hayfield

The trouble is the public look at gross profit, just because the item has sold for double the price may for the private seller mean 50% profit, but for the business seller once all overheads are taken into account (including unsellable and damaged items) after all costs (postage, packing materials, transport costs etc) will be a fraction, then there are NI payments and taxation. Not as rosy as some think

C&L sell their own variation to the public EMGS show (Expo EM) is on the 11th & 12th of May Exactoscale parts will be on sale to all who attend the event, or make friends with an EMGS member or two

I have never had any issues with them once the track bases are in situ, the Exactoscale ones are stronger but may be slightly overscale. Please note these fishplates are fragile and will depend on both track bases being firmly stuck down, they are functionable but requires a soft touch until the glue on the track bases set. Once you get used to the method of using them they are fine

One very easy and very good looking is to use either Exactoscale or C&L plastic (H shaped) linked fishplates, these form firstly an important isolating function but also a very prototypical looking fishplate which rail joiners fail to do. These can also be used to join rail sections, but insulate the rails from each other requiring dropper wires for electrical connectivity. These plastic fishplates can also help to disguise gaps left for expansion Cast brass linked fishplates can be brought, but I would not rely on them for electrical purposes, etched brass fishplates may be a more economical alternative As for the joint at the knuckle, a quick dab of solder may hide the join

Certainly things are hotting up and even on days when the sun is intermittent reasonable amounts of generation are being made. Also now the 2nd quarter rates are operative its only 10,25p difference between import and export prices installing batteries become a luxury or less of an investment. in fact investing in more panels would give a better return on investment Historically April is the first of the decent months averaging nearly 9.5 kwh per day, this month is already up to 6.6kwh a day My illustration quoted over the first five years I would benefit on average 61p per day. Its been double that per day so far this month and looking good for the months to come

If the stadium had a watch which stopped and started on the referees whistle, then the game would go on a very lot longer Though over the past week several games had little or similar stoppage time than was the norm prior to the new rules, since the world cup. But we see the officials unwilling to learn from other sports. example as in rugby when the referee indicates he is playing an advantage and then indicate when the advantage is over. IMO a much better system Managers on the other hand look to exploit anything that would give their team an advantage, Impact players for second half substitutions. Now it seems we are going back on what is a foul, or rather when a foul is not a foul simply on the amount of force used. Or when is shirt pulling not a foul.

I have just gone to an item which did not sell, used sell similar (not relist), had no issues with AI, now in a save to later format I also went to an item which had sold again selecting sell similar, when editing no AI interference The way I create a listings, which is to find something similar and edit the listing by altering all relevant information/details. A lazy way of doing things but saves a lot of time

Mark That sounds strange, about two weeks ago I went to one of my sold listings, pressed sell similar and was able to create a completely new listing by editing the old one, something I always do Have you got any stored templates, this may also be an alternative

I have both owned and driven worse back in the late 70's and 80's

I dip in and out of this thread mainly to cheer up. Looks like a barn find to me, but then what do I know (not much!!) Dry dust rather than grime that outside items grow Saab's not been made for years, a collectors item

Its a great pity that firstly we have to endure in my opinion miss/lazy reporting, then people fail to read it,and make their own opinion on the facts, Taking the second report first Nearly 3 million people with faulty meters, of that under 3 million units 2.750,000 were turned off, all that means is they were not in smart mode, not faulty !!! When my smart tv is turned off its not faulty but just turned off !! Less than 250,000 meters were faulty, which I guess when there are probably 20 million in operation is not a bad ratio. But then how many of these smart meters have a fault on the smart box or are they just faulty meters ?, I have been told the same meters are used for smart and non smart installations, which explains why so many are turned off The first report is very disturbing, and when you read the report fully it has nothing to do about the smart meter ( which when checked, all meters were working correctly) but it highlights that in this country need energy advice. The report would be much better if the title had it highlighted this, which when reading the article fully was seemingly the real issue, especially as reported the meter was working correctly When smart meters are used properly, they could (and should) have shown up the issue long before a major problem was caused. Firstly in June last year, when she received a bill of £600 despite the warm weather something is clearly wrong, why was the bill so high was the question which should have been explored. This should have set the alarm bells ringing. Secondly look at the date on the bill which is shown to be January!!! and much lower than the summer bill. This is one of the highest cost months of the year so everyone should expect high usage, Looking at the bill Gas usage, it looks very low (when it should be high), where as electricity looks very high *. Sadly the report misses the real issue of why the July bill was so high !!, which was the catalyst that started the sad state of affairs Then reading on the lady was using electricity to heat the room rather than gas (which is four times less expensive) unfortunately this was compounding the issue . The problem was not the smart meter but the energy provider not understanding what the customer was asking (Why is my bill so high in June, and presumably after) Clearly the lady spotted the issue in June, but when did she contact here provider, elderly people should be treated with an additional duty of care as they are with financial products. There is a lot more to this case than is reported and it seems, she would benefit with some advice about using energy. This a reminder to all of us in an advanced age (myself included) if we are concerned about anything ASK. The worst thing to do is do nothing Octopus Energy said although both Mrs Bowen’s old and new meters "have been working correctly", they would do additional testing on the device. So it was clearly not a faulty smart meter, plus we have wiped her £305 account debt *(I had the opposite issue and it took me ages to get British Gas to check my gas meter, as it happened the smart feature was working correctly but the dumb part was faulty) Thank you for allowing me to use my brain actively this morning, which apparently is good for my brains health

On the other hand it might be a blessing in disguise for others, many search out for such listings in the hope other will not bid and leading to a possible super bargain for others. This is where the skill (or perhaps luck) of the bargain hunter steps in. The lazy seller misses out, as reported many times items listed as not working, seem to spring into life in the hands of a modeler (sometimes without any work). Does AI stand for added interest? of buyer beware ? I do agree with you, sometimes the old way is best, especially when the seller knows what they are selling and has a few communication skills.

As you say much better than 2023, but a lot less than 2022, but in retrospect that March was a very sunny month. We more than doubled this years production with 265 kwh, More importantly my energy usage amounted to be just under £17 in value for the week, but the net cost just under £7. So the increase in solar generation is starting to ramp up, I am still surprised that Octopus is paying 15p per kwh exported. It is getting very noticeable that solar production is starting to grow week by week from the dismal winter performance

Brian Prior to Templot Plug track I would have made an offer, having said that the Scale Seven Soc sell these quite cheaply

Could it be foe either code 100 (as stated) or even code 125 ? As you are aware the rail should be a snug fit. Looking at the photo the slots are clearly deeper and wider making me think its a 7mm filing jig. If the slot is just under 3mm its possibly code 125

Sorry to pickup on this one a bit late. Southeastern Finecast do two etched chassis for this loco. The FC 200 & 202 are direct replacements for the Triang Jinty chassis. These will be an easy retro fit into the Wills / SEF early kits However they now do a bespoke etched chassis FC185 for the loco

Captain Kernow Very nicely weathered, I think these kits are one of the same with K's kits being absorbed into the NuCast range. The 57xx from K's could be ordered with the earlier (flat) cab and round windows, I think I have a couple stashed away

Firstly I was talking about new systems, then some people cannot connect to the system, thirdly off the grid has no metering I was referring to be able to get the best rates, plus I believe all meters now being fitted are smart meters, whether they are connected or not Re Renewable Heat Incentive, Politics gone mad.

You are on an old system designed to get people in the early years of home solar energy to take up the system. Feed in tariffs have not been available for years and became less valuable income wise as the cost of installation has dropped dramatically. Smart systems thankfully are here to stay, and the cartoon shows how stupid some are by starting machines as the tariff goes up, amusing yes, accurate no

John Quite a lot of folk think the cheap giveaway display box is the smart meter, being cheap their life span is limited and not replaced by the energy companies, mine has been trying to die but it still relays correct data Something like 4 years ago we had both meters changed and a smart system fitted, about a year later I noticed we were not using much gas despite being mid winter. It took me a while to get them to send someone out, and at the beginning the engineer said all was working fine, half an hour later seeing how hard our central heating was working he changed his tune The smart meter was working correctly sending data every 15 mins, it was the dumb system and agents that did not realize more often than not it was sending zero readings, despite me telling them my central heating was working full blast, when challenged they said I had a very efficient boiler. The culprit was the gas meter itself, sending intermittent readings. The smart part was doing its job. I have to have a smart metering system as we have solar panels, glad to say its doing its job. We also have a smart thermostat (Tado) Saves us quite a lot of money each year , this year we have invested in making it even smarter. Had the system 7 years and a great asset Most of us have cars with smart systems and sensors all over the place, I guess somethings are less smart than others, some may even be quite dumb. My phone satnav even remembers I go to Colchester on Tuesdays, agreed many things smart gadgets are easy to do but make life much easier, in fact our smart phones are much better at remembering phone numbers than we are

Just out of interest I got an email from Octopus suggesting I increase my DDI (despite being in credit) and stating if I wanted to change it back they gave a link back to my accounts DDI section to alter it back. Sadly it would not change, so I phoned and they apologized and reset it immediately. In my case my DDI payment is 3 days after the billing event, plus their algorithm certainly does not include my solar panel exports and perhaps the radical decrease in usage in the spring, autumn and summer months. So far this week I only have to pay for a third of my energy usage (plus standing charges) so when the sun shines it makes a lot of difference to me and my system is quite small!! But it has kept my payments the same for 4 years

I think if they fail to turn up you are due compensation (my son in law got paid by BT for a missed appointment) Complain to OFGEM

Thanks but not in June, still its all part of the holiday and last year we found a super tapas restaurant around the corner

Paul The scaremongering about the cost of cooking is quite outrageous* and only relates to electricity, its designed to stop people using high energy using machines at peak times. The problem is now to cover peak times it costs a fortune for that extra bit of the peak, the point is that those of us who can change our habits will reduce the cost to all users My son in law is considering buying a power bank (Battery system) to buy electricity when its cheap, to use (and resell) when its dear During a phone in someone claimed it cost them £5 to cook a chicken, well if you calculate how long you would have to leave an oven on to use £5 worth of kwh the chicken would come out as ash. The worst thing was the presenter accepting this false fact

I have had a bit of a brake on loco building the past two weeks for various reasons, today I have received an email from Springside that my order for the outstanding parts are/will be on their way to me Secondly after meeting a friend demonstrating a layout at Alley Pally I have agreed to print some Templot EM gauge plug track turnouts and chairs using a plan he drew up using Templot. This threw up a slight redesign to make it plug track compliant (printable) The easier part is printing the track bases, once I have edited the plan and printed the bases, I then have to learn how to set up the chair files then learn how to print them in resin Martin Wynn challenged me to test out plug track in 7mm scale whilst learning/confirming how to do the alterations needed to the EM gauge track plan. Given the size of the print bed the turnout needs to be printed in 3 sections. The start of the FDM printing ( base of the turnout) Nearing the end of the first print Two of the 3 sections waiting to be spliced together Plug track is in development and is exceptionally good, primarily being developed in 4mm scale, though useable in most scales in various formats. developments are in TT, 2mm and S scale that we know of . For instance in 2mm scale its all resin printed, larger scales use either FDM printed or laser cut bases and resin printed chairs. Turnouts only fully covered at the moment whilst obtuse chairs are designed, but there are a few work arounds in some cases for diamonds and slips, for those unwilling to wait. The FDM turnout base will cost about £2 to print In 4 mm scale the chairs cost about the same as a turnout base, so perhaps £2 per turnout in 7mm scale, plus 2 and a bit meters of rail. Also I can print off reusable filing jigs to the exact size and or angle required for the Vee and switch rails, Other than finishing off the turnout base I will not be printing chairs for at least 2 weeks