Windows 10 Runtime broker CPU usage issue fixed

There is a lot of un-useful and conflicting information on this  issue around the net, so I thought I'd post my fix here, in case it helps anybody else.

Issue: A process called 'Runtime Broker', runs away with CPU resources and maxes it at 100%. I found this often happens immediately after I resumed from standby on my desktop. Killing the process fixes the issue, but not the cause.

Very brief background: Runtime Broker isn't the issue itself, as it is a process used by various other background apps and processes - so it's a case of finding the app or feature causing the problem.

Fix: Remove any NAS or remote locations from Libraries (or just the photos map in my case). All my data sits on my NAS, which all my other devices point at. However, there is no need to have those remote locations included in 'Libraries' within Windows, instead just change the default / storage locations of the system folders 'Documents', 'Photos' etc, it achieves the same thing if you're only mapping a single location.

Fuller explanation and credit due here: https://www.itunity.com/article/windows-10-runtime-broker-slow-performance-solved-2581

Hope it helps!

Windows 10 upgrade good and bad

I've recently done the free upgrade to Windows 10, so I thought I'd post my experiences in case they help / tally with anyone else's.

First of all the tool advised I couldn't upgrade because the older of the two graphics cards (a 7300 GS), was compatible. I only had that card in there to run my third monitor, as I couldn't get all three ports working on the 7700. So I did a little research, established an active adapter was needed on the DisplayPort, bought one, then was able to run all three monitors from the newer card. With this working, I removed the older card and vainly hoped the upgrade tool would rerun an assessment. It wouldn't and despite trying various way to force it, I couldn't, so instead I just reinstalled Windows 7.

After going through the various updates the Windows 10 tool soon popped up again, this time the system was all compatible, then the notification to upgrade arrived a few days later. However I wanted to ensure it was a clean install, so it was a slightly long winded process. In order to do a clean install I needed an activated instance of Windows 10 running first, so I went through the upgrade process as normal which was painless.

On firing up the new Windows 10 installation, the first thing I noticed was that the fonts were terrible, blurry and rough. Changing Cleartype settings made no difference. I also noted an upgrade  install over my two year old Windows 7 install took up over 60GB - ridiculous.

Now to the clean install. I downloaded the Media creation tool, which then downloaded another copy of Windows 10 (but with my previous activation embedded), which I put on a USB flash drive. I then booted to this, wiped all the previous partitions and reinstalled Windows 10. This time the fonts were slightly better (I think the graphics driver is different but I didn't take a note of the previous version), however they still leave a lot to be desired. The new install occupied a more palatable 18GB.

All was OK and I started setting the OS up, mapping Docs / Pics etc across to my NAS. Then I found all the folders stopped working and I couldn't backslash to the NAS either. Windows refused to connect and complained: "A specified logon session does not exist. It may already have been terminated", WTF??

Some more searching revealed that incredibly, setting up a PIN to login, as Windows encourages you to do and I duly had, breaks local network access! Furthermore, there seems to be no way to remove the PIN. However, logging out then logging back in with your full password does fix the issue, so now I can access the NAS again and subsequently, the mappings are all good. This seems ludicrous to me, so hopefully I've missed something or if not, it will be fixed shortly.

Other than that it's early days. The font issue is really annoying and nearly reason enough to go back to Windows 7, however it looks like it might be a Radeon problem so I'm hoping it improves soon with a driver update. Groove music seems decent, as does the new Photo app. Due to the complaints about the Windows 8 layout, we're back to the Desktop being a large and pretty much redundant empty space - I'm not sure this is a good thing to be honest, but it seems I'm in the minority. Instead an abbreviated version of the Windows 8 tile system appears in the Start menu. The Edge browser doesn't have addons yet - this is a PITA as it means Lastpass won't work, however there is a two click option to load the current site in IE, which gets around it. Other than that, Edge seems clean and fast so hopefully add on support will be added shortly.

Epic West Wales fishing weekend

Took myself off to Wales in search of it's wildest trout this weekend and managed to find a few. I was entirely self contained; the back of my old Shogun (my specialist fishing and pigeon shooting machine), converts into a flat bed and I'd plugged in a portable fridge, luxury...! I got to Llyn Bugeilyn late on Friday

evening, a drizzly fog was descending as the light failed and half an hour later, it was blowing a gale and lashing down with rain.

 A mile or so from the nearest road in horrible weather, it felt very desolate indeed. Happily it had blown out by the morning, so after a cup of coffee and hastily cooked egg and bacon roll, I was ready to go and on the water by 720am, then delighted with my first fish after a fair few missed takes at 745am. I managed to catch and return eight in total, up to about half a pound, before I set off for Nant-y-moch at around 11am.

Arriving at Nant-y-moch

Tony, a season ticket holder turned up in the morning, he'd been fishing it for years so it was good to have a chat and hear some of the stories. Sure enough, he was fishing exactly the same team as me! I'd heard it said before, but the fish do seem 'fast' at Bugeilyn, I had a lot of missed takes, maybe they just weren't committing. Fish came to all three flies in my team, a Gold Bead Bibio on point, a Black and Peacock spider on the dropper and a Claret dabbler on the bob, the latter taking the most of them.

I then set off cross country to Nant-y-moch, as it was about 20

miles shorter than the very indirect road route, but got thwarted by a locked gate into the forestry about two miles in. So unfortunately I wasted two hours retracing my steps, then taking the long route. Nonetheless, I got to Nant-y-moch and was delighted to be rewarded with a fish second cast. I went on to catch twelve in total, but they were mostly quite small and all returned but one; for my supper. I found Nant-y-moch a hard place to judge, as all I could find was a barren stone bottom, so it was a case of just fishing where the wind suited. Again the fish liked small and black, with a few on the claret dabbler.

After a delightful supper overlooking the water, I set off late down to Llyn Teifi. But arriving as darkness fell, I was confounded by my directions, so I parked up down a remote lane and settled in for the evening, weary from the excitement of the day. In the morning, I found the straight forward road route to Llyn Teifi and was on the water by eight.

Having walked round the other side, my first fish soon followed, with what proved to be a trademark, energetic take in the big wave. The fish were a better stamp here than at Bugeilyn or Nant--y-moch; all half a pound and upwards. I had a good few hours, totalling five fish to a Coch-y-Bondus, the Dabbler again and they quite liked the black Zulu on the point. I then headed over the hill to Llyn Hir, but unfortunately the wind didn't suit it, so I only fished for 20 minutes or so without a take. Then it was over again to Llyn Egnant which looks a great water, but I couldn't seem to get to grips with it.

After fishing it fairly well for three hours, on the windward and leeward banks, I hadn't even moved a fish. Sadly I had to give it best and head back to the car, but I was glad to see another fisherman eventually land one before I left. They're in there, but I don't know what I was doing wrong! Finally it was back home after a thoroughly enjoyable, but very tiring, proper fishing weekend. I shall definitely be back. Bugeilyn was a delight in it's remoteness and I'm sure there are some better fish to be had in Teifi. Exquisite fishing all.

Fishing Beacons Reservoir

I've been searching for something similar to the big and fairly wild brown trout reservoirs in the south west, but a little closer to our home in the Cotswolds. My search has centred around Wales and I found the various 'wilderness' reservoirs Welsh Water have. Beacons reservoir looked a great bet,

View from the far bank

primarily wild brown trout with the odd rainbow, so I booked a ticket through the Wye & Usk Foundation. We arrived and given there was a road right next to it with bikes howling up and down, it wasn't very wilderness at all. The two fishable spots on the near bank already had anglers on them and so we headed to the far bank. However it was very bright with not a cloud in the sky, plus very gusty, with the wind not settling in any direction. It made for very difficult fishing, especially with a #5, so I never really got going properly.

A Beacons reservoir brownie

Nonetheless a 3/4 pound brown trout was decent enough to attach itself to a Bibio on the point once I'd switched to sink tip, so we didn't go fishless. Later on in the day when anglers on the near bank left, it was then busy with passers by stopping to sunbathe or sit around, so by 2pm I decided to call it best and head the two hours back home. The water would be good fished from a boat, but it doesn't lend itself to bank fishing very well. There were about five people fishing there in total which given the condition, filled up most fishable spots. It's not a very pleasant experience with lots of people and litter about and its obviously not secluded. Good to tick another one off, but I probably won't be rushing back. Llyn Bugeilyn looks a much better prospect, shame it's so far away... Back home for Fernworthy or maybe Colliford next weekend, can't wait!

TTR renovation - Part 5 - back in working order

Old and new inlet rubbers

The ratchet guide arrived with the new inlet rubbers and I was able to get the old ones off. Turns out they were four piece when they should have been two piece... The rubber inlets  had completely unbonded from the internal aluminium flanges that bolt to the head. I should have realised this back at the start when I removed the carb and they seemed loose, another lesson learnt.

I fitted the new bits and buttoned it all back up to see how it ran. Started first kick from cold after a couple of priming kicks, so much better there. There was a rattle coming from the kick start though, plus the kick lever was getting stuck as it wasn't auto decompressing properly, so I didn't run it for long. I got back then went briefly to start it to check an unrelated  indicator problem, but got a kick back, firing my knee into the handlebar (that was another two days limping), so back into the garage and back apart. Turns out I'd stupidly not aligned the ratchet guide properly with the decomp lobe the other side of the kick start gear - hence no auto decomp. I also found that this time, it had smashed up the bolts and tabs making up the kick start stop. My first major mistake on this one, but thankfully not too expensive - back to motorcyclespareparts.eu...

smashed up kick start stop

Meanwhile I got some help from the horizonsunlimited forum, where jjrider kindly took a photo of an old mechanism he had lying around and sent to me. The problem with the kick start issues on this bike is that I only have a TTRE electric start workshop manual  - it's all I've found anywhere online. So its fine for most of the bike, but I'm blind on the kick start stuff, hence I made the mistake in alignment. In case it helps anyone reading this, the straight vertical side of the kick start ratchet wheel lobe, should align with a dot that reveals itself at the end of the ratchet spline on the kick start shaft, once you take the circlip, washer and spring off. Anyway, that's all now back together and I've been out today - the bikes running really well with the new inlet rubbers, it's easy to start with no kick backs and all the back firing has gone.

There are lots of bits that still need doing to sort it out, stripping and rebuilding calipers, new chain and sprockets etc - but I now know it's a sweet running bike, worth spending the time and effort on.

So there's my tale from a mechanically conversant but lacking in experience perspective. The various photos I took dismantling it were a great help and nothing is ever as daunting as it might seem if you've not done it before - so if in doubt go for it. Work sensibly and methodically and you won't go far wrong, as ever Google is your friend. I certainly won't be taking bikes to workshops much any more!

TT600R renovation - Part 4 - running lean.

I was busy doing other things for a while and my garage was full, so it stayed at the Mike Wheeler's in Witney for a while (great service by the way!). Eventually they found a source for the parts and duly fitted them, turns out it had destroyed various bits of the kick start mechanism internally (ratchet wheel, kick start gear, idle gear and ratchet stop), plus they put an MOT on. While at the workshop we still felt the replacement CDI might be at fault, so they swapped it for the old one and got it to run on both, but very roughly on the original. It seems CDIs can partly fail. When we went to pick it up it was a pig to start again, but started to come back to life via a few kick backs. The clutch was also gummed up again, so I pointed it in the direction of home and the moment it fired knocked it in gear and rode off. It got me home but still wasn't right.

Half way home

Second kick start destroyed..

After a ride around I realised it was backfiring much more than it had before, plus still needed choke to start when warm, and wouldn't tick over properly. It had a hanging idle as well so I suspected something was making it lean.  Eventually, after messing about with checking the new air filter was oiled etc, I got it running and finally suspecting the inlet rubbers, sprayed easy start on them while it was running - sure enough the revs rose so I'd found the culprit, lean running due to knackered inlet rubbers. The studs for the inlet rubbers were very tight so one evening I went to warm it up to make removing them easier. One bloody big kick back and it destroyed ANOTHER kick start. Not wanting to take it to the workshop again this time round, I just decided to get on with it and take the clutch cover off myself. Sure enough, it was all pretty simple and I shouldn't have been nervous about doing it before - but it's all a learning curve.

Once the cover was off I took it apart and found it had destroyed another ratchet wheel. I called Mike Wheeler's and they said they'd been able to source TTR parts at motorcyclespareparts.eu - so this time I ordered direct and fitted myself. Great service there and an excellent source for hard to find TTR parts.

TT600R renovation - Part 3 - it lives!

Once we'd moved house I had better facilities to work on it regularly, so could focus my attention on making it go. With the new CDI fitted I decided it was time to give it a good kicking. I could smell and see fuel was getting through now and finally, dripping with sweat from kicking it over, I got a backfire. I decided to be fairly bold and sprayed some easy start in through the vacuum take off on the inlet rubber in front of the carb, to take the carb out the equation. It wouldn't start but I could determine a slight burnt fuel smell indicating some combustion, so I knew it was getting a spark. I thought it was probably getting a spark anyway, but I couldn't do this basic test as was unable to kick it and properly ground the plug at the same time. Failing to do so would likely fry the new CDI - so I didn't try. Next, I sprayed some Easy Start in the air box and started to get the odd cough and squeak, definite signs of life. Then finally after 60 - 70 kicks and with me f**king knackered it fired! There was a fair bit of smoke as it kicked out 7 yrs of accumulated crap and it stopped after a few seconds, but nonetheless it lived! I was learning how to kick the thing as well, from feel and what I'd read on forums, so I was pretty pleased. It wouldn't run without the choke out (another tell tale sign I should have noticed), but nonetheless it worked.

Over the next few weeks I got it running a few times, but noted that it gave some fairly vicious kick backs. It did it once when I wasn't wearing a steel shanked MX boot - I never did that again afterwards. I got it out and took it for a brief ride to check the clutch and gearbox worked as expected. Everything seemed OK, but the engine wasn't happy, feeling lumpy, not wanting to tick over and not very lively. Then one day, it kicked back so violently when I went to start it, it destroyed the kick start mechanism and punctured a hole in the clutch cover where the kick start smashed its stop and continued into the casing. At this point in time I wasn't too confident about taking the clutch cover off. Seems stupid now, but not really knowing what was inside and thinking it would also mean changing the auto decomp I wasn't keen. So off to the local workshop it was.

TTR Renovation - Part 2 - initial troubleshooting

Back at base I decided to go through the whole electrical system testing resistance according to spec, as I had no idea what else might have perished in the time it had been stood. I was pleased to find everything seems to be performing OK and the various kill switches were doing what they should be. The coil resistance did seem a little off, so as it was only £30 or so I put a new one. The sump plug was loose and most of the oil had left the of engine, so I did an oil and filter change for good measure, plus put a new iridium plug in. There were a couple of casing studs missing so I replaced them, plus (backing myself that I'd actually get it running), decided to replace the rear cowling which was flaking away. I also took the headlight apart, drained the water out of it, then cleaned it up inside.

Leaky headlight...

 Satisfied the engine was turning OK and that it had oil and fresh petrol in it, I decided to see if it would start, there appeared to be plenty of compression. Needless to say it wouldn't. Fuel wasn't moving through the new clear pipe I'd fitted by the tap, plus there was none at the carb drain screw, so was safe to say it wasn't getting fuel, I couldn't smell any either.

So I took the carbs off and found the float valve stuck, I gave everything a good clean and put it all back together again. At this stage I should have noted the inlet rubbers were overly flexible, but still.

Given I knew everything else was OK, I decided it was time to try and find a new CDI. They're silly money from Yamaha, but I eventually imagined to source an aftermarket one from Wieltronic in Belgium, via eBay. I fitted it and it still wouldn't start, but at this point we moved house so there was a pause in progress.

Yamaha TT600R renovation - Part 1

As I bought it, AFTER we'd cleaned it up....

I thought I'd write up my experience getting a basket case bike into running order - from the perspective of someone who mostly knows how bikes work, but doesn't have a great deal of experience fixing them up beyond general maintenance and rebuilding calipers etc. Hopefully my lessons and experiences will be useful for someone in a similar position - I've learnt a lot in the last few months. So last summer I finally managed to persuade my mate who runs the local dealership to part with an 03 Yamaha TT600R that had been sat in the corner of his yard, outside, for about six years. Previously he'd told me I didn't want it because it was knackered, but he eventually relented. It had originally come in with a presumed electrical fault but then had been abandoned. It had a decent supermoto conversion; talon hubs, excel rims, Maxxis supermoto tyres and a full titanium Remus system. But it had been out uncovered with the instrument binnacle hanging off and a rag in place of the spark plug. We dragged it out, pumped the tyres up, confirmed the engine wasn't (too), seized and sprayed some WD40 in the cylinder for good measure.

He suggested a new CDI or kill switch which didn't seem to bad, as far as they could remember they'd already fitted a new loom, ignition switch and coil. So I loaded it up and took it away...

Opening the season at Clatworthy

Father and I headed down to Clatworthy at the weekend against our better judgement, it was a cold day with a cold wind. Nonetheless we wanted to kick the season off so over we went, the wife elected not to fish...

Fishing from the far bank I started with a floating line, twitching back a small gold head GRHE on the point, a red buzzer next up and a PTN on the dropper. To my surprise I was into a fish within about 15 minutes, the fish took the buzzer,
probably about 7 - 8 feet down (right).

After that it was a fairly slow business until I missed a good thump fairly deep on the point fly, then got a savage take close in on the GRHE twenty minutes later to yield a second fish. Meanwhile Father had headed up the bank and caught two in quick succession fishing a Black and Peacock on a floating line. A couple of hours passed with not much doing and the after a brief spell of sunshine the weather refused to lighten up, so I changed to an intermediate, pulling a mini white booby on the point (felt a bit dirty), and a Zulu variant on the dropper. Was into a fish first cast on the point. so that seemed to work. Then on the third cast bang again and was into a another fish, which once I'd played it in a bit, turned out to be two fish, one on each fly! I must have just hit a pod of them and being early season, they were probably less wairy of lures, which everybody seems to drag in all day round there. So that was me, Father picked up one more fish but really by 3.30pm, it was colder, the fish were done for the day, so we were off home to the fire. A good day given the conditions, it seemed less a case of using a specific fly and more a case of being at the right depth and finding a pod of fish. The fish were all between two and three pounds, so seemed smaller than previous seasons at Clatworthy, but it was only one day so if I'm there again this season, we'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, I hear Roadford and Colliford have made a strong start, so look forward to getting down there as soon as I can.

Post Office...

Is it any wonder the Post Office is struggling against the competition? Going public seemed to help them out, but whenever I need something done, there seems to be an issue of some sort. Can't post a mobile phone with a battery in it because it's hazardous, really?? I had a long parcel to post today, 170cm 'Oh that's too long for here..", give me strength...

I get they need to post everywhere for a fixed cost unlike the other mail providers, but they're just difficult to do business with. DPD by comparison, have a driver tracking service so you can pin point to the nearest 30 mins when your parcel will arrive. Isn't this the approach to customer services and convenience Royal Mail should be adopting in the modern age? Maybe the post man should pick my parcel up on his way through tomorrow, now that would be convenient.

Fernworthy, Roadford and the Exe

Now back from a three day fishathon in Devon, I thought I'd blog our success, or lack thereof, as a couple of the waters we tried get little mention.

First of all we fished Fernworthy, up on Dartmoor. Whilst the rain mostly stayed off for the day, there was a ferocious wind, which even coming over your left shoulder, made casting very difficult and accurate casting an impossibility. Apart from the slightly cold wind, it was an overcast day and there was a good foot of wave.

Given the conditions, muddlers formed the basis of our attack, with a couple of hawthorn fly imitations and the usual small black stuff thrown in for good measure. Despite two of us fishing hard for the whole day and the third member of the team for a half day - we only had one fish to show for our efforts, a brownie of just under a pound which took a gold bodied, clipped deer hair muddler I was fishing on the bob. Apart from a couple of plucks a few casts earlier, I only had one other take, again on a big black deer hair muddler. Between us we fished various wet flies, some small dries and even a couple of dry daddy long legs to no avail. We did move a couple of decent fish on the surface, but there was little other action. A disappointing but puzzling day all in all, I think the wind was just too strong to fish it effectively and certainly to fish a hatch.

Having planned to visit Roadford the next day, conditions on the Exe looked very good and we were able to get on. We took spinning and fly gear, fishing salmon flies on the point and a trout fly on the dropper, to hedge our bets... Despite conditions looking good, spinning produced nothing at all, but we were at least able to land a couple of brownies on the fly. We later investigated that one of them was crammed full of beetles and a few small slugs. We also saw a chap lose a circa 10lb salmon at the net on the next beat down...

Finally, we took the trip to Roadford, having never fished there before. The day dawned grey and windy, but cleared and calmed so we had almost perfect conditions when we got there, it getting a little too bright later on. An oversight meant we were without an electric motor, and Roadford is nay a place for oars....

We battled our way out, being overtaken by a few cheery dinghy sailors in the middle of a race on the way. The first bay on the left was as far as we could realistically go, so that was it. The water was gin clear with visibility to nearly 10 ft. The first drift through produced nothing on teams of wets and no sign of movement, yet it felt fishy. A few fish started to then move on the surface, but we couldn't see what to. After a further couple of hours with no action on dries or wets, I was fishing a drift down the bank only about 20 yds out from the bank and there was a vicious swirl in front of me.

Nothing happened for a second then there was solid pull and what at 20 yds looked like a rainbow went airborne in front of me, we were in business. Ten minutes later and after a very hard fight of aerobatics and boring to the bottom, I was very pleased to land an absolutely pristine 3lb 1oz brown trout. These fish are stocked as fingerlings and it was in perfect condition, fat and well fed, much like a limestone loch trout. It had taken a black and peacock spider I had on the middle dropper, fished with a floating line. Apart from that, we could conjure nothing else save for a couple of swirls, but we did see more fish of similar size moving. They are definitely there, but it's a very hard venue.  

Why do they always look smaller in the photo...

This is compounded by it being hard work walking round the bank and too big really even for an electric motor to get everywhere. If it were possible to hire proper outboards it would really open up the place - there is some absolutely first class fishing to be had for very good sized, near wild, brown trout in peak condition. We shall definitely return, perhaps it would fish  well on the evening rise.

So, a tough weekend all in all, not helped by the weather conditions at Fernworthy, but much was learnt and there's no question these little fished reservoirs offer the chance for some first class brown trout fishing.

River Kennet - Barton Court

I haven't posted for a while and my resurgent interest in coarse fishing has since subsided, mainly because the FAS waters are so crowded with carpers, but it's a cheap club ticket so you get what you pay for. I'll make more of an effort to find some less pressured day ticket waters.

Meanwhile I've got back to my primary interest and have been doing a lot more trout fishing, most recently on the Kennet in the middle of the (late) mayfly hatch. Its a pleasant environment and much effort has been put into improving the water habitat. Comprising lots of feeder streams it's a little hard to gauge where you can and can't fish initially, but it didn't take too long to get to know the place. Stocking is mainly browns of about 1.5lbs as far as I could see, plus a few rainbows. There were also some roach feeding on the mayfly (of which I caught two), and I also noted a number of large, black, bream sculling about in the smaller pieces of water.

It was a foul day but we got a few hours dry weather in the morning, following by persistent showers for the rest of the day. I only had one mayfly on me (a green drake), which they didn't seem to be confident with, lots of missed splashes and fish turning away. They were not very interested in the Mayfly nymph either and I'd had one pluck on a pheasants tail.

The mayfly hatch started to come on better after lunch and after about five hours with no fish but plenty rising, I caught my Mayfly in a tree. In retrieving it, I found another one up there which I was also able to rescue. I put it on and immediately caught the fish that had been refusing everything else - it was child's play. So I finished with three brown trout and a rainbow to 2lbs, plus a couple of roach. The mayfly I found was actually a wet french partridge mayfly, designed to be pulled through lochs, but I got it to float with liberal dosings of Gink.


A good fun day all in all if very wet, I'm not sure if I enjoyed it more than a good day on a loch, especially with sea trout, but I'll probably go again. The Test is next on the list, perhaps later in the season.

CB500 cooling problems - fixed!

Took delivery of a heavily 'modified' CB500 from Fast Bikes Mag a few weeks ago and have just finished sorting it out today, it had been sat around doing nothing for a couple of years.

I found it was overheating in traffic - and the fan wasn't kicking in. First suspect was a faulty fan or fan switch. However shorting the wire between the fan and the fan switch to ground produced sparks and span the fan up - so the fan worked OK....

So then it seemed the sensor on the radiator might be at fault, harder to test without draining the system etc, but it still might be the thermostat not letting coolant get to the fan switch. So taking the tank off allowed me to get at the thermostat, which I took out and boiled up in a saucepan of water, it opened fine. So water was able to circulate but I wasn't sure it actually was. So I ran the engine up with the radiator cap off allowing any air to escape and sure enough it did - I was then able to add more coolant. Despite the coolant level looking fine, it seemed there may not have been enough in there, the coolant I could see inside the radiator neck must have been held there artificially.

So it turned out there was an airlock in the coolant system somewhere, meaning coolant wasn't circulating and hence not getting the fan switch hot enough to turn the fan on, making the situation worse. Having topped up the coolant, I put everything back together and took it out for a spin, the temperature was much more stable and, when I got back and left it ticking over to see what would happen, sure enough the cooling fan now kicked in as it should.

Problem solved! Hope useful for someone else...

Badshot Lea (Big) - great Bream fishing

Great day at Badshot Lea Big today. Was there by about eight, but it was a cold morning and not much doing. Was in my usual swim on the pin, one rod about 3/4 way to the rope and one about 1/2 way. Had a running method on the long rod with two 10mm crab & crayfish boilies and a ton up / fishmeal on the feeder. Same mix on the other but fishing a cage feeder standard paternoster style with a 60cm hooklength to single boilie on the hair.

First fish was on the long rod and probably the best of the day, a 6lb 9oz Bream just before 10am. That rod then started going a bit better but the shorter rod wasn't getting anything. Deciding the cage feeder / paternoster rig probably wasn't great on the buzzer, I switched it for a small method with a corn hair rigged on a 14, which immediately started producing fish. The shorter rod then caught most fish during the day, but a much better stamp was coming from the longer rod with the double boilie. A great day, shame I had to leave early, mid afternoon - but caught a good 40lb or so of Bream from 2lb upwards.

HTC Hero

Got my new HTC Hero this week, very impressed. Having come to despise my LG Arena to the point that I really couldn't hold out until next year to upgrade it, the time had come to find myself another phone. Got a great deal on a new Hero on eBay, with it arriving a day later. Switch on and you enter your details of the various social networks, then you're away. First thing i did was update the firmware which apparently is a marked improvement, once done, I had to go through the setup again. Setup is very simple and the phone is a breeze to use. There are plenty of full reviews elsewhere so I won't attempt one here. However if particular note is the contact integration and swipe down notification area in the top. Blue RSS is the best RSS feeder I've found from the Android Market.

Getting HTC Sync to work on Windows 7 64 bit was less easy. First try it installs fine but says its missing a driver. Connect the phone and it won't see it. You can then manually add the the drivers which many have had success with, but that didn't work for me either - the problem is getting the ADB driver installed and listed in Device Manager. The solution eventually came by installing PDA Net: http://www.junefabrics.com/android/index.php It's then just a case of doing the update from Devices and Printers, which changes it from 'Android Phone' to 'My HTC Hero and you're away. You have to remember to initiate sync from the phone though, or else it will sit there doing nothing.

Then yesterday I hear word that HTC are preparing an Android 2.0 release for the Hero - so we get voice navigation on Google maps amongst other things. I'm feeling exceptionally smug with my new purchase!

Stillwater Back Lake

Finally got a a day in today at Stillwater back lake. More scenic than I remembered and plenty of space as a week day. Started on maggot feeder and float but too much going on so stuck with float (mainly skimmers) and changed to a method with boilie. Forgot my carp rod and avon rod so had to make do with what else I had.
Boilie was quiet most of day, but a load of small stuff on the float. Around three o'clock I got into a shoal of perch about 2ft down, provided good sport for a hwile Then finally got a decent drop back on the method and was a mirror of about 5lb 2oz, pictured. Soon after the rain started and while I was dry under the brolly it just got heavier and heavier until I left at seven. Not a bad day all in all if a little uneventful.

I still can't find that water that keeps going on Bream and Tench all day on the feeder with maybe the odd Carp, then with some decent Perch, Roach, Rudd and Crucians on the float....

Summer Solstice at Frensham

Evening Tench fishing, summer solstice

Fishing at Lodge 160509

So after a bit of a late start I headed back out to Lodge in the hope of some bream. Got there, got half my kit out to discover in my rush to leave the house I hads forgotten both my landing nets and my unhooking mat.. So I packed everything up again and headed to Borden Angling Centre for the necessary items, getting myself a useful folding trout net for later in the season, so not all bad. Back to Lodge and the far right swim by the dam was free on the nearside, so plumped for that as it was now nearly midday and would save the walk round. I lobbed a method out to the dam on the quiver and fished a float in front of me next to some lillies.

Caught a small roach on the method straight away but then it was fairly quiet. I'm very pleased with my new John Wilson avon / quiver rod, plenty of power, perfectly balanced, great finish and really doo bite indication on the quiver. On the float I was straight into small roach and gudgeon on maggots so changed to corn for some slight better sized roach and skimmers. This went on for a while, but the float wasn't looking as though it would produce anything useful and fishing an inline elasticated method on a quiver I decided probably wasn't the best approach for bream. On top of this, I found the lake to be much shallower on the nearside, I had a hunch the bream would be further out.

So I set up a carp rod with the remaining reel I had, fishing 30g method, but this time running, to a size eight hook with a hair rigged 10mm boilie - hoping to get into some bigger bream. Having eventually found a place I could get a rod rest in the ground just off the hard packed gravel, I fired the method out a good 40 - 50% away across the lake and set it up running, with freespool on and a bobbin. Meanwhile I sacked the float rod and set the quiver up with a maggot feeder about 25% out, but this never did any good.

It was only about 10 mins before I had a good run on the method and leapt out of my chair to get across to the rod (have since bought a rod pod to deal with the hard packed gravel everywhere). I struck into the fish but it was off almost straight away. I searched up the dam again with a few casts at longer range, but bites definitely only came when away from the dam in clear water. After changing to a t-shaped boilie stop as they kept falling off with the dumb bell type, I got another run and was pleased to land a bream of about 4lb. From there on in they were unstoppable, with runs coming only 5 - 10 mins after casting. I stopped weighing anything that looked under five lbs then was very pleased to land a PB of about 8lbs - a fish with a big fat belly on it. Despite the freespool on my reel failing, making playing fish very difficult, the runs kept coming. This, it seems, is defintely the way to catch bream at Lodge. Frustratingly I had to leave early to get back as Fullers was doing a dinner party, but had I remained I think they would have kept coming. So next time it will the same rig on two rods, setup on a pod with bobbins - I'm expecting a sack full of bream and inevitably the odd carp.

The old John Wilson TV programs always had him fishing a similar setup for bream, so I reckon using a combination of the new method feeder, with the old free running technique is the way to go. No need for this self hooking stuff it seems, as apart from losing one fish I didn't miss a single one - nice long slow runs that are easy to hit, safer rig as well. Forgot to take a photo of the fish, but am hoping to break my PB again there soon!

Fishing - Lodge

Mainly a carp pool but in a good secluded location with some big Bream as well. Bream came straight to the method fished near the dam in the morning, culminating in a PB of 5.5 lbs, with another 4.5 lb and 5 lb fish as well. Float didn’t do much but there were plenty of small roach to catch when the method was slow.

 

A good day in all – I want to return properly targeting the bream, which apparently run to 12 lbs or more.

Fishing - Stockbridge Pond

A really nice secluded lake surrounds by trees with lots of lilies. A total absence of the carp brigade with their bivvies and buzzers, just a few old boys mainly fishing the waggler. Float was lively all day on the Crucians, but never got very big. Nonetheless having not caught them before my PB was a ½ lb or so.

 

The method was quieter save for some big pull rounds that infuriatingly broke me twice when I struck into them. Overhand loops seemed to be the culprit – I need to change that knot. However I finally hit one fish which did me straight into the lilies and locked up. Luckily patience and allowing it to take line then going back in hard freed it and I finally slipped the net under a 2 ¼ lb (1KG) tench – the first of the year and as I can’t remember the last time I caught one, a PB! It fell to the method and hair rigged 10mm fish boilie.

 

Definitely want to go back specifically targeting tench and was a delightful venue and I think there is more to come given I got smashed twice. There are no bream and only two carp in the place.

Fishing - Winchfield and Badshot Lea big

Started at the small Winchfield Farm pond out of curiosity, a very tricky place. Not a touch on the float all morning and too deep to really fish effectively. Nothing in a long method on the carp rod cast across to the far bank either. A small method up next to the memorial island finally got a twitch on maggots but nothing came of it. Then later in the morning the rod smashed round into what must have been a big carp. It stripped line straight away but then the reel locked and while I was fumbling with the drag to see what was wrong it broke me at the hook knot. Turns out the line clip was still on that I had so as not to hit the island – a stupid mistake but I’ll know next time. Following, I’ve stopped using the line clip for casting for fear of it happening again – there’s no substitute for good old fashioned accurate casting.

 

Given that was all that happened I called it a day at midday and headed off to explore some other waters. I may return again out of curiosity and just to get a fish on the bank, but it’s not a bagging venue and you have to work hard.

 

I went first to Stillwater front and back but was depressed to find it was carp central with nothing but bivvies rod pods everywhere.  I also popped into Wyke Farm but the three people already fishing had filled the venue.. Looked nice though so I’ll head there for a pleasure day at some point. Finally I arrive at Badshot Lea and looked round the big pit, small pit and Kings Pond. All looked pretty good and while there was the usual majority of carpers there were some interesting looking spots, so I stayed and set up near the car park. I’d left rods up and out them in the holdall so was up and running straight away with a method to the reeds and float just in front as was very deep. Touches on the method straight away was very pleased to bank another 5.5lb bream as the first fish. A perch of about a pound followed, but then it was just a few carp to about 7.5 lbs. A good day at Badshot all in all with a really nice sunny evening when I got the photos.

Fishing - Warren then back to Badshot Lea

So for final day of my four day marathon I decided I ought to check Warren and Tarn as they were the last two open waters I hadn’t seen. I didn’t hold much hope as there were only 8 swims, 4 of which were available for night fishing. Turned up just gone 8am and sure enough there was the usual bivvy village but seemed a nice enough bunch, a very different feel to Stillwater. Turns out chatting to one of the guys that he’d had a load of good bream (to his annoyance!), overnight and one carp. The place wasn’t advertised as having bream so was a pleasant surprise and I decided to give it a go despite the slightly cramped swims with low overhead branches. I chucked a method 2/3 the way across and noticed the line wouldn’t sink. I then set up the float and plumbed, only to find there was no more than 2 feet of water anywhere! I then got pretty much pushed out the swim by a whinging carp bloke I half said I’d give it to so moved down closer the carpers in a muddy swim not holding much hope. Float was useless with so little water so just fished a method. However when a swan turned up and nonchalantly started eating my feed off the bottom as it was only a few inches down I decided it was a lost cause and packed up.

I’ve no idea how he caught the bream as looking more closely I could see the bottom all over the lake. I shan’t be going back there in a hurry for sure, however Tarn next door looks better with  some proper depth on a brief inspection. Shall give it a go when it opens.

So I headed back to Badshot lea big and set up exactly where I was before on the same tactics. This time the float was much more lively and I was very pleased with a trio of bigger perch running to just over pound and one small bream / skimmer. It got hard though and having scaled up to size 12 with meat to hopefully catch a bigger perch it went quiet. I then found the only way I could get bites was to go back to a size 18 with single caster but then despite being confident were very hard to hit. I hooked a couple but never saw what they were before they came off, frustrating. Meanwhile the method produced a couple of fish but unfortunately just carp. The first was a horrible fat dumpy thing of about 5lbs then a better fish of 8.5 lbs which took me a while to land on lighter tackle, both mirrors. Couldn’t raise the tench or bream though unfortunately.

I think Badshot Lea needs further investigation for its perch, I think it would be hard to properly target tench and bream for all the small carp kicking about. The small pit will probably be worth a look as well.

And there ends the marathon! Was very annoying my new quiver rod didn’t arrive in time and I need to find some more flat bed elasticated method feeders, preferably the new Guru safety ones. I think some early mornings are in order a la Wilson for the bream and tench quest as well....

From MCN - Police to use 'horse box' speed camera

Police in North Wales have converted a horse box into a stealth speed camera to target motorcyclists, according to an insider.

The new hidden speed camera unit was due to be trialled yesterday in Llandegla, near the Ponderosa Café, our source said.

He said: “North Wales Police have purchased a horse box trailer for use in covert operations aimed specifically at motorcyclists.”

He said riders in the area should “use caution”.

North Wales Police made no immediate comment.

If you’ve seen the horse box speed camera, let us know by emailing steve.farrell@emap.com