I am surprised at how well this little Grundig G6 works. This evening I sat down and just scanned through the shortwave bands for a few minutes. Using just the small telescopic whip antenna on the radio I was able to pick up Radio Taiwan, Radio Sweden and the Voice of Russia. I also came across one of the “numbers” broadcasts on a military global frequency on single sideband. The radio picked up just as well as the older desktop unit I had used in the past.
I am considering some sort of better external antenna. Tomorrow I might just take a length of wire and outside with it to see if that makes a difference. Perhaps I should research and build some sort of portable antenna I can hook up anywhere I go.

I was in a mall the other day and happened to walk into an electronics store. Okay, I meant to go there.
I was intending to look at some portable radios when this one caught my eye:

Really nice, small portable radio. It’s the Grundig G6. Here are some specs:
* AM (520-1710 KHz), FM (87.5-108 MHz), Aircraft Band (117-137 MHz), LW (150 KHz – 510 KHz) and Shortwave (1711-30000 KHz)
* Set 9/10 KHz AM tuning; set FM tuning range
* Single Side Band (SSB)
* Dual conversion (1st IF – 55.845KHz, 2nd IF – 450KHz)
* Digital tuning with digital frequency readout (LCD)

Here it is out of the box:

Haven’t had time to really play with it much. I just put the batteries in and fiddled a little. I will be programming it in the next couple of days. It has 700 memories!
I am thinking again of how I can put up another outside antenna for this one. The antenna I had several years ago is long gone. Perhaps a good inside antenna….
I’ll post more later after I have had a chance to play with it some more.

Shortly after I received my copy of Pandemic I got this one:
It’s Duck Duck Go. Here’s a description from the manufacturer’s – APE Games – website:
Bathtub rubber ducky racing has long been a popular sport. Every year rubber duckies from all walks of life train in bathtubs, spas and small ponds around the world to prepare for the annual Kenducky Derby, the premier bathtub ducky race.
duck! duck! GO! comes with 6 REAL rubber duckies, and a rubber bird dog. There are over 100 duckies in the set – which ones will YOU get?
Each round, choose a movement card from your hand. When it is your turn, race your ducky according to the directions on the card.
Be the first ducky to touch all the buoys and get back to the finish drain to win!

I set up and played a game today with LaRue. She beat me. We played the basic level and it was a lot of fun. I am anxious to try it with more people. Up to 6 can play. And there are advanced rules that make the game more challenging. It’s a game that kids can understand and adults can enjoy as well.

Here is what a typical game looks like:

Last week I received Pandemic in the mail.

Here’s a brief explanation of the game:
Four diseases have broken out in the world and it is up to a team of specialists in various fields to find cures for these diseases before mankind is wiped out. Players must work together, playing to their characters’ strengths and planning their strategy of eradication before the diseases overwhelm the world with ever-increasing outbreaks. A truly cooperative game where you all win or you all lose.

Here’s a picture of the game board:

I got a chance to play this last weekend at a family reunion. Since it was the first time playing we didn’t have all the mechanics figured out and did some things incorrectly, it was quite fun (even though we lost to the diseases). I have since reviewed the rules and am anxious to try another game with the proper gameplay. It is the first cooperative game I have ever played and that was one of the reasons I purchased it.

I got another new game which I will talk about in a future entry.

I also discovered that Pandemic is available online at the BrettspielWelt site. I have not tried an online game yet.