Amateur radio when driving

My son's brother-in-law was killed by a distracted driver. My view is DO NOT do anything that will distract you when driving. Even fiddling with the car radio is a distraction. Operating amateur radio gear on the move, even hands-free, is a no-no in my view.

In a split second a life can be changed for ever or ended. The knock-on impacts the family, friends and the driver FOR EVER. Amateur radio is just a hobby. Pull over to operate /M. It can wait.

Simple Mobile Phones?

Both my wife and I use low cost Tesco Mobile "pay as you go" mobile phones, without contracts, for phone and texts. We find these do all we need. My wife's phone is now many years old and she needs a new one.  Any recommendations?

We rarely need data and rely on wi-fi connections for these most times.

Mobile phone coverage checker - NOT amateur radio

OFCOM have just released a mobile phone coverage checker tool that helps you see what sort of coverage you can expect.

See http://ofcom.cmail1.com/t/i-l-jdurlyd-ptjmldl-k/ .

DXing on the Devon coast

Thurlestone, Devon

This afternoon I enjoyed the beautiful coastline of the South Hams of Devon whilst doing some operating with the FT817 and a small HF mag-mount on the car. There was plenty of choice DX around including 8Q7, ZD7, FM5, HZ, CE and CX although I only managed to work W, VE, UA1, SV and a few others with my 2.5W SSB in the time I was on. Tomorrow we will be on the top of Dartmoor and I'll try to work a few countries.