Lauren Child

If you're in a rural location you might consider a Ka band satellite service (like http://www.tooway.co.uk/). A friend has had one of those for the last year and it's worked quite well (a damn sight better than the ADSL service we had). Before you jump at it you need to keep in mind that a) There's a delay (high latency) on each connection (e.g. each click of a link) as the signal gets bounced off a satellite and down to a ground station that's probably in another country. It takes about a second or so for the signal to bounce up and down, and then return back. It doesn't sound that big but the delay is noticeable compared to local connections. b) Rain can get in the way and dissipate the signal, so it may not work as well in the wet weather.

Keep in mind (as well) that this is the connection speed into the ISP. It's not necessarily the same as the connection speed from your ISP to the rest of the Internet. You can buy a very fast link for yourself, but if the ISP is using carrier pigeons, yoghurt pots and wet string to connect to the Internet, or is sharing the available bandwidth among more people, you won't get a very good service.

That's the difference between Conservation and Restoration though. With conservation you try to preserve the artifact as best as possible, slowing the rate of decay but not changing it (as far as possible). Restoration is returning it to an earlier/better condition using non-original elements (to a greater or lesser degree of accuracy). Restoration gives a greater representation of history but adds error to the actual item history. A replica is something else.

Welcome along That looks like a great collection!

More importantly, end of support means they won't be developing any more fixes/patches for it. If any further security problems are found they will remain un-fixed and leave your system open to attack/misuse.

On a similar topic, remember that many early Meteor engines were made from Merlin parts from crashed aircraft no longer deemed airworthy. Many still showed crash damage. Technically, many a Cromwell, Challenger and Comet could probably be called a re-worked Spitfire Similarly, as I understand it, early SUMB trucks were built using recovered V8's from Universal Carrier's recovered in France. I wonder if we can persuade the Cromwell chaps to enter an airshow?

Welcome along, that's quite a collection. Can you post more information on your museum?

does the starter motor go around when you press the start button?

Just a ponderance, but have you tried phoning back to see if it was a mistake? I phoned one of the insurance companies to get my vehicles insured and the person who answered the phone hadn't got a clue about MVs (of the "it's not on my system, is it a Capri?" type). After some chatting and referring to the special page on their website she suddenly realised I needed to be put through to a special team, after which it all went smoothly. We're all only human, so mistakes do happen.

Thanks Bryan

That was my concern! Gravity helps on the way in

Welcome along Bunty

Does it offer any more space to get in and out? I was surprised at how small the hatches were on Rick's (I hope you're feeling flexible Lance / Shaun )

Welcome to the world of classic MVs! What is the problem and what have you tried so far? Perhaps folks on here can guide you through finding the problem.

lol that would be telling. Back on the tank talk does anyone know if all Charioteers were made using F type hulls? I'd imagine they'd have used the latest and greatest, but as there's a mix of welded and non welded types (if I remember correctly) it made me wonder if any were made with the earlier hull types.

Got any nylons?

The wonderful thing about standards is that there's so many to choose from.

Very cool - I'm very jealous

I see it's got the "Workshops for Mechanical Vehicles" section. Has it got the Annex for "Garaging, Mechanical Transport, Vehicles not yet broken"

Which ones? I'd only heard of one previous that had been filled with concrete.

I'm told that the Duxford CET has the crane attachment and full CES stashed away somewhere in the archives, but it's not displayed on the vehicle (which is currently out for restoration works). Apparently the amount of CES that came with just one vehicle was massive, and filled several stillages.

It's called Merlin, not Paul Daniels. Now that really would be magic.

Those photo's are incredible. Thanks for the link!

From what I understand, maintenance and repair are rather more difficult. It's quite easy to keep a 432 running. I've not tried a CET mind you, so someone with actual experience of one might chime in. They do look like jolly good fun though, and very useful, particularly if you get the crane attachment for the "front".

It's interesting to compare the colour of paint with background foliage and uniform green. Presumably at 1944 that's original SCC15.