Closeups so that the students can see

 Setting up an online experiment, getting the camera in close so the students can see what is going on. Often these students can see better than a class in person. So sometimes, when the class is in, we still use the cameras and monitors so that the students can see closeup.

Soundraw

 Using Soundraw for some background music. Give it a theme and some simple parameters, and it will create a short, unique musical soundtrack

Online Teaching

 With all our students on holiday, many are doing online tuition. With the visualizer and the Wacom tablet, teaching maths online is easy, and it keeps the momentum going, allowing students to remember the work easily.

water sports rope mount for the insta360 X3 camera

New toy water sports rope mount for the insta360 X3 camera. We intend to mount this on a boat to record what we are doing.

 

Boxing Day Sailing No Wind

Upper Thames Sailing Club Boxing Day race. One of the safety boat teams out in the Safety boat removed the Yule tide log from one of the Jetties. A couple of boats were ready to race, but the flag barely had a flutter, and against the strong river flow, there was no hope of a race.

 

Prep for Christmas

 Roasting and Smoking the Turkey on the BBQ, ready for reheating tomorrow. Smoking gives a wonderful taste, especially when the breast is cross-cut.

Organs on the Wersi

I thought I might pop off to St Anne's Church, or maybe Salisbury Cathedral, or visit some French or German cities to play on a few organs on the Wersi and Hauptwerk and OrganTeq 2 . The wonders of playing the Wersi

Testing the Anemometer

Testing the Anemometer out in some high winds yesterday

 

Hydroxide Meal tests

 Testing for metals like copper and Iron with Alkali makes for some very pretty and strong colours which can be used to identify the metals. Copper is Blue and Irons are green for Iron II and Brown for Iron III

Outside Filming

Filming outside in the wind and rain
 

Brain Tricks

A couple of Brain Tricks for the class. I see yellow light when there is only red and green. Seeing a whole pack of cards as the 3 of Clubs when they have just seen there is only one of 3 Clubs

 

Test for Hydrogen

 Testing for hydrogen. Making with Hydrochloric Acid and Magnesium Ribbon, and then the squeaky pop test.

Christmas Carols played on the Organ

As Christmas approaches what a better way to relax than to play a few Christmas Carols on the Organ
 

Replacing the smart meters day

The non-working smart meters (thick meters) are being replaced today after 18 months of not working. No Electricity for some of the day will restrict the work a bit. I have taken pictures of the readings before the change so we won't have problems like we did before with charging us twice and no evidence.

 

Online Maths Tuition

 Online Maths tuition using the Wacom tablet and an Elmo Zoom visualiser along with multiple cameras to make Maths Tuition easier to understand.

10 million views

 10 Million views on the YouTube channel. Something to celebrate. It has taken a while, but it is making steady progress.

Nearly weekly Podcast Production

Recording the weekly Podcast on Going Green. Each week we take a look at different issues in the world of Climate Change and looking after the planet.

Still no sailing

 I notice that when every Sunday comes around either the weather is pouring with rain or there is no wind. Of course, the Red boards are still up, and the water is over the banks, so it means there is still no sailing.

New Proaim Jib

Assembling my new @Proaim_Global12ft Jib in the Marquee for the first time. But why is a 12ft jib only 10ft long?

 

No Solidworks

 Frustration as Solidworks website update takes many hours, and the updates fail and tell users to uninstall and reinstall from the web. But the web was down, so no solidworks and no work.

Unusual use of a superclamp

 I couldn't find the end of the short jib. So my son suggested using a Manfrotto superclamp, and it worked perfectly, holding the counterbalance weights in place.

Physics theory and practical online

Physics theory and practical online. The Blackmagic Extre,e ATEM help a lot here, giving us up to 8 different feeds for one lesson, many different camera angles, visualisers and graphics tablets.

 

Printing finished

 The 3-D printing is finished, and now the assembly can begin. The boat needs to be glued together, the centreboard and the rudder fitted, and then the mast and sails. Lastly, we will come to the assembly of the stand to make the boat move in all directions.

Successes and Failures

With all 3-D printing, there are successes and Failures. The spool filament broke so it necessitated starting again on a 16hr print run.

 

Model boat manufacture

Creation of a Model Boat Hull in three parts. Trying to create a model dinghy that can yaw, pitch and roll and show how the wind goes over the sails and around the centreboard of keel.

 

No wind = No Sailing

 Sunday dawns with light rain, murky conditions, and no wind, so we won't be going sailing today. We could manage with the rain, but no wind is a real problem - maybe next week.

Tight squeeze

Tight in amongst the cameras playing the Wersi, with the ATEM on one side and the computer keyboard on the other, a Genos behind me, the Church organ to my right and cameras all around.

 

Taking Portraits

 

Finding the best lens for portrait photography is no easy task since great portraits can be taken with most lenses, but a medium zoom lens seems to give the most flattering results and with an open aperture a shallow depth of field.

Pole cam

 

For the times when you can't use a drone, there is pole cam. You don't need a special photograph pole. We adapted a Wolf-tools extending pole with rock-steady results.

3D CAD

 Some R&D development work on a boat hull for learning to sail with Philip. Designing a model boat that can simulate a real boat in the wind and water and show the forces.