Roger Lapthorn G3XBM is a popular amateur radio blogger and frequent contributor to radio magazines. We worked together at Pye Telecomm in the early seventies and have kept in touch since our retirement. It was Roger who persuaded me to get my licence back after 35 years lapsed.
Last month he had a severe "headache" and was admitted to hospital with a bleed on the brain. He blogged about how good the treatment was in Addenbrookes Hospital but very shortly afterwards things went from bad to worse and he was intubated for about 2 weeks before having a tracheotomy. I tried to post updates on his blog but it now needs moderation due I believe to the elapsed time.
It is now apparent that Roger will be in hospital for several months. His wife Lis has asked for ideas to keep his mind active. My first thoughts were that the only possibility would be Echolink but feared the suggestion would be bad for his blood pressure! Then I thought of WebSDR. But what else can be done from a hospital ward? So I decided to start this blog and try to attract Rogers followers to come up with suggestions. Maybe we can now see some point in setting up an RTL dongle and a Raspberry Pi as an SDR server. Perhaps that web controlled WSPR app I played with last summer might have a real use instead of just saving me from having to climb the stairs.
So what ideas has anyone got?? Please brainstorm ideas without argument or evaluation, and I will start a new thread for every suggestion, where it can then be argued and evaluated.
If you know someone who reads Rogers blog please send them this link. I will update his health status from time to time subject to Lis agreeing. Lis had asked me to update on his blog but it appears to have locked itself.
Hi Bob, I mention this blog on my blog and on my Twitter account. Thanks for your email. 73 Paul
ReplyDeleteHi. Since Roger can handwrite to communicate with the external world, he doesn't need a morse key and an oscillator. Regardless of the Internet access level at the hospital, what Roger is missing most is probably the smell of melt solder and raw electronics.
ReplyDeleteThat said, would it be possible (legally speaking) to remotise his home station and allow him to operate over the Net (CW, PSK)? At least to tune the receiver. Otherwise there are already some SDR RX around, no need to setup one for the beginning. Or try one of the virtual ionosphere services he briefly wrote about on his pages. I might also like to go through old (radio) magazines: there are good collections online, or borrow paper ones.