Monthly Archives: June 2018

Building an observatory. Construction #3

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

What finer way could a blazing hot sunny day be spent than barrowing and shovelling a tonne of concrete? ???? This Sunday I started the day by cutting some of the outer floor timbers to length and digging the previously-mentioned … Continue reading →

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Building an observatory. Construction #2

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

Having decided that I can wrap the timber in DPC material to protect it from damp, this Saturday afternoon I lowered the shuttering for the two concrete blocks that I’d already put in place so that the highest one will … Continue reading →

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Building an observatory. Design #2

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

Though I’m not 100% confident in my welding skills, I’m coming round to the idea of making the frame for the rolling roof section from a square section steel tube. I think in the end it will be lighter, less … Continue reading →

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Building an observatory. Work commences.

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

Once I’d mowed the grass in the planned area I wasn’t entirely happy about the steepness of the slope. The floor deck will be built off six concrete pads and the pad at the bottom of the slope would have … Continue reading →

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Broadband: Beyond Thunderstorm

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

My ISP very kindly makes traffic graphs available for my ADSL line, which is mostly carried overhead on telegraph poles, over the tops of the hills to the exchange about 3km away (as the phone line flies). On the last … Continue reading →

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Building an observatory. The design.

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

I’ve been tinkering with Sketchup (version 8 — the latest one I can get to work under Wine) to create a design for the observatory. It’s quite a handy tool for setting things out to see how they’ll all work … Continue reading →

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Building an observatory. Part 1 of many :)

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

I’ve been promising myself that I’d build an observatory for years, but life has just got in the way a bit and I never managed to get started. I’ve now decided that I should really get on with it, so … Continue reading →

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Blast from the past…

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

Many years back I wrote a BBC Micro emulator for Linux. I still have the source kicking around somewhere. Perhaps I’ll try to get it up and running again if I have time. Meanwhile, here are some screenshots. How many … Continue reading →

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Swimming, 4th June 2018

Posted on June 5, 2018 by james

After a bit of an enforced break due to holiday clubs at the pool, back in for a technique session to get used to swimming again. All tumble turn practice again. USRPT distance this year: 41,150m Total distance this year: … Continue reading →

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