Time for me to get another boat!

[jimmy_the_builder]

Another question, how easy it to run cables down Targa arches? Is there a conduit?

Pete, is this really a relevant pre-purchase question?? #justsayin

The two that I've played with both had conduit in the arches (necessary because the arch itself is foam-filled) - but on my T40 the conduit itself was then blocked with sealant, which caused a lot of difficulty when routing the new radar cable through.

 

[Questor]

MK I but cheap I'll grant you.

Unless I'm mistaken, there's something very odd about this boat.

Year of manufacture shown as 2000, but definitely MK I down below and in the engine room, although MK I went out of production two years prior in 1998.

But up top / helm is definitely MK II

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Would be interesed in an engineers opinion of whether oil sampling / worthwhile necessary for 15 year old KAD32's?

Pete, agree with what AllanG says but to answer your question, yes oil sampling is definitely worthwile but only providing you know the number of engine hours since the last oil change and providing those hours exceed 30 or thereabouts (according to an engineer I used to use for engine surveys). If the engine oil has been recently changed then the oil is not representative of the condition of the engine. Even if you don't know the exact hours since the last change but you do know that say, the last oil change was done at the beginning of the season you could still guestimate the number of hours based on what the broker says about how the boat has been used this season. Agree also that a one off oil sample is not as good as a series but it could still identify an excessive contamination of one substance or another which could flag up a warning to you that further investigation is required

A single oil sample saved me once from buying a boat with shagged engines so given the relatively modest cost of doing it, I would say its well worth doing

 

[petem]

Pete, is this really a relevant pre-purchase question?? #justsayin

The two that I've played with both had conduit in the arches (necessary because the arch itself is foam-filled) - but on my T40 the conduit itself was then blocked with sealant, which caused a lot of difficulty when routing the new radar cable through.

What are you, the pre / post purchase thread forum police ? Thanks for the answer though!

 

[benjenbav]

Thanks Allan, hours and oil change date are known so might be a worthwhile exercise after all.

Another question, how easy it to run cables down Targa arches? Is there a conduit?

Seem to recall, in JtB's refit thread, him remarking on having spent three days and lost 10 kilos trying to run some new cables around his Targa 40.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Seem to recall, in JtB's refit thread, him remarking on having spent three days and lost 10 kilos trying to run some new cables around his Targa 40.

Wow thats impressive. He could make some money out of that. I can see it now - The new Jimmy the Builder Gluten Free Detox Targa Diet. All he needs is some sleb endorsement; maybe the bint with the big tits? Jordan or whatever she's called these days

 

[Lloydroberts]

Wow thats impressive. He could make some money out of that. I can see it now - The new Jimmy the Builder Mutton Free Detox Targa Diet. All he needs is some sleb endorsement; maybe the bint with the big tits? Jordan or whatever she's called these days

You'd have to drop any thoughts of using Jordan in a mutton free detox diet.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

What are you, the pre / post purchase thread forum police ? Thanks for the answer though!

What's behind the question - new radar required on the prospective new boat?

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Seem to recall, in JtB's refit thread, him remarking on having spent three days and lost 10 kilos trying to run some new cables around his Targa 40.

I don't think it was 10kg, but it really did take three days to get the digi radar cable through. F**king thing.

 

[petem]

What's behind the question - new radar required on the prospective new boat?

Don't laugh - TV - for SWMBO, but i suspect an aerial may be a waste of time in the med.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Don't laugh - TV - for SWMBO, but i suspect an aerial may be a waste of time in the med.

Well, you're only going to get local tv channels, obvs - is that what she's after?

If she wants Brit tv, then the answer is fibre broadband at home in the UK, a vpn endpoint on your UK router, and a 4G mifi on the boat. Then, vpn from le bateau back home, and then iplayer is your oyster. I did this last year using the now-defunct joemobile vno. Forumite Cardo has recently found another good 4G deal for France, and I'll be giving this a try next week. You need to make sure that you've got 4G coverage, of course - but that's something that's only going to improve over time.

 

[Whitelighter]

Don't laugh - TV - for SWMBO, but i suspect an aerial may be a waste of time in the med.

Pete,

Wifi, iPad and a vpn to connect to sky go and you're done

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Pete,

Wifi, iPad and a vpn to connect to sky go and you're done

I don't how robust the wifi is at SC, but at PV the marina wifi is truly rubbish and barely supports email (I'm not kidding) let alone video streaming. I find 4G much more capable.

 

[Whitelighter]

Ah ok, 4G then

Either eay you don't really need the hassle/expense of a tv ariel etc.
I find the vidafone euro traveller deal quite good. £3 a day and I just use my free data from home.
Is there a cheaper way? How much data would £3 buy me on a sim only plan

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Ah ok, 4G then

Either eay you don't really need the hassle/expense of a tv ariel etc.
I find the vidafone euro traveller deal quite good. £3 a day and I just use my free data from home.
Is there a cheaper way? How much data would £3 buy me on a sim only plan

I have a Three UK phone which costs £10/mo and offers their 'feel at home' deal which means your calls, texts and data in France amongst other places just come out of your contract allowance. For frequent travel to the boat this works really well for me. Not 4G though, and you can't use your phone as a hotspot, but good enough for web browsing, email, maps etc.

For 4G I'm going to try Free next week, which is €20/mo for 50GB. The only risk with this is coverage, because Free are a new provider with relatively small market share. The only way to prove this properly though is to try it.

For streaming tv you do need chunky data allowances - if you assumed 1GB/hour you wouldn't be far off.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Wifi, iPad and a vpn to connect to sky go and you're done

Or do as I've just done. Buy a Slingbox and watch all the channels you are paying for in the UK anywhere else in the world. Yes you need a reasonable wifi connection speed

 

[Hurricane]

Well, you're only going to get local tv channels, obvs - is that what she's after?

If she wants Brit tv, then the answer is fibre broadband at home in the UK, a vpn endpoint on your UK router, and a 4G mifi on the boat. Then, vpn from le bateau back home, and then iplayer is your oyster. I did this last year using the now-defunct joemobile vno. Forumite Cardo has recently found another good 4G deal for France, and I'll be giving this a try next week. You need to make sure that you've got 4G coverage, of course - but that's something that's only going to improve over time.

Although I do just that, Jimmy, you don't need anything as sophisticated as a VPN to your UK home.
There are some very easy to use Proxy/VPN services that you can subscribe to and then simply BBCiPlayer to view the TV.

At SC, generally, the wifi isn't up to streaming but people do manage to do it.
SCM has just changed its provider (last week) and I believe things are a bit better.
A problem at SC is that there isn't any fibre in the town yet - they are still saying another 18 months (they said the same 18 months ago).
Sant Carles itself is a bit cut off.

The issue that I have with 3G/4G is the amount of data that you allowed.
If you want to watch TV (stream) you are going to get to the maximum allowance of any contract.
Shame because I believe that 4G in SC is very good.

The option that I've been exploring without any success is WiMax (I believe it is part of the 4G system).
One of the WiMax standards allows for connection between your home router and the internet - just like our home broadband services.
I believe that it is a directional wireless service.
In our area (SC) there are about 4 or 5 WiMax access points and local Spanish villas/homes connect using these services.
Indeed, until last week, Sant Carles Marina used an 8Mb WiMax connection upstream of our WiFi system.
It is certainly worth watching this technology - it seems to me that data is sold like our home broadband services (i.e. not limited like 3G and 4G)

It would be interesting to hear what people think of 3G/4G with a usage of (say) 8Gb per month which is the kind of usage you will need if you want to stream UK TV across the internet.

For me, and having just spent 5 months on the boat, I've got used to Sky TV.
That is mainly Sky News to keep up to date with what is going on and some of the other Sky Channels if I'm bored - all received by satellite.
There was a big change in Sat TV earlier this year when Astra 2G finally arrived in its working location.
They now have 3 modern broadcast satellites in the 28 degree (Astra 2) slot.
Each one is capable of broadcasting over the UK Spot Beam or over the Pan European Wide Beam.
All three are very good at focusing their beams but are also more powerful than the old satellites.
All the usual terrestrial UK TV (BBC/ITV etc) is carried over the UK spot beam but most of the other Sky TV channels are broadcast over the wide beams.
The result is that there is no BBC/ITV over satellite outside of the UK but Sky reception over the rest of Europe has actually improved.
So a small dish now in SC will pick up everything that is now possible - even with a bigger dish.

It seems that a lot of people on here like to watch the F1.
Whilst I was away, I watched it on German TV (RTL) - pointed the dish at the Astra 1 slot (19 degrees) - programmed my Sky box to RTL and the signal boomed in.
A trick that also works is to turn the sound down on the TV and set up an audio channel over the internet using a Proxy or VPN to pick up Radio 5 Live.
This works well when the internet bandwidth isn't good enough for full video streaming but can handle the audio.
Actually, the sync between audio and video is quite good for watching the F1.
We were at anchor in Palma Nova last month without any internet so we just watched the F1 in German on RTL.
A good point here is that RTL covers all the F1s live - not just a selection like BBC.

IMHO, the internet is the way to go for TV
We just need some good local connections to the internet.
4Mb and unlimited data would be enough.

Thats my three pennyworth

 

[KevB]

We were at anchor in Palma Nova last month without any internet so we just watched the F1 in German on RTL.

Or 27.5 west to intelsat 907 and if your reciever can decode BISS encryption like this one http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/icecrypt-s1600hdcci-hd-satellite-receiver-with-hdmi-and-usb-pvr-function-n00ce then you can watch BBC, ITV Channel 4 and a few others.

Or as Deleted User says, get a slingbox.

 

[wakeup]

Although I do just that, Jimmy, you don't need anything as sophisticated as a VPN to your UK home.
There are some very easy to use Proxy/VPN services that you can subscribe to and then simply BBCiPlayer to view the TV.


Thats my three pennyworth

I can recommend Tellypass.com for the VPN service (Although using broadband connection) but as JtB says the main issue is actually getting good wifi or reasonably priced 3g down there.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Or as Deleted User says, get a slingbox.

Which Mapism has just tested for me in Carloforte and he's sitting there watching Sky Sports beamed from my TV via the Slingbox! And that is over the Marine Sifredi wifi which, as Hurricane will remember, is none too brilliant either. Given that I got very few channels of any kind from my onboard Sat TV in Carloforte, the Slingbox could be the answer to my prayers when it comes to catching essential sports programs on board