QNEWS - SEPTEMBER 3 2023 - VK4 ON AIR

Hello, I’m Geoff Emery, VK4ZPP, and I’ve been thinking. To all the fathers listening I hope you have a wonderful day that fills you with memories and brings a smile to your face. Some 60 years ago, the writing and composing team of Lerner and Lowe produced an iconic musical to the theatre and subsequently the cinema. That was “My Fair Lady” which was an adaption of the Irish writer George Bernard Shaw’s play titled “Pygmalion”. Why I mention this is that one of the songs was entitled “When Spring crept over the window sill”. After the farewell to Winter that many parts of the east coast of the continent have endured I would have expected Spring to bounce into our consciousness taking away the memories of the recent storms. But “No” say the weather experts with a glint in their eyes, welcome to the annual storm season. As band conditions of short wave have been a little so-so recently, it is nice to have the expectation of the changes that the warmer months can bring to our radio activities. Hopefully we have managed to do the annual maintenance and our stations are prepped for the changed band conditions and we can take the opportunity for some outdoor operating and some DX on the higher HF and into the VHF parts of the spectrum. This is where we have the tussle of the increased atmospheric noise and the benefit of the openings from the sunspot cycle and other space weather phenomena. Of course one of the things that we should take account of in the storm seasons is the possibility of static discharges and lightning strikes. Protecting our equipment is part of safe operating practice and having suitable grounding and disconnection of external paths such as antenna cables and mains and copper telephone circuits is also a protection for our families and homes as well. A direct lightning strike can not only fuse metal, it can cause other materials to explode and also burn. When you have seen people who have been through the experience of losing all their white goods from the stove in the kitchen to the washing machine and dryer in the laundry as well as all their electronics you can appreciate their angst and hurt. What I am endeavouring to do is remind us all that it isn't just the time when the suburban grass needs cutting more frequently and trips to the swimming pool are a comfort, it is also the time when we should check our homes and surroundings for things that are potentially unsafe. Many will have seen the video of the people taking shelter during a lightning storm and they huddle under the canopy of a tree. When the tree takes a direct strike, it seems the 3 people all die. Here is a message, a lesson to pass onto our family and friends that we should understand what is safe in the circumstance and not put ourselves in danger because of ignorance. I’m Geoff Emery VK4ZPP and that’s what I think....how about you? -------------------------------------------------------------------*