joidevie

[quote user="NormanH"] If I see M Galy I will ask him, but ut won't be this week... [/quote] Great, that would be very helpful [;-)]

Thanks.. In truth, it's probably a slightly 'fragile' route as I'm not sure the Norwegian take up on second homes in France has been great..

Does anyone have any knowledge of the likely future of this route - more specifically whether they may publish any flight dates beyond the end of August? Last year we flew back to Norway on this route towards the mid/end of September and it was packed (2 flights per week schedule) but this year the booking system is coming up blank from September onwards... Any alternatives to Oslo are thin on the ground, and even a change at Stansted, Dublin or even Charleoi (for Carcassonne) are very unkind on any transit times.. Many thanks if anyone can help..

Many thanks.. Seems the most sensible.. Although I hope the techie won't want to do a full inspection throughout the house as I'm sure there might be one or two unfinished wiring jobs as we're still DIY renovating...

[quote user="Quillan"] The three 'safety' breakers on your distribution board, did any of them trip at the same time? [/quote] ... No, none of the breakers on our own board have ever tripped. We just had another trip while the kettle was on, but I really don't think that is so relevant as so little else is in service (much of the house is yet to be made 'live' - ie. upstairs heaters and so on.) Very little is 'in use' which is why I'm a smidge confused.. Thanks again..

[quote user="Chancer"]I am deliberately not going to describe how to do the above for safety reasons. [/quote] ........ that would have been my next question.....  [I]

[quote user="Chancer"]First and obvious question, your tableau de répartition, are all the circuits on it protected by a 30ma interrupteur différentiel? [/quote] Many thanks for all the informed replies.. Much of which helps makes sense. The tableau de répartition is only 5 years old and actually has 3x separate 30ma switches. I have now 'tested' each one by pressing the "T" button and each switches off (although the third one requires a slightly harder press than the other two if that makes a difference?). There does not seem to be any rodent damage to the supply cable coming to the tableau de répartition from the AGCP. The fridge/freezer is a 4yo Bosch which whilst I can't eliminate, would surprise me if it were faulty (though I understand the logic in the testing).. In truth, nothing has really changed inside the house since the rewire when we moved in. The AGCP is truly old - probably 1940's/1950's - a black one with an up/down switch rather than even a green 'button'.. It's the random nature that confuses me - no consistency..

Is it common that (very) old black EDF fuses (mains trip switch) start to play up? We have been in our house for roughly 5 years and have never had any problems until last October when the switch tripped on us while we were staying in the house. We we not using any heating or heavy appliances, and nothing had changed since the initial re-wire when we moved in. My last visit in January and it tripped twice on me, once while the dishwasher was running (plus 2 electric heaters), the other for no reason at all. We've now come back in February to a tripped switch again and a sadly de-frosting freezer. The only appliance running while we are away is a fridge freezer, so I'm a little confused and concerned we may loose another freezer load soon.. Can there be an obvious reason for this? It's a 30amp switch running a 6kva supply. Will EDF come and replace it (and the meter - early blue dial type) and nominal cost, and if so, will they unnecessarily start 'up selling' us a bigger supply? Indeed, would this solve the problem? Many thanks if anyone has any good knowledge on this one..

Thanks.. I've heard so many versions of the monument historique rule - 500m, 100m, 'visible from' etc etc... More investigations beckon, though I would be interested to know if a permis demolir activates an H1.. Cheers.

Does anyone know if one applies for and is granted a 'permis demolir'  (and no 'permis construire'), does this involve submitting a fresh H1? We would be looking to take down an old garage on our land, but not build anything in it's place.. Many thanks if anyone has any knowledge of this..

Many thanks.. And yes, much of the debate  I've read is from the US, but some also from the UK and France.. So PVC glue should do the trick then.. I actually posted on another forum and had a couple of people suggest SIKAFLEX, which I thought was strong contender as it really is astonishingly strong.. ? Cheers.

We're in middle of fitting a couple of 'receveurs a carreler' onto/into a new screed. I'm looking around and it seems everyone simply 'glues' a manchon onto the bonde (made from ABS) and then carries on in PVC 40mm. It seems to go against all the wisdom in that you should not (cannot) glue (weld) ABS to PVC, yet all the videos/images online are showing people blissfully carrying on.. What should one be doing? One added complication is that we brought our 'kit' from the UK and the 'out' from the waste is 56mm (OD) rather than a French 50mm (OD). Our helpful supplier in the UK is forwarding us an 'adapter' that pushfits onto the 56mm and supposedly leaves us a 40mm to 'glue' onto. It's not arrived yet, but I'm looking around frantically as to what to do. A visit this morning to a good (not Bricodepot) Brico store revealed firstly suggested 'just glue a manchon onto the bonde' to another chap who acknowledged that ABS > PVC is not right, and he recommended a rubber/jubilee clip 'manchon multi-materiaux' diametres 38-48mm direct onto the bonde, then a PVC manchon or pipe. This could work as I could 'stretch' the rubber fitting over the 56mm bonde and ditto the other end to a 50mm French PVC, but as it's all going to be tiled over, alarm bells are ringing! What's the form here? And should the UK supplier be suggesting a 'pushfit' solution that will get tiled over? Many thanks for any insights.

Interesting possibility.. Could be an unpleasant vidange after so many years  :o( Might it just be simpler to dalle over it and be done with it for another 100 years? Or is this a methane/damp/odor problem in the brewing.. ? This will be a small shower room, tiled, placo walled etc.. It's a terraced house and I'm sure next door has long since modernised their system to town sewerage.. I'm not sure my old pompe de cuve will be very happy, nor my other half who is out there right now and would have to do it! Many thanks..

I've found this thread very useful for updates on signal strength etc.. The consensus seems to be to wait and see once the shift is all finished with and all testing has been completed.. Then decide on dish size..

Hello everyone.. Our builder has been preparing a floor in a rear room for a new screed with new drainage pipes etc. Whilst digging out the old 'egout' in the corner, he's discovered what he thinks is an old well (you can see water and it seems like it is an old construction of around 50cmx50cm and over 1m deep but could be more). He says to simply screed over it (we already have another well, so none more needed). We're a little unsure as it stinks of sewerage which we're not sure why. It is positioned in the same corner where an old WC used to be, but in truth, the WC was connected to the egout which appears intact. The previous family clearly knew the well was there as they had already made a screed platform over it at a previous time. Are there any alarm bells ringing here is we simply put a dalle over all of this? There has been no overflowing of the 'well' in the last years.. And what is the smell? One possibility could be that two years ago we had a blockage in that egout (under the neighbour's house) and loads of sewerage came up in that corner (and into our house!) - and maybe this flowed into this well and has contaminated it? Or indeed, might it not be a well at all, and maybe an old 'sump' for collecting water between the two houses? We're not familiar with any of this, and want to know a bit more before the builder returns on Monday  ;o) Any experiences or knowledge would be most welcome. Many thanks.

I just found this: This taken from skyinmadrid.com, posted today: ASTRA 2E SIGNAL WEAKENS We have received many reports of weaker signals from the Astra 2E UK spot beam, which carries BBC & ITV. In S.E. France, a local English language radio station was "swamped with complaints" according to our correspondent in Frejus. The deterioration has affected southern France and Spain. It's likely that the satellite has been the subject of "station keeping", which can result in a slight movement of the beam. This happens every 4-6 weeks, resulting in loss of signal if the receiving dish is right at the margin of a viewable signal. All geostationary satellites need to be kept on station, which is achieved by firing tiny jets on the spacecraft. Digital broadcasting is normally either received perfectly or not at all. Analogue systems in the past would just become more grainy. Hot weather and humidity can also weaken faint satellite signals. The solutions to push the signal back over the threshold for breakup are: better LNB adjustment of the dish bigger dish more sensitive receiver. The signal should improve again in June or July.

I'm reading all kinds of strange stuff like ice crystals in the air or sandstorms in Egypt! Read here.. I do hope this is all, as I'm getting quite fed up with fiddling with the whole system.. Please post any updates  ;o)

Hmmmm... Not so far from us (100cm Gibertini)... Thanks for the feedback.. Anyone else? Cheers.

..... Does anyone know what might be going on - many channels have now either disappeared or are heavily pixelated?? I get 'regional' BBC1 & 2 (NI and East Midlands etc) but no London.. ITV ok, but none of the channel 4 suite.. Dish is fine (72% quality as it was before).. I have read on another (Languedoc) forum that others are having issues? Any insider knowledge would be much appreciated  :o) Cheers.

... and I can't remember if these are internal or external dimensions? So if gluing a 50mm grey French pipe into a 2" UK shower drain outlet, are we really talking about LOADS of PVC glue to make up the 0.8mm? I'm saving roughly £90 on two trays as the UK ones (1200mm x 900mm) come with the drains, and Birco Depot ones need the drains at €40 each (!).. plus I am taking a van over chock full of other stuff, so it all adds up.. Or am I creating potential problems here? Taps.. I have some Grohe ones ready to go.. Thanks..

I'm looking at bringing a couple of wet room shower trays from the UK to France.. The drains are for UK pipe sizes. Dumbo question - are  UK 1.25" & 2" exactly the same as 32mm and 50mm? ie. fully interchangeable..? Many thanks, and apologies if I'm being rather ill informed! [8-)]

I've never gone down the 'feedhorn' route? Is is a replacement 'insert' for an LNB, and is it a generic interchangeable upgrade? (ie would a particular type be needed for the 'Inverto SCD' for example..). Does the front of an LNB come off and you swap it over? There seems to be a certain dish type (size) these work for as well... Like you say, every db seems to make quite a difference.. PS The rain 'umbrella' or 'hood' has also been a revelation - no more rain drops on the LNB front which was blowing my signal every time it rained. I've heard an empty plastic bottle can help too   [;-)]

[quote user="Quillan"]A good LNB is equally important as you are also probably aware. [/quote] I forgot about the LNB.. I'm actually running a SCD (Unicable) Inverto 'Black' LNB which allows me have full functionality with a Humax Foxsat HDR (ie. able to multi record etc.) without having to twin cable everything (a relief as most of the coax runs under a newly laid stone floor!) Works a treat  [Www]

For anyone still having reception issues, I cannot over emphasize the need for dish accuracy and the quality of the dish build itself.. And also the benefit of a satellite finder (not the cheapie £5 ones). It may cost you €100 for the finder, but only yesterday I tweaked our dish and gained merely one more digit on the signal quality (from 63 to 64) but suddenly now have More 4 as well as More 4+1 (on different transponders) and now also have no noticeable picture blocking. Without the finder, I would never have got there.. I can also recommend the 'Gibertini 100' dish which is very light and fits on an existing mount. The dish had almost as much db rating as a 120cm without the need for re-mounting, and looks ok size wise. I've read a lot of people buying the Triax 110, but in truth, it appears the dimensions are almost identical, as too the db count. I avoided the Triax as I'd read that the tilt/mount system was a pig. So far, my punt has paid off, and shelling out all the effort/cost/hassle/looks of a 120cm has been avoided - but who knows, it could all still go wrong! Dish €70 Meter €100 (DIY so no 'specialist' labour cost). Bought on Ebay Germany, delivered within 5 days. I hope this helps anyone struggling, or deciding on their next step..

Things seem reasonable in Herault 34/Aude 11 now with a 100cm dish (Gibertini), but a little rain does spoil the party. A quick wipe of the LNB quickly restores the picture.. (Fortunately the dish is easy to get to). I've now ordered an "LNB Protector" (a rain cover) to help avoid rain drops on the LNB surface (it makes a big difference if you wipe the front clear of rain drops). A kind of 'umbrella' that attaches to the arm. I went for a 'smoked' one (UV protection) as it gets very sunny during the summer, and I've read LNB's degrade in bright sunlight... Anything to minimise the variables! I invested in a hand held sat detector (Satlink 6908) which was a revelation - point and shoot! Now I have a picture back, I will next try to tweak the dish to get  More 4 as at the moment I only get More 4 +1, however that may compromise better reception on other channels.. Time will tell, but I'm sure things will settle and most of us will find a solution of some sort?