Gypsey_Kings

Tough luck on the fouled prop...Had a few trying problems myself lately (inverter, calorfier), so I can sympathise. Do not think I will make Wheaton Aston tomorrow (from Great Haywood) but may catch up to you a day or two afterwards... would be good to have a chat...

Hi Thanks everyone for the great info... The fanstastic forum does it again ..!!! Junior - Looks like I will be on the Stafs and Worcs tomorrow., so will be missing out on you... sorry - will be looking out for you on the way back... Nicknorman, Cheshire cat, Oldboater & Ditchcrawler - I stopped at the Taft farm boat (still 65p) but no-one around anywhere. Cotswoldsman - Wheaton Aston, I had been searching for that...after reading about it a week or so ago (Facebook or CWF)...couldn't remember the name or find it again. I think I have enough left in the tank to make it there - thank you.. edit - spelling

Any fuel boats between Rugeley and Great Haywood or on the nor thern Staffs & Worcs?

Hi First time this far north - so as the title says...any cheap fuel - Rugeley to Great Haywood or then down the Northern Stafs & Worcs (to Autherley)? Thanks in advance for any advice...

Thanks everyone for the tips and routes.. I added up the locks and distances etc of the different routes (from the info on Heron maps) ... from Napton to Hurleston Junction... some interesting figures ... 1) High road - Napton, Braunston, Coventry canal to Fradley, Trent & Mersey to Middlewich and then south to Hurleston Junction.. - 75 locks, 48.75 hours and 117 miles 2) Low road - Napton, Grand Union to Kingswood Junction, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham main line to Autherley Junction and then up the Shroppie.. - 118 locks, 52.75 hours and 94.75 miles 3) Lo-Hi X-over - Napton, Grand Union to Kingswood Junction, Stratford-upon-Avon to Birmingham main line to Autherley Junction, up the Staffs & Worcs to Great Haywood, Trent & Mersey to Middlewich and then south to Hurleston Junction.. - 130 locks, 60.75 hours and 108.75 miles 4) Hi-Lo X-over - Napton, Braunston, Coventry canal to Fradley, Trent & Mersey to Great Haywood, down the Staffs & Worcs to Autherley Junction and then up the Shroppie.. - 63 locks, 50 hours and 130.25 miles Looks like route 4 is my choice, even though it is 130 miles it's only a couple of hours difference to route 1 and route 2 and has the least number of locks. Route 3 seems to be the worst, nearly double the locks and 10 hours longer. Thanks again to everyone for the advice ...

Rob-M - Thanks for the comments, Harecastle should'nt be a problem. monkeyhanger - Thanks for your input, What interesting techniques on the Llangollen canal would that be? reversing !! Hi Keeping Up, Would that be 1) Grand Union, Birmingham - north Stratford - Trent & Mersey to Middlewich or 2) Coventry, Trent & Mersey - north Stratford - Shropshire? I did have a look at this routeas it seems to miss all the big flights... Hi Arbutus, This is starting to look like a very good route....thanks...(from my direction it would be turn left at Great Haywood onto Staffs & Worcs !!)

Hi, So we are going to see the famous Pontcysyllte Aqueduct leaving from Fenny Compton (Just north of Banbury on the Oxford canal), and the question to all those experienced boaters out there, is which way would be the best for us... Us being SWMBO and myself only, both of us retired. SWMBO refuses to steer the boat, so has to do all the locks. Time and distance is not an issue but locks are. Double locks are terrible but single locks not so bad. If they are close together than I can close them for her while she goes to set the next one... The route I'm thinking of is..up the Oxford, left at Napton onto the top of the Grand Union canal. Then off at the Kingswood junction onto the Stratford-upon-Avon to Kings Norton Junction, turn right going north to the Birmingham Main line to Autherley Junction and then north up the Shropshire Union canal to the Llangollen canal. see https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zjsJ2QUJ-Z-A.kMfF21e046r8&usp=sharing Looks like over 100 locks this way!! An alternative is to go to Braunston and use the Coventry canal and then the Trent & Mersey to Middlewich and then down to the Llangollen. My calcs say 75 locks this way!! Any advice from the great wealth of knowledge that is on the forum would be very appreciated... thanks in advance Clive

In my opinion the crash was not Tim's fault at all, not that Tim doesn't bang about a bit !!!... Playing back my decoders recording of the program you can see that Tim was moving over to the other side of the bank after suddenly seeing the other boat through those dreadfull willows (been there ... very hard to see ... could do with maintenance). And he was not traveling fast either. The other boat carried on straight down the middle into him, without slowing down and the helmsman was not even visible till he suddenly popped up after hitting Tim !!!! What a plonker... To me 'contact sport' (hate the term) should only mean nudging the sides etc like Tim did in the diamond lock, but not hitting other boat's. The only time I think there should be boat to boat contact is nudging each other when sharing locks or breasting up. Anything else is very poor helsmanship,even with wind, current or poor visiblity you should be going at the appropriate speed or using ropes to avoid contact - even sharing a lock is possible without contact (other than fenders)... Just my 2p's worth... Fantastic program, as good as if not better tahn the first series... now eagerly looking forward to the rest of this series... (edit for late night spelling & grammar )

incorrect... A vehicle (from Latin: vehiculum[1]) is a mobile machine that transports people or cargo. Most often, vehicles are manufactured, such as wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses), railed vehicles (trains, trams), watercraft (ships, boats), aircraft and spacecraft.[2]

Anyone care to debate if current in a dc circuit flows from + to - or from - to + ...

now showing back in stock at £250! Thank you - Just purchased mine .... They have 1 left in stock now..!!!

Also be aware of the CTE (centre tapped earth) - connect that to neutral at your peril !!!

Your readings do make sense - based on two ASSUMPTIONSi 1) you have 4 x 12v volt batts in parrallel connection and 2) the readings are not taken accurately ie no decimal places (although clamp meter readings do have a degree of inaccuracy due to magnetic feilds from other cables interfering with the one under test) so in the following way... Positive side... 23A-5A=18A then 18A-5.5A=12.5A then 12.5A-6A=6.5A Negative side... 23A-6.5A=16.5A then 16.5A-6=10.5A then 10.5A-5.5A=5A So as you can see the currents through each battery is different, thus causing the changes...

I have the Huawei E5372 (3G & 4G) and the Huawei E5756 (3G only) also on the Three network - the Huawei E5372's battery is pathetic, doesn't last long and once flat you have to charge it up a good while before you can use it again.....the Huawei E5756 (3G only) which I use everywhere else on 3G is brilliant, goes almost all day before needing to charge and if flat, just plug the charger in and carry on using...no waiting... The Huawei E5756 (3G only) has a single external aerial socket and the Huawei E5372 (3G & 4G) has two external sockets....I do not have an external aerial yet, but have'nt needed one yet either... I have had coverage everywhere I have stopped from Devizes to Reading, the whole of the River Wey to Godalming and the Thames from the River Wey to Oxford and down the GU... Just stuck to the glass of the porthole with blue tack - works like a bomb... So although 4G speed is very NICE when you can get it !! - the Huawei E5756 (3G only) is still my choice. The Huawei E5372(3G & 4G) battery is changable...maybe they will come out with one that lasts longer... the Huawei E5756 (3G only) does not open up very easily, so if the battery goes it will have to be sent in to be changed or you need to do some very neat surgery (which some have done before) !!! EDIT to add that I charge both with a cigarette lighter - USB charger off the 12V (must be 2.1 amp and not 1amp) this is the aerial I'll be getting... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141515797956

Our CO alarm went off in the front bedroom (we have two CO alarms) - immediately sent the wife outside (for her to get help if anything happened to me) and opened the hatch and some windows, and then checked the alarm - reading 43 ppm (parts per million - alarm goes off at 50 ppm). I had been running the engine earlier with a tail wind blowing and the fire was just smouldering, so got the fire roaring, but could not get the reading to go below 20 ppm... so shutdown the fire altogether - opened all windows, hatches, doors and switched on the bathroom extractor fan...and eventually got the reading down to 0ppm. I did not know it was that difficult to get the CO out of the boat. Now I understand why it builds up to fatal levels - I then closed up the boat again with the diesel central heating going (wind no longer a tail wind) and the boat has stayed at 0 ppm. Next day thoroughly cleaned out the solid fuel stove and chimney and are still at 0 ppm with the fire going... If we did'nt have a Carbon Monoxide alarm we would have been dead in the morning - If you do not have one, GET ONE NOW - please learn from our experience - they are invaluable . Could also have been the wind from the wrong angle, blowing it back down the chimney or a combination. BTW .... Carbon Monoxide (CO) is NOT heavier than air. This is a MYTH. Not to be confused with Carbon Dioxide (CO2– what we breathe out), Butane and Propane Gas (what we cook with), which are heavier than air. FACT: The density of Carbon Monoxide (CO not CO2) at 20 °C (room temperature) is 0.96716 compared to air (1.00). At lower temperatures its relative density does increase slightly relative to air. CO has a molecular mass of 28.0, and air has an average molecular mass of 28.8 (78.084% nitrogen at 28, 20.948% oxygen at 32, 0.934% Argon at 39.9, 0.031% Carbon dioxide at 44 and 0.003% other gases). CO is therefore only slightly lighter than air at room temperature (3% lighter). The difference is so slight that CO at room temperature is found to evenly distribute itself indoors. But CO is the product of combustion (with insufficient oxygen [O2] to product carbon dioxide [CO2]), so it's going to be hotter and thus more lighter than air most of the time. For this reason CO detectors are usually placed about or above head height. In the bedroom, the alarm should be in the breathing zone, just above your head. 35ppm - The maximum allowable concentration for continuous exposure for healthy adults in any 8 hour period, as recommended by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). 200ppm - Slight headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea after 2-3 hours. 400ppm - Frontal headaches within 1-2 hours, life threatening after 3 hours. 800ppm - Dizziness, nausea and convulsions within 45 minutes. Unconsciousness within 2 hours. Death within 2 - 3 hours. CO poisoning is actually the result of the head and heart not receiving sufficient oxygen… ie asphyxiation. If a person is removed from a high-CO environment after acute CO poisoning they may still suffer difficulty with some mental functioning such as short-term memory, dementia, amnesia, irritability, an unusual walking gait, speech impairments, and depression. Some people have said it’s taken them months to fully recover their mental functioning after an acute exposure event to carbon monoxide. Heavier than air ...... Carbon Dioxide (CO2 – what we breathe out) has a molecular density of 44 (Air is 28.8) so heavier than air. No Alarm needed. Butane (for the stove) has a molecular density of 58 (Air is 28.8) so heavier than air. So LP- Gas alarm mounted near the floor. Propane gas (for the stove) has a molecular density of 44 (Air is 28.8) so heavier than air. So LP- Gas alarm mounted near the floor. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A WORKING CO ALARM WITH ADEQUATE VENTILATION !!!!

For balanced charging of 8 x 12v batteries in a 24V system ... Cables don't need to be these colours, the colours are just to show which ones should have the same length. (also helps to see how the balanced charging works)

WALK OFF THE EARTH .... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9PEibgWOqZ-1I1JdxRmr6g EDITED TO ADD... with 160 million views and climbing, you've probably seen it already !!

I have the Huawei E5372 (3G & 4G) and the Huawei E5756 (3G only) also on the Three network - the Huawei E5372 (3G & 4G) is nice on 4G where you can get it (centre of Reading and Oxford only so far !!) BUT it's battery is pathetic, doesn,t last long and once flat you have to charge it up a good while before you can use it again.....the Huawei E5756 (3G only) which I use everywhere else on 3G is brilliant, goes almost all day before needing to charge and if flat, just plug the charger in and carry on using...no waiting... The Huawei E5756 (3G only) has a single external aerial socket and the Huawei E5372 (3G & 4G) has two external sockets....I do not have an external aerial yet, but have'nt needed one yet either... I have had coverage everywhere I have stopped from Devizes to Reading, the whole of the River Wey to Godalming and the Thames from the River Wey to Oxford... Just stuck to the glass of the porthole with blue tack - works like a bomb... So the Huawei E5756 (3G only) is still my choice, but 4G speed is NICE !! - The Huawei E5372 battery is changable...maybe they will come out with one that lasts longer... BTW the Huawei E5756 (3G only) does not open up, so if the battery goes it will have to be sent in to be changed !!! EDIT to add - Phone is on EE network and we have endless trouble getting a signal, usually have to hold it out the hatch to send an SMS

My way of showing the connections....ie: which ones need to be the same length for balanced charging... Cables don't need to be these colours, the colours are just to show which ones should have the same length. (also helps to see how the balanced charging works)

That was the question I had. Robbo thinks the unit is built to accommodate this, and Robbo seems to be familiar with the workings of the unit. Doing it with the 240V would certainly simplify things. If it was hooked up that way and didn't work well, the worst that would happen is that it wouldn't work well. Sorry...I can't find this ... I see where he says the Outback Controller, SSR and Heater element can handle it, but I find no reference to say the Sterling Inverter can handle it...???