Clive – Page 794 – Clive's Blog

Glen Glass and the Cromarty Firth

25 August 2011 / Photography, Travel, Walking / coffee, Cromarty Firth, Glen Glass, Invergordon, iPhone photography

There was a heavy and prolonged thunder storm, last night in Dingwall – following what had been a fine day. The rain was so loud beating in the tent that we had trouble hearing the thunder over it.

I awoke, this morning, (JSC was still asleep) to a damp but bright campsite and had a very good coffee made with my “coffee maker”, sitting outside the tent, watching the rabbits on the field. Eat your heart St*rb*cks this is the only way to appreciate fresh made coffee.

Once JSC got up we decided that we would go walking.

The photos below are from Glen Glass, a little north of Dingwall – as you can see blue sky and sunshine.

Click on this Pano image below for a larger version

What you cannot see in the photos are the midges – so JSC went back to the car, leaving me to take my photos and try out a bit of gear I bought yesterday – a lightweight midge head net! Not something I had considered before, however the air at the campsite at Cragganmore, last week, was “midge soup”. The other backpacker I met there had a midge head net which she found useful. That got me thinking that many of the wild camping places I plan to visit in the future will probably also be plagued midges.

The one below (modelled for you by JSC) is the Micro Head Net, from Highlander, it packs small,weighs little, (I will weight it when I get home) and cost £4 from Tiso.

We left the forest and headed for the coast – with a stop at the picnic site at Invergordon. The Cromarty Firth was used by the navy in the past as it is a deep safe anchorage. Today the oil industry uses it for the same reasons.

Click on this Pano image below for a larger version

Another photo using Pano – if you have an iPhone get it – it is easy to use and, as you can see, great results.

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Logie Steading

24 August 2011 / General, Photography, Travel / iPhone photography, Logie Steading, tea

The weather forecast today was not so great, so we planned a trip to the secondhand book shop at Logie Steading.

Well as you can see from the photos – it was excellent weather.

Click on the Pano image below for a larger version

There is a walk from the visitor centre/shops down to the River Findhorn, where it passes through a gorge.

Below was the view we had from our picnic spot on the banks of the river. Click on it for a larger version.

Click on this Pano image below for a larger version

So remember if you come to Scotland assume the weather will always be unpredictable!

Logie Steading Read More »

Breakfast in Dingwall

24 August 2011 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Travel / Camping and Caravan Club, Crusader Cook Set, Dingwall, lightweight stove, outdoor gear

For some people it is breakfast in bed – well Jeremy is still in his sleeping bag and has not yet got out of the tent.

Below is the cooking area – using the board we found in Dunbar.

The wind shield is there to protect the windbreak from any stray flames from the burner.

Above you can see the Crusader burner with the meths burner unit from a titanium, Vargo Triad XE dual fuel stove.

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3G Signal Coverage

24 August 2011 / Technology / England, iPhone, IT Support for Lincolnshire, Octagon Technology

A couple of weeks ago the BBC announced that it was going to carry out a survey of UK 3G Signal Coverage – using an app for Android mobile phones and the participation of members of the public. This morning the results have appeared here and make a case that smartphone users outside of the of the major population centres of the UK do not get a good deal when it comes to 3G (but of course we all pay the same fees). This is something our engineers at Octagon Technology, myself and our clients understand very well living in Lincolnshire – a county not known for great urban sprawls!

There is a quote somewhere about how good and reliable statistics can be and the mobile operators have always relied on their statistic of providing coverage to a very high percentage of the population, not a statistic of covering the UK with a 3G signal. I can understand this from a business investment/profit position as 3G installations are expensive and the mobile companies paid billions of pounds for the rights to the frequencies to transmit 3G.

The government has hinted at initiatives to increase coverage in rural areas (let’s see this happen) and now they are talking of improving coverage on major roads and railways – Lincolnshire has little in the way of major roads and we may or may not have a direct rail service to London!

Now I enjoy living in a rural area, and will put up with the inconvenience of not having a polluting, noisy, fast motorway coming through our city and the small inconvenience of having to go to Newark for a train to London. I will also work around using 2G sometimes rather than 3G. But the point is when are the mobile providers going to have a scale of charges that reflect the service you get rather than the service they say you will get – and we all know at this point the mobile companies will direct you to the disclaimers about selling you 3G and then providing 2G and that is your problem and not theirs. Now this is my point – in these days of technology if you live and use your smartphone in an area with reduced 3G coverage, it must be possible for the mobile providers to reduce your bill accordingly?

In the BBC article it points people at a website for checking 3G coverage where you are – OpenSignalMaps. We are camping very close to the station in Dingwall and luckily I have a 3G signal.

This site has gone into the favourites on my iPhone for future use.

The aim of the site is to create a worldwide coverage map, using an Android app to collect the data – if you have N android phone or tablet I’d encourage you to get involved – I would if the was an iPhone app.

3G Signal Coverage Read More »

Dornoch

23 August 2011 / Photography, Travel, Walking / Dornoch, iPhone photography, outdoor gear

Jeremy and I walked down to the coast at Dornoch today. We took the small brew kit and had a brew and noodles with tomato soup for lunch.

There was plenty of RAF action whilst we were there with pairs of Tornados performing “power turns” in front of the beach, displaying their underneaths and weapon loads.

Dornoch Read More »

Waterproof Case for the iPhone 4

23 August 2011 / Camping, Outdoor Gear, Photography, Technology / iPhone camera apps, outdoor gear

After looking for two weeks in most of the bigger outdoor shop we have passed, I have finally found a case to protect my iPhone 4 from bad weather and is not an Aquapac.

It is a Haglofs Watatait mobile pouch. There were two models and after trying them both out in the shop I chose the smaller one. For testing I fitted the power jacket to the phone so it was larger. I found that the smaller one would work – although it is snug but not tight – and it requires just a little manipulation to get the phone with it’s jacket through the zip lock fastenings. I wanted the smallest case possible as I carry the phone when walking in one of the concealed zippered chest pockets in my Rohan vest.

The pouch looks well made, but it is very light when compared to an Aquapac, and it uses cloth and plastic in it’s construction, rather than all plastic. The water tight closure is a double ziplock with a Velcro roll over top – rolling down this extra protection also reduces the size of the pouch. The front is completely transparent so the whole of the smartphone screen shows. The rear is obscured by the nylon panel and the roll down closure and to use the camera I have to unroll the closure and make sure the iPhone is positioned high enough to avoid the nylon panel – a small amount of trouble to be able to use the camera in bad weather.

Over the coming days I will take some comparison photos both in and out of the pouch to see by how much the quality drops when shooting through the plastic.

There is a long neck strap provided, long enough to go over my head and then still put the pouch in the vest pocket and fasten the zipper, it has a cord lock fitted to this strap can also be used as a wrist strap. There is a tape clipped fitted for another carrying option.

This pouch is not as waterproof as other brands – you could not use it whilst swimming but for protection from the weather when walking it looks ideal. I’m in Scotland at the moment and it is core sat to rain tomorrow so I will be able to test it quite soon!

The pouch could also be used in the real world! We have a client who is a builder and his phones are always out in the weather when he is onsite – when I get back to the office next week I shall drop round and show him this one. Aquapacs were not suitable for him but this Watatait pouch is small enough and looks alright for business use.

Waterproof Case for the iPhone 4 Read More »

Knockan Crag

22 August 2011 / General, Photography, Technology, Travel / iPhone camera apps, iPhone photography, Knockan Crag

The exposed rock at Knockan Crag is extremely interesting as it distinctly shows two different geological layers.

It is also unusual as the older rock is on top of a younger rock – this arises through tectonic movements over many hundreds of millions of years.

There is a visitor centre and a well illustrated walk up the hillside to what is called the Moine Thrust, where you can see and touch the rock layers,. From there you can continue up to a great viewpoint complete with benches to sit on and admire the view from. For more details on the Moine Thrust Belt go here to Wikipedia.

I tried out the Pano app from this viewpoint.

I have only looked at the results on my small iPhone screen not on a bigger screen yet but the image on the iPhone seemed OK. The app was very easy go use – and fun. One thing to remember is if you manually select an exposure point then remember to set it on each of the mosaic images.

Other images from Knockan Crag

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