Monthly Archives: February 2012

EQ3-2 DEC Drive Gearbox Stripdown

With a new DEC motor drive in place, I decided I’d take apart my old DEC drive gearbox to see if it could be improved at all. Once split from the motor I used two pairs of pliers to hold … Continue reading

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EQ3-2 DEC Motor Strip-Down

Having done a fair bit of work trying to improve the motor drive for my EQ3-2 mount I wanted to look particularly at the DEC motor to see if I could improve its performance at all. It’s had a tough … Continue reading

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My First FIT Payment

Last week, two and a half months after I submitted the readings, I finally received my first FIT payment for the electricity generated by our solar PV installation during September, October and November last year. Very pleasant at last to … Continue reading

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127 Mak Collimation

I’ve been doing a fair bit of fiddling around with my 127 Mak recently. The initial reason for this was that the mirror had become loose on the carrier mechanism, meaning lots of trouble getting reliable focus. To fix this … Continue reading

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Alternative Breakfasts

I’m sitting here this morning eating rhubarb crumble for my breakfast. It makes an interesting change from the usual toast or cereals and I’m very much enjoying it. The thought also strikes me that as it was home-made from rhubarb … Continue reading

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Starting This Year’s Fruit and Veg

Well, kind of. I’ve already got broad beans under cloches in one of the veggie beds and a sowing of peas in the polytunnel, but they were all planted last year… Anyhow, my daughter has been getting at me to … Continue reading

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This Little Piggy Went To Slaughter

This morning at stupid o’clock I took our two Large Black pigs off to slaughter. Large by name and large by nature, too. I’d estimate they’re somewhere up around the 120kg to 130kg mark, live weight. We’ve had them eight … Continue reading

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Proper Marmalade

Towards the tail end of January or the start of February I like to buy some Seville oranges and make proper marmalade. I’m really not keen on a lot of the manufactured stuff which just doesn’t have the bitterness and … Continue reading

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Strike Temperature

During my last batch of brewing I came across a formula for calculating the water temperature for a mash given the grain temperature and desired mash temperature. Unfortunately I can no longer remember where it came from. However, it is: … Continue reading

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Trouble Brewing

I’ve not made much beer in the last year, so having ordered 25kg of pale malt and various other bits and pieces, last week I decided to crack on with a few brews. Protz and Wheeler’s “Brew Your Own British … Continue reading

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