LazerBrain

Quoting StEVEN: 😬 😬.......So imagine a trolley and a steering wheel in hand 😳........you wouldn't be able to help yourself would you 😳 Been there, done that... at Le Mans a few years back. Had to explain to the bemused shelf stacker, oh and the checkout assistant who thought I wanted to buy my own Momo wheel!

I used to work in HP's electronic test equipment calibration and repair centre in the 90's. At the time I had a Maplins branded DVM (bought several years earlier when I was at school) which I compared against the Datron calibrator used for calibrating the decent HP rack mounted meters (6 1/2 digits.) I was impressed that it matched the accuracy and repeatability of the handheld Fluke meters which cost a fair bit more than the ~£35 I paid in 1986ish. I used to check it on an annual basis and it didn't change. It was a great little meter, up until the point when I ran over it on my driveway and squished the rotary selector switch.

Quoting Jonathan Kay: That's neat. You could put a protective fuse in series in case you plug it in a high current fuse holder by mistake. Thanks - yes, I always used the fuse from the circuit I was testing, but a 5A fuse would allow testing and protection for most meters.

JK - I made an equivalent to this current tester to connect to my DVM, which allowed me to measure the current flowing through a particular fuse. Obviously you need to take care not to overload your meter. My testing did not require the engine to be running - switching ignition on/off was enough to trigger the fault condition.

I'd be interested. I'm not sure there's room on the top of the passenger footwell for a PVR25 to safely lay flat, (it's where the terminals end up that worries me) but an upright mounting bracket would be great.

I wrote up my notes in this thread "wiring in shift light". This option allows easy troubleshooting and/or removal as I prefer not to cut/splice existing wiring.

I second what Ian Hayward says - I had the same on my EU2 1.6 SuperSport. I had the ecu repaired (they told me they swapped the entire board) and it still came back with the fault. After the 2nd repair it was fixed. In my case it was leaving a relay switched on which left the injectors powered up.

Thanks Mankee, for some reason I thought CC never had any. Tony... The Google hits I read seemed to be full of MG owners trying to make authentic copies in their garages!

My Two Gates Minilite replicas have cone-shaped caps which are fitted from the inside, but they won't fit the Miniators which I think normally clip in from the outside. Anyone have 4 they want to sell, or know where I can buy a set from?

I had a slight issue with a fellow BC'ers engine crane when I went to pack it away. It's fairly old and meaty with a screwthread for raising and lowering the jib. There's a long bolt which had to be taken out to dismantle the crane. As I tapped the bolt out with my left hand the jib (hinged at the top) swung down from its horizontal working position to hang vertically. Unfortunately my right thumb was holding the vertical part which the jib was swinging towards. I remember taking off my work glove and being quite surprised that the thumb was still attached as it really felt like it had been removed. It wasn't until I got to A&E to be checked out that I noticed the rip in my jeans up the inside of one of my thighs... A closer and slightly panicky inspection revealed just a minor laceration where the metal strips which were attached to the screwthread had whizzed upwards as the jib had headed downwards. A little bit to one side and I would have been a whole lot less happy about things...

I'd suggest avoiding the cigarette lighter USB module - if only because the cigarette lighter is a poor connector. If the tip spring is a bit too strong or the ground spring is too weak then the connection can be broken, which is not always obvious. I use a latching XLR socket in my 7 as a conditioner/aux power socket. I also have a XLR to cigarette lighter socket lead for plugging in things like phone chargers that I've not converted to use the XLR.

I had a similar issue on a mk4 Escort with mechanical odometer and trip meter. In my case something had stuck when I pushed the reset button and the trip meter sat clicking on 0.0 for several miles until it started turning. I only noticed as I used to run with so little fuel and calculated when to refuel based on the trip meter. The result was a walk to the local petrol station... Did you notice the odometer reading before and after - did it increment by the same amount? I'd suggest checking that when you have a moment. If you have a smartphone then you could download a GPS speedo app, some of which have elapsed distance functionality, or consider driving between a couple of motorway junctions (where you know the distance between them.)

I'm not sure what engine/ECU you have, but I had a fault with my EU2 MEMS which discharged the battery. The cure was a repair of the ECU. It's definitely worth checking how much current is being drawn when the immobiliser is on and everything else is off. The immobiliser is around 30mA from memory.

Thanks for the contact details Dave - much appreciated.

Ian - maybe, as long as you aren't offering to be Whoopi Goldberg. T7 - thank you, but the business is still pretty small and she cannot afford new. Do people PX them and trade up? I'm just trying to think of other ways to help her get one.

I know BC is a diverse place, so wondered if anyone had a potter's wheel that they no longer require. My girlfriend runs an art studio and has one on loan. Let me know what you have!

Race Technology's latest newsletter contained details of some clearance stock: The AP22 Performance meter. Simple to fit and use. Calculate vehicle performance - Measures vehicle speeds and distances to give performance data, eg. 0-60 times. For more product information visit here Normal Price £160 - Offer Price £50 SAVE 69% To order please contact the office directly within office hours (9am to 5pm UK time) on 01773 537620 and ask for Debbie, or Dave Brown - these offers are not available for purchase via the website. Offers only available while stocks last. This is the same device the club uses for the 0-60 at Dunsfold. I bought one a few years ago and have seen the results tally with the timing at the drag strip for the "World's Fastest Caterham" event. I have no connection with RT other than as a customer.

I'm just down the road from Wokingham, so if anyone does want it, I'd be happy to collect it and then arrange onward GONADS.

Thanks for the info so far guys - this PC currently has 2 * 512MB and only has 2 slots, so I am looking for 2 * 1GB, or even 1 * 1GB. I've also read the mixed reports on running these with 2GB of memory, but am hoping that with the right memory it will be ok.

Thanks for the offer Jack, but this motherboard cannot take anything greater than 1GB per slot!

I'm reconditioning my parents' Dell Dimension 2400 PC and wondered if anyone had any spare 1GB PC2700 SDRAM that they don't have a use for? The motherboard has 2 slots, so I'm looking for a pair to get them to the heady heights of 2GB.

What sort of condition are you looking for? I've got some A048 which are borderline legal, a couple which have a trackday or 2 left in them and a couple of A021 with again, a trackday or 2.

Quoting Wile7: Aston Martin with two wheels for £10,000 I can't seem to find the matching bikerack for the V8 Vantage...

Spotted you following me before you turned off onto the A30 and I enjoyed the wiggly bit of the B3349 in my Aston Martin. Hope you had a good blat!

Never mind the Daleks and Star Trek - it looks like you have Chewbacca's hands!