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IanD

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Everything posted by IanD

  1. Rather than trying to expand the pole tube and get a screw thread in the inside of it -- which will probably weaken it -- why not grind/file/turn off the thread from the 25mm screwed boss on the ratchet mount so you get a smooth peg the same diameter as the tube inner? All you need then is a way to hold the pole onto the peg and stop it turning, so drill a hole through and put a pin/bolt through, just like a tiller. P.S. BTW it's not weight I'm worried about, that's no problem -- it's sideload from the antenna at the top of the pole in high winds. Assuming you use one of the standard MIMO flat panel antennas like the Poynting, having something this size flat-on to the wind (Murphy's law) at the top of a 3m pole is going to put quite a lot of strain on the mounting at the bottom, and the weakest point will probably be the bottom of the antenna pole where it meets the mount since this is where the biggest stress is. It depends how big the panel antenna is, how strong the wind is, and how strong the (aluminium?) tube wall is -- a 3m pole 1" diameter with a panel on the top might not survive a gale, or might be perfectly OK... 😉
  2. Support your local and traditional pubs, that's what I say... 🙂
  3. It looks as if the problem was due to the boat getting stuck on something under the port bow (which is what the account of what happened said), and this then wedged it in the narrow lock tail -- which won't have helped, but it's not really a "normal boat now getting stuck" simply *because* the lock is too narrow, is it? Otherwise there would be multiple reports of this happening with "normal" boats (not wider historic ones...) at this lock. Of course in an ideal world it ought to be fixed, but if it's not normally a problem for most boats I'm sure CART have got more pressing things to do with the money they haven't got than spend a fortune rebuilding a lock (and closing the canal for months). If it gets narrow enough to really be a problem they'll have to do this, like they've done at other locks (e.g. Hurlestone), but I can't see it happening for a one-off accident like this. I'm sure this will (justifiably!) p*ss off historic boat owners whose boats get caught in tighter locks (like this) first, but CART have to prioritise things which cause problems for most boats not a few -- and yes the same could be said for dredging, where deep historic boats drag on the bottom first. But as everyone is well aware there isn't enough money to fix everything properly, so it's all down to priorities, and problems suffered mainly by a few historic boats are going to be well down the list... 😞
  4. Apology gracefully given and accepted 🙂 Seriously, I hope you at least have one of the "extra-heavy-duty" mounts like this one, not the cheaper/smaller one I linked to before: https://shakespeare-ce.com/marine/product/4187-hd-heavy-duty-ratchet-mount/ These are at least designed (see PDF data sheet) to take longer antennas like this one: https://www.wolfsmarine.com/shakespeare-5399-galaxy-style-9-5-ft-vhf-marine-band-6db/ Similar length to your mast + antenna, but probably lighter (14lbs). However if you're going to put a 4G/5G panel antenna at the top this will have a *much* bigger lateral wind load (much bigger area -- maybe 10x?) than a thin whip antenna, so I hope this is all strong enough... 😉
  5. Now now, play nicely... 😉
  6. Given that reply, next time I won't even bother trying to be helpful... 😞
  7. That looks like the bows have ridden up on something under the port side as it exited the lock, possibly the motorbike shown in the other photo. This would have lifted the port bows up and tilted the boat over to starboard, jamming it in the lock exit with the top starboard rubbing strake wedged against the wall. If the boat was going ahead when this happened it could have been firmly wedged, and it would be difficult or impossible to free it by levering with the plank as shown. Probably the only way out would be to pull the boat backwards by going astern and hope that this pulled it off the obstruction, but if this had rolled forwards when the boat got on top and lifted the hull up even that might not work. Depending how the rubbing strake is wedged into the bricks, even raising the water level could very well make no difference (or make it worse), the bows will just stick there even if the stern lifts -- and if it doesn't and water floods into the boat, you've got a sunk boat. I suspect the only way out would be to pull the boat backwards with a winch, but they didn't have one and there's probably nothing to attach it to down near boat level anyway -- pulling upwards with a winch attached at lockside would lift the stern and make things even worse. Alternatively put a *big* bow fender on and use another boat in the pound below as a drift <THUMP> to try and knock the boat backwards into the lock -- after getting the water level back up to where it was when the boat got stuck... 😉 ...which would have wedged it in even more firmly if the port bow was sitting on top of something... 😞
  8. Possible but there looks to be quite a big gap between boat and wall, getting hung up with some debris (motorbike? wood? log?) between boat and wall sounds more likely. Having said that the bows-on photo does look like it's quite a tight fit at the lock exit... Trying to flush the boat out with water is understandable, but how did the water get high enough to sink the boat -- presumably via engine air inlets or similar? Surely this should have been possible to watch out for?
  9. I can see lots of ways the boat could have got jammed, but it's difficult to understand why it ended up sunk the following day...
  10. Maybe on the alleged motorbike in the photo?
  11. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  12. Presumably you've got one of these? https://marine-electricals.co.uk/product/antenna-deck-mount-n286fe-ac-marine/ These are intended for supporting relatively short (1m or so) light aerials like this, not 3m masts with a WiFi antenna on the end: https://marine-electricals.co.uk/product/celmar4-3ft-vhf-aerial-acmarine/ https://marine-electricals.co.uk/product/fame2-4ft-am-fm-antenna-ac-marine/ If you put a 3m pole with an antenna on the top into that mount, I'd be very surprised if it survived very long, especially in any wind. The normal solution is a proper pole mount made for the job, like the ones used for TV aerials on houses -- or one made for the job for a boat, but these are several hundred quid... 😞
  13. There's a reason Victron sell lots of gear; it's not the cheapest but it's (usually!) properly-designed and well-supported -- and if you've got various bits it's easy to get it all to work together, or add more in the future.
  14. You're right, LFP is *starting* to be used in some cheaper EVs now -- but >99% of the secondhand EV batteries/cells on the market are NMC (uninsurable fire hazard) not LFP (safe). *If* you can find known-good ex-EV LFPs -- with BMS and protection, and you can put everything together and debug it -- then this will probably be cheaper than buying new LFP batteries. For most people this is too much effort/risk, buying new LFPs which are guaranteed to work -- either off-the shelf "drop-in LFP" (like Fogstar) or a DIY cell/BMS (from new components) -- is the preferred solution. Beware that there are lots of cheap LFP cells (and "drop-in" batteries) on the market which are basically factory rejects being sold as "Grade A" -- always use a reputable supplier, not an unknown direct-from-China one. Remember that if the price looks too good to be true, it probably is... 😉
  15. Plenty of sources nowadays for new LFP batteries suitable for boats, for example here: https://www.fogstar.co.uk/collections/lithium-leisure-battery Or you can DIY with cells and BMS which is a lot more work and needs a lot more understanding, and is generally not recommended for those new to the field. I wouldn't even *think* about re-using ex-EV batteries, almost all of them use chemistries like NMC (not LFP, which is safe) which are a serious fire hazard and will very likely mean you can't get insurance cover.
  16. For domestic loads with relatively high peak power but lower average power (e.g. washing machine) it's better to have a battery bank and inverter big enough to run them, to avoid having to run the generator for long periods (noise, wear, fuel consumption). See here for an explanation why: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Technical-Information-Achieving-the-impossible-EN.pdf For example a full wash/dry cycle on my washer/drier consumes about 3kWh, peak load is getting on for 3kW but average over the cycle is well under 1kW. To support this with a generator only you'd need to run a 3kW generator for something like 4 hours while the washer/drier is running (so can't be after 8pm), at an average load of maybe 25%. Or you could run the washer from a 3kW inverter (with big enough battery bank) and only need to run the generator for about an hour whenever its convenient to put the energy back. If you're going to have domestic appliances like this on board which consume significant power, LFP batteries instead of LA would be much better (and avoid long generator running times to get to full charge) -- but you have to sort out how they're managed, you can't really just "drop them in" especially if you have an alternator charging them -- see many other threads on the subject... 😉
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  18. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  19. https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/24211362.happening-worcester-stuck-canal-boat/ It is believed that the boat first became stuck on Saturday at the Gregory Mills top lock, before succumbing to the water on Sunday afternoon. According to the engineers the boat was not sitting level in the water when it passed through the lock. This resulted in the front baseplate getting stuck on the side wall of the lock as it was travelling from the top lock to the bottom lock. The boat then started to cant over before taking on water. [photo] The front of the boat laying on what appears to be a motorbike (Image: Daniel Kelly)
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  21. Yes, this will use a lot less fuel (probably less than half) than running your engine to charge batteries, as well as shorter running times (depending on generator and alternator size).
  22. Looking at the photos the boat is significantly narrower than the lock. So unless there was a brick out of place/sticking out and the boat fouled on that (or a big chunk of debris), fenders seem the most likely cause -- I saw exactly that happen to a boat coming up Foxton locks and they were lucky not to meet a similar fate... 😞 (but that was a boat coming up and the boat at Worcester was going down -- something strange going on...)
  23. And make sure you actually see his policy (online should be fine) to confirm this before handing the boat over 😉
  24. That's a strange definition of "accessible" -- I think most people would take it to mean that you can get to the Eastern end of the HNC via the only canal which connects to it, which is the HBC, which has a 57' (or 60') length limit... 😉 With your definition it's like having a "disabled" (yes, I know...) pub toilet where a wheelchair inside the toilet can get out through the door and down the corridor but not down the steps into the pub, so they have to turn round and go back into the toilet. Not that I'm saying the HNC is like a toilet, it's actually rather lovely... 🙂
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