A Mouse of Christmas Past: Hum-A-Tune the House Mouse

Recently I was rearranging some books in my small bedroom book library. As I do most of my reading there, that's where I have a lot of my books. As I pulled some books out to move them to a better shelf, I saw him: Hum-a-tune, my wind up 'house mouse'.

I had placed him there several years ago, just temporarily, to keep him safe -- so he wouldn't be knocked down by my cat. The fact he survived all these years is remarkable. 

I got him in Christmas when I was maybe 5 or 6. When I was a kid, we always had two Christmas trees -- there would be the big one downstairs in the living room, and then there was a smaller one that was either in my bedroom, or in the upstairs hallway. Both would have lights. The big tree downstairs had the larger, 'C4', incandescent, multicolored Christmas lights, and lots of glass ornaments -- most of which I still have.

The smaller tree in my room had twinklies, and there would be a few presents under it as well. I don't know why my parents did that, but my Dad did love Christmas.

This one year, I can't remember which one exactly, I got up on Christmas morning to see a few wrapped presents under my little tree (probably books), and there was something stuck inside the tree, in the branches. It was a grey, stuffed mouse, with red ears and a happy face.

When I pulled him out of the tree, I could see he had a key on his back -- he was a music box mouse!

There was a card next to him, stuck in the tree. My father wrote in the card: 

This is Hum-A-Tune, the House Mouse. 

Whenever you're feeling sad, just turn the key on his back, and Hum-A-Tune will hum you a tune, and make you happy!

I knew it was from Dad, because I could recognise his writing. And my Dad was a sentimental sort of person. He worked in a factory, had served in the Army Air Forces in World War II (as a B-29 Gunnery trainer), his father died when he was in high school, and just a year or two previous to the year I got Hum-A-Tune -- right around Christmas -- we had lost his brother, my Uncle Bill, so Dad knew that life could send you some hard knocks.

But Dad also liked the kinder things in life -- things like Hum-A-Tune, for example -- and I think it was because such things reminded him of those better, happier things in life. There are enough things that will hurt you. Sometimes a stuffed animal or simple wind-up toy or music box can make you smile for a moment.

A pic of Hum-A-Tune's back, where you can see the music box key. He is a Knickerbocker toy. Knickerbocker Toys, based out of New York, went out of business in the 1980's. 

Anyway, after I pulled Hum-A-Tune out of the tree, I wound him up, and he did play a happy tune! For years he was in my bedroom, on top of a shelf. Then, when my parents repainted the interior of the house, he got moved to a box, and when I got older, he ended up in the basement, in my old box of toys.

About 8 or 9 years ago, I went down into the basement, looking for the last of the old glass ornaments for my Christmas tree. There were still signs that the basement had flooded (about 2-3 feet worth of water, at least twice since 1991), and it was still a mess.

On the way to the corner where the old ornaments were still kept, I happened to look in the back of my old toy box, which was nearby. The basement had just recently flooded that November -- my house is in a river valley and basements can be dicey because of the water table. My parents had a basement put in knowing that risk. I think the basement has had 5 or 6 floods over the years the house has been here. We've gone through 5 or 6 sump pumps. They end up burning out because they can't handle the water when it happens.

Anyway, I looked in my toy box. And there he was -- my old mouse! I had completely forgotten he'd existed. I picked him up, and remembered -- he had been in my Christmas tree when I was a little kid! It was then that the card, and the words that my Dad wrote, came to mind. I had long lost the card, but I still remembered the words that Dad wrote.

I immediately took Hum-A-Tune upstairs, awestruck that he managed to keep from being damaged in the flooding. He apparently was high enough up in the old toy box that the water never got to him. Unfortunately, his music box no longer works. Sitting in the basement for so many years apparently ran its toll. 

I put him in my bookshelf in my bedroom upstairs. Then, of course, life intervened. I had to take care of my ailing mother for a couple years, and you forget about things... For a couple years I really didn't get any sleep.

But just over two weeks ago, like I said, I found him behind the books. Now I have him near a couple other old stuffed animals from years ago, next to my radios on the headstead of my bed.  

The stuffed animals may look odd there, but they remind me of a time when my Father and Mother were still alive, and life was a lot better, and life was still full of wonder. As I live alone, there is no one to criticise any of them being there, so they stay where they are.

My Sakai guitar. My godfather, my Uncle Calvin (who served on ballistic submarines) got it for my Uncle Dale, maybe 1972 or '73. Uncle Dale was a country guitar player and singer. He always played and sang at family get-togethers, like Christmas. The two uncles had a falling out, and Uncle Dale left it on Uncle Calvin's front porch. In the Summer of 1976 Uncle Calvin invited us up for a barbecue, and he sold the guitar to my Dad, so I could have it. The guitar and small amp together cost $40. So I play a guitar that's been in three separate hands in the family.

When I was a kid, I never thought that life would be so rough, with long stretches of dark times. In many respects, I am probably better off than a lot of people, but it still isn't easy, especially during holidays. And at times like Christmas I really miss my folks, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and some cousins who have all passed on. My #1 electric guitar (my Sakai Japanese Jag copy) used to belong to my Uncle Dale, who was quite the country and folk music entertainer.  He would always play and sing 'Randolph The Bow Legged Cowboy' during Christmases. He died in the early 2000's. Unexpectedly. A lot of the family are gone. It sucks.

It's a real tough time.

Hum-A-Tune reminds me of Dad. And every time I look at Hum-A-Tune the House Mouse, I think of what my Father wrote, and how much thought he put into writing those words. He really wanted to make his son happy. He put so much thought into placing the music box mouse in my tree, and writing the card. I treasure the fact that he really loved me enough to try to make sure I felt loved and cared for, and he always tried to make sure I was always happy. 

Dad left us in 1984, but there still is some of him around. My first guitar, my telescope, my DX-160 SW radio, my old boombox, my bagpipes -- they all remind me of Dad. And now so does this stuffed, music box mouse. 

It's hard to find people like my Father was. Having people like that in your life, frankly, is a rarity. I was lucky, my parents both made me feel that way, especially at Christmas. My Mother and Father had their rough spots. But they never made me feel unloved or unsupported. Every Christmas I miss them.

Now, Christmas is just another day out of 365 days in the year.

My Christmas lights this year, the only decorations I put up.

These Gingerbread men I keep up year 'round on my mantlepiece. Just because.

GOD LILLE JULAFTON!

Right now it's the 23rd of December. The Scandinavians call it Lille Julafton, 'little Christmas Eve'. When I was a kid the night of the 23rd was usually when my folks finished putting up Christmas decorations and getting ready for Christmas time. It was a night that really felt Christmas cheer. It really was like a 'little Christmas Eve'.

I presently have no idea what I'll do this Christmas. I will probably DX a bit, pet my cats, and maybe go out on a night time bike ride. I may work on some old-time banjo tunes on my banjo -- something I've been trying to relearn.

I'll probably read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My extended family may or may not have a get-together for Christmas. If they do, I'll probably go and play my bagpipes.

But it simply won't be the same as it was years ago.

Here's hoping that all of you out there have a good holiday. If you have someone, give them a hug. If you have a cat or a dog, pet them, hold them close, and tell them how much they mean to you. Life is short. 

Hum-A-Tune says Merry Christmas.

Peace, and Merry Christmas.

C.C.

December 23rd, 2024.

Auroral DX on the MW/AM band! OCTOBER 14th & 15th, 2024

My Realistic DX-350A, which for a few years in the 2010's was my mainstay MW DX radio, in front of my Crate loop I made in 2011. I still DX with the DX-350A maybe once or twice a month.... Radios are meant to be played.

Dear Readers: Here is a blog article I'd forgotten about -- I wrote it after a flurry of MW Auroral DX, where the ionosphere makes MW distance listening interesting by boosting signals from Southern US regions. Sorry for the delay, but here 'tis. 

Recently, as even non-radio hobbyists know, we've had a flurry of Auroral activity in the Northern Hemisphere (where there was any in the Southern Hemisphere I don't know -- it obviously didn't make the news here).

When there is Auroral activity, sometimes the Northern Lights show up as far south as the northern tier of US states. And the Shortwave and Mediumwave radio bands are affected as well. The extra solar radiation zaps the ionosphere and makes it absorb radio signals instead of reflect them back to Earth.

The overall effects of an Aurora can vary -- usually there are 'radio blackouts' (as just described). You'll hear distant signals on the SW or MW bands get weaker and weaker as the Aurora hits -- or you'll turn on your radio one night and there's nothing but grainy sounding static.

This happened recently. About three nights ago I turned on my Realistic DX-394 and tuned the SW ham bands. There was very low activity, and as I was tuning through the 40 Meter ham band, any and all signals just faded down to nothing. It was the same thing with the 30M ham band, and the 20M ham band.

The Shortwave broadcast bands were mostly dead. 49 Meters had non-existent audio for WRMI, WWCR, and Radio Marti was barely audible in the grainy static. A couple other stations that are usually on during the evening -- Radio Educacion on 6185 kHz, and Nikkei 1 and 2 on 6055 and 6115, were extremely weak carriers that even the BFO barely made audible -- you had to listen for them.

MW was like a poor summer night.

Then, after a day or so, the Aurora dissipated. When that happens, often it's a fun time to DX the AM band, because here in the PNW US that means that California, Nevada, and sometimes Mexican radio stations will show up!

On the night of the 14th, it was exactly that way. Some Northwest mainstays like KOAC 550 (Corvallis Oregon), KXTG 750 (Portland, Oregon), CBK 540 (Saskatchewan), KONA 610 (Pasco, Washington), and other regional stations were completely gone, replaced by other weaker signals from further south, or just static.

KXTG 750 was missing -- 750 kHz was just static. KOAC 550 (normally always dominant on 550) was gone, replaced by a very weak KARI Blaine WA (about 150 miles north of me), and 

The next night, the AM band returned at least partly to normal. KOAC 550 was in with Oregon Public Radio news, but conditions overall were a little different from normal. Some regular stations weren't in well, and I heard a few California stations much, much better than normally!

On 1270 kHz, I heard KXBX Lakeport, California with Classic Hits, and I also heard KBZZ Reno with Classic Rock and a full, "92.5 The Hawk!" ID! (Actually, they're called "The Hog"). I haven't heard KBZZ since it was a sports station back in the early 2010's! I also heard KEAR 610, a religious station out of San Francisco that plays soft music and hymns at night, and KLBS Los Banos, California, was in on 1270 also! They have Portuguese language talk and music, serving the Portuguese speaking people in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California.

A pic of my Sangean PR-D5 during better days, when I was Solar Eclipse DXing in August, 2017.

MORE ADVENTURES WITH MY SANGEAN PR-D5

As many of you may know, I have one of these Sangean radios that are known for being really good on MW/AM. Sangean PR-D5's are like mini-boomboxes, which also have an AUX IN so you can plug your phone or tablet into the jack and listen to streaming in stereo. I used to listen to Norway's NRK Norske Folkemusikk channel all the time on my PR-D5 that way.

I also discovered a button pressing glitch that seemed to occur on my PR-D5 after the radio had been powered up for several months. It seemed that the constant powering of the radio -- which kept the microprocessor working in the background, waiting for the Power button to be pressed -- would cause the microprocessor's firmware to read the buttons oddly. 

For example, I'd have to press the Power button several times to get the radio to recognise that I was pressing it. Sometimes I'd press a button and an entirely different function would occur (like I would press a memory channel button and the PR-D5 would switch from AM to FM instead).

I discovered the fix out of frustration. I pulled the batteries, and pulled the plug from the AC wall adaptor, and reset the radio that way.

The re-set worked. The radio's buttons started working normally. A few years later, sometimes the re-set wouldn't completely work. I found that pressing the Power button after de-powering the radio did the trick.

I wrote an article about this button issue in 2017 or so. Here is a link to that article, where I go into more detail about it. Other PR-D5 owners who had the issue also found that the re-set fixed their radios.:

Interrock Nation: How to quickly fix a SANGEAN PR-D5 Power Button malfunction -- and other easy fixes

Recently, that hasn't been working 100%. I finally resorted to spraying contact cleaner down the side of all the buttons a couple times, working them after each spray. I wiped the excess off the front of the radio with a paper towel.

Presto! The radio acts like new again.

It appears that if your PR-D5 has been sitting, unused, for several months (I hadn't used my radio in probably a year, using my Superadios in my writing Den instead), the buttons can either oxidise, or they need to otherwise be exercised to work properly again.

NOW, these fixes may work on many of the Sangean AM-FM only radios. I have experienced these button glitches with my PR-D5, PR-D14, PR-D18, and a couple times my PR-D4W even acted up. It's obvious that something in their firmware can develop these button glitches over time. 

The buttons are fine, the radio circuits and 'brain' are all fine, it's just that the firmware will act up if it sees continuous power for too long.

And the buttons themselves either need exercising (i.e., actual use) or they may need a shot of contact cleaner down the side of the buttons now and then. And periodically re-setting your radio (depowering it completely, letting it sit for 15 seconds or so, and maybe pressing the power button to clear the residual charge in the microprocessor) is probably a good idea, too.

This was another article sitting dormant, that I had forgotten I had written. So here it is, nearly two months late. Better late than never.

I still am finishing the article on the mediocre Solar Cycle 25. I have been sitting on that one for almost a year. Here it is, December, during a 'peak year', and the SW DX conditions are mostly crap and MW DX conditions aren't anything like they were in 2011-2014.

So, it's time to publish that article, being that my assessments of Solar Cycle 25 turned out to be very accurate.

I shall get that article out within the week. 

Peace,

C.C. 12-18-2024

DX Conditions = Abysmal; But MADAGASCAR Gets Through Anyway!

The antenna farm in Madagascar for MWV New Life Station, whose Russian broadcasts to Eastern Europe make it all the way to my location near Seattle -- even when the rest of the SW bands are dead, or mostly dead.

(photo courtesy Russian MWV website)

DEAR READERS: I'd forgotten I had this article written up. Here 'tis, over two months late. That said, DX conditions have still been poor over the past two months, so much of what I say here still applies. Plus, the new battery issue I encountered is probably informative -- batteries can be bad out of the box! Ya learn something new every day.

Peace, C.C.

I am still in a funk over losing my cat, and dealing with a bunch of different stuff here at home, but I have managed to tune the Shortwave bands -- usually in the morning hours, when Asia comes in -- and the MW band at night when I'm in my writing Den, or later at night when I am ready to hit the hay.

I am also working on finishing an article on the latest Solar Cycle, and how mediocre it is -- something I've held off on publishing for several months, in the event that the Solar Cycle somehow begins delivering the DX that it's supposed to be delivering (hint: so far, it really hasn't). There have been a few bright spots where there have been mornings and afternoons with some DX on the SW, and MW at night has picked up slightly, but it's also had swaths of 3-4 days where there are mediocre conditions, too.

That article will be posted by mid-October.

That said, the past few days here in mid-September SW and MW have been mediocre at best, abysmal at worst. I tune my DX-394 + wire antenna during the mornings and often during the evenings, and I use my Superadios, Sangean PR-D5, or Sangean PR-D4W for MW DXing at night (and -- on rare occasions, my trusty Panasonic RF-B45), all with a milk crate loop.

The last couple weeks have been pretty mediocre on both the SW bands and the MW band. Sometimes the most interesting catch I've had is the Desert Whooper on 4096 kHz, a small, low power beacon transmitting 'whoop' noises and some CW out of an undisclosed location in Desert California.

This particular morning (the 17th of September) was an example. As I was sipping my coffee, waking up, and tuning my DX-394, I heard mostly static. The 30 Meter Ham Band was dead, no Pinneberg military RTTY on 10100 kHz, no NAU USN RTTY at 10153, no CW and not even any FT8. WWVH on 10000 kHz was in the mud, and WWV was non-existent. The 20 Meter Ham band was dead except for very weak FT8 noises around 14075-14075, and the 40 Meter Ham band was nothing but static, except for a local (WA-OR-BC) net high up in the band, and even then I could only hear the two strongest stations.

The 31 Meter Band, which is a good SW broadcast band for Asia during the mornings, was nothing but static.

Except for Madagascar.

Lo and behold, 9885 kHz had not just a carrier, but audio! Pop music! The signal was weak, but quite audible in the static, and fairly readable. Then I heard some talk by a woman in Russian, and then a man talking in Russian, ID'ing the station as 'KNLS', which is a Christian station that operates out of Anchor Point, Alaska, usually beaming programs in Russian to Siberia and Chinese and English to Asia.

But KNLS also has a station in the Southern Hemisphere, that broadcasts to Russia and other regions of Western Eurasia from Madagascar.

This is the station I was listening to: the MWV New Life Station being transmitted from Mahajanga, a small city in NW Madagascar, not too far from the Indian Ocean coast!

MWV New Life Station seems to be the KNLS service to Western Russia, while KNLS proper serves Siberia. Both stations play a lot of pop music that ranges from 80's pop to 2010's pop. This morning I heard a pop-R&B track sung by a young woman I had never heard before, and then Harry Styles' 2017 hit Sign Of The Times.

After some more talk in Russian, they played some choral music, which was quite good.

I was able to record some of the Harry Styles' track and the choral music on my phone.

It was very odd hearing Madagascar on my DX-394 -- a very capable radio -- and not hearing anything else except very weak carriers with no audio, or static. But it is what it is: that station in Madagascar truly gets out!

What is really cool, at least for me, is that Madagascar is the closest large, populated land mass to the Antipodes of my home region -- it's on the opposite side of the world from here.

The real Antipodes of Seattle, of course, is near Kerguelen Island in the Southern Indian Ocean, but there are no radio stations on Kerguelen (aside from possibly a local, low power FM for the French scientific and military station there). Madagascar, maybe 1800 miles to the north of Kerguelen, shall suffice. :-)

Like I've said before, both here and elsewhere, when concerning the somewhat disappointing Solar Cycle, there are always some surprises, and this was one of them. To not hear much of anything slamming my radio out of Asia, and no Morse Code or sideband on an early Fall morning when the SW bands should be hopping with signals, only to hear Madagascar beaming a broadcast to European Russia, is just proof that even when conditions are down sometimes you get surprises.

FIRING UP MY REALISTIC DX-398 -- and a new BATTERY ISSUE

With a SIMPLE, EASY Fix!

Just this week -- Monday, to be exact -- I decided to fire up my trusty DX-398, which is probably the best radio I have for SSB and Morse Code reception. My DX-394 comes close, as does my Panasonic RF-B45, but the DX-398 pulls in Sideband signals just a hair better than both of them.

That is, when the signal levels across the band aren't cutting down a couple decibels, only to come back up 10-15 seconds later, as happened to me recently....

I had this happen Monday morning. It was odd -- nothing I'd heard before. Strange dipping and increasing of all noises -- both signals and static. It was like someone was messing around with an RF Gain or Volume control.

At first I thought it was the radio. My antenna is pretty solid -- being indoor, there is no corrosion. And I'd never heard signal levels, across an entire ham band, dip 2-3 db and then go back up maybe 2-3 db just 10-15 seconds later.

For a second I thought it might be the battery connection -- I'd just put in new batteries (Walgreen Alkalines I probably got in the 2010's some time, so they were 'new old-stock' batteries), and maybe I'd not put them in right. I double checked the way the batteries were inserted. They were firmly in place, with no corrosion to be seen anywhere.

Now, I'd had two separate issues with my DX-398 dealing with batteries in the past. One was in 2012 or so when the negative terminal spring weakened where it was soldered to the main PCB board. A good dollop of new solder fixed that. Then last year or so there was a time when the DX-398 would turn itself off after a minute of working, on brand new batteries. That was a bit of corrosion on the positive battery terminal plate -- something that was hard to see, but definitely there. Once I cleaned it, the 398 worked like a charm until the batteries were spent maybe a month or two later.

So this time, when the signal levels on the 10 Meter and 20 Meter bands were wigging like someone was messing with my RF Gain or Volume, I at first thought it was the radio. 

At the same time, I realised that it COULD have been propagation -- although that sort of band-wide dipping and increasing of all signals (and static) levels was something I'd never before encountered in all my years of DXing. I'd seen dips and returns in signals, but not the entire band -- static and all. 

This was something new. Something was awry.

I rechecked the antenna clip and connector. All was fine.

I took the new, old-stock batteries out of my DX-398 and put them in my trusty Radio Shack 200629 (the batteries in that radio were next to dead). I fired it up. It worked great, until the same thing started happening. Dips in both signals and static. It was almost like what I experienced when my antenna terminal was wonky, though I knew it was 100% secure -- and the DX-398's antenna terminal has always been 100%. And instead of cutting volume and then cutting it back up, like someone hit a switch, in this case it was like someone quickly turning an RF Gain or Volume control.

Same problem, both radios. That meant the problem was external to the radios. Meaning it was the antenna -- or the batteries.

I switched off the 200629 and DX'ed with my DX-394 (which works on AC power), deciding to let the problem sit for a while.

Later that day, the thought occurred to me that maybe the problem was indeed the actual batteries. Maybe they had gone bad in the package, even though they looked clean and normal. I'd heard of such things happening before.

After all, if a battery lowers in juice, all the circuits of a radio will decrease in volume and gain. Usually you don't notice this when your batteries weaken because it's gradual. But if batteries dive for some reason, you'll hear it. And when batteries are old or bad, they might put out 6 Volts for a while and then dip to 4 or 5 Volts, before surging back up to 6 Volts again. And your radio's circuits will be affected. A voltage regulator (in most radios) can only do so much -- it can't create power that isn't there.

Of course, this sort of issue hadn't happened to me before. But it was worth investigating.

So I went to my battery box and pulled out another set of new AA's, this time they were Energizers I probably bought before the Pandemic hit. Maybe they were 5-6 years old, but they were alkaline, so they should still be good.

I popped them into my Radio Shack 200629, Tuesday morning. I DX'ed the bands for over an hour with no glitching, no bizarre dipping of signals whatsoever.

The problem was the batteries. They were old, yes, but they were still in their case. But obviously, they were weak enough to where they were varying in output, and it was messing with the gain and the RF, IF and AF circuits of the radios.

You learn something new every day.

So remember kids, sometimes the issue you may be having with your radio just might be the batteries.