Craig Sawyers

In response to a tweet : lorna43 ‏@lornaparadise Mar 12 @TymonOisin according to some theyre sayin you aint the real guy,if thats the case then why havent you tried to get him reinstated? The reply way Oisin Tymon ➿ ‏@TymonOisin @lornaparadise we are and no he never landed a punch or slap ect it was a argument nothing more senior management stepped in So it looks increasingly like this is set to blow over. The Beeb has gone so far as to apologise to fans for cancelling the show, so may well end up well and truly with egg on its face.

On my list of must-buys is this http://dos4ever.com/uTracer3/uTracer3.htmlat Euro 210 (about equivalent to USD) as a kit. Now I have more valve (tube) testers than I know what to do with, but none of them have the capability of the uTracer.

I dunno how I feel about Edmonds. The hugely popular Noel's House Party got cancelled when they killed a guy - they had a viewer stunt each week, and a guy bungee jumped and the harness broke. And recently he has been trying to buy the BBC lock stock and barrel using (I believe) Saudi money. But he is very lucid in supporting Clarkson and his like.

^^ This

Well yes - I read that too. But we are talking about a report in the Daily Mail, who are not known for their objectivity. All the reports from that family come back to a Sky interview, and are clearly exaggerated (30 minute rant - not possible) The standing joke is the Mail reports on the cancer causing, or cancer risk reduction effects of food. Depending on how they feel on a particular day, as an example tomatoes can be either good for you, or lethal. Google is your friend http://www.anorak.co.uk/288298/scare-stories/the-daily-mails-list-of-things-that-give-you-cancer-from-a-to-z.html/with links to the original articles. There are only four (moderately) objective dailies in the UK - the Guardian, the Independent, the Telegraph and the Times. Here we go: Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/13/bbc-apologises-top-gear-jeremy-clarkson-inquiry Nothing at all today in the Telegraph Indpendent, just quotes the same Sky stuff (minus the typical Mail hyperbole of steak and fondant potatoes, which clearly has no basis in fact) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/jeremy-clarkson-family-claim-they-witnessed-presenter-threaten-to-have-producer-fired-during-expletive-laden-rant-10105472.html And typical Times - you have to subscribe to read an article!

By and large the London Underground does pretty well. It transports well over 1.2 billion passengers a year. I use it regularly. A case in point was travelling back from Oxford Circus at peak commuter time on the Bakerloo to Paddington station yesterday. I got on the platform as one train pulled out, and 1 minute later the next one arrived. I got a seat. That is typical despite what @angryflatcap says.

Oisin Tymon ➿ @TymonOisin · 19h 19 hours ago Filming was stopped for the day my duty manager found out and reported it now it's out of hand this is silly So he didn't even report it himself - the "duty manager", whatever that is, was the one who stirred it up with the BBC. I'd say based on Tymon's tweets, and his retweets of the Save Clarkson petition, that the BBC have just carved a massively deep hole for themselves.

Or Oisin Tymon ➿ @TymonOisin · 17h17 hours ago Big day tomorrow and I promise all the #BringBackClarkson fans I will tell the enquiry team that Jeremy did not hit me and this will be ok

From a guy - one of the admins - on another forum (The Audio Standard): "Having directed in film and tv for 20 years, none of my producers would have made a mistake like that ... But if they did, sure I would be pissed off but can't imagine trying to knock them out even if I didn't get on with them. There are plenty of circumstances when shooting on location when 'meals on wheels' / location catering aren't always possible, but other arrangements are always made."

OK - the BBC absolutely must have contingency plans. Suppose Clarkson had been taken ill, had a car crash etc. In those circumstances they would not have cancelled the show - so the unanswered question is what are those contingency plans, and why were they not implemented. Or even continued the last three shows with just Hammond and May - you can bet the ratings would have gone through the roof, with people watching just to see what TG is like without Clarkson. So cancelling the 3 remaining programmes "while they investigate" is hopelessly feckless. How long does it take to investigate anyway? Only two people are involved, and there must have been witnesses - it is the job of 24 hours max. And since Clarkson, like anyone in performing arts, is not employed by the BBC (he is an independent contractor) they have absolutely no hold over him - all they can do is cancel his contract. Which is due to expire after the end of this series anyway!

Happy birthday, Fitz!

Oh boy - the BBC really have not handled this at all well. Mistake number 1 was going public. Mistake number 2 was gagging all BBC staff from commenting (to press, social media etc). Mistake number 3 was underestimating the amount of support (662,000 and counting on change.org). Mistake number 4 was, given all the above, not resolving the issue with red-line urgency. Other presenters that have been sacked by the BBC in recent years are Angus Deayton on Have I got News for You (use of prostitutes and cocaine use; was married, now not) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2373711.stm and Russel Brand and Jonathon Ross who left an exceptionally bad taste message on Andrew Sach's (AKA Manuel in Fawltey Towers) voicemail on live radio http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/apr/03/russell-brand-jonathan-ross-bbc-fine . Also known as SachsGate here. But although these were seriously big media news in the UK, neither programme has international reach. Completely unlike Top Gear. Clarkson's from Doncaster, what else can you expect? Anyone who has been to Doncaster will understand the truth of this.

In Kevin's original T2 clone PSU case - no. Diameter was chosen to fit.

He was bought out in September 2012. "In September, BBC Worldwide struck a deal to buy out Mr Clarkson and Mr Wilman for a combined £14.4million. A spokesman for BBC Worldwide said that "no licence fee income" had been used to pay shareholders." So he is now an employee of the BBC. Which is why they can can him. Someone at the BBC said he did not hit the (assistant) producer, but all staff at the BBC have been banned for talking about the "incident".

I've just checked back, and in 2010 the three T2 transformers cost 161 GBP, so he has increased price as per inflation over five years. Paul's design runs with a temperature rise at the surface of 42C above ambient, which is bang on his design goal. The wire insulation is rated up to 120C so they are well within. Although they are the same diameter as the SUMR, they are taller (60mm as compared with SUMR 40mm) so the SUMR ones will definitely run hotter. I got Paul to do mine for the same reason - shipping the SUMR Tx's to the UK was the killer. Anyway, your call.

"Following a fracas" is Brit-code for fists being used. But not airing the show will hurt the BBC a lot more (financially) than it will Clarkson. The dust will settle. Clarkson will be forced to apologise (in his usual grudging way), and the Top Gear gravy train will roll right along with Clarkson back in the driving seat.

Bear in mind I'm back on head-case after a 2-year absence. We're talking the 3-transformer set for the KG SRM-T2, or more recent design uplift. From what I can see the KGSSHV is a single transformer. Am I correct? No reason that Paul couldn't make that one though - but from the most recent pics on the KGSHV thread that looks like a pretty decent looking transformer with centre potting. So why change?

Yes he should; mention my name to jog his memory. At 60Hz the core losses will be a bit less, so they should run a tad cooler. He did mine with a potted centre and a clearance hole (I think M6), so you need a correct length nut and bolt. Looks neater than the dished washer sandwich. His email is [email protected], phone +44 1989 566710

That's for sure. Last Tx's I specced I tried a different approach - I told Paul that the winding X was going into (eg) a full wave bridge rectifier and 47,000uF of reservoir from which 5A average current was taken, and let him work back from that. In fact I think I sent him a schematic which showed that. What arrived certainly seemed to do the job with zero mechanical buzz and runs really cool.

Avel ain't what they used to be. There are only two good toroid manufacturers in the UK - Paul Houlden of TEC (no website), and Terry Monaghan of Canterbury Windings http://www.canterburywindings.co.uk/. For EI transformers, audio, phono Tx's and transformer volume controls again in the UK, Sowter are the one to go to http://www.sowter.co.uk/

Apart from electrical spec (currents, voltages) the main one is to make sure that the wire insulation spec is compatible with the temperature of the Tx's. The T2 clone ones, even from TEC (Paul Houlden), run HOT. That is as much a consequence of the available space in the original chassis as anything else. If you have more room, or mount the Tx's in a separate case, overspec the VA and they won't run so toasty hot. Main things to remember are (1) heater windings are easy - it is just AC, so the VA of those windings is straightforward (2) All other windings look into capacitive input filters, and the VA rating of the windings that feed those need to be much higher - a factor of two is typical, but you have to simulate the precise set up to get the real factor. This is because of the pulse-like charging currents (2) mechanical hum is a big thing - it is difficult to get a toroid to be quiet. A typical problem arises when a US transformer manufacturer (like SUMR) designs for 60Hz and then exports to Europe where we have 50Hz. You need a bigger core for 50Hz than 60Hz to prevent the core going towards saturation and buzzing. But talk to Paul - he was head designer at Avel back in the glory days, and was responsible for power transformers in just about every piece of high end kit (Krell etc) through the 80's. He does an audiophile mains Tx now - I have a custom pair in my current multichannel amps (active XO) and although they are 700VA you have to press your ear up to them to hear anything. The ones he did for the T2 are silent too.

The ones specced in the Kevin's T2 parts list were 4171G. Mine measure 2.03mm thick.

Thanks all! I still reckon Fanfare for the Common man was the best

Happy birthday Nate!

I just followed a data sheet I found. An interface with heatsink grease is actually pretty insensitive to torque, but I think I used 5in/lbs and conical washers (AKA Belville washers). Datasheet attached AN1040-D - heatsinks.pdf