The Revox B260 - one of the World's finest vintage tuners.

I am now in possession of a legendary piece of vintage hi-fi equipment.

Produced in West Germany in 1988, it is now 25 years old but looks nearly mint!

At launch the B260 was on sale in the USA for $2000 and today can hold a price of £800.

Gramophone magazine reviewed it in 1988 here and the review says all.
Another review here

Again, I can't resist the inside view:

The top Photo is a B260 on sale at Ebay for $1250 today - here

 . . more later

Ditched the Virgin!

We've been with Virgin Internet since the dial-up days but now we're joining the Big Boys.
Fibre optic broadband, giving, for us, about 10x the speed of conventional  technology, has arrived in the village.  Being of the Cutting-Edge persuasion I wasted no time in extracting the MAC number from Virgin and passing the baton to our new benefactors, British Telecommunications.
Setup was painless on 3rd September and we've enjoyed the cheek-flapping velocity of this new technology.  We were used to a download speed of around 3.5 Mb/s at most and uploads around 0.35.
NOW, whilst not constant, we're getting in the high 30's and low 40's down and a steady 4.5 up.

BT Infinity Hub 3b

Rear of Hub

Inside ( I like insides)

The Hub is partnered with an Openreach modem which plugs into the new master socket faceplate and then in the hub thus:

Inside the Modem

Best results are in quiet hours and on my iMac which is cabled to the hub, wi-fi connected hardware won't achieve maximum speeds due to interference and loss of signal when some distance from the hub.

Here's the best so far:

The only downside, so far, is the loss of the Virgin email address, I've gone to Google Gmail (which should avoid any problems if our Internet Provider should change in the future).

Our Very Own Earthquake!!

Having my breakfast this morning in the conservatory around 09:50 hrs and there was a sudden tremble accompanied by a slight rumble and the orchid in a plant pot opposite shook like it was caught in a sudden window draught.  My Better Half looked towards me, somewhat concerned, and exclaimed "What was that??"
I calmly explained that it probably was an earthquake tremor, having experienced one a year or two earlier in the middle of the night (of wardrobe shaking proportions).  Although I only noticed the plant shaking and a cracking noise from the conservatory frame, like we get in gale force winds, she had felt her chair tremble and a strange rumble sound.
The wonderful thing about the Internet is the instant data availability, so later, after a morning walk, I inspected the British Geological Survey site

and Lo!!

It seems the tremor was very local - 1.7 on the Richter Scale.

Co-ordinates from table above

Our very own Earthquake!

Got Me a New iPad!

It's an

That's an

Also Known as

Just thought I'd let you know about

MY LATEST GIZMO!!!

Read all about it 

Here

Our Frankie

It only seems like yesterday he was a tiny bundle of noise and sleep.
(Posted directly out of Lightroom 4 using LR/Blog plugin) ' '

OBF Does it again!

The Oxford Baby Factory has a new model.
Following on from the very successful Frank Vincent launch from the Lewis division comes Henry Winston.
The Lewis stable's first effort was greeted with rave reviews from those in the know, so history dictates a similar reception for HW.
Congratulations are in order from all the Team!

Here's lookin' at you kid...

It's Been a While . . . .

I've not had a decent blog for ages, so I'm updating things on here with my latest CAMERA!!!

Canon's own words . .

"A Whole New Class of EOS.
With a host of brand new features designed to enhance every facet of the photographic process, from still images to video, the new EOS 7D represents a whole new class of camera.

Made to be the tool of choice for serious photographers and semi-professionals, the EOS 7D features an all-new 18.0 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors, capturing tremendous images at up to ISO 12800 and speeds of up to 8 fps. 

The EOS 7D has a new all cross-type 19-point AF system with improved AI Servo II AF subject tracking and user-selectable AF area selection modes for sharp focus no matter the situation.

The EOS 7D's Intelligent Viewfinder, an entirely newly-designed technology, provides approximately 100% coverage and displays user-selected AF modes as well as a spot metering circle and on demand grid lines. New iFCL Metering with 63-zone dual-layer metering system uses both focus and colour information to provide accurate exposure even in difficult lighting. The EOS 7D also captures Full HD video at 30p (29.97 fps), 24p (23.976 fps) and 25p with an array of manual controls, including manual exposure during movie shooting and ISO speed selection. The EOS 7D features a magnesium alloy body that is dust- and weather-resistant and shutter durability of up to 150,000 cycles. Compatible with over 60 EF and EF-S lenses as well as with EOS System accessories, the creative opportunities - not just with stills but also with video - are beyond amazement."

Couldn't have said it better myself :-)

. . .there, I feel a lot better for that.