www.doch.org.uk

Cisco Photoshoot

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-10-14T20:49:16+01:00

All of the following images are copyrighted to Brian Long at LONG PRODUCTIONS & CISCO SYSTEMS. They are here for display purposes only, please do not copy them unless you ask for permission.

Baby Business

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-10-14T20:47:50+01:00

Family Mugshot

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-10-14T20:46:24+01:00

There aren’t that many of these, so here goes...

Holiday Snaps

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-10-14T20:41:41+01:00

Practice on the Giggle, whilst Fiona and the boys have a Giggle.

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-09-14T22:29:28+01:00

Well, I was quite nervous when I came home with the new scooter on Friday, although I was starting to get the hang of it towards the end. Its really simple really, and is very sturdy and stable. On Sunday I took it out for a practice ride twice round the block, and took the time to get used to the controls, braking, signaling, and accelerating. I’m feeling much happier now, and I quite enjoyed myself. Tuesday will be my first official trip to work and back, and I am both looking forward to the experience and slightly nervous. I’m also going to have to leave the poor scooter out in the cold outside the office. I hope I don’t get soaked, lets hope for a good day.

Anyway, when I returned from my practice drive, Fiona got the camera out, and she tool a few pictures, and filmed a short sequence. Little Joshua was awake at the time so he got in on the shoot also ;-)

Now they have their own Master Control Panels

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-09-14T22:01:04+01:00

The boys have recently started interacting with stuff much more, both of them really enjoy playing with the piano, and the dangling toys of their baby gym. Joshua especially likes banging on all the buttons of the piano to change all the tunes before they’ve even started playing properly, its all intense and serious. Must be just a button thing, I can’t think who he takes after in this respect...

A video will follow shortly...

Joshua studies the various button options.

Connor gets to know the parrot.

Chewing the toys is part of the fun:

I can command the world from here:

The Cat will always get a lap.

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-09-14T21:51:00+01:00

Simba was just determined at the weekend that she was going to get a cuddle with Fiona also.

You've got to be having a laugh

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-09-13T09:34:18+01:00

Well! I’ve had to bite the bullet, this countries public transport is a shambles. Fiona is completely excluded from buses with the twins because she won’t be able to fold down the buggy with the boys. Here’s Lothian buses official line. If I use public transport Fiona and the boys need to drive me to Wallyford at 7:45 in the morning not an easy task, or I have to leave the house at 7:40, catch the 8:04 bus to Edinburgh, then catch one of the LRT buses down Leith walk. This might sound fine in theory, except:

o 10 - 15 min walk to Bus stop, fine in the good weather
o On average the “First” bus from Tranent is 5-15mins late. I would’nt be impressed if it was chucking it down.
o Gets in with delay plus on average a 5 to 10 min traffic delay.
o Walk down Leith walk which is a 25min walk, or wait 5-10 mins for LRT bus, and takes 15 mins to work.
o Get into work 9:15, when ideally I would be in just before 9:00.

Since both buses are different companies, and the UK has no concept of integrated transport. It cost my 2.50 return from Tranent, then 2x1.10 singles from Edinburgh to Leith.

You can imagine I was starting to lose it quickly!!!

So what’s the alternative, well we’ve got we very little spare cash, and we’re worried about the environment, the sensible option appeared to be a Scooter. The Yamaha Giggle was our choice. There’s just no way cost wise or environmental wise we could justify a second car. Its a slighty daunting thought but after holding on with white nuckles for the first 10 mins of the journey home yesterday, I actually started to enjoy myself trundling along at 20mph (Yes its limited to 30mph, and 20 seemed fast enough :-) )

The Yamaha Giggle, does 140mpg, with a 1 gallon tank. It will allow my 7 roundtrips to work and back from Tranent before I spend another fiver on fuel.

More too follow...

House Inspection

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-08-06T08:34:00+01:00

On a mat! On a mat! Got me rolling on a mat!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-07-31T23:19:42+01:00

The boys execising on their activity mat (Photography Copyright 2008, Naomi Lynch).

Connor Kenneth Docherty

Joshua James Docherty

Double Trouble at the Caravan

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-07-15T23:22:02+01:00

Saturday past we all made it down for our first night in the caravan. Here are a few shots:

Suddenly the caravan looks like a nursary.

Getting on with essential baby business, Joshua gets a change, and Connor has a stretch.

Buggy Garage up and operational and Connor takes a nap. More to follow...

Playtime!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-07-02T08:06:20+01:00

The boys having fun on the new playmat they just received from their great grandfather James, and their uncle John.

Main bus control

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-19T20:23:48+01:00

I’ve recently started planning and designing the low voltage renewable power system for the new house. It will be a little while before I really get a chance to implement the design, with boys taking up most of our spare time, and it will take a little while to settle into the new house. However, I’ve already started making requirements, and I’ve hunted out some components. Some of the initial designs are now in my notebook.

The majority of the system will be controlled by a nice all-in-one control panel, which is designed for a top spec motor home. However I also need an additional Main bus control panel to remotely control the main battery disconnect, and monitor the status of the Main bus. The Main bus will form the heavy current backbone of the system (initially spec’d for bursts of100A), and will provide power to the main panel as well as directly supplying heavy loads such as inverters, heavy pumps or motors. The Main bus should be able to cope with bursts of current up to 100A at 12V from a sudden ~1KW load.

A few of my requirements for the Main bus control panel included:

A master switch which will remotely connect and disconnect the Battery bus from the Main bus, this will basically switch off everything
An instant visual indication of the current state of the Main bus (Red light for Main bus power failure)
A indication that basic verification of Main bus had been confirmed (Green light for system verified)
A plunger push button to start the Main bus connect, and start Main bus supply verification
A warning alarm system to alert us of a sudden power failure or a failure with Main bus verification (flashing Amber light with buzzer)
A parallel switch, for paralleling any auxiliary batteries with the battery bus
A timer module, which will provide a delay for Main bus verification. This is required to prevent the startup loads causing triggerging a low voltage battery or overcurrent disconnect.

One of my favorite websites for low voltage supplies is www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk. On this site I came across the following switch panel:

This fits my needs nicely, and I really do like the big red switch :-)

My initial wiring diagram is included. This may require further tweaking, and I suspect there are a few simplifications possible, but I’ll need to look into these further:

Basic Operation

Main bus is disconnected from the live Battery bus, the red switch above is down, and no lights are displayed. Everything is disconnected except those on the Hot Battery bus.
The user lifts the main switch cover up, and lifts the main switch up. Main bus control panel is now live. The RED light will indicate that system Main bus is disconnected.
The user starts the Main bus connect and verification system by pressing that START switch, at this point the RED light will extinguish, and the the Main bus becomes live.
During the verification time all connected items will be powered allowing the initial burst of power to stabilize on the Main bus.
After a 3 seconds the Main bus verification system becomes enabled. If it fails, the RED light will come on and the Alarm will start (flashing Amber light on top with buzzer). If the verification system passes testing, the GREEN light will illuminate to indicate that all systems are running normally.
If at any time the verification system detects a problem, or the Main bus loses power, the RED light will come on and the Alarm will start.
The Main bus can be switched off, including verification alarm system by switching off the main switch and by moving its red cover down.
The parallel switch connects the Hot Battery bus to the auxiliary Hot Battery bus.
I may add an optional yellow light at some point to provide a visual indication of the 3 second delay between Main bus connect and Main bus verification. Alternatively I may just illuminate both RED and GREEN light together for a short period of time.

Bridging the Generations

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-18T20:03:02+01:00

Connor Kenneth Docherty (nearly 4 weeks old) and his Great Grandfather James Durnian (83 years old) meet for the first time.

How many engineers does it take to fix a childs mobile?

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-18T08:05:40+01:00

Well in this case one fortunately. My brother and sister in law kindly gave us this cool little mobile a few months before the twins came along. Since we’ve had it, it has played plenty of music, but no turning. Well, I felt I couldn’t be beaten by something so simple! Then I opened it up, and about 4 parts sprung out in all directions, oops! Anyway, the mobile connector rod appeared to have separated from its friction clutch (presumable a safety feature in case it gets jammed). It was simply a case of reattaching it. The real problem is growing a third hand to help put everything back together again. Anyway, with a bit of wrangling we have the wee cute mobile working again for a second life, with plenty of tune, and some movement again. Don’t you love happy endings :-

Flowerpot Cat!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-15T17:48:21+01:00

New House nearly ready!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-14T16:19:27+01:00

The new house has come along a lot since we last visited the site. It is exciting seeing it again, although we are very down that our own house hasn’t sold yet. It looks good with fencing and slabbing finished at the front and back, and the garage also has its rear door. Here’s the South side of the house, with gate to drive way and double garage:

Here are two views of the garden, the sitting room is flat to the garden (no step). Not a huge area, but it is mostly south facing. The long section to the side of the garage should get sunshine from morning to mid afternoon (South by South East), and hopefully we’ll have room for some bushes, a greenhouse, a compost heap, and maybe the external water storage tanks for the rainwater harvesting system. The area between the house and the garage will either be a patio or decked area with some greenery, with lights and maybe a water feature. Maybe we’ll get a bit of grass in somewhere. Access to the garage is provided at the rear by a windowed door:

The front of the house with a slabbed path. To the left is a field , and in front is a large pond (out of picture). The space between the houses is a shared slabbed path that allows access to the gardens at the rear. Great for allowing room to get the buggy to the rear:

The Cute Black & White Photo

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-13T17:36:57+01:00

A cute black & white photo of Connor & Joshua on their second morning in the big world.

There are four engineers traveling in a car

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-11T15:07:38+01:00

There are four engineers traveling in a car; a mechanical engineer, a chemical, an electrical engineer and a computer engineer.The car breaks down."Sounds to me as if the pistons have seized. We'll have to strip down the engine before we can get the car working again", says the mechanical engineer. "Well", says the chemical engineer, "it sounded to me as if the fuel might be contaminated. I think we should clear out the fuel system. "I thought it might be an grounding problem", says the electrical engineer, "or maybe a faulty plug lead." They all turn to the computer engineer who has said nothing and say: "Well, what do you think?" "Ummm - how about if we all get out of the car and get back in again?"

Kitchen Eco Gadget and its over 300 years old!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-07T11:08:42+01:00

As many of you are aware, I am very interested in Eco Gadgets, and I have a few around the kitchen, some of which will be covered in a future posting. However, I was sitting down the other day reading the latest addition of “Clean Slate” the quarterly magazine from the Centre For Alternative Technology when I came across an article about our old friend the Pressure Cooker. My mother had one for years, and we’ve had one since the wedding, but we’ve only occasionally used it for soups and the like. Anyway, designed in 1679 by Denis Papin, it truly is one of the best Eco Gadgets you can have in your kitchen. Since the cooking inside occurs at 125oC at a pressure of 100KPa or 15psi, everything cooks significantly faster. I was also under the impression that everything had to be submerged in water, this is not the case, as little as 300ml of water (barely covering the bottom) can be used to steam pressure cook potatoes and carrots in as little as 4 minutes. Because the energy in the steam is only be lost through the valve and metal chest, most of the energy is being maintained in the chamber, meaning that once pressurized the gas can be dropped down. C.A.T quotes that on average cooking time is reduced by 70%. All the recent versions, of which ours is one, have various safety features, and tools to make cooking easy. For the outset of £50, it could be just the thing. Most come with instructions from cooking Veg, soups, casseroles, and just about anything... Worth checking out! By the way the picture below illustrates last nights cooking of potatoes and carrots, and just like it says on the tin, it took 4 minutes to cook under pressure, and about a minute and a half to achieve pressure. I’m impressed, you can bet my pressure cooker will see more use..... Oh and there’s something exciting about steam under pressure......

An introduction to coffee!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-05T20:54:30+01:00

Since Fiona went into hospital I’ve really missed sitting down in a nice coffee shop, with a decent sized cappuccino and slice of cake. We braved for the worst, and set out with the twins, both filled to the brim with milk. Anyway, both behaved well and we had a nice break out of the house. Oh, and the Thorntons Coffee and ice cream shop at Fort Kinnaird is recommended.

The Washing Machine Blues

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-04T17:42:07+01:00

The last thing you need when twins arrive is to have your washing machine go on the blink. When I looked out the window with sleepy eyes this morning, and noticed it was such a nice day, I took the initiative to catch up with the pilling washing. Half way through the cycle aloud crackling noise occured and the sump pump broke. This has happened before when the rotor popped off the pump motor shaft. However, unlike before, this time it wasn’t going to just pop back on, it was just too worn. After 10 minutes manually draining the machine, I phoned up local washing machine supply center who informed me that they had a new pump for £26. Poor Fiona was left with double trouble, and I stripped out the pump, got the new part, and installed the pump again. After some initial testing, and a leak check, I’m pretty sure everything is now back and working. Wheeewwww!

The First Adventure Out!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-03T19:32:41+01:00

Okay, it was only a trip to Boots and back home, but it was our first time out with Double Trouble.

OOPS what happened to Connor!

They can be spectacularly upset sometimes!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-06-03T19:28:12+01:00

Sometimes these babies like to gang up on Fiona and I, and they get really upset!

The Docherty Twins are Home!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-05-31T18:17:47+01:00

The Docherty twins and Fiona are home from the hospital. We all got back to the house at 21:30 last night, and for the we're still trying to bring some organization to the house after the initial chaos. First night went better than we initially thought, after both screaming for a couple of hours, we finally managed about 3 hours sleep and another hour and half later. We've been trying out our new kit today, and discovered that the swing and seats below work well. More to follow:

The Docherty Twins have names

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-05-27T00:12:33+01:00

The Docherty twins now have names: Twin 1 is Joshua James Docherty (James after my Dad) and weighs 7lbs, and is the one on the left with the blue hat. Everyone thinks he looks more like Fiona. Twin 2 is Connor Kenneth Docherty (Kenneth after Fiona's Dad) and weighs 6lbs, he is the one on the right with the yellow hat. Everyone thinks he looks more like me.

Double Trouble

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-05-26T08:48:06+01:00

Fiona and I have had two boys. No names yet, the bigger of the two (which Midwifes say looks like Fiona) is about 7 and 1/2lbs, the smaller (which Midwifes say looks like me) is 6 and 1/2lbs. It was a long drawn out labour, but the staff at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh were superb. In the end the boys were born by c-section, and Fiona has been recovering well after a few complications from surgery. As of a phone call this morning all three are doing well, and I've just woke up from a 10 and 1/2 hour sleep. Here's the picture you'll be sure wanting to see, details will follow:

Some eejit trying to dismantle a buggy!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-05-09T17:33:16+01:00

Ah, the simple procedure of dismantling a buggy :-D

Pimp my buggy?

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-05-08T21:16:42+01:00

Had fun earlier tonight building our new buggy which I picked up this afternoon. I have to admit to being very impressed with its construction. Its seriously solid and well built, has lots of cool features, and folds up in a fairly amazing way. It even has suspension. It also came in about 10 different parts, in various huge boxes! All this for two little babies. More to follow:

Relax in Peebles

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-05-05T10:38:48+01:00

At Easter we towed our little caravan down to its new home in Rosetta Caravan Park in Peebles. We now have a permanent pitch here which means we can store the caravan here all year, and use it between March and October inclusive. With the twins on the way this year, this means we can nip away to the caravan for a quick easy break, without the overhead of towing. Its a lovely site, set in the grounds of an old country estate. Peebles is also packed with interesting shops, and food places, and there's lots of things to visit and explore. It will provide a cheap and easy holiday for us once the twins arrive. There are lots of pictures of Peebles in our picture section, but here's our pitch:

The site has really nice surroundings:

But, it is still Scotland, and our second weekend out in April resulted in some interesting weather:

Notice our car in the far foreground, we wouldn't dare park in front of the caravan, because the fortnight previously we had to be towed out by land rover due to getting stuck in the wet grass! Oh, and in case any of you are wondering, we're still free to tow the caravan on and off the site as much as we please. More on Peebles soon...

Useful free bits and bobs!

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-04-17T18:39:17+01:00

Its funny how people have different feelings towards stuff. Here I was, Looking out my very own door, and I spotted a fantastically free store of useful and exciting Geek Spares and Parts ready for building into my next unplanned project. That is, until reality sudden comes back down to earth: Moving house / Fiona saying "declutter" / distinct lack of time. "I'll get you next time, Gadget!... Next time!"

Control Panel 2.0

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-03-01T18:19:00+00:00

Development of my new master control panel which is to be installed in the new house are underway. I've connected up the control panel, switchboard, and the new 16 Amp Charger. Initial testing shows things are all working. I've got various cables, connectors, relays, and bus-bars to obtain before progressing. More on that shortly. Here's my test setup anyway:

Control, Control, Control Everything, Oh! Can it be done in 12V :-)

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-02-15T09:34:10+00:00

Okay for a while now I've been looking into solutions for distribution and control of the 12V electrical system which I plan to install in our new house. The 12V system will be sourced from a new battery bank to be built. My initial estimates this will be around 440 Amp/Hours, in real terms this will give me just over 1KWh of capacity without eating into battery life expectancy. The batteries will all be of the 12V Lead Acid variety, but will be of the boat/caravan type, which are designed for deep discharge when compared with the car variety. The bank will be charged by an array of solar panels and a wind turbine (hopefully!), and if things are bad, a mains charger. I've even got a few ideas for a pedal power generator, and for desperate times, some form of cable which can be hooked up to my car alternator. The resulting output will run the following:

o A mains inverter, which will initially run mains lighting circuits in some parts of the house, and later all parts. All light fittings will be energy efficient and low power.
o Pumps to pump water back and forward from water butts at the front and back of the house. These water buts will form a rain water supply which is additionally pumped up to all WC supplies in the house, and later the supply to the washing machine.
o A 12V DC bus for the sitting room. This means I no longer need an array of 12V transformers for set top boxes, chargers. 12V sockets will be provided for car plug compatible devices which means I can charge phones, run laptops, run mini inverters, and charge household rechargeable batteries.
o Some 12V lighting in certain places in the house were practical.
o 12V supplies for garage lighting and 12V garage supply.

As some of you may already be a aware I have a large control panel in the garage of my existing house. This is very home made looking, and I've been looking for something more professional for fitting inside the new house for control, and monitoring of the majority of the system. The solution is a control panel and remote relay system which is developed by an Italian company CBE, who specialize in controls and panels for large motorhomes. I now have the control panel, and I'm now evaluating the installation design. Here are some pics:

Buggy, why can you buy a secondhand car cheaper

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-02-06T16:51:00+00:00

Well Fiona and I decided on the buggy we're going to get. I comes with everything, car seats, cots, all sorts of bits, and is very compact for a twin buggy. Believe me, this is something hard to find. It unfortunately costs a wopping 850quid. That was a bit of a blow, but all the rest are just the same. Anyway its called the iCandy Pear, see the pictures below. I think I need a new car to go along with it :-)

More Scan Picture

colin@doch.org.uk — 2008-02-06T11:40:43+00:00

Well here's a few more scan pictures taken recently.

ATC fitted to Caravan

colin@doch.org.uk — 2007-12-21T10:14:53+00:00

Well we finally got the ALKO ATC fitted to the caravan on Tuesday morning (very morning 8:00 am). It was expensive 600 quid, though that included fitting it on the driveway, instead of 400 quid but a drive down south. I please with the neat installation, and I think its a confidence builder having it installed. It a cool technology solution, detecting sideways and pitching movements that are increasing, and then automatically applying the brake via a solinoid (actually it may be motor driven), this bring the caravan back in line. The only interaction with the system is a little multicolor LED on the towbar, its changed colo during a self test when connecting up. When it turns green, all is well. So for the last few days the caravan has been down outside our house, getting a little more attention that normal, a little heating, and refilling the drying crystals. I also needs a decent wash, but I think that will have to wait till after Christmas when I've got a bit more time.

Transportation Systems

colin@doch.org.uk — 2007-11-30T12:21:43+00:00

It is too early to be considering buggies at the moment, however its likely we'll be looking for some multi-purpose vehicle like the one below, which is shown in two modes. This one is made by Jane

Fiona and I are expecting twins.

colin@doch.org.uk — 2007-11-28T17:02:20+00:00

*** Okay folks, Big Announcement Here ***

Fiona and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting twins. We've been through two cycles of IVF, but we're both very proud to be expecting twins around June 2008. Keep an eye on the blog for updates :-)

Here's a quick picture of both of them as of our scan today. They are both about 4.5 cm, and both looking healthy. You can find out more in the About/About Double Trouble link :-)