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It's weird!

Started by Dave, May 24, 2018, 03:50:13 AM

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Dave

For quite a long time mow, posdibly weeks, I have been hearing this noise at night.

It is either like frying/fizzy drink bubbles or badly tapped Morse code. Very, very quiet, I only hear it when lying on my left side in bed and, in a normal sleep position for me (OK, bit wierd as well), my left hand sort of cups my right ear. If I move any of the stuff (telephone, radio, monitor for my cardiac implant) on the bedside cabinet the noise stops, then restarts half a minute later. That seems to suggest insects.

I did not think we had termites here until I looked:

QuoteUK. Termites are here .. and they're hungry! Termites - tiny pests capable of burrowing their way through concrete - have been found in Britain for the first time. A colony of the ant-like insects in south-west England is reported to have defied efforts by a government agency to eradicate them.15 Apr 1998
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/77797.stm

The floor of my flat is concrete slabs with a mortar screed. Apart from the odd bit of trim all "woodwork" is chipboard, full of resin. I am often in the attic, where the most wood it, and have spotted no evidence of nibbling. Think the timber is treated for rot and woodworm anyway. Listened to deathwatch beetle on the Internet, different sound.

Can't be termites. Csn it? Surely there would be quite obvious evidence: detritus, settling, collapse etc, after a few weeks! I am nirmally quite observant, spotting unusual or sudden marks, stains etc. Looking at this site: http://www.doityourselftermitecontrol.com/termite-home-inspections.html I think that I would have noticed anything on the vidible surfaces.

Oh, well, looks like tomorrow will include moving that cabinet out of its corner - which means moving a very heavy leather sofa first - and a rhorougn rummage in all noojs and crannies.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

Durr!

It has just dawned on me that what I am hearing could be crepitation, the fizzing and popping of fluid in my lungs. This is not unusual with heart failure but is usually more obvious, wheezings and squeaks.

As I lie on my back typing this there is quite obvious crepitation in the bronchial brances, know that sound too well. The other noise is subtler and more muffled and I do not have the cough or throat clearing reflex, so it could be "basal" crepitation. Not good.

Moving towards the vertical can modify the sound. Will try holding my breath next time it happens to see if it stops.

But, time to see the doc I think.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Tank

If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

Quote from: Tank on May 24, 2018, 06:30:55 AM
Earplugs?
[/quote
Not if it's crepitation, they make internal noises more noticesble!
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Tank

Quote from: Dave on May 24, 2018, 07:33:06 AM
Quote from: Tank on May 24, 2018, 06:30:55 AM
Earplugs?
Not if it's crepitation, they make internal noises more noticesble!

I can see that now you mention it.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

As mentioned elsewhere any sudden gain in weight of a kilo or more can indicate excess fluid and a deteriorstion in my heart failure. I also mentioned that, because of this, I weigh myself (as advised) every morning.

Been wheezing and coughing a bit this am and my weight (post dump) is 63.9kg instead of the 63.1 - 63.2kg of the last few days. I admit that I did eat something a bit salty yesterday - doesn''t help.

Think I will double the diuretic this morning but keep to my normal fluid intake.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

#6
Source of strange noise found!

After experiments involving different breathing modes and ear plugs I decided that the noise was external to me. Very careful listening, with hands cupping ears and rotating head, indicated that the noise came from the far side of the room from my bed and lasted about 30 seconds, then 30 seconds silence and repeat . . .

On that far wall is a battery powered clock with a second hand, bought about three weeks ago. The noise starts when that second hand is at a couple of seconds past zero and continues until about 32 seconds. Guessing it is backlash and bounce in the gearing, which is "damped" by the "lifting" load between 32 secs and zero and sounds sort of random, not the constant ticking of my old clock at one impulse/second.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Tank

Quote from: Dave on June 08, 2018, 10:45:04 AM
Source of strange noise found!

After experiments involving different breathing modes and ear plugs I decided that the noise was external to me. Very careful listening, with hands cupping ears and rotating head, indicated that the noise came from the far side of the room from my bed and lasted about 30 seconds, then 30 seconds silence and repeat . . .

On that far wall is a battery powered click with a second hand, bought about three weeks ago. The noise starts when that second hand is at a couple of seconds past zero and continues until about 32 seconds. Guessing it is backlash and bounce in the gearing, which is "damped" by the "lifting" load between 32 secs and zero and sounds sort of random, not the constant ticking of my old clock at one impulse/second.

OFFS! That's hilarious!!! :rofl:
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Arturo

Wow that is a strange sound for a clock to make there Dave.
It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

Dave

Quote from: Arturo on June 19, 2018, 12:50:25 PM
Wow that is a strange sound for a clock to make there Dave.

That's what you get for buying cheap Chinese made clocks with sloppy gear trains and tinny cases!
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Bluenose

Dave, you could try re-programming the clock with a large axe!


(apologies to Douglas Adams)
+++ Divide by cucumber error: please reinstall universe and reboot.  +++

GNU Terry Pratchett


Velma

At least you finally found it!

I do understand about strange noises. Between my tinnitus, my husband's odd breathing patterns because of his COPD, our three cats, and a 55-year-old house, I'm nearly always at a loss as to what the odd noise might be.  :o
Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of the astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.~Carl Sagan

Dave

#13
Ages ago I bought an alpine type telescopic walking stick with a camera mount on top - so it acts as a monopod. A little "disc" type compass was screwed onto this. Good thing I never used that compass for navigation!

I have just bought a classic horseshoe magnet and two bar magnets as a pressie for a friend's 7 yo grandson. Thinking that the little compass might be added to the set I dug it out and put it near one of the magnets. The N on the compass disc pointed to the South pole of the magnet! I got out my "proper" Eurohike compass, just to check, and as expected the red, North seeking, pointy, end of the needle pointed straight at the North ends of the magnets.

Later:

No, hang on, am I going mad?

I put the two compasses on a table, well away from any magnets or lumps of ferrous materials. They pointed in opposite directions. I know which side of the house is South (the side where the Sun shines in through the window at midday.) The little compass was pointing in the right direction!

The little compass N pointer points at the ends marked "S" of all magnets and the pointy end of the big compass needle points to the ends marked "N". One of them is wrong - looks like the big compass now, and maybe the magents are marked wrongly?

I am making the assumption that the markings on the magnets are their actual polarities and not their "seeking" polarities. Hmm, looks like I will be suspending one of the bar magnets on a thread (not having a bowl of mercury handy to float it on) to see which way it orientates.

The compass app in this tablet agrees with the little compass, points out if the front window for South and indicates thst the end of the bar magnet marked "N" is actually a South pole.

I do not think I have managed to repolarise the large compass.

This is weird . . .


Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Dave

Suspending one of the bar magnets, from the light fitting and on a length of thread that places it almost exactly at the centre of the room, and placing the bar into the thread loop from either end, the end marked "N" always points North - it is therefore actually the South pole of the magnet.

Or the geomagnetic North Pole has flipped to being a South Pole without us noticing and both I and my tablet (and one of two comoasses) have been fooled . . . (I typoed "fooked" there, should have left that uncorrected!)

Same result from suspending the horseshoe magnet.

So, am I wrong in assuming, as I have done all of my life, that the end of an educational demonstration magnet marked "N" is actually that magnet's North pole - or have the Chinese fouled it up yet again?

I will pose this question in an email to "Magnet Expert", the UK sellers of the items. Let us see just how "expert" they are.

This does not cover my opposing compasses though.

Need more data! More experiments! More compasses! Need an electromagnet that I can see the winding direction on.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74