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While approaching the one hundred thousand kilometres (!!!) with my good ol’ Pegaso, I’ve decided to keep trace of the checks and repairs that are done on the bike. Really, until now I haven’t kept records of the maintenance, and still the bike works great after all these years (11 and a half right now).

So here we go with the 94 000 km maintenance:

• Spark plug replaced
• Rear shock-absorber replaced
• Oil changed
• Oil filter replaced
• Cooling liquid changed
• Brake fluid changed
• Battery replaced

To be done in a short time:

• Change brake pads (changed on 16.7.2008)
• Change air filter

To be done at a certain stage:

• Change air box

Important replacements done some time ago:

• ~85 000 km: Fork seals replaced
• ~90 000 km: Exhaust-pipes replaced
• ~90 000 km: Tyres replaced

Loistavat tuoreet kuvat 2008 Sodankylän elokuvafestareista

Here is my first reception of an RTTY signal transmitting weather forecast.

TX station: Marine Weather Service – Hamburg, Germany
Frequency: 10100.8 kHz
Way of transmission: RTTY, speed 50 baud, shift 450 Hz
RX location: Oulu, Finland
Receiver: Degen DE1103
Antenna: Shortwave active loop antenna placed indoor close to a window towards SW
SINPO: 43443
Decoder: SeaTTY software, line-out of the receiver connected to mic-in of a laptop

Despite the interference coming from the laptop (the LCD screen creates really bad interference through the audio cable), the reception was really good.

I’m quite sure if I get this cable connected…

… I can make the radio work!!!

 

 SR51 receiver working at 14.207 MHz [0:16m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

And if you can’t get it, the voice says: “Hello, this is EA3JE [it actually says: 'echo apple three juliet echo'], ehm, good evening and thank you for getting back to my call, you are five and eight, your signal report here in Barcelona, Spain, you’re five and eight”.

By ordering a radio for shortwave listening, I’ve officially (re)started my activity as a DXer.

The radio I chose is a small-size portable Degen DE1103. It’s a Chinese brand and it has got a lot of good reviews by SWL listeners (and an own discussion group as well), so I’m starting with something small and cheap but working well.

I decided at the same time to join the Finnish DX Association, while I’m still waiting to get the Finnish radio amateur call sign. It’ll take some time, since I’ve done the amateur radio exam in Italy, and it’s a kind of not-so-short bureaucratic process to get the exam recognised in Finland. Thanks to the EU and the HAREC recommendation, at least it should be possible.

While waiting for the radio to arrive (it should take around ten days, it is shipped directly from China), I decided to start (re)collecting basic information on SWLing, for example the common codes used in broadcast and amateur transmissions in the SW bands. Little by little I’ll put them here on the blog hoping they might be useful also for someone else in this planet:

Raffa’s way to DXing »

Iskäni löysi vanhoja kuvia viimeisesta vuodestani lukiossa silloin, kun me oppilaat valloitettiin koulumme, siis päätettiin, että opettajat ei saa tulla sisälle, ja me itse järestettiin kaikki luennot.

Neljä päivää se kesti, ja näköjään joku otti kuvia meistä, ja itse kehitti ne, sen takia kuva näyttää sata vuotta vanhalta. Mäkin olen siinä, mutten kerro missä!

Upeita muistoja, vähä vähä surua.

… in a champagne supernova. I know, the quality of the video is not the best you might get, but hey, that’s what you get from a normal digital camera. And yes, the shadow shouting down there is me

 

 Champagne Supernova - Raffa live in PSK Kaupunni 30.1.2008 [4:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Thanks to Tytti for the footage!

Tos-Cana

 

 La Tos, la Cana... [0:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Kyllä mulle kestää vähän ennen, kuin laitan kuvia nettiin. Tässä kuvat Andrean lomasta Suomessa viime kesästä. Ja mahtava "palikkavideo" tässä alla!

What are we coming to?
What are we gonna do?
Blame it on the black star
Blame it on the falling sky
Blame it on the satellite that beams me home.