I didn't mention the most random item yesterday -- I sat down and fired up my amateur radio transmitter and a few characters in, I heard something start to beep. When I stopped, it eventually stopped. When I started up again, it began to beep after a few seconds...!
Finally tracked it down to the (obnoxiously loud) gas/CO detector in the dining room. It's about 20 feet from the open-wire balanced line (it looks like a rope ladder for the Wee Folk) that connects to my antenna, and it does not like shortwave energy, not one little bit. So it got a little vacation.
The sound is oddly nondirectional; while it is loud enough to get one's attention, it does not localize well. Tam was on the porch while I was hunting the beep and remarked, "Oh, was that in the house? It sounded like it was across the street or something." That's kind of an alarm fail, if you ask me.
Like those Police/Ambulance Sirens?
ReplyDeleteHow can you get outa their way, if you can't tell where they are?
Improve the sensitivity on the beeper and you could have the world's first CO/CW-sidetone monitor. Instead of just, you know, a noise maker.
ReplyDeleteWait until you get one that has that HAL 9000 voice that also tells you "Fire, Fire" between the beeps when you're Barbecuing 20 feet from the nearest Window. THAT was FREAKY!
ReplyDeleteThat's when you hope the first responder is the Fire Department and not SWAT. "FIRE,FIRE," indeed!
ReplyDeleteBut if the alarm were louder, it might wake you! We can't have that.
ReplyDeleteAntibubba