Mat's BX Blog

[mat_fenwick]

Stop trying to district me into making more circuits for the BX lights! How about the small forfeit of buying a drink for whoever does the circuit first?

Pressure senders - the task is simplified by the original gauge only displaying low to high; no actual pressure values:



So I just got a resistance box to wire in between the sender wire and earth, whilst watching the needle. It seemed to be around 240 ohms for zero pressure, and ~30 ohms for FSD, compared with the V8 sender of 10 ohms for zero pressure and 180 ohms for 80 psi.

10-180 ohms seems to be the European standard for gauge senders, regardless of what pressures (or other units) corresponds to FSD whereas 240-33 ohms is common in the US. So after a bit of Googling I've got a 240-33 ohm/0-80 psi sender on the way It's unlikely the Rover V8 will even get to 60 psi, but then I was always used to seeing the gauge sit around the bottom half of the gauge with the Hyundai engine, even after a bottom end rebuild with new bearing shells and oil pump.

[Tim Leech]

Thats done some miles!

Revcounter is very Sd1-eque

[electrokid]

no problem with were you thinking of the spotlight mod or the variable dim-dip ? When using CMOS the power supply needs to be filtered too in order to make sure no overvolt happens - the regulated supply works well of course - but if you need the CMOS supply to be close to the incoming 12v then the filter cct on the granny mod page is very simple and very effective - input to PL2.1 and the CMOS supply at "+" - one of the advantages being that if something goes horribly wrong then the lamp LP1 just lights up

[mat_fenwick]

Electrickery (and lots of other stuff actually) taking a back seat at the moment, as I discovered that all our outbuildings had been broken into. Chainsaw, generator, trimmer and Lana's new bike all gone. All we know is that it happened sometime today.

Fortunately most of my tools look too dirty to have any resale value, and my bike which I've had for 20 years (and shows it!) was untouched. Plus they had left the new stereo in the BX, although had got into the Discovery and gone through the glovebox/door pockets etc. For some reason they appeared not to share my taste in music, as the CD collection was left (apparently intact) on the passenger seat

I know it's no use going over 'if onlys' but I can't help thinking if the logging lorries which use the track several times a day locked our gate behind them, it would at least have made the theft more difficult.

It wouldn't surprise me if they are back tomorrow, as they probably know our movements fairly well and there is plenty of stuff left untouched. They've broken down the door of the shed by the house but left the 6 month old pressure washer in the doorway - possibly as the dog would have been barking at them? Have got the day off work, so will park down the road a bit and walk back to the house so it appears we are out.

I rather hope the bastards do return...

[Tinkley]

Bad luck Mat.

Hope you get the Bst@@@s. Too much of this stuff going on. I had a lot of trouble with little oiks, like 3 windows in the house broken (stones), BX n/s window broken, BX attempted theft, BX rear window smashed, boat trailer dumped 100 meters up road etc etc When on one occassion I was following the oik that smashed the rear window and the police turned up, the guy refused to get out of his car and apprehend the idiot. Oh I'll drive round (the other side of a small footpath alley) he eventually said and of course when he did they had disappeared. Gives you real confidence......maybe I should have called him a pl@b...

If I was closer you would be welcome to borrow chainsaw if needed.

[electrokid]

Damn... etc. That's a lot of stuff gone missing

Of course they may assume that you're going to take the day off and come back next week - it's hard to know what's the best action to take. But then again - as I learnt when I was keeping an eye on a late cousin's house in South London - "thick as thieves" usually means they're dumb so maybe they will be back today. Good luck with it. I assume the police are involved so worth finding out if any of the lorry drivers saw anything - or if any of them or their friends have any 'previous'.

[Des Smith]

Bad luck Mat. That's not the kind of thing you'd expect for rural Wales, but perhaps that's a naive thought these days.

[mds141]

Hope you catch the bastarrds Mat.

[Tim Leech]

I was burgled a few years back, terrible feeling, only got into the conservatory and nicked my stereo (after sifting through my CD collection and leaving most) and an oil filled radiator and other bits and bobs. Police were very good but they never caught them.

[mat_fenwick]

Thanks guys. Just found out my welder is missing too, which strangely is making me feel worse than the other stuff. Maybe it's lack of sleep last night catching up with me. Higher security door locks on their way tomorrow, together with a CCTV system which will email me with a still photo if someone is spotted, so I can then view live video wherever I have an internet connection.

The Disco had been searched fairly thoroughly, which I'm guessing was for the keys as they could have used it to break down the gates to our yard, to save climbing over them. So could have been worse if the keys had been found. Not really feeling in the Christmas mood at the moment, especially as I've seen what the insurance excess is - £350. I hadn't really worried about that as I (perhaps equally naively) had felt pretty safe living here.

[Tinkley]

At least you had insurance Mat. I put in a powerful halogen 500w light with a second remote sensor which tripped whenever anyone went up the road at night and that deterred the trouble. Like you I thought I will be OK, but as the roughest house in the street (at the time) and the large Douglas Fir on the pathway to the door acting as a screen, it did not stop the oiks. Having an empty building plot for 3 houses opposite did not help - now developed, which also made a big difference.

I absolutely hated doing it, we have no street lights here but it turned out to be neccessary. I have now gone to a low powerd LED light which is kinder to my neighbours and so far seems to have worked.

Worth checking Ebay for any kit getting sold. I had a mast which went missing last year and I found a record of it being sold on Ebay. The insurers were pretty sharp on it and I got it back. Turned out the vendor had been told by the seller of a boat that it belonged with said boat.... Fortunately it had some unique differences, which I had specified on the mast so I could identify it.

[Thread Bear]

My experience with the police is you really need to do much of the legwork yourself, if you can get a handle on 'who dun it'. The temptation is to go private with some bent noses, and sort them out. Unfortunately that puts you in the wrong and Plod will happily defend the guilty for an easy notch on the truncheon as they have targets, like everyone else. Better is to flash all your chums that do car boots etc to look out for the stuff. If you can get a good lead, then follow it giving the police live ammunition, they are much more likely to do something about it. This is how I got my stolen Messerschmitt back at a range of 330 miles. The ammo was good enough that we not only got that thief, who was banged up for a year, but a ebay ring in Southampton who were 'selling' a faked schmitt in a lay-by amungst much naughty stuff and a bent scrapyard up north, who came to attention in the 3 months I watched ebay etc closely for clues. Plod got 5 nicks out of me. That is good, but it shows the level of crime going on all the time, which is not being detected. At the time the Police had only two officers looking into Ebay crime. Ebay are not really interested themselves, they want fees. I suggested to the FBHVC that each car club should have a guy watching the internet adds, as they would pick up far more dodgy adds, with there specialist knowledge, than the Police on their own. With good intelligence the Police would get more of these buggers. No response back but they might have included the notion in their mag.

Of course if they came back and are on your curatlidge you have much more rights to be aggressive. Tempting but ultimately it does not get your stuff back really. Better is to track back whence they came and nick their transport having ensured your parked stuff will not work. Being in the middle of no where they will be kind of stuffed by that. There is then grounds for getting your gear back in a trade. Alternatively it is a great bit of evidence for the police. One farmer round here crushed the thieves two vehicles while they were on his property. Not sure who 'won' ultimately as it was a second visit, but the Police did nothing, as there was little proof of who was responsible.

I have had mates who have borrowed pigs to put in places as protection. Especially if the pigs have been allowed to keep their tusks. Pigs can be total bar stewards and can chew a leg off, yet as a farm animal they are not liable to be held responsible, like a dog would. Clearly there is a lot depending on property and status of property to that but anyone taking a Pig on, who does not know what they are doing, is a fool.

[electrokid]

Mat - PM sent.

[Mothman]

The 'old bill' told me recently that if you can justify it, shoot the bastards, using here his very words.

Andy

[MULLEY]

Sorry to hear what's happened Mat, i was burgled many years ago, & it still raises my anger levels thinking about it. Never got caught either, fuxxers. I believe you can now use a certain amount of force to stop someone from taking your property or damaging it etc... quite what that level is i've no idea, personally killing them would be acceptable in my book, scum!!! It'll then give you the excuse that you need in putting down a new patio