DameEdna

I haven't tried it but I believe the Pinnacle card works OK ... clicky here. I'm not sure about Vista but Media Player and or XP should be OK here is the current freesat channels and frequencies (so you can tune them in on your existing Sky receiver too) clicky here <added> Of course you won't get HD with your std Sky box !!

That is conflicting information. Freesat and Sky are on different satellites - however they are at the same location in space so a satellite dish pointed to receive Sky will receive Freesat and vice versa. There are 4 satellites in the 28.2 East 'slot' clicky here.

Cool

It's a good question Mr FtS. It worried me for a day or two. Here is the answer ( Google is my friend ) "From the gills, the deoxygenated water passes out the operculum, and the oxygenated blood joins the circulatory system. Goldfish, unlike most fish found in home aquariums, can survive in a non-aerated fish bowl because goldfish spend the majority of their time at the surface, where the oxygen content is highest due to the contact of the water with the atmosphere." So in a stagnant environment there is more oxygen in the top 18" ... which will accelerate the oxidisation of steel. "Some fish require more oxygen than others. This helps to explain why some fish thrive in specific habitats. For example, trout prefer northern streams because the cool water of the streams tends to retain dissolved oxygen, and the active trout need the extra oxygen. Carp, on the other hand, are sluggish and do not need as much oxygen, which is why carp can thrive in warm, relatively stagnant ponds, such as ornamental ponds." I still subscribe to the farting fish theory - much more fun than all this talk of operculum, secondary lamellea and gills

Errrmm no. I was wrong about molecules and atoms but water has less oxygen per Liter than air Ref: <http://www.geocities.com/aquarium_fish/how_fish_breathe.htm> Not rude at all - it's never rude to question

[with humour] Well that's a kinda daft question as water is 1 Hydrogen and 2 Oxygen molecules so fish absorb Oxygen and fart a lot. However rust (oxidisation of ferrous metals) will continue underwater albeit at a slower rate than above as water only has 5ml of oxygen per Litre of water and air has over 200ml/L. Also the metal above is subject to the addition of acids and other impurities which (hopefully) are not present in the cut. The Sacrificial anode also slows down the oxidisation of iron. For it work 100% the hull must be negatively charged. You can also rub the steel with aluminium and water, which will coat the steel in an aluminium oxide which provides a protective coating. If you keep rubbing and make it really shiny then nothing will stick to it and it will resist rusting for a lot longer. The best thing to do would therefore be to polish the base plate with aluminium-oxide until it shines and install several zinc, magnesium and aluminium alloy anodes, connect the hull to negative (-) and dangle a cable connected to the positive (+) battery terminal in the water.

It does - as the distillates climb up the Hdrocarbon chain they get further and further away from 'oil' and their propensity (great word that) to ignite gets faster and easier (lower cetane rating). They also become less lubricative, passing Kerosene and on up through Petrol we get to dry cleaning fluids (Naptha - which will dissolve oil) and then we get so far away from oil we only get gas (Butane and Propane etc). Diesel engines use/need the lubricative quality of the fuel in the injector pumps and as an upper cylinder lubricant, petrol engines don't. You can therefore run a Petrol engine on LPG (Butane and Propane). Just as an aside and not an "i've done this" (nor as a recommendation), you could probably run a Diesel engine on Kerosene if you added a combustible oil, Castrol R or some other 2 stroke oil. You'd smell great on the cut but if you got the mix wrong your engine wouldn't last very long at all - so as I said it's NOT Recommended !

I don't think you can. From a security standpoint posting any (binary) file with executable code is not good thing. If you have a web site and you can upload the file to it you can then add a "clicky" which will allow people to download it. If you send it to me I can upload it for you Example of a "clicky" <URL="www.location.com/file.xls"]link to excel file[/url> (note: replace the < and > with a [ and ] ) Like this clicky to file HTH

Sorry - added an extra zero there (well spotted). I think this is the crux of the matter. Canal side Red is obviously (from what everyone is saying) low quality and the price being charged does seem to be excessive. I guess this is due to commercial reasoning, ie lower volume sales etc and perhaps a little greed on the side ..... Kerosene is not far off Diesel (it's lighter) but is closer to Petrol than Diesel and is very similar to Paraffin and aeroplane fuel (Avtur). Boom Boom Boom Boom Esso Blue ? Yes. You can.

But, Red and White Diesel are "basically" the same. They come from the same hydrocarbon chains. Ignoring the colour for a moment (which is an additive), the only difference is that White Diesel (in the UK) has a lower sulphur content, 500ppm (or less in ULSD), than the 2000ppm in Red. It burns differently as a consequence. This burn characteristic and the inherent contaminates produce more carbon deposit which over time, unless the device is designed to dispose of the contamination, will stop it working correctly. Engines are not that sensitive. Some heaters may well be. The low sulphur content is a new thing too and is only true of White here, in Europe, and the US. In other parts of the world the only difference is the added colour. Australia and NZ's Diesel has around 3000ppm (up to 5000ppm I read) and Turkey still allow 7000ppm. Ref <http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question105.htm> <http://www.americanturkishcouncil.org/events/cleanenergy/pdf/WednesdayBallroom1/AcarGurol_2008CleanEnergy.pdf> <http://www.abc.net.au/health/features/stories/2003/07/03/1835282.htm> <http://www.dieselnet.com/standards/us/fuel.php> The long and short of this is that the lower the sulphur content of heavy oil fuel, the less harmful it is to the environment, the engine and the human being that is in contact with the fumes ...

Yes, I did - in response to the (red coloured) "Are you sure ?" you inserted in my post. Did I miss something ?

It won't wreck the engines. Their unburnt fuel emissions will rise a little and they won't get the same power curve that using a faster burning fuel will give. That's all.

To be pedantic Red diesel is identical to heating oil and "almost" identical to white. White has around 50ppm (parts per million) of sulphur whilst Red has around 2000ppm. The red dye is a solvent powder called 'CO Solvent RED-24' and is added at 10ppm, the chemical marker is Quinizarin. There is also a trace of Yellow dye added which is still evident if the Red is dissipated and was added to enable authorities to tell if the fuel has been tampered with. These additives have no effect on the fuel whatsoever. The other difference is the cetane rating which is defined as being the time delay between injection and ignition (in a consistent heat and pressure chamber). White is 51 and Red around 42 (the slower burn time is good for slow revving engines whilst the faster time is necessary for high speed engines). Heating oil (which is the same as Red diesel) is dyed with Coumarin. HTH

Red diesel is white diesel with a dye (chemical marker) added. The only consequence is that the white diesel turns red. Just a small amount of red will turn a large amount of white red(ish) and be easily detected due to the chemical marker.

From what I can see the CC and CD rating are now obsolete primarily because oil's have moved on, newer grades do the same job and do it better. In olden days additives couldn't control; the shear strength of the oil over a wide temperature, now (especially with synthetics) they can. What you really need is an oil that maintains it's viscosity over a wide range of temperatures (5W50), and doesn't get effected by sulphur. France taxes oil differently that we do so it's much cheaper. I use a fully synthetic in my motorcycle which costs around £30 in the UK and less than £16 in France.

Not a lot unless your shore-power cable is connected to ground in which case the isolator will detect the current and turn on which in turn will trip the RCD and disconnect the onshore power from your boat. I wouldn't stand astride the gap between boat and bank with one foot on the steel deck and one in the wet grass either

A £2 pair of pliers ?

On a recent cruise round the B'Ham ring my GPS said we managed 20mph on one section ....

If you assume that most LED arrays have some form of voltage regulation then operating at 16V wouldn't be an issue. After all a charger or alternator will lift the voltage to 14.4V anyway. Where are you getting the 16V from ? (pardon my ignorance if there is an obvious answer). The other alternative would be to regulate the voltage on the lighting circuit or even at the input to the lamp holder. A 1 Amp regulator (TS7812CZ) costs a humongous 63p each from Maplin <http://tinyurl.com/5lro6a> which solves the problem instantly. Fitting is a piece if cake. The device has 3 pins +)in, +)out and -)Negative. Dropping the voltage to below 12V will mean the LED will get dim, it will probably stop emitting light around 9V (at a guess).