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Dave_P

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Everything posted by Dave_P

  1. No they are not all the same. In simple terms, if you go to Argos, Tesco, Currys etc and get a branded charger it will cost you upwards of £10 and should be fine. If you go on ebay (or to a car boot) and buy an unbranded charger for about £1.50, it's likely to be junk and may well damage your gear.
  2. Dave_P

    Vote!

    Post which led this thread astray have been hidden. I’ll say again - if you want to discuss your political views then this forum has a place for you to do it.
  3. Dave_P

    Vote!

    Please note: I put this in the general boating section and not the political section. This thread is about a website designed to encourage CCers to vote, and to discuss the lack of voters in that group, and why. This is not a thread to discuss reasons for voting a certain way. There's another section for that.
  4. How many amps is your controller rated for?
  5. Dave_P

    Vote!

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/06/operation-votey-mcvoteface-voter-registration-drive-targets-boat-dwellers-and-sofa-surfers?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other https://mcvoteface.org.uk/
  6. Same here except I have 3 big panels so I manage around 8 months of not needing to run engine for battery charging. Currently I'm still getting a reasonable amount from my panels but not enough to manage entirely on. I'd say I have an 8 month 'solar season', 2 month 'shoulder season', and 2 month 'engine running season'. During those darkest 2 months, it's not difficult to find a mooring away from other boats, since the canals are pretty quiet from 21st November - 21st January.
  7. Strange. This isn't my experience at all. In fact, my experience is that it's gone the other way in the last 10 years. There seem to be more boats about overall but the proliferation of solar panels makes for far less engine running than I remember.
  8. This is what I've said in my email to CRT. I'd disagree with your comment about overstaying. At the moment, having only a very few electric points on visitor moorings makes those extremely desirable and therefore likely to encourage overstaying. But if it were the norm on VMs around the country, there really would be little extra incentive to stay if you knew you'd probably have electric at your next mooring place.
  9. Me too. I'll frequently move my boat on for an hour or so after work. Set off about 5. Moor about 6. Turn off engine about 8. With regards to the OP, I'll wager the 8-8 rule was in place when you got your boat. That's the rule - deal with it. The marvelous thing about boats, is you can move them if you don't like it where you are. For me personally, when I know I'm going to run my genny, I look for a place with some existing background noise (by a main road for example), or a place completely away from everyone. That's just trying to be reasonable. Sometimes such a place is hard to find though.
  10. Yes, I'm now aware of that. The cards don't look like the CRT ones at all.
  11. Further info: Following my annoyance at Cambrian Wharf being shut yesterday, I got an email from them this first thing this morning saying they don't even stock the cards. So changed my plans again and went for the option of buying a 25 unit pump-out card from Limekiln. In spite of what Alway Swilby has said, it didn't work in either slot. It was the last pump out card at the chandlers so the possible reasons would be: the card is faulty; the bollard is faulty; Alway Swilby is wrong; the bollard has been changed in some way. I then wrote an annoyed email to various senior people at CRT, detailing another, all too familiar tale of CRT cock ups. Finally, about half an hour ago, I got another email from CRT saying they do stock the cards at Cambrian. But I'm now a broken man. I'm not returning to Birmingham for the third day running if there's any chance that the bollard is faulty. I just don't think I could take any more disappointment. So I'll be unnecessarily polluting the area around the basin for the next few days. Sorry folks. I'll let you know if you I get any reply from Julie Sharman etc. Did you try lifting off the last railing? It always used to be removable.
  12. This is useful info. The guy in the shop said they had pumpout cards but seemed to think they were different to the electric cards. If I get one of those, I'm wondering where else I can use it? Is there a VM in Diglis which has a bollard which takes them? I plugged in in Gloucester Docks a few years back but I honestly can't remember if I used a card? More info, the cards which they had in the shop at Diglis are definitely not the same. Maybe they've changed the bollards for the marina there?
  13. I saw you earlier turning in front of the top lock. You looked busy and I was arguing with the CRT fundraiser who had just told me that Cambrian Wharf Office was shut, even though it's supposed to be open 10-2 on a sunday. Wasted trip!! Yes, I used to moor sort of opposite the VM. My mooring is at Hawne Basin now. One question - was it possible to lift off the last railing at the Hockley Port VM, to get out, or did you have to climb over the fence?
  14. When you say Solar Pete, do you mean Pete on the boat Solar Kingfisher? Other fairly easy ways to sink a boat: Weedhatch not screwed back on properly just before entering a very long tunnel. On emerging from the other end, the exhaust outlet is almost underwater. I did this! Forgetting to tighten drippy stern gland after mooring and then leaving the boat for a few days. I worry about this.
  15. Formerly of Hockley Port, yes. I'm popping into Cambrian Wharf today, it's supposed to be open between 10.00-2.00 and they're supposed to sell the cards.
  16. Just seen this online. I’m now convinced the card on the left of your pic is the one I need. They sell them in the little shop in Diglis?
  17. That card on the left looks just how I remember the Stourport cards looking. But the shop here insists the pump out cards they sell are different. This is is the reader/card slot. This is a card I have that I tried earlier. The reader just spat it back out without me needing to press a button. Ive spoken to Maria at CRT. She didn’t even know there was a bollard and neither did the West Midlands Customer Services team who are apparently supposed to be responsible for such things. Gawd knows where the chandlery used to get the cards from???
  18. Left a message with Maria Osborne, moorings coordinator for the area.
  19. Just spoken to Diglis and they say no. The have them but they think they'll only work on their own bollards.
  20. It's not a metermacs (I wish it was). This card reader doesn't seem to have an eject button. It seems quite a fancy one which pulls the card in and scans it somehow. Which chandlers at worcester do you mean? The little one behind the pub at Diglis? You're right that the permanent moorings have been upgraded to metermacs, which is why I presume the chandlery doesn't bother stocking the cards any more. I heard a whisper that it may be closing soon, but I don't know if that's true.
  21. I'm on the VM just next to the service block. There's an electric bollard which I've connected to in the past, you can buy the cards from the Chandlery in the basin. But the chandlery doesn't have any electric cards and seemed vague about if or when they might ever get any more. I walked round to the CRT office and the guy there didn't know anything about it or where to try and get some. I tried Starline and they've never stocked them. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I might be able to get one? Or who to ask at CRT? It seems utterly stupid to provide an electric bollard for visiting boats but offer no way of making use of it. I don't mind driving to get a card within reason.
  22. The area around Sherborne Wharf would not meet the criteria for a Conservation Area. Too much has changed there. There are plenty of canal related conservation areas nearby though. Examples include Galton Valley, Digbeth and Tipton.
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