BargeeSpud

OK, but the aerial & mount I bought stands 2.5m high & cost in the region of £80 at sale prices. The company is Shakespeare & I ordered direct from them as it was cheaper. I'm about to get on the road for the rest of the day so if you're still interested, then post again or pm me. Cheers, Ade

Ah. Well, the original aerial wasn't great quality so I guess that's the real lesson here,quality counts, you buy cheap you buy twice etc., etc.

OK, I can understand that there is little difference between the 2 types of charger when they reduce the voltage, it makes sense. However, at the time the phone charger was causing the interference, my laptop's car charger didn't cause any at all.

Except the charger in question that caused the interference before I changed the aerial was a 12V car version, not a mains one.

Thanks for the replies chasps. It all makes sense & I was never certain that my theory would be accurate, but in the crazy world of electronics, it might have been. Tony's suggestion about water contamination at the point of entry through the steelwork would've explained it perfectly. Except that I'd smothered everything in that red gel you smear on battery terminals when I fitted the original aerial to bright steel at fitting & it was pristine when I took the aerial out.

Hiya, Some time ago I put up this article about the above problem I was experiencing at the time but none of the suggestions turned out to be helpful with this particular issue, sadly, but not the fault of those who contributed them. Well, I've now cured it. What I have finally done is to replace my bog standard car aerial for a fibreglass, 8' marine FM aerial mounted on a collapsible mount with the cable going directly to the radio through the roof without being "earthed" to the steel. OK, the antenna & mount is a bit expensive, but radio reception is now phenominal due to the height of the antenna. A massive improvement in reception plus no interferance whilst charging phones is VFM for me. Now for the "theory" aspect. Because my boat is geared up for 240V with the system being earthed to the hull, I have a theory that there might be some sort of cross "contamination" (for wont of an accurate description!) possibly with the negative side of the 12V system. This could have meant that the original car aerial was double earthed, both with the steel and the radio chassis and when I bypassed the steel fitting the new antenna, this insulated the aerial from the theoretical cross "contamination". Now if my theory is accurate, with the benfit of hindsight, I could possibly have solved the problem a lot cheaper than I have done with a different type of car aerial where the cable does not need to be erthed to the steel. Does this theory sound a bit Betty Swallox or am I on the right track? Over to all you techies out there!

"Why?" is the obvious question considering the extra space you would need to find plus the increased hassle of emptying 2 different toilet containers. Bizarre IMHO. Still, if anyone really wants to know how to go about it, I suggest they PM Mr Bizzard. He's the technical wizard for this sort of stuff. Personally, I see nothing wrong with using a bottle or an "over the side" technique whilst cruising.

Whilst I can understand not wanting to make holes in your wood panelling for hanging stuff up, I don't think I'd want to risk hanging anything up on a boat with a hook that you stick up. With all the vibrations generated running an engine plus all the knocks & scraping you encounter whilst cruising makes those a bit too risky in my opinion. As for a charging gadget you plug in whilst cruising, why not just charge the phone & tablet whilst cruising?

If your existing blacking is bitumen based, you won't be able to apply some types of non bitumen materials without taking back to bare steel so check the blacking type you have with the one you want to use. For example, a 2 pack can't be applied over bitumen whereas bitumen can be applied over a 2 pack.

As has been already said, blacking not been done since 2011 is only an issue if the blacking is bitumen. If it's a 2 pack system, it could last 7-10 years. Anyway, irrespective, a visual check will be a reasonable guide, if it looks thin or heavily scuffed, it's knackered. Personally, I wouldn't rule out any boat based on the age or condition of its blacking. At least it's condition is obvious, unlike a freshly blacked boat who's hull could be totally shot under its shiny new coat. Only a survey is going to tell you the hull's condition & if you walk away without a survey, you could be losing a very good boat.

As there do not appear to be any of the "knock out" blanks missing from the box, I'd say it's a feed for a piece of external equipment of some sort which was never fitted. Put a voltmeter across the cables, or a bulb, & see if there's power there.

I'd forgotten about that. I stand corrected & apologies for any offence taken as a result of my post.

Probably as a result of the new residents in the "industrial" new homes that have been thrown up on the old BW Yard. Can't have the little darlings in their megabucks houses having their view "spoilt" by oiks on boats can we?

Hiya, Just been browsing the Shakespeare Marine UK web site again & they are promoting a new boat tracking system called MariTrac. It seems to cost £99 for the kit, with £8.40/month for access to the tracking servers. Link. I've recently bought some antennas from them & the service was excellent, I'm not interested in the system, but I wondered whether there might be a few members who might be interested. Cheers.

If there is space, drill a hole through both mount & panel frame to take a padlock. You can get padlocks in sets with the same key & you might be able to drill the panel frame so that you can lock the panels in the desired tilt position.

That would be great. Thank you Sir!

I wouldn't mind popping up & having a look if you'll allow, I'm liking what I'm reading so far & would love to see his work. Many thanks. Ade.

Hiya, I'm looking for a cratch cover for my widebeam and Tim is quite close to me. Unfortunately, I've not knowingly seen any of his work so I don't have any idea of the quality he produces. Has anyone had any experience of his work? Thanks.

My widebeam "narrowboat" looks just like a trad narrowboat, only wider. Therefore I have both beauty and space. Perfect!

Don't forget to get both male & female, they come as either one, NOT as a pair. You will also need a crimping tool, but if you don't have one, maybe you can borrow one (you don't need the specific crimping tool for these connectors, expensive). If you can't get hold of one, then crimp as best you can & solder the joint if you're able.

A tip top top tip. My own tip: You could visit some of the popular canal centres like Braunston & Stoke Bruerne, to name only 2, & talk to boaters, we all love to talk about our boats & boating. Be warned, some of us don't know when to.......

Brilliant!

We went with Colecraft for "Tillytubby" & the quality & service was excellent, although you do need to think very carefully what you want them to add to the basic build & tot up all the "extras". Even those you might think should be included, might not be, so detailed clarification should always be sought. Don't be afraid to raise anything with them that you're unsure of, Colecraft are brilliant at dealing with that sort of thing. There are a couple of extras worth considering as you're living aboard, double the sprayfoam layer for the roof, sprayfoam is usually a 25mm thick layer, & get the underfloor insulation, they both make a huge difference & are cost effective. Talking of sprayfoam, when you take delivery & before you do anything else, get a can or 2 of expanding foam from screwfix (product No. 83897) or Toolstation (product No. 85137) and fill in any gaps that will naturally be there due to shinkage or being slightly missed. Concentrate your efforts in corners & under box sections,especially under the gunwhales, in fact treat anything you're not sure of. It's tedious, but worth the effort & you'll reduce your condensation risk markedly. Another tedious tip is to insulate all exposed screw heads where the battens have been fixed to the steelwork. I used a special paper cut into squares & stapled, but I'm sure you can use anything that will insulate a cold metal surface from warm air. Another "extra" is the Hempadur blacking & primer thats also worth having as the they are a 2 pack system that bonds to the steel, so it won't deteriorate quickly in case you have to leave it a while before you apply your final paint job. I would recommend having the shot blasting though. I guess most of the above would apply to any of the top names of builders, so it will boil down to your budget, desired quality, but most important, who you feel most confident dealing with. Good luck, I'm sure you'll make the right choice that suits you and enjoy the exciting experience of watching you boat materialise before your eyes!

Phew! When I started reading this I thought the OP had spotted me on "Tillytubby"!

Well, I've always been under the impression that all land a canal runs through belongs to the waterway authority for a distance up to 4m from the waters edge unless the land was part of a wharf. How wrong am I?