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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 5, 2021 9:13:37 GMT
Sometimes Google doesn't have the answer, or you phrased the question wrong This might be one for ChrisB... Is there a way to get chestnut shells to rot or is there a way to get rid of them We have 100s of chestnuts falling to the ground. They are all over the place, far from trees. Assume squirrels have been opening them up My problem is when they get stuck and wrapped in dog hair. Drives the dogs crazy and difficult and sometimes painful to remove, and this goes on for months as they don't seem to degrade much let alone rot Best way to get rid of the them ? |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 5, 2021 9:56:16 GMT
Watching closely, as we have thousands of them dropping.
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Post by ChrisB on Oct 5, 2021 10:02:06 GMT
Hi Mike, accelerating the decomposition of chestnut seed husks (or cupules) is not a problem that I have specific experience in!
The timber of chestnut exhibits very high tannic acid levels and there's a similar concentration of it in the fleshy part of the husks. This is the substance that inhibits the wood from rotting, hence the main reason why chestnut is used for fencing, because the parts that contact the ground take longer to degrade.
You can make shampoo from the cupules though!
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Post by MartinT on Oct 5, 2021 10:14:12 GMT
Back to the leaf blower, then...
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Post by ChrisB on Oct 5, 2021 10:21:51 GMT
Here's a fun game you can play with chestnut timber and seed husks - handle fresh wood or husks enough to get a bit of the high tannin content onto the skin of your hands. Now pick up something made of a ferrous metal. You will find that the tannin will react to the iron and dye your skin with a rather fetching shade of deep, dark purple! You will not be able to wash it off and it will remain with you for a couple of weeks, until it has effectively been worn off!
I spent a summer as a teenager in Sussex working with fresh chestnut timber and steel tools. ...so that was good!
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Post by ajski2fly on Oct 5, 2021 11:51:52 GMT
Here is my question?
If I have a low level buzz 50-100z coming from each loud speakers, only noticeable when not playing music, it occurs only when the pre-amp is connected (all other gear disconnected) to the power amp with RCA leads and the pre-amp plugged into the mains, the buzz is about 40db at 150mm from each speaker.
I have used a digital meter on the pre-amp and have determined that all the negative(s) side of the RCA sockets on the pre-amp are directly coupled to the mains earth, in other words if I test continuity from the outside of an RCA socket to the mains earth pin of the pre-amp it is a continuous circuit, also the RCAs sockets fitted to the chassis of the pre-amp are insulated from it. When the main amp is switched on and disconnected from the pre-amp then it is totally silent at the speakers.
So I assume the above means I am experiencing a very low level earth loop, so the question is how do I get rid of it?
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 5, 2021 12:45:39 GMT
Thanks guys
The boss seems to think they will compost down although I'm not convinced
All in the compost heap ate least will keep them in one place and less likely to be picked up by the dogs
In a year or two I will report back
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 5, 2021 12:48:26 GMT
Here is my question? If I have a low level buzz 50-100z coming from each loud speakers, only noticeable when not playing music, it occurs only when the pre-amp is connected (all other gear disconnected) to the power amp with RCA leads and the pre-amp plugged into the mains, the buzz is about 40db at 150mm from each speaker. I have used a digital meter on the pre-amp and have determined that all the negative(s) side of the RCA sockets on the pre-amp are directly coupled to the mains earth, in other words if I test continuity from the outside of an RCA socket to the mains earth pin of the pre-amp it is a continuous circuit, also the RCAs sockets fitted to the chassis of the pre-amp are insulated from it. When the main amp is switched on and disconnected from the pre-amp then it is totally silent at the speakers. So I assume the above means I am experiencing a very low level earth loop, so the question is how do I get rid of it? Most of the time when I had humming I solved it by connecting earth leads to the appropriate earth connections on kit. Often didn't make sense Maybe we both have kit that isn't earthed so well |
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Post by John on Oct 5, 2021 13:09:18 GMT
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Post by petea on Oct 5, 2021 13:39:24 GMT
... You can make shampoo from the cupules though!I have a vision of Mike ending up looking like Ena Sharples with all those cupules stuck on his head!  |
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Post by ajski2fly on Oct 5, 2021 14:45:12 GMT
Thanks John, I will try some of the things it suggests, it is very odd as I tested both pre and main amp and I believe they are correctly earthed. I am wondering if another piece of kit plugged in is causing the issue via the mains earth, we shall see.  |
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Post by John on Oct 5, 2021 16:05:28 GMT
It can be a slow case of elimination
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Post by MartinT on Oct 5, 2021 21:08:12 GMT
Hum can be a sod to eliminate but that article looks like a good resource.
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Post by ajski2fly on Oct 6, 2021 13:54:35 GMT
Hum can be a sod to eliminate but that article looks like a good resource. I have done some investigations and come up with some findings and consulted with a friendly well trusted electronics wiz, who know his stuff, he believes there are 2 possibly 3 solutions or combinations thereof. I need to do some more detailed investigation, consult some more and then decide the best course of action. I will report back anon. Ho-hum  |
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Post by petea on Oct 6, 2021 14:31:40 GMT
Oh no, you've got pre-ringing as well as hum now!  |
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Post by MartinT on Oct 6, 2021 15:13:07 GMT
Ho-ho.
Hum-hum.
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 7, 2021 19:35:44 GMT
This one must be for ChrisBChobham Common has been stripped of a vast amount trees to take it back 'to how it used to be and should be' Surely if the trees grew that is it's right and proper state ...? My guess is that someone made a packet selling the wood to burn in power stations |
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Post by ChrisB on Oct 7, 2021 22:08:36 GMT
The 'how it used to be' is one of those things that is neither right or wrong. It may be one of the ways it used to be once, but 'when' would have a big influence on that.
Therefore, 'How it should be' is entirely subjective. Who decides which condition is the right one? It's always the person who manages the land at the time and their objectives. We draw these lines to define what is natural and it's all wrong, isn't it? It has been decided, for example that the native species we have in this country are the ones that were here when the ice joining UK and Europe melted. The reason being that no more species would have been able to arrive from the continent after that time. Well, that's just crap. Birds carry seed, for example.
Draw the line in a different time and you would have Giant redwoods growing here, which are now only found in California.
Despite all of that, the felling of trees can't be legally done in the UK without replanting something (for forestry purposes, it's a woodland of the same size and for development, the planners insist on mitigation) or in order to achieve a net gain in biodiversity, which is what will have been done in this case. I promise you, no-one will ever get rich selling wood to power stations to burn. I know because I used to buy timber for a power station and it was me who decided on the price.
On the other hand, without human intervention, that land have trees on it. The UK's natural state is forest in the main, so I suspect they are trying to wind back the clock to a time when the land had been cleared of trees and grazed as a common, but that's not its natural state, you are correct. The trouble is that there is barely a speck of land in the UK where there hasn't been some sort of human intervention.
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Post by MikeMusic on Oct 8, 2021 9:24:50 GMT
No replanting has taken place, from the areas I can see from the road at least.
Was presented as a fait accompli to us
The other touted benefit was that it was 'green'
I disagree with that too after reading a detailed article in the New Scientist
Broadly burning wood counts as zero for carbon counting due to EU policy
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Post by petea on Oct 8, 2021 10:09:29 GMT
I guess it also depends on whether it is 'just a common', ie formerly used to graze animals etc, or whether it represents a particular habitat that needs protecting.
The rare alkaline fen near me in the UK had become heavily populated with Alder and this was causing a habitat change which in turn was threatening some of the rare species that were its 'normal' inhabitants. Therefore the landowner / trust cleared the Alder, and some of the accompanying brush, and re-established the fen to how it have been previously (and probably for at least 500 years). This was all supervised by some ecologists who had been monitoring the area for some years.
This intervention made sense as it was protecting several rare species of plants plus the insects etc that interacted with them. Removing the invasive species should improve species diversity and, if managed properly, should protect it further (it is already an SSI).
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