Lemmy

Protected: Crap Van

Enter your password to view comments. May 20th, 2011

Another week at work endured and a weekend that has passed before my eyes before I had a moment to blink, one thing I have managed to accomplish though is that I have repaired an old Roberts radio I have had my eye on in a local bric a brac shop for months. Apart from the broken pulley that guides the dial, it would turn on with audio for about 3 seconds then nothing. On dismantling I recognised the aroma of cooking silicon and pinpointed some very hot power amplifier transisitors, it turns out the thermal conduction to the heatsink was inadequate, and luckily the thermal runaway was controlled enough not to blow buggers to bits. A spot of heat transfer compound and a rearrangent of the bracketry and and a good tightening has done the trick. Radio currently on soak into hour number two 😉 Oh and a PP9 battery cost Â£4.95! Let’s hope it lasts more than a week.

On another level, my diet is improving. I couldn’t find the time to manage bloody prescriptions and surgery appointments that were necessary, so Lisa took control thankfully and things are getting back on track. My mood has been difficult to summarise as influences have moulded things uniquely of recent, which is a kind of pattern that ironically I can familiarise with, so I’m not discontented. Again it’s a head down and get on with it scenario, I occasionally lift myself up and catch a breath of fresh air, question the point of it all, see the insanity around me and quickly bury my head once again.

Add comment January 25th, 2011

All is at Peace…?

Throwing out the feelers and all is calm as I peruse possibilities of hidden disturbances in the darkness of our space, I sense nothing. Whether that’s good or bad I am yet to find out. I spent a fantastic evening with Lisa at the Hertsmonceaux Observatory on an open evening in conjunction with BBC’s stargazing events, although it was cloudy and saw little in the way of cellestial embodiments, we did open up one of the domes and spin it around, I also met some amateur radio guys who adorned a radio telescope and we listened to the magnetic flux of Jupiter and one of it’s moons IO, the latter of which we slowed down by 100 times and it sounded mysterious beyond comprehension, another station was on 144.800MHz, a well known packet frequency linking amateur weather stations across the south, getting my interest uprising again. We then dissapeared for dinner at the Treacle Mine. I must make a point of getting out more, especially in the best of company minus the inane racket of childhood enthusiasm.

Add comment January 16th, 2011

Yes It’s Early

2.30am and unable to sleep, so got up and had a cuppa tea. Productive day around the house(flat) managed to arrange the living room slightly better, had a general clear up. Visit to the gym and devised an upper body circuit routine including abs and obliques which I will keep up, along with some leg presses working the hip abductors, quadriceps and gluteus muscles. I certainly feel I am toning already after just 3 weeks 🙂 I’m back to work from Monday and I’m hoping my busy days will give me plenty of exercise as frankly, aerobic exercising at the gym is bloody mind numbing, I much prefer cycling or a brisk walk outdoors. Spoke to an Amercan fella in the health suite who is a Vietnam veteran, turns out he is on Warfarin and has several complaints due to a chemical accidentally(?) sprayed on troops, interesting bloke.

Well it’s 3am, am I tired yet? Not really… more tea 🙂

1 comment November 19th, 2010

Protected: Another Week Begins

Enter your password to view comments. November 15th, 2010

Technically Insomnia

Hmmm… It’s 5.25am and I’ve been up since 1am, but I’ve found time to test the UPS and determine that the battery (12V 12Ah SLA) is totally knackered, looking around online they are reasonably cheap @ ~20quid… so mees wont be geddin one of dem den… being a little short of the old spondoolies so to speak. I did connect it to a 13.8V PSU to test it and got some odd results, can’t think why right now. Radio’s next, first off the handie I blew up while repairing the battery pack, not sure what is wrong, I believe I over volted it at about 22V so could be something simple like a regulator or supervision device I’m hoping, just don’t want to have blown up the uP coz that’ll mean binning the whole thing. And of course the Yaesu 2/70, can’t remember how that stopped operating. Oh look, sunlight, will be drinking more coffee and finding more random stuff to keep me occupied before I inevitably pass out.