WALES | U.K. 2019

START PAGE Back to September 18th, 2019 Triple Frequency Electric Emitters

Wednesday, September 18th, 2019

LOCATION: South Stack Rock

ITINERARY:

JOURNAL ENTRY:
Drove to Holyhead to tour the South Stack Lighthouse. Had to walk 403 steps down to the bridge to cross to the island where the lighthouse was located. Went on a small tour where we walked to the top of the lighthouse and heard a history lesson about it. Of course, we then walked back up the 403 steps. Whew!!!!!!

Followed another short path down to see the Ellin's Tower Seabird Centre. Not much there. Continued walking alon the shoreline and found some super yummy lime ice cream with real lime bits in it. Then had a picnic by the shoreline, with peanut butter and raspberry jelly sandwiches. Spent some more time sitting in the grass and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Drove back to the B&B in Criccieth and Barb crashed for the evening while Phil took another walk around town.

PHIL'S THOUGHTS:
The weather has been mild during the trip. This day was one of my favorites. The sky was clear, as you can see from the photos and there was a lot to look at on the tour. Had a wonderful chat with the volunteer tour guides. Had questions about the equipment which they kindly answered and we talked about other things that were part of the display.

More thoughts or recent thoughts from November 15th, when I'm posting this. I think in terms of safety, automation is a good thing. But it also eliminates a way of life that for a long time, gave purpose to individuals and their families.

I think this is especially true with the modernization of the machinery supporting the London Tower Bridge. Many different crafts people worked to keep the machinery running. It was a way of life for some families over multiple generations.

Click on the photo to see the full sized image. Sideways photos will display properly when clicked. Or feel free to flip your screen. Whichever is easiest. :)

TOP HOME

Motor generator combo used to convert utility power to required on-site operating power.

TOP HOME

Old lead acid batteries originally used to power the light.

TOP HOME

Air cooled crank-started diesel engine used to charge the lead acid batteries used to power the light. According to the tour guide, the crank could give you a good kick if it had a mind to.

TOP HOME

View under the lense carriage. The carriage actually floats on a circular troff filled with oil and mercury. This makes it move very easily, requiring only small stepper motors to rotate it at the requisite speed. I believe it's set to flash once every 10 seconds.

TOP HOME

Just trying to get a peak at the light assembly in the center of the lense carousel. And not having much luck! :(

TOP HOME

This is the backup light. A ginormous LED with a huge cooling fin on top.

TOP HOME

View of the undercarriage of the light. You can see the yellow service hatch, allowing access to the inner workings.

TOP HOME

Hope they got a good deal on cable ties! They are everywhere. They do get bonus points for a very clean wiring job. Not a bit of loose infrastructure cable anywhere.

TOP HOME

This is the bulb they use for the lighthouse now. I believe this gives the light a range of 24 nautical miles.

TOP HOME

This is how they monitor the lighthouse remotely. The dark box on the left shows the current status of the light and any fault conditions. You know me, just as fascinated with all the wiring and control systems as I am with the light itself.

TOP HOME

Generator connected to the diesel engine. Not sure why 415 Volts A/C was a thing. Think it had to do with the battery charging.

TOP HOME

Back side of the diesel engine.

TOP HOME