Nocto Go Go

A-Horrah! The nocto loco FX pedal is finally up and running! With the help of John at the club with his electronics knowledge, we discovered that the stomp switches I had wired up were in fact 90degrees round the wrong way. So after John patiently de-soldered and re-soldered each wire, we looked to be getting somewhere. Using a digital multimeter we were able to trace the path of current around the circuit checking for the correct voltage. So it seemed that only 9volts was required for the Voltage Regulator, and from then on the voltage is set to just under 5v through out the circuit

John came across some parts of the circuit which were not showing a decrease in value, in essence, we had 5v showing at one point but the ground (or 0v) was not appearing at all. Thus we came round to the idea that the track had a break in it. This was quickly solved with an insulated piece of wire being attached to link across the break. Then came the oh so exciting bit...

Looking at how the nocto loco acts using an oscilloscope made my heart sing! John had to do a bit of adjusting to get the waveform on the screen, brighten it up a little and make connections with the board using a couple of pointers. From the outset there was a nice small, tidy waveform flickering on the screen, however further explorations showed the curvy pattern switch to a choppy large square form (a rather sound shifting point) and then we discovered around the IC chips some very disjointed waveforms which appeared to be more like sanskrit than waveform. Oh they were brilliant!

And so knowing full well the box of tricks was working, it was time for me to pack up at the club and head for home. On arrival the soldering iron was plugged in and work began to finish off the loose ends.



The nocto loco was plugged in and given it's first test run by Leigh putting his BugBrand through it going then into the Sherman and out of the lovely sound system. It was very bendy and manic to say the least.

I was asked a question last night about what this pedal actually is, and here is some kind of explanation...

The Nocto Loco is some kind of pitch shifting FX pedal, with a jack input, you can put anything through it, though I am speculating that keys and guitars work best due to their hot sustained signal. The bypass switch means you have the ability to bypass the whole circuit to the output (so no loco) or where can switch to running through the maze of copper tracking. This then offers up the ability to move through three harmonic octaves, change waveform and the LFO (or what I believe to be LFO). There is a standard volume knob and a switch which still now I haven't quite worked out what it does. The Loco is self explanatory, it just pumps up the mania of the coarse sound.

The final result is magnificent. I am planning on getting a nifty little video on here in the near future, so keep them skins peeled!

Water pump done!

Here she is our lovely narrow boat at her new destination, with beautiful foliage in the background, including the odd willow tree. She is being looked after by lovely Lizzie who found herself without a roof and is really chuffed hanging out onbaord. We will be persuading her to purchase one and not go adrift to burn money in Brazil as she plans.

As you can see on the stern deck, we have decided that tarpaulin covering the rotten boards will suffice as a tempory brolly, as when it is peeing down and the tarp is suspended across from the roof to the rails it is a nightmare to get into the boat and we can stand there battling with bungies trying to get in for a good 5 minutes whilst gradually becoming soaked to the bone.


And most excitingly, I have successfully installed the water pump! Horrah! I am the official plumber onboard. You'll have to excuse the awful quality of the following pictures, the camera phone isn't all that great.


The pump and filter are positioned on the floor, with spacers to restrict the vibrations, the small storage tank above the pump is for when running a small amout of water and not having to switch on the pump every time.


We decided to buy a par 3 Jabsco pump and matching filter as after hours of research by Leigh this seemed the best option, expensive but guaranteed to work and work well. The pump and filter have their own output connectors and it took a while to realise that hosing and jubilee clips were all that was necessary to connect from part to part.


Note the bronze adaptor from the hosing to the grey plastic 'Pex' piping. This connector was recommended by Midland Chandlers in Braunston.


The Pex piping is used for both hot and cold water and needs pipe stiffeners when making an attachment. Here the Pex pipe went into the bronze connector of the tank and plenty of PTFE tape (about 15 wraps) was used to ensure a water-tight fit.


I inserted a stop valve to use when we need to stop the water flowing through the system.


And used clips to fasten the Pex piping in place, this is particularly important because the pipe is quite flexible and can move around in the space.


Above is an example of the PTFE tape and below are the tools I used for the job. Note the blue handled pipe cutters used for the plastic piping and hose, these were expensive but did the job with ease.


And there we have it, all installed and ready to go. Our next step is to get some one to do a check over the pipes and water tank to double check there is no break. Then we can get going with using the water system as usual.

DIY flavours

Could it be that the entire weekend off from work consisted of doing up the narrow boat? Of course, what else would Leigh and I be up to? For those who follow, the job is going swimmingly, hard graft, good people and worthwhile, tick, tick, tick in the job wish list. The water pump is nearly there and I stress nearly, I have been at it but with talk about fitting a new kitchen she has held back the horses until further talkies.

That is all for now, it has been an 11hour day of work. I'm melting....

Scrub-a-dub-dub!

Yes the marigolds have been on whilst I was sugar soaping the entire narrow boat down to a gleaming brilliance! My back muscles were in agony today but it was worth the weekend slog.


It's true, the ol' girl does need a new layer of paint, but still she's happy with the treatment so far.

We're all going on a...

Summer Holiday! Or maybe not quite so sunny considering the hail today! A week away on the coast of Bournemouth with the folks should be fun, fun, fun, like dancing on a piano in a bowler hat. Other news, I am celebrating a birthday on the day of travel, out comes the birthday badge then.

Saint Christopher, the patron saint of travelers, my favourite saint.


The narrow boat project is moving forward, we now have someone who is going to fit the wood burning stove. The water pump is coming together, literally.

I am very tired and so that is all for now.

Long overdue

Alright, alright, strike a light, cor blimey, aint it been a long time! In the company of Ealing studios I have finally found a minute to (ahhh) b-r-e-a-t-h-e.


Time has swiftly passed with family visits, gardening, clucking hens, oh! and the narrow boat coming home. Here is a recap...

Home grown food harvested from the garden...


Home made poppy seed muffins...


Tour de France? Rather cycling to and fro work...


Our narrow boat journey began again with the assistance of Dorian who set off for us with companion, Adam along the GUC going through Leicester and being pelted with mud bombs. Least the view was a delight


The next step was going to be Loughborough and the River Soar, preparation therefore had to be done. After much research and debating I settled with a purchase of a Delta anchor 20Kg from Duncan Yacht, the galvanized steel sort. This was combined with even more expensive chain and rope spliced together from Jimmy Green attached to the anchor via a rotating stainless steel connector. The decision for all this is that should one come a cropper on the rivers i.e. heading uncontrollably for a weir or in the instance of flooding dashing the anchor overboard (with the rope safely fixed to the ring in the bow) should hopefully save all lives aboard.

This section of the journey was taken by Leigh and Dorian, who began the day by bilging out in the engine bay the accumulation of water (really must get new boards sorted - appears to be a constant issue with the cruiser stern type boats).

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Leigh and Dorian got all the way to Beeston where the boat floated happily beside willow trees. I joined the fun after returning from the clucking hens in Brighton and enjoyed clambering on the roof to pick up some rays.


A convoy began as Leigh steered our boat along towards the castle marina towpath and Dorian joining on his boat. Yes our boat is long and has many windows but we love her.


And thus all the hard work has begun, with the flat turned upside-down and inside-out as we plan to move aboard there is little relaxed normality, and then we are fitting out the boat on top of this. So first things first, the water pump which appears to be broken (from the onboard flood we had we believe) is being replaced with a much better quality Jacobson Max 3, have I ever done plumbing before? No, but I'll have a darned go. Then comes the burner, yes we opted for the morso squirrel...


and yes we do plan to install ourselves, allowing space at the rear if we later choose to install a boiler to heat water. Then comes painting the floor, and maybe some rearrangements in the kitchen area. Oh my, so much to do but we will get there bit by bit.

So, I hope to keep an update when possible on MollyFM and keep followers included, but please bear with her... she is starting a 'proper' job in August too, so will see how that goes.

Over for now.