Btuckey

[quote user="April Rivers"] I went to the Sous-Prefecture in Limoux (they were very helpful), they gave me all the forms, said I didn't need a certificate of conformity, told me to get a CT done (which I did) and take the forms to my local mairie who would send it all off. [/quote] We are about to get our car 'done'.  Is a C. of C. definitely not required now?  The car in question is a Citroen Berlingo. Cheers, Brian   

Oh dear oh dear…  You stated that “The only heat that is generated is from the contents of the pan”.  As you stated that the metal of the pan is (literally) immaterial any contents, be it chicken or your fingers, would cook!  As your fingers are obviously ok you must be wrong.  In your first post you stated that “the pan does not heat up directly from the hob”.  Now you are saying “yes the base of the pan does heat up but the transfer of heat is rapid so the outside of the pan will heat up at a slower rate”.  If the transfer of heat is so rapid how can the outside of the pan heat up at a slower rate?  Two other errors: 1)  “Many induction hob suitable pans are in fact made of aluminium but with a pice of encapsulated steel or stainless steel in the base..”  Stainless steel is not used because it does not work consistently on induction hobs.  2) “This is to prevent hotspot areas as the aluminium conducts the heat more evenly across the base of the pan.”  Aluminium does not heat evenly, hence the use of steel for professional Woks etc.   I hate to say it Eslier, but I can assure that it is you who is wrong.   Brian  

Unfortunately Eslier, you are getting a bit confused.  If “the only heat that is generated is from the contents of the pan” you could use any pan material (i.e. aluminium) which you can’t.  Also, putting your hand on the hob would instantly cook it! Induction hobs deliver heat to the pan using a magnetic field. The electric current passes through a coil which creates a very strong magnetic field under the ceramic plate. This field creates an induction current, which generates heat in the ferrous pan.  The pan then passes its heat on to the food it contains. Brian

Sorry bevvy, I have only just seen your posting as have been off-line for a few weeks courtesy of France Telecom!  I will PM you later. Brian  

And precisely where does Mark state that he has ‘modern French electrics’?  In older installations it certainly does matter.  Better safe than sorry…. Brian  

Mark, In essence, a plug is a plug.  If the UK one has all three pins connected, connect all three pins in the French one.  Use the ‘proper’ plug and not a reversible 2 pin which doesn’t have an earth (unless the UK one is also 2 pin).  Do remember however that if you look at a French socket with the earth pin at the top, the live pin is on the left-hand side and not the right as in the UK.  If you have any doubts get a qualified electrician to do the job.  With reference to the earthing problem, if it is your house that has the problem that is a different matter.  Get it sorted!   Brian

Hi, I want to use my SMC7404 Barricade modem/router/firewall for normal working, but would also like to have 'free' calls back to the UK.  Can you use your own kit on Free.fr like you can with Orange?  I realise that I will have to use the Free box for phone calls. Cheers. Brian 11500   

Chessfou, My guess is that your LNB is not switching between 'High band' (Astra 2A & 2B) and 'Low band' (Astra 2D).  This may be a hardware fault or programming error.  Firstly, try connecting the dish directly to the receiver and initiate a 'search'.  I am not familiar with your receiver, so check in the menu that 2D is expecting a 'Universal' LNB with 22KHz tone switching.  Hope this helps. Brian 11500  

[quote user="Deimos"] snip......I do not know if this “full purchase” for the Sky box is still an available option as I did it quite a few years ago. Ian[/quote] Any SKY approved independent installer will sell you a full price box which can be used without a phone line.  He makes a nice margin.  Look in Yellow Pages.  The term ‘off contract’ is incorrect here.  You still have a contract but certain clauses (the phone bit) are invalid.  ‘Off contract’ refers to a second-hand box that has an active card but expired contract.  You will receive terrestrial and junk channels only. Brian 11500       

[quote user="sid"] For SKY+ you need the subscription so that you can receive the electronic programme details, the programme schedules, I believe. Why this is any different from the normal listings you see on a free SKY box beats me. Sid [/quote] Sorry Sid, not true.  Any SKY box and card combo will receive the Electronic Programme Guide.  This includes the one off payment card which receives all of the terrestrial channels (including CH4 & 5) as favoured by many ex-pats.  However, only a SKY box will take this card and display the EPG due to the proprietary encryption system.  Having said that, most ‘Free to Air’ receivers have perfectly usable EPGs.  The satellite receiver cards that fit into PCs have even better ones which update over the Internet.  This is usually bundled into the recording software.  SKY+’s only differentiator is the recording function.  If you give up the subscription you revert to EPG & terrestrial only.  The only practical difference in the SKY+ EPG is the record icon and the planner screen which shows (lists) your recorded programmes. Brian 11500  

No.  ITV is now 'free to air' so can be received by any suitably aligned system.  Film 4 goes free to air in June IIRC.  CH4 and 5 are still encrypted and will be for at least another 12 months. Brian 11500  

For the recording function to work on a SKY+ box you need to have a SKY contract.  At the lower tariffs the recording function costs £10pm extra.  This charge is waived if you subscribe to two or more premium channels.  If you bought the box at a ‘subsidised’ price from SKY you also need to have it connected to a phone line.  (And yes, they do check!)   If you bought the box at the full price you don’t however.  SKY will turn off the record function if you cancel the contract or don’t have one in the first place.   I have had a SKY+ box since they came out but intend to cancel the contract next month.  The box will revert to ‘terrestrial’ channels only but then I hardly ever watch a subscription channel so get little benefit from the monthly SKY charge.  I am thinking of buying a Topfield TF5010 as my main/PVR unit.   Brian 11500    

[quote user="Gyn_Paul"]Long ago, in a land far away..... I had a bit of software (either it was shareware or it came from a magazine cover disk) which looked at all the files on one's computer and compared them one with another and then displayed them in columns saying, "look these two files here have the same name, are the same size and were created on the same day.. Do you really want to keep them both ? Y/N p [/quote] It was/is called 'Fsync.exe' and jolly good it is too! [:-))]  I still use it to check that CDROMs have copied correctly.  You can get it from a number of places as shareware including: http://www.fileware.com/products.htm#FileSync and http://www.campbell.k12.tn.us/BITS/Software/  (I think the latter is freeware.) Brian 11500  

I love the world's first 'sucessful' production front wheel drive car; the Citroën Traction Avant Berline.  A bit rare now though.... Brian

Tony, many thanks for your response.  Thank you as well Quillan, your comments were certainly food for thought.  The reason that I thought my wife ‘needed’ a 4x4 was down to an incident the Christmas before last.  We had shopped in the Champion mid-afternoon on a Saturday and there was a brief rain shower whilst we were there.  Climbing out of Quillan on the Puivert road I was constantly being ‘flashed’ by cars coming down the hill.  When I got to the top I realised why.  The road just past the picnic site was awash with cars up to the Belcaire turning.  The rain had turned the road surface into a sheet of ice.  None of the petit ‘atchbacks could get a grip.  I still had my company Jaguar X Type at the time and the 4x4 transmission carried me through the melee.  From your experience it sounds like my wife would be as well off with another Belingo which she loves.   Brian           

My wife's car needs replacing and I am considering a 4x4.  Can anybody suggest some options that will not cost a fortune to get serviced in the Quillan area?  (Our next door neighbour has a four wheel drive Magane but this is awful in the back!)  Is there a Land Rover dealer near Quillan? Many thanks. Brian 

[quote user="Harley"] There really is only one place for these people when they check in and that's Coventry! [/quote] And what, precisely, is wrong with Coventry?  I think we should be told....  I expect PMs to be flying around as I write...  Someone should be banned....  Heck, everybody should be banned....  Now if you had said Slough...[6] Brian 11500  

[quote user="victoria"] snip.. Also checked on your website and it says Readsl is going to be available.  What is this? [/quote] READSL improves the range of ADSL over very long twisted pairs by selecting the combination of downstream and upstream power-spectral density (PSD) masks best suited for a DSLAM’s loop and noise characteristics. In a long-loop system, higher frequencies deteriorate gradually as they travel across the telephone lines, resulting in drastically reduced downstream data rates. To solve this issue, READSL focuses a higher power density within a constricted downstream and upstream bandwidth (narrowed frequency usage, same total power). The higher power density in the downstream band directly increases the downstream data rate, while the reduced upstream band provides a narrower echo, freeing up more bandwidth for downstream transmission to the modem.  [8-|] Basically, 'full' ADSL speeds are only available within 1.8KM of the DSLAM (local exchange) but this is improving every day.  READSL allows 'always on' service at a much greater distance.  At 512KB/S, still a lot better than PSTN dial-up.    Brian 11500

[quote user="Logan"] The France of today is like the UK of the Wilson era in the seventies.... [/quote] I have to confess to having a 'soft' spot for dear old Harold as he kept me out of Vietnam despite all of the pressures from the US!  I have a number of friends in Australia who are Returned Servicemen from that conflict and some suffered very badly mentally.  The Aussies were put into the worst trouble spots to decrease the number of body bags going back Stateside.  I shudder to think what would have happened to us if Blair had been in power then!  Brian 11500      

Hi viva, No, it is a standard new build.  In France, as you probably know, new houses are constructed with the floors being cast reinforced concrete ‘slabs’.  The heating engineers then lay an insulating mat and the poly pipes. These are encased in a covering of ‘Chape Liquide’ (sort of cement paste that sets hard).  The pipes outside are laid about 1.5m below ground level.  I have heard of people putting underfloor heating in traditional houses with joist and floorboard construction.  Don’t know how good it is though… If the pipes outside burst they can be repaired.  Inside is a different matter!  However, the technology is well established and we have a long warranty period on the installation. To calculate your energy system work backwards as follows: 1)  Energy consumption 2)  Inverter(s) size 3)  Battery bank specification (Voltage, Amp/Hours & depth of discharge/cycling etc.) 4)  Size of primary power source (Solar panels (wattage, size and number of panels)/Wind turbine (size and height above ground level)) When I get some more time, I will try to post some more alternative energy links.  For a starter you might find this site useful:   http://www.tecsol.fr/   For sizing examples look at the various house installations at the bottom of the page: http://www.tecsol.fr/spv/default.htm  i.e. Installation Photovoltaïque de la maison Hellot 09).   Brian 11500

I’m really with you on this one viva!  We are building a new house on the other side of our village and it will have geothermal heating.  Building from new is good for this, as it is easy to lay the pipes and the special 'cement' screed especially on the upper floors.  We have plenty of sun and wind (!) and with fossil fuel prices going through the roof for the foreseeable future, we would be mad not to consider alternative energy. There are lots of good websites and if you haven't discovered it already, Home Power Magazine http://www.homepower.com/ is highly recommended.  Lots of adverts but a subscription for downloading is very reasonable. Brian 11500

[quote user="Russethouse"] Now this is what I call a sock puppet [:)] [/quote] No.......It's called a Moderator! [;)] Brian 11500

I'm on my way over!  [;)] Do you give TVA receipts for expenses? [6] Brian 11500

Ho ho ho.  It must be Spring, the trolls are back in town![<:o)] Brian 11500

[quote user="BJSLIV"] Snip: Bear in mind it is the completeion date that starts the , two year, clock ticking if you want any fitting out work done at 5.5%VAT. [/quote] I thought that only restoration projects were at 5.5% with new houses being at the full rate.  Or do you mean that you can take advantage of the 5.5% when the house is over two years old?   Brian 11500