Last of the summer Hondas

[Big Al]

Forced to have freeview box without proper TV signals, its crap reception. Bonus, extra channels when it works. Watching 'Last of the Summer Wine' when Clegg buys a Morris Minor. In the first scenes there is a nigh on new Honda N600. Crumbago. A time when a Schmitt was a fiver and Isettas were free!

[Bob Purton]

Blimey Al, Your telly must be a Logi Baird original!

[marcus]

Alan, do you have a standard aerial or a powered amplifying one? If yours is passive try getting a powered one, they work much better with Freeview. usually around £15-25 and worth it! Once you can get BBC 3 and 4 (and sometimes 1 and 2) and Dave, Yesterday, Quest, More 4 and BBC News then you have all the ones you need!

Quest sometimes shows great series like Mark Williams's On The Rails and Industrial Revelations

[Big Al]

Got a good Ariel but I live behind a hill so no line of sight. So any excuse to drop out. Unlike analogue if part of the signal goes missing the thing dies and rests to BBC1, which takes 30 seconds to allow a change of channel. I could live with a bit of interference but this dropping out of service because a Blue Tit lands in a tree down the garden is quite frankly crap. Not only that but the signals are confused so BBC 2 becomes channel 9 which is BBC something else.
Yes I could throw money at it. But why should I? We were told that it was to be a better service. Rubbish. It was an excuse to regain the wavelengths to be sold of for money type stuff to companies leaving the populous with an inferior system. I have a perfect function TV and have no need to replace it with a new one save for a change in supply. I got the freeview thing free. If it is a choice of expending cash or no TV the TV goes and I will take great delight in really irritating the licence police who attempt to victimise anyone who might decide he does not want the benefit of repeats and Government propaganda in his front room. You see I can get much of what I want to watch via the PC. Hence the attempt to licence them. As I understand they cannot tell if you are watching TV on a PC so the burden of proof is on them. Serves them right for being greedy.

George was telling me Greece decided to create a property tax and collect it quarterly through the electric bills. Thus if you did not pay your tax you lost your power supply. Great thinking be the dimwits in the Government there. What happened is all the Greeks with access to generators refused to pay their quarterly bill gaining free juice and happily used alternative resources to the point that the power company has now ceased to collect the tax 'as it is to costly for us to do at our expense' or similar statement. Well what the hell did you expect dumbos. The Greek situation might be annoying but it is great seeing people stick up for themselves and refusing to be bullied by the state functionaries.
Meanwhile I hear De la Rue are printing up Marks.

[Rob Dobie]

Got a good Ariel

Hasn't Stuart got a bad one?  
 

[richard]

no it's been better since he went to the clinic 

[Big Al]

Perhaps I ought to start an Ariel collection. We have in the loft

Copper long line Ariel with porcelain insulators. Not set up as it is about 60 ft long.

Big H radio Ariel.

Cross Ariel

FM radio Ariel.

Early TV Ariel

Mid TV Ariel

Late TV Ariel

High gain TV Ariel with boaster

Portable FM Ariels + 3

White Bakelite cats whisker Ariel - used to be fitted to my receiver in the garage though it was for an early TV. It worked better than the modern ribbon FM Ariel! Sadly Planet Rock is only on digital so I listen to snippets of rock when the Blue Tits are not around.

None of those are in use and most have no service to be used for. The house is now 60 years old. So I guess we were due the next new system. Anyone interested in 4 valve radios and a fine Grundig Radiogram?

In service - One high gain 'new' Ariel mounted on gable end by me around 50 ft off the ground some 20 odd years ago. Works better and not yet fallen off like professional installations on chimney which averaged 5 years though I have replaced the co-ax cable once on this system.

[Chris Thomas]

Dear Al

I can see what your problem is. In your list there are several omissions

Aerial Atom
Aerial Red Hunter
Aerial square four
Aerial Leader
and Aerial Arrow which is very similar to the Leader.

With those in your loft you will have no need of a TV

Chris Thomas

[Bob Purton]

And not to mention     Ariel Pixie
                                 NH 350
                                 VH 500
                                 NG 350
                                 Side valvers
                                 Military models and a few more I cant remember!
 NO room ar all in the loft now!   

[Big Al]

I like it.

Ariel Square Four always sounds like it out to be owned by a stuffed shirted Golfing enthusiast with no street cred.

Ariel Leader is different as it is the one that thinks its in charge. Tick over is Dib Dib Dob Dob. These were bikes with the Nicked Kriedler twin engine design from war reparations I think. Had a shed load of bits once. The Pixie was quite interesting being a four stroke moped if I remember correctly. Had some of them on the way passed. The electrics were crap and the secret was to insert a torch battery in the circuit to get them started or something. A Red Hunter just sounds like something you do not want in your loft.

Is there a Brutsch Leader which is nearly a Brutsch Pfail?

Get G.O.G.G.O. to tell you about Siegfreid's attic and the thunderbolt. He tends to start giggling, naughty boy.

[Bob Purton]

In my teens I had an Arrow which went well but was unreliable followed by a Leader which served me well for a long time, I passed my test on it but unfortunately loaned it to a mate who ploughed it into a milk float and broke his leg, the bike was a right off. To compensate me he gave me his Durkopp Diana scooter which I loved [foot gear change] and kept right up until I got married. Oh the memories!

[Big Al]

Do you, Diana Durkopp, take this man to......

Meep! Meep!

I'll take that as a yes.


Still have a Dirtbox Diana in deep storage. No idea why, just not motivated to clear that place out yet, but there is little in there I want to keep or worth much money really.

[marcus]

The mopeds and motor bikes I have ridden: Puke Maxi,  Non Specific Urethritis Quickly,  Triumphbra Tiger Cub (painted in tiger stripes of course) and BSA Batman.

[Big Al]

The mopeds and motor bikes I have ridden: Puke Maxi,  Non Specific Urethritis Quickly,  Triumphbra Tiger Cub (painted in tiger stripes of course) and BSA Batman.

Or

Pukka Maxi, Indian takeaway transport of choice.

No Sodding Use Quickly.

Triumph Ciger But (Triumph 'make the bra for the way you are', in Swindon. Saggy, and a bit loose at the seams but Chavs love them, thanks to Mr Postgate, there).

Bloody Sore Arris, Batman? Plastic Pig, Robin?