anhar

I think we had this discussion before on this forum Chris. I've been telling people this for some years now, long before I started contributing to this forum, but few believe it until you do the math. One of the cons of PBs is the idea the government allows, cynically, to circulate amongst naive people who compare it with the lottery, that "you can't lose your stake". Rubbish of course because the stake isn't the capital put into the scheme, it is the interest lost. But very large numbers of people do see it, wrongly, that way. The capital is in fact a repayable loan to the government. It's better now but another of the PB cons was that you had to wait, originally six months, then I think three and now one whole calendar month before you could even enter the draw. Whilst the current period isn't that bad, the earlier waiting periods were an appalling rip off. They took the interest from you without even allowing you to enter the game! A staggeringly cynical government ploy that no privately owned bookmaker or lottery could get away with. regards Steve

Hello Stewart Well, marginally, I didn't bring up this point but since it was mentioned: Better to play the lottery, the odds against winning big money are several times lower than Premium Bonds. Don't get me wrong they are still minuscule, just a lot less minuscule than that con, PBs. regards Steve

This is exactly the point I was going to make. This discussion isn't about money at all as I see it, it's about ensuring that batteries are sufficiently charged to supply demand when off charge for as long as possible for comfort and convenience purposes. Obviously one wants them to last as long as possible before replacement but as I understand it, that comes automatically with the territory of ensuring they are properly charged anyway. Fitting only the best charging/inverter equipment is one essential thing, whatever it costs. I can't understand people who fit anything other than Victron or Mastervolt just to save a small amount which is probably peanuts in comparison with the cost of the boat. Far more important than cost is quality. Coincidentally, I've noticed that Gary in his blog on this site has written a piece saying just that, comparing the false economy of many stingy narrowboaters trying to save pennies with those who buy his company's Euro boats and specify seagoing quality equipment rather than the second rate canal kit that many readers of this forum install. regards Steve

Hello Les No I don't have the remote panel. Haven't needed it so far. You are right that this enables alteration of the input current limit. It also has more warning lights on it than the main unit. But that's all it does as far as I know. The software version has that and a great deal of additional potential adjustments that can be made to the unit, and it's free, though it does require that one has a computer to attach to it. I've had some email discussions with Victron on this, to which incidentally they responded each time within hours, because I may wish to use a small portable Honda EU "suitcase" style generator for charging whilst moored if I go longer term cruising and am therefore off the shore line for extended periods. It wouldn't in that case be adequate to have the remote input control panel because although that will reduce the maximum input current correctly, some other adjustments have to be made to the operation of the unit to do with the way the Honda responds to it. "Dynamic Current Limiter" is the Victron term for the internal adjustment that needs to be made for use with the Honda so that it works optimally. This adjustment can I understand be made only by the software route. Therefore if I am going to have to use a computer and the software, which they call VE Configure, in any case to adjust the Victron to work with a Honda generator, I may as well use it also for the input shore current limiter and avoid the cost of the remote panel which won't then be needed. The software contains a virtual version of the remote panel which can be seen on page seven of the guide: http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/docume...re-20060612.pdf regards Steve

I have a Victron inverter/charger and the start battery charge output is stated as 4 amp with no stage pattern, in contrast to the complex staged charge pattern of the domestic battery output. Incidentally the latter can be varied for different types of batteries etc. by attaching a computer with Victron software that can be downloaded from their website. Many other features such as shore line input levels can also be varied in this way. regards Steve

One point, there is no difference in the type of licence or the price between a cc'er and a permanent mooring. They are the same thing and there is only one licence. It is only in the declaration you have to make when applying that you are required to declare your permanent mooring location or alternatively that you will cc and that you comply with the regulations for so doing. regards Steve

It is not the supermarkets' fault snibble if people take the trolleys and dump then in canals or whatever. It is totally and unreservedly the fault of the public and therefore it is the public who should pay. That means you and me. The shops may be an easy target but they are the wrong target. They are the victims of the crime, not the perps. regards Steve

I can't know why you heard that figure quoted Malcolm but it is a ludicrous over estimate. I don't know where they are made, it doesn't matter, they cost around the figure I quoted with variations according to the model. Big supermarkets generally have several different types and presumably larger and/or more complex types will be dearer. But £1,200 is wrong by a huge magnitude.

That is inaccurate. In the quantities which Tesco and Sainsbury etc. buy them, they don't pay anywhere near £210.

Hurricane is expensive but good in my experience, I've got one and it does the business. Fast warm up. User serviceable. No problems so far. Dunno about about ease of installation because it was done professionally. Avoid Eberspacher. The volume of complaints about their reliability is very high and they are not user serviceable. Major boat builders New Boat Co. stopped using them some years back, they now supply Webasto as standard. The best people to ask are probably those in a position to see a number of installations, namely boat builders. Individual users' answers here may not be sufficient to form a meaningful opinion on any particular brand. Even the best brands will have some duff units and equally the worst will have some that work okay. You need to go by the overall level of complaint/satisfaction. regards Steve

That's correct. GUPA boaters will notice too many flower garlands in the water as well as the coconuts. The western stretch of this canal from Bulls Bridge flows through areas with substantial Hindu populations, such as Southall and Alperton. This is massively wrong Malcolm. The cost of a trolley is about £50. Singh is a Sikh name, not Hindu. regards Steve

Aren't we overlooking the fact that this was only a business asset, a hire boat, not someone's personal liveaboard or cherished leisure boat. It's like stealing a rented car from Hertz compared with stealing someone's private car which they need. Okay not quite because boat hirers are small businesses but nevertheless, this is much less of a crime, morally, than if someone had had their own private boat taken. regards Steve

My query wasn't really about cugsey but about you Carl. Amazing that someone you until recently thought fit to put on an ignored reader list because of what you clearly saw as his obnoxious comments is now someone whose messages you read and moreover, in this case, admire. What a turn round! I repeat, what happened to you? I wouldn't have responded to cugsey at all, I'm not worried about his use of those words or whether they are only for "clever" people. So you are wrong about me there. He was just taking the french though in typically unwitty, clumsy and obvious fashion. But having a poor sense of humour is no crime. If you really think that his comments were "A good point well made" then I find that hard to believe. It really was the most obvious comment that anyone wanting to make some wisecrack about this topic could have said. So I think you are just trying to be controversial for the sake of it which as you know you often do just to argue, I don't believe you really think his comment well made etc. But no, it wasn't cugsey, it was your lack of consistency towards him that I was querying. From being banned by you to adulation in about five minutes. Why so? That's what I think would be interesting to know. Does cugsey really exist? Maybe it's a reader using another name purely to cause mischief. regards Steve

If you mean that Carl it is almost unbelievable that you agree with cugsey's appallingly unfunny trash. Wasn't it only very recently that you told us that he was on your ignored reader list? Didn't last long did it. The only person to whom you have ever granted that privilege because of the insulting semi literate puerile troll rubbish that he continually writes on this forum, with never anything positive or worthwhile to say or the redeeming characteristic of humour. There was a reasonable discussion under way, moreover with a humorous element, with which you might not have agreed but so what. It wasn't about insulting people as happens in many other threads, it was about discussing word usage. Then along comes this person spouting his usual vitriolic abuse and you agree with him. What happened to you? regards Steve

In that case they clearly have totally revised the definition in current versions. Out goes "morbid frequency" and the formerly erroneous "action of making water" and in comes what I said above. Consequently micturition is no longer "morbid" and is no longer used erroneously to mean urinating. In fact that is now precisely what it means. Language changes, one needs to have an up to date dictionary. Unless you merely wish to take the micturate by deliberately using an old definition that no longer applies though I don't think you were. It's just a problem of using old dictionaries. I have remarked on this phenomenon before when someone here claimed that fora is the plural of forum when it is no longer used that way for internet forums etc., and then to their shame refusing to admit it despite being proven wrong, but there are many words that have changed definition over the years, often radically. The example I like to use is egregious which used to mean outstandingly bad and now means the exact opposite, outstandingly good. Using an ancient dictionary can lead to misunderstandings. It must have been tricky to communicate on the cusp of the change when some people were using the old meaning and some the new. regards Steve