Advice, please
 

In article , Grimly
Curmudgeon scribeth thus
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember "Steve Thackery"
saying something like:

Yes, we agree about the engine. But the road tests from around that time
always praised Vauxhall's gearbox, which was used in the Viva, the HA, and
probably a few other bits and bobs. And I have to agree - it had the best
manual change I've ever used.

Oh yes, the g/box was very good - light, crisp, precise. Until the
clutch cable broke and that was the start of the nightmare.
Doing a clutch cable by the book took ages and required the dexterity of
a monkey - but the shortcut involved cutting a slot above the cable
entry at the bulkhead and took half an hour.

The old man at the shop really upset one of the crew .. really ****ed
him off. I though he was going to wallop him instead he drained the oil
out of the van and just drove off in it grinding the gears till the
whole lump was totally wrecked, engine and gearbox..

Then he replaced the sump plug and filled it up with the drained off Oil
right out in the middle of nowhere;!..

And left it there, and never returned .. the old man was livid!..

those were the days....
--
Tony Sayer

Advice, please
 

In article , Charles wrote:
BT are now run by commercial constraints which are similar to that cable
company's

That's the root of the problem. If broadband internet really is to be
regarded as an essential public service, it needs to be provided by a
public service provider, not by a business, otherwise there is no chance
at all that it will ever be available to everybody.

It wouldn't be "superfast" of course, but at least we'd all be connected.
If cars were provided as part of an essential public service, nobody would
have sports cars, but at least we'd all have transport. Our government
needs to take a fundamental decision about whether the internet is a
service or a luxury, and act accordingly instead of regaling us with empty
promises for 100 magabit services most of us will never need.

Rod.
--
Virtual Access V6.3 free usenet/email software from
http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtual-access/

Advice, please
 

On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:37:31 +0100, "Steve Thackery"
wrote:

I just had a flashback then to the days when telephone poles carried
huge numbers of separate cables, each mounted on ceramic insulators.

And sang in the wind.

Sometimes with corks on the wires, so that the birds could see them. [I
think.]

Yes they still do that here with some of the overhead powerlines

And open wires - with our without corks - would get into a terrible tangle
sometimes and it could take ages to untangle them. We used to loop a rope
between the wires at one end, climb down the pole, and then walk along the
line of route with the two ends of the rope, pulling it and "jiggling" it,
unwrapping the wires as we proceeded. Always exciting on a busy road.

I remember once we must have spent half an hour farting about trying to
untangle them without success. So in time-honoured Post Office fashion we
retired to the local tea shop to "think" about it. Whilst we were sitting
there, we heard the unmistakeable "twang p'doinnngggg" sound of the wires
untangling themselves entirely without assistance from us.

This confirmed our view that we should spend more time in the tea shop
"thinking", in future.

Hahahaha classic!

Advice, please
 

On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:45:53 +0100, Alan
wrote:

On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:04:45 +0100, "Ivan"
wrote:

IIRC there was no purchase tax on a van...

That's quite right and vans were limited to 60 mph. In 1962, I was fined
£5 at Cardigan Magistrates Court for exceeding 60 mph when I thought one
of my friends was chasing me on his motor bike. It turned out it was the
local policeman which was a bit unfortunate. However, when it was
reported in the Tivyside Advertiser I used it as proof that my van could
do more than 60 mph.

Happy days :-)

I got caught once, used to use a company car to take protoype stuff to
customers. Once only a Fiesta van was available so without thinking I
set off through the Dartford Tunnel

and got pulled over at the pay booths for not being in the "truck
lane"

Advice, please
 

On Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:33:28 +0100, Andy Burns
wrote:

Steve Thackery wrote:

BCF was a totally brilliant extinguisher for vehicle fires (is it banned
now?).

Still available (required even?) for aviation use.

Story told me by a friend who was delivering to a garage when a fire
extinguisher salesman arrived.

Said salesman filled a small tin tray with petrol, set it on fire and
demonstrated the efficiency of his extinguisher.

"That's nuffink!" said the garage proprietor, " I could BLOW that
out!"

Salesman refilled tin and set the petrol on fire.

Whuff! he actually DID blow it out.

Exit salesman, tail between legs . . .

Advice, please
 

On Apr 23, 7:11*pm, "
wrote:
On Apr 23, 3:37*pm, Petert wrote:

On Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:04:12 -0700 (PDT), John
wrote:

Somebody else in the thread mentioned this. *I shall insist on
standard lengths if adding connectors is so tough.

A major disadvantage of standard pre-terminated lengths is that the
plug on the end has to be passed through every aperture along the
route during installation. The manufacturers tell us that the thin
fibre means smaller holes in walls, but of course this is not the
case. I regard the 'preterminated' idea as an interim, and I look
forward to the day when the installer will fit terminations. If the
machine to do it costs £5,000, so what? It will help sort out the men
from the boys.

Bill

Another good point Bill. I really want to avoid concrete drilling at
£50 (or more) per floor. There is a smallish conduit pipe, which
should be able to cope with the fibre optic cable, but not sure if a
pre-fitted plug would be viable!

John

Advice, please
 

On Apr 23, 8:40*pm, Paul Ratcliffe
wrote:
On Fri, 23 Apr 2010 06:58:27 -0700 (PDT), John wrote:
If I aim for breakeven, I shall certainly make a loss!

You are right, and my accountancy background has given me enough skill
to be able to administer the finances of it, but the thought of having
to do tax returns fills me with woe. *8-((

Ah, you have finally convinced me you really are completely barking mad.
They've obviously just let you out again seeing as you haven't been
around here for a while.
Strangely Jerry the village idiot (or pillock as he now likes to call
himself) has reappeared as well.

MESSAGE BEGINS

It has long been said that accountants are boring. I have long said
that many British accountants are indeed certifiably mad! [There is
an accountancy joke in there!]

John

Advice, please
 

On Apr 23, 9:05*pm, tony sayer wrote:
In article
.com, John scribeth thus



Firstly, the LNBs fitted to the dishes will not be the conventional
ones, but will turn the satellite signal into light, which will be fed
down fibre optic cables. *

Why, are the distances -that- great?

Yes. *It is a twenty-one story building, with long corridors.

Also, I was told that this method would not be subject to
interference, nor would it interfere with the existing communal TV
system, even though the cables would run next to each other down the
dry risers.

Seems to me it will be quite an installation job overall so someone who
knows what there doing will be called for.

The idea of fibre though seems rather overkill, after all as others have
said the distances aren't that great..

Be interesting to know how much they want for the job expect it will be
well into 4 figures..

Do your other residents really need all those sat signals or wouldn't
they just be content with Sky at 28.2?...

--
Tony Sayer

You are right that existing, tradtional, conventional technology could
easily do the job. But if the newer technology can do it as well, or
better, then why not try it...assuming it is not too dear of course!

I am expecting something in four figures, and definitely praying for
much less than five.

Since I started this thread I have been speaking and writing with the
technical staff at the manufacturers of the equipment, and am
startled, frankly, by the simplicity of the system that they have for
up to sixty-four dwelling places. The kit per satellite is of the
order of £200 or £300, which includes an optical LNB and a box of
electronics, to which a TV aerial and a DAB aerial can also be
attached.

However, very expensive filters need to be fitted to the TV aerial if
it is carrying analogue signals, as the noise from these will make the
system non-operational. I shall simply wait until analogue TV switch-
off, when the additional filters will not be needed in a purely
digital DTT world.

The system will be put in for my benefit (hence why I want the
Hotbirds). However, to get the Landlord (the local authority to
agree), I have to make it available to others, and I suppose, I had
better offer Sky D and FreeSat or people would get annoyed at not
having the main UK satellite broadcaster available.

So, yes, Tony, I suspect that other residents would be happy with just
Sky...but I would not, and as I am planning and paying for this lot, I
think I deserve to be taken care of! 8-))

A couple of people of North African origin worry me in that they want
TV from back home, and I have no idea which satellite carries it, so I
may have to fit a third for other minority viewers.

John

Advice, please
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:49:15 -0700, John wrote:

A couple of people of North African origin worry me in that they want TV
from back home, and I have no idea which satellite carries it

There are a few North African FTA stations on Astra 19,2 East

2M Monde, Al Masriyah (Egypt), Canal Algérie, Tunisie 7

and a great number Arabic language stations (including some
from North Africa) on Hotbird at 13 East

http://www.lyngsat.COM/hotbird.html

Advice, please
 

On Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:38:17 -0700 (PDT), John wrote:

It has long been said that accountants are boring. I have long said
that many British accountants are indeed certifiably mad! [There is
an accountancy joke in there!]

Is there? Thank God I can't see it. I can't be as mad as you, nor an
accountant. That's a blessed relief.