Peter R
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Posts posted by Peter R
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depends on the model. My '3' dongle (ZTE MF622) has a aerial socket, but don't know about more recent ones.
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Sounds like there's going to be a few people around. Let me guess - beer tent around lunchtime?
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I might just be able to come and join you. i'm heading over to crick tomorrow, but so long as i manage to escape from w**k on time, i should get there in time to be able to drive down to napton for an hour or two. No guarantees, but i'll try.
Peter
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Has anyone used their connection to play on Xbox live at all?
No, but I suspect you will struggle with it. Admittedly i don't use the mobile connection that much, but the fastest connection i've ever had is 1Mbps, the norm is more like 4-500kbps, which I suspect would be to slow for internet gaming. If the signal is weak the connection can get dropped with frustrating regularity.
Also, no guarantee you will have 3g signal at all - if you look at any of the operators coverage maps you will realise that the 3g network is still really in it's infancy, and tends to be concentrated around the major trunk roads. Last time I was out I couldn't get a 3g connection for about half the time.
Peter
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That's certainly food for thought - I paid £10 for 1Gb on my 3 payg account recently when I took the boat out for a couple of weeks. I've just checked the account and during the time I was out I only used about a tenth of that Gb, which will expire in 5 days time and i'll lose the rest.
£15 per Gb is obviously more, but with no time limit so you don't lose what you've paid for it's probably a better deal for infrequent users. I wonder if I could just get the 3 modem 'unlocked' and put a voda sim card in it?
Peter
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Being in the marina at Crick must be a big advantage at this time
As this is the first year i've been there, how much of an advantage remains to be seen! However, it does mean I get in free so the account starts 'in credit' as it were.
Peter
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Fair enough.
I'm surprised it's no more difficult to drive them in with a crowbar.
The proper tool would appear to allow you to stay standing, the crowbar method sounds like you would need to get intimate with the ground, but perhaps I've not understood.
Another thought is that often we get a conventional stake two thirds or three quarters in before it hits rock or concrete. No amount of bashing will usually change that. Sometimes I have to try several spots before success. I think I'd be quite frustrated if each time I were screwing something in, only to have to keep removing it. If you can't "bash" a stake past an obstruction, I'll wager the "screwed" item has zero chance.
I think faced with the same problems, I'd probably avoid Crick, but I suspect I'd do that anyway.
I guess we have been lucky, I can't ever recall having our stakes pulled out, although they have been a loose fit in one or two places by the morning.
I have three similar to this that I use on those occasions that I can't find mooring rings or a section of piling to hook onto. Two of them are 18" long, the other is about 12". Last year at Crick I was mored on these (two boats behind 'alnwick') - 'long' anchor front and rear, with the shorter one centrally and a total of four lines out. I was moored on them for about 5 days, and they stayed put.
I use one of the 'paperclip' style piling hooks to screw them in - yes you have to kneel or crouch down, but so what - it's no harder than hammering in pins. I have also very rarely failed to get one in - as they encounter stones and such, they sometimes actually change angle as they go in - the corkscrew action seems to work past most obstructions. I think I got the two long ones from midland chandlers and the shorter one from B&Q. I've had them a few years but I think they were about £15.
Graham - I won't be using them this year as i'm in the marina now, so if you'd like to try them and see how they work, let me know and i'll bring them round when I get there (probably sometime on the Friday).
Peter
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That's a bit of a b****r if true! Expect to find us moored mid channel because just south of bridge 13 was always the only spot where we could get close enough to the bank.
Buoys were only installed recently - probably 'cos no-one ever moors on that bit except during the show. I wondered what they were there for , but then I got the latest 'harbourmaster's' newsletter (my boat's in the marina) and it said it due to voles. Hopefully you'll find somewhere you can 'dredge' your way in. I should be over for a couple of days during the show, so i'll have to come and find you.
re: query on entrances - there has to be at least two as the 'new' bit doesn't have any direct water connection to the 'old'. I think the 'new' bit was given two as it allows more moorings as they then don't have to leave a clear 'channel'. The fun bit is that if you look carefully, there is a 'no mooring' sign either side of the entrances, but in between them there is another that says mooring is allowed (I think it's probably an old one they forgot to remove!), so there are often boats moored opposite the entrances anyway!
Peter
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Daniel
I friend of mine is presently fitting a sailing barge which has 24v electrics and I know he has used some of the 2d type round brass effect fittings. I don't know for sure where they came from, and i can't ask him quickly (as i'm on the boat and 'three' can only give me gprs this evening), but I suspect it was probably either aquafax or asap supplies.
He used to have a trade account with aquafax, so if they had anything suitable I could probably get them cheaper than you could direct, providing his account's still active.
Peter
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another thought for you - if you want to keep the house for the time being, and don't have a big mortgage, you could add a bit to the mortgage to fund a boat - it's how I bought my first boat.
I bought a 30 year old 30' nb for £13.5k. 18 months later I had an unexpected windfall and decided to upgrade and sold it for something like £14.5k, which covered purchase cost and brokerage fee, so I had 18 months boating for little more than the cost of mooring and licence.
My experience was that providing I kept the 'loan as % of value' sensible, the lender wasn't overly interested what i spent it on
Peter
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You could also try saisons
The website only mentions up to 6 weeks, but i'm sure i've seen reference in another thread to someone who hired a boat from them for several months
Peter
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I've got a bit longer to play with, as i'm off work this week and next.
Presently at Yelvertoft, heading north. Probably not going to get further than foxton though as i've got to be back at welford on saturday to meet a friend. after that, see where the mood takes me.
Peter
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Meanwhile, back on topic...
Looks like they have sold out of the 3 dongles, oh well, I've stuck my address in for when they have them back in stock...
If you haven't sorted anything yet, I happened to visit the three website earlier and they are currently advertising the PAYG dongles from just under £30 in case it's of interest.
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How much are tickets on the day. If you buy in advance (£8.00) by card there is a charge of £1.50. How does this compare to the "on the day" price. You do get a brochure but i have been three times now and didn't want or need one.
I can't remember for sure, but I've got a feeling the difference last year was something like £2 on a three day pass. I know it worked out that if you were buying one it was slightly more expensive than in advance, but if buying several then advance was probably worth it.
I'll probably be there, but then as it's where I moor the boat now I think I get in free, so I may as well! We had quite a god gathering of forum members last year, so hopefully there'll be a few around this year.
Peter
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Haven't tried this for a while, so thought i'd have a go
Since I think my connection is only advertised as 2Mb, I don't think I can complain
Peter
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On my boat (45'), the only location for tables is in the saloon. It came with a large table (which you can fairly easily get four people around) which is supported by two of the 'desmo' legs. It also has a small round table that is supported on a single leg. Both tables can be stored against the cabin side when not required.
The photo below shows the round table in use - the larger one can just be seen in the distance against the cabin side.
Peter
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I have a '3' dongle that I use on the boat, generally it works very well but is dependent on where you are. The best performance i've seen to date is about 1meg, and the worst was on a trip up the Leicester line last year - it was fine up to crick, but I only got a 3G signal once between crick and market harborough.
Some dongle's have a connection for an external antenna which should help, but it hasn't yet been enough of a problem to temp me to lay out the money to buy one.
Peter
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I don't think this was particularly stupid, although you're free to disagree, but thought might be of interest.
A few weeks back I was moving the boat (singlehanded), and was going up watford locks. As usual when locking on my own I had my long (15m) centreline on. Whilst waiting for a chamber to fill, I looked down from the top gates and noticed that the line had snagged under the edge of a mushroom vent, so without giving it much thought I gave the line a flick to un-snag it.
This achieved the object and although a 'loop' of rope swung down and hit the far side of the cabin I didn't think anything of it...... Until I went into the cabin a few minutes later to find glass all over the floor! It appears that the rope that went over the cabin side had hit the glass of one of the top hopper windows, and reduced it to fragments
Fortunately it was only the hopper part of the window so I only had to get a bit of glass cut to the right size and drop it in, but I would never have previously thought that it was possible to break a window with a rope!
Peter
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Unfortunately in some cases I have permission for "half" a photo, at the moment!
That's what image editors are for!
Looks like a good evening - sorry I couldn't make it, but given the current temperatures fixing my parents central heating system had to take priority!
Peter
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I've got a pair of these that do come in useful at times. From memory I think they are by binatone (although I can't be sure as I am at home and they are on the boat). Looking at the binatone website, I think they are the EK1000.
I've got a feeling that they were only about £20 new, but they may have been on special offer at the time.
Peter
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LED's themselves shouldn't cause any interference, but if they've got some kind of electronic voltage stabiliser built in then I guess the electronics could be producing something.
Do either of your radios have the ability to run on batteries? If so you could try that to see if the interference is being transmitted via the 12V supply or if it is affecting the radio signal itself.
Peter
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As events also transpired to keep me from attending Thrupp today, it would be nice to come along, but realistically it is probably unlikely as it is kind of a long way from Suffolk!
Peter
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I know this is a bit late, but as those who are probably bantering at this moment will have discovered by now (unless they haven't noticed of course), whilst I was hoping to be there, i'm not, as i'm here instead (if you see what I mean!).
Without getting too complicated, unfortunately events transpired that I needed to be in suffolk tomorrow morning, which was not compatible with being in thrupp tonight.
Hope all goes well, will have to try and make the next one.
Peter
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I'm probably not going to be sure until just before, but I might be able to make it. Pick a date and i'll let you know nearer the time.
Welford arm visitor moorings
in General Boating
Posted
I was up there a couple of weeks back. If you can get there by late afternoon you've a chance of a mooring near the wharf, but it's quite possible they will be full in which case you might have to go back down near the lock, but it's not a long walk.
Peter