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Jackie

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Everything posted by Jackie

  1. In Deux Sevres, near the town of St Maixent L'Ecole. Any gen you get would be gratefully received.................................John
  2. Ok so I take it that I may need to have a current UK licence. I let it lapse as I could not see much point in having a UK licence whilst living in France, does this mean I have to reactivate the UK call sign, assuming that is possible for a non-UK resident, before applying for the French licence I wonder, seems a bit strange!.............................John
  3. Thanks for that PeterJ. I guess I will to the mairie go and get copies certified. Do you know if they send an inspector round to examine the station as they once did in the UK. It may be some time before I get it all working though I could apply for the licence now and that would cover me for transmission tests I hope. I also assume if the Tx is derived from a xtal then all that you would need for test gear would be a dummy load and a wavemeter. I also assume that knowing the d.c. input power would be enough to keep them happy you are not exceeding maximum radiated power. Is there a list of mandatory test gear available on any site?.......................................John
  4. Thanks for the information Ray. With assistance from someone on another site (T.F.) I have found the following address and website. They have application forms and details of the regs, in case anyone else is interested. What I do not yet know if they will accept a CEPT Certificate of Harmonisation (UK issued) and a UK Radio Amateur certificate to qualify for a French licence, time will tell. Meantime I will get my gear up and working and monitor 2m and 80m to assess band activity, assuming it still works as it has been in a box in the barn for the last 4 years! Agence Nationale des Fréquences Direction de l'administration générale Centre de Gestion des Radiocommunications Régie de Recettes B.P. 61 94371 SUCY-EN-BRIE CEDEX http://www.anfr.fr/index.php?cat=radioamateur&page=indicatifs#ind_etr
  5. Has anyone out there attempted to obtain a French Amateur Radio licence? I used to hold a full UK licence (A) and have a certificate issued by the RA called: Harmonized Amateur Radio Examination Certificate (HAREC) Based on CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-02. I would be interested in knowing the procedure for applying for a French equivalent licence, who to contact, what documents are required and any web stites that could give this information etc………..73’s …..John ex G0IQY
  6. Thanks for all the info folks. Spent the morning on the dish and LNB alignment, think I have slightly improved things. Found a small wasp nest inside the LNB casing. Played with dish alignment/ LNB skew and have got as good a signal as I could. No freezing so far and watched Stargate and Startrek this pm with no problems, sad you may think but I like them!  The signal level of Ch 4 is now no worse than that of the default transponder so don't think I can do much more short of changing the dish and LNB. BBC 1 gives a better signal quality level than most. Still toying with the idea of a meter but doubt that anymore fiddling will do much. I still suspect that changes in satellites or footprint or power output or whatever has reduced the signal level and nobody has yet commented on that. I believe Astra 2D has a smaller footprint than it once did and some sites show Deux Sevres as being a bit near the edge. Regards to all.....................John 
  7. Ok I am trying to look at the signal strength and quality for Ch 4, using manual tuning. I need to know: Frequency,Polarisation,Symbol Rate and FEC Must be doing something wrong as cannot see them on the Lyngsat site. Has anyone got these figures, many thanks in advance......John  
  8. Thanks for all the info folks and I will certainly look for one of the meters suggested. Has the signal level from the sat' gone down since the recent changes because if not that would further suggest my dish is not pointing exactly right! Where do the two signal bars come to on your box, assuming you have a mini-dish that is.............John (Location Deux Sevres)
  9. Ok on the meter. Could you be so kind as to suggest a make/model and a good supply source to us here in France. Many thanks......John
  10. CH 4 seems to be the one that locks up and then the whole box is locked up and nothing works. I have today tried moving the dish slightly up and down and from side to side. Cannot improve either the signal quality or strength so I don't think the dish has moved. Twisting the LNB does not help. It is a wet day here in Deux Sevres and the two indicators only come to just to the right of the K in OK. When I put it in four years ago the signal strength and quality registered a lot higher than they do now, maybe the LNB has gone a bit insensitive, is this possible or is this because the sat' signal is less than it was?.............John PS Washed LNB and dish with a damp soapy cloth but no change in signal
  11. The box is a Panasonic TU-DSB30. The LNB was replaced a couple of years ago. The only thing I have noticed otherwise is that the signal strength indicator does not read as high as it once did. I had assumed that was due to changes of the footprint of the transmission but maybe I am wrong about that! Location is near Niort in Dept 79 and the dish is a standard Sky mini-dish........................John
  12. Anyone had problems with ch 4? From time to time it freezes and the remote will not make any of the sky box functions work. Turning off and reconnecting the power solves the problem until the next time. Warping the dish slightly in the two axes does not improve the signal strength or quality indicators. Quality indicator is to the right of the K in OK........any ideas anyone........John not Jackie
  13. We have two numbers Tout Compris programmed into our AOL 7 software. 0860704444 and 0860880310. From time to time one of them will not dial. When you tell the thing to connect, having entered your password, you can hear the modem dialling normally. Frequently there is a problem connecting for one reason or another so the second number is dialled and you hear the tones. When the fault is there you don't hear the tones and it does not dial the second number. Now I have tried reloading the AOL software, no effect. I have tried dialling the two numbers using my telephone software "Phone Tools". One number gets a response the other does not, in fact it won't even dial. I have tried using a different version of AOL and that often works and seems to "cure" the fault as when going back to the original version the fault has gone, until the next time that is. So what the heck is going on? Is this a fault peculiar to our computer or have others had the same problem?..............John (Puzzled) not Jackie  PS how do you get rid of this grey highlighting?
  14. There is a silver coloured safety valve at the bottom of our electrically heated water tank. I cannot remember the French name for it but it was something like Groupe de Securite I think. Clearly not that as searches fail to find anything about this. The knob, blue in fact, when turned causes it to release water and I am sure it used to spring back when released, does not do that now, keeps flowing until you turn it back. I suspect it is faulty as it tends to drip all the time now and blows off if a running tap somewhere in the house is turned off quickly. Water pressure is sitting at about 4.5 Bars according to a pressure gauge fitted to the house cold water system. What think you folks and what is it called in French please.........John not Jackie
  15. [quote]John - You can't use creosote - SUR. L'ARRETE DU 2 JUIN 2003. L'arrêté du 2 juin 2003 renforce la législation française relative à la ... par les résultats d'une étude concluant que. la créosote a un...[/quote] Ok yes I heard that creosote was now banned but the local Brico sells stuff called Carbonyle that looks and smells like creosote so I guess I could try that. I assume that Carbonyle is a replacement for creosote?............John
  16. [quote]I would be very interested to know if the smelly tablets work as we have just discovered a loir (we think it is only one or perhaps two) in the grenier. I gather they hibernate for up to seven months...[/quote] Tried moth balls, ultrasonics, loud music, a very loud siren, other nasty smells. Nothing really works for long, the best we have done so far is to move them from one part of the house to another. The humane rat traps work well but they won't take the bait until it is really ripe and the trap has lost it's human smells. Don't think the chlorine tabs will work for long and they start to hibernate very soon now. An expert suggested creosote but I have not tried this yet........John PS They don't like dettox spray but again you would have to keep on spraying, not really a practical solution.  
  17. Posted: 15 Oct 2005 18:01    Post subject: Loir (Glis glis) Just to keep the subject going really. Caught 12 so far this year in two section rat traps. All taken to the woods about 6 kilometres away and released. Tried everything to make them go elsewhere, nothing works. Currently trying hanging chlorine swimming pool tablets in the wall spaces on bits of wire, I hate the smell so I hope they do as well. Won't use poison as concerned for the owls that eat them and our house cats. Comments anyone...........................................John not Marie PS Before anyone says otherwise there is no doubt that they damage the house structure, make 'orrible pongs and are a fire risk when nibbling at cables! They also look really cute but they have to go! Lifted up a floor board in the grenier the other day and there was one large adult making faces at me, no fear, just curiosity!
  18. If you have not already looked at it this site may give you some of the answers you seek. GUIDE FOR CANADIANS IN FRANCE http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/canadaeuropa/france/consulaire/guide-en.PDF Good luck....................John and Jackie
  19. Thanks for coming back on this Ron. From what you are saying I take it that I should not worry too much as the only way it could be exposed to flame would be if there was a hole in the liner and one in the chimney wall. Having said that I know there must be at least one hole in the chimney up in the grenier as all the bees that live between the liner and the chimney come into the grenier through the wall each winter when we light the first fire in the stove. I suppose there maybe other small holes where the cladding is lower down. My only alternative would be to demolish the inner wall and take out the polystyrene, not a five minute job really!.....................................John
  20. PS Broke a piece off, took it outside and set it alight. It burns very well!............John
  21. For reasons I won’t bore you with here I had to take up a floorboard in the grenier next to the wall. I was somewhat surprised to find that the previous owner, on rebuilding this place, had clad the outer wall in thick white expanded polystyrene sheeting. There is then an air gap of  2 to 3cms and then an inner wall of this thin, hollow red brick stuff.   The surprise was that he had continued this polystyrene cladding across the inside of the outer wall where the chimney runs up.  Now ok we have a wood burning stove with a metal liner running up all the way up of the inside of the chimney proper but this outer wall in front of the chimney gets quite warm when the stove has been running for a few hours. My concern is that lower down, I can only feel this wall in the grenier as there is no inner wall there, the wall must be even hotter and the polystyrene is, I believe, flammable. Should I be concerned or not? From what I can see there are no signs of melting. We will have the stove replaced soon so I could take down the bedroom inner wall to remove the cladding then if need be, big job though!…………………………..John not Jackie   
  22. Jackie

    Surgery

    Has anyone had a colon resection or similar operation done in France? Where did you go and who did you see and what were your experiences. Looks like I must have one of these and whilst I could get this done locally in Niort my GP is arranging for a second opinion elsewhere. It would be helpful to know of others experiences so I can better make an informed choice. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.....Thanks in anticipation..................John not Jackie
  23. Hi we bought a Predator II (16.5HP) from Castorama when they were on offer, made under the Electrolux label, in 2002 and it is still going well. We have about 8000 square metres to mow and it does the job reasonably well. We have had to replace the drive belt to the twin cutters three times and the blades once, now need changing again. It is amazing that it and I have survived running into the odd tree and charging through bushes. The first cut of our field was quite an effort as the grass had been left long for at least a year so I try to keep it fairly short to avoid overloading the machine. One note of caution however and that is that stones tend to emerge from the cutter deck like guided missiles. We have lost a side window in the car due to this and I always take care now to see that the cuttings exit chute is pointing away from any glass when I mow. I would be careful on a steep slope as there is always the risk of the thing falling over but the manufacturer will give information about the maximum recommended angle of inclination in the destruction book.  With a large area to do I would not want to use a grass box type as you would be having to empty it every few minutes!....Happy mowing.......John not Jackie
  24. Our experience of taking faulty goods back here in Deux Sevres as so far been quite good. We bought a bed that you put together yourself a couple of years ago from Conforama. We did not unpack it for a couple of months and then found that the headboard had been damaged and was cracked. I took it back to the shop and they did not even want to see it but ordered a free replacement right away.  An electric strimmer purchased at Bricomarche failed after a couple of months use and they sent it off for repair, again free. It has since failed again but this was a lot later and it had been heavily used so I did not pursue them again.........................John not Jackie 
  25. Hi Don't know what you mean by large, but we have purchased bags of, I think, 5 kg, from both Leclercs and Bricomarche.  Quite cheap when on offer a bit later in the year.  Unfortunately cannot remember exactly how much, but know it goes up later in the season. Jackie
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