Member postings for An Other

Hi, Kiwi - we have had the same problems as you (we live in Eastern Europe), and I have a UK bank account because one of my pensions will not pay overseas (wonderful, ain't it)?. I have accounts in Germany as well, and have never (more than 30 years) had problems from them, but the British bank? - I actually begin to feel quite ill when I have to deal with them.

They asked us (wife as well) to prove our identity, and it included a picture signed by (one of) a lawyer, a priest or a doctor (possibly three of the most unreliable referees I could think of), a copy of our UK passports, and copies of the residence permits for the country we live in. This is actually quite difficult to get - you have to produce passports, signed affidavits from the local police that you have no criminal record, and a signed statement showing your assets from the bank, plus a copy of the contract for your house - and each of these needs wadges of supporting documents - it took us about 10 days to get it all together - and a signed affidavit stamped by a notary that these documents referred to us. All this had to be accompanied by certified translations.

Of it all went, silent for a month. Then a second letter - the documents we sent were unacceptable, please follow their instructions in the earlier letter, or our account would be frozen.

So we did it all again, but duplicated some of the stuff "just in case' - needless to say, back it came - no use, and no explanation why.

I eventually got on the phone to their customer representatives, (never an easy thing to do) and demanded what was wrong with them. Of course, the twerp on the phone had nothing to deal with it in her standard script, so I asked to speak to the Customer Relations Manager. Not possible at the time, but she did say she would put in a request from me for him to call.

Three weeks later he did. I explained the problem, and that I had had an account for years, and was very annoyed that I was getting refusals, but no explanations. He said he would call me back (I thought I wouldn't hear again), but he did a few days later - it turned out that checking the "evidence' was left to another company contracted to the bank, and they were interpreting 'the rules' incorrectly - the material we sent was acceptable.

So I would recommend calling them, and don't get off the phone until you have a solution - I know, it cost me a bomb on the phone as well, but at least it worked.

I had an interesting sideline to all this - my bank in the country where I lived asked why I needed so many statements, so I explained. Their manager (a very pleasant lady), told me they hated having to deal with the bureaucracy and obstruction put up by British banks - about sums it up for me.

An.

100% agree with the comments here - I've also had one of these 'cheapy' machines for about 20-odd years now, and it has more than paid for itself, despite needing some 'fettling' to correct odd problems - none particularly expensive. Using a bi-metal blade definitely improves things. The biggest problem I had was severe wear on the worm drive gearing - Not really sure why this happened, as it was well-greased. At that point I nearly junked it - it sat in a corner for a couple of years, but that coincided with a house move, so no great loss.

One day I came across a nice substantial worm drive gearbox that came off a petrol engine driven posthole borer. It occurred to me that it may fit the bandsaw, and after some fairly drastic cutting and grinding, I was able to adapt the saw to fit this gearbox. At the same time, I changed the motor (mainly due to getting a hefty 'belt' when I touched it one day - didn't really want to try and fix an insulation fault). The performance of the saw seemed much better thereafter, it seems to run much more smoothly and quietly. Of course, I have made a lot of changes, so it is hard to say why it has improved - I guess a worn gear drive didn't help! - but at least I avoided having to scrap it, and saved either the cost of a new one, or the hard labour involved in cutting steel with a hand hacksaw!

Just a suggestion: I used the motor/gearbox out of an old battery drill - more than enough power. They were 'old', because I couldn't get new batteries to replace the clapped out ones, but the motors/gearboxes were fine (and can rotate in both directions). May be a trifle slow for some users, but definitely faster than hand-cracking the thing.

A simple DC supply/switch makes it easy to use.

They will also work on a lower voltage than designed - I used a 16V motor on 12V, and still had sufficient power.

(edit to add voltage comment)

Edited By An Other on 03/09/2022 16:58:11

My own experience, and I have also seen it mentioned online, is that superglue dries 'hard', so any flexing around a pulley will eventually cause a superglued joint to fail. Also, as mgnbuk says, the main source of strength in these belts is the continuous cord - which will not exist in a cut belt.

As for the superglued car fan belt - how long did that last?

If you want reliability, I guess you will have to strip it down and fit a new belt.

Found this online:

"You can use the 3.3V pin to power sensors and modules that need 3.3V power.

It can supply about 100 to 150mA of current. The 3.3V regulator is connected to the output of the 5V regulator. Drawing current from the 3.3V regulator will dissipate heat in both the 3.3V regulator and the 5V regulator. This means that if you connect a 3.3V device to the 3.3V pin, then it also limits the maximum current you can use for the 5V modules connected to the 5V pin."

Playing about with an nRF24 radio module, I found that the 3.3V supply should be treated with caution - probably depends on where the card comes from. Nowadays I much prefer a separate supply rather than relying on the Arduino itself - I've wasted too much time trying to debug problems eventually traced to the power supply.

Consider using an ESP32 module - it can be programmed using the Arduino IDE++, and is native 3.3V, so you don't need level shifters.

Hope this is some help.

Its currently at around 39C in the shade outside our house right now (Romania) - not uncommon for the past 4 or 5 years. We use the siesta method to avoid the worst of the heat, and also keep all doors/windows/curtains closed during the day, followed by everything open overnight from late evening - living room is currently at 26C, having heated up from 22 to 26 in 6 hours from 8 o'clock to 2, so reasonably tolerable.

We also have a water heater system similar to that described by Clive Hartland above - this is simply a header tank for 15 concentric glass tubes - its installed on our woodshed roof, with the pipes down the roof - this is connected to one of the indoor boiler heating spirals, and flow assisted by a small pump (about 10W). This provides us with more free hot water than we can use at up to 75C - and has been doing so since around late April (and will do until at least the end of September - after that, it continues to provide "pre-heating' for the electrical or wood-burning heater until maybe early December. Cost of this system was around 150 pounds sterling, and easy to install.

4 Solar panels driving a 5 kW inverter provide most of the electrical power we need during the day. It has a 'pure sinewave' output at 235VAC, so is able to drive electric motors, unlike the 'step waveform inverters', so this takes care of the washing machine/fridges. This has several deep-discharge batteries also attached, which provide electricity overnight.

Result of all this is that our electricity bills are negligible from April to October, and we have halved the consumption of firewood (the only viable heating medium where we live) over what we used before installation of these systems.

Hi, David,

Really impressed with your outlook - I wish you all the best - don't give up.

Regards, An

A large online seller I use frequently has a habit of sending an email after purchase asking for a review of anything I bought. If I just don't respond, this happens repeatedly.

Now I realise it is very unhelpful to potential buyers, but I have become so sick of this that I have a 'cut and paste' terrible review which I always submit - I know, not helpful to potential buyers, but thats how sick of it I am, and it does prevent multiple email requests for a review.

Hopper: thanks for the info about Book Depository - being resident in a country where it is difficult to find English language books, I regularly buy large numbers of books from BD - I guess that will change now - anyone know of any other good English language book suppliers not under the control of a monolith?

(and if anyone doesn't like my English or syntax - tough! )

I have built many wooden models over the years, and like Derek, I preferred to leave them in the natural wood, just protected - in my case with water-based lacquer. I can't say I ever took any steps to remove grease or oils from the wood before finishing - I simply never saw any. (I can post some photos of the results if anyone is interested in the appearance). I used many different types of wood, and some had a natural oiliness, which also didn't seem to cause any problems.

At the time I lived in Germany, and due to the onset of 'ecological protection', it was quite difficult to find oil-based lacquers, which is why I used the water-based stuff, and eventually I became quite a fan of it.

This makes me wonder if there is any connection to the 'rusty hands syndrome'? I worked for a while in a small engineering company - most of the material used was stainless steel, but I quickly found that if I handled steel or iron items, they developed clear corrosion marks where I had handled it - this was very fast - it only took a few hours for the marks to be clearly visible - I had to wear thin cotton gloves to get round it. Eventually, this seemed to clear up, and no longer happened, which makes me think that possibly certain people do produce oils naturally, which may explain the problem Simon is having, and which I had.

Nope - SoD is not ignored. A couple of others are ignored - but they don't disappear. Don't worry about it - life is far too short.

Edited By An Other on 25/04/2022 19:50:52

Just noted something very odd - I was browsing this thread without being logged in, and read SoD's latest post about the comparison between hobby and professional machines. I agree with his comments, but wanted to point out that many (most?) of us are in this as a hobby, and many of us are 'knocking on a bit', so I for one am cannot give much thought to professional machines. I can only continue my hobby by using these 'hobby' machines because thats all I can afford on a pension - there is no way I can go out and spend thousands on a machine. I suppose if I and others could do that, there would be no need for all these websites outlining improvements to these machines.

However, this is where I found a problem. I logged in to make this comment, but found that SoD's post had disappeared. Scrolling back through the thread (now logged in)_ - SoD's post has disappeared completely. I had 3 pages of posts on this thread, but now there are only two. SoD's post appeared just before the photographs from Ron Laden, but now it has gone. If I log off, it reappears - very strange.

Re the comments on which bootloader to use, and connecting to Arduino NANOs or UNOS. In the Arduino IDE 'Tools' menu is an option to 'Get Board Info' - if the Arduino is connected Ok, then clicking this will show a small window giving (IIRC) the board Serial number and other information - this doesn't appear if there is a connection problem - AFAIK this is the quickest way to know whether your particular board is connected without having to upload a sketch. Note the comments other have made regarding the 'Use Old Bootloader' option.

spelling edit

Edited By An Other on 25/04/2022 09:06:45

This has been a very interesting thread (for me) to follow, and I would like to make a suggestion - instead of using the Arduinos, which run at 16 MHz, try using an ESP32, which runs at up to 240 MHz. They are also usually even cheaper than Arduinos, but can be programmed using the Arduino IDE, or PlatformIO.

I went this route after I had a timing problem on a project, and now always use the ESP32. It also has a WiFi and BlueTooth interface built-in, so its very easy to add remote controls if required. It also has a much bigger memory space, so larger, more comprehensive programs are possible. They can be used with all the usual Arduino modules.

There is plenty of information online - I found this site very helpful when I first started using them:

LINK1

and also this:

LINK2

Many others if you search ESP32

Hi, Wally - good luck with working on your lathe. Sadly it seems to be a 'feature' of modern engineering that 'tuning' has to be carried out to make stuff work 'as required' - on the other hand, I have two lathes and a mill that I could never have afforded if I had got them from Western suppliers, so I had to buy 'Chinese' and do the work. I have seen ludicrous prices for (for example) Myford lathes, even second hand, such that it was cheaper to buy and modify eastern machinery. I think also some reputable companies buy these chinese machines, strip and rebuild them and still make a profit.

At least II learnt my way around my machines by having to do this kind of work, and it kept me happy for weeks!

I bought one of these lathes years ago, and quickly modified it to use a 3-phase motor and VDF - similar to the picture shown earlier in this thread. When I bought the lathe, I also bought two spare drive belts, after reading a load of bad advice in various forums that these belts break repeatedly while I was deciding which lathe to buy.

I modded my lathe at least 12 years ago, and I am still using the original belt, despite stalling the machine many times over the years. This mod also allowed me to dump the strange manual clutch (slipping belt) arrangement that it used to have.

There is a a lot of information about improvements and modifications on this site: LINK , and many others.

I modified the compound clamp, increased the cross-slide travel, and other odds and sods. I have found the lathe to be perfectly adequate for all the work I have used it for over the years. There is also some stuff online about these lathes arriving from the seller in questionable condition - still caked with casting sand, loose bolts, misalignment, etc, etc, so it seems a little unfair to condemn the lathe until it has been checked over.

Try this link to locate TIms stuff on YouTube. The first 'Components' episodes started online early in 2021. There are also one or two 'one-off' projects he was involved in. The man is a genius, with a knack of imparting useful and fascinating information.

**LINK**

I've always found the most efficient method is to let the wife do it (she is usually the one that makes it dirty anyway)

I think Dr R.V Jones, during World War 2, used to get quite irate about making calculations to unmeasurable decimal places!.

Sorry to stay 'off-topic', but have to agree with FF above - I have been fighting HMRC for years now. Latest is an appeal against a 720 pound fine for failing to send in a return for 2019 (I did send one) - first they fined me 100 pounds for a 'late return', which I paid, then appealed - after getting my money back after about 9 months, they immediately fined me 720 pounds for non-submission. I appealed that, and (shock!) someone form HMRC called me, and asked why I was submitting a self-assessment return each year - same reason as FF above. I was told it was unnecessary, and there was no need for it - so I asked why they fined me for not submitting something they didn't want, and got no answer.

- OK I'll stop now because its going off-topic, but it just indicates the unsuitability for purpose of HMRC, and it looks as though DVLA is the same - I did finally get my money returned a couple of months ago - more than 2 years after the event.

I also have a chinese heated jacket as per Samsaranda - works well - BUT - the chinese EXTRA LARGE size is a very tight fit, almost uncomfortable for me, and I am average size, so if you order one, get the biggest one you can.

It uses a USB power pack for power - and all the ones I could find don't come with the powerpack, you have to order it separately - not mention of this in most of the advertisements - be warned.