PC UPGRADE

It's never good when your PC starts to play up, but at least it motivates you to upgrade aging equipment! This weekend, the hard-drive in my PC started playing silly-buggers and so I started to look at updating the whole system. I built the PC way back in 2009 so it's getting a bit long in the tooth. Of course I've modified it along the way and even spent a few bob on it in March this year, but now it's time for a radical overhaul.

When choosing new system components, I was focused solely on making a CombatSim PC. I wanted something that would run DCS World 2.5 at ULTRA HIGH settings, with absolutely everything maxed out. Now that's a BIG ASK for any PC but if that's my goal, then whatever I can manage to build, it'll be the very best that I can currently afford.


The tower case (with fans) can stay and so too can the 850W PSU, but the rest has to go. I decided straight away to go for a Gaming motherboard because that's where all the bottlenecks tend to be. The mobo of choice is the ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-F GAMING and in the socket is a lovely INTEL i7 9700 CoffeeLake running at 5,000MHz.

The RAM is Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000MHz in four 8Gb modules, giving me 32Gb to play with. That should certainly help with the sims! The motherboard will take 64Mb and there's rumours that a future BIOS update may increase that to 128Mb!

The video card from the outgoing PC has been upgraded along with a 2560x1440 monitor. The GPU is an MSI GAMING-X GEFORCE GTX 1080 TI with 11Gb of DDR5X and in these new surroundings, it should make DCS World run like the wind with (hopefully) no stuttering even at the highest realism settings.

One of the biggest changes will be the Storage System. Although my old PC had an SSD drive, it also had a disc-spinner as the main drive. Well this time I'm forgoing that option and I'm going for two marvellous NVMe drives which are mounted directly to the motherboard! One is a Corsair 960Gb for the main OS and general software, and the other is a Corsair 480Gb dedicated purely to FlightSims and CombatSims. The Samsung 860 EVO 500Gb SATA SSD from the old PC will be used as a backup drive.

This machine should be LIGHTENING FAST!!!!

The only downside to all this is that I have to build it which is bound to be a pain in the ass, lol. The bit which gripes me the most is all the Windows updating that goes on during a new installation, then re-installing all the other software and then downloading digital copies of your licenced sims from one torrent or another. Thankfully, I've got Thursday and Friday off work, so it should all be done by the end of the weekend. Oh yeh, and then there's that software you bought, but cannot find the serial-keys GRRR!

UPDATE :
I stripped the old components out from the tower case last night and cleaned up the interior. I then installed the ram, the CPU cooler and the two M.2 drives, before putting the whole thing inside the tower case. I'd forgotten just how fiddly it was to connect all the cables to the motherboard - that power supply is like an angry octopus with all its legs fighting one another, lol.

Next up was the graphics card and reconnecting the 5 case-fans. Finally, I had to attach the 5 heat-sensors to the CPU, the M.2 cards, the Graphics card, the memory and one for the ambient case temperature.

Once everything was finished, I connected a monitor, mouse and keyboard and booted up from Windows DVD. The installation was surprisingly swift and the only unusual thing I had to do was attached a network cable to the broadband router in the lounge in order to provide an internet signal (my wireless wi-fi wouldn't operate at this point). Luckily, I have a very long CAT-6 cable.

So the first part went well and all that remains now is the installation of all my programs and sims. But first of all I'll carry out some driver updates and run some benchmarks to get a measure of the performance of the new beast.

UPDATE 2 :
Last night I started the downloading of the DCS WORLD files which took forever via a torrent and so it was extremely late in the night by the time it was finished. As I waited, I got around to installing a few other things including some benchmarking software. The results looked very impressive.

When DCS had finished downloading and unpacking, I ran the sim and set everything to MAX settings and went for a spin in an P-51 Mustang. It was amazing!!!  There was no lag or stuttering or tearing no matter what I did. Awesome!

Knowing that the sim was functioning superbly, I started the next laborious task of installing the aircraft and terrains that I have licences for. Again, it's a loooooong download, so I set it going and went to bed, but by now I was over-tired, lol, so I got back up and started reading through the Early-Release F-16C Manual. I don't find modern manuals very easy to read - they're just not entertaining enough, so I picked up the F-16 manual from Microprose's FALCON 4 sim which is a beautiful and thoroughly enjoyable printed book. It's obviously no good for the key-commands in DCS, but it's a fantastic resource for the F-16 generally.

This morning I got up and checked that the download had gone well - it had. The only one which wasn't running correctly was the A-10C Warthog but all I had to do was find the Serial Number and hey-presto, it was fine.

So I'm off to work now and can't wait to get back home to have a play. There's still all the setup of the Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS and the CH Products MDF's, but at least I know it's all worthwhile when I jump into that cockpit!

CABLE ID TAGS

Identify That Cable!

As your shack grows, so too does the amount of cables, interface-leads, connectors, wall-plug PSU's etc, etc. It's difficult to know what belongs to what!! I started off with bits of masking-tape to identify things but it looked terrible and didn't stay attached. So next was a DYMO labeller but that wasn't suitable for every application, so I then found these Cable-ID Tags on Amazon and I've not looked back since. Functional and cheap!

YOUR FIRST RADIO!

Which Radio Should A New Ham Buy?

I've never been asked this question personally but I've seen it asked over and over on forums and Facebook Groups, so I thought I'd write about my own views on it - after getting it so wrong myself! In this post we'll look at the FT-818, G90, IC-7100, IC-705, KX3 and even the (tr)uSDX. All available new or used.

Before I start though - let's state the obvious - your very first consideration should always be your antenna! Spend the biggest part of your budget there and not on your radio. If you can't have a big multiband yagi because of local restrictions, then consider a wire dipole or an EFHW. If none of those options are possible, perhaps you could install a good quality vertical. Personally, I went for an EFHW and love it.

Some (ill-informed) people will come out with ridiculous statements like "QRP IS NO GOOD FOR A BEGINNER".  I can hardly believe the mentality of those guys - it just shows how little they have actually learned about radio.  As a beginner, your licensing conditions will probably insist that you use low power anyway, but even if they didn't, you will learn FAR MORE about radio using 5W than you will by using 500W!

Another piece of advice that you'll often hear is people telling you to buy an older radio (usually their personal favourite). If you have no other choice (due to a very tight budget), then go for it. But if you can afford to buy something newer, then please do, because that way you will have access to all the operating modes including the very latest digital offerings. There's a world of fun out there on digital and some old-school guys are loathe to even try it because it's "not proper radio" 😂

Anyway, let's move on. I should point out that I am from the UK and over here we have the "FOUNDATION LICENCE" which is the entry-point. Thankfully, it allows you to go on pretty much ALL the bands, giving you HF, VHF and UHF. There are very few restrictions and you can use up to 10W power. Other countries might have much tighter restrictions.

If your licensing conditions don't allow you access to the HF bands, then some of these radio choices may not apply.

When I got my Foundation Licence , I convinced myself that I needed a big HF rig and a great handheld. I actually ended up buying a Kenwood handheld and a Yaesu base-station.  Then I added an RSP1A for a panadapter display.

I tried allsorts over the coming months and wasted some money swapping and changing.

It wasn't until i bought a Yaesu FT-818 that I realised I should have bought a QRP shack-in-a-box right from the get-go!  Originally I had searched for a used FT-817 but soon realised that there's thousands of them out there, but A) they're quite expensive and B) they're quite old!

What's the difference between an FT-817 and FT818? Well they're virtually identical but the newer 818 has 20% more power output, an accurate TCXO and a much better internal battery. Additionally, it has better internal shielding and bonding. Some 817 owners were very disappointed when Yaesu introduced the 818, hoping for a radically new radio, but instead they got an improved version of what was already a fine rig. As a result, you'll hear some foolish claims that the 817 is a better radio, lol, such is their disappointment in not getting something altogether different. The simple fact is, the 817 is a great radio and the 818 is greater.

So in the end I bought an FT-818ND. It's a beautiful little thing and it feels amazingly rugged and reliable. There's nothing flimsy about it and it very quickly feels like your old mate! When it's tucked away in your rucksack waiting for the next outing, you kind of miss it - even though you might have a fancy-schamncy base station in the shack - this lil gal keeps on calling your name.

So, for a newly licenced ham who is on a fixed budget, I would strongly recommend an FT-818 as your first and only radio. Update: Since writing this review, Yaesu announced that the radio was being discontinued. A buying frenzy then ensued and people queued to buy the last remaining stock for £625 each, such is the love for this amazing little rig.

With the FT-818ND, you can operate on HF 1.8 MHz - 54 MHz, VHF 2M, UHF 70cm. You have 6W output power and can easily connect a linear amplifier to increase power when you become licensed to do so.  Although you may think 6W is a bit limiting, believe me, many QRP operators (yes, you are a QRP operator whether you like it or not) reach amazing distances on 6W and less! 

The 817/818 not only allows you to work all the bands, but it also let's you work them in any mode you like too - CW, AM, LSB, USB, FM, PACKET. You can get up on your local hill or maybe get to the beach and make some amazing contacts in your log-book on minimum power. There's no better feeling than breaking through a pile-up with a couple of watts (or even milliwatts).

Just a note here for the newcomers - when calling CQ it's always worth mentioning the fact that you are using low power - QRO operators always seem keen to help out low-power users. My CQ-Call goes like this....

CQ CQ CQ, this is QRP station M7MCQ, I repeat QRP station, Mike Seven Mike Charlie Quebec calling CQ and standing by.

Not only are you identifying yourself as a humble little QRP'er but you're also extending your call that little bit longer to perhaps be spotted on a waterfall. Don't be afraid to extend that call even further. The longer your call (within reason), the more chance you have of someone hearing you or seeing you on the panadpter and applying their filters to pull you out of the noise.

Whilst on holiday in the county of Northumbria, I had a few QSO's on 2.5W using the FT-818 and a SotaBeams Linked dipole. Two of the chats were with American operators KE5EE and WD4NGB. KE5EE gave me a 'genuine' 55 report and he was 7,000km away - that's 2800km/W. 

2.5W into the USA from Boulmer Beach, UK

The radio itself is very straightforward to use and although it's menu-driven, it only takes a week or so to become totally comfortable with it. If you're a bit of a luddite and against menu systems, then don't bother with an 817/818. In my opinion though, you'd have to be pretty dumb not to get along with the radio's way of operating. After all, the most important things like tuning, switching bands, switching modes, etc, are all on the front panel.

The receiver isn't super sensistive, but hopefully, you'll be sat on a high hill or at another great take-off point when using this radio - not using it at your home QTH.

Although the 818 comes with an internal Lion battery, I would recommend that you invest in a nice little LifePO battery around 4800mAh if you want to spend the whole day TXing in the hills. It's a very worthwhile investment!

Another great investment would be an LDG Z-817 or Z-100 PLUS ATU... 

With one of these you can use a random long wire or an End Fed Half Wave which covers multiple bands. The Z-817 is designed specifically for the little Yaesu, whereas the Z-100 PLUS can be used with virtually any radio and it can handles 100W, despite it diminutive size.

There's nothing much that the little 817/818 can't do and as an owner, you are in the company of many others who've gone down this path. Owning an 817/818 at one time or another has almost become part of the hobby, lol. You'll have great fun with it at a variety of locations and events, including your shack. A small amp will permit the use of your full 10W and a bigger amp will give you room for growth if you decide to upgrade your licence.

  

So there you have it. A true shack in a box - in a neat, compact body. Tough as old boots, reliable and functional on almost all the amateur bands. Get a "handbag" case for it and you can take it anywhere with you. 

And bear in mind that if you decide you want a big radio in a few months time, you can always sell your 818 and often get decent money for it! They really do hold their value.

Enjoy!

ALTERNATIVELY....

A lot of folk can't afford to splash out so much on a shack in a box (mortgages, kids, etc) and seek a cheaper alternative. To those operators, I would suggest considering the purchase of a Baofeng UV-9R dual-band HandHeld to cover 2M/70cm and then look at a cheap Xiegu G90 for HF. I have both these radios and there's simply no denying the amazing bang for the buck! Especially the G90 - WOW!

If money isn't an issue, you might want to consider the top shelf ELECRAFT KX3 fully loaded complete with internal tuner and 2M transverter for around £2800. 

Or for half that price, consider the ICOM IC-705. I recently switched to a 705 and I have no regrets at all. In fact, if you have a budget that reaches this level, I'd recommend the IC-705 all day long! The more time I spend with this radio, the more I absolutely LOVE IT but of course £1400 is a lot of money. At the time of writing, this is the most advanced QRP radio in the world.

Then there's the amazing ICOM IC-7100 which is probably the only radio in the world which gives you HF, 6M, 4M, 2M & 70cm. I just love these radios. And you can get hold of a mint one for as little as £650. 

💗 ELECRAFT KX3 💗

💗 ICOM IC-705 💗

💗 ICOM IC-7100 💗

If you're on a very tight budget for HF, you might want to consider the utterly amazing (tr)uSDX QRP transceiver. These can be purchased from as little as £83 as a kit or pay a little more and get it pre-built, ready to use. They include a speaker, a microphone and even a morse decoder!!  I like them so much, I got two!

STEVE NORMAN from the Facebook Group - Amateur Radio UK - suggested an FT-857 or FT-897 as a first radio, saying it's all-band, all-mode, 5-100W and therefore future-proof. That's a good point. I've had the FT-897D and it was a cracking radio but you can't buy them new any more and need to keep an eye on the age of second hand units, for fear of buying an ancient rig. They're not very portable either - well you're certainly not gonna chuck it into your rucksack, lol. The 857 is kind of in-between the 817 and the 897 in size. Again, 100W but more suited to a car. 

NIGEL BROOKS from the Facebook Group - Amateur Radio UK - suggested an FT-840 which obviously suits his interest in HF, but it doesn't operate on VHF or UHF. And it's pretty much limited to home use, being a base station.



SO IN SUMMARY, based on price alone....

1. (tr)uSDX 💗 with a complimentary Baofeng for VHF/UHF
   
   
2. XIEGU G90 with a complimentary Baofeng for VHF/UHF
    
3. YAESU FT-818 💗
    
4. ICOM IC-7100 💗 
    
5. ICOM IC-705   💗 💗
    
6. ELECRAFT KX3 with 2M Module

IF YOU'RE NEW TO RADIO, it might be worth your while reading my NEWBIE POST. It's a long post, but it's full of useful info and tips for a beginner.

Thanks for visiting - please take a minute to leave a comment below 

73, Tom, M7MCQ.

QSO RECORDING

QSO RECORDED BY M0XMX

Last weekend I had some great SSB contacts and unknown to me, one of them was being recorded by Mike Lewis (M0XMX). He posted a link to the YouTube recording, allowing me to hear myself on-air for the first time ever. I need to lose that Bolton accent, LOL.

Ray was transmitting remotely from New York, but his shack is in Maine. He was using a HUGE triple-stack antenna which was no doubt why I was able to get through to him so well. He gave me a generous 59 and said I sounded like I was local to him! Testimony to his equipment more than to mine, hahaha.

Anyway, thanks for the recording Mike! 

FT-817 to ELAD AMP Lead

Anyone know where I can purchase a lead to connect the ELAD DUO-ART amplifier to the Yaesu FT-817??  ELAD show the 817 as being compatible with the Amp, but don't have any details of a lead as an optional extra.

The lead splits off from the 817's ACC socket to an RS-232 and a 3.5mm PTT socket on the DUO-ART as shown in the ELAD owners manual below....

>>>>> ELAD WEBSITE <<<<<

ONLINE RESELLERS

ONLINE RESELLERS NEED TO IMPROVE MASSIVELY!

If you have a Ham Radio Store in your town, you're very lucky! You can enjoy a short drive to the store, have a nice relaxed browse, have a play, chat with the helpful staff, have a brew and hopefully, find a great piece of kit, haggle on price and take home your dream radio that very day.

The rest of us reach for the computer!

No matter how good a business is on the high street, you can't expect a similar online experience it seems. Obviously they can't give you a coffee over the internet and they can't walk you around the store showing you all the latest goods (although ML&S and W&S do a some videos reviews). Some sites also have live chat facilities, but I've never found them to be particularly helpful.

Fortunately, radio hams are a fairly intelligent bunch of folk and they usually do all their research before even approaching a seller. They pretty much know what they want and it's just a case of finding someone who has it in stock (the most important thing) and which reputable store is selling it the cheapest. I guess it's at this stage that the internet has a distinct advantage over the person who travels to a local store and lashes out whatever price is on the label in front of him/her.  But there the advantage seems to end - or it does with radio ham stores at least! Many other online businesses give me no cause for concern at all - but more on that later.

--------------

Now just let me clarify something - I'm not the sort of person who whinges for nothing. I don't sit at home moaning about stuff for no reason. I complain about poor service and I praise great service. I try to take everything into consideration and apply a dose of "$hit happens" to situations before reacting. Basically, I compare other businesses to the one I personally work at and to other businesses who provide good customer service. I don't expect Silver Service if I choose to eat at McDonalds, if you know what I mean.

--------------

What I do expect from an internet-seller, is an informative, easy to navigate website with lots of product images and full specifications. In an ideal world, it would be nice to see links to reviews of the product too - either in text or video. The more expensive the item, the more information I expect to find. After all, spending £3,000 on a base station is not the same as spending £30 on a cheapo handheld!

Once I've chosen a product from a website, I need to know FOR SURE that the item is in stock! This is VERY important - no one wants to wait for their new radio and worst still, no one wants to believe something is coming the next day only to find that the seller hasn't even got the item to sell.

I'd then like to be given the cost of the item and the cost of the carriage - with options for next-day delivery and options to pay by card or PayPal.

If the price of an item is cheaper elsewhere, but I prefer to shop at a particular store, then I would like to be able to ring the company and get a price-match and a "voucher-code" to use on the website to reduce the price to the level agreed on the phone. Why not just pay while you're on the phone?? Because sometimes I want to pay by PayPal - maybe because I want to use PayPal credit or because I've got a lump of money in my PayPal account from the sale of another radio. 

Once I've paid online, I expect to receive a prompt email confirming both the order and the delivery date. Out of hours, one could only expect an automated response to confirm receipt of the order, but during business hours I would expect full details within a short space of time (depending on the delivery service requested).

I would be looking for reassurance that my purchased item was being despatched that same day and would want a tracking number. It's worth mentioning at this point that many resellers send a tracking number with no reference to the shipping company, so a search through all the carrier's websites ensues until you find one which recognises the tracking number. Very annoying!

The very next day (or the day after if 48hr delivery was chosen) I would expect my parcel to arrive and proceed to enjoy my new purchase, patting the seller on the back for a sterling service.

IF ONLY!

An internet experience is a poor substitute for an in-store experience, but if everything goes well with your online purchase, you can at least, enjoy your new item in a relatively short space of time with virtually no stress.

But in my experience, that's a rare occurrence. All too frequently, resellers leave their great customer service firmly planted in the showroom! Online customers are treated in a way that is almost dismissive!

I won't mention any names here, but I will discuss some of the things that have happened to me when buying radio gear online. Of course I DO UNDERSTAND that some buyers won't be as 'fussy' as me, but if companies are serious about providing their customers with great service and a pleasant shopping experience, then they need to recognise that these shortfalls need to be addressed and a customer spending £1000 online is every bit as important as the customer spending £1000 in-store.

Okay, so some examples of my experiences....

1) You buy an Elecraft KX3 after looking at the resellers description and images. You add the internal ATU, battery pack and 2M transverter. You opt for express delivery and it comes to approx £1,800. The company email you with delivery details and the gear arrives just in time for a weekend of fun - great!!

You've already got the shack prepared and then whoa, there's no microphone!! You ring up angrily and they nonchalantly tell you that you don't get one with the KX3. You explain to them that the main image on their website shows a microphone with the radio, but they just repeat that the KX3 isn't supplied with a microphone, grrrrr.

Well my response to that is - Why didn't you ring me or email me to say, 'thank you for your order - can we point out that the radio doesn't come with a microphone but you can add one to your order'. Apart from massively helping the customer, it also benefits the seller by giving them a chance to upsell.

2) You order an item that is "In Stock" and the next day you get an email from PayPal to say you have a refund. Hmmm, that's odd. The full amount has been refunded and you have no idea why. You search your Inbox for an explanatory email from the online retailer but there's nothing. 

The next day there's still no email from the store, so rather than sitting there waiting for them to do their job, you ring them and ask why you've been refunded. They explain that the item isn't in stock. Okay, so the website isn't up to date with stock levels - mistakes happen!

But why not contact the customer and say 'thank you for your order but the item is actually out of stock. Do you want us to refund you or do want us to put it on back-order - they're due in next week'.  To just refund with no contact is ridiculous - dare I say ignorant!

3) You order an item that is "In Stock" and the next day you get an email from PayPal to say you have a refund. Hmmm, that's odd. The full amount has been refunded and you have no idea why. You search your Inbox for an explanatory email from the online retailer but there's nothing. 

You think I'm just repeating myself don't you? But no. After seeing the above item was in stock some weeks later, I order it again and get another email saying I'm being refunded! It beggars belief!  It turns out it was a clerical error and I was going to get my item, but what a wind-up!

4) You order a £1,000 item at 10am on a Monday morning. You pay an addition £17 for EXPRESS NEXT DAY delivery. You receive an automated email saying your order has been placed. The next day you don't receive your order but you do get an email saying 'Here's your invoice'.

You email them and ask them for a Tracking Number so that you can see what time it's going to arrive and they email back with a tracking number. You use the tracking number and find that the courier has not even collected the parcel yet!

You email the Store and ask why the parcel wasn't sent out on Monday by Express Delivery? They tell you that they don't work weekends(?) and apologise for the slight delay. 

After another email, I get a refund for the carriage charge but when the parcel arrives, there's no mains plug in it. Good Lord!!

Now just let me explain why the Store mentioned 'weekends' in their email even though I ordered on a Monday....

Online retailers arrive at work on a Monday morning and (like my wife's workplace) walk in to find maybe 300 online orders that customers have placed over the weekend. They have to process all these in addition to the orders they receive on Monday. One can understand that they might not be able to get through such a huge quantity of orders in a single day!

Personally, if I left my shop open 24/7 over the weekend (online) I'd make sure that I had the resources to deal with the resulting barrage of orders which had to be dealt with on the following Monday. If it's a Bank Holiday, the situation is even worse!

Basically, the huge backlog of orders are processed in Date-Order. That seems fair IF you explain all this to the customer while he/she is in the "Cart" and IF  he/she hasn't paid £17 for Next Day Delivery!!

I could go on and on,

but it would just get

more boring than

it already is.

My point is, you are a second hand citizen if you're an online shopper with most of these companies. And what annoys me the most is that these professional high-turnover businesses are being beaten by blokes drop-shipping on eBay from their back bedrooms, when it comes to customer service!!

I can order a £2000 radio from a Ham Store and a £20 lead from eBay and the lead will arrive the next day with a thank you note and the radio will arrive a day or two later with an invoice! Is that not crazy?????

I’ve spent thousands with these big retailers. I can order 10 quids worth of crap from a teenage eBayer and get better service than I can get from some of these companies.

So what's the answer? I'm not here as a Business Consultant - I'm here to provide valuable feedback as a customer. If these businesses choose to take heed and improve their processes to provide customers with a better service and make them feel valued, then they will be the beneficiaries.

The business who does something about this state of affairs is the one who will discover loyalty and increased market share.

73 de M7MCQ

UPDATE :

I'd just like to point out that MOONRAKER and MARTIN LYNCH both contacted me personally to say that they'd seen this post and appreciated the feedback. The guy from Moonraker actually printed out a copy for each member of staff and asked them to read it.

It's good to know that some companies have reacted positively to the post and are taking the feedback seriously.

UPDATE : 2

I ordered a V2000 antenna and I'm pleased to say that after paying £12 postage, it arrived the very next day. I contacted the company and thanked them for doing a great job.

 
UPDATE : 3

Just when I thought it was going good, I placed an order for a Morse Code Training Oscillator Key and paid the usual (overpriced) carriage fee, expecting pretty quick delivery considering that it was "IN STOCK".

Sadly, it took 12 days to arrive and in all that time I received zero communication about the order. It just arrived in a flimsy jiffy-bag and upon opening it, I found that it hadn't survived the journey 😡😡

This unit is packaged for retail-display shelves in a vacuum formed bubble and it's easy to see that this will offer virtually no protection to the device while in transit across the country. As a result of it being poorly packed, the key was completely detached and the jiffy-bag was full of black splinters of plastic.

I immediately returned the item - not because it was broken, but because I'm just sick of shit service and non-existent communication. I'm no longer going to accept it and have decided to vote with my feet. From now on, I refuse point-blank to buy from this (unnamed supplier) unless they have something which is absolutely unique to them and can't be purchased anywhere else.

I've spent over £6000 with this company and despite bringing all this to their attention previously, they continue to work at a sub-standard level of service and communication.

I did receive a telephone call a few days after returning the item, apologising for the fact that their website had shown an out-of-stock item as being in-stock and I did receive my money back the next day.

What I didn't receive was my wasted time waiting 12 days or my valuable time going into town to post the item back at a cost of £3.70 to me (plus the cost of providing adequate return packaging)!

THE SHACK CUP

Well, you gotta have a special cup for the shack haven't you?? 😃

DCS WORLD F-16C

DCS WORLD F-16C Beta-Release

One of my other loves is Flight Simulation and in particular, I love 'Combat Simulation'. In 1999 I formed an online-squadron called the 185th Reservoir Dogs, flying Microprose's Falcon 4. The membership quickly grew and we regularly flew "virtual missions" together against other squadrons across the world. All great fun! That squadron is still going strong 20 years later!!

I started off, of course, with Microsoft's FlightSim but quickly grew bored of civil aviation simulation and moved to various combatsims including the very original FALCON in 1987 which now looks shockingly poor but at the time it was groundbreaking (he says laughing out loud)....

A year later, Spectrum Holobyte updated their software and dropped FALCON AT onto our floppy discs....

But it was the 1991 introduction of Spectrum Holobytes' FALCON 3 that really caught my attention. Back then it was incredibly advanced! The graphics and sound were massively improved and so too was the gameplay...

Spectrum Holobyte Packaging

Falcon 3 was beautifully presented with 5 floppy discs, maps and a 'proper' printed manual, brimming with information on how to fly the Viper. It was a very exciting time, but if you look back at it now, it seems laughable. Here's a video of Falcon3 from startup to completion of a mission...

Spectrum Holobyte Falcon 3

Microprose bought out Spectrum and in December 1998, they launched Falcon 4. It was mind bogglingly advanced! Again, it included a superb printed reference manual. I still have my Falcon 4 CD-ROM along with the original box, manual, maps, etc. The very fact that this sim is still widely used across the world is testament to just how fabulous it is.

 

Microprose Falcon4 packaging

Microprose Falcon4 Intro

Microprose Falcon4 CockPit

------------------------------------

I used to love Microprose's Falcon4 but when LOCK ON arrived with its amazing graphics, I quickly migrated. I used to love making missions in the comprehensive Mission Builder, which I then shared online for others to download.

UbiSoft Lock On

LOCK ON : Modern Air Combat

(Excuse the advert at the start)

Lock On was pretty much all about the A-10 WARTHOG and as much as I adored flying the plane, I did miss the Viper. When DCSWORLD took over, I was really hoping that they'd introduce one, but they spent years developing anything but!

Then this year they eventually announced the Beta Release of their new F-16C Viper! I was thrilled and quickly pre-ordered. The graphics are simply out of this world and the level of realism is dazzling!! 

DCS WORLD F-16C Cockpit

To see just how STAGGERINGLY GOOD this new sim is, take a look at the video below and bear in mind that this is all 'in-game' action, not a computer-generated movie...

DCSWORLD F-16C VIPER