Rest and recreation

As I have written in my other blog, I am currently in a period of recuperation from my brain surgery prior to beginning treatment to try to stop the cancer. I'm feeling better every day, if still rather weak and living as if in a dream - in part no doubt due to my difficulty in sleeping.

Since I can't go anywhere much - we sold the car to a neighbour yesterday - I need things to keep me amused here, so inevitably I am once again becoming more interested in my radios. But I do have a different outlook on the hobby now. The computer gives me a headache in more than small doses so digital modes are out for the time being, as is the APRS gateway. The simple approach to ham radio now seems far more appealing. Perhaps I'll even spend some time trying to improve my CW.

I managed to set up my Kenwood TM-D710 as a digipeater and it can be heard and gated by Mark MM1MPB's station at Annan, Scotland. So my weather station G4ILO-5 and my Kenwood handheld TH-D72 G4ILO-7 still appear on the map and I can do limited messaging via the keypad on the handheld.

This burst of activity is only a sign of recovering from the operation (and of coming to terms with the fact of my mortality) not of beating the cancer. The treatment will not begin for a couple of weeks or so and I have been reliably informed that it may make me feel so tired that I won't feel much like blogging or radio. So my main intention during these next couple of weeks is to try to enjoy them as much as possible.