tried to connect the pc to the stereo ages ago via a cat 5 ethernet (lan) cable, and thought it worked a treat. I was being lazy and decided i didn't want to run another cable under the house, and why not use the cat5 that was already under there?

so i used 1 twisted pair for the earth, another for left and one more for right. The fun bit came wiring a 3.5mm "headphone" plug to rj45 (the ethernet plug), and then a rj45 to rca (the standard stereo plug). I thought all was good until there seemed a lot of 50Hz interference on the music. so i shortened the cat 5 cable, useing a new crimping tool - went ok. Then i noticed only 1 speaker is working. So i ran a second cable up the stairs to check the new plug - all seems ok. so then i used a rj45 joiner and the test cable to make a loop, and then checked each of the 8 wires with the multimeter - all good. so then i looked at the sun cat5 cable i used to patch into the rca lead, and it is wired DIFFERENTLY to the cable i used. So i grabbed another i made and now all is happy!! And the sound is SOOOOO much better.
why is there a difference? The sun cable is not a cross over (i don't think so anyway)
. dunc

more on broadband

we all wait for the "broadband unleashing" in new zealand, and i'm sure it will be fun. The isp i host with had some sort of error last night and as i had lost the admin password to my router, i whacked the reset button. then what? the magic router i installed a year ago is now unconfigured. It came with all the setting preconfigured, but no magic sticker on the bottom of what they are. Oh well,off to work where i can surf their home page and find out all i need to know. It worked! Thanks slingshot (.co.nz). I hope your unleashing is all fun and games.

holiday

I'm stuck at the beach. Two things come to mind: How great technology allows us to stay connected. And how crappy this m$ dialup laptop is.

I thought of the first while i was logging in to post on the second. The 2nd is obvious, but here i am using a 5(who knows - toshiba satellite pro 4200) year old work laptop to post a couple of pics to my home site, and then blogging as one can and realised it still works - i can do what i need, and it connects to the usb on the camera - i should shut up and be thankful i need to do some work after hours occasionally so that work does actually let me take this steam powered crap heap away on holiday !!!

ant the dialup bit is my fault - i should fork out the 30 a month for a broadband in matarangi. Even the local real estate agent does!!! (http://ljhooker.com) or even the webcam i set up at http://matarangibeach.com. have fun

Passive Heating

This is the time of the year when passive heating http://hrv.co.nz
really works well. The system works by taking hot or cold air and
pumping it into the house, as temperature dictates. i.e. cold
house/warm roof equals system on and soon warm house. More on the web
page. The filtration system hrv uses filters to .5 micron - filtering
smoke and the like - no more pollutants in our house thanks!!

You can ride as fast as you like.
Unlike a car, where you are pressured to keep up with the car in front, and pressured to keep to the speed limit, so as not to create congestion a bike is free to go at any speed the cyclist wishes. There's no queue when riding a bike, so you're never stuck behind another cyclist. And conversly, any other traffic can pass you with ease, and thus no pressure to keep up. Cool eh?

Biking is great for 2 reasons:

You can ride as fast as you like.
You can ride as fast as you want.
more to come.

dog day

After sending our mini schnauzer to a groomer in auckland for a year or
so (he's only just 1) we decided to try another groomer (see link) as
we thought he came home a bit traumatised. The new groomer is
fantastic, and he not only looks fantastic, but is much happier too.
The groomer also sorted the hair in his ears, which looks like it was
about to grow into his ear. I'll put a couple of photos up on our home
page ddmr.co.nz.

http://www.finda.co.nz/findabusiness/listing/50441/the-groom-room?page=1&sort=&category_id=1555

a new link

so i added a link on ocbc.co.nz a great cycle site!!!

wednesday blues

I'm feeling really stuffed today and thought i'd scive off and create a blog.