My mains has been Marco'd! [Archive] - Page 2

Marco

09-02-2010, 23:21

I assume Mike was thinking of using several horizontal rods connected radial fashion like a star (e.g.*), the center connection being the earth connection taken back and used by the system.

Indeed, Barry, but that would involve rather a lot of deep trench-digging, no? I'm not sure that I could be bothered with all that....

The idea of banging a series of rods in, vertically, and star-earthing them from that point, is that it's fairly quick and easy to do and doesn't involve turning your (nice) lawn into a 'battle zone'! :eyebrows:

Marco.

Ali Tait

09-02-2010, 23:24

Practically,no,I don't think so.I think what the rods are driven into will have far more impact.I recall some sites we built had been surveyed and found to have poor soil conductivity.It was then necessary to have holes drilled into which we poured this stuff,which I'm buggered if I can remember the name of,which improved vastly the earth reading once the rods were in.I'll try to find out what it was.It's years since I used any.

Barry

09-02-2010, 23:33

Indeed, Barry, but that would involve rather a lot of deep trench-digging, no? I'm not sure that I could be bothered with all that....

The idea of banging a series of rods in, vertically, and star-earthing them from that point, is that it's fairly quick and easy to do and doesn't involve turning your lawn into a 'battle zone'! :eyebrows:

Marco.

But that is what is meant by an 'earth mat', except that the horizontal conductors form a grid, sometimes supplemented by vertical conductors connected to the grid around the periphery.

Trench digging? On some systems (that I can't talk about) the earth mat would extend for hundreds of metres! :eek:

Regards

Marco

09-02-2010, 23:39

The question I would ask Mikey then is (roughly) how deep should the horizontal rods go, and indeed should there be three of them (or whatever) to form a 'star'.

Depending on how much digging is involved (bearing in mind that I have a nice lawn and quite hard soil), I might consider adopting his approach. Preferably, though, I'm looking for the most effective solution with minimum upheaval.

Trench digging? On some systems (that I can't talk about) the earth mat would extend for hundreds of metres!

Sorry, Barry, I don't understand what you mean :scratch:

Marco.

Barry

09-02-2010, 23:49

Some specialised (and classified) radar systems used an earth ground mat that was literally hundreds of meters in extent. That's what I meant by 'Trench digging?', and it's all I can really say.

Regards

Marco

09-02-2010, 23:51

Lol...I see. Sorry, by "systems" I thought you meant hi-fi systems! :doh: :eyebrows:

Marco.

The Grand Wazoo

09-02-2010, 23:57

I'm a firm believer in earthing going back to a single point. ;)

I don't particularly like rods... they're usually just hammered straight down (sometimes with dire consequences) and folk regularly report how performance is improved by 'watering'. To my mind this is wrong!

An earth point should be located (IMHO) where the conductivity is consistently good. It should not need 'watering'! :doh:

Pointing the thing at the ground and just whaling on it till it's buried is asking for trouble. The hole should be dug down to a depth where the soil is always moist and the rod placed horizontally in the hole! A good few bucketfuls of crushed charcoal (conductive carbon) wouldn't do any harm either. Don't use salt... It'll rot the copper away really fast and probably kill every plant for yards around! ;)

I seem to remember us travelling this path before Mike. I think you & I both agreed that the soil moisture varies at shallow depth & that you have to go down & have the thing horizontal.
I understand that earth mats are an option where soil is extremely free draining - like sandy soils

Barry

09-02-2010, 23:58

The question I would ask Mikey then is (roughly) how deep should the horizontal rods go, and indeed should there be three of them (or whatever) to form a 'star'.

That depends on the conductivity of the soil. I imagine you are talking of about 1m in depth. If you want to know how to measure this, I can tell you (tomorrow, as its late) as well as what sort of figures you need.

Ali Tait may also know.

Now I'm off to bed.

Regards

The Grand Wazoo

10-02-2010, 00:01

I understand earth mats are used in places where the soil is made of very free draining sand.

Did I just say that up there?

Steve Toy

10-02-2010, 00:13

On a different topic in this thread. I seem to have made peace with both Tibbs and Simon over on PFM. At least the mods let the thread and the other on mains leads run their course.

Interesting twist on the usually tired objectivist/subjectivist debate over there though. :)

Marco

10-02-2010, 08:33

I hate to be cynical, Steve, but I get the feeling that Tibbs' reconciliatory gestures have been forced upon him due to his sneering disdain of you being revealed for what it is, so now he's back-tracking to appear as the 'good guy'. Sadly, therefore, I'd be under no illusions that he's ever likely to be your 'pal'... I do hope I'm wrong, though.

However the mood of the thread appears to have turned round for the better, which is a good thing, so let's hope it stays that way. There is some important information within it that deserves to remain, without Tony binning the whole lot. I agreed completely though with the sentiments he expressed in the mains lead thread elsewhere in the audio section. It's a difficult thing to tackle and attempt to get right, as we ourselves know only too well! ;)

As an aside, what complete sense that chap devil ears wrote about 'personality types' - he got it *so* spot on! I suspect that he's some form of psychologist, as seemingly his acutely accurate levels of perception indicate.

I hope he finds this place, as I'd love to have a chat with him about his views on the matter :)

Marco.

DSJR

10-02-2010, 09:30

Yeah, we need some qualified psychologists here :lol: ;)

Seriously, I repeat.. With an older property with copper and/or lead pipes well buried in the ground in a horizontal "network" of sorts, are copper rods really necessary for domestic audio where a suitable mains lead can significantly reduce the effects of rf on the mains?

Not baiting, just trying to get some definitive answers..

Mike Reed

10-02-2010, 09:42

As an aside, what complete sense that chap devil ears wrote about 'personality types' - he got it *so* spot on! I suspect that he's some form of psychologist, as seemingly his acutely accurate levels of perception indicate.

I hope he finds this place, as I'd love to have a chat with him about his views on the matter :)

Marco.

Oddly, I was tempted to reply to that post that I remembered him as a retired engineer (in South Africa) rather than the psychologist he presents himself as. I corresponded with him last year on a number of occasions about schools and upbringing in general; unfortunately on P.F. private messages, long since erased.

His surname is De Villiers, hence 'Devil Ears'.

His exemplary writing style and excellent command of English, together with us both being involved with schools bearing the name Churchill (his in Rhodesia, mine in Ramsgate) gave rise to said literary exchange.

Why not indeed invite him, as he seems to have become very active on P.F. of late, and without doubt has much to offer.

Mike Reed

10-02-2010, 09:43

John

10-02-2010, 11:22

Hi Mike
Just remember water tables canchange in times of drought

twelvebears

10-02-2010, 15:55

Yeah, we need some qualified psychologists here

Too late. The lunatics are running the asylum....

DSJR

10-02-2010, 16:34

Barry

10-02-2010, 18:02

Hi Marco,

I said I'd come back with some information on soil resistivity measurements and the like. The best link I have found on this business is:

www.smeter.net/grounds/earth-electrode-resistance.

I think the best and most practical method to use is what is known as the three-probe technique. In this, three probes of say 10 to 30cm in length are embedded in the soil, forming an equilateral triangle of side, say 1m. Using a conventional ohmeter, you measure the resistance between each of the three probes and enter this information along with details of the probes (depth, diameter) into the programme supplied, and this will return the soil resistivity.

Depending on the soil condition this could vary between 25 and 400 Ohm.metre. For example:

Poor, dry sandy soil, 400 Ohm.m
Moist loam farm soil, 25 Ohm.m

Average soils are around 100 Ohm.m

I don't know what is the maximum value for the soil resistivity, for earth mats to be effective. I have seen a figure of 40 Ohm.m quoted, but that was for safety critical purposes. I'll ask some of my former collegues for their opinion on this as regards the RF earthing.

Regards

anthonyTD

10-02-2010, 18:54

I'm a firm believer in earthing going back to a single point. ;)

I don't particularly like rods... they're usually just hammered straight down (sometimes with dire consequences) and folk regularly report how performance is improved by 'watering'. To my mind this is wrong!

An earth point should be located (IMHO) where the conductivity is consistently good. It should not need 'watering'! :doh:

Pointing the thing at the ground and just whaling on it till it's buried is asking for trouble. The hole should be dug down to a depth where the soil is always moist and the rod placed horizontally in the hole! A good few bucketfuls of crushed charcoal (conductive carbon) wouldn't do any harm either. Don't use salt... It'll rot the copper away really fast and probably kill every plant for yards around! ;)

here's an interesting link http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14026/css/14026_73.htm that explains how to use earth rods in diffrent conditions of soil, and how to treat the soil to make it more conductive.
A...

Mike

10-02-2010, 20:31

here's an interesting link http://www.tpub.com/content/construction/14026/css/14026_73.htm that explains how to use earth rods in diffrent conditions of soil, and how to treat the soil to make it more conductive.
A...

Hi Anthony,

That looks interesting, I'll have a full read later... First thing I noticed was the drawings. Note how the tip of the rod is at a depth of "not less than 8 feet"!!!! ;)

Looking at the photo earlier in the thread of Steve's rods, they look to be only about half that! :doh:

Marco

10-02-2010, 21:43

Mikey,

I might give your method a go. How many rods should I use? :)

Marco.

Mike

10-02-2010, 21:50

Mikey,

I might give your method a go. How many rods should I use? :)

Marco.

One! :)

Marco

10-02-2010, 23:03

Okies... What if though you dug a hole deep enough and wide enough to bury three rods, horizontally, wired together in a 'star' formation (like in the drawing Barry posted earlier) - perhaps that might be even better? :)

Marco.

Mike

10-02-2010, 23:48

It can't hurt...

I'm going to try something a little different though, if I ever get round to it.

I want to try a bloody great 'lump' of copper. What I thought of doing is basically using a single rod as a sort of 'bobbin' and winding a rather silly amount of bare copper wire around it. It might sound like an expensive thing to do, but I've already got several reels of 6mm(sq) and 10mm(sq) earth wire that cost me sod all! It'll take ages to strip off the insulation though... :mental:

I shall call it "The Shian7 Earth Anchor"! :lolsign:

Maybe......... ;)

Kris

11-02-2010, 00:05

There is a weighty tome called 'Earthing Practice' that covers everything including earth mats, resistance etc available to read at http://www.cablejoints.co.uk/upload/Earthing_Practice___Copper_Development_Association _Publication.pdf

Also interesting reading on Bentonite: "a moisture retaining clay used as an earth electrode back-fill to help lower soil resistivity".

Makes for fascinating reading, especially the 100+ page book on Earthing Practice. . .

Ali Tait

11-02-2010, 00:35

Bentonite! That's the bloody stuff I was trying to remember!

Marco

11-02-2010, 09:01

Cool. And so where does one obtain Bentonite? :)

Is it a bit like Kryptonite, so we can turn into..........SUPERMAN!!

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/50/supermanzn.jpg (http://img17.imageshack.us/i/supermanzn.jpg/)

Marco.

anthonyTD

11-02-2010, 09:13

Ali Tait

11-02-2010, 09:23

Here ya go-

http://www.inoxia.co.uk/rw/product/product.aspx?ID=75

Marco

11-02-2010, 09:25

Indeed.... :eyebrows:

I meant it in the sense that he came from the planet Krypton :)

Were you a big fan then, daftee? Becky tells me that you still wear your Superman PJs to bed! :lol: ;)

Marco.

CornishPasty

11-02-2010, 10:24

Substations are earthed with earth mats.The mats are tied to earth rods driven 5 deep into the ground.How are you planning to do yours Mike?

Me and my partner in crime installed some earth mats on a United Utilities site recently. No earth rods, just a simple lattice of 1" strips of copper, woven together and rivetted at the contact points. We had the trenches dug about a metre deep and the mats were laid in conductive granules and bonded back to the main earth bar in 75mm copper cable, a bit OTT IMO but that was the spec. The standby generators sit on top of these.

These lattice mats are very effective and give much lower resistance readings than rods due to their larger csa I suppose. This type of mat would be very easy to make too.

I do agree with Mike about a single earthing point and that for me is the main earth connection at the incomer. Keeps you on the right side of the regs as well.

Marco

11-02-2010, 10:43

Hi Ralph,

The mat sounds like an interesting idea... Oh, decisions, decisions! I'll have to do some reading up about all this I think before deciding which way to go.... :)

I do agree with Mike about a single earthing point and that for me is the main earth connection at the incomer. Keeps you on the right side of the regs as well.

That theory's fine, until it's proven to you beyond question that the separate earth rods you've installed (within the regs) unquestionably significantly improve the sound of your hi-fi system connected to them, at which point the "main earth connection at the incomer" becomes redundant for hi-fi purposes ;)

Marco.

The Grand Wazoo

11-02-2010, 11:16

I'm happy, of course to be proved wrong through someone doing some comparative listening (though that would be a mammoth task to arrange), but I don't see how 5 x 2.6 metre(?) tubes inserted vertically into the soil can possibly be a better earth connection than the mat configurations described above.

Soil moisture fluctuates considerably in the upper horizons – you surely need to get the whole thing down to where it's consistently wet all the time, not just poke one end of each rod into it, with the majority of it in the variable zone.

I'd think the other important parameter to address would be to maximise the surface area of the copper that is in contact with the soil. You'd think that using a tube would be a good way of doing this because in theory, by driving it into the ground, you'd get soil contact both inside & outside the tube, so doubling contact area. In practice, this is unlikely to be the case as the soil going into the pipe will sooner or later jam as it's being driven in – a bigger diameter pipe would help I'm sure. I suppose you could top it up with soil from the top once it's almost all the way in.

I suppose the natural conclusion would be to make several mats into a 3D construction – (a copper cage), hire yourself a mini-digger & do some excavations.

Ali Tait

11-02-2010, 14:26

Me and my partner in crime installed some earth mats on a United Utilities site recently. No earth rods, just a simple lattice of 1" strips of copper, woven together and rivetted at the contact points. We had the trenches dug about a metre deep and the mats were laid in conductive granules and bonded back to the main earth bar in 75mm copper cable, a bit OTT IMO but that was the spec. The standby generators sit on top of these.

These lattice mats are very effective and give much lower resistance readings than rods due to their larger csa I suppose. This type of mat would be very easy to make too.

I do agree with Mike about a single earthing point and that for me is the main earth connection at the incomer. Keeps you on the right side of the regs as well.

Aye,but I'd guess the main earth bar would've been connected to earth rods somewhere on the site.

Jonboy

11-02-2010, 20:29

Bentonite is also used in the make up of a natural type of pond or lake liner and comes on a roll, so there you have it dig a pond and bury your rods in it, but it might not be a good place for fish though;)

Themis

11-02-2010, 20:33

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g69/lost_angelwings/comics/strips/batmanbuying.jpg

Marco

11-02-2010, 20:39

Here ya go-

http://www.inoxia.co.uk/rw/product/product.aspx?ID=75

Top man, Ali :)

I think I'll be trying some of that :eyebrows:

Marco.

Primalsea

12-02-2010, 09:37

Marco

12-02-2010, 09:50

Good point, Paul!

Fortunately, I've got a bloody 'park' as a lawn (or unfortunately in the summer when I have to mow the f*cker!), so whatever I decide to put in will be well away from the vegetable patch :eyebrows:

Marco.

Ali Tait

12-02-2010, 09:51

Yes very true,my missus wanted me to get some copper tape to put round her plants to keep the slugs off.

The Grand Wazoo

12-02-2010, 10:03

A little known way of killing trees is to bang a few copper nails into them! Works a treat apparently. Some folks used to do this so as to kill big trees without leaving any obvious evidence. Dispute with a neighbour over your house being shaded out? No problem!!

Mike Reed

12-02-2010, 10:31

Can I just point out to anyone who (or their partner) is prone to the gardening persuasion that Copper is a natural biocide.

Its probably not good idea to stick any copper based earthing scheme under your carrot patch!

Well, then. That explains the profusion of strangely coloured flora in my front garden!!!!!

You'd need bloody long carrots for a metre-deep rod, though, wouldn't you?

Timely and relevant observation, though.

The Grand Wazoo

12-02-2010, 10:48

For anyone who is worried by the above:
From - http://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/cu.htm#ixzz0fJjIYEzO

Environmental effects of copper
When copper ends up in soil it strongly attaches to organic matter and minerals. As a result it does not travel very far after release and it hardly ever enters groundwater. In surface water copper can travel great distances, either suspended on sludge particles or as free ions.
Copper does not break down in the environment and because of that it can accumulate in plants and animals when it is found in soils. On copper-rich soils only a limited number of plants has a chance of survival. That is why there is not much plant diversity near copper-disposing factories. Due to the effects upon plants copper is a serious threat to the productions of farmlands. Copper can seriously influence the proceedings of certain farmlands, depending upon the acidity of the soil and the presence of organic matter. Despite of this, copper-containing manures are still applied.
Copper can interrupt the activity in soils, as it negatively influences the activity of microrganisms and earthworms. The decomposition of organic matter may seriously slow down because of this.
When the soils of farmland are polluted with copper, animals will absorb concentrations that are damaging to their health. Mainly sheep suffer a great deal from copper poisoning, because the effects of copper are manifesting at fairly low concentrations.

Health effects of copper
Copper can be found in many kinds of food, in drinking water and in air. Because of that we absorb eminent quantities of copper each day by eating, drinking and breathing. The absorption of copper is necessary, because copper is a trace element that is essential for human health. Although humans can handle proportionally large concentrations of copper, too much copper can still cause eminent health problems.

Mike Reed

12-02-2010, 17:20

Thank you, CHRIS, for that. Most illuminating.

Rings of copper wire (stripped from surplus 10 mil T & E cable) were put around young beans and things last season, as an experiment to ward off slugs and snails. It seemed to work quite well, even after oxidising.

Mike

12-02-2010, 17:32

Yes very true,my missus wanted me to get some copper tape to put round her plants to keep the slugs off.

I've done that with a sort of 'raised bed' thing where we grow a few veg in the back garden. It doesn't work! :lol:

Beer traps do though. I regularly have to by large quantities of ale just to keep the tiny pots topped up. ;)

The Grand Wazoo

12-02-2010, 17:45

For slugs, you need nematodes - biological control.
Check out Henry Doubleday Research Institute Website- they sell them there.

http://www.organiccatalogue.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=61_183&products_id=1848

Mike

12-02-2010, 17:49

For slugs, you need nematodes - biological control.

I looked into that.

But the thought of all those wee worms all over me lettuce! :spew:

Ali Tait

12-02-2010, 17:53

I've done that with a sort of 'raised bed' thing where we grow a few veg in the back garden. It doesn't work! :lol:

Beer traps do though. I regularly have to by large quantities of ale just to keep the tiny pots topped up. ;)

Aye it's a hard life-the things you have to do... :lolsign:

The Grand Wazoo

12-02-2010, 17:54

It's fine trust me! So you don't have any naturally occuring micro organisms in your garden?
.........or neighbours with cats? .............hehehe

Mike

12-02-2010, 18:44

It's fine trust me! So you don't have any naturally occuring micro organisms in your garden?
.........or neighbours with cats? .............hehehe

All the organisms in my garden are entirely unnatural!

Marco

13-02-2010, 23:25

Think I might make up one of these 'earthing grids':

http://www.russandrews.com/product.asp?lookup=1&region=UK&currency=GBP&pf_id=1821&customer_id=PAA1355022910432RVFSWBPVTVIVSOOD

...and buy some Bentonite to pack it with. Hopefully I should get some change from £248.27! ;)

Marco.

Ali Tait

13-02-2010, 23:54

There's one of those grids I made ages ago lying in our stores at work...

Marco

13-02-2010, 23:57

Much d'ye want for it, wee man? :)

Marco.

Ali Tait

14-02-2010, 09:08

PM sent.

Barry

14-02-2010, 11:11

Hi Marco

You might be interested in this:

http://marconite.co.uk/marconitepdf_300808F.pdf

There seems to be some confusion between the use of earth mats for ‘safety critical’ use and supplementing an existing earth system so as to provide low RF impedance to high frequency noise present on the mains.

Much of this noise is due to the prevalence of switched mode power supplies. These have a switching frequency of between 10KHz and 1MHz. Assuming that soil has a typical dielectric constant of ~9 at 1MHz, than a resonant quarter wave line will be 25m long. In an antenna system the ground mat would consist of a minimum of 24 radial conductors 25m long!

Clearly this is a bit OTT and a smaller earth mat has to be used. The smaller earth mats available (0.6m square) will help, but they need to be buried 1m deep. If you can lay your hands on some scrap 15mm copper pipe, an earth mat can be made from lengths of pipe. There is no need to use solid conductors since high frequency noise currents flow on the outside of a conductor. The earth mats that Russ Andrews sell are designed as part of protection systems against lightning strikes. Making your own earth mat will be considerably cheaper.

Regards

Themis

14-02-2010, 11:31

It's fine trust me! So you don't have any naturally occuring micro organisms in your garden?
.........or neighbours with cats? .............hehehe
I missed the "ni" in "organisms", and the phrase made more sense. Now that I noticed the (naturally discarded) "ni", I'm puzzled... :scratch:

Marco

14-02-2010, 12:58

http://marconite.co.uk/marconitepdf_300808F.pdf

Hi Barry,

I'm not getting that link - I'm getting this when I click on it: http://www.freehostia.com/ :scratch:

Marco.

DSJR

14-02-2010, 13:14

Garden orgasms, wot's that all about then??? :D

Joe

14-02-2010, 13:17

Hi Barry,

I'm not getting that link - I'm getting this when I click on it: http://www.freehostia.com/ :scratch:

Marco.

http://marconite.co.uk/

Works OK; then the link to the pdf Barry mentions is under 'Solutions'.

Joe

14-02-2010, 13:18

Garden orgasms, wot's that all about then??? :D

Cats, usually!

DevillEars

14-02-2010, 13:26

Garden orgasms, wot's that all about then??? :D

Come again?

It looks as if I've timed my arrival better than I would have expected... ;)

Mike Reed suggested I check out this forum and, if interested, to join.

Well, I joined - so will use the inference as a test to see how awake you dudes are... :)

Anyway, I are here and am looking forward to something other than sniping, back-biting, ankle-snapping, and the like, so let the proceedings commence!
:cool:

DSJR

14-02-2010, 13:33

Watch out for the Welcome Area police..

WE NEED INFO, PICS etc of your stereo, musical tastes etc.................:lol:

Oh, welcome to the mad-house :D

Mike Reed

14-02-2010, 13:57

Come again?

It looks as if I've timed my arrival better than I would have expected... ;)

Mike Reed suggested I check out this forum and, if interested, to join.

Well, I joined - so will use the inference as a test to see how awake you dudes are... :)

Anyway, I are here and am looking forward to something other than sniping, back-biting, ankle-snapping, and the like, so let the proceedings commence!
:cool:

Gosh, you are a fast mover, Dave. Would swimming around your pool being chased by sharks have anything to do with it?

Nice to see you here.

DevillEars

14-02-2010, 14:57

Gosh, you are a fast mover, Dave. Would swimming around your pool being chased by sharks have anything to do with it?

Nice to see you here.

I subscribe to the motto "Noli Circumfornicati" (Thou shalt not f*ck around)

"Veni, Vidi, Vici" needs modification: I came, I saw, I concurred!

BTW, whales have nothing to fear from sharks! :)

Dave

Barry

14-02-2010, 15:15

I subscribe to the motto "Noli Circumfornicati" (Thou shalt not f*ck around)

"Veni, Vidi, Vici" needs modification: I came, I saw, I concurred!

BTW, whales have nothing to fear from sharks! :)

Dave

Latine loqui coactus sum!

Regards

Barry

14-02-2010, 15:16

http://marconite.co.uk/

Works OK; then the link to the pdf Barry mentions is under 'Solutions'.

Ah - you beat me to it Joe!

Thanks

Primalsea

14-02-2010, 19:05

Marco-nite!

I thought it was a joke!

I was expecting a picture of Super Marco in Spandex being repelled by someone (possibly Ashley James) holding a coloured crystal.

Mike Reed

14-02-2010, 21:20

Latine loqui coactus sum!

Regards

BARRY, a translation, please, for this Latin ignoramus.

Whereas Dave's 'Noli circumfornicato' looks to be self-evident d.i.y. centurian-speak, I would hazard a guess that yours could translate as ' The Latin language says it all'. Pure guesswork based upon my knowledge of English. Am I close? Nerdy, I know, but isn't AoS about furthering knowledge?

Joe

14-02-2010, 21:30

Marco-nite!

Like Boogie Nite, but with less boogie!

Primalsea

14-02-2010, 21:34

Like Boogie Nite, but with less boogie!

Maybe closer to Ladies Nite!

The feelings right?

DSJR

14-02-2010, 21:35

Marco-nite!

I thought it was a joke!

I was expecting a picture of Super Marco in Spandex being repelled by someone (possibly Ashley James) holding a coloured crystal.

I couldn't ever imagine Ashley in Spandex and, i suspect, neither could he.............

Barry

14-02-2010, 22:34

BARRY, a translation, please, for this Latin ignoramus.

Whereas Dave's 'Noli circumfornicato' looks to be self-evident d.i.y. centurian-speak, I would hazard a guess that yours could translate as ' The Latin language says it all'. Pure guesswork based upon my knowledge of English. Am I close? Nerdy, I know, but isn't AoS about furthering knowledge?

'The Latin language says it all' = Lingua latinae mos narro is totus (I think :scratch:)

'Latina loqui coactus sum' = I have this compulsion to speak Latin

Vale

Mike Reed

15-02-2010, 14:54

'The Latin language says it all' = Lingua latinae mos narro is totus (I think :scratch:)

'Latina loqui coactus sum' = I have this compulsion to speak Latin

Vale

Ta! Great stuff, and not found in tourist phrase books. Pity Latin died out but I blame mobile 'phones.

Marco

16-02-2010, 09:50

Getting back on topic, I've been doing some research on various soil conditioning products (Marconite, Bentonite, etc) and have discovered this stuff called Conducrete, which apparently is even better:

http://www.conducrete.com/

http://www.fmsudafix.com/products/conducrete/

After speaking to a knowledgeable chap it seems that this stuff is superior as it's non-carbon based (unlike Marconite and Bentonite), which means that it won't over time attack the copper of the earth grid or rods, and it's also supposed to offer the highest conductivity possible. I've thus ordered some...

If Ali can't find the earth grid he mentioned, then I will order one of these bad boys (which I suspect is exactly what RA are supplying with their earthing kit): http://www.cablejoints.co.uk/upload/Copper_Earth_Plates_Copper_Lattice_Mats.pdf

Total cost of copper lattice earth mat and Conducrete: £130, which is a damn site cheaper than the RA solution :)

Marco.

Jason P

16-02-2010, 13:03

Getting back on topic,

Thread drift of the month?

Earthing for hi-fi > ground grids > slugs in garden > micro-orgasms > latin phrases > Ashley in spandex pants (my eyes!!)

Must be a candidate, no? :lol:

Jason

Mike Reed

16-02-2010, 17:22

If Ali can't find the earth grid he mentioned, then I will order one of these bad boys (which I suspect is exactly what RA are supplying with their earthing kit): http://www.cablejoints.co.uk/upload/Copper_Earth_Plates_Copper_Lattice_Mats.pdf

Marco.

Good research, Marco. I find the sheet of copper interesting, too. It looks like a big solder job (can't see any terminals) so I hope your iron is up to it. I only go to 75 watts on mine, unfortunately, and it's not up to many jobs.

Mike Reed

16-02-2010, 17:26

Thread drift of the month?

Earthing for hi-fi > ground grids > slugs in garden > micro-orgasms > latin phrases > Ashley in spandex pants (my eyes!!)

Jason

More like a meander than a drift.

Ian Walker

22-02-2010, 18:28

mm not so sure about this guys...Marco called over yesterday and "Marco'd my mains". Dosnt look like the neatest job ive ever seen and i got to wondering why he left me with a BIG STICK:scratch:

Kris

22-02-2010, 18:36

mm not so sure about this guys...Marco called over yesterday and "Marco'd my mains". Dosnt look like the neatest job ive ever seen and i got to wondering why he left me with a BIG STICK:scratch:

Is this a joke?

It better be because other wise the person who did this is a total idiot and needs shooting. Seriously, that's so dangerous it's not true.

Mike Reed

22-02-2010, 18:53

Is this a joke?

It better be because other wise the person who did this is a total idiot and needs shooting. Seriously, that's so dangerous it's not true.

Is this Marco's dangly bits? Guess it's only a hazard if it's switched on !

Must admit, this is a dedicated circuit concept which is new to me, but why only one socket to all those cables?

The answer probably lies in the soil......

Kris

22-02-2010, 19:17

What wood is the stick made of? It's important.

Also, you need a different length stick for each album you play. It's easy to work out. If an album has a mean frequency of say 1kHz, then the stick needs to be 34.3 cm long. Any other length will result in a mean frequency to wavelength mismatch and negatively affect the sound.

P.s. Scrub my first comment. Thinking about it, one has to leave the cover off in order to let the radiated mains flux to dissipate properly.