Tidying the Workshop

 Something I had been putting off for a whole year - tidying the workshop - well now I have made a good start and perhaps I will even continue next year.

Fighting the heating controller

 ​After 4 hours of digging through manuals and forums, we finally got our LG Air Source Heater running again. A reboot and power cycling didn’t help, and we’re still not sure how it started working but for now, the 'on' button seems optional! #TechChallenges

Preparing for 2025

 Trying to do some of the important jobs before the new year - like trying out some new games and playing some old ones.

MIDI

 Fine-tuning the MIDI setup: Ensuring all channels and effects sync perfectly while interfacing across different devices. The challenge is real, but the results are worth it! #MusicProduction #MIDI

New Photos on the wall

 It's that time again! Picking the best recent photographs, printing them in stunning A1 size, and proudly displaying them on the walls. A perfect way to relive those captured moments! #Photography #WallArt

50 years ago

 Some 50 years ago, when I started out creating video films the camera was large and heavy ( this was a JVC GX-88E) and on my shoulder was a large full-size VHS recorder with piano-style keys with hefty batteries.

Macro photography

 When the weather is not nice enough to go outside, then its time to look more inwards and take out the macrophotography setup and take interesting photographs of everyday objects but close up and getting the light right with the Adaptalux lighting

Full time hobby

 Creating more videos for my son's channel has become a full-time hobby! With several YouTube channels to manage, producing content is taking up most of our non-working hours—but it's a creative and rewarding challenge! #YouTubeLife #ContentCreation

UTSC Christmas Party

 Nearly ready at the Party for the Upper Thames Sailing Club on Friday Night. The party was a success, but the coming home journey was much more fun with much of the M25 closed, so the team arrived home after 1am.

Christmas Party Organised

 Preparations are in full swing for the Upper Thames Sailing Club Christmas Party. Quizzes are prepared, Buzzers are loaded, Knots are created, a Party hat competition is organised, a Music competition is done, and the Caterers are ready.

Two Theatre organs

 Two organs. The Wersi playing with a 310 Wurlitzer via Hauptwerk and the Eminent running  a Miditzer 260SP from the Laptop. Both sounded good. Now I just need to improve my registrations.

Editing

 Video editing isn’t my daily task (maybe once every couple of weeks), but every time I do, it feels like a new version of DaVinci Resolve is waiting for me to download first!

Canon E70

 Saving some of my ancient video footage to the hard disk so that it is safely archived and can be edited. About 35 years ago, I used this Canon E70 to create some videos. This was the first time I had moved from a huge tape deck and camera plugged into the video recorder.

Fire in the Fuse Box

 We had an electrical fault yesterday. All the power went out. The mains into the fuse box caught fire and didn't blow any trips. Fortunately, we had a trip on the mains side of the fuse box, which did go and stop the electricity and the fire. Lucky Escape. We managed to get an emergency electrician out to fix the problem. 

Lounge Reorganised

 The lounge is now reorganised. Now, we need to move on to the classroom and get that reorganised and tidied, too.

Books

 I have been promising myself for a while that I would sort out my bookcase with all the teaching books, and there are certainly a lot of them - now, do I organise them by subject or by usage?

Sub Woofer

 The new Sub-Woofer has arrived for the Wersi organ, and what a difference it makes to the sound. I like playing the church organ with the 16—and 32-foot stops, but these weren't good—not anymore!

Renewal Season

 Renewal season is here! Just renewed my membership at the Upper Thames Sailing Club—such an active club with great events, fantastic training, and lots of support from experienced sailors. Ready for another year on the water! #Sailing #UpperThamesSC #RenewalTime

Getting back to work

 Getting my son back to work after a couple of weeks in hospital and a week recovering.

Better Sound

 The Canon R5C may be a great camera, but add the Tascam Audio adaptor and a couple of microphones (we often use a lapel mic and a shotgun mic), and then we have a great system since the audio is half of a great video.

ATEM Extreme ISO

 At the heart of all our streaming and Zoom calls is the ATEM extreme ISO, which connects up to 8 sources to stream or use in Video calls. In most lessons, we use all the facilities, especially the picture-in-picture.

Re-visiting old topics

 Filming the @pascoscientific Smartcart gliding down the track, striking bells along the way. Revisiting old videos, adding fresh content, and creating new ones to keep our experiments exciting! #Physics #SmartCart #ScienceVideos

Videoing

 Videoing some experiments indoors using the Panasonic Camera with its zoom to get right in on the details.

Fabricating a Bolthead

 Sometimes science is exciting, but behind that are hours of preparation trying to create equipment that can show what we need to see, which can mean making up our own equipment in the workshop.

Adding a Wurlitzer to the Wersi

 I'm adding the Wurlitzer 310 to Hauptwerk to try out this organ on the Wersi. If I decide to go for a three-manual Wurlitzer, I can play it on the Eminent church organ using its three manuals.

B Team Editing

 With my son out of action for a while, I have been promoted to do the video editing. Fortunately, DaVinci Resolve does most of the heavy lifting for me, so I can carry on as normal.

USB Endoscope

A camera we use very occasionally is a USB Endoscope. But sometimes, it is the only camera that can go inside a tube or even a test tube so that we can film what is going on.

U-shaped reflector

 I'm setting up the U-shaped reflector to give better lighting for portraits. These were for just the family, but I'm trying to get it right.

Dressed for the cold and wet

 Getting ready to go out on the powerboats in the cold and rain

Learning to Navigate

 ​With the https://map.openseamap.org/ navigation map out and the https://easytide.admiralty.co.uk/ tides tables, I am learning to plot a course from the Hamble River to Cowes for Saturday, taking into account the weather with 55mph gusts and the low temperatures. I am glad I don't have to do it only plan the journey.

Wersi Second Screen

 The Wersi's ability to add a second screen makes it somewhat unique and more like its Hauptwerk companions. The music can easily go on this screen and is a bit easier to see than using an iPad. The music can be scrolled from within the organ, and hopefully, this will improve in future versions.

Ace Pro

 The Insta360 Ace Pro is rapidly becoming my most valuable and versatile camera. The battery life is good, the filming time is long enough to record anything I want, the quality is superb, and it's good for selfies.

Solar testing unlikely

Testing much of the solar system seems unlikely today, with a sprinkle of snow covering the solar panels and solar thermal system. It might work better later as the snow melts more, but this was a surprise for Autumn weather.

 

New Heating system fully working

 The air source heater is in and working fully. All new radiators are hive-controlled. The solar Thermal panels are connected to a new tank, which looks more like a rocket engine than a tank. The system is powered by solar panels and batteries.

TLR

 The twin-lens reflex camera is an excellent teaching tool, demonstrating how a camera works—one lens exposes the film, while the top lens shows the laterally inverted image. A perfect way to explore the mechanics of photography!  #Photography #TeachingTools lens.

Air Source Heater

 Going Green having a air source heater and new hot water cylinder installed to use the solar hot water and the air source heater. All new radiators to be installed too with the help of the Government grant and 0% VAT.

Dreams

 My wife realised a dream of being able to dance with Anton Du Beke in a dance workshop in London.

Powerboat Course

 

My wife is at the helm of one of the Upper Thames Sailing Club powerboats, taking her RYA Level 2 powerboat course. She is manoeuvring between buoys, learning how to perform a three-point turn in the water, practising man-overboard scenarios using a buoy, and honing her mooring skills.

Grey Days

We are out capturing photos on some very grey days. I am grateful for the f/2.8 aperture, which makes the most of the limited daylight! #Photography #LowLight

Is the new Version Worth it?

 Another new version of the software, Cubase 14, has been launched. Do I need the new features? Is it worth upgrading? Is it even worth looking at the new system and paying the money to upgrade when I might not want or use the new features?

Resolve Editing

 I'm currently editing a short film I shot in landscape. Now it’s time to reformat it for all the different social media platforms. Let the resizing marathon begin! #videoediting #socialmedia #filmmaking

Canon Rigged out

A simple rigged-out Canon 7D camera with a mic and monitor makes some of the videoing easier to see what's going on, especially when we want to do the low and close-in shots.

 

Quiet Day on the Thames

 It's a quiet Day on the River Thames. The water flow rate is returning to normal, and perhaps, if nature is kind, we might be able to get a few days sailing in before the end of the year.

Prize Giving and AGM

The Upper Thames Sailing Club hopes to attract more members to the Club's AGM by giving prizes. Paul is celebrating one year on the committee, which he has enjoyed so far.

Filming in the Lab

 Time to do some more filming of experiments in the Lab

Right to Mend

 The pad fell off the arm of the chair - easy to fix, we will do the screw-up - except there was no way to access the screw without drilling a hole underneath and then trying to find the screw and manoeuvre it into position before screwing it back on. This is an excellent example of how to stop the right to mend.

Theatre Organ

 I am turning the Wersi into a theatre organ using the Midizer. The problem I am trying to solve is how to get this to work over Zoom using the same computer.

Affect of mass on momentum

The velocity of different mass objects stays the same. But the mass increases. How does this affect the momentum?

Thumbnail on the phone

 After all the editing and rendering, the video is now short. Now, the thumbnail has to be created and fixed on the phone.