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Having a snake of a time.
11 November 2025 | by
In retirement, I want to keep my mind sharp, and to do that, I have to challenge myself. My latest adventure is learning Python coding.
A little history about Python coding: the founder, Guido van Rossum, a Dutch programmer, came from the Netherlands. His goal was to birth a code that was easy to read general purpose programming language. Why the name Python and not Rossum, you ask? The name came from Monty Python, and he felt that gave it a light-hearted name. In the Zen of Python, this phrase sums up the code experience: "Simple is better than complex." Oh, and those who code in Python are known as Pythonista's and I am striving to become just that.
So why all of a sudden my interest in coding......well, it has to do with my son Ben, who is a whiz kid at this stuff. Funny story.....Ben went to the University of Toronto and majored in cyber security. He wanted to get into a top tier program and had to have some interviews. He was given a few exams and then called in for an interview. The interview was conducted by the department head, the lead professor and the admin for the program. The main purpose he was called in was because the most complex question and the main question on the exam he left blank. When asked, he told them the question had incorrect coding and he was not going to waste time on it! He was asked to explain, and he did, and was told Thank you for coming in. Ben called me after the interview and told me the story. I could not believe what he did and was about to give him a piece of my mind. Before that could happen, he told me the professor called later in the day and told he was accepted, no more interviews or exams were required, and they were changing the question as he was correct.
In a phone conversation with Ben, he challenged me to pass some of my time learning Python coding. He said it was very user friendly and it could really help with my ham radio adventure. I took him up on the offer, and now I am in the process of coding to make ham radio at VE9KK a little more automated. More on how that is coming very soon, as I have already produced some coding that has shocked me and is helping VE9KK's CW contesting station become a “Geek shack”
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at ve9kk@hotmail.com.
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Whats your thoughts?
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| Possible RF magnet |
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| Needed connectors |
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| Connected and ready to go. |
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at ve9kk@hotmail.com.
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LHS Episode #600: The End?
Hello and welcome to the 600th episode of Linux in the Ham Shack. In this episode, the hosts discuss the podcast--past, present and future--and then talk about the world of artificial intelligence, including vibe coding, image and video generation, generative music, thoughts and cavets thereof, and much more. Thanks for listening and have a great week.
73 de The LHS Crew
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at russ@bluecows.com.
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LHS Episode #599: The Weekender CXXXV
It's time for The Weekender! This is our departure into the world of hedonism, random topic excursions, whimsy and (hopefully) knowledge. Thanks for listening and, if you happen to get a chance, feel free to call us or e-mail and send us some feedback. Tell us how we're doing. We'd love to hear from you.
73 de The LHS Crew
Russ Woodman, K5TUX, co-hosts the Linux in the Ham Shack podcast which is available for download in both MP3 and OGG audio format. Contact him at russ@bluecows.com.
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ICQPodcast Episode 469 – Club Open Day and Radio Centre Win Award
In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Dan Romanchik KB6NU, Caryn Eve Murray KD2GUT, Edmund Spicer M0MNG, and Ed Durrant DD5LP to discuss the latest Amateur / Ham Radio news. Colin Butler (M6BOY) rounds up the news in brief, and the episode's feature is Club open day and RSGB win an award.
We would like to thank Walter Turner (W8LN), Walter Washburn (KT0D), David LeBlanc (KF7KAF), Frank Westphal (K6FW), Nicholas Bradley (G4IWO) and Ken DeLap II (KX9U) and our monthly and annual subscription donors for keeping the podcast advert free.
To donate, please visit - http://www.icqpodcast.com/donate
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Colin Butler, M6BOY, is the host of the ICQ Podcast, a weekly radio show about Amateur Radio. Contact him at info@icqpodcast.com.
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Ham College 130
Ham College episode 130 is now available for download.
Technician Exam Questions Part 17
T5C – Capacitance and inductance terminology and units. Radio frequency definition and units. Impedance definition and units. Calculating power.
George Thomas, W5JDX, is co-host of AmateurLogic.TV, an original amateur radio video program hosted by George Thomas (W5JDX), Tommy Martin (N5ZNO), Peter Berrett (VK3PB), and Emile Diodene (KE5QKR). Contact him at george@amateurlogic.tv.
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ARRL CW Sweepstakes contest
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| Normal contesting CW keyboard layout. |
This weekend is the running of the ARRL Sweepstakes CW contest. Last year was my first year participating in this contest. I have avoided this contest as I felt the exchange was a bit complicated. Once I dipped my toes into this contest last year, I realized it wasn't all that bad and was actually very challenging for me as a CW op. Before we go over what is sent in the exchange, let's go over the finer details of the exchange.
The exchange consists of:
Serial number starting at 1
Precedence (A for single of low power, B for single op high power and so on)
Your call sign is now sent
Check (The last 2 digits of the year you were licensed)
Section (For me it's NB for New Brunswick)
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| ARRL Sweepstakes layout |
Therefore my exchange for example would be as follows....
1 A VE9KK 89 NB
My next contact would be
2 A VE9KK 89 NB
It's not your same old some old exchange and it really keeps you on your toes as the exchanges are being sent to you. During the contest, you may be asked to send only a certain part of the exchange back to the other station, such as NR, CHECK, or PREC, and so on. For this contest, I find remapping my keyboard the easiest way to operate in this contest. I have included a picture of my "normal" looking contest keyboard and then the revised ARRL Sweepstakes keyboard. In this contest, until I get the flow of things, I will be search and pounce and thus the green keys are the ones I will use most, if not all, the time. It seems funny to some to add the green key shading, but for me in the heat of battle, seeing "CHK" or CH? can get confusing. Running search and pounce, I only pay attention to the green keys. Over top of my "normal" contesting keys, I placed the sticky part of the Post-it notes to cover what is usually there. Again, to leave it would only serve to confuse and frustrate me. When the contest is done, the post it note is peeled off.
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at ve9kk@hotmail.com.
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