UK_Paul's - Slingshot Build & Other Adventures -

I'm out on the test run, with the new radio housing. It's a holliday today in Britain, so the people are out enjoying themselves in the last of the British summer.

First stop was for fuel and we found 3 Morgans sitting in the car park of the diner, next door to the gas station. I gess that, in the picture above, its a case of a rose between two thorns.

The radio assembly is holding up well. Some reflection is still visible, in the radio's screen. However it is a thousand times better than the original setup.

As you would expect from UK_Paul, it's time for a nice pot of tea. So with a little indulgence I have decided to make it a "Cream Tea." - Cream tea - Wikipedia -

More interesting cars again, at this stop. Another Morgan, a TVR and a Lotus are all sat in the car park at our stop, but it's the SlingShot that's getting all the looks.

Time for a little food shopping now, as we are in Ludlow and it is known for some amazing food and restaurants. - Ludlow Food & Drink -

After our shopping, it will be time to hit the road again and head back home.

Thanks guys for the comments. Remember if any of the members on this forum find their way over the Atlantic and are coming this way, then Elaine and I will have a room made up for you, at our place.

The SlingShot sitting by the side of our home, in Herefordshire 15 miles away from the Welsh border

A small house by American standards, but it was probably first built, around 50 years before the Pilgrim Farthers found their way over to New England.

Back to today's little trip:

We left Ludlow and he added off towards Wales. Along our journey we noticed another two Morgan cars, on the road. Our destination was Kington, just short of the Welsh border.

The next section is for those of you that fondly remember "Tubular Bells."

I had lived in this area, very many years ago and the famous musician, Mike Oldfeild, had lived next door to a friend of mine, at that time. We often had a quiet drink, in the local pub together and I was going to show Elaine wat the area was like.

We reached the pup, in the town, called The Swan. Lunch consisted of a nice drink (Elaine was now driving/riding) and the pub landlord, had put out a big selection of cheese and biscuits on the bar, for the customers to snack in.

I recalled, that Mike Oldfeild was then a very shy man but in this small community, he fitted in like a local. His neighbor, that I mentioned above was the owner of a farm, on the edge of town. When Mike first moved in, he had taken him up onto the mountains near by. For those of you that may remember the records that he produced, on if his albums was titled "Hergest Ridge." This was the area on top of the mountains where he would walk his dog and fly his model glider.

Album cover above.

The more interesting part of this story is that, when the farmer took him up on the Ridge, he noticed some stones, in a very strange grouping. See picture below.

Mike Oldfeild was insistent that these looked like the remains of a Neolithic, man made, structure and was no doubt used for meeting and worship, in many thousands of years gone by. Apparently he was very insistent about this and it is why the album got its title and the associated pictures, used on it.

Desperate disappointment came for Mike when the farmer explained that, during the Second World War, his farther had dug up the top of the ridge, to plant potatoes and piled all the stones that had been removed, from the ground, in one place, (we think, by using a tractor).

It just goes to show how easily history can be misinterpreted.

Quote from Tripod

"Tubular Bells" was the theme music for the movie, "The Exorcist". I have that CD (originally owned the LP but all of my records are, unfortunately, long gone... )

Purely, by chance and perhaps a little spookerly. The film "The Exorcist" was supposed to be based around the area, in Surrey, that I had previously lived in, before I moved to this area.

Continuing with our journey...

We left Kington and he added towards Hereford and home.

You have probably guessed it... We passed another two Morgan cars. The factory is not too far from us and it's safe to assume that an event must have been taking place, this holiday weekend.

Our journey home was most enjoyable.

We passed through a number of picturesque black & height villages

This one, Pembridge, is just north of our home

Finally back into our little hamlet (it's too small to be called a village).

Then home, with our little stuffed lamb, happily sitting on the dashboard.

The radio mounting plate worked very well and we also had a great day out, on what has turned out to be the hottest "August Bank Holiday" (yes I know it's still September) since records began.

So... tomorrow it's back down to the manufacturers of the radio mounting plate and they get the go ahead to make a high quality version.

Quote from Tripod

You're leaving yourself wide open with the "stuffed lamb" comment, Paaaaaaaaul!

Don't mess with the lamb @Tripod.

He has some very influential friends.

Back to the radio specification that's going to be installed. It all gets a little technical, at times, so I've attempted to explain it, without over complicating things.

I've had an update, from the Tech guys and apparently they are going to cram either Nougat, Marshmallows or even Oreos, into my dashboard. Now that may make sense to some of you out in SlingShot land, but it then gets even more complicated by the inclusion, underneath all those sweet delights, of something called Ubuntu 18.

This (all the sweet things) is the operating system, for the radio and will give an Android interface, just the same as a standard Cell Phone.

The operating system itself works on something called Linux - Linux - Wikipedia - This is what Android is based on, however it would appear that addition features will be incorporated, under the hood, from something called Ubuntu. - Ubuntu (operating system) - Wikipedia) - The combination of all of this will apparently allow the radio and other components that are to be fitted into the SlingShot all work together.

=

The picture, above, may help.
It's a Tux - Tux - Wikipedia - (Linux mascot) sitting inside the Android logo.

If you checkout my avatar, you'll see that under the helmet, is a small "crystal" version of Tux peeping out.

433px-TUX_G2.svg001.png

The completed setup was originally going to be able to scan and then track a cell phone of someone that had got into the SlingShot and then driven it away. However this September, the UK government will be proposing legislation that will ban this type of action (to match European rules) and it should be passed through parliament, next year, (May 2018). So it looks like I won't now be able to work out, who it is, should someone ever steel the SlingShot. There will still be lots of other features that will be of use and as time progresses many of these are likely to be be incorporated into standard car radios (GPS hotspots are just one of them that are starting to now appear).

One of the other features that the setup will have is the ability to recognize when someone approaches the SlingShot and send a message, to their Android or Apple phone (new UK/European legislation permitting). This can give out information about the SlingShot and should the same person return, it can then supply additional comments and information, making it appear that the SlingShot knows them and they have already been alongside it before. It's all very high tech and I don't know how well it will work, or when the software will be completed, but it's work in progress.

I also have a proposed home page screen now and it may be incorporated into the startup screen of the radio. All the icons will be superimposed, over this... perhaps.

I went back to see the manufacturers of the radio adapter plate and we now have the final design for the high quality item.

It's going to have a ginal few changes made to It, but they are primarily aesthetic changes to minor aspects of the unit.

I have been asked if the final design will be available. Well, the manufacturers are showing an interest in the possibility of making this available to other SlingShot owners, however the costings and the route to market must still be worked out.

The next (and first production) model, to be produced, will be finished in red, with a black cover plate, to mach my SlingShot.

Keep watching for progress over the next couple of weeks.

Today's test of the new radio housing was, at the car wash, with a pressure washer.

I still have the pre-production mounting plate and the cover fitted to my SlingShot, so (without any radio behind it), I pulled the trigger, of the pressure washer and tested out how waterproof this set up will be.

Capillarie action allowed some seepage, between the cover and the mounting plate but nothing seeped past that. So I suspect that it will do the job that it is intended to do, just fine.

In addition to This, I have not noticed any condensation behind the cover, in the morning after the SlingShot has stood outside, in the damp (and sometimes rain) overnight.

All in all, I'm still very pleased with the way that this little protect is developing.