OldGoat

Most of the replies here relate to back pumping up flights of locks. I suspect there aren't many pumps used to fill reservoirs from sources other than existing canals. An exception is the set at Bradley yard whose real purpose is to stop Brum floating off into the Irish Sea (joke) or whatever. After all the original canal builders had to rely on natural sources of water - by diverting streams into new reservoirs. The Environment Agency has a site showing water resources and monitoring stations, but it's not visible at the moment ??funding cutbacks

Thank you very much - that gets the ball rolling! I note your point about the lack of lock keepers. Not only a shortage of dog friendly pubs (seems daft, given that the area is very rural and folks a re likely to be walking accompanied by their hound(s) ) - but also there is a distinct lack of pubs anyway. For anyone else reading this thread the stretch below Oxford to Abingdon or the very ancient capital of England - Wallingford end even as far as Reading is also very pleasant, with the advantage that there are more shops (for food and booze, you understand).

Nar, won't burn many calories wandering up and down the lockside and pushing buttons. Turn the power off and try a bit of handwinding - that'll keep you fit!

That's fine, but only if you've not moved out of area since your last retune. OK if you don't cruise over long distances, but pure hell if you go from (say) Meridian to Central to something else. Unless of course, there's something obvious I've missed. The Maxview / clone stuff is not very accurate, but at least it detects a signal right across the UHF tv band.

This thread has drifted from the BW system to the Thames. Although the principles are the same - cruise - lock and repeat until tired, the practice is quite different. BW waters are cruised by boats that fit the track (narrow) or multiples of two (broad). The Thames has a complete mix of boat sizes, types, freeboard height, draught and so on. There's a mix of attitudes, folks that are interested in what they are doing, folks who don't give a damn, folks who struggle. The locks are in the main part manned, so that volunteers are trained to a high standard because of the above and the often very high value of vessels which are not designed to be banged around in a lock. This is the second year that EA have had volunteers and learning from comments and now have more formal training and assessment from experienced lock keepers. Operating a lock is a doddle - UNTIL something goes wrong and even a slight accident can cost a lot in terms of damage. So, welcome, Paul - you should learn a lot, not only about lock (each one is different as you are finding out), but more importantly how to manage people for the short time they are under your "control". Some of your customers will be friendly, some miserable, some rude. The last two are so probably they are sh*t scared about locks. Take the opportunity to find out about the River and places nearby - The lockies in your stretch are very knowledgeable and friendly. You are, of course, in the best possible part of the River, so enjoy. It's my patch as well so I'll keep an eye on your progress through the towpath telegraph (haha). Oh, and Sonning has a good stock of excellent ice creams...

I've just spent about an hour trying to get a clear answer and the way that things are explained differ depending on who you ask. The full description is here an extract is below Visitor registration options Registration charges are calculated by multiplying the length of your boat by the beam (width). Option 1 - 1 - 6 day registration Option 2 - 15 consecutive day registration Option 3 - 31 consecutive day registration Visitors can 'mix and match' their visitor registration certificates. In any calendar year this allows visitors to travel along the Thames for a total of 67 days by purchasing up to six 1-day registrations plus two 15-day registrations and one 31-day registration. When buying consecutive one day registrations, one of those days will be issued free of charge. So, never ask for a one day licence if you are expecting 24 hours cover. The licence runs from Midnight to Midnight. Ask for a two day licence and you'll pay for one day, that expires at midnight on the next day. The same goes for three days (pay for two), four, five and six. The last two are probably not good value - go for a 15 day. Thus there never was a three for two special offer - it's just the way the system works. It's a standard "offer" and has applied for years. The system is a mess and I'll make representations to get things changed, now that the new licence regime is in force. What's needed is something like a BW Explorer scheme. I hope that's cleared, but I'm still confused.

AARRGGHH! The thread was about the balance beam locks on the upper Thames above Oxenford. Sometimes difficult to know but I suspect you are talking about the electrified hydraulic locks below King's They are NOT difficult to operate - the problem is that folks DONT READ THE INSTRUCTIONS and they expect the locks to work the WAY THEY THINK THEY SHOULD WORK. The problem is that EA has made them as people proof as they can - BUT did NOT bother to consult anyone. Not only that, but they won't listen to user comments either... The failure - if a total shutdown occurs if a bod holds the sluices button continuously for more than two minutes. The instructions say clearly press the sluice button ONCE only. Once the relay clicks (you can hear it), the rest is automatic and pressing it again won't speed things up. Holding it makes the system thinks it's the End Of The World and shuts down completely - including the hand winding facility. It's very frustrating, experienced canal boaters know how a balance beam lock work, so apply those principles to the 'leccy locks and providing the previous user has left the lock as instructed - gates closed sluices UP, then your journey should be smooth if a little slow. Apologies for ranting on, and the above (apart from the first line) is not directed at you, more for information to anyone reading this thread. EA made a bit of a blunder by:- Not consulting in the first place Penny pinching the software on a one size fits all Not providing a user recovery process being arrogant not listening to a considered remedy Fudging the causes of the lockouts Inconsistency between the two types of operation (round top pedestals work differently from the larger flat toped variety) other design faults which I won't discuss here Methinks they thought folks would do as they are told (RTFM) - which is daft in today's society; when each user does as they should the system works well.

The Thames is our home water and therte is a continuing debate about lockies - so it would be great if you (or anyone else) could reply to the following points. Did you find the locks difficult to operate? Conversely did you find them pleasant to work? Did the absence of assistance spoil your trip? Anything else - good or bad. I'm not connected with EA, but it's so difficult to get comments from boaters, that I'm using any ewxcuse to canvass opinions...

I've got one and it works very well - even though I had to nag his Sterlingship to set it up for my type of batteries (not relevant). A note of caution it did NOT like my elcheapo chinese small genny, but 'twas the genny's fault - over optimistic description of its power output.

Not wishing to be confrontational or to score points, but your experience is the opposite to mine. The Midlands is pretty well served for Freeview TV, but we cruise from the Thames to as far as I am allowed to go (by SWMBO) and satellite always works for us, provided that there are no trees between the boat and the satellites - not always easy on the Oxford. Sat dishes are more critical than TV aerials. The dish mounts must be absolutely vertical in all directions so that the focus of the disk is at 26 degrees to the vertical and the horizontal alignment is - umm - horizontal. Otherwise you'll faff around for ages trying to get a signal. If the dish is mounted amidships, then the boat can rock a bit without loss of picture. Took me years to work that all out. A TV aerial is much less critical in the horizontal plane, especially if a log periodic type is used, but with the demise of analogue transmissions you may have to tune the set to its nearest transmitter's MUX group before locating the signal. Obviously that's not possible. On our longer cruises we have to change from Crystal Palace to "somewhere near Basingstoke" to Oxford to whatever serves the Midland region. At least the satellites are always in the same position......

Eyup lass, that's 'cos your in god's wonderful county. Probably a git big tranmitter 'twixt thee and it, with not in between. Likely as 'appen a bit of wet knicker elastic would do the job - or a hanging fender.... For us darn sarf, the transmitter changes every few miles and still can't get a picture.

WiFi only works if you are a shopping / town centre. Prabably limits you to Banbury or Brum. WiFi is very short range. I've bought loads of cards - when they were very cheap- and dongles from eBay and never had a dud. 3 gives me the best coverage when on the water. A pity 'cos I have some Voda sims which don't expire but their coverage is "poor".

However, do be careful - some external fan blades are "handed" as well, so if you are changing the rotation of the alternator (I've got one which is rearward facing; OK unusual, I know), the fan should be changed for an universal (straight blades) one. Important for high output / continuous duty types.

Probably not the Resident - he's pretty clued up. Could be one of the seasonal temporary staff and they don't know everything. To be fair visitors are normally "dealt with" at Sonning or Caversham. March is defined as out of season and boaters can expect self service as a norm. Shouldn't be a problem for inveterate canallers

Simplistically an Adverc is best (more sensibly "better"). For why - Unless the pulley is of the Poly-V type (as in most modern cars) it's not practical to reduce the pulley size to less than 70mm - even if you could buy one. Changing the crankshaft pulley to a larger size may not be possible as there are usually other bits of engine hardware in the way - even if you can get to it. I suspect the "gearing" of the alternator setup is wrong and that's probably because your engine configuration can't drive it any faster. An Adverc is easier to install and thereby cheaper. But it won't solve the problem entirely. It may be that you need to have two high output alternators PLUS an Adverc. On my boat I have two slow speed truck type alternators at 140 amps each with a battery bank of 1,000 amp hours and it still takes at least 4 hours of cruising to charge the batteries......

Are you saying that Serling Power supplied you with another make OR did you go to another outfit that supplied the unit in the first place? 'Twould be nice to know.......

If you use the boat engine / charge the batteries every day then leaving it on is no big deal. 1/2 amp quiescent current = 12 amp hours per day. If you leave the boat for a week that's 74 amp hours wasted two weeks 144 - that's nearly a battery installation's worth - if you get my drift. In which case turn it off.

If you or I had been in the electrical gadgetry market as long as Charles has we'd develop a certain among of shortness when dealing with some customers who can be argumentative. If you're polite and ever so humble (not grovelling) he can be very helpful. OK his direct approach can grate a bit, but he doesn't gild the lily and is accurate. He and I don't agree on the different battery technology that I use (not lead acid), but his kit once modified has delivered the goods for over a decade. Treat him well, there aren't many of his like around anymore, more's the pity!!

As with most short questions, the devil is in the detail, which you don't give. If the sky box has a Sky subscription, then you can record programs but you will need two feeds from the dish. (there are some "conditions" but I won't elaborate at this stage. If you don't have a subs: you can't record. If you don't have a "Freesat from Sky" card (cost £20 or is it now £25 - which gives you three years + access) you will miss some FTV channels. The real advantage of a s/h Sky box is it's cheap and has a very clear and easy to use 7 day programme guide. It's also easier to fine tune in to the satellite signal A Freesat box is a close second The EPG is not quite as good and fine tuning is not as good. The choice of channels is much the same with some additions and some missing. It depends on what you want to watch. A suitcase tuner doesn't have an epg and only shows now and next programmes. so there are your options.

From the phote the tube look quite substantial - sufficuent for some form of crane. They're too far back for a canopy support and a lot larger than would be needed for that. Silly place to put a water / diesel filler, mine's a bit more inboard; easier to make...

Xylene is nasty stuff, rots yer 'ands and give you a high if sniffed. HazChem. Costs a lot. Gave up washing brushes / rollers and bought cheapos, chiking them after use. Treay the thinners with care - good ventillation, glove up and you'll be alright.

Been there - sort of done it. I had a SeaPower (earlier product and larger capacity) fitted to my Beta - BM fitted the alternator and I did all the electrickery. Very simple; instructions are in the manufacturer's literature, all complicated connections are via special plugs and sockets - so difficult to foul up ( ). All you have to do is to site the control box, remote switch and run the cables. The TravelPower is similar (but smaller). As a result of a disaster last summer, I would advise against V belts and pulleys (My giant 10" pulleys sheared the drive link and fell off into the engine bilge). The resulting repair used Poly-V belts and aluminium pulleys. The latter are light weight and put less stress on the engine in start -stop conditions and transfer power more efficiently, especially over small alternator pulleys, meaning less sideways loading on the crankshaft pulley. There's was a bit of a challenge in sourcing alternator pulleys (but that's 'cos I'm using a pair of v.large truck type alternators). The end result is SO much more satisfactory. However, in the Irish joke - I wouldn't go that way - TravelPowers are not that reliable, expensive to buy new and you have to run the engine to get mains power. IMHO big 12/24V alternator(s) larger battery banks and an inverter is a lot cheaper and more reliable.

Unless it's changed while I wasn't looking the power to Thames locks is now on 24/7. EA issued a Notice a while ago. HOWEVER that may change as a result of whatever drought provisions have to be made - as there are an awful lot of lock movements out of hours. At the moment it's a matter of suck it and see..

Well blow me down I put the link in here all proper and got the blue underlined colour - so I thought it was OK. I'll do a preview this time.... Heavens to murgatroyd the editor's dropped it. It's a PDF - is that the problem? Here you go in plain text:- www.conservationphysics.org/ppubs/incra.pdf Apologies for any inconvenience caused.......... 'Salright now.

For those wh can't sleep at nights, here's a technical article on incralac wiv graffs 'n things. So much better than sales puff. Impressed, I am, might even remove the painr from my eight mushies.......