Archive for the 'New tricks for an old dog' Category

A different sort of wind-power

Posted by on June 8th 2011 in New tricks for an old dog

I had a major panic this morning when I tried to boot up the laptop - all it would do was throw out a series of loud alarm sounds, briefly show the words "fan error" with no other info, and then shut down with a final loud beep. Tried to boot it seven times without success.

On the last three attempts I'd noted that there wasn't any sound from the fan like there usually is. The fan diagnostics are obviously on the laptop, without the ability to boot I couldn't access them so I had to use a bit of brain power instead. My limited diagnostics experience told me that the problem was probably one of the following:

  1. Fan motor knackered
  2. Fan motor/rotor stuck
  3. Fan control software knackered
  4. A loose connection somewhere

Fearing the worst and an impending bill for a replacement fan, I set off around the house on a rant just to let off some steam, scattering cats everywhere and almost tripping over the Dyson. It's part of my problem-solving process, you see. Lateral motion prior to lateral thinking, if you like.

I knew that the problem wouldn't be dust and fluff - I keep the innards of the fan scrupulously clean after having had a processor fry-up on a previous laptop due to a clogged-up fan assembly. When I blew into this fan's inlet grille I couldn't make the fan rotate so I figured that the motor/rotor was stuck but I had no idea how to free it. There's no way of poking it to get it moving, it's well-protected.

When I'd calmed down I got sidetracked, thoughts drifting off to the next kit review and how I'd deal with it without the laptop... this led to me thinking about the "beer-chiller" that Mike will be reviewing... I remembered that the last time I plugged one of those into my car without the engine running it flattened the battery within 5 minutes, which meant that I had to bump-start the car...

Then a radical idea popped into my head: "Can I bump-start the laptop? Maybe if the system "thinks" that the fan is running, it'll boot and let me get to the diagnostics".

Well, they say that necessity is the mother of invention. I raced back upstairs and grabbed the Dyson. With the crevice-tool attached it was set loose on full whack next to the fan outlet grille while I booted the laptop again... and, in a fine example of how British invention and ingenuity triumphs over Far-Eastern technology, it worked!

The fan diagnostics report no problems, so all looks to be well. Booting is faultless. Looks like the fan was inexplicably stuck but it's running fine now.

Kipper tie?

Posted by on February 17th 2011 in New tricks for an old dog

You never know, this might be just the stuff to encourage me to get out more:

Now, where can I lay my hands on a sledge and some Burberry gabardine?

I solemnly swear to stay out of gear-shops for the rest of the year

Posted by on October 24th 2010 in New tricks for an old dog, Shiny new kit
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Despite being a fairly-well-balanced biped I figured that I'd need some outriggers while pootling about with the new snooshows.

After a discussion of my needs with the guys at The Outdoor Warehouse in Windermere, I spent the next couple of days considering the options.

Two days later I returned, reconsidered the options and bought these slimline clackysticks:

Mountain King Trail Blaze Poles

Yes, I know that they're meant for "fast & light" use rather than "slow & middle-age-spread" crawlers like me, and I'd read PTC*'s report stating that "snowshoeing made them nervous". Nevertheless, seeing as they are going to be used more for balance than for weight-bearing or Nordic strolling, and that I'm no heavyweight and thus I'm unlikely to overload them, we all figured that they might fit the bill as well as any of the others on offer.

The nice lad behind the counter even allowed himself to be talked into chucking in a pair of Leki Snow Baskets for free, and declined my offer to let him keep the original baskets that I'll have no use for as I'll not be using these clackysticks to annoy people while doing general fell-walking.

I'll let you know how the sticks fare after I've had a chance to make them nervous myself. Whether the report will be posted from home after a successful deployment, or from hospital during recovery from broken ankles and/or frostbite, only time will tell.

Decathlon gear-raid

Posted by on October 16th 2010 in Bargains, New tricks for an old dog, Shiny new kit
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Just got back from a raid on the Nottingham branch of Decathlon. As usual they have a range of bargains and we took advantage in order to kit-out the kids for the winter. I'd been keeping my hands in my pockets pretty well - up until the final minutes all I'd put in the basket was a pair of fleece gloves for a quid, a couple of dehydrated packet-meals at £4.99 a shot and a pair of socks for about the same.

But then I found these:

TSL 225 Rando snooshows

Yep, that's £69.00 reduced to £44.99

Bargain!

Sold!

FWIW, they had one pair left when we departed.

------ ooooo OOOOO ooooo -----

Additional pics:

Crunchy crystals

Posted by on October 12th 2010 in New tricks for an old dog

On Sunday I rediscovered something in the kitchen - a couple of tins of Carnation condensed milk that I'd stashed after turning them into caramel two months ago (using the regular boil-in-the-can for two hours method). As expected, the taste is as glorious as ever, but the inadvertent ageing has allowed the formation of large sugar crystals throughout the gloop which lends a curious crunchy texture to the stuff.

I had intended to use the caramel as a cake-filling, but there's no way that this can will last that long - I'm off to find a bigger spoon!

Observing Report 4th-5th August 2010 Part 1 (First Lunar mosaic)

Posted by on August 5th 2010 in Astrostuff, New tricks for an old dog, Observing Reports, Pics
Tags: ,

Unexpected clear sky last night was the cue for another look at the heavens. Jupiter was the main target, no shadow-transits this time but good views of the Great Red Spot. There'll be pics later when I've had time to clear the backlog of image data (yes, I'm still trying to find time to process the lunar data from the previous session).

Until then, you'll have to make do with my first ever lunar mosaic - 12 stitched images from the same camera/scope combo that I usually poke skywards. The image alignment is a bit off in places, I'll do it better next time. Click it to see the BIG version:

 The Moon (05/08/2010 @ 05:10).
12 stitched images, each 50/500 stacked frames.
DMK mono CCD camera on the C8N.
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