my capacities when operating portable. In keeping with saving the planet was a small computer regarded as old. For me, the fact that it would run basic amateur radio software and give me an opportunity to go digital seemed a good thing.

From when I bought this unit until it arrived for a collection signature from interstate was only a matter of days. Strangely the charger unit it needed which was bought on the same day came from another source and took a further four days to reach me. It seems that the postal service which is now advertising next-day delivery in some metropolitan markets hasn’t improved its delivery times since I had a Christmas job several decades ago and trains were the main mail carriers, not road. I see people complaining that they have posted items and paid the premium for fast delivery only to have things like documents miss legal deadlines.

The computer has been fun to set up and then terribly frustrating. The device is in good condition and performs well, as far as I can test it for my needs.

There is a roadblock to my plans. Because of its age, the computer runs Windows 10 and is not really suitable for upgrading the operating system.

I have had a Murphy experience, in that there is a bug in that OS that won’t connect to the app store to get the software I want to run. You know it is recommended not to use non-official download sites and the software developer hasn’t fixed the bug in 7 years. The one suggestion on their website didn’t work and this operating system is claimed to be supported until some time in 2025. Am I missing something?

It doesn’t seem all that long ago when our politicians were sprouting the benefits of global markets and online shopping. I received an item during the week that, according to the tracking, took 14 days to reach me after arriving in the country.

Processing through the postal service and customs and delivery which was done in about 3 days is frightening when this is a slack period well before the end of year climactic rush. Should we be buying anything we need from overseas now just to ensure we will be able to wrap it and fill the stocking at Christmas?

To me, it is a pity that consumer protections from major international and national businesses seem to be out of sight and out of mind. I can’t seek a remedy for my malfunctioning software as I am not the original purchaser. It seems that like all of us, I have to put up with the vagaries of postal delivery when it works it is as good as when all sorting was done manually back in the middle of last century and when it fails, it seems to be protected by a stone wall of indifference if reports are correct. On that basis, we should feel sorry for the businesses that try to serve our community.

I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think....how about you?