What Did You Do Today (2016)

[Bill PudneyParticipant @billpudney37759]

Those baby Oliver Tigers are beautiful aren't they…..

What did I do today. Well I finally assembled the tapered gib arrangement to my Sieg C3. Very pleased with the result, no carriage lift, nice and smooth up and down the bed. Dropped a plastic tub of bits on the shed floor, which mean't grovelling around under the bench, waking up lots of spiders. Didn't get bitten.

So a pretty good day all round!!

cheers

Bill

[Anonymous]

I confirmed that it is definitely Friday the 13th today. The varispeed head on the Bridgeport has just given up the ghost after making a more than normal clonking sound.

I hope it's just the drive belt failed, fingers crossed. I have a spare belt to hand, and having changed one before I hope I can remember the little tricks that make it easier, and prevents one from loosing fingers when trying to the belt installed while compressing the varispeed disc spring. It's a bit worrying that it is exactly two years since the last one failed – and I'm not exactly using the mill 24/7.

Andrew

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I have just been reading this … about DIY Infra-Red imaging.

Not sure if it merits a new thread, but Astronomers and Electro-Optical-Tinkerers might find it interesting.

MichaelG.

[modeng2000Participant @modeng2000]

Thanks for the link MichaelG, very interesting.

John

[Anonymous]

Posted by Andrew Johnston on 13/05/2016 16:33:03:

I hope it's just the drive belt failed, fingers crossed. I have a spare belt to hand, and having changed one before I hope I can remember the little tricks that make it easier, and prevents one from loosing fingers when trying to the belt installed while compressing the varispeed disc spring.

Turns out it was the varispeed drive belt. Now changed and I'm back in business, only took about an hour. I remembered the key trick. The instructions in the manual talk about using two screws to hold the cones apart on the motor, before removing the motor, when changing the belt. Of course that don't **** work when the belt is broken! So the question is, once the motor is removed, how to lever the cones apart, and get the screws in, without damaging the cones? The spring closing the cones is pretty strong. Last time round I eventually twigged that I could knock the old belt into the cones to open them up. The angle, and friction, is such that the belt doesn't fly out.

I think this is the new belt I bought last time I had a failure. It seems quieter than the one I used last time, so I hope it'll last rather longer.

Time for a glass or two of wine.

Andrew

I'll order a new belt, and a timing belt (part of the back gear) on Monday so I have spares available.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 13/05/2016 19:30:11:

I have just been reading this … about DIY Infra-Red imaging.

Not sure if it merits a new thread, but Astronomers and Electro-Optical-Tinkerers might find it interesting.

MichaelG.

Great fun!

I once made a slow-scan camera with an LDR, a fish-food container that span round with holes in it and a BBC computer, about 16 lines…. it just about worked.#

Coincidentally I took some pinhole shots with my DSLR yesterday, just initial experiments:

The DSLR is astro-modified and the old 10D is full-spectrum modded so I could use that for IR at up to 1100nm with a suitable filter.

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 13/05/2016 21:14:20:

Great fun!

I once made a slow-scan camera with an LDR, a fish-food container that span round with holes in it and a BBC computer, about 16 lines…. it just about worked.#

Coincidentally I took some pinhole shots with my DSLR yesterday, just initial experiments:

The DSLR is astro-modified and the old 10D is full-spectrum modded so I could use that for IR at up to 1100nm with a suitable filter.

.

Neil,

Your Pinhole pictures look promising

… Shows up the dust on the sensor though

MichaelG.

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 13/05/2016 19:30:11:

I have just been reading this … about DIY Infra-Red imaging.

Not sure if it merits a new thread, but Astronomers and Electro-Optical-Tinkerers might find it interesting.

MichaelG.

Very interesting! I was involved in CCTV systems. About 15-20 years ago. I met some people who had developed a low light CCTV camera that produced clear images with excellent contrast in near total darkness. Russian know how applied to Japanese electronics. Nothing else on the market then or today comes anywhere near matching the performance of those cameras. Dave.

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

Hundreds of years development to produce precision lenses and it turns out a pinhole is the ultimate!

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 13/05/2016 21:28:22:

… Shows up the dust on the sensor though

MichaelG.

Tell me about it. A positive is that the pinhole is a very good way of seeing where the dust is.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Modified my home made angle plate; was originally a piece of 4" x 3" angle iron, machined up square then some hand scraping practice ( many moons ago ). Need to hold the cylinder of my S10V to drill the angled steam ports but the slots are too far apart to place the cyl. where I need it so drilled & tapped some M6 holes in between slots.

George.

Edited By mechman48 on 14/05/2016 12:17:10

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

I have spent an inordinate amount of time sulking over the fact that yesterday I missed a 'super palindromic' number, when the odometer in "the Skip" reached 110011.

I had intended to photograph it for Neil's collection

… Must try to catch 111111

MichaelG.

[NJHParticipant @njh]

Oh dear Michael – you too eh?

I'm always looking for this sort of thing – hard as I try to break myself of the habit! ( Car number plates are also another useless diversion – combinations of letters suggest words/ phrases etc. My dearest also takes part – we are a sad pair – but I guess it's harmless!)

Norman

[Sam Longley 1Participant @samlongley1]

Recovering from a rather windy trip in the boat from Ramsgate to Bradwell yesterday. Winds F 5-F 7 on the nose meant a few wet waves down the back of the neck. left for Dover on Monday with 2 friends, Boulogne on Tuesday. nearly run down in Mid Channel by what looked like a supply vessel called Polarstern. As we crossed its path at .5 mile range it kept altering course towards us (as stand on vessel it should have maintained a straight course & run behind us) so that we could not clear its path. Finally at a range of 150 metres I lost patience & screamed down the VHF & the helm woke up & quickly veered away. A rather shaken up yacht crew I might say.Clearly the watch was not watching in one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes

We had meant to stay in Boulogne a day but as forcast was F5-7 northerly for Thursday we left a day early to encounter fog of less than 150 yards in places so crossing the Channel was cancelled & we crawled east to Dunkerque.

That meant on Thursday we had an exciting reach to Ramsgate followed by a long thrash back to Bradwell on Friday in choppy weather

On Monday I am off to do the exact same trip again with 2 different friends except this time I hope to have a day in Boulogne instead of having to go to Dunkerque. Back on Friday in time for Doncaster on Sunday – Hope it is worth the drive

Home for a week then off to cruise the Channel Islands & round to Brest for a few weeks but this time on my own. So the Stuart 10V is on hold for a while

Edited By Sam Longley 1 on 14/05/2016 21:31:08

[Bill PudneyParticipant @billpudney37759]

Vaguely related to Sam Longleys' post. Although we live in Australia, The Boss still listens to the shipping forecast on the BBC. As well as the Archers….damn I'm going to have the Archer's theme tune as an earworm for the rest of the day……….

cheers

Bill

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by NJH on 14/05/2016 16:10:05:

Oh dear Michael – you too eh?

You mean I'm not crazy….

I just went looking for 30-segree prisms (to make a Herschel Wedge). and discovered the "Changchun Realpoo Photoelectric Co. Ltd". A name that instills confidence…

Neil

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Neil Wyatt on 15/05/2016 21:13:28:

I just went looking for 30-segree prisms (to make a Herschel Wedge). and discovered the "Changchun Realpoo Photoelectric Co. Ltd". A name that instills confidence…

.

… It may be worth browsing SurplusShed

MichaelG.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 15/05/2016 21:29:08:

… It may be worth browsing SurplusShed

MichaelG.

Can't spot anything big enough with the right sort of shallow angle – apparently they sold out of ideal prisms in 2011… will take a more careful look tomorrow.

[Nick_GParticipant @nick_g]

.

Rewired a friends house. (over a couple of days) …………… I hate wires.

Nick

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Going back to your pinhole camera, I once had to make something to look up the orifice of a plasma generator, very hot and very dusty. We used a pinhole mounted above a camera chip (no lens), and blew air at high speed through the pinhole. This both cooled it and kept it clear of dust. Cost very little and worked a treat, and earned me multi brownie points. Not a stunningly clear picture, someting to do with the ratio of pinhole to object size I think.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Intuitively the pixel size and pinhole size are matched but this will lead to very long exposures and diffraction effects dominating.

A larger hole will gather more light and some resolution can be obtained by gaussian deconvolution.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

This is the effect of deconvolution:

[Martin KyteParticipant @martinkyte99762]

Hi Neil regarding your Herschel wedge you might have a look at

**LINK**

I have used these cold mirrors before to dump IR. and they work very well and are reasonably cheap.

You obviously have to use additional light reducing measures as most of the visible light is reflected.

regards Martin

[Russell EberhardtParticipant @russelleberhardt48058]

Posted by Sam Longley 1 on 14/05/2016 21:29:31:

Recovering from a rather windy trip in the boat from Ramsgate to Bradwell yesterday. Winds F 5-F 7 on the nose meant a few wet waves down the back of the neck.

Reminds me of my Day Skipper course some years back. We had planned a trip from Ramsgate to Shotley. Force 6 forecast. After much consideration the instructor decided that it would be a good lesson and we departed. Off North Foreshore with a force 7 on the nose, wind against tide we decided it was a mistake and ran down the Thames estuary for shelter at Queenborough. He was right. It did indeed teach us a good lesson!

Russell.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

We must have been on the same course – though mine was in the hmm, late 80's.

This was Poole to somewhere in the Solent (around Southampton I think). In November.

Started off in the cabin, navigating, but then the skipper + girlfriend came down and started chain-smoking. ANd that on top of last nights beer and curry! I decided that fresh air was the better option to copious vomiting so went on to the VERY wet, VERY cold and VERY VERY mobile deck.

We came close to being capsized by freak wave, the instruments were blown off and the forestay snapped.

Educational.

Iain

[Author]

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