What is reality? - NOT amateur radio

As many know, I had a stroke in 2013. In many ways I recovered, but I am still left with some quite severe impairments. It is hard to know if some of these are just me getting older or are due to the stroke.

Poor balance and giddiness are with me most of the time. My voice is poor and I get very frustrated when some people treat me as being a simpleton. Also frustrating is being unable to speak, as I used to, to put over my point of view.  Just joining in casual chats is hard. Often it would be hard to get my point across, so I say nothing.  When speaking to others I often have to repeat myself.

My comprehension of time and speed are different. When driving at a certain speed it feels, to me, as if I am driving much faster: the dial says 45mph whereas it feels like 60mph! Likewise my perception of time is different: time seems to pass more quickly. The bus ride to Cambridge takes an hour, but to me it seems much faster.

Now, it is hard to know if these are just old age or artifacts of my stroke.

What it has told me is that what we perceive as individuals is different. On the BBC radio today someone said that our perception of colour is in the mind: how one person sees the world differs from others.

All this brings me to one thought. What is reality?

Time and space we take for granted, but these could be illusions. Likewise, we assume past memories are real. One thing is certain: how we see the world is limited by our brains.

South Devon again - NOT amateur radio

Yesterday I mentioned that I come from South Devon. The photo shows another view of where I come from.

10m FT8 RX

At the moment I am on 10m FT8 RX using the tiny indoor loop antenna.

UPDATE 0950z: Nothing yet spotted on 10m FT8 RX.

UPDATE 2035z: No spots all day. Maybe tomorrow I shall try 17m FT8 RX with the tiny indoor loop?

Disappointment on 160m FT8 RX overnight

Last night was the poorest one this season with no transatlantic DX at all overnight. I checked that things were working as I thought something was wrong!

Sunspots - Tuesday February 25th 2020

Solar flux is 70 and the SSN 0. A=4 and K=0.

160m FT8

So far today in the last few hours 63 stations spotted. See map.

160m FT8 spots
 so far this evening 

With a granddaughter - NOT amateur radio

The photo shows one of our granddaughters with me at the weekend. She went home with her brother yesterday.

Harvey Weinstein guilty - NOT amateur radio

According to the BBC website, I understand that, allegedly, Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty by a jury in New York of sexual assault and rape. He was once a very powerful man in Hollywood.

At the moment, I do not know what his sentence will be. It proves none of us is above the law and we cannot ever abuse our position or power.  It would not surprise me if he faces many years in prison.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51621041

OFCOM and licence revalidation

Just now I tried to log on to the OFCOM website to revalidate my amateur licence. Problem 1 was I could not remember the password. Then I saw something pointing me to a page where I could revalidate my licence online. Worth a try except (problem 2) when I got to this page there was no mention of revalidating amateur licences!!  I have requested a new password in the hope that I can then log in, but received a response (from a computer) advising me they were very busy (knitting?) so expect a delay (problem 3).

Overall I remain totally unimpressed. Surely if a computer can send me an email saying expect a delay then it could just as easily send me a reset password link! Doh! Surely I can be excused for not being too impressed.

Ferrite rods as TX antennas

Now, I am no expert and this is based on personal experiences.

As TX antennas ferrite rods should work. Indeed, my own tests at 80m, 40m and 30m rather prove this. Yes, they will be many dB down on more conventional antennas and can only be used with low power to prevent the ferrites saturating. However, with modes like WSPR they do work. I urge you to try sometime!

See https://sites.google.com/site/g3xbmqrp3/antennas/ferrite_tx