Been feeling a bit left out of this here thread, so after the missus gave me an ultimatum to get the loft ladder in and get sorting the storage/micro room up there, I got my mate Ali round...

We fitted the loft ladder. But that wasn't good enough for her... You're 'not going out bivying until you've sorted out that there loft' she said, or something to that effect. So i thought, and planned my next move.

'All you're ever fixing is your bikes'... 'why do they constantly need something doing them'. In between all that she gave me a bit of consoling for my Stan. Whilst that was happening I booked myself a cheap train ticket, so I could force myself to sleep in a ditch (obviously) - post Rvalues being better - and get my March BAM done whilst going to try and catch that, there, train...

So I thought some more... What'd buy me some time and not get me clobbered when she finds out about that ticket. So I ripped the naffed plasterboards down. So I could make a right mess and go to work tomorrow whilst she considers the consequences of her actions... and possibly feels a little bit sorry for me. My mate Ali will be proud







Ain't it pretty.... Lockdown projects. Next on the list, making a massive concrete slab to then build a shed like Jeffs (well, not quite like Jeffs... mine will take a lot longer and possibly a but bodgy)...

You don't need a great concrete slab. How big is your shed, mine is 8ft x 8ft and it sit on concrete pads & blocks.

In my case, one pad every 2ft, all around the edge and a four concrete block piers sharing the weight in the middle. It's about 6"/150mm off the deck so lots of ventilation as well .

It'll save you a lot graft.

The piers were holes dug that took a up-turned cheap builder bucket. The bottom cut out so fill with concrete resting on a compacted hardcore base.

The shed has not warped in 5 years and has a old fashioned joiner bench in there!

Our greenhouses, which are just glass sheds really, sit on a "frame" of reinforced concrete lintels. Those in turn sit on concrete pads which were dug down to the subsoil. Top soil is alive and compresses so you want to go below that. The lintels were cut to length by a friendly builder who was doing some work next door.

whitestone wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 6:45 pm Our greenhouses, which are just glass sheds really, sit on a "frame" of reinforced concrete lintels. Those in turn sit on concrete pads which were dug down to the subsoil. Top soil is alive and compresses so you want to go below that. The lintels were cut to length by a friendly builder who was doing some work next door.

I didnt mention I dug down to sub soil.

With the end of lock-down in sight, hopefully, I have been thinking about bivis out in the wild again. With the garden bivis I've realised just how good a shelter my Deschutes is but it's not very stealthy for round here and it's also quite an expensive shelter to be setting up in rough bits of woodland to try and keep out of sight. So whilst it would still be my choice for trips away, for local bivis I present



It's a heavier material than the original at 80 sqm but that should hopefully make it a bit more resistant to brambles and holly trees. It's basically the same dimensions as the real thing although the door dimension has been altered slightly to bring them closer to the ground. The reason for keeping the dimensions the same is so I can use the same pole and also my myog inner also fits.



The fabric and zip cost less than £50 so I don't have to be so concerned abut damage and I have left over fabric to repair it if necessary. Luckily my time is free or it would have cost many tines the price of the SMD one

Looks ace Sean.

Where's Ralph's?

I've a spare flag saved to extend the patio. It was propped up against a external wall. I've has vmfive year to plan how to lay it as its, a big beggar. 4ft x 2ft and 4 in. Thick. And has been there 5 years.
I decided the only safe way to manouver it was by walking it the 2ft to the prepared adjacent bed. But how do you handle lowering approx 200kg safely.? I had no gang of mates, cranes, tripods or pulleys?
The said slab, It was propped end and a 8ft scaffold batten was lashed to it with cross members. A toe-hook were also fitted with right angle strap irons. The 3x3 cross-members secured the behemoth. The cross members assisted with leverage then manovering when tilting sideways, walking corners. It was lowered to rest, with the tail end of the batter resting on a step-up trestle ('lightest' end); and finally to the ground with a rope handle, to save our backs. The flag was unleashed, then jacked a bit higher then the long battery was removed. The cross member were removed by jacking up each end, with a long Lever as before, and then removed. Lowered onto a Compacted base and mortar bed. It was tramped down with the large scaffolding batten again.
With my youthful 'sweet sixteen' sons assistance we achieved 'moving the micro megaliths'. (pictures to follow)

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:02 pm Looks ace Sean.

Where's Ralph's?

He's just not a good dad... is he

With the longer doors there's enough room for Ralph in there as well, obviously I'll have to put up with his snoring

Ledburner, there's something satisfying about moving large objects with improvised kit, who needs machinery when you have timber and leverage if it was good enough for the druids at Stonehenge it's good enough for boners.

ledburner wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:20 pm I've a spare flag saved to extend the patio. It was propped up against a external wall. I've has vmfive year to plan how to lay it as its, a big beggar. 4ft x 2ft and 4 in. Thick. And has been there 5 years.
I decided the only safe way to manouver it was by walking it the 2ft to the prepared adjacent bed. But how do you handle lowering approx 200kg safely.? I had no gang of mates, cranes, tripods or pulleys?
The said slab, It was propped end and a 8ft scaffold batten was lashed to it with cross members. A toe-hook were also fitted with right angle strap irons. The 3x3 cross-members secured the behemoth. The cross members assisted with leverage then manovering when tilting sideways, walking corners. It was lowered to rest, with the tail end of the batter resting on a step-up trestle ('lightest' end); and finally to the ground with a rope handle, to save our backs. The flag was unleashed, then jacked a bit higher then the long battery was removed. The cross member were removed by jacking up each end, with a long Lever as before, and then removed. Lowered onto a Compacted base and mortar bed. It was tramped down with the large scaffolding batten again.
With my youthful 'sweet sixteen' sons assistance we achieved 'moving the micro megaliths'. (pictures to follow)

All quite brute force & ignorance, bias to former rather that latter.

The cats playground



Moving the bugger, the gaffer& gunter in hi- viz hat!


Putting it in place

sean_iow wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:52 pm With the longer doors there's enough room for Ralph in there as well, obviously I'll have to put up with his snoring

Ledburner, there's something satisfying about moving large objects with improvised kit, who needs machinery when you have timber and leverage if it was good enough for the druids at Stonehenge it's good enough for boners.

I will be tired tomorrow,
A bloke call Gordon Pipes, retired joiner, showed how blocks were land rowed, rather than rolled (now proved v doubtful) nor dragged.
It used less man power and coped with rough terrain.
Now that brains. Mine was an afternoon jolly
https://heritageaction.wordpress.com/20 ... onstrated/

Posted this last night, must've hit Preview rather than Submit, before moving on... Anyhoo, as I'm without bike for the foreseeable, unless I can get hold of a singlespeed tensioner, I thought I should start Project Weird Noises. It's a start, not much of one I grant you, but a start none the less:








Last time I fiddled with a breadboard was the early Nineties, so I'm starting right back at the beginning...

K1100T wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 8:55 am Posted this last night, must've hit Preview rather than Submit, before moving on... Anyhoo, as I'm without bike for the foreseeable, unless I can get hold of a singlespeed tensioner, I thought I should start Project Weird Noises. It's a start, not much of one I grant you, but a start none the less:








Last time I fiddled with a breadboard was the early Nineties, so I'm starting right back at the beginning...

Are those 100R (or 1k) resistors, I'm a bit rust on colour codes and the colour reproduct poorly on this phone.
3 similar in parallel so a third of their discrete value..
now, I want to see a astable circuit, you 2x transistor a half a dozen of resistor 2 poly caps. Now challenger, you've 25 minutes.
Go and Bake!
Remember - you get extra point for crossed wiring!

K1100T wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 12:22 am

Astable oscillator circuit
I didn't think you'd take the bait. Champion!

Interesting that the 'off lamp' leds still glows dimmly where as, with a lamp would be off.

Just a thought are the bottom red link to the lower +ve power rail, and top black link to the upper - ve power rail surplus as nothing likes to them. Just curious..
The name Tom Duncan has come to me he did a silver grey book on breadboard & experiments - Adventure in electronic. Blimey fun what the old grey mater turns up from 40 years ago...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/n1MAAOSw ... s-l400.jpg

I bet half the components are now unavailable...

sean_iow wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 8:27 pm With the end of lock-down in sight, hopefully, I have been thinking about bivis out in the wild again. With the garden bivis I've realised just how good a shelter my Deschutes is but it's not very stealthy for round here and it's also quite an expensive shelter to be setting up in rough bits of woodland to try and keep out of sight. So whilst it would still be my choice for trips away, for local bivis I present



It's a heavier material than the original at 80 sqm but that should hopefully make it a bit more resistant to brambles and holly trees. It's basically the same dimensions as the real thing although the door dimension has been altered slightly to bring them closer to the ground. The reason for keeping the dimensions the same is so I can use the same pole and also my myog inner also fits.



The fabric and zip cost less than £50 so I don't have to be so concerned abut damage and I have left over fabric to repair it if necessary. Luckily my time is free or it would have cost many tines the price of the SMD one

That's, and impressive project. Chapeau!
(Or is that too roadie/ TdF) anyway Champion! Instead

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:20 am Astable oscillator circuit
I didn't think you'd take the bait. Champion!

Interesting that the 'off lamp' leds still glows dimmly where as, with a lamp would be off.

I took the photo just as it switched from one LED to the other..

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:20 am Just a thought are the bottom red link to the lower +ve power rail, and top black link to the upper - ve power rail surplus as nothing likes to them. Just curious..

They're totally superfluous...

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:20 am The name Tom Duncan has come to me he did a silver grey book on breadboard & experiments - Adventure in electronic. Blimey fun what the old grey mater turns up from 40 years ago...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/n1MAAOSw ... s-l400.jpg

I bet half the components are now unavailable...

It's an issue with some of the stuff I was planning on doing. All the old synth books that have circuits in them that use, either out of production, or hard to find ICs. Lots of stuff is now being done with Arduino Mini's and what not, although a few classic chips have been re-released due to the upsurge in interest in Eurorack modulars.

The next thing on breadboard will be three oscillators using the reverse avalanche properties of the transistors. Just waiting on the capacitors and some resistors dropping through the letterbox:

K1100T wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:36 pm

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:20 am Astable oscillator circuit
I didn't think you'd take the bait. Champion!

Interesting that the 'off lamp' leds still glows dimmly where as, with a lamp would be off.

I took the photo just as it switched from one LED to the other..

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:20 am Just a thought are the bottom red link to the lower +ve power rail, and top black link to the upper - ve power rail surplus as nothing likes to them. Just curious..

They're totally superfluous...

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:20 am The name Tom Duncan has come to me he did a silver grey book on breadboard & experiments - Adventure in electronic. Blimey fun what the old grey mater turns up from 40 years ago...

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/n1MAAOSw ... s-l400.jpg

I bet half the components are now unavailable...

It's an issue with some of the stuff I was planning on doing. All the old synth books that have circuits in them that use, either out of production, or hard to find ICs. Lots of stuff is now being done with Arduino Mini's and what not, although a few classic chips have been re-released due to the upsurge in interest in Eurorack modulars.

The next thing on breadboard will be three oscillators using the reverse avalanche properties of the transistors. Just waiting on the capacitors and some resistors dropping through the letterbox:

Are one the Tranny legs floating?
Since Micro controller chip got established on the market, it made, logic chips, decoders and other specialised chips redundant.. I suppose op amps , transistor arrays opto-couples an are the few thing the can not emulate. But the just replace the pole circuit....

Thread hijack by Boffins Corner

ledburner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 17, 2021 3:29 pm Are one the Tranny legs floating?

Yes, the middle leg (base) is removed completely. It's then mounted "backwards", so the emitter is towards Vcc, rather than GND.

Like this he explains. It well.
http://www.kerrywong.com/2014/03/19/bjt ... nche-mode/

ledburner wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 12:48 am Like this he explains. It well.
http://www.kerrywong.com/2014/03/19/bjt ... nche-mode/

That's the one! and here it is in action, minus the tone POT, as I didn't have a 47nF capacitor...



If you're really bored, you can even hear it...

https://youtu.be/jW478M9UpXE

The video reminded me of a certain Spanish based bike packer’s nightly serenade. Great work

Made myself a camera strap for cycling last night.

When not in use the camera stays on your back. A magnetic buckle frees the camera so you can take a shot.

Richpips wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 1:53 pm Made myself a camera strap for cycling last night.

When not in use the camera stays on your back. A magnetic buckle frees the camera so you can take a shot.

What camera is it please Rich... is it easy enough to upload the pics straight into the web etc... Is it good for long distance bird shots

Great work btw

redefined_cycles wrote: ↑Sat Mar 20, 2021 2:37 pm
What camera is it please Rich... is it easy enough to upload the pics straight into the web etc... Is it good for long distance bird shots

Great work btw

Hi Shaf, It's a sony a6000. You can buy different lenses so with something suitably long you could do birds. The lens would dwarf the camera. The idea of this camera is portability though.