A trip out

Last week runs a bit into this week really for having a number of things all one but on Wednesday I was out for the day in Llandudno, North Wales.

We were a bit late in arriving thanks to really silly idea of the drive to go due south via the motorway around the outskirts of Nantwich on the day of the Nantwich show for good measure that delayed us over a half an hour.  

A short discussion between a group of us came to the conclusion we'd better off getting food and then visiting any places of interest.

Thus the first change was in getting a meal where the usual haunt of Tribells was given a miss as reports on Trip Advisor suggested the quality had dropped off in the last year so we went to a cafe /restaurant on Mostyn Street near the former M&S shop for cod, chips and Mushy peas.

Given I had breakfast at half seven in the morning it really was a must and it did not disappoint being in thin non greasy batter with plenty of superior pure fish rather than the reconstituted sort served quite warm with a huge pot of tea.

Several shops were visited such the Gift Centre, Boots and the cat rescue shop although like a number towns in the UK there had been changes such as M&S moving to Mostyn Champneys retail park which I used to like to visit for the school wear section and HMV closing its store due to issues between it and the landlord over rent.

I did get to see the promenade walking a good length of it  and pier with the gift shop no longer with us but with the boat trip excursions around the coastline still running, busy as ever.

We took the better route through Tarvin, Winsford and Sandbach back thank goodness in the light rain of the late afternoon only to find one of our friends thought they'd lost their house keys.

Thankfully they were found after  quarter of an hour.

Musical discourse

 One of "those" adult spoof Ladybird books we've had for a good few years like people can't treasure  a series but try to take it into areas it doesn't belong but there's a bit of truth in this covers mash up.

Like anything, take a passion to the extreme and house can get filled up while are savings consumed by with everything to do with it whither it's fashion, sowing or music so it makes sense to say "do I really need that?"and "what does it exactly give me?"

It's like while the Now People have reissued the LP (and cd bookform) 1983 and 1984 Yearbooks, I'm not buying which may feel like collector "oh my goodness you're not getting a complete set that might be worth more money" but simply there's nothing I don't already have and no, owning them doesn't mean anything to me.

When it comes to the umpteenth issue of some individual albums I'm very selective so there's only three issues of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on lp, the 2014 mono, a mid 70's analogue stereo and the 2017 Digital stereo remaster and when one Doobie Brothers album recently came my way that was a one on one replacement after doing a comparison

One private forum that sometimes acted as a enabling place for such things recently closed which was kind of sad given I'd been there since 2007 when having been given the boot by the management of a bigger site we set up our own place.

Thing is many of them drifted towards Facebook making groups where I point blank refused especially when being partially pushed to go to the no longer with us Google Plus social network by them only to see them move back to Facebook for free coffee at Costa and the like and it that point slowly over time it just drifted apart.

It's like be on Facebook or be cast out.

Sorry I'm not prepared to jump through the hoops and privacy issues that site has just to keep in touch with people who just left me.

Adding extra programs to the Hifi

Today's post is a little different to going into a major addition in part of my stereo system that had remained constant for a good decade or so.

There is a longish history to putting together a hifi system and usually I tried to get matching amplifiers and tuners at least visually if not by manufacture rather than the more commonplace two in one of a "receiver" in North America simply because you requirements of the amplification may be  in excess of you needs of the radio unit aka a "Tuner".

For me that translates as having great stereo FM for services such as BBC Radio Three but not needing a lot of presets and while AM reception is useful I normally use a quality portable for things like TalkSport Radio and the like.

With the first full system a RA313 amplifier was matched to a fairly simple manual tuned tuner  and when that after some sideways moves that didn't quite work out I got a hot rodded Rotel RA820B, I bought the matching RT820L that offered long Wave for Radio 4 but again manually tuned.

One thing that has increasingly come into things is both the closure of many medium wave stations such as local radio stations and newer stations not being on the traditional frequencies and services that covered.

The first thing to say about the Tangent Tuner II is it's quite a bit smaller and has two different wavebands on it.

The first is VHF/FM which first arrived on the scene here in 1955/6 after some experiments around how the signal was modulated and from the late 1960's stereo multiplex transmissions were added.

The other is more recent and that is Digital Audio Broadcasting, usually abbreviated to "Dab" which in reality is VHF Band III and digital broadcasting using two differing coding techniques that was initially launched as an experimental service in 1995 and for which most stations are transmitted on the same frequencies around the country to help boost reception.

From new the first thing it does is scan for all available stations and up to six may be stored as favourites and you can turn the navigate knob to move to the station you wish and press it in select it.

There is a period of change and a good deal of instability around if the VHF/FM service will remain or indeed if both will be replaced by internet streaming at home and on Smartphones while out.

Part of that is around concerns over the technical quality of the signal - some broadcasters are using relatively poor sounding mono - favouring more stations rather than higher fidelity although this model has an output so for better stations you can route the digital signal to a higher quality digital to analogue convertor for the best possible sound which is what I have done using my SMSL SU-9 via a QED Reference series optical connector apart from the traditional RCA line outputs you connect to an amplifier to.

In that way it does cover all bases as today there is very little on the Long and Medium wave A.M. bands that is exclusive in the way that in the era of my childhood you had to listen to Radio Four Long Wave for test match and Radio One on Medium wave only for your chart pop music with fading and whistles from nearby televisions line timebase's affecting reception.

Digital does bring silent backgrounds so you can here the coughing of the audience in a live concert to a silent background and better high frequencies compared to the A.M. and as slowly broadcasters upgrade the sound as Classic FM are planning to do come next January more of its potential will be realized.

Picnic time!

Despite the odds including the re-routing of a train that took it away from my nearest stations I did get away last week for the first event that although I'd looked forward to it on the past has not for various reasons not been held since around 2017.

Because of the train situation for me the day started the day before with getting a taxi from a company just a couple of miles away to the bigger of the two local rail stations which was going smoothly until a delayed train to Manchester resulted in platform change with just a minute and a half before it was due in!

From that point things were more straight forward as I arrived to meet a couple of people before we stopped enroute to pick up some food  - a mini fish and chips for me - to eat on arrival as it was evening and in any event I hadn't eaten since twelve o clock.

After music and chat it was time to curl up to bed.

Morning started with a bacon sandwich and getting things like windbreaks and food into the car as we set off to the location and having arrived found the others and moved to our fairly secluded spot.

The views were breathtaking especially for catgirls!

The grass was quite tall and ideal for a whole host of insect life so part from being on a plaid picnic blanket I did have my certified Mozzy proof insect repellent on and anti histamine tablets at hand to prevent any biting issues as for me the reactions are severe and require medical treatment. 

There was a central point where all food was pooled and shared as everyone was to bring something or other to share although there were mobile units selling tea and ice cream.

Games were played like bury the Sammy in plushies  in addition to flying kites and airplanes which was something other groups did do too.

By just after five it was time for people to make their separate ways so after goodbyes we drove off dropping one person off at their flat while they offered us tea and the chance to use the bathroom before arriving back.

We had a sausage roll and a cup of tea before it was time for bed.

I was up and had some cereals before being taken into town as they had some other business to do their to catch my train home which also had a last minute platform change after two people at two different stations decided standing on the track was a good idea!

The weekend had been enjoyable for seeing some people I hadn't seen for  a very long time - pre covid era - and thanks to Miss Green and everyone else including Katie for a pleasant weekend.

July is here

We've left June and enter another key month of Summer.

This week I've done some tidying, not least straightening a pile of records and while I was at it removing any that I no longer wished to have around such as worn copies apart from preparing to be away and actually I'm on the move as this is published.

Notes have been left in case anything should arrive although I should be back mid morning  in time for the postal people in case anything comes that doesn't quite fit through the letterbox

 Millicent Bunny is the guardian of my stairs - yes really - making sure nothing happens that could be painful in her dress with frilly bits on.

I've had her for over fifteen year where I spotted her on a craft store loving her appearance although she does weigh quite a bit which you soon notice picking her up to vacuum the carpet so perhaps she oughta be on a diet?  

Thoughts are drifting more towards end of month trips out of which two have been arranged and one will require some preparation for having not done it for a good while but it'll be worth it.