dmr

I didn't mean hunting, just the speed jumping between the two adjacent "digitisation" states due to the low speed resolution and some sort of noise, not an issue but it just looks bad. Likewise Zeus only displays and logs temperature to a 1 degree resolution but it holds that temperature really well so its internal measurement must have more resolution (or averaging). I just don't like seeing digitisation steps 😀

Many many years I had the use of a minicomputer that had ROM chips based on real OTP fuses, and the myth is true, over time the blown fuses really do grow back and make some horrible bugs. The Zeus rpm does bounce between two adjacent values, just like yours, so if I have set a speed dependant duty cycle limit that bounces about too, no real problem but it looks a bit messy on the logged data.

You will note that in my plot a few posts back I was really lucky because current, duty cycle and temperature all fit very nicely on the sames Y axis.😀 I note that your speed resolution is low, just like the Zeus. It should be possible to do much better, especially if the controller has a counter/timer, but this will depend on both hardware and software detail. I do not yet know if Zeus is going to handle end of charge detection correctly as a low current could be due to a fully charged battery OR potentially due to the engine speed dropping and not taking account of low speed duty cycle reduction. I suspect our market is very small and most sailing boats will not see as much big speed changes as canal boats, but there is always mooring manouvers so it should be ok. I think I read that the Wakepeed can go into a zero current mode rather than a zero charge/float mode, dunno if the Zeus can do the same. A liitle job later this week is to get a proper ignition light working. I reckon a relay on the old ignition wire will do this. (output from diode trio activates a changeover relay and breaks the indicator light drive. Neater than a big resistor.)

NBTA are very good at getting publicity for their (one) side of the story, and it works. During all those little conversations that we have with the public at locks I have during previous campaigns been told "CRT are going to evict you all if you don't travel 100 miles every month" (or whatever). And evicting attractive young professional couples with children, or disabled old men 😀, is a much better story that the 1995 waterways act and a funding gap etc.

Its a real problem, most modern car radios are all about bluetooth sources and working hands free with the phone and streaming spotify from the phone. Actual radio reception is an afterthought. and I share yiur frustration about finding the on-off switch. Am currently listening to radio 4 streamed from the internet to the PC and sent via an optical cable to the bookshelf speakers, 😀 I was defeated by the radio but will try again in a couple of days.

Coming up the Rochdale through Newton Heath year before last we had eggs thrown. Somebody said the locals have gone soft, they used to throw bricks. Going towards Wallsall we got stuck on shopping trolleys under the bridge to the supermarket. Locals on the bridge started to tear up bread and throw the bits at us, a bit like feeding the ducks I suppose. At Gas street the chef in the hotel wrapped all the breakfast leftovers in tinfoil and threw them at us, some went in the cut but we caught most of it.

Skinners Union made some lovely carburetors, but those electric fuel pumps with the funny springy thing at the bottom did have a few problems 😀.

Speak to somebody who knows about these things. Some reads/grasses can be good, and might even make a home for a water vole. Others can take over the canal and so be really destructive.

Yes, the 1E (rotational frequency) component is actually a pitch. Many off the shelf 3 cylinder engines will have an out of balance flywheel and front pulley to turn half of this into a yaw as a best compromise. A proper (automotive) design would establish the sensitivity of the vehicle structure to the various force inputs and design the mounts and pitch/yaw split correctly. This is also sometimes done on big plastic boats but I don't know if it has been tried on a narrowboat, it would be an interesting project. Balance shafts use/waste a bit of power and would have limited gain on a three due to the various frequencies, they work a treat on the I4 (standard inline four cylinder engine) as this has one major harmonic (but do have to run at twice engine speed). Traddy boats have a rigidly mounted big heavy engine, I don't know how well a lighter modern regidly mounted engine would work but suspect boaters who choose not to have a "proper" engine aspire to near xero noise and vibration so mounts are the way to go. Putting the engine right at the back of the boat is probably good for noise but maybe not optimum for vibration.

In a modern car one or more mounts are often quite high up to give a "neutral axis" installation where the mounts are on the axis about which the engine wants to rotate. In boats the mounts are low down and not "designed" so more engine movement is likely. The three cylinder engine is quite difficult as it produces two harmonic series, one at the firing frequency (1.5 times rotation) and one at rotation frequency, so its difficult to steer clear of all the resonances.

I like a boat with an engine room, Jims boat doesn't even have an engine 'ole, its just got a big white thing stuck on the back 😀. Have helped a friend up the C&H in a 55 footer, I really would not fancy doing those locks in a 60 footer. Got a bit restless with the home moorer stuff so having a few days out, left the mooring at 9:30 yesterday morning and sitting in the Golden Lon with a pint in hand before 3, I reckon we could almost keep up with the hire boats.

Yes, we do have a liitle pang of sadness each time we turn let coming out of the Leigh branch, but even more as we pass the turn to the Rufford Arm. Still dream of a second "Northern Boat" but think two boats is just too much maintanance. Have invested in some premium bonds 😀 ...........and we do do the Manchester 18 twice every year 😀

Not sure about the wisdom of going down Wigan flight just to turn and go back up 😀. You would need to get right through Wgan (which is a few more locks) and get to at least Crooke Hall which is probably too far, but the L&L from just beyond Wigan to just outside of Liverpool is a very nice bit of canal.

Not sure that I remember correctly but I think that above that bridge the river splits, the navigable channel is to the right and there is a channel/backwater off to the left with various boats moored, so it is quite possible that its not even CRT water.

I read somewhere, maybe even on this forum, that there was going to be an anouncement in the recent budget, but I have not heard anything about this.

HVO and FAME are two totally different fuels. They might be made from the same feedstock but the process of manufacture is different. FAME is pretty rubbish stuff but the government insists on diluting our diesel with it. HVO is good stuff and even better than "dinodiesel". HVO is not hygroscopic and is also long term stable.

Sorry, I meant that before the change they were likely not buying from the local garage anyway. The new regulations for farms are complicated as red should only be used for actual farming, not for the various farm related construction tasks.

I expect than most construction sites (and bigger farms) get their diesel delivered to their site so the customers at most garages will be smaller farms and smallholdings etc. so the market might not have reduced too much. I would speak to ytour marina first before you go to the expense of aseparate tank, they might be totally stuck on 60:40 regardless. Also do work out how much that extra tank will cost to install and what the savings are likely to be over the next few years. I suspect it will be cheaper to stick to the 60:40.

Some diesel sellers just find it easier to stick to 60:40 as it makes their calculations and paperwork marginally easier. It just might be a political view from the marina owner who could believe that boaters are lowlife who should pay their "fair share" of taxes. I have only encountered this attitude once and that was at a marina in Cambridgeshire (where I chose not to buy their diesel). Maybe this is where you are. Ideally you should keep the tank topped up so just putting in a couple of jerry cans every week should be enough, though this is a bit tedious and hard work if you have to carry them any distance. Finding a petrol station that will sell you red diesel can also be a bit tricky, some are even more difficult than your marina. 😀. If you do go the jerrycan route then I find a syphon much more civilised than trying to pour into a funnel. It takes several minutes to syphon a 20litre can which is just the right time to do a bit od deck sweeping or whatever.

One of the big attractions of living on a boat is the sense of freedom, and a static boat in a marina rather negates this, you are stuck with whatever rules and regulations the marina chooses to apply. However they must know that the boat is static so asking for propulsion duty is rather unfair.

Yesterday I watched CRT (full time staff) assisting boats over the Rochdale summit, no ropes, just careful use of the paddles. All this arguing over same side/opposite side paddles is rather meaningless as it varies from canal to canal, and boat length is a major factor. On the Rochdale its opposite side paddle us, but when I help shorter boats its much less clear cut. If you don't know the lock and have additional crew a good safe option is to open both paddles together about a 1/3, so that any forces tend to cancel out.

yes but, The tanker hose will not fit the boat filler, it will be huge and deliver fuel at a massive rate.. You will also have to fill in the suppliers declaration stating why you can use red diesel and they might or might not be happy about selling to a boat . Also the marina will likely object to a tanker enterring their property to compete with them. As the op only fills the tank once every blue moon then HVO would be a better/safer option but thats even more difficult.

For a different perspective, we try to use ropes only as a last resort in known difficult locks. Ropes are a distraction and something else to go wrong. One person on the boat using engine to hold the boat in position, one working the paddles and using them to try to control the boat. Going down is easy, just need to keep forward of the cill and watch for other hangups. Going up needs careful and gentle use of appropriate paddles to avoid moving the boat too much, only fully open paddles once boat is at least half way up. The trouble with ropes..... Going down the boat can get hung on the rope, so rope needs constant monitoring and adjusting, so distracting you from other tasks. Going up....in a deep lock rope has limited effect due to poor angle, rope must be very tight to work so needs constant adjusting when attention should be on boat and paddles. Ropes ok if you have additional crew dedicated to rope handling. Single handing is obviously very different. To be fair though, we are a heavy full length boat so the technique of a centre line looped round a bollard back to the steerer does not work well for us, for others it does.

Putting a big surcharge on CC'ers in order to deter CM'ers is a really bad and unfair way to solve the CM'er/cheap housing problem. CC'ers, often older retired people with a real interest in the canals, are an essential part of the canal community.