A fact simple but easily forgotten.

In CW reception, we take the meaning of each word. The process goes on with each word as the basic unit. Each character, phrase or sentence won't be the basic unit. We understand the message as composites of words.

It is a common knowledge that we won't be conscious of when reading printed matter as well as copying CW. However, as for transmission, we could forget that rule easily even though we should be careful for that to send the message in decent and easy to copy way.

Let the space between characters as x, that is, the length of a dash in an ideal case, while that between words as X, that is, the length of two dashes or even longer. The message sent on CW could be most easily understood when x<<X. Since the shortest limit of x is the length of a dash as stated above, X should be as long as possible to have this inequality achieved. In other words, compared with x, X should be long enough. When this inequality is achieved, the message is quite understandable.

Even if X is long enough. some operators are inclined to have x elongated. That is, x is even nearly equal to X  in the worse cases. It is quite difficult to understand the message word wise. Keep x at proper length in sending while X be long enough. Such a sender with x being nearly equal to X is not rare, unfortunately. They make my brainstormed!

It should be also pointed out that, if you would like to emphasize a certain word, you should have the X before the word longer than usual. It will accentuate the word to good effect.

From the standpoint of reception, any message with this inequality achieved is the most readable one.

This is only a simple fact. But some operators won't be concerned the long X in transmission. Please be careful about it. The you would be praised for your sending.  

Beef cooked with balsamic vinegar

 

 

Beef was cooked with a sauce featuring balsamic vinegar. Potatoe and fresh salad were added to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a fun but candidly...

It was amazing 15m remained open to the East Coast until 02Z. An hour before noon here. Just finished a QSO with Dan K2YWE. Before that and a QSO with another fine operator Fred K7LF, I had called CQ without any replies for a long time.

The trend is still 599 QSL type. Though we could find such jewelry QSOs as that with Dan in the sand of those boring QSOs, it is a problem for me that the trend is still growing. It will be a question for me to stay on the radio or not in the near future.

I must confess that I am losing interests in radio now. It might have reached me silently for the past years. Spending time with meaningless QSOs or even calling CQ, I find myself wearied so much. I ask myself if I should spend this precious time in the end of my life with it. Such a QSO as that with Dan always take me back to this hobby for a while. Candidly, I still feel my mind is gradually getting away from ham radio.

It is not a problem of ham radio. We could do little for its trend. But it is my own problem.

Quartet KV156 by Mozart

In several months after I started cello at the med school, I got the score of this music at a music score shop named Academia in Tokyo. I have never heard of that piece. The score still looked accessible for a beginner cellist. Having the other violinists and violist gathered, I organized an instant quartet once. It was at a room of the med school dormitory in early spring. We have played it once or twice there. unfortunately, it did not last to be a permanent quartet any longer. Maybe, my cello has ruined it.

 

In Youtube, I have found this performance. Pretty proficient players. I realized how good this piece is. A vivid and energitic music. It reminds me of young Mozart breathing in this music.

 

This video clip sure brings me back to the days when we spent sometime playing this piece at a room in the med school dormitory. I clearly remember who were the 1st violin and the violist. But the 2nd violin player was slipped off from my memory. The violinist was a beautiful girl with exceeding capability in performance. A good friend of mine, majoring in dentistry, was playing viola. Anyway, it is a fond memory.

 



My main interest in music has been in the category of chamber music. That interest must have started at this time in my life when I first knew of some chamber music. I was enchanted by the chamber music which we could hear each player playing and breathing together. There are a lot of chamber musics which I have never listened to. Before I become incapable of enjoying those musics, I should spend more time listening to them. One of such genre must be those earliest quartets by Mozart. 

 

The 4th anniversary of the big earthquake and the nuclear power plant accident

It is the day of the big earthquake which killed over 20000 people in Tohoku area and caused the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima. Four years have passed since then.

On that day 4 years ago, I was going out of an ophthalmologist office after having seen the doctor. All of sudden, a few seconds before the shaking started, there came a roaring of the ground. The massive shaking has made the clerk girls at the reception room squatted down screaming loud. Getting out of the building, I saw the power line poles made of concrete with steel rod were swinging like willow trees. It was not only strong in the magnitude of shaking but also has lasted for a long time, possibly, for 3 or 4 minutes. The ground has gon on roaring together with shaking.

The office of my practise as well as my home were messed with a lot of items fallen on the floor. The mass media have not stopped relentlessly showing the disastrous tsunami in Tohoku area. In a day or two, we were told the nuclear power plant was in serious condition. It eventually caused hydrogen explosions of the nuclear power buildings. I could not forget a few university professors who had explained in TV programs about the trouble of the nuclear plants in pretty optimistic tone. Later, they turned out to be the professionals involved in the nuclear power industry for years. The contamination of radioactive has started. It has not spared Kanto plain where we are located in the northern part. We felt the foundation of our lives were put at the risk of collapse. It was a sensation I had never felt in my life.

In such situation, I was apathic for anything. For the first 2 or 3 days, even attending to my office, I could hardly do any work without treating some emergent patients. I was only sitting before TV watching what was going on the disastered area. It took me a week or two to regain the daily routine.

I should admit there are still over one hundred thousand of people evacuated from home mainly due to the nuclear power plant accident. They have lost their community as well as some of their families. Of course, there are numerous people who have lost beloved persons due to this disaster. All of them are still enduring even more bitter and painful situation than I was. In this anniversary, I should remember of those people again and go on  doing whatever I could do for them.

We could not find out any solution for the nuclear power plant accident. The cause/mechanism how the accident has happened is not understood yet. The melted down nuclear fuel is not accesible. It may go on contaminating the environment as it has done for the past 4 years. The government intentionally ignores that only few percents of all the radioactive were released into tht environment. We were lucky that the contamination remained that level even though the present situation is still disastrous to the people in Fukushima and the adjascent areas. In spite of this fact, they are trying to start operation of the other nuclear power plants only for the profit of the power line company and the related industries. We should deny it by any means. We should learn from this on going tragedy in Fukushima.

This is an article I posted to my Japanese blog, and possibly to CWops reflector, a few days after the earthquake. I was trying to behave vividly at this time. I was, however, almost overwhelmed by the disaster and the event after that at this time. 

quote;

I know there are some friends abroad reading this blog.
Tonight, I got a phone call from Jim, N3JT, who kindly
asked me how we are doing. I thought I should let you
know how we are doing right now.

We are doing well now. We have resumed normal activities.
I have been working at own practice while so has my wife
been. We are not obliged to go to Tohoku area for help.
Just working for own patients is our responsibility.
I know a number of doctors are being sent or willing to
go to the suffered area. Most of them belong to universities
or major hospitals. I guess all what we could do is to
watch what's going on and to send items necessary for
them right now.

Our mother and brother/his wife are doing OK in a town
north of Sendai. As reported in CWops reflector, they have
been located inland away from the coast. That's why they
have spared the tsunami. The infrastructures have been
destroyed badly at his place as well, though. But they are
regaining them now. My brother told only the water supply
doesn't work at present. Of course, the transportation of
items are not enough at all. It takes them some time to get
foods etc at supermarkets. I have sent some medicine for my
mother since it is not available there. Anyway, the situation
is surely getting better. Of course, there are 3 hundreds
of thousands of refugees and almost 10 thousands of people
missing. The worst time is still going on for them. But I am
sure the hands of help is being now stretched to them, even
if it is slow.

The another anxiety is the consequence of the nuclear power
plant accident in Fukushima. Four reactors are in serious
troubles, as you might already know. I am afraid the power
company and the bureaucrats were trying to preserve and
recycle the plants after the accident in the beginning. They
should have given it up at the very beginning. One of the
vice presidents, as a news told, had declared it should be
ceased tonight. I don't know if it could be cooled down with
pouring water only. I hope they will completely isolate and
bury the reactors very soon. So far, the radioacitivity of
the atmosphere is not high or hazardous here. But I am afraid
the people around the reactors should give up living at their
homes for the coming years. I heard from Juergen, DJ3KR, that
the German government has decided to stop using, at least, 2
reactors there in the face of this serious accident. I believe
it is the right attitude toward nuclear plant even if the
power generation by nuclear plants apparently costs lower than
the other methods.

It is just the beginning of the long way of recovery ahead
from this devastating disaster. Please keep praying for those
sufferers. I just would do the same way. Please be relieved
for all of us are doing OK here. I always appreciate your
concern on us. My shack is still messed. The operation table
was badly broken by the quake. And the equipments slipped
down on the floor. I am not willing to arrange things again
there yet. It may take me some time to come back on the air.
But surely I will do, my friends. Take care. See you on the
air again soon.

Shin
JA1NUT

Omission of the other's call is often confusing.

There are still callers who omit sending my call before theirs. Only their calls like in DXpedition QSO. Actually, some of them could be calling not me but the other, always certain DX, in split frequency operation. In that case, after sending him the necessary informations and turning to reception, I would find no one there  and, what is worse, that guy went on calling with only his own call.

If such a caller is off my frequency or not in time, I would not respond to him. I might have to ignore such a caller even on the right frequency in time. We should tell beginners that the pile up game is not the ordinary way of communication. It is an anomalous way. We should advocate the traditional way of communication on CW.   

Of course, if the other you are calling is aware of your calling him, it is not necessary to give his call before yours. It could be even redundant especially when the condition is not good.

A murder case suspiciously by a teen age boy.

The murder case of 13 year old boy suspiciously by an 18 year old has given a big impact on us. They have been in the same gang group lead by , the suspect of this case, the 18 year old one.

The way of killing was shocking to us as well as their young ages were. The suspect seemed to have killed the victim cutting his neck with a knife. It apparently reminded us of the way of killing by ISIS. Actually, the suspect has done it after them.

When mass media has sensationally handled this news in the society, there were many people who claimed a severe punishment to the criminal. Most of them have handled the suspect as the criminal even in the beginning. Mainly through the internet, some people insist to introduce policy of severer punishment into the law of criminal case of young people. There is even an opinion to punish such a criminal of teenager with death penalty.

I won't approve the death penalty in any case including this one. One reason is that there could be cases of false charge. A research of false charge cases for death penalty in the US says the false charge rate was up to 1.3%. With death penalty, the falsely accused person won't revive after execution even if the false was proved. Police/judge court could never always be right.

The other point is that death penalty has proved not to decrease the rate of the grave crime like this case. In Canada, the rate has even decreased after cessation of death penalty. Criminological psychology tells us murderers won't consider of the possible death penalty to him/her at the moment when he/she commits that crime.

It also should be considered that those criminals, especially young ones, could understand what he/she has done, so that could rehabilitate to the society after having compensated his/her crime at facilities. I should admit it is a difficult way for him/her, though.

This peculiar case makes me consider of our responsibility for young people. ISIS is a radical cult of Islam, I know. We could not be, however, irresponsible for the occurence of such a cult. What political event has given birth to such a radical terrorists? I don't think we could be free from the reason why they have been born and how they could exist in the world. Even though we should deny their terrorism, we should feel the pain why it has appeared in the world.

It is most important to search what has caused this cruel crime. Not easy to understand the suspect's history of life, character or family history etc. What could be done to prevent such a case is the key point. Even with such thorough study of the case, there might be something we could never understand of. When we find anything we could not understand in such a case, we are apt to feel our peaceful lives are threatened by something looming to us. In certain probability, there is such a personality who could behave as this suspect in our society. Even with death penalty, such a serious crime prone personality could not be excluded. It is the opposite side of our society to those of idealistic perosnality who would do credit to the society. If we would try to exclude those crime prone personality, it would be like a society of totalitarianism. In the hysteric response to this case in the society, I could smell a kind of this tendency.