Member postings for Geoff Theasby

If I were to nominate a mentor in engineering, I wouldn't start in the USA. With notable exceptions, their liking for big, slow, shiny-chrome motorcycles makes me weep. Their jet engines run roughly, and everything must be cheap. Cars have huge engines, rather than efficient ones, and they don't do 'small'.

Sorry, I'll be better shortly

Paul Kemp thinks people make lots of money from exhibitions, and talks of 'honest accounts'.

I find this insulting. I volunteered to help at recent MEXs, paying for my own transport & accommodation. Steve Eaton & Mike Law were also volunteers, I believe. MTM is a business, and if it were so easy to do, lots of chancers would be trying it. Try checking the cost of hiring a venue, insurance, and so on, then taking brickbats from troublemakers claiming there are vast profits to be made!

Geoff

A few years ago the Makers shared with M. E. at Sandown Park. I gather that they grew so fast they now have their own show.

Several groups now hold shows at 2-year intervals. Manchester in Feb 2019!

Geoff

Frances, the UK road sign for a level crossing is still the silhouette of a steam locomotive.

Geoff

Long term strong lager drinker here. However, I do like Speckled Hen, Abbotts Ale, Bishops Finger, and, of course, Old Peculier and Taylors Landlord. Something I can wrap my tongue round.

I don't like cold beer, it gives me brain freeze and takes away the taste.

Geoff

My wife suspects I'm a hoarder, but when I refer to her stash of knitting wool she goes all coy...

Geoff

Yes, the sticky LED strips do work, I use them a lot. In a harsh environment, put them in a clear plastic tube for protection.

I just fitted LED lighting in my garage, using a 12 volt 'wall wart' and two LED panels intended for use in car interiors, a couple of quid each from Amazon.

Geoff

Dave,

I did meet a duke once, opening an event I was attending. Old tweed jacket, baggy trousers, apologised for looking like a gardener...

Mark Rand, why is it 'obvious' that people should move right to left at exhibitions? I like to move clockwise round a show or rally, as do most others, as you said. Are you the only one in step?

Geoff

Where do I start? Special steels, Airbus wings, Honda/Nissan/Toyota, AMRC, medical joints/scalpels, JLR, ARM microprocessors, electronic games, <pause for breath>

Geoff

Not to mention loud exhausts, go-faster stripes and an aggressive look...

Bazyle, you mean like, Highflying Scotsman, and Orange Blossom Special, by The Spotnicks?

Geoff

When I'm cleaning workshops - George Formby

Geoff

DTI - The Shadows

The magical Mrs Clamps - The Shadows

Needles & Pins - The Searchers

Geoff

Deborah doesn't like it, the way I comb my hair

Deborah doesn't like all the clothes I wear

playing all my records, singing to the band

but I am what I am and I'm gonna keep a rocking this way

I'm a rockabilly rebel...

We are ailing, we are ailing, rheumy eyes, and balding pate,

we are ailing, we are ailing, trembling hands and stum

bling gait.

The old ones, Darling we're the old ones, and old ones shouldn't be afraid.

to live, love, as the years roll on, for we won't be the old ones very long...

Cheer up, we're not dead yet!

Geoff

I have, with permission, a short piece of Welsh Highland railway line for an anvil. There is a corner of an English workshop that will be forever Gogledd Cymru.

Geoff

Yes. An iron stand will make the hammer 'bounce,' whereas a log or stump is 'dead'.

Geoff

I forgot to add, simple meteor detection works better at lower frequencies, below 150 MHz.

Geoff

Yagis need pointing, but at what? The radiant won't help because that's where the meteors 'seem' to originate, but are actually seen at widely separated angles. The gain provided by a yagi is not really necessary as the signals are generally strong enough. A turnstile needs no directivity.

Pointing the yagi upwards by 10 or so degrees minimises signals from terrestrial sources in that direction. You need a vertical polar diagram to show this, rather than the usual horizontal polar diagram, which shows the gain pictorially using the aerial location at the centre.

Height doesn't really matter because you want it to 'look' upwards, any other signals are unwanted. Some mount it in a foil-lined trough, but the jury is out on its effectiveness. Take care with the feed arrangements, one dipole is fed 90 degrees out of phase with the other, it is easy to do. Google 'turnstile antennas'.

Geoff