Socket to 'em

There's a saying amongst tinkerers: if it isn't broken, fix it until it is. The good news is that Mirabel's replacement somewhat posher bottom bracket came this morning and I installed it after lunch. I went out for a test ride this evening and...the bike is still clicking! But somehow not as much as before either. I am running out of ideas, so will give the chain a scrub and then measure it. After that, I don't know.

The other good news is that I installed the replacement TV aerial socket this afternoon too. It didn't make any difference the first time: Classic FM, which doesn't have the strongest signal at the best of times, had poor Pachelbel trying his best to cut his Canon through the angry mess of static. I examined the old socket which had gone wiggly and discovered both joints were actually broken on the mounting plate, so I fixed them and tried the aerial with it again, and it still didn't work properly. But somehow it did if I disconnected the socket from the wall and put my finger on the signal terminal, with me as the antenna. In fact , I made a brilliant antenna. So I reckoned the problem was either the wire coming out of the wall or the aerial itself, which is really a TV antenna but it used to work pretty well with FM, even though it's not supposed to.

After very much messing about, I realised the co-ax wire sheath was all shredded, and sometimes touching the signal terminal. I made it not touch and the reception improved no end. So I reinstalled the new socket, which took three more attempts because it's not an MK socket and therefore a bit cheaply made and didn't clamp the signal wire very well...but I got there in the end. And I have le Classique FM again and possibly clearer than ever before.

If the previous owner of my house had a TV, they must have gone absolutely spare with the dodgy reception!