AR - and you - in 2019.. Questions to ponder.

[VK2CSW]

Have you..

......
99. even just thought about doing some - or all - of the above ???

I realise it's horses for courses and that everybody has a different lived experience of things, which means that my experience of AR is vastly different to others.  I am not a stalwart operator whose life revolves around radio, I am more of an 'appliance operator', so with that in mind here are my responses:

1. read your latest Amateur Radio magazine cover-to-cover ?
No.  I rarely read it as it is poorly edited and laid out with content that doesn't attract me.  The articles, in general, are poorly written but that should not fall to the authors, but rather the editors who should be proofing and copy editing them.

2. operated in an Australian contest: the John Moyle, Summer VHF/UHF Field Day, Ross Hull ?
No.  Not a contest guy.  I don't get it but I am happy that others do.

3. worked via sporadic E on 6 metres or 2 metres ?
Nope.  Don't have those bands readily available and, frankly, wouldn't know what kind of propagation my signal was using.

4. operated in an international contest ?
Nope.  See 2. above.

5. used FT8 to make contacts on HF or VHF ?
Yes.

6. worked anyone on CW ?  If not, have you listened to any CW at all this year, even in passing ?
Nope.  As an appliance operator I don't possess CW skills.

7. worked an "F-call" on HF, 2M or 70cM ?
As I usually work digital modes (due to circumstances that make voice difficult) I have no opportunity to do so.
 
8. updated your QSO logging software ?
Yes - kind of.  I use online tools so the software isn't mine to update. I have recently expanded to use LOTW.

9. logged into eQSL or LOTW (or other) to check or send electronic QSLs ?
Yes

10. listened to a beacon on HF or above ?
Nope.

11. made an antenna, regardless of how simple ?
I have reconfigured a couple.

12. visited the WIA website ?
Yes.

13. gone portable just for fun ? SOTA ?
Nope.

14. used IRLP or Echolink (even inadvertently) ?
Nope.

15. searched on the web for info about an AR transceiver ?
Not a transceiver but other AR related things.

16. had a QSO on the radio whilst mobile ?
Yes.

17. attended a radio club meeting or event  ?
No. I am afraid that AR clubs are off my list.  Once bitten, twice shy. Meetings for meetings sake aren't a big turn on for me.

18. heard about the changes in the AR licence assessment processes ?
Yes.

19. terminated a coax cable ?
Yes. RG-58 to my eternal shame.

20. used AR-related software ?
Yes.

21. Google-ed a callsign for info ?
Yes.

22. checked your licence (or someone else's) details in the ACMA Public Register ? { eg for licence expiry date }
Yes.

23. received a 'paper' QSL card - and, more importantly, sent a card in reply ?
Yes and Yes.  I have rediscovered this quaint process and it is a very nice thing - a weird and unexpected outcome of using FT-8.

24. contributed to a discussion on an AR forum ?
I try to, but my range of usefulness in most topics is limited.

I will now don my fire fighting garb and await the responses