Posted 30 Jul 2008 — by Alex
Category Radio
I can confirm that there is little or no propagation going on at my QTH. Just look at the current graphs. There maybe some sporadic E floating about but I can say for certain that when I turn on my HF rig, there’s nothing at all to be heard.
Lucky I’m traveling further south for a few days soon so I can at least hopefully have a few QSO’s whilst qrp in the centre of England. Theres always a chance that somewhere in the UK there’ll be a lift.
?
Sometimes these lows can be low if you get what I mean 
It’s been a sad few hours without it but now that the Advent has gone back for a replacement I really know how much it will be missed. Only 7 days or so to get a new one but even after typing out over 200 words onto it over the weekend I’ve found that apart from the more frequent typing mistakes the machine is just perfect for my needs.
It came with XP pre-installed which was a bit of a bummer as I like my Ubuntu. Seeing as I had no choice and really it’s for my wife I thought it should stay as a XP machine. This means that it it can potentialy run Ham Radio Deluxe, something thats been missing out of my life since I went all Linux
So I tried it very breifly with PSK31 and it worked a treat. Although the screen is minute there is just enough room to make a QSO. Yes a bigger screeen will do the job nicely but for the time being it’s just what the doctor ordered.
Software installed
Open Office – Of course, remove the nasty MS works and install possible the best open source app in the world…save only
Firefox3 – need I say more
BBC iPlayer – Never thought I would use it until I went away for a week
Good Sync – Snychronising Pen drives, web site….the lot
Aftre a protracted series of emails and phone conversations that basically meant waiting for PC World to get their ‘right people’ on the job the Netbook got picked up today for a replacement to be shipped once 7 working days is up from the time they receive it into their warehouse.
Poor show PC World, for the slow turn arouond and waiting for you to reply to emails. big hurrah for not even questioning that this is a geneine return. lets hope the next one is a fully happy bunny
The little beauty continues to be snatched at the earliest opportunity at home. The beauty of these netbooks is that they are so portable and light you almost forget that you’re using one.
The trouble with mine is that the sod just doesn’t want to start up sometimes and so back to PC it must go. I contacted their customer support during the week who said they’d get back to me in 5 working days. Sorry did I say customer support. Not a good start!
Checking through a few forums might have highlighted a bios problem so I’ll be interested to see what they come up with. Hopefully it’ll be a quick fix and I’ll be on my way. Just have to wait and see!
After looking around for several months i visited my not so local PC world. Took one look at the Asus eeePC 901 and a returned 4211 and it was immediately obvious. The MSI wind-u-like advent had a better look and feel to it and so I ordered one. Fast forward 3 days and it was siting at home through PC World’s online shopping
Unfortunately it has come with the Tech Guy’s back up utility on it which doesn’t always let the little monkey turn on. up pops the advent splash screen and then a little clunk can be heard at it turns itself off. Try it a couple of times and it can do it again or turn itself on. I think that I’ll mention it to PC World tomorrow to see if it’s a known issue. More on that later, I’m sure.
Apart from that really small problem the keyboard is ace for short amount of typing, you just have to be more accurate when aiming for keys. The screen is great and the processor is speedy enough for most things. Video playback is spot on as well, what more could you ask for?
