I'm a hopeless blogger

I'm hopeless at blogging. It's been over a week.

This week in radio: Nothing. Tried a couple of SSTV CQs at odd times to no avail. Not entirely surprised given how the band sounded at those times, but stranger things have happened.

I haven't bothered with FT8 at all. Looking at what has been received and jumping around 40 and 15m at the usual times, there isn't much going on. Probably a good time to go back over the cabling and make sure that it's "just the bands" rather than something my end having let go. 

My tinnitus has been a bit louder than usual of late and I've been working harder on how I go about masking it. I have a set of Nuheara IQBuds that are interesting. Not quite hearing aids, yet have options for hearing assistance, active noise cancellation and pairing via bluetooth. I've also resorted to using a masking track on my phone synced to my bedside clock radio overnight. 

One of the common suggestions for masking is listening to white or pink noise; effectively static. I come across some research that suggested that doing so may actually be a contributing factor to tinnitus. In my case there are multiple kinds I deal with - a high pitched but not always "loud" but always present ringing, the previous but the volume is higher (seems to be the case after dealing with loud noises - particularly being in server rooms and extended radio listening) and the near intolerable ringing that occurs when I have sinus issues that changes the pitch and volume. 

I also have hearing that is a little "worse" than normal for my age (my audiologist did suggest I was close to needing some assistance soon on my last visit), and there are scenarios where my hearing is problematic. I can hear most quiet things fine. There are certain higher frequencies I'm missing but where I get in trouble is multiple sources of sound. The XYL talking whilst the kettle is on.. or whilst there is harmonic interference zipping around.. that is troublesome.

That said, at the moment I'm in the second kind - the volume is a bit louder than normal and it's annoying. Being back in the office does little for it. The building's air con has a hum that adds some bottom end to the symphony that is frequently supplemented by random people talking at full volume and harmonised by the racket that comes with being in an open office. I'm hoping the IQBuds will help me null out a lot of the excess but still allow me to hear people who are trying to speak to me. It's quite bizarre to have in ear plugs playing music whilst being able to hear someone speaking to you.

All this has made the idea of listening to static as I tune around bands not terribly appealing at the moment. Any white noise I hear is just irritating, so I'm avoiding it. This will pass sooner or later. Digital modes for the win.. at least when there's something going on. 

The research I discovered about the potential for white and pink noise as a mask potentially making tinnitus worse is something that I'm starting to agree with. I've noticed myself that extended exposure to white noise seems to prolong the periods I'm experiencing it more than "normal". It's not an excuse not to do things, but it is a good reason to be smarter about how I do things. I'm abundantly aware that my hearing will never "better" so I need to instead work on how to preserve and manage what I have. Preferably without a 13500Hz tone at annoyingly high volume.

This week in BBQ: Nothing. I did order a small pork shoulder yesterday. Should be able to collect tomorrow afternoon. I work for one of the few places that has an EBA mandated public holiday on a Monday should ANZAC day occur on a weekend. Guess what I'll be doing Monday? Low and slow. 

This week in Nitro RC: Lots. New tyres received and installed. New drive shaft received and installed. Shocker fluid replaced. Ride hide increased to compensate for bigger wheels and get a little more clearance in rough terrain. New decals added to the shell that has only been on the car once since I ran it - which was yesterday. Said shell now has a burn mark in the side where the exhaust silencer had jumped off the piece of wire that "secures" it, and put pressure on the plastic causing it to melt through a little. I also lost 2 screws from the two braces that aren't documented anywhere as replaceable spares. I did however find a pair of screws with the same thread and applied a little Loktite to avoid loosing these ones. 

Definitely getting better high speed out of it now, though I need to tune it better. I'm awaiting on a Fluke temp gun to make sure that it's not running too hot. I need to sort out the idle and low end tuning. 

The gears on the throttle servo are plastic and they're not healthy. When I replaced the throttle linkage I noticed it would slip when I tried to install it where I wanted it, and the slip is enough that the carby is fully closed by default making it a pain to start as I need to try to juggle holding the car whilst trying to hold it open slightly and pull start all at the same time. Too much throttle open and the car wants to take off. Not enough and it doesn't start. 

I've ordered a replacement servo - nothing expensive, but one with metal gears. I'm hoping this will allow me to get better control over the initial throttle positioning so I can have it keep the throttle open just enough to start it successfully and keep enough movement that it doesn't effectively brake as soon as I get off the throttle. 

Still, hoping to get back out this weekend and give it one more run with the little fella. I'm down to half a litre of fuel, so I'm limited to maybe 250ml for the weekend. I can't order more before Tuesday, and I'll want to have some handy on Monday when the new servo arrives as I'll probably sneak out for a little while and give it a run then.