The 30th anniversary of Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake

It has been 30 years since the earthquake titled above. Early in the morning, I still remember a TV news reporting the complete destruction of the town of Kobe over looking there from a helicopter. Even though we have not had much quaking here several hundred km away from there, I knew it was a real big disaster. There were several places in flames in the downtown of Kobe. Over 6000 people were killed. 

Considering of Eastern Japan Great Earthquake in 2011 together with this earthquake, our country is most likelily getting into an increased seismic activity at present. Now another big one, even bigger than that 30 years ago, named Nankai Trough Earthquake, is predicted to occur. Probability of 80 % in the coming 30 years. Surprisingly high. It would hit south eastern part of our country along the Pacific Ocean. In the worst case, 320,000 people would be killed. Over 9 million people should evacuate from their homeland. The predicted economic damage is thought to sum up to 169.5 trillion JPY. It would be a real national crisis.

But our governments, local and central, and related administration offices are quite slow preparing for that. 

The natural disaster prevention related budget was 8 trillion JPY at max in 1997. It has been reduced down to 2 or 3 trillion JPY for the past 2 years. Even after the Eastern Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Nuclear Power plant disaster. The budget is only one fourth of the military expenditure. City of Osaka is a place predicted to have a large damage for both casualty and housing damage. They are still planning to hold the expo, which has cost so much money and is expected to go into the big red. Of course the most serious issue is the big number of casualty. The amouont of the expenditure by the government for damage prevention means they are not caring for that. 

The other problem is that 2 nuclear power plants, one in Shizuoka, the other in Shikoku, may suffer from the earthquake and possibly from the consequent tsunami. The nuclear power plant in Shikoku is in operation. If it is hit by a big earthquake, the damage is beyond our imagination. It is nonsense to run nuclear power plants in this high seismic activity era. The authority permitting their operations and the power line company sticking to the operation only due to financial reason are quite irresponsible for the possible accidents.

Other than Nankai Trough, there are a lot of faults, either known or unknown, all over in our country. A big earthquake is predicted to hit directly the city of Tokyo with the same probability as Nankai Trough in the coming 30 years. The fault having caused the Eastern Japan big earthquake was previously totally unknown. It is ridiculous they are running nuclear power plants whereever they might be. 

I only hope any big one would not hit our country in the near future. Hopefully, research in earthquake prediciton will progress and tell us its occurrence in more accuracy. The greedy government and the power line company executives should be replaced soon. In the end, the people should awake of this reality of crisis.

Faure's last nocturne

As mentioned before, Faure has left 13 nocturnes composed in from young days to last years in his life. It is interesting compositions of these nocturnes are scattered throughout, at least, the latter half of his life. His mind or idea in each part of his life may be incorporated into relevant nocturne composed at the time.

This 13th nocturne is the very last one. Among all his works, it is situated the last three. The rest two are his famous chamber music, Piano Trio OP120 and String Quartet op121, jewels in all chamber music history. This nocturne could be regarded as a culmination of this genre for him and also of his life of composition. It is comparable with his other last swan songs. 

In the beginning, it is a kind of elegy. The tune of the very first nocturne also sounds like an elegy. But the structure is much more complicated. A lot of dissonant chords are used and counterpoint is comprised of, which makes this music even more complicated. Not indulged in sorrow itself, Faure seemingly wanted to express bitterness in mind. Jean Michel Nectoux pointed out in his research book "Gabriel Faure 1845-1924" that he had been influenced by the disaster by WWI when he composed this piece. Faure also has lost normal hearing ability by this time. Higher range of audio sounded lower while lower range higher with his hearing. What a tragedy for a musician! It was worse than total deafness. And Faure seemed to have tendency for depression. We could hear his that inclination in various music he composed at different times. No doubt he has had that psychological burden around his very last chapter of his life. 

Honestly, his inclination toward pessimism resonates with me in the almost same age as he composed this piece. Whenever I listen to this piece played by Jean Philip Collard, I feel Faure was playing it beside me. It's a treasury experience for me.

 

By the way...the CD became to turn fast like carzy at certain point of the Nr1 nocturne. This CD is a brand new one which I recently bought. Recent CDs could have troubles from the beginning and I have almost given it up. But, when I looked up carefully the surface of the CD, I found contamination of a fingerprint on it. Maybe, I have touched it with oily thing on my fingers. Cleaning it carefully with a soft cloth, I found the trouble had gone. I knew it could happen but have never experienced such a trouble myself. I learned one more thing in my life.

An unforgettable ham friend Sam W6TSQ

 When I came back on the air in 1980, I often saw this experienced ham, Sam W6TSQ near SF. He often stayed up late and came on the air around our early evening hours. Those days, he was using Collins S line. That combo should be old. In the beginning of every transmission, his signal was drifting a little bit and also sounded slightly chirpy. Together with his proficient keying with a bug key, it was not difficult for me to tell him from others anywhere.

It won't take us too long to become close friends. My memory about what we talked about has slipped away for now. But a couple of things are firmly in my memory. One is that, when he knew I had been a music lover, he told me his favorite had been pan flute music. He has kindly sent me an LP record of pan flute. I was very surprised to receive the parcel from him. I still owned a record player those days and remember listening that LP for many times. It was soothing beautiful music I had never listened to. I thought it reflected his personality. Whenever recalling of him, I remeber that music sounding in the small resident dormitory. Sadly, I gave up that LP system and several LP records including that pan flute LP when I moved here. 

The other memory is more personal. I believe it was early '90s. Reflecting it at present, I know it was symptoms of male menopause. I felt a sense of uneasiness or low grade fever. When I complained of that to Sam, he told me it was a critical period everyone went through and advised me to get it through not being troubled so much. It was more than any encouragement to me then. Even though I have had that symptomes for a few more years, I was less concerned about it and have forgotten it. As he told me, it was only transient. Actually, I have consulted to a doctor and even to my wife regarding this issue. His words were the best treatment for me. He might not have any knowledge of male menopause but sure had a knowledge of wisdome he acquired through his life. He has given that advice as if it were nothing so serious.  

I am not sure when it was but had an opportunity to visit him. In my visit to Bob W6CYX in 1992, he has brought me to Sam's home. It was located close to the Gulf of SF in a suburb of SF. Surrounded with a lot of cedar trees. You may see a wire hung on a tree. I was surprised he sounded that strong on 40m with such a simple antenna. Partly because it was close to the sea.

Sam and me on the veranda. The house was located on a steep slope. There were a lot of cedar trees all around.

At his operating position. It seems the S line has been replaced to a modern radio by this time. The amplifier was a model of Ten Tec. The bug key he had spun so beautiful Morse code was only an old ordinary key. It was his fist done all the job. He might be eager fixing or modifying radios. There was a parts storage cabinet on the table.

I have not expected this was the only chance to see him in person. Our lives still go on as they are. I haven't heard of his life in young days and knew only little of his life. But he is still a friend unforgettable for me.  

I happened to have found his obituary by a QCWA member lately, which told me what a life he had spent. I didn't know he had lived the very last era of spark radio engaged as a radio operator.

https://www.qcwa.org/w6tsq-02684-sk.htm

Two pathways in head copying reinforcing each other

In head copying of Morse code, two operations are done at the same time. Deciphering from dits/dots to character while understanding what they are meaning. The former process, phono-lexical process, seemingly proceeds a bit earlier. In actual psychological process, the latter, lexico-semantic process, however, goes on almost at the same time. Or they are going on at the same time reinforcing each other. The former process should go being reinforced by the information from the latter process.

For example, copying the message "It has been very dry here without rainfall for a few weeks", if we could not copy the word "without" due to noise/QRM etc, we could speculate it as "without" from the parts before and after it. Understanding goes on in that interaction. If we could copy " something out", it must be much easier to specuate it as "without". This interaction of two different cognitive processes are essential in head copying. 

The following paper may coincide with, or at least, compare to this observation with head copy. You may know how important it is to have the skill of head copying if you would fully enjoy the communication by Morse code. And, even if conversational CW extincts even in ham radio, Morse code will survive as an subject to study human epistemology in psychological and/or brain science field. It is still the simplest communication mode. 

 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33192346/

An unforgettable ham friend Steve WA6IVN

Most of the content in this post is already written in other posts. I would summarize them here. As a token of friendship with him. I may go on describing my memories of unforgettable friends from now on. Before my memory gets too faint. 

It was early '60s when I first met Steve WA6IVN on the air. He was a son of Ray WA6IVM, who used to work a lot of JA beginners in QRS on 40m and to be famous among them. Steve was a few years older than me and an avid contester and DX chaser. I have no memory of having any further conversation with him those days. In every contest, he boomed in here with a big signal. I remember him only in that way.

It was not too long until I came back on the air in early '80s that I met him again and became close friends. We have talked how we had spent '70s. I have just married and moved to the dorm of the hospital where I and my wife had started serving residency and I had the set up at the dorm. He seemed to have spent an unusual or rather aberrant way of life for his age. He got lymphoma in his teenage days. It seemed to belong to fairly benign entity and all he had to have for the treatment was local radiation when it flamed up. As I told him I had just started career as an MD, he seemed to be interested in me and was willing to tell me all what he experienced as a patient. 

In my first visit on business to the US in 1984, renting a car, I have driven to Manteca a suburb of SF, to visit him and his family. He has welcomed me as a real old friend. Not very rich but seemingly typical middle class in the US. They had two sons. The elder, Mark, was there and had dinner with me. A traditional style of Christianity. The other son, Bob, should be living somewhere else. The day after, Steve and Karen, his wife, took me boating on a river there. Honestly, I didn't care for such an outdoor activity. But they seemed to show me how they were enjoying leisure time. As I already wrote on him, he seemed to rush through his life as if there had been little time left for him. Looking back his life at present, he sure had not much time in the rest of his life. 

Ever since, we have had even more QSOs. Sometimes, I came back to the dorm and talked to him in our lunch break. Those days, the conditions were terrific on high bands that opened to the West Coast until early afternoon. Now I knew he was sitting at that shack and was holding that great paddle. I should look up the log and see what we have talked about. He also has sent me a lot of photos showing his family, himself and outing on the boat etc. They all looked familiar to me since I have been there once.

However, the peaceful days have not lasted long. He has soon developed more malignant genre of lymphoma. He had chemotherapy for that at Stanford University. In a few years, malignant lymphoma has complicated to it. At present, it could be effectively treated with immune check point blocker. At that time, no effective treatment for that most malignant disease of skin was available. He got a metastasis to brain, which gradually deprived him of various capabilities. His keying has become more and more clumsy as we went on QSOs. Such a perfect CW operator as him could become incredibly poor sender. It was a real pity. I guess that was what he had felt most himself. 

In 1988, I had a chance to visit the West Coast with a friend of mine, Hide, JH0FBH. My wife was supposed to go with me but pregnancy has prevented her from travelling. We have visited a number of ham friends like Eric W6DU, Merle K6DC, Tom K6TS and maybe lastly Bob W6CYX. Bob has held a big dinner party for us. Steve and Karen have driven down from Manteca to Mt. Hamilton in San Jose spending possibly a couple of hours one way and have joined that party. I guess Steve believed it could be his last chance to see me in person. Without saying that, I felt him thinking that way and not sparing his long drive to see me. He has lost his beautiful blond hair and has become too skinny. I could never forget seeing him at Bob's home that night. 

This photo was taken before Steve's camper at parking lot of Bob's home in the morning the day after when Steve and Karen were leaving there for home. From left to right; Karen, Hide, me, Steve and Bob. It was brightly fine. But our hearts were clouded with sadness. It was the last moment we saw each other.

After that trip, I have seen Steve very few times, I am afraid. In the end of the year, I guess, I heard of his passing through someone who knew each of us. 

I am grateful to this hobby which I could share our lives together if it was only for not a long time. 

 

Snowfall in a warm coastal area

Several days ago, I have driven to the Pacific coast of Ibaraki Pref, 50 or 60 km east of here. It is an area of warm weather even in winter. There are a low mountain range named Taga Sanchi running north to south close to the coast. On the way back home, I have driven through a mountain pass there, not too high, about 300 to 400m ASL. 

I was surprised to find the mountain pass snowed as the photos below show. The other areas were not snowy at all. This area must have least snowfall throughout a year. The cold wave sure has brought this snow fall. In this winter, north western part of our country has suffered heavy snow fall of record height. Snow bearing cloud must has been flowing even there.

In the climate change, the weather tends to be emphasized to the extreme, whether cold or hot. Last summer was terribly hot while this wintry cold snap followed. We are getting through this hardship of weather. Looking around this beautiful snowed trees, I was already wondering when I should start planting spring vegetables like potatoes. It should be earlier than before. Hopefully, there would be less natural disaster including wild fire. The leaders in the world should be aware of the climate change going on and bringing disasters to the world.

                                                          

Night Owlers again

I have had a visit by a local ham, JL1UCH, Nobu, this morning. He was to deliver a greeting from Dave VK4YD. I had the slightest memory of that call. Looking it up in the PC log, I knew it was formerly VK4CEU, whom I remembered so well. Nobu was so kind to come by to me. We have enjoyed chatting old things we shared having a cup of coffee. He is about 16 years younger than me and owns his business at home. I was glad he was aiming conversational CW with his modest set up, a barefoot and G5RV. I encouraged him to carry it on and convince him regular training in English would let him enjoy conversational CW very soon. Nowadays, only few are aiming at it, either in Japan or even abroad.

The post I mentioned about Dave and the Night Owlers in Melbourne area. 　

https://nuttycellist-unknown.blogspot.com/2019/08/night-owlers.html

What a fond memory it is! When I came back on the air in 1980, I had only a barefoot and a vertical set on the roof of the dormitory. The path to DX including the States has not regularly opened especially in winter evening. I often adhered on 20m which sometimes opened to VK/ZL even late at night. It was a fun for me to find those who would ragchew with me and talk about old times of '60s. The Night Owlers were often still present there like in '60s.   

 

If I remember it right, Dave used to operate radio with a bicycle generator, ordering his sibling to run the bicycle while he was enjoying radio. Or another guy? I have heard that story from someone in the Night Owlers. I was chuckling to hear that story. 

Dave should be already 85 or 86 years of age. How nice it is he is still kicking himself on the radio! Sadly, most of that Night Owlers have gone SK. I still should come back with a barefoot with a vertical someday in the near future and would look for anyone who shares those great memories.

I thanked Nobu a lot and wished him good luck in the journey for conversational CW. 

It is still a fact that I feel I have been put into a museum as a sample of old timer for now.