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Musicman

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Posts posted by Musicman

  1. Posted

    A good one: upward £600-£700, though I've seen minty ones go for less on occasion. Prices seem to have flattened out over the last 12-18 months and £200 bargains are getting thin on the ground.

     

    A grand should get you a very nice example. Personally, I'd go for an injection engine over a carb-ed model, but fun can be had with either.

     

    Stuff to look for:

     

    http://www.sciroccoregister.co.uk/as/as_lookfor.htm

    http://www.sciroccoregister.co.uk/as/as_mark2.htm

     

     

    High idle on carb-ed models - can be just a few quid to sort (waxstat adjustment) up to £££ if you replace the Pierburg with new. Weber replacement carb is a common option.

     

    Rust on door edges. May also be hidden on wheel arches behind the body kit and plastic arch liners. Checking the seams along the lower part of the sill can give you a reasonable indication.

     

    Fuel filler pipe corrosion. Common problem and it's an awkward part to get hold of. Rust falls into the tank. Worst case symptoms: engine cuts out after a few miles motoring. If you can get a look at the inside of the tank or fuel filter all the better - shine a torch in. Reach behind the arch and feel around for corrosion on the pipe. Dip a magnet in on a string and see what comes out.

     

    Bulkhead where the clutch cable goes through is often prone to failure and should have a reinforcement plate fitted - check for splits/corrosion and/or poor welding. The clutch is normally very firm, but should not 'grate' underfoot.

     

    Rot around rear strut towers (MOT failure).

     

    Other than that, the usual things to look for on a 20 year old car. Brake and fuel lines properly intact, etc.

  9. Posted

    "You should not be made subject to a criminal penalty in order to make you provide information that then forms part of the prosecution case against you."

     

    Could have interesting implications for the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 if they win this one...

     

    [that's the law that requires you to hand over the unlock codes for any encrypted documents when requested to do so by the Police or face 2 years in gaol - not having the unlock codes in your possession is not an adequate defence, BTW as you have to prove you don't have them, which is logically impossible]

  12. Posted

    FWIW I don't think the police *need* to rely on a speed gun if it's the officer's expert opinion that you were exceeding the limit. The speed gun makes it a lot easier to secure a conviction, especially where it's a relatively small level of excess speed (34mph in a 30 zone, for example).

     

    46 mph in a 30 zone would be be difficult to contest though.

  17. Posted

    Should be available around the end of 2007.

     

    http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/08/24/ ... c-concept/

     

    :?

     

    VW picked Viper Green from the original Mk1 colours to debut their Iroc concept (sc-IROC-co - geddit?? :roll:)

     

    Mixed feelings.

     

    Looks a bit like a squashed MkV Golf or the TT Shooting Brake. It ain't a proper coupé.

     

    But, it's growing on me. I like the way the air intakes at the front are mirrored by the exhaust at the rear, and the interior is quite cool. I don't like it at all in Viper Green.

     

    I chopped it into red.

     

    volkswagen-iroc-red.jpg

     

    2-volkswagen-iroc-red.jpg

  19. Posted

    cant be long before they pick up on RFID technologies rather than digital imaging which can be 'bypassed' in various ways. the only way you're going to block an RFID signal with with a radio jammer (AFAIK anyway?) and they can be 'pinged' to judge distance... not sure the technology is quite there yet but its a bit more foolproof than taking a snapshot.

     

    Transport for London are trialling RFID for the western extension of the Congestion Charge zone. They got the go-ahead from the government for trials last year.

     

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/21 ... ing_plans/

  20. Posted

    :thumb right: Thanks Rob thats the sort of info I was looking for, So what you are saying is that most good cameraphones and regular Point and shoot digicams could be blown up to A4 without looking to grainy.

     

    At A4, 150 dpi will probably be on to the boundaries of acceptable. Personally, I'd be inclined to favour 200 dpi as a minimum, but I'm a bit fussy and your mileage may vary.

     

    It's largely down to viewing distance. You're not likely to be looking at an A4 page from much further than 60 cm, quite probably closer, so you'll notice any pixillation in the image.

     

    48 and 96 sheet posters (the big ones that you see in the street) can go as low as 30 dpi because you're looking at them from tens of metres away.

     

    The other factor will be that the quality of the capture from a camera-phone or cheap digicam may not bear close examination because of the high levels of JPEG compression that they usually apply, which will reduce the apparent resolution of the image. Your eye is much more critical and will notice this kind of thing on a print more than you do on screen.

     

    But remember folks, dont drop your cameras, think etch a sketch, you might jumble up your pixels.

     

    :lol: :lol: :lol:

  21. Posted

    Would be worth asking him if he can give you some guidelines for resolution V's print size

     

    i.e. 1280x1024 = A3 (max)

     

    Also worth remembering the term 'photo quality' is defined by looking at an image at arms length and seeing a realistic/un-pixilated picture...

     

    I'd hazard the suggestion that 300 dpi is a good working value for better quality colour prints, 150 dpi to be the minimum for reasonable photographic quality.

     

    Top end magazines like Vogue will work with 300 dpi continuous tone images for output on 2400 dpi equipment. 150 dpi input is more normal for newspapers, for example.

     

    On that basis, at 150 dpi, the minimum resolutions you need for each paper size are

     

    A4 (297 x 210mm): 1754 x 1240 px ~= 2.1 megapixels*

    A3 (297 x 420 mm): 2480 x 1754 px ~= 4.3 megapixels

    A2 (420 x 594 mm): 3508 x 2480 px ~= 8.6 megapixels

    A1: (594 x 841 mm): 4967 x 3508 px ~= 17.4 megapixels

     

    [* the rough equivalent size of a camera's advertised 'megapixel' rating]

     

    There's maybe a bit of room for manoeuvre with the larger sizes as you're more likely to be viewing them from several feet away. If you were to drop to 120 dpi for A1.

     

    3969 x 2806 px ~= 11.1 megapixels

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