Glasgow Casting Club

[Teither]

Alan,
       Old pal, great guy, thoroughly decent type, salt of the earth etc etc, privilege to know you blah de blah  .... altho' I've managed, with Tom's advice, to resurrect this PC into what I'm fairly sure will be only temporary remission from terminal decline, I will definitely need to replace it. Any advice on what would be a good buy and where to source it etc, please ? 
      I remember you and Malcolm, I think it was, expressing a general view to steer clear of PC World  .... so any advice you'd be so magnanimous enough to give would be gratefully received  -  similarly from anyone else who knows about these things.  Thanks in advance,
T

[Fishtales]

Make, spec and what is wrong with your present machine?

Might be worth while just upgrading some bits and/or getting a new hard drive, memory, processor or motherboard etc. That should work out cheaper than a new machine. If you want a new machine try one of the small independent computer shops and see if they will build you a machine to your specs. and for whatever you use it for. You may not need a high end machine with all the bells and whistles.

[Teither]

Fishtales,
              Thanks. It's a Fujitsu Siemens, now approaching its sixth birthday, and keeps shutting down after about 10 minutes. Sometimes I can't even get it to open anything I want to look at, including this forum.
       I'm told the problem might well be a combination of the PC's age, low RAM , around 500 mb I think, and that it's not worthwhile trying to upgrade. But I now notice that the problems are less intense when my son is out of the house and I can disconnect all the stuff he has on his machine - in fact I disconnect his machine ! We share a wireless connection and when he's active on his laptop this machine of mine is hopeless.
Teither

[Malcolm]

Jim,

I sent you a PM - I don't know if you got it.

A couple of things. I suspect it may be as simple as a motherboard battery. Unless you've changed it these batteries run out usually after about 3-6 years If it is then usually the problem manifests itself in the first 10-15 minutes after startup. If you get past that stage then it may run for days. The motherboard battery on your machine will probably cost around ?1, I think it will be a:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Energizer-CR2032-Lithium-Coin-Battery/dp/B000IWZVZY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=computers&qid=1285157866&sr=8-4

but you can check.
If you change it you do have to reset BIOS settings after startup. This is dead simple and I can help with that.

Secondly if you do decide to change then consider using this company
http://buyit247.com/
- a lot of IT professionals do.

They sell grade 2 PCs - these are returns which may have a slightly marked case or a faulty plug or other minor fault. This company sorts any problems tests them and then sells on. The warranty is only 6 months but you can buy and extended warranty if you want. A sample product which is many times more powerful than yours:
http://www.buyit247.com/pcs/grade2-pc-systems/amilo-desktop-pa-3415-amilo-d-a64-x2-5000-3gb-500gb-dvdsm-vhp-1.html

[Teither]

Very poor turnout tonight at the CC but the one lonely soul who did go along enjoyed a splendid late afternoon and evening [ up till 7 pm ] in the company of the best speycasters you'd ever see, so I did !!
Oh, they were all there tonight - Scott Mckenzie, Ian Gordon, Way Yin, Eoin Fairgireve  - you name it.  I thoroughly enjoyed the craic too - great banter and wonderful teaching and advice from all of them  had me putting out the whole 60 yard Carron line time after time, all to the vocal applause of all these stars of the double-hander .....

The only damper on the occasion was the wee wifie walking her dug who put an end to the party, asking  me if I was alright  -  " Jist that you've been laughin' away an' talkin to yersel for the last hauf-oor, mister. I wis jist wonderin' if ye've mebbe ta'en a wee bad turn ?  Is that yer line still in a fankle ? " ....

So I guess it really is Sundays only from now on ..?

BOT

[haresear]

So I guess it really is Sundays only from now on ..?

:lol: :lol:

Aye, it gets dark too early for us poor souls who have to go to work before we can get to the casting club.

I'll be absent on Sunday too as it looks like I'm on babysitting duty. Hopefully will make the following week.

Alex

[Teither]

whats 'vocal' applause?

Better than the clap !  :lol:

" Bravo ! ", " Beautifully done, old chap ! " Oh ! Excellent cast there, young fellow ! "  and all that kind of thing  -  in this case, of course, the stuff of dreams and wishful thinking, not to mention a seriously overactive imagination !  

Incidentally, how long before they try letting you out for the day and we see you back at the pond ?

T

[Fishtales]

Like this.

[attachimg=1]

[Malcolm]

"The wind, the wind!"

Do you remember Michael Hordern's despairing moan in the Rod and Line series? It was like that today, a wild blast destroying even the best of casts. Certainly the heaviest wind I can remember down at the pond.

I had brought along a friend with his 8 year old son, so the wee lad could have his first casting session. He did well in the circumstances but it really wasn't a day for learning. 

Anyway I was having a think about something Alan said a few weeks ago about some core structure to the club. The more I think about it the more I think there may be a point to that so that anyone who wants tocan have a target to move towards. So I put together a "straw man" document to get things started. For those not familiar with the term a "straw man" is something which is put up to be knocked about on the basis that it is easier to think constructively when faced with something than with a blank sheet of paper. So here it is:

Glasgow Casting Club Proficiency - Trout

These are all very practical fishing casts. Further it is also intended that these casts can done with the facilities we have. Some casts - like the reach cast - are best done on a river.  It is the intention to focus on results and not on technique. Techniques (narrow and wide loops, double hauling etc) will need to be mastered to achieve results but the levels are results driven rather than technique driven.

The first level is a target for new caster and is intended to be give a level of proficiency that will allow the angler to be confident in approaching loch and basic river fishing. Some experienced fishermen will do no more than this

Level 1 ? The Practical Caster ? Bronze award

[/b]

1.    Overhead cast 50 ft into an 8ft circle. This sort of distance and target size is typical for casting to the zone of a rising fish.
2.    Roll/jump roll cast 40 feet into an 8ft circle. This cast will allow the angler to fish when confronted by bankside vegetation or high banks.




The second level is naturally a bit more difficult but should still be within reach of most of the people who work at it.

Level 2 ? Advanced caster ? silver award

[/b]

3.    Overhead cast 70 feet into an 8 ft circle
4.    Spey cast 60 feet with a 60deg change of direction
5.    Perform right and left aerial mends with minimum 5ft ft deviation around an obstacle into a 10 ft circle
6.    overhead cast 40ft into a 3ft circle

Level 3 ? Gold Award

This is quite difficult and may require a fair bit of effort of effort to achieve. It is intended to be very challenging.

7.    Overhead cast 85 ft
8.    Spey cast 70 feet with a 90 deg change of direction.
9.    Roll cast 50 ft with no more that 8ft of clearance behind.
10.    Perform shallow (5feet) and deep (10 feet) aerial mends into a 10ft circle
11.    Overhead cast 50 ft into a 3 ft circle.
12.    Cast through a 5ft by 5ft  "gate" 30ft away into a 3ft circle placed 8ft beyond the obstacle. This is to emulate casting to a fish under low hanging tree branches

[Wildfisher]

Structure is necessary in all aspects of life if one is to achieve anything at all and that progress can be measured. Structure helps avoid needless repetition, time wasting and ultimately boredom.