Marcus sings at BGGS music thingo at St Sephens

Tonight I am sitting in St Stephen's- the Catholic cathedral in the city.  It is the Girls Grammar music evening.  Marcus is singing in the last few items.

It has been a great night.  The cathedral is an inspiring venue and the music has been great.  We have had classical music and choirs.  I have been a bit naughty sitting over at the side writing on my phone and only putting it down to applaud between numbers.

Saw Bella there and Bruce Wuth.

I

Helicopter lesson - Auto Rotation

An auto rotation is when the engine stops.  I think Buzz Lightyear coined a suitable phrase "falling with style".  Those of us with less linguistic parlance might consider the term "plummet" to be appropriate.
I have been trying to learn the start up procedure by heart.  I arrived half an hour early so I could sit in the drivers seat and practice.  Remember when you were four and you would practice driving the car.
My instructor was a little late as a result of some over booking.  I entertained myself by checking the oil and petrol (70litres in the tank)  Incidentally the petrol is checked by dipping a ruler into the tank.  Then I took the doors off.  They had been put on earlier as a consequence of an impending shower of rain.  I also listened to air traffic control 123.6MHz and the ATIS 120.9MHz which is a sort of music on hold message that tells you the wind speed, direction and which runways are in use.
The instructor landed in another helicopter and wandered inside.  I followed shortly thereafter on the off chance that we might have a briefing.  He said "sorry we're late.  Have you read the notes... we'll do the briefing as we go".  Hmmm me thinks as he lights a cigarette and pauses.  "Are you hanging back to avoid setting us on fire" I enquire.  "Yes you go ahead and start it he says".
I obtained clearance and we taxied to "area alpha" not quite as dramatic as "area 51".  Taxiing in a helicopter means flying about 5ft off the ground at walking speed. 
Then we are off.  To start with, I tilt it forward and increase speed to 40knts.  Still only about 2m off the ground.  Then set a 60knot attitude and full power.  Max throttle and raise the collective as high as possible but not such that the Revs drop.  It's a climbing left turn and I am concentrating on keeping the rev's right, watching the altitude as I have to level off at 1000 ft.  Steer with cyclic and avoid the temptation to steer with my feet.  Opposite of what we do when hovering.  As we near 1000ft set an attitude of 70knots and reduce power to fly straight and level. Then a big U turn and we are heading east just north of the west-east runway the planes use.
The instructor has described the process and takes the controls.  I hold mine and follow what he does.  "Engine failure in 3 ... 2 ... 1" he says and winds off the throttle and lowers the collective.  The chopper falls from under me.  This is why I am wearing a 4 point seat belt harness.  Stops me bumping my head.  The chopper wants to put its nose down and turn left so its back on the stick and in with the right pedal.  Lots of both and quick.
Now we are plummeting (yep that's the word) toward the ground at 1600ft a minute.  The angle and speed and RPM are mostly controlled with the cyclic (the stick) and also a little with the collective.  Be gentle. When we are about 20ft we start a "flare" basically  pull back lots on the stick so the nose goes up in air and if all goes well we plop onto the ground.  (Too much and the tail hits the ground).  As this is a practice he winds up the throttle and saves us from carrying the chopper home in pieces.  We hover and then land then do it all again.  Gradually I do more and more however at the end of the lesson, the instructor is still doing the flaring bit.
So there you have it.  If you run out of petrol in your helicopter or the fanbelt brakes (did I tell you it's belt driven), well we both know what to do.
The other interesting thing was as I landed at the end of the lesson, we experienced "ground resonance".  Search youtube for an explanation. Luckily I have been drilled to not let the rev's drop until we are properly landed so recognising ground resonance, we both simultaneously pulled up on the collective and so we took off and then I brought it back down. Stably this time.

Flashpoint

 We had flashpoint today
Somethings have to die for new things to grow.

We planted sunflower seeds.

At the end the kids made markers to indicate where they had planted seeds.

Lets hope no one decides to use the whippersnipper in a couple of weeks.

Night Riders

Friday evening and Megan was off at P1.  Before she went, she asked me if I could have a look at the school swimming club microphone.  Apparantly it had issues.  I went over beforehand and it seemed OK.  I met various friends of our kids so Around 7:30, I went back to check how it was going.  This time I took the kids who were at home.



We got some bike lights and taped them onto various wheeled instruments.  I tried taking a photo without the flash but it just looked like white dots.  They were pretty invisible from behind so we added red flashing lights too.

Then they went out and played on the road.

Flashpoint - Sunday 25-MAR-2012

READINGS FOR 25-MAR-2012

Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 25, 2012)

Jeremiah 31:31-34 -> “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
Psalm 51:1-12 - Have mercy / sin / create in me a pure heart
OR Psalm 119:9-16 - How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
Hebrews 5:5-10
Gospel John 12:20-33 Jesus Predicts His Death.

Well at first glance, it's all pretty uninspiring.  Lets turn to Mr google to see how others have been inspired.

S
Grant - childrens talk on macadamia seeds
Judith has sun flower seeds. Plant in car park side of fence.
also in courtyard. or what about in the garden on the north west side of the front of the church?

sermon - dying for new life.  first half of gospel reading before the childrens talk

SONGS
Possible songs
D9. I’ve Got Something                                           (AT149)
P1. I Walk By Faith                                                     ( photocopy)
A6. Put on Love                                                          (God Gives Book 1:16)
C3. Creator                                                              (The Lads – photocopy)

Computer Controlled Vision Switcher

I am doing Video at "The Palace" at Easterfest again this year.  As usual this is being done on zero budget with Dean Davis & Derek Griffin lending cameras and comms and volunteers coming to operate.

I am trying to improve the preselection to allow me to feed more cameras into the AVE55 digital vision switcher.  To do this I am using a Vicon Nova crash switcher in front of the AVE55.  It has 32 inputs.  Imagine the damage we could do with 32 cameras.

This is the block diagram showing the Vicon Nova video routing switch and the Panasonic digital vision switcher.

Each of these video boxes is connected to the PC via a USB-RS232 serial converter.

Top of this photo shows the wiring for the RS232 connection to the AVE-55.





























This is the program interface as it stands. 
Basic operation is as follows.
The 16 camera buttons are across the top.
A & B represent the two frame stores / busses in the AVE 55 vision switcher.

As shown we have camera 2 switched through to Bus A on the AVE55 and then onto the main video output.

Let say the operator clicks camera 1.  The program checks which bus is currently active (Bus A) so it tells the Vicon Nova Matrix switch to switch Camera 1 to the inactive bus B (Output 2).  Then it waits a quarter of a second for the frame store to lock up and then it sends a command to the AVE55 to switch to bus B and so we end up with camera 1 on screen.  The operator can also use the PC keyboard and this makes for a faster easier switching experience.

This is Microsoft C# Visual Studio 2010 Express where I 'author' the program.  It is really nice to use. And it's free for non commercial use.  So much better than 1 or 2 month trials.  I have basically given up on things with time limited trials because I tend to get a few days and then a month or so goes by before I get another chance to do anything.

You drag controls and place them where you want them on the screen.  There are a gazillion settings and adjustments but to date I have mostly just left them in the default settings.  Behind the scenes one has to write code.  This is interesting (read challenging) because it is in a language that is new to me C# (pronounced see sharp).

The next challenge is to work out how to make it so that the user can use the keyboard rather than the mouse.  So they could press button 1 to select camera 1 instead of clicking the 1 button.

A night of the Blanks

Jemmas Promise Cerimony - Guides

Sunday

CHRIS SAILING DROP OFF
Sunday morning started dropping Chris at BGS at 7am for a morning sailing.  The school busses the kids down to Manly and back again at around 1pm



On the way home I stopped off at Sherwood to set up some lights in the church.

We had what I think is currently called "Blended Worship".  Megan had a big part in this service.  Our supply minister Judith did communion.

The theme involved light - The light of God.  Showing the way for us etc.

The church was deliberately made dark and gloomy as people arrived.
We had some bright spot lights that were turned on with the lights at one stage.
Then we pointed the lights down to make pools of light as there was a reference in the bible reading to standing in the light.

Joel did a great sermon with info for the kids and also for the adults.  While we was engaged in adult speak, the kids were given OHT plastic and pens and created drawings that were stuck to a piece of paper with light shining through.








Actually I find this service to be the hardest thing to organise at Sherwood.  Flashpoint is easy and I think that is because we have a very defined objective there.  But here we are trying to bring together a number of possibly conflicting or contradictory ??? things.

We are trying to involve kids and yet when that is done, some adults find it distracting.
We are operating in a formal space.
Some people feel that one should behave in a certain quiet and reverend fashion in a "church" and so when one runs a casual childrens service then they feel that is wrong.
On sunday, I wandered around an switched the spot lights on and off.  Some oldies objected to the light shining in their eyes and we could come up with a religeous anaology here.  Others objected to me wandering around.

I wonder whether we have forgotton the message of Jesus in all of this.  We want to make a nice comfortable church that 'just works'.  Where everything is organised and orderly and comfortable and there are no challenges and no suprises.  There is no stress and nothing changes.

On the other hand the message I take from the gospels is one of love and challenging the status quo.  A message of inclusion and being aware of the world around.  Of dynamic and reaction.

Farewell Louisa

 Sherwood UC had the privelege of hosting a memorial service for Louisa Mavor.  Louisa died of cancer on the 20 January this year in the UK.  This service was an opportunity to reflect on her life, to mourn her passing and give thanks for the influence she had on the people she met.

Louisa had requested that her memorial service in Australia be at Sherwood as that had been a significant time in her life for her.  She spent several years worshipping here while her husband at the time, Ben Webb, was our youth worker.  Many of us reminisced that there were quite a number of young families still at Sherwood because of her friendly and encouraging invitations years ago to come check out Sherwood!  Apparently the Sunday School has tutored 27 children of the then young adults who were invited to Sherwood by Louie!

In this view you can see my tripod down the back.  I had a video camera with a long cable that fed vision to a projector set up in the fellowship room.  You can also see the group of people who crammed into the standing area down the back.

There were actually a few people (including parents with aforementioned young children and the afternoon tea preparation team) who watched the service in the fellowship room.  Sound was facilitated by putting the fold back speakers in the fellowship room and courtyard and throwing the speaker leads out the window.

The view from the back. The men in red shirts on the dais are "The Blenders".  An a capella choir from the Gold Coast who delivered a magnificent rendition of "It Is Well With My Soul".  Ian Mavor (Louie's dad) sings with them each Monday night.

And the standers.

I caught up briefly with various people who I had not seen for ages including Ben Webb and Ken Mavor.

11km walk

Today, quite early, we abandoned the children and went for a little 11km stroll.

A total of 14? of us (mostly) met at our place and car pooled.  First stop with the cars was the car park at JC slaughter falls.  We left two cars there and squeezed into the remaining two cars and drove to... Well we were supposed to drive to some pony club out in the Gap somewhere but the route planning was a bit light and we ended up de caring in some random street.  It was then decided that we should have been on the other side of a creek.  Some time was spent on debating and researching options.  A couple of us were keen to walk across a big pipe that traversed?  Straddled? the creek but the majority, in keeping with the election fever that is sweeping Queensland voted that idea down.  I think this is actually Campbell Newman's battle ground as we saw lots of posters referring to him or encouraging us to "keep Kate".

Eventually we were underway.  This is no stroll in the park.  A cracking pace was set and I struggled to keep up.  Psychologically it is really not good to be at the back but gee it's hard to catch up once you are behind.  Luckily it was not long before we ascended a huge steep hill and I was able to overtake a couple of the girls and also the group re formed at the top.  Unfortunately two of the girls got so far behind on this hill that we abandoned them.  A decision that was to come back to haunt us later.




My photos are from the easy bits because on the hard bits I was too stuffed to use the camera.

I have new appreciation of the effort that Megan and the other walkers put in.


The hills are alive to the sound of walkers, joggers and mountain bikers.  As I said no walk in the park as you have to watch you are not mown down by a cyclist.

We proceeded up hill and down dale? dail?.  Naturally we would complain about it being too hard to go up hill and when we were going down hill we would pretty much agree that going down was harder than going up.  I was somewhat disappointed that there was no support for a mutiny to take a short cut to the coffee shop that lay tantalisingly at the top of Mt Cootha and which we (in) conveniently scooted around.

Now I mentioned some grief associated with abandoned team members.  Well Ainsleigh (Erin's sister) was one of the members who fell behind.  No phone.  No map.  She took some advice from cyclists and joggers and made her way to JC slaughter falls.  Meanwhile Erin and Manfred went back to find her.  We found her and MMSd Erin this picture to set her mind at ease.



If I do this again, I will need to get new shoes as I found that on the down hill sections, my toes would be pushed forward and jammed into the front of my shoes.  I contemplated super gluing my heels into the shoes to prevent this but I had not brought any super glue so that was the end of that idea.

I am now lying on my bed and my toes are aching, my shins are aching, my calves are aching.  Mel come over and give me a massage!.

Rowing #2

The all important post rowing breakfast coffee.

Went rowing for a second time.

Bike Ride to Boys Brigade

Tonight Chris, Dan and I rode our bikes from home to Oxley UC. The boys to boys brigade there. About a week ago, I bought lights and fitted them. This was the first time the boys had used them. Jemma had done likewise for her trip to and from Girl Guide last week.

Dan and Chris finish at different times. Each time, I would ride back to the church to escort them home.

Dan's bike. New from Big W in January is stuffed. As we went to ride home, the chain came off the rear sprocket. We put it back on only to find that when he peddled, the chain and sprocket just went round and round as if he was in nutral. On closer inspection, some ballbearings fell out. We got it to take up for a while and managed to gently ride about half way home. Then we walked.

Control Vicon Nova VI422 video routing matrix switch by RS232

This is a work in progress and records my notes and success and failures regarding
Controling a Vicon Nova VI422 video routing matrix switch by RS232.

12-MAR-2012 Success!
set 19.2 8 data 1 stop.
To Switch Camera 2 to Monitor 1
<$01>A001 // Selects monitor 1 as the "Active Monitor"
<$01>B02 // Selects camera 2 and switches it to the "Active Monitor".
The thing is too smart for it's self and if the camera is not present then nothing happens and the unit responds with a "?". If it works then it responds with a "$".




\x01A001\x0D\x01B01\x0D  Sets output 1 then camera 1


-------------------------------------------------------------

References:
1] VPS328 V1422 Prog_X834-01-00.pdf
2} VPS328 V1422 Inst_X826-01-00.pdf
3] VPSRS232Controlcpu.PDF "Controlling a Vicon CPU with HyperTerminal"
4] V1422 RS-232_X678-02-00.pdf "V1422™ Host Computer Interface Software"

[2 page20]:
The Vi422 can communicate with a computer through RS-232 jack J6 using commands as described in NOVA W422 Host Computer interface Sofware instruction Manual...(whatever that is)

The computer connected to jack J6 is referred to as the “host” computer.
Default RS232 settings: 19.2k 8data 1 stop no parity
Default Passcode=0000000000 ten zeros

[3]
If a host port password is in use, the response to commands sent to the VPS will be “Please Login $”.
Enter the following: Ctrl A IDXXXXXXXXXX Enter (where X’s represent the
password).
If the password was accepted, the VPS will respond with
“Host Logon at :
hh:mm:ss MM:DD:YY” $.
SETTING UP.

Bike crash

Driving Marcus to school this morning.  Travelling East on College Rd when we overtake a cyclist.  The next instant I hear a crash and in my rear vision mirror I see a person descending below the tray of the Ute.

It appears she decided to change lanes behind me and misjudged my slowness.  She picked her self up, apologised and rode off.

Control AVE55 by RS232

Connected AVE55 to XP laptop via USB-RS232 converter.

Got the stuff from the French guy
http://www.a2m2.ch/fred/wj-ave55.htm
Sniffed the USB RS232 with Free serial port monitor
http://www.serial-port-monitor.com/free-serial-port-monitor-downloads.html

The protcol seems to be
HEX 02 ":"   HEX03
The HEX02 is the start of message character and
HEX03 is the end of message character.
I have no idea where the command names are in the official docs
The command numbers seem to be in the user manual.

Command codes for Panasonic WJ-AVE55 video mixer
From  https://github.com/veljkodragsic/ave55serial/blob/master/commands.py





#
# Command opcodes for Panasonic WJ-AVE55 video mixer
#

# to check: 90 - 100, 146 ...


### MIX MODES

# mix
'mix': ('VMX','000',),

# wipe
'wipe': ('VMX','210',),
'wipe_dir_1': ('VWD','040',),
'wipe_dir_2': ('VWD','041',),

# luma key
'luma' : ('VMX','212',),
'luma_set' : ('VMX','21133',), # 00 - FF ?


### INPUT SELECT

'a_in_1': ('VCP','200',),
'a_in_2': ('VCP','201',),
'a_in_3': ('VCP','202',),
'a_in_4': ('VCP','203',),

'b_in_1': ('VCP','205',),
'b_in_2': ('VCP','206',),
'b_in_3': ('VCP','207',),
'b_in_4': ('VCP','208',),

### EFFECTS

# strobe
'a_str_0': ('VDE','070',),
'a_str_1': ('VDE','071',),
'a_str_2': ('VDE','072',),
'a_str_3': ('VDE','073',),
'a_str_4': ('VDE','074',),
'a_str_5': ('VDE','075',),

'b_str_0': ('VDE','094',),
'b_str_1': ('VDE','095',),
'b_str_2': ('VDE','096',),
'b_str_3': ('VDE','097',),
'b_str_4': ('VDE','098',),
'b_str_5': ('VDE','099',),

# mosaic
'a_mos_0': ('VDE','076',),
'a_mos_1': ('VDE','077',),
'a_mos_2': ('VDE','078',),
'a_mos_3': ('VDE','079',),
'a_mos_4': ('VDE','080',),
'a_mos_5': ('VDE','081',),

'b_mos_0': ('VDE','100',),
'b_mos_1': ('VDE','101',),
'b_mos_2': ('VDE','102',),
'b_mos_3': ('VDE','103',),
'b_mos_4': ('VDE','104',),
'b_mos_5': ('VDE','105',),

# paint
'a_pnt_0': ('VDE','082',),
'a_pnt_1': ('VDE','083',),
'a_pnt_2': ('VDE','084',),
'a_pnt_3': ('VDE','085',),
'a_pnt_4': ('VDE','086',),

'b_pnt_0': ('VDE','106',),
'b_pnt_1': ('VDE','107',),
'b_pnt_2': ('VDE','108',),
'b_pnt_3': ('VDE','109',),
'b_pnt_4': ('VDE','110',),

# negative
'a_neg_0': ('VDE','087',),
'a_neg_1': ('VDE','088',),
'b_neg_0': ('VDE','111',),
'b_neg_1': ('VDE','112',),

# freeze
'a_frz_fld': ('VDE','089',),
'a_frz_frm': ('VDE','090',),
'b_frz_fld': ('VDE','113',),
'b_frz_frm': ('VDE','114',),

# chroma correction
'a_cc_0': ('VDE','091',),
'a_cc_1': ('VDE','092',),
'b_cc_0': ('VDE','115',),
'b_cc_1': ('VDE','116',),


### COLOR

# white, yellow, clay, green, magenta, red, blue, black, custom/user

# backcolor
'col_bck_w': ('VBC','140',),
'col_bck_y': ('VBC','141',),
'col_bck_c': ('VBC','142',),
'col_bck_g': ('VBC','143',),
'col_bck_m': ('VBC','144',),
'col_bck_r': ('VBC','145',),
'col_bck_b': ('VBC','146',),
'col_bck_blk': ('VBC','147',),
'col_bck_cus': ('VBC','148',),

# bordercolor
'col_bor_w': ('VEC','150',),
'col_bor_y': ('VEC','151',),
'col_bor_c': ('VEC','152',),
'col_bor_g': ('VEC','153',),
'col_bor_m': ('VEC','154',),
'col_bor_r': ('VEC','155',),
'col_bor_b': ('VEC','156',),
'col_bor_blk': ('VEC','157',),
'col_bor_cus': ('VEC','158',),

#mode
'col_mode_0': ('VBG','160',)
'col_mode_1': ('VBG','161',)
'col_mode_2': ('VBG','162',)
'col_mode_3': ('VBG','163',)
'col_mode_4': ('VBG','164',)

# title
'col_ttl_int': ('VTC','165',)
'col_ttl_ext': ('VTC','166',)

# edge
'col_edge_0': ('VTE','167',)
'col_edge_1': ('VTE','168',)
'col_edge_2': ('VTE','169',)
'col_edge_3': ('VTE','170',)
'col_edge_4': ('VTE','171',)
'col_edge_5': ('VTE','172',)


### FADE

# video fade --> check?
'fd_v_0': ('VFD','130'),
'fd_v_1': ('VFD','131'),

# audio fade --> check?
'fd_a_0': ('VFD','132'),
'fd_a_1': ('VFD','133'),

# title fade --> check?
'fd_t_0': ('VFD','134'),
'fd_t_1': ('VFD','135'),

# fade to
'fd_wht': ('VFD','136'),
'fd_blk': ('VFD','137'),
'fd_col': ('VFD','138'),

RS232 Terminal Programs

I need to be able to send hex codes to the AVE55.  This can be done on Hyperterminal by pressing ALT and typing the hex code into the numeric keypad.  On the laptop though, this becomes a bit of a pain because there is no dediacted numeric key pad & I do not know if it actually work.  My netbook is Win 7 and win7 does not come with hyperterminal anyway.  So the search is on for a terminal program.

Real Term
http://realterm.sourceforge.net/
Make sure you get V2.0.0.57 (or later).  Initially I clicked the "latest version" link and that did not support escape sequences.
 Seems difficult to mix hex and characters in the one string.
It would be nice to send

02 56 42 43 3A 31 34 32 03                        .VBC:142.
\x02VBC:142\x03   Where "\x" means hex. 

Putty

Console 2.0

http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/files/

Not a terminal program.  More of a dos prompt like thing.

teraterm 

http://www.ayera.com/teraterm/download.cfm 

USB Serial RS232 Sniffer

Need to sniff a RS232 connection.

http://www.232analyzer.com  $69.96
The free one does not sniff.  Can use it as a terminal and watch the detail but as a sniffer - no.
The single user license is $69.95 and apparantly that canenable the sniffing function but given the lack of other people programs to actually meet their promises in that regard, I hesitate to hand over $70 just to try it because I am doubtful that it would work or that I would get my money back.


www.stratusengineering.com/EZTap.html   $160 hardware
Bizarre $160 for a couple of D9's and a bit of wire.  Sounds like rip off.

http://www.lammertbies.nl/comm/cable/RS-232-spy-monitor.html
Useful information regarding wiring up sniffer cables.

Portmon (Microsoft?) Free
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896644.aspx
The help states: "Simply execute the Portmon program file (Portmon.exe) and Portmon will immediately start capturing port output."  But it always states :"disconnected" in the title bar and the help does not mention XP.  Seems to have been developed for 98. Never seems to log anything.  Gave up

SniffUSB2.0 Freeware
http://www.pcausa.com/Utilities/UsbSnoop/default.htm
Ran it.  Does not work.  Web page says need dot net 2.0.
A check of C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727 looks like dot net 2.0 to me.
Unplug USB adapter and wait then re plug it.
High light it and click filtercontrol>install
Somewhere along the lines it started to log but the file seems to record all sorts of calls to whatever.  I think more detail than what I am looking for and I can not find the data that I am typing in hyperterminal.
Gave up

Smart Sniff
http://smartsniff.com/smart-sniffers-faq
The log is full of junk and no sign of what I type out on hyperterminal.

Free serial port monitor
http://www.serial-port-monitor.com/free-serial-port-monitor-downloads.html
Look amazing.  See the word "Hello" at the right.
So Had to close hyperterminal.
Run Free serial port monitor.
Then open hyper terminal
type.

Overturning tables in Church

Today's Bible reading was preceeded by a request for people to take their places.  Hurried whispers involving Marcus and Megan resulted in Marcus being dispatched out the back and me wondering what he had done wrong.

The minister stepped forward to microphone and looked at me and mentioned my name.  There appeared to be an expectation that I should do likewise.  More hurried discussion with Megan established that this was to be a dramatised reading.  I deferred to Marcus and remained in my seat.

The reading John 2:13-22 began and as we had all heard the description of money changes. And templea before I was in the process of putting myself into that trance like state imwhich one is fast asleep with eyes open.  Suddenly the minister rushed forward and thew over a previously un noticed folding table sitting prominantly in the middle of the dais.  Wooh no chance of sleeping now.  Whatever possessed our somewhat older  female minister to behave in such a disreputable teenage fashion.

I am now listening to a sermon ondiacipleship and upsetting the status quo.  It would appear that there is a reason beyond sugar for avoiding chocolate and that apparantly is child labour somewhere in the production process.  But salvation is at hand through fair trade chocolate.

(I will ask Megan if there is a no sugar fair trade chocolate that is approved for consumption by the Thomson family)

A good return at Super Cheap Auto

So often when one has a problem with some product, one steels oneself for a battle with the supplier. (Phone companies of course take this to a whole other level).

Back before Christmas I had bought new windscreen wiper blades from Supercheap Auto at Oxley. These were sexy blue ones made of silicone. They matched the blue paint of the Ute and I figured Silicone would last longer. After all the black rubber ones seem to perish with monotonous regularity. Problem was unless it was really raining hard, one of the blades would shudder on the return sweep.

So finally I decided to get some new ones. I rocked on up and at the counter asked if I could speak to someone and get some advice. I explained the problem to the fellow who came outside and had a look. He declared that the metal bit that held the rubber bit was worn out. OK I was cool with that. The really amazing bit was that he insisted on refunding me the cost of the silicone blades. Even though I said repeatedly that I was not expecting a refund as it was like 3 months ago that I had bought them and I did not have the receipt. Still he insisted and who was I to argue on that point. The change over cost under $20 for the two new mechanisms and he fitted them.

This actually is the third good experience I have had returning stuff to Super cheap. On one occasion I had bought a hand pump to drive the water rocket and I took it back even though it had been used for water, it had fallen apart. I just took it to show them with the intention of buying a more expensive one and on that occasion too they refunded the original price.

So I guess I am doing what they may hope and that is saying good things about them. So both readers of my blog now can have a feel good feeling about Super Cheap Auto.

Helicopter flying

THURSDAY
That being today.  Work was fairly straight forward.  I sent a quote to a customer.  I am working on a software issue.

I took off early to have a helicopter flying lesson.  Last weeks lesson was a bit ordinary and I decided I needed to do some homework and it paid off.

On the enjoyable side, I managed to evict the kids from the computer on a couple of occasions and fly my simulator.  I found how to connect separate throttle and collective to Microsoft Flight Simulator (FSX) and so I need to finish constrution of my collective which includes the throttle.

I also rehersed the start up procedure so that I could do it from memory.  It goes like this.
Get into Helicopter.
Check foot pedals are adjusted.   The equivalent in a car is adjusting the seat.
Seatbelts on.  There are no doors and so the seatbelts give one a sense of security.
Everything OFF flow check - Start from the top and visually inspect each instrument
    Compass - check its pointing in roughly the right place.
    Instruments look normal.
    All switches off except the beacon switch.
    All the radios etc off.
Battery Switch ON.
    Warning and caution lights on.  Press to test if required.
    Set Altimiter to 63 feet
    Set directional indicator. 
    Check fuel level (Should agree with the fuel dip test performed before getting in)
Prime Engine
   Throttle open 1 cm
    Fuel boost ON
    Mixture in 2.5 seconds then pull out.
    Fuel boost ON
Start Engine
   Magnitos to Both - This is a key switch like in a car.
   Press start button (In cenre of the throttle)
   When engine fires gently but firmly push in the mixture knob.
   1400 RPM
   Observe 25PSI oil pressure in 30 seconds.
Power Up Electronics
   Again work top to bottom.  Left to right.
   Altinator ON. Avionics ON.  Stop watch ON.  Put headsets on.
Engage Rotor
   Check area clear.
   1500 RPM
   Switch to slow. Switch to engage and back to Auto.
   Wait for rotors to start and the RPM needles to converge.
   While this is happening, set radio
      ATIS 120.9MHz.  Tower North on 123.6MHz
   Close switch Guard.  Wait for clutch light to go out.
After Rotor Engage Tests
    Set 2000RPM
    Warning & Caution lights all out except low rotor RPM.
    Check T's & P's in Green.
    Altinator OFF.  Check light and ammeter. Altinator ON
Cyclic Check -
    Frictions OFF.  Cyclic forward observe tip.  Cyclic left Observe tip.  Frict ON.
Power on to 2000RPM and 15MAP
Mag Drop Check.  125 RPM in 5 seconds.
Clutch Check
   Collective down, Throttle off.  Observe needle split as blades freewheel.
   Set 2000RPM.  Frictions ON.
Final Flow Check
   Warning Caution Lights OFF (Except low rotor RPM).
   Cage Artificial Horizon.
   T's & P's in green.

Radio
   Listen to ATIS
   Switch to SMC (That would be Surface Movement Control) on 119.9MHz.
   Call Tower
       Pilot:  "Archer Ground Helicopter Bravo Qubec November Hughes 300 in receipt of At V2 Parking for Operations Area Alpha Request Taxi"
       Tower: "Cleared for operations area alpha bla bla"
       Pilot (Repeats the jist of that and closes with call sign): " Taxi area alpha contact tower on 123.6 when ready Bravo Qubec November"

Lift Off
   Check area clear.
   RPM mid Green.  Raise Collective Look for light on Skids.
   Left pedal.
   Find balance point with the collective.  Continue to raise.
   If issues, pause adjust anbd continue to raise collective.
   On lift off, some aft cyclic.
    Hover at about 1 to 2 meters.
    Check warning & caution lights.  Eyes out - Now this is important.  Keep looking inside and you just spiral out of control.  You need that horizon to be able to keep even remotely still.

And there you have it.  Then go flying.

I memorised it all (well most of it)
Then we flew in circles and by the end of the lesson, I could almost take off, fly a circuit and land but being a bit too enthusiastic on transition to forward flight, then not really the 60knot attiture on ascent a bit of an over shoot above 500ft, Then too fats, too slow, too high and too low on the down wind leg.  Finally not getting enough power off on the base leg so we make the final turn a biot to fast, crab down the final approach, too fast , too high, over shoot the landing spot and lind nicely just a bit further on.  Then do it all again.
 
   


   
 

Rowing

Went rowing this morning.  For the first time in 30 years!

Got up in the dark and drove to the GPS shed at south Brisbane.  Met 4 guys that I had met last Friday night at the Normanby pub (BGS old boys / parents drinks).

As an interesting aside, one of these guys Chris Hinton had coached my crew to some degree when I was at School.  Don't remember the year but in those (glory) days, the regatters were on the held on the Milton Reach of the Brisbane River and the parents and coaches would follow the race by driving along the road on the Eastern bank of the river.  The atmosphere was great with car loads of people ducking and weaving, each following their particular boat.  The memorable things was that even though Grammar entrusted our rowing instruction to Chris, we were banned from travelling in or on his anchient Landrover.  Soft top as I recall and generally transporting various universtity types and liberally lubricated with beer.

So anyway this morning saw Chris once again elevated to the role of coach and the four of us in the rowing boat.  A few things have changed since 1980.  We now had two oars each instead of the one previously.  This aided balance but introduced a new complexity as the two handles cross each other.  It seems that left hand goes above right.  The other change was the stroke (the fellw at the back) has to steer with his foot.  It appears that there is no longer the requirement to locate a scrawny 12 year old to steer(& insist on them not eating dessert. (For the good of country, God and I want your dessert anyway) ).

Four geriatrics with 8 oars proceeded to navigate city cats and floating logs.  narrowly missing a State High eight that apparantly has a reputation of not seeing other boats.  To start with we had three of us using our 6 oars to keep the boat stable while one person was coached in the finer points.  Through a turtorial process this was increased to two and then three oarsmen.  Finally a fourth oarsman just for two strokes.  We did eventually manage to have the four of us rowing for upwards of ten strokes.

I should mention that we made it safely back to the pontoon without either the boat or the coach crashing into anything.

The morning concluded with coffee and breakfast at a nearby cafe.  I do not recall that particular aspect as being a feature of school boy rowing.

Just another manic Sunday. That's my fun day.

4:30am get up
5:00 at work working on a software bug
6:00 Chris calls to check I am going to drive him to BGS
6:20 Home pick up Chris & Drive to BGS.  This is a nice inspirational time of the day.  I hope Chris gets some wind though as it is one of those cloudy days with a few spits of rain.
6:50 Drop off Chris for a days sailing.
Drive down Wickham tce and buy a coffee.  Drive back home.
8:00 Phone rings.  Telstra need a microwave link repair.  At work we offer a 24/7 exchange and repair service to Telstra for some microwave links.  This repair was flagged urgent and required in NSW.  So it was into work.

The microwave units come in two forms.  Round and Square.  Telstra require a round unit and of course as luck would have it, we only have square ones reasy to go.  But there is a round one waiting for repairs to be completed.  To facillitate a quick turn around, I get a square unit and swap the electronics from the square to the round. 

CHURCH VIDEO PROJECTOR
10:30 left work with the telstra package on my front seat and drive to church.  There has been discussions going on regarding projecting words onto the back wall and I was supposed tos et up a demo.  Arrived in the nick of time and got the projector out and connected up.  Andrew Lose found some suitable power point on the church computer and we all stood around and sad "Hmm yes that looks OK."
11:15 Me the Australian Aire Express courier in the church parking lot and she took the parcel.
Cleaned up the mess in the church then figured a few minutes spare.
Walked down to the coffee club.  Bought a coffee and texted Telstra to let them know the parcel was on its way.
Chris phoned to say sailing was being called off early due to high wind and jelly Fish.
Drove in to BGS
12:30 Picked up Chris and drove back to Oxley.
1:00 Lunch kindly prepared by Megan.
Then managed to get a few minutes on the new computer and experimented flying the helicopter simulator.  It appears that Microsoft Flight Simulator FSX will allows separate throttle and collective inputs but I can not get it to work sensibly.

3:30 drove to Southbank
BBQ tea with Ian and fay.  Marcus brought a freind - Fergus.
Chris did a great job on the BBQ.








Megan made a Mango Cheescake for dessert.











We all posed for a family snap

We then went to see the musical "Mary Popins".
It was great.  The sets were absolutely fantastic.
I was enjoying it and really in this case hoping they would forget the intermission. 
Mind you the message is one of "Fathers go play with your kids" of which I am quite slack.
At intermission met Zac from Woodford & Easterfest fame.

We all lined up to take photos of the cast list and aspiring cast members

BA Falcon Ute Drivers window motor fails

The window winder on my falcon ute has failed.
This is the second unit to have failed.  The first one was the original unit.  This one is a after market unit.

 This is the window winder.

 This is the failed piece.
There is a white plastic slide that the cable slides over.  This has come adrift from the metal peice at the right.

Then the cable wrapped its self around the drive pully.  It was very jammed up.

Fitness and fatness

Sat breakfast.
Bacon, Eggs, Pancakes and Maple Syrup.
Mapel Syrup!

80% sugar!



















What a relief.












Marcus, Fay, Ian,
Frank,
   Dan,
      Jemma,
           Friend

Ian's birthday activity














Chris has outgrown the height chart.