VP2 Capacitor installed

Later yesterday I managed to des-older/remove the old one and stick the new one on the board.
I kind of hoped it would start up when held near a light bulb but no joy.
I suspected it would need a good kick to get a completely discharged capacitor running though. Since I’m waiting for another couple of batteries – one is in the Vue and the VP2 ate the other one – I just left it in the window first thing.

It took until about 10:30 to start transmitting which was a surprise.
The test will be how long it runs after dark - I’ll leave it in sun all day.

Must say doing the soldering was not a whole lot of fun, the tricky part is getting enough of the old stuff removed to insert the pins of the new one.
I have a kit with a syringe thing to suck it out, first time I used it and I think it would have been all but impossible (for me) without it.
You seem to need three hands to do several things at once.
Actually inserting and soldering the new one was the easy bit - but I’m still concerned it might not have enough solder on.

Having another session at it while it is working could be like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory though!
At least it seem the part Maplins supplied is compatible.

More VP2 issues

It looks as though after all the sudden loss of power the other week was a sign of problems.

The replacement battery started it running again but after jus a couple of weeks it again stopped in the night without even showing the low battery warning until it restarted about 9am when the sun got to it.

This is a documented symptom of faulty capacitor – not only does it hold less charge but there is some kind of shorting in it which drains the connected battery in days.

Anyway I’ve set the spare Vantage Vue up again for now and after a bit of research found a suitable capacitor from maplins – under £5 delivered.
Although soldering this is in place is on the edge of my ability it will be interesting to do.
I am tempted to snip the old one off (it has quite long ‘legs’) and solder the new one onto the legs rather than risk overheating the board.

I do have a quite suitable iron and solder and flux - which I used last year to do a comparable job on a webcam connector. Still working!

VP2 hiccup

Everything was flat-lining this morning, it had stopped receiving at about 2am which did suggest the capacitor had run down and for some reason the battery didn’t keep it going.

Rather stupidly I didn’t have a new one to hand but had a part used one I took out of the Vue a couple of years ago.
When I put that in it fired up immediately but unsurprisingly says low battery on the console.

The mystery is why it didn’t show that message before, it is probably not impossible the battery failed completely or was not connecting very well.
Anyway I’ve ordered two, they are only a couple of pounds.
The last one has lasted about 18 months.

Anyway at least that means it’s not a transmitter fault which was my immediate worry.
I do have the old Vue ready to go if or rather when something does fail.

Windy Morning

Late winter, and a windy bright day soon begins to dry things a little.

Late February sunrise

Sun is gaining strength now and the storms have abated for the time being.

Soggy January

After missing the worst of the storms in December we have been less fortunate through January, with about twice the normal rainfall - however 2007 was wetter and we've had far less than some places in the south and south-west.

February seems to be continuing in similar vein for now, however (surprisingly) February is one of our driest months on average, so there's a fair chance of less rainy if not dry conditions later in the month.

It could be worse, apart from imagining how snowy it might have been if we'd been 3 or 4 degrees cooler, look at this video from an ice storm in Slovenia!

More:
http://www.seattlepi.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Frozen-Slovenia-Is-Witnessing-The-Worst-5206461.php?

Windy day on the moors

Very short clip of wind on the moors Christmas Eve - to be honest I was just trying the phone video so only wanted a short snippet to play with rendering etc. This is with windows closed BTW!