andym

I watched "Pentagon Wars" last night on DVD. The opening titles are set over film of numbers of tanks doing things they shouldn't, with ensuing interesting results! Andy

Some bits of that look very similar to the UK facilities at Hurn and Longcross. No indoor swimming pools, though! Andy

Thanks Joris! Andy

That's very similar to the problems I had until yesterday - my ISP's DNS was resolving hmvf.co.uk to 213.175.200.1 instead of 213.175.210.110, which seemed to redirect both my browsers (Firefox 3.6.13 on Fedora 14 and IE7 on WinXP) to the non-existent pathfinderservices.com. Both addresses are within eUKhost's IP address range, which gives me sneaky feeling that all is not well somewhere in their infrastructure? Andy

Understood Robin - hope you didn't think I was being unduly pedantic. I'm amused to see that it still retains "Light, Registration Plate, No.1 Mk.2"! Andy

Yes, that's the one. I thought it was more recent than that - must have been yet another TV repeat! Andy

Didn't they pull one out of a lake relatively recently? Andy

Apparently MOD only think it's a Stormer HVM is if its got the missile launchers. Otherwise it's a Stormer TRV (Troop Reconnaissance Vehicle)! Andy

Hurrah - my ISP's DNS server is now resolving to 213.175.210.110 and normal service has been resumed! Andy

Unfortunately not - it's definitely a DNS problem. Testing with nslookup shows my ISP's DNS servers are resolving to an IP address that's totally different to other ones I've checked, and my browser keeps trying to redirect to pathfinderservices.com, which doesn't exist! :embarrassed: Andy

It's worth noting that for some reason the DNS change is taking an extraordinarily long time to propagate. I've only just (Thursday) got HMVF back at home, it's been OK at work since Monday. Andy

I live in hopes of a 433 if the price hasn't risen to something entirely stupid by the time I get the 432 finished! Andy

Am I correct in thinking that the 433 pack has the radiator at the front rather than on top of the engine? Andy

The MOD seem to be moving Challenger 2s around at the moment, so that may the start of putting them in storage. There were two on transporters east-bound on the A31 yesterday morning and eight empty transporters coming back west yesterday evening. Andy

First day back after all the schools returned and despite newspaper claims to the contrary, the price rise has done nothing to take people off the road. The M27 was still a car park at 0800 ... Andy

Ni-Cads need their own charger, you can't use one designed for lead-acid or anything else. eBay is probably as good a place as any to find one. Andy

I think the grey Radio JB is 432-specific rather than generic Clansman. There's a certain "home-made" look about it and no NSN visible. It simply contains a pair of terminal strips; 24V comes in from the 4-pin socket on the side of the radio JB under the air circulating fan and exits on assorted 2-pin plugs to match the Clansman IC3 and loudspeaker amplifier. Andy

The Clansman manuals for the FV432 are a bit of mess, with information all over the place. If you just want to install an intercom, all you need is an IC2/3 and a couple of CB2/3s together with appropriate lengths of double-ended seven-pin cables to daisy-chain the boxes together. Power comes from a rather afterthought-looking box (see attached) that's fed from the Radio Distribution Box, you just need a single 24V supply into the IC3. The real problem is likely to be the mounting arrangements. All the Clansman boxes fit directly onto studs welded to the hull. If the Bowman mountings are different you'll have to re-jig them somehow. Here's a rather mud-bespattered CB3 at the driver's position: Andy

Agreed - it's a function of the IC2/3 and CB2/3 harness boxes, so you don't need a radio at all. And don't call me Shirley! :-D Andy

If these use the free PMR frequencies then beware that they'll probably be completely useless at any event where the organisers (or members of the public) are also using PMR radios. There just aren't enough PMR channels to go round! Andy

Try 4330-17-114-6342, Filter Element Fluid or 2520-99-052-5455 as a listed alternative, which both look like kits with seals etc. The listed alternative is the same as the gearbox filter for diesel CVR(T)s, I'm not sure if it's the same as the petrol-engined originals. The drawing reference for the element itself is 274A-3T50-BL110/10, so your 270 L 110 may make sense. Andy

Another 10/10 for SVT from me, and I'd also agree that if you want to take your H test to drive an AFV, then surely you should take it in an AFV, not a mini-digger. Tim from SVT told me that he uses CVR(T)s instead of the FV432s he used to use simply because they're more difficult to drive and therefore more of a challenge. Andy

Tyred of all these bad jokes yet? :cool2: Andy

The official MOD description appears to be: "Combat Vehicle, Carrier, Full Tracked, High Velocity Missile (HVM) System and Troop Reconnaissance Vehicle (TRV), Stormer", if that helps! Andy

It's a Cummins 6BTA 250 diesel, similar to that used in the CVR(T)(D) upgrades but with a suspiciously familiar looking set of radiators and hydraulic fan drive. It's also about half a ton lighter than the K60, which must help a bit. Andy