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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 10/12/2007 at 19:20
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FT said: "Turn the brightness up on the LCD, of course!"
Which will also drain the batteries faster! Also, it doesn't help with the freezing you get while the camera focuses - if you're using continuous mode this makes it very jerky and difficult to follow something moving, such as.. tinyurl.com/23nqo7
Still, horses for courses. Funnily enough, one of my favourite old cameras is a twin-lens reflex, which shows the image back-to-front on a ground-glass screen, and has no electronics at all!
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FT said: "Turn the brightness up on the LCD of course!" Which will also drain the batteries faster!
Of course, but you can adjust brightness down again at the touch of a button (maybe a couple of times!
Also it doesn't help with the freezing you get while the camera focuses - if you're using continuous mode this makes it very jerky and difficult to follow something moving such as.. tinyurl.com/23nqo7
I have not come across that before, even when photographing cars on the move. Can you explain? I have just been along into the kitchen to wave my camera about... "freezing"?
Still horses for courses. Funnily enough one of my favourite old cameras is a twin-lens reflex which shows the image back-to-front on a ground-glass screen and has no electronics at all!
But we are talking modern, compact, "budget" cameras, crammed full of electronics, less than £150, aren't we? My point is still correct, I think - a compact with a tiny viewfinder and a smaller than optimun LCD has the worst of both worlds.
Can we keep this thread "compact", too? It's beginning to veer about a bit.
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"freezing"?
Usually occurs when you half-press the shutter - the camera has to find an edge to focus on so the LCD image freezes momentarily. Of course, if the camera is still, you don't notice...
I'm not sure what is the 'optimum' size for an LCD. I don't want a particularly big one.
I think Flickr will take any size image, within reason, but yours are big enough to demonstrate the clarity. The squirrel pic is excellent.
Edited by J Bonington Jagworth on 05/12/2007 at 23:58
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"freezing"
I can't reproduce this effect, even sitting on a swivel chair, and being swivelled and flashing away like some peculier lighthouse. Have you any ideas about how to provoke this "freezing" behaviour?
Thank you for the comment about the squirrel.
I particularly like the "macro" functionality of these cameras, being able to take pictures from a very short distance away. The video is useful, too.
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"freezing"
Well, maybe yours doesn't, but I've tried nearly every camera I have access to (8) and they all do it to some extent. It can be pretty brief, and is only a potential problem when continuously shooting moving objects/people at 2-3 fps.
It sounds like your Aldi/Vivitar (and the similar 8400, which does have a viewfinder!) are decent cameras. Funnily enough, I have argued elsewhere (tinyurl.com/2wcugp) that the more anonymous brands can be OK, but it flies in the face of the conventional wisdom.
Unfortunately, these models rarely get reviewed by the 'serious' press or websites, presumably for the same reasons...
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Well maybe yours doesn't (freeze) but I've tried nearly every camera I have access to (8) and they all do it to some extent. It can be pretty brief and is only a potential problem when continuously shooting moving objects/people at 2-3 fps.
It ought to do it, then. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong.
Is 2-3fps "frames per second"?
I'll get a person to swivel me round on the chair with the camera in "continuous" mode & keep my finger on the button - and see what happens. I'll probably fall off the flippin' chair, but it should be fun to experiment!
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Is 2-3fps "frames per second"?
Sorry, yes. I'm sure you're not doing anything wrong, and if it's not something you've noticed in 'real life' then it's not worth worrying about! I wouldn't want your revolving chair experiment to become a health and safety issue (news today is that H&S is preventing pantomime performers from throwing sweets into the audience)...
If Cheddar's still reading, and can contemplate a camera without a viewfinder, I notice that the Panasonic TZ3 is becoming more affordable (£165 from 7dayshop). This has a lovely lens that extends from wide-angle (28mm) to decent telephoto (280mm) in a very neat package. A good complement to the G5, perhaps?
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Thanks all.
An IXUS 960Isis currently top of the list, titanium work of art, 12MP reviews well, forgoes some of the manual control for true carry-everywhere pocketability, seen if for £220 though is it worth £100 more than the superbly detailed IXUS 70?
And if it produces images much better than my G5 then I can see a D80 or D300 on the horizon.
EDIT: Sorry JBJ, yes the TZ3 is neat though I really want a viewfinder.
Edited by cheddar on 09/12/2007 at 23:02
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"Sorry JBJ, yes the TZ3 is neat though I really want a viewfinder"
No need to apologise - that's why I haven't bought one either! To be fair, optical viewfinders don't exist on compact cameras with that amount of zoom, so it's a question of priorities. One or two recent Canons have 6x zoom with optical coupling, which is tempting, but the truth is that I still get slightly better image quality with my A620 (4x, 7Mp) than with the firm's A710IS (6x, 7Mp), until we're into the region of slow shutter speeds, where the IS compensates for wobbly hands. The TZ3 appeals because, unusually, it combines a long zoom with wide angle, and almost no barrel distortion. It's either a very clever lens design, or some equally clever software correction at work!
Your IXUS sounds nice, though. Yer pays your money...
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I might go back to a real Christmas tree this year, but only if I can get one that smells like Christmas trees used to smell. Don't laugh - I was bitterly disappointed the last time we had a real one because it didn't have any smell at all.
So can anyone tell me what type of tree I should be getting to avoid olfactory disappointment this year? Was there ever have a choice in the 70s? What kind of trees were sold back then?
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So can anyone tell me what type of tree I should be getting to avoid olfactory disappointment this year? Was there ever have a choice in the 70s? What kind of trees were sold back then?
You want a Norway Spruce, you do. If it's cut (make sure it's very fresh in this case), trim off a piece of the "trunk" before putting it in a container so that you can keep it well watered. If it's got a root, you can re-use it next year - keep it watered, though, and remove the outer container to plant it outside somewhere - if you leave it in the container, water won't get in, and you *will* forget to water it at some time or other.
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Rebecca
I'm sure trees had a much stronger smell in the sixites/seventies. Greg Lake even sang of it!!!
My memory is of a tree filling our (quite large) lounge with it's smell. Modern spruce won't even scent the lounge in my 90's estate box.
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I once heard of a usefull tip, but as our tree has always been artificial, we haven't tried it so can't say whether it works or not!
if you mix up a jelly in a bucket of hot water to form a thin gelatine solution, and when its cool stand your tree in it overnight, allegedly, the tree is supposed to draw said gelatine solution up into it's system where the water evaporates leaving the gelatine behind and stops tree dying out and dropping its needles.
Billy
p.s
be warned though, if you've bought swmbo a new vac, she might be disappointed she's nothing to try it out on christmas day!
Edited by billy25 on 06/12/2007 at 20:10
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Our Nordman Fir tree was purchased this evening (£20 for a five foot tree). It's now sat 'naked' in the lounge to allow it's fronds to settle after being wrapped up - it will be 'dressed' tomorrow.
I've just been out and when I walked back into the lounge there was a lovely smell of pine trees.
Nicking the base of the trunk will allow sap to be released.
Central heating is not good as it dries trees out so they don't smell.
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Our Nordman Fir tree ... will be 'dressed' tomorrow.
Crikey, that's early. When does it come down?
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>>be warned though, if you've bought swmbo a new vac,
Doesn't apply, I've bought mine an ironing board ;>)
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We are away a lot over Christmas. If we leave it much later my 20 month old daughter won't have chance to enjoy/destroy it!
It will be in the bin by 3rd January.
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Thank you all. I will be spruce tree shopping this weekend, or possibly half price Homebase artificial tree shopping...depending on the smell!
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I and a group of friends are going on holiday to New York in February, and want to rent this apartment:
Brandon Luxury Apartments - Manhattan New York (NY) Vacation Rental Bed & Breakfast - GotYourSpot.com
But the owner wants us to pay by Western Union transfer.
I actually know nothing about this, except that it's the preferred method of scammers, so can more knowledgeable people advise me? If I use the western union website and pay them by credit card, am I protected by that?
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I would not use them. The first and only time I have been involved the funds disappeared. The key information was never transmitted in any form as my son was sending money to me from AUS. I went the next day in the UK, to collect and was told " funds already collected".
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anyone in the states who wont take a credit card is trying to steal from you.
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< Ulla>
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In the near future we may have the opportunity to live/work abroad for a couple of years. If we take it up we would like to rent our current home.
Would I need to change my current mortgage from a "normal" one to a "Buy-to-Let" one?
Assuming it's a temporary move and we don't, if we decided to make the move permanent after a couple of years would we need to?
TIA.
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Yes. (Almost certainly)
(Almost certainly) a term of your current mortgage is that it is for owner-occupier use only. Breach of mortgage conditions would make it virtually impossible for you to get another mortgage in due course.
And you will need to change it back to a residential mortgage upon your return. It will cost you both times.
Expect to pay an extra 0.5% for a BTL over a residential (although in the early part of this year, pre Northern Rock, BTL were perversely cheaper than residential).
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Thanks MM - just had a look around, yes apparently it was cheaper but still some good deals out there.
Cheers.
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Talk to your lender first. Not just the girlie on the desk. A lot of them are fine with it. Insurers are also another consideration.
MD
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When i worked abroad all I had to do was to ask the mortgage company for permission to let out my house which was easily forthcoming. The only stipulation was that I kept up the insurance. The mortgage rate stayed the same.
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Thanks - spoke to my lender and they were not happy - if it was a relatively short period i.e 1 year, then they would be OK but not for say 2 years or more.
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Cheers,
.
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Just to thank all those who gave advice in the last IHAQ thread and advise that we have gone with Nicks suggestion and ordered the Sony RDR-HXD970 from Amazon at £254.
It seems to tick all the boxes for what we want, Brother in Law has one and demonstrated it to us and we were impressed by what it can do at the price .
Being a bit of a technophobe no doubt it wont be long before the question - How do I connect this lot up ? appears.....
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It's easy to connect. You need a decent quality HDMI lead, an antenna lead and that's it, unless you want to connect a vcr, in which case you'll need a scart or S-video lead as well. I'll probably be spending some of christmas putting old music videos onto dvd.
I'm hugely impressed with mine, quiet too, I was a bit concerned reading about noisy fans on other machines but this is quieter than my vcr. For the price it's difficult to beat.
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Thanks for the info Nick.
I currently have main television with integrated digibox, VCR and DVD player connected up by Scart cables.
I will probably just take out the existing DVD player and connect up to my other TV .
I then will connect in the new recorder to my main television so I will have the VCR in the loop.
You are talking about then putting Videos onto DVD .I assume it is then possible to copy video onto DVD with the Sony ?
I particularly want to get our wedding video ( which was transferred onto video from cine) put onto a DVD .How long does it take to copy? Is it actual time or can it be speeded up??
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>>How long does it take to copy? Is it actual time or can it be speeded up??
>>
On our non Sony.
We just play the video ( at normal Speed) into the hard drive and then edit it ( if required) and then burn the DVD (s).
It is certainly great to be able to micro edit, ass a title etc prior to burning the DVD.
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Yes you can copy video tape direct to dvd. This is done in real time unfortunately. Hard drive to dvd is at a higher speed if you want to save a tv programme. You can also copy dvds if you wish.
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I'm sure this is a simple question for some broomer
If I pay tax at the basic rate, and my tax code changes from 522L to 227L, how much more tax am I actually paying in a year ?
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If I pay tax at the basic rate .......
I assume by that you mean 22%. The additional tax = 522-227 (i.e. 295) x 10 x 0.22. See tinyurl.com/2vjmag
--
L\'escargot.
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If it's gone down from 522 to 227 then your personal allowance has gone down from (approx) 5220 to 2270. You are therefore paying tax on an extra 2950, which at the current 22% basic rate is £649 / year, or just a smidge over £54/month. It will go down in April as the basic rate is going down to 20% (but you lose the 10% rate) - when it will be £590 / £49.17
--
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Further to FT's comment about how early it is to dress the Christmas tree - when do the rest of you do yours?
We do ours after the younger members of the family have gone to bed on Christmas Eve while enjoying a bottle of bubbly - and that is when the presents appear too - I still love the moment when they first see the tree and all the packages on Christmas morning. It comes down for twelfth night. The one time we suggested it could be done earlier caused no end of upset from the older children!
Father Christmas does admit to cheating with the stockings and has lots of 'pairs' so a full one can be substituted for an empty one so he does not have to stay up all night filling them.
Subject line changed to reflect the question
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 07/12/2007 at 18:39
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when do the rest of you do yours?
Similar, although any help *early* on Christmas Eve is great! I will, however, have to put decorations up before Christmas Eve this year - a few days before - so that my lad can enjoy them, 'cos he'll be elsewhere on The Day. They come down on 12th. Night (Jan 6th.).
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That's what my parents did!! (dressed the tree on Christmas Eve)
I always felt cheated of the anticipation of the great day by this practice as once the presents were opened it all seemed to be over.
Ever since I left home I've decorated tree and house at the beginning of December, of course we use an artificial tree as a real one would be practically naked by Christmas Day!
----------------------------------------------
One mans junk is another mans treasure
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Usually a week before for daughter's birthday on 16th. This follows family practice as my birthday is the day after!!.
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Father Christmas does admit to cheating with the stockings and has lots of 'pairs' so a full one can be substituted for an empty one so he does not have to stay up all night filling them.
It took me til I was 24 to work out that this was what my parents did!
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What I'd really like in my house is a fob that I carry around with me so I can open and lock the house with a press of the button. Instead of struggling with keys in the rain you press the button when you're 3 yards away from the door and it opens. Next stage is a bluetooth link between me and my house so it knows when I'm near and automatically opens up the house and closes it up when I leave.
I'd also like the house wired for sound so I can choose music from my PC or radio with voice control and if anyone rings me the phone overrides the music so I can answer wherever I am and I can call anyone by just saying a few key words.
Maybe I should just live in my car...
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So, if the fob malfunctions one day, you either don't get in your house or leave it open for burglars. Or someone with another fob opens your house, or... or...
Maybe I should just live in my car...
You may end up having to!
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Both of shops below my flat have remote control roller shutters. Why not get a roller shutter front door?
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Hi guys,
I basically I need a little advice or indeed any words of wisdom regarding the following:
I had major surgery 2.5 years ago. Great consultant, great team, great efficient set up, no complaints whatsoever. Consultant has now been levered out, likely, I believe, to his, ?get on with it?, manner. He was always very forthright and only used the minimum of words to convey his point and wishes and from my experience he wouldn?t suffer fools at all. Very un PC today methinks, but I admired him greatly and put 100% faith in him. The procedures that he was largely involved with, (Prostate Cancer) are now no longer carried out at our local hospital due to his removal and patients now have to travel a rural 40 miles to the next centre. We had a one stop shop for these procedures and now all we have is a mess. Firstly I intend to write to the chief exec expressing my disbelief at his removal/sacking/whatever. Secondly what are the chances of finding out the exact reason for his removal via the Freedom of Information act? And just how would I go about it.
All thoughts and advice will be warmly welcomed.
Very best regards to all?????..MD
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M,
best of luck but I think you're wasting your time. Still, if no one tried nothing would change. The consultant sounds like my kind of person but the world has gone pc mad. I got told off at work the other day for what once may have been considered a a "gallant" remark, I expressed some concern regarding a female colleague - nuff said.
So if you discover a new continent and want to fill a ship full of non pc types can I put my name on the list please?
Good luck,
JH
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So if you discover a new continent and want to fill a ship full of non pc types can I put my name on the list please? Good luck JH I am actually a PC person's worst nightmare. NEVER rude, but cutting to the point of drawing blood. However I can and have to take it too as my Friends and colleagues come from the town of no mercy. Humour, in fact, is not about trying to be funny, it is about telling the truth and to a lot of folk this hurts. When I was being pushed about in a wheelchair after my Op' the Nurses, (God bless them) would often make a quip and it was nothing more than humans interacting and "Telling the truth" if you like. One of them said to me one day as she wheeled me away somewhere, "That this Prostrate lark was self inflicted and was caused by too much fiddling or something when one/you/me was younger and her assistant, myself and I think my Wife rolled about and off we went to wherever and it was never really thought about again....it just didn't matter and it certainly didn't offend.....She may have been "telling the truth", !!???, but I can't remember that far back! It is now one of Life's little anecdotes and I do not know ANYBODY who would find it offensive, especially me. Those girls were from heaven I can tell you.
I am going to pursue this as I have made a number of discoveries from the net, not about the dismissal, but other things spouting about the great service, that of course we now don't have and if nothing else I am going to politely make a few waves.............to start with. Unfortunately for them once I have tasted a bit of flesh I will NOT let go.
Thanks for your reply JH
Very best regards to all......................Martin..D.
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Martin
have you considered the consultant might not want you poking around in his business?
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< Ulla>
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have you considered the consultant might not want you poking around in his business? ------
Dear RF.
I thank you for your words of wisdom, (sincerely) and have given all that due consideration. I have spoken to one of the 'team', actually at a check up, who indeed informed me of the Consultant's leaving. I expresed my bitter disapointment and he suggested that I should write to the chief exec'. Now I do not intend to approach this lightly and depending exactly how I will word my first letter I may make polite contact with said Consul' first. That won't be the easy bit as I may receive short shrift as he obviously has numerous past patients, and unless he hears all that I have to say may 'get out' of the conversation, (or letter) as quickly as poss.
However as an aggrieved former patient I consider it is my right to know why. My first thought was to ask the CEO why, (and no more).....then to listen/receive his bull and then to consider my position after that.
Your advice is warmly welcomed always.
VBR.....MD
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 09/12/2007 at 20:15
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>> have you considered the consultant might not want you poking around in his business? >> ------ Dear RF.
And further to my last post I am still under the Consultant's care and I want it to be the same person. If he has been ousted cos some little oik took minor offence to some nothingness then I am going to be P.rightorf. I am also fully aware that I may never know, but as JH said, you gotta try.
VBR........MD
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When I was a lad in grammar school one of our first chemistry/physics (can't remember which ) lessons was about melting ice. We monitored the tempertaure of a beaker of iced water as it was heated by a bunsen burner. The temp stayed at close on zero degrees until almost all the ice has melted and then the temp ratcheted up to boiling.
Tonight I have been defrosting some soup on the stove. There is a fair chunk of ice in the pan, but sticking my finger in, its fingellicking hot! Why?
Sorry replaced your ** with a word, normally it would be randomly generated but I couldn't resist that one
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 08/12/2007 at 20:57
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I suspect something to do with the method of heating, the container used and what you are heating. Bunsen burners heat over a small area and you use quite a small glass beaker. Very little heat is transferred up the sides of the beaker.
Your soup will be in a pan the sides of which will conduct heat into the soup so it gets very hot. I don't know what soup you were heating, but most also contains sugars which get extremely hot.
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For years you guys on here have been going on about civilised the North is. Then I find that you put your fingers in hot soup.
worse you moan about the heat.
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< Ulla>
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As great gourmands, everything has to be just so. All that stuff in James Bond about the right temperature for Sake? Ian Fleming learnt it all during his little known posting to the Wigan office of Mi5
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(Hot soup and ice in same pan)
It's because of the thermal conductivity of your soup (less than that of plain water), and the "thick" nature of the stuff preventing thermal eddies from conveying the heat from where it's applied to the frozen lump. It may be, as well, that your stove supplies more heat energy per unit time than a bunsen burner.
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There is another classic physics experiment where a test tube containing a (weighted) chunk of ice is heated from the top, by playing a flame around the upper half of the tube. The water at the top boils while the ice sits happily on the bottom. It's perfectly possible to have boiling and frozen soup in the same pan - it's very difficult to melt ice quickly because of the latent heat involved. This is one of the reasons that defrosting in a microwave oven is difficult to do without some of the food starting to cook.
Edited by J Bonington Jagworth on 09/12/2007 at 16:57
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>>because of the latent heat involved.
Ah! The latent heat of evaporation, and the latent heat of condensing - fond memories of 'O' level physics :>(
Boyle's law, and several others long forgotten.
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Please help before my head explodes...
I have up to £800 to spend. I'm looking for a 37" (or bigger) Full HD 1080 lcd tv.
I've been looking around the shops and on the internet. As soon as I see one that looks good I read a review saying its not all that.
Can anyone please help. If a guarantee is included it would be a bonus (I've tried John Lewis but no joy. The Toshiba they had for £699 with 5 years guarantee is no more).
Thanks for any help.
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I've been fretting over this for about a year.
My philosophy is now going to be "buy the biggest you can get on your budget regardless of brand".
When they're lined up in a shop you may be able to see the difference from one to another, when it's standing alone in your living room, who cares? My eyes aren't that good anyway.
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This looks good, apparently some connection with Philips, positive reviews:
www.ebuyer.com/product/119468
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I have to say that I have yet to see a flat-screen TV that looks as good as a decent CRT. I've seen some impressive HD demos, where a) the source was recorded and b) the set had the same number of lines as the material, but as long as broadcasts occur in a number of different formats and screens have to interpolate the picture to match their pixel density.
Anyone who has used an LCD computer monitor on the 'wrong' resolution setting should know the feeling...
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Agree completely JBJ.
However, most CRT tube factories have closed down, and within a year no new CRT's will be manufactured anywhere in the world.
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< Ulla>
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Further its part of a general degradation of the picture quality we get today in the name of choice. Some of the bit rates on the crystal palace mutliplexes are appalingly low, with major blockiness appearing. Ditto DAB radio.
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< Ulla>
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"no new CRT's will be manufactured"
Interesting. I wonder if they will then gradually become sought after?
Agree with you on the other points, too. We already have a surfeit of choice (my brain regularly glazes over in the supermarket) so more isn't going to help! What was is Bruce Springsteen sang? '57 channels and nothing on..'
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I also agree - we were in makro yesterday where they must have 50 flat screen TVs. All were linked to play a DVD, but very few had a decent picture. My parents LG flat screen has an awful picture - watching sport on it makes me feel unwell as the refresh rate is too slow and you get a blurred image.
I have a 6 year old JVC widescreen CRT which cost about £500. I saw a similar model in Asda a few weeks ago for £189 - I was very tempted.
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Sony KDL40W2000U at www.hughesdirect.co.uk/ is slightly over budget I'm afraid but is full hd and gets good reviews. 2000 has just been replaced by 3000 so prices may drop.
BBD is waiting until they're in cornflake packets. He may not have long to wait!
JH
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If I buy a TV in the UK, will it still work in Europe - specifically Austria? I am unclear about different transmission systems & I know that VHS recorders (and I assume DVD players) were regionalised with PAL, NTSC - can anyone out there unravel the technical jargon and tell me firstly, whether a TV bought here will work and secondly, if I need to look for special features (e.g. some sort of switching between transmission systems)? Thanks.
Yes I know it would be easier to buy one there but for reasons of timing it's easier to do it this way!
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This link suggests they use same PAL system as UK shop.abc.net.au/help/viddvdinfo.shtm
France is the major odd man out in Europe using it's own SECAM system However noted on recent visits that many sets are sold as PAL compatible - presumably they either auto detect are are set from a user menu.
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Probably not, mine didn't when I moved to Poland although you can still view a Sat box through the EXT-1, EXT-2 and EXT-3 channels.
I tried changing various things in the menus and nothing worked. I could tune in to pictures but not sound. However when an engineer came to erect a dish he fiddled for an hour and eventually got half a dozen Polish channels to work. They are two newish widescreen crt Philips tellies.
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No it wont
you will get picture but no sounds. We use a 6mhz sound offset, austria uses a 5.5mhz
you need a set that does PAL I (uk) and PAL B/G (most of europe except France)
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< Ulla>
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(tho it has to be said, most recent sets have country setup in the set up menu, so my no it wont is yes it will if it has country set up menus)
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< Ulla>
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"most recent sets have country setup in the set up menu, so my no it wont is yes it will if it has country set up menus"
Mine had a country setup in the setup menu and still didn't work so your no it won't may not be yes it will if it has country setup menus it may still be no it won't.
It's a placebo function that they know will never be tested.
Edited by Big Bad Dave on 09/12/2007 at 14:19
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thats a maybe then?
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< Ulla>
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I guess I could have been doing it wrong
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Be careful because what it may say on the box (and instructions) is not necessarily implemented in the make of the set. My last purchase of a multi standard SECAM/PAL set in France 2 years ago, said it would do PAL I on the box but in reality it wont! Only academic whilst I keep it in France, but could have been useful ins case I repatriate it at some future time. It also scuppered my plans to use it with the analogue feed from a SKY Digibox.
However you probably need to find out if Austria are going over to terrestial digital (like Freeview in concept but probably to a different non compatible digital standard) and marketing set top boxes. This will allow you to use the inputs on any PAL Tv to be used.
--
pmh (was peter)
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AE is of course right. In haste I posted a link to DVD standards. The spacing etc of the components in the broadcast signal differs around europe.
There is a more informative link here:-
www.kropla.com/tv.htm
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I would appreciate some help:
I have just been told by my neighbour that he has obtained planning permission to put bedrooms in the roof of his bungalow next door to mine and that builders are arriving tomorrow to start work.
The planning authority has not sent me notice that they have received a planning application. The work is also not listed on their website where they list such things, which I have been watching for some weeks now.
The risk is he will be putting in windows that overlook my bedrooms.
Tomorrow I will visit the local planning department to see if I can inspect the plans.
If I find there are objectionable features, is there anything I can do now? Or is is too late?
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First find that he has Planning Permission......sounds a bit iffy to me, one thing for a letter of notification to have gone astray, something else for it not to be on the LA's website. Have you checked with other neighbours ?
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Wasnt there a recent (like the last three weeks) change in planning law where Loft extensions were excluded for planning permission?
However, he still needs building regs approval.
------
< Ulla>
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AFAIK nope, there are plans in the pipeline for it to be the other way around. i.e. all dormers will need pp. As stated below external works at the moment may not need pp whilst internal works (to an unlisted house) definitely don't.
Edited by bostin on 09/12/2007 at 20:24
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We have a residents association and the chairman was also unaware of it so most likely no one has received a notice. He said he thought the building regs had been relaxed such that it would be allowed if the modifications did not increase the building area and probably all I could do was get some restriction like frosted glass on grounds of privacy.
The neighbour story just now started with him telling me his roof is leaking and they were coming tomorrow to fix that and it was costing more than the room modifications. But you have me wondering now if he is going to slip in the new room/s and take a chance. He said words like "I shall build within what I am allowed".
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Thanks for that AE and P. I have printed it out and will take it with me.
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If it's just internal works then it won't need pp - building regs approval but not pp. If they are doing some external works - like putting in a rear dormer then it MIGHT - but it depends on a number of circumstances. Suggest phoning up the local planning dept and ask them to check it out - ask to be put through to the enforcement team.
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Thanks bostin. I had just fired off an email to the Planning Officer to back up my visit tomorrow, in case I don't get to see the right person for some reason or other.
The plan I saw earlier this year "which was only tentative", he assured me, had 4 windows in the roof facing this side and others elsewhere.
If, indeed, he is working without submitting the plan, no one will know what it will look like until it is finished.
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Presumably there should also be A4 sized planning notices outside the property & in the general vicinity anyway?
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Thanks for the help, this is where I am at:
Person at planning department this morning said the builders had shown them what they intended to do and a confidential letter had been given them saying it was within what was allowed.
No, I could not be shown the letter "as it was confidential" and there were no plans they could show me either.
Me saying "so I will not know what it will look like until it is finished" got nowhere. I have left paperwork and some site pictures asking for a response, but am not holding my breath.
I could request a copy of the letter under 'freedom of information' but can't see it being much help.
From my readings via google, as indicated here, it is very much down to what the inspector thinks when he is shown plans for comment. Some planning areas in the UK have a published policy saying that, for plans to be passed, views from new windows should not invade other's privacy, as viewed from within their building, and they define this a bit. But not this one, it seems.
Lesson one, don't rely on watching planning application websites.
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Buzbee,
I guess what the planning officer was referring to was a pre-application enquiry as to whether or not permission is required? These just seek an officers opinion on the question, not the Councils and as they are simply correspondence between two parties, are not in the public domain.
In this case, I'm guessing that the officer responded and said that it was his/her opinion that the development fell within the 'permitted development rights' (PD rights) of the property and did not require planning permission. PD rights are those things which you can do to a property which don't require planning permission (e.g erect sheds, small extensions etc). Regs are here:
www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19950418_en_1.htm
I'm guessing that the windows installed into the roof of the house are veluxes? If they are flush (or close to flush) with the roof then they are considered to fall within the PD rights of a dwelling house.
Your neighbour doesn't need to have contacted the planning department but people do for reassurance (you can actually apply for a formal certificate from the council if you are that way inclined). If he doesn't need permission, then the merits of the development (i.e. impact on privacy of neighbours/design/highways etc) are irrelevant as he/she can do as they wish within the parameters set out.
Hope that the above makes some sense?
Bost
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 10/12/2007 at 18:49
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All the bulbs in our house are low energy, apart from 8 Gu10 50w halogens - 4 in kitchen, 4 in bathroom. They are expensive to run and don't last long. When they go they trip the lighting circuit RCD too.
A quick search reveals LED cluster alternatives cost £5-10 each but last up to 50,000 hours and are rated at 2-4w depending how many LEDs in the cluster.
Are LED cluster bulbs a viable alternative in terms of light output?
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LED technology is improving all the time. LEDs are now pinching a trick used in fluorescent lights. They generate non-visible ultravoilet light which is beneath a transparent fluorescent cover that gives out a lot of natural looking light. They are still small. You may have to wait a bit to see them used in the clusters and I don't know what their life is. But worth a look.
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As Buzbee points out LED lights are improving all the time. Until recently LED headlights on a bike were no more than greenish marker lights. The Cateye "opticube" LED on my work bike is streets ahead of it's krypton predecessor and it'a AA batteries last most of the Winter . Every Ready Frontguards eating a pair of D Cell batteries in a week are a receding memory.
In domestic terms I was looking at GU10 fitting LED lighters in B&Q yesterday. Best of them claimed to be equal to 50watt halogens. Not quite there yet as ideally I need something that is brighter - three 50w halogens are barely sufficient in my kitchen.
Give it another 18 months.
Edited by Bromptonaut on 09/12/2007 at 23:29
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Are LED cluster bulbs a viable alternative [to 5oW halogen lamps] in terms of light output?
Purely in terms of light output, yes - but the human eye (in general!) does not like the "quality" of their light.
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"the human eye (in general!) does not like the "quality" of their light"
That includes me, and also applies to other 'energy saving' bulbs, which all have odd spectra. I bought an LED cluster lamp out of curiosity recently (we have a reading lamp that normally uses a golf-ball bulb and the metal shade gets a bit hot) but it gives a monochromatic blue-white light that is wholly unsuitable for reading. I have relegated it to the bathroom, where it shares a bar with three other normal bulbs, which is about as green as I want to go at the moment!
I still have a suspicion that electronically controlled compact fluorescent bulbs are no more environmentally friendly (because of their material content) than simple old incandescent bulbs...
Edited by J Bonington Jagworth on 10/12/2007 at 13:12
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I am looking for some sort of fairy lights (filament or LED), of "icicle" or string type, preferably with some sort of (tasteful, non-disco) "effects". There's a problem with many items, though, in that the wattage of each lamp (filament type) is only about 0.2W, which gives a disappointing effect (I have no idea about LED lamp outputs) - somewhere nearer 1W is much better.
Any ideas about where/what lights I can buy, with good output at reasonable cost?
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This has probably been asked before, however as I'm about to get back in the good books with SWMBO, can anyone cast any light on the following.
Will a multi region DVD (NTSC - US system) coming from China (E-bay) play on a UK dvd player (about 4 years old)? I'm trying to get her an old B&W dvd not available in this country on region 2.
Anybody tried these before? Trying to get one ordered in the next day to stand a chance of it arriving before xmas - unless anyone knows of a UK supplier of rarer dvd's. This one happens to be Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942).....
Much obliged
Paul
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most cheap dvd players (typically also from china) are either multi region out of the box or be easily tweaked. If the worst comes to the worst then £20 would probably sort you out.
I know my 5 year old toshiba plays other region disks without a problem, but it was sold as multi-region.
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Type the model number of your player and words like 'multi-region' into Google, and you'll probably find a 'hack' for it. This can usually be done via the handset, if it's needed at all.
Or look here: www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/
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