[Eeyore]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Laurence Payne" wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

Wow! Good for you! Now, tell me how efficient the generators at your
electrical plant are!

**No idea. How efficient are wind turbines and water turbines? All my
energy is guaranteed to be delivered by my supplier via renewable means. Of
course, early next year, most (maybe all) of my electrical power will be
generated
by my own Solar array (hopefully). I expect gross effiency will be around
12%.

There are "suppliers" here in the UK who purport to supply "green"
electric power. Of course they're just providing the same power my
neighbour uses. Because they aren't suppliers, merely retailers. Not
even that really, just billers.

**Of course. Same here. Over here, independent auditors monitor suppliers.
If a supplier is found not be meeting their promise, there are penalties
which can be imposed. The Federal government has recently announced a
significant boost to the Solar array benefit. This makes it reasonably
economical for individuals to fit the panels to their homes. Next year, the
opposition party (who should manage to get into power) has promised an
expansion of that system. At least one energy supplier has released a
package for homeowners to have the system installed. For my part, I have a
friend at BP Solar (Aust) who may be prepared to buy some panels on my
behalf. I am hoping to shave some expenses that way.

How do you plann to utilise the 6 hours or so of solar electricity ?

Graham

[Laurence Payne]

On Fri, 13 Jul 2007 09:57:56 +1000, "Trevor Wilson"
wrote:

There are "suppliers" here in the UK who purport to supply "green"
electric power. Of course they're just providing the same power my
neighbour uses. Because they aren't suppliers, merely retailers. Not
even that really, just billers.

**Of course. Same here. Over here, independent auditors monitor suppliers.
If a supplier is found not be meeting their promise, there are penalties
which can be imposed.

There'd be no point in monitoring a supplier here. He can't do
anything about the source of the power. We're all connected to the
same cables, supplied from a multitude of sources through the National
Grid. But I may have chosen a different "supplier" to my neighbour,
with a different billing structure. It's the lunatic side of
Thatcherism, trying to leech multiple profits out of one service.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Laurence Payne lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote:
There'd be no point in monitoring a supplier here. He can't do
anything about the source of the power. We're all connected to the
same cables, supplied from a multitude of sources through the National
Grid. But I may have chosen a different "supplier" to my neighbour,
with a different billing structure. It's the lunatic side of
Thatcherism, trying to leech multiple profits out of one service.

I'm assuming the idea is they monitor the type and quantity of power a
supplier generates and co-relate that to the consumption of their
customers before allowing them to claim it comes from renewable sources.

--
*Great groups from little icons grow *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Keith G wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Plowie, for once and for all - will you kindly stop your ****ing
stupid
'trying to catch me out' posts...??

Think you can consider yourself caught out...

Read these for starters:

http://www.madonnacatalog.com/guides/acetate.htm

http://www.vinyl-record-collectors.n...nyl8-part1.htm

...and learn...

....if you think that's the way the LPs your are made.

BTW, matey, I'll post what I want here. Regardless of what you
think
you
don't own this newsgroup or any other.


You really are pathetic - you've been waiting weeks to trot that out,
haven't you?

Trot out what? That you apparently don't know how LPs are made?

Or that I responded to you telling me what I can and can't post?

Now **** off....

And you've done it again.

Are you trying to rival Allison?



I wonder if the tut-tutters here have latched on to the fact that all
your impertinent little responses to my posts are clumsy, pathetic
little attempts to start an argument?

If so it always succeeds with you, Keith.

Most would have taken my little quip for what it was. But not you. You
have to try and 'top' it but only succeeded in showing either your
ignorance or that you didn't understand it.

Your use of 'impertinent' - a Freudian slip?

--
*Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Trevor Wilson]

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Laurence Payne" wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

Wow! Good for you! Now, tell me how efficient the generators at
your
electrical plant are!

**No idea. How efficient are wind turbines and water turbines? All my
energy is guaranteed to be delivered by my supplier via renewable
means. Of
course, early next year, most (maybe all) of my electrical power will
be
generated
by my own Solar array (hopefully). I expect gross effiency will be
around
12%.

There are "suppliers" here in the UK who purport to supply "green"
electric power. Of course they're just providing the same power my
neighbour uses. Because they aren't suppliers, merely retailers. Not
even that really, just billers.

**Of course. Same here. Over here, independent auditors monitor
suppliers.
If a supplier is found not be meeting their promise, there are penalties
which can be imposed. The Federal government has recently announced a
significant boost to the Solar array benefit. This makes it reasonably
economical for individuals to fit the panels to their homes. Next year,
the
opposition party (who should manage to get into power) has promised an
expansion of that system. At least one energy supplier has released a
package for homeowners to have the system installed. For my part, I have
a
friend at BP Solar (Aust) who may be prepared to buy some panels on my
behalf. I am hoping to shave some expenses that way.

How do you plann to utilise the 6 hours or so of solar electricity ?

**"6 hours"? This is Australia, don't forget. Most of the place is a bunch
sunnier than the UK. Here in Sydney, in the dead of Winter, I get around 6
hours of full Sunshine per day. In Summer, it's more. Much more. Moreover,
the popular choice right now, is to couple the cells to a grid connected
inverter. Whilst generating surplus power, the meter will run backwards.
When consuming power from the grid, it runs forwards. The idea is to
generate more than one uses. The power company is required to pay for the
surplus. In reality, I don't expect to generate surplus power. Not yet.

When I started this journey, I was offered some second hand batteries
(really good ones), which I figured on using for a Solar/battery array which
could supply my power for those times when blackouts occurred (reputed to be
sometime in the next year or two), but the whole thing got too hard. And to
claim the government rebate, one must use brand new equipment. Bloody BP.
They have the Solar industry by the short and curlies. I spoke with my mate
today and he tells me that BP Solar can't keep up with the demand (in
Australia). There is a serious waiting list for cells.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Keith G]

"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message
.. .

"Phil Allison" wrote in message
...

** Go get ****ed

- you ASININE AUTISTIC CHARLATAN.

Just like the life long, bull****ting criminal charlatan you have
proved yourself to be .

**You owe me a fiver Keith.


Put it on the slate! ;-)

What you (and a few others) need to realise is that Mr Allison has got a
*condition* and, AFAICS, the only two ways to deal with him is either
ignore the vitriol and work positively through it or simply not respond
to his posts. Arguing/fighting with him will only fuel the flames.

(Actually, I believe he's a bright ole boy and, once you get past the
bile, he seems to know what he's on about??)

[Phil Allison]

"Keith Git "


( snip criminal abuse from brain dead pommy ****)


** Go get ****ed

- you COMPLETELY ASININE,

AUTISTIC ****WIT PITA TROLL







....... Phil

[Eeyore]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Eeyore" wrote in message


How do you plann to utilise the 6 hours or so of solar electricity ?

**"6 hours"? This is Australia, don't forget. Most of the place is a bunch
sunnier than the UK.

I do hope you haven't been mis-sold the idea of solar.

City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct
Nov Dec Year Avg

Sydney 6.34 5.68 4.87 3.6 2.74 2.5 2.67 3.53 4.67 5.61
6.32 6.6 4.59

http://www.apricus.com/html/insolation_levels_asiap.htm

That's 4.59 kW/m^2 daily average. At the typical 14% conversion efficiency (to
DC) that's an average of 638Wh per sq metr. with a low of 350Wh anda high of
924Wh.

How many sq metres do you plan to have fitted ? And how much will it cost ?

Graham

[Eeyore]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

When I started this journey, I was offered some second hand batteries
(really good ones), which I figured on using for a Solar/battery array which
could supply my power for those times when blackouts occurred (reputed to be
sometime in the next year or two)

Why do you expect blackouts ?

Graham

[Trevor Wilson]

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Trevor Wilson wrote:

When I started this journey, I was offered some second hand batteries
(really good ones), which I figured on using for a Solar/battery array
which
could supply my power for those times when blackouts occurred (reputed to
be
sometime in the next year or two)

Why do you expect blackouts ?

**Far too many people buying and using cheap air conditioners. Ironic, huh?


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Trevor Wilson]

"Signal" wrote in message
...
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

I bought a used Nakamichi TA-4A Stasis receiver and I am currently
using it in a spare room to amplify a DVD
player.

I have a 13 year old son who never turns things off. And by "never"
I
mean NEVER EVER.

Every time he uses the receiver to watch a DVD, he simply walks away
from it when he is finished.

Today I came home from work and found it on. He had used it that
morning, so I estimate that this amplifier had been on for about _8_
solid hours when I came home and discovered it.

Is this bad for it? It has good ventilation all round it, but it was
quite warm from being on so long.

Should I ban him from using the receiver, or am I being needlessly
picky?

**Nope, you're not. Apart form the needless waste of energy and
additional
greenhouse effects (which he and his generation will have to deal with)
all
electrolytic capacitors within the amplifier will wear out faster.

--
Trevor Wilsonwww.rageaudio.com.au

--
Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

What's the normal lifespan of an electrolytic capacitor? 10, 15 years?
I bet the power switch will war out before then. The amp will be fine,
but it just won't trun on.

**Depends on the electro. So-called 'computer grade' or mil-spec caps are
typically rated for 100,000 hours @ 105oC. The types of caps used in
domestic equipment are more likely to be rated for between 5,000 and
10,000
hours @ 85oC. At the lower temps found in domestic equipment (say: 50oC)
you
could expect roughly 4 times longer life. That equates to around 2.2 years
of continuous operation (worst case). Assuming, of course, that the caps
have been designed and constructed correctly. Some will not last that
long.
Some will last longer. Some localised heating can occur inside amps, which
raise the temperature of caps to very high levels. I've seen designs where
resistors, adjacent to caps are allowed to exceed 140oC. Those caps can
easily be operated at 100oC without the amplifier being noticeably warm.
BTW: Most bi-polar caps (the type found in most speaker crossovers) have a
rated life of around 2,000 hours. Sobering thought, huh?

More seriously, of course, is the collateral damage which can be caused by
a
failing capacitor. The gunk inside can be quite corrosive.

Moral: When not in use, turn it off.

What's about equipment with "standby" mode?

**For me, I turn stuff off, with a 'hard' switch, wherever possible. Others
may not share such an approach. For many items, with a (say) 1 Watt standby
power, it's pretty much academic. Many items consume much more power when in
standby, however. They are the real culprits. They will have premature
capacitor failures and they add to the greenhouse problem.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Serge Auckland]

"Trevor Wilson" wrote in message
.. .

"Signal" wrote in message
...
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

I bought a used Nakamichi TA-4A Stasis receiver and I am currently
using it in a spare room to amplify a DVD
player.

I have a 13 year old son who never turns things off. And by "never"
I
mean NEVER EVER.

Every time he uses the receiver to watch a DVD, he simply walks away
from it when he is finished.

Today I came home from work and found it on. He had used it that
morning, so I estimate that this amplifier had been on for about _8_
solid hours when I came home and discovered it.

Is this bad for it? It has good ventilation all round it, but it
was
quite warm from being on so long.

Should I ban him from using the receiver, or am I being needlessly
picky?

**Nope, you're not. Apart form the needless waste of energy and
additional
greenhouse effects (which he and his generation will have to deal
with)
all
electrolytic capacitors within the amplifier will wear out faster.

--
Trevor Wilsonwww.rageaudio.com.au

--
Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

What's the normal lifespan of an electrolytic capacitor? 10, 15 years?
I bet the power switch will war out before then. The amp will be fine,
but it just won't trun on.

**Depends on the electro. So-called 'computer grade' or mil-spec caps are
typically rated for 100,000 hours @ 105oC. The types of caps used in
domestic equipment are more likely to be rated for between 5,000 and
10,000
hours @ 85oC. At the lower temps found in domestic equipment (say: 50oC)
you
could expect roughly 4 times longer life. That equates to around 2.2
years
of continuous operation (worst case). Assuming, of course, that the caps
have been designed and constructed correctly. Some will not last that
long.
Some will last longer. Some localised heating can occur inside amps,
which
raise the temperature of caps to very high levels. I've seen designs
where
resistors, adjacent to caps are allowed to exceed 140oC. Those caps can
easily be operated at 100oC without the amplifier being noticeably warm.
BTW: Most bi-polar caps (the type found in most speaker crossovers) have
a
rated life of around 2,000 hours. Sobering thought, huh?

More seriously, of course, is the collateral damage which can be caused
by a
failing capacitor. The gunk inside can be quite corrosive.

Moral: When not in use, turn it off.

What's about equipment with "standby" mode?

**For me, I turn stuff off, with a 'hard' switch, wherever possible.
Others may not share such an approach. For many items, with a (say) 1
Watt standby power, it's pretty much academic. Many items consume much
more power when in standby, however. They are the real culprits. They will
have premature capacitor failures and they add to the greenhouse problem.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au


Agreed. As a generalisation, anything with a mains transformer will draw a
couple of watts worth of magnetising current, less for toroidals, more for
laminated transformers. As with all generalisations, there are plenty of
exceptions, but equally, many (most) will be along these lines. Added to the
minimum magnetisation of the transformer, then there is the power drawn by
the standby circuits themselves, so overall, you can expect several watts
dissipation on standby. As an example, my Meridian active 'speakers draw 6
watts each on standby, 10 watts at idle.

Equipment with Switch-mode power supplies can be made to draw less power on
standby than conventional linear supplies. For example, my cheapie DVD
player draws 2 watts on standby.

S.

--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

[Laurence Payne]

On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 01:21:09 +0100, Signal wrote:

Moral: When not in use, turn it off.

What's about equipment with "standby" mode?

We're learning that even in standby mode, some equipment still uses
appreciable power. Even if you refuse to save this power on
principle, power prices are such that saving a few watts here, a few
watts there can really be worth doing. There will always be people
who delight in constructing arguments against it though :-)

[Rob[_3_]]

Laurence Payne wrote:
On Sun, 15 Jul 2007 01:21:09 +0100, Signal wrote:

Moral: When not in use, turn it off.
What's about equipment with "standby" mode?

We're learning that even in standby mode, some equipment still uses
appreciable power. Even if you refuse to save this power on
principle, power prices are such that saving a few watts here, a few
watts there can really be worth doing. There will always be people
who delight in constructing arguments against it though :-)

I recently had a look at my REL Strata 5's power consumption, having not
bothered too much about it, advertised as it is with 'power starvation
technology', and 'maximum power saving at rest'. Measures 6W at idle,
against the 4W in the spec. Not insignificant IMHO.

Rob

[Eeyore]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Signal" wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

Moral: When not in use, turn it off.

What's about equipment with "standby" mode?

**For me, I turn stuff off, with a 'hard' switch, wherever possible. Others
may not share such an approach. For many items, with a (say) 1 Watt standby
power, it's pretty much academic. Many items consume much more power when in
standby, however. They are the real culprits. They will have premature
capacitor failures and they add to the greenhouse problem.

I have an NTL / Virgin Media set top box for cable TV. It doesn't even have a
'hard' power switch. Unfortunately if placed in standy it seems more prone to
crashing the firmware which means you have to detach the mains cable to
're-boot' it.

Useless POS. It seems it got worse when they reprogrammed the firmware (over the
cable connection) along with their re-branding of the company.

Graham

[Eeyore]

Serge Auckland wrote:

Equipment with Switch-mode power supplies can be made to draw less power on
standby than conventional linear supplies. For example, my cheapie DVD
player draws 2 watts on standby.

I believe there is an IEC standard for this. A figure of 3 watts comes to mind
for new kit.

Graham

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
Eeyore wrote:
I have an NTL / Virgin Media set top box for cable TV. It doesn't even
have a 'hard' power switch. Unfortunately if placed in standy it seems
more prone to crashing the firmware which means you have to detach the
mains cable to 're-boot' it.

I have a Philips which starts working normally after a total power down -
then decides to do a scan for new channels which kills sound and picture
and takes a few minutes.

--
*If God dropped acid, would he see people?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[Trevor Wilson]

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Trevor Wilson wrote:

"Signal" wrote
"Trevor Wilson" wrote:

Moral: When not in use, turn it off.

What's about equipment with "standby" mode?

**For me, I turn stuff off, with a 'hard' switch, wherever possible.
Others
may not share such an approach. For many items, with a (say) 1 Watt
standby
power, it's pretty much academic. Many items consume much more power when
in
standby, however. They are the real culprits. They will have premature
capacitor failures and they add to the greenhouse problem.

I have an NTL / Virgin Media set top box for cable TV. It doesn't even
have a
'hard' power switch. Unfortunately if placed in standy it seems more prone
to
crashing the firmware which means you have to detach the mains cable to
're-boot' it.

Useless POS. It seems it got worse when they reprogrammed the firmware
(over the
cable connection) along with their re-branding of the company.

**I have an El CheapoT (free to air) STB for my tellie. It has two tuners
and a hard drive. Very nifty. EXCEPT for the end of each month, when it
comes up with things like:

37th July 2007
or
32nd June 2007

I have to re-set the time every week, as it loses around 3 minutes per week
(The auto time setting has never worked). Every couple of months, I have
re-scan all the local TV stations, because it tells me that the signal is
weak (it isn't). OTH, my aging VCR works just fine.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Eeyore]

Trevor Wilson wrote:

**I have an El CheapoT (free to air) STB for my tellie. It has two tuners
and a hard drive. Very nifty. EXCEPT for the end of each month, when it
comes up with things like:

37th July 2007
or
32nd June 2007

I have to re-set the time every week, as it loses around 3 minutes per week
(The auto time setting has never worked). Every couple of months, I have
re-scan all the local TV stations, because it tells me that the signal is
weak (it isn't). OTH, my aging VCR works just fine.

Extraordinary.

What make is it ?

Graham

[Trevor Wilson]

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Trevor Wilson wrote:

**I have an El CheapoT (free to air) STB for my tellie. It has two tuners
and a hard drive. Very nifty. EXCEPT for the end of each month, when it
comes up with things like:

37th July 2007
or
32nd June 2007

I have to re-set the time every week, as it loses around 3 minutes per
week
(The auto time setting has never worked). Every couple of months, I have
re-scan all the local TV stations, because it tells me that the signal is
weak (it isn't). OTH, my aging VCR works just fine.

Extraordinary.

**Tell me about it.


What make is it ?

**One of these:

http://wintal.com.au/set_top_boxes/43121057.html

Mine is the old model, however. None of the issues I listed bothers me
overly much. What really ****es me off is that there is no warning if you
set the box to record stuff, which exceeds the capacity of the drive. It
would be simple enough to arrange such stuff in software.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au






--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

[Trevor Wilson]

"Eeyore" wrote in message
...


Trevor Wilson wrote:

**I have an El CheapoT (free to air) STB for my tellie. It has two tuners
and a hard drive. Very nifty. EXCEPT for the end of each month, when it
comes up with things like:

37th July 2007
or
32nd June 2007

I have to re-set the time every week, as it loses around 3 minutes per
week
(The auto time setting has never worked). Every couple of months, I have
re-scan all the local TV stations, because it tells me that the signal is
weak (it isn't). OTH, my aging VCR works just fine.

Extraordinary.

**Tell me about it.


What make is it ?

**One of these:

http://nextwave-digital.com/products.php

Mine is the model PVR-3690. None of the issues I listed bothers me
overly much. What really ****es me off is that there is no warning if you
set the box to record stuff, which exceeds the capacity of the drive. It
would be simple enough to arrange such stuff in software.

AFAIK, most PVRs operate with the same tuners and pretty similar
firmware/software. I chose the cheapest dual tuner model.


--
Trevor Wilson
www.rageaudio.com.au



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com